I think that is a good argument against those who think Battier is an offensive liability. The offensive efficiency of the starting unit is fine with Battier in it, but then again Battier gets to play the majority of his minutes with the rest of the 4 starters. That tells me he doesn't hurt our offense, but we still don't know if it could be better with someone else. What I would like to see, something 82games doesn't have up yet, is the offensive efficiency of our unit now with Budinger and the rest of the starters, or our closing unit of Lee and the rest of the starters(actually whoever is playing better between the two closes). I think comparing those with Battier and the rest of the starters isolates the other variables better than just looking at Battier's on/off court. It will be interesting to see once those 2 units get enough sample size for 82games to put up. EDIT: BTW it is surprising that 82games has no info on a Lowry/Martin/Scola/Hayes + Budinger or Lee. We've never ran that out there this year, or last year, at all?
You people are so dumb, arguing about what lineup is better with or without Battier BLAH BLAH... Is it going to take a THIRD season to realize that whatever unit has Lowry is the best unit?
Lowry was here with Battier and they didnt go on any 5 game winning streaks. Rockets certainly didnt look this consistent or dangerous before now.
Very good point, once Yao went down Battier became an issue. Yes his defense was outstanding and his leadership was unquestioned but his lack of offensive game really cost the Rockets. People will point to the numbers the offense put up being just fine but these last three games are good examples of how good the offense can truly be with the right parts in place.
Not really relevant to what I'm saying. I'm just saying that Lowry makes everyone look better, and that is the explanation for those 82games stats regarding Battier. It's not just a coincedence that Chase, KMart and others have been terrible in their Rockets career without Lowry and very good with him.
I felt like we were a better team in the present in the future after the deals. I mean does DM really ever lose on trades? The trades for Scola, Lowry, Martin, and Lee were all lopsided. I think we'll see it happen again. Dragic will be a better fit than AB and the picks will net us something good..either it be a higher draft pick or a star. That's bc we traded away Mister Minus.
I know this bbs has a knee-jerk mentality and it's nice too see some optimism for a change but the jury is still out and it will be a while until we can more accurately assess what the impacts of the trades really were. Budinger is shooting 50% and 36% from 3 in the last five games and Courtney Lee has even more ridiculous numbers over the last five, something like 60+% from both the field and 3. Those are hardly sustainable numbers and they have been accumulated by playing against completely ****ty or mediocre teams. Budinger has yet to face a really good wing scorer as well. Let's see how badly he'll get torched before we praise him more.
Budinger shot 51% and 40% from 3 in 17 games in January this year. He shot 49% and 41% from 3 in 31 games post allstar break last year. His shooting was never an issue for me, even when he was in his horrid slump in the beginning of the year. Those are sustainable numbers as he has already shown. What worried me before and has me crossing my fingers for now is the rest of his game. The good news is if he is getting abused again Adelman won't hesitate now to play Lee big minutes(well deserved).
Well, he is a career 44% and 35% shooter. I know he has gotten hot before (and cursed by DaDakota as result). He may have improved, but saying a 3 or 5 game streaks against mediocre teams are a clear indication of vastly improved offense is a bit premature. If the streak was against Heat, Celtics and Spurs, I wouldn't be so cautious. But hopefully he keeps this up. Having a young quality starter with an <1M salary could prove really beneficial in regards of slary cap flexibility and rebuilding.
I think a lot of players will struggle against those three teams. Bud had a nice game against Batum and Wallace both known for their excellent defense. I grant you that he won't score 30 on a regular basis but if he can just improve to average defensively and give 14-15 a night, i'd be giddy.
You know I disagree we traded away our best defender. Chuck Hayes is our best defender. After him is Courtney Lee and after that is Lowry. Then after that was Battier. Now you give Courtney Lee more minutes? Thats why it works out. Chase Budinger scores now from that SF position which frees up the offense for others as well. Now back to defense. Why do you no more 4th quarter comebacks? Here is why. In the fourth quarter teams are rested onus because they dont have to guard 5 of our guys the whole night. They are playing 5 on 4 on defense because Battier is not a scorer. They have more energy and the the man he is guarding has more energy to score and defend the whole game. Why? He doesnt have to guard Battier using none of his energy the entire game. Hence why you can get good defense by people playing defense on your offense. Like they have to with Budinger and Martin off of constant screens. Lowry constantly pushing the tempo. Courtney Lee coming off the bench and Patterson giving the other team no rest. There is no slow it down Battier here anymore and they have to guard everyone. So they have no energy for the fourth quarter. Thats also good defense. Good offense is great defense sometimes. Plus now your playing Courtney Lee, Chuck, and Lowry combinations alot. More Patterson. Which also equals better defense.
Here's an except about the whole NJ quest for obtaining a superstar: “I don’t know how many times I told [Denver GM] Masai [Ujiri], ‘I’m done; I’m out,’ ” King said. “I’m yelling at him, I’m hanging up on him. I’m sending crazy emails at six in the morning. ‘I’m out. Don’t call me.’ And I wouldn’t call him for a week. … And then a text would come … “ It then mentions that the Jazz called him about some Andrei K trades and he jokingly put out Williams' name out there. To his surprise, the Jazz didn't hang up the phone. I say this because the Nets were in a similar situation to ours; they were looking for a franchise type player to trade their stockpile of assets for. They didn't get the guy they were aiming for but at the end of the day, they got the better player. Morey's stockpilig of assets will eventually net us a significant upgrade. These types of trades require due diligence with countless hours on various scenarious. They also require a bit of luck. I believe that the Rockets will get lucky again soon. Till then, lets hope that we continue our current trend of playing rocket-brand basketball.
It was amusing when you said it the first time. When you keep repeating it people might think you are actually serious.
