I disagree. I think there is a healthy segment on the board who overvalues Battier. yes, he is a good defensive player...fine, a great one. And he is definitely smart, a team player, a solid spot up 3 point shooter. He can and does log a bunch of minutes. Frankly, he's the perfect role player. I'd love to keep him. But let's not overvalue his presence. The Rockets were a good defensive team before he showed up. Frankly, with T-Mac and Yao still being on the team, they will continue to be a good defensive team. First, their style of play almost dictates it. Second, as much as Yao lacks in the athleticism department, unable to guard the Boozers of the world, or effectively switch on the Deron Williams in pick and rolls, his presence in the middle is a great asset. As long as we don't turn into the Suns or Warriors, which we won't, we will still play great half court defense. Scola helps here, too, as he is a great pick and roll defender. And the whole team focuses on and is pretty good at transition defense. Again, we were good defensively before (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/byteam?cat1=Total&cat2=opponent - defensive team stats by year). The Rockets need to get quicker, and better offensively, somehow. For all of Battier's strenghts, his weaknesses are too obvious and painful - as good as he is defensively, he is equally weak offensively. He is completely incapable of creating for himself, is reluctant to score, isn't an amazing shooter, or passer, etc. He's just average, made worse by the fact the he requires others to put him in position to be average. Again, I love Battier and he would be a key piece to a championship team....BUT it's hard to see how the team gets better without moving him. And I personally don't think, even if fully healthy, the Rockets are championship contenders unless they add a true 3rd option offensively, or get closer to having a good 3rd/4th option, with Scola being one leg of that (similar to the Jazz with at least one of Okur/AK47 having to play well). I think there's probably a little too much Calderon hype on this board. Truly, he isn't a third scoring option yet. For all the things he does well, he can't take over a game, or even come close. Heck, I only count 6 games where he scored over 20 points this year. And that's at 30 mpg and plenty of games starting. But, every year so far he's gotten better. He's still relatively young. And his shooting %'s are fantastic. Add in his incredible assist:turnover ratio, and if you can trade Battier for him, you do it every day of the week.
Adelman said something about needing to improve our offensive production while keeping our defensive identity. Anything else would be a lateral move. I don't think these trades really acheive his goals.
Ron Artest. If the Rockets can handle a Maxwell, we can handle an Artest. I don't recall him and Adelman having any problems in Sac-town. Artest would be the 3rd scorer the Rockets so desperately need. He could take some of the scoring load off Yao and T-Mac. As for Battier, He can come off the bench. Or bring Artest off the bench, like the Spurs do Ginobili.
Artest is definite upgrade over Battier if you factor out the potential crazy. But he's a free agent. How exactly are we supposed to get him and keep Battier at the same time?
Battier is good, but i just dont see the obsession with him....he gives us nothing on the offensive end besides camp at the corner and nail 3's at a decent rate. To say he is not tradable is ridiculous imo. We need to upgrade athletically at that spot. I wouldn't hesitate a second to trade him in a package for Calderon. And i do believe he will not be a Raptor next year. I would even trade him straight up for Mike Miller. Battier's d is good but c'mon, a lot of players light him up. Kobe always destroys him except for our 22'nd win in a row. I always remember joe johnson doing good, kirlenko, ginobili, josh howard, and many wing players have had great games against us(i know they are good, but im just speaking about battier's d on them). I truly think he is one our biggest trade bait outside of yao and t-mac and its time for him to go in order for us to move on up.
I agree, i want artest more than anyone on the Rockets. He brings his A game every night he plays the Rockets lol, imo i think he was trying to catch our eye b/c he wants to be in Houston with Coach and Yao and t-mac.
Artest for Battier would be perfect Artest brings that toughness we need...imagine him and Scola...we would be animals
Anyone think battier for gerald wallace is possible? I love gerald, dude is a baller, and i can only imagine how much better he can be with Yao and T-Mac.
With all the stat hounds around here crucifying Rafer, you'd think Battier would be public enemy #1 considering his production and what we gave up for him. Yet he's as valued here as he was in Memphis. Think about how good our defense was before Shane got here. It was great, but at what cost? I loved Sura and Wesley, but they couldn't protect the inside like Shane could (Bobby couldn't even protect the perimeter). That meant a huge load of the defensive work was on Yao. Replacing Sura, Juwan, and Wesley with Rafer, Chuck, and Shane has benefitted Yao immensely and you can't just replace defensive IQ with athleticism. We all want to upgrade, but if you keep dumping quality defensive players for guys that can't protect Yao (like Calderon and Miller) then how are we supposed to reach elite status? There's a reason why Yao isn't in much foul trouble nowadays and it isn't because the refs respect him.
We're not at elite status now...or close to it. Battier definitely helps, but ignoring the fact that the refs do respect Yao now isn't fair. Though it isn't just Yao, especially this year, refs started giving benefit of the doubt to the defensive player who just jumps straight up and has his hands straight up...basically resulting in a no call. JVG was the one that hammered this into Yao's head.
And this is why TMac has to go. We are never going to be able to add meaningful players with TMac's salary on the books
Kwame Brown has got to be the worst center ever. Have you seen him play when he was on the Lakers? That guy makes SO many bad decisions it vexes be to watch him play.
The refs don't respect Yao. Look at what happens to Yao on the offensive end, where the other rockets can't protect him. One day he's in a wrestling match with Oberto and nothing is whistled, the next Okur is flopping all over the place and he gets the calls. It's ALWAYS to Yao's detriment and he's the most beat up player in the league. Yes, Yao's gotten away with a few straight up calls, but he's been jumping straight up for years now and they were always fouls. It used to happen at least twice a game. I guarantee you they would still be fouls today, but he just has to do it a lot less. How often does Yao have to rotate to meet players at the rim? How often does he have to show on the pick and roll? How often does have to hustle back on transition D? Very rarely. Shane, Luis, Chuck, and Rafer have saved Yao from bad calls by taking them out of the refs' hands. Artest can protect Yao the same way. Calderon and Miller can't, so trading Battier straight up for them is stupid. Adelman wants to keep the defense and upgrade from there. Too bad the fans keep wanting to give it away.
You have to trade something to get something!! Yao , McGrady, Scola and Landry:- keep Mutombo :-Retire Available for trade:- Battier, Alston, Jackson, Brooks, Francis, Novac,Harris, Hayes,Head and Woods Simple needs:- a]another decent point guard with intelligence, 6'5" or over,should be able to play defence and hit the three b] athletic shooting guard/Small Forward with height and intelligence, also defensive stopper. c Young Athletic BIG man to train as the Center position backup, must be a good rebounder. Aim to increase height, talent, toughness and team ethic.
