Because if all of your production comes on one side of the floor, you are basically a specialist. You are not a complete player. The same as Chuck Hayes, Dennis Rodman, Bruce Bowan. The Rockets would be much better off if the had a player that could average between 10 - 15 points a game in that spot, someone who can spot up, penetrate, and play defense. Since Yao and Scola are neither long nor athletic, we need someone in that spot who has those traits. TRAVIS OUTLAW ANYONE!!! Outlaw, along with Brooks, Artest or T-Mac would give our starting unit a different look.
He must have done that when he played with Memphis!! With the Rockets he is a totally different player in the play-offs. Can't shoot behind the arc, can't penetrate. That's the Shane I know.
I dont think i'd replace shane with that kind of player. there's such thing as too much of a good thing. that lineup wouldn't move the ball well and get into each other's way. If shane's gonna be replaced, the player has to still be a defensive specialist and offensively he just needs a consistent jumper and ability to fake, take a dribble and make a midrange jumper. That would be a perfect compliment. That ability to take a dribble, stop on a dime, and release quickly is the only thing keeping shane from being that perfect compliment.
The rotations normally stay the same in the regular season (eight to nine players max) and the play-offs. Which mean the players are playing the same minutes. So, if his numbers increase in the play-offs, that means his production has increase.
100% incorrect...the rotation shrinks and Tmac played more....feel free to look it up....if you can stop your eyes from rolling. DD
that's the case for every playoff team. coaches shrink their rotation to around 8 players and all the starters play more. if that's the case, every star should increase their production then, not just tracy, which is NOT the case.
We are not talking about anyone else....we are talking about TMac...his percentages do not increase, just the amount of shots, and his minutes played....so therefore his stepping UP in the playoffs is simply a myth. Whereas a player like Hakeem actually got BETTER in every way in the playoffs. That is stepping up. DD
I cant find the exact quote from JVG (search disabled) who I still believe knows much more than anyone here about basketball but he said something along the lines of this: "as hard as it is to find that special superstar player, its just as hard to find a guy like shane battier in this league" we could play armchair GM all day but I think the Rockets know how valuable a piece like shane battier is to a team and its success. We should be lucky to have a guy like him. I doubt Battier will be traded unless its for a trade that the rockets obviously get the talent benefit. maybe its just me be almost every time shane gets the ball on offense he is looking for yao which to me is the smartest play in the rockets offensive book. all the little things he does to help the team win will go unnoticed by most fans who count makes and misses but not by the coaching staff who luckily makes the decisions and not the people posting here
hakeem is a top 5 player of ALL TIME. what do you expect? that's a dumb comparison. but since you say his % doesn't increase and only a # of shots, it also applies to another guy. can you guess DD? this guy is currently a top 3 player. during the reg. season, these are his averages 40 minutes played, 28ppg, 7rpg, 7apg, 47%fg, 33% 3s, on 21 shots per game; PER - 26 playoffs: 45 minutes played, 28ppg, 8rpg, 7apg, 43%fg, 28%3s, on 22 shots a game; PER - 24 let's look at McGrady season: 35 minutes played, 22ppg, 6rpg, 5apg, 44%fg, 34%3pt, on 19 shots a game; PER - 23 playoffs: 42 minutes played, 29ppg, 7rpg, 6apg, 43%fg, 30%3pt, on 23 shots a game; PER - 25 so are you saying this current top 3 player is NOT stepping up b/c his fg% go down all across in the playoffs?
DD, also guess who this guy is? he's also a top 3 player. reg. season: 36 mins played, 25ppg, 5rpg, 5apg, 46%fg, 34% 3s, PER - 24 playoffs: 39 mins played, 24ppg, 5rpg, 5apg, 45%fg, 32%3s, PER - 21 yes, minutes played -> increase in production . and yet, this is one of the top 10-15 players of all time currently playing.
couldnt find that quote, but found this " Shane Battier is] the finest competitor I've coached in my 16 years in the NBA. I've been fortunate. I've been around a lot of great competitors. I've never been around a competitor that plays every play, every day like he does...The ability to sustain your concentration and your intensity and your focus every play, every day, every practice, every game, it's a unique talent that very few value. But that does have a huge impact on whether you are able to maximize your ability as a team." -Houston Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy, on Shane Battier (1/14
"Shane Battier is] the finest competitor I've coached in my 16 years in the NBA. I've been fortunate. I've been around a lot of great competitors. I've never been around a competitor that plays every play, every day like he does...The ability to sustain your concentration and your intensity and your focus every play, every day, every practice, every game, it's a unique talent that very few value. But that does have a huge impact on whether you are able to maximize your ability as a team." -Houston Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy, on Shane Battier (1/14[/QUOTE] Better. Now where else did I read something about having an impact....humm..
Better. Now where else did I read something about having an impact....humm..[/QUOTE] JVG said a lot of great things about his players when he coached them or even when he left. he said a PHLETHORA of great things about tracy mcgrady too you know. along with rafer alston, chuck hayes, juwan howard... JVG is a great man.
JVG said a lot of great things about his players when he coached them or even when he left. he said a PHLETHORA of great things about tracy mcgrady too you know. along with rafer alston, chuck hayes, juwan howard... JVG is a great man.[/QUOTE] He also said a lot of bad things, he wasn't afraid to point out their problems...and i'm sure he didn't use "in my 16 in the NBA" when talking about Rafer, hayes, or howard. Perhaps with tmac, but he was playing like a true superstar back then, so it's understandable.
Better. Now where else did I read something about having an impact....humm..[/QUOTE] Great find !! RV6 That's the image stuck in my mind when I watch the rockets play. I just couldn't put it in writing. Battier is always like a crouching tiger ready for a fight.
As far as your paraphrase of JVG is concerned, it's just not true. Bruce Bowen, James Posey, Trevor Ariza, Tony Allen etc... all can do what Battier can do and none of them cost their team a lottery pick. The Houston Rockets championship teams had plenty of role players that were better than Battier: Maxwell, Elie, Cassell, and Horry and none of those guys with the exception of Horry who was drafted by the Rockets cost Houston a lottery pick either. Rockets got Maxwell from San Antonio for cash. Remember Boston got Ray Allen for a lottery pick as well. Now that's getting true value for that kind of draft pick.
Great find !! RV6 That's the image stuck in my mind when I watch the rockets play. I just couldn't put it in writing. Battier is always like a crouching tiger ready for a fight.[/QUOTE] Exactly, if you look at the 3 he hit in Denver, he had his hands out, knees bent, ready to shoot the moment Ron dribbled in. Ron didn't hit him with the pass perfectly, it was a little to the right, so imagine how much time could have been wasted if shane wasn't in position and had to retrieve the pass and then get in position? It may only be a split second, but that's the difference between getting your shot off and having the defender get a nail on it. That's what JVG means, if shane is doing things like that every play, then that play becomes that much more exact, efficient, which means it's more likely to be executed succesfully. You could flip the script and have shane passing instead of ron and shane would probably concentrate on hitting him with a perfect chest pass so ron could just catch and shoot immediately. That's the little things he does that people don't notice. Not everyone can appreciate it, but coaches, who watch hours and hours of game tape, rewinding, pausing, slowing it down, can see all of that, and they see how consistent a player is with certain things and that's why JVG said that he said.
QFT. i think shane is just a great human being in general so he's very well-liked. that's all. people on this board make it seem like he's the best role player in this whole damn league. EVER.
