I agree about the being fresh part, but you have to take into account Yao's butterfingers at times and his inability to protect the ball. If you had a center down there who had sure hands, didn't bring the ball down when he didnt have to, and was more aware of his surroundings then Kobe knows its not worth it as much. It's like playing against that guy who can't dribble and you just go right for the ball because you know you're going to get at least a hand on it before he can spot a man open and pass. I know this may not be true in most matchups at the NBA level, but with Yao bing prone to mishandling the ball and Kobe being a good defender, that's exactly what's going to happen.
Now that all the focus is on the other players, T-Mac is getting a finally getting a reprieve. As I been saying for years, Yao is not an elite player, he is a very good player but not elite. Battier is a good defensive player but he has absolutely no offensive game what so ever. This team would improve dramatically with a player along the lines of a Travis Outlaw, in Battier's position. We need a player that makes you respect him from the 3 point line, can cut to the basket but still plays agressively on the defensive end. The game last night with the Lakers, shows exactly why we need mcGrady; Ron is Ron, he is a very good player but he does not create very well for others. Battier is totally lost on the offensive end. Yao is good, but because he does not hold his position well and because he does not have good hands, it leads to costly turnovers. Also, for Yao to have 5 rebounds in last nights game that was pitiful. We can't blame T-Mac for that.
Outlaw would help while tmac is out, but long term, if tmac comes back or we use his contract to get a scorer, the outlaw would be limited in this offense. He may have a good scoring game here and there, but there simply wouldnt be enough shots to go around, he'd be a spot up shooter as well most of the time because that's whats going to fit in this offense when you have Yao, scola, and landry clogging the middle. Brooks also attacks, lowry as well, you cant just have versatile scoring guys at every position, even if it does sound like a good thing. i think we've topped off as far as scorers go, you replace shane with another and you have no role player left who can stick to a limited role, except for Brent, but he's not getting PT. You need those guys so not everyone is getting in each others way and so the offense flows better. Boston has them, cleveland has them, lakers have them, orlando, san antonio, etc.
I agree with most of what you are saying, but name me one player on the Lakers,Celtics, Magic, Blazers,Jazz that play defense and doesn't score. Battier causes the other team to play four against five, they don't respect him on the offensive end of the floor.
It looks like Battier has bounced back with his shooting: I guess that's one positive thing to take from the Phoenix game. Shane is 14-22 (64%) on 3-pointers in his last 5 games. Hopefully we've seen his last shooting slump of the season.
He made Grant Hill look like pre injury Grant Hill. Shane has definitely lost a step or 2. We will need an upgrade after next year.
Frankly, I wasn't paying attention (and I only caught the second half yesterday). Was Battier the one guarding Grant Hill? Usually the Rockets put Battier on the 3-point shooter, so I thought Artest would be the one guarding him.
it's just another knee jerk reaction, hill was scoring a lot off the break like always, pushing the ball, etc. coming off some picks, etc. Fans literally want shane to stand by Hill for 48 mins, if he does that, there's no way he gets open for all the 3s he hit. They need to realize there's a reason why the suns score so well, they run off and score before you have time to set your D. Then there's their pick and roll, which creates mismatches and disadvantages, forcing help defenders to come over, leaving there man. Shane and ron get all the criticism because of their reputation, but unless hill was the only one scoring, which he wasnt, then it's pointless.
Shane is getting around with his offense lately. That's a very positive sign as we approach the playoffs.
and if shane is responsible for Hill looking like his old self, then maybe Shane should of performed the surgery on Tmac....last i heard, most of this board was so sure it was Phoenix's staff that "healed" hill...i guess he's only healed when he's not facing battier. By the way, looking up numbers says a lot sometimes, fans should try it. Hill's pts in the last 8 games: 23 19 19 6 26 23 11 21 Someone should tell Morey that shane has been sneaking off to play on other teams so he can defend Hill And yes Ron was guarding Hill, or suppose to be, sometimes they were forced to switch.
Shane Battier was not the problem last night. Our team defense just plain sucked. It looked like we had been off for three days and just practicing our offense....oh wait we were.
Battier had a bad game defensively last night. Period. I'm sure he will be the first to tell you so. I don't know what Hill's past numbers have to say instead that he put up 23 and him and Richardson combined put up 41 points on the leagues best perimeter defenders. I'm sure both of them are pissed off about it too and not making excuses saying "Well...Hill and Richardson are just too good to stop, what can you do?"
Jay, your still the missing the point. BIG TIME. Their OFFENSE is too good. Not the individual players. Like when i talked about their pick and roll being almost unstoppable you assumed i meant nash was unguardable and said "only kobe is unguardable", but again its the OFFENSIVE SYSTEM. I'm not sure how you cant understand that they either pick you off or run back while you're releasing your shot. What would you do if someone sets a pick on you and I say you're playing crappy D tonight?? Or if your man keeps releasing early to the other end while you're involved in your offense on the other. Is that bad D? Not really. That's bad D by the other team, who's giving up early to gain an advantage on you on offense.
Since the move from Terry Porter to Alvin Gentry as Suns coach pressed the accelerator on the Phoenix offense back to the floorboards, the Suns regained their position as the NBA’s most prolific offense heading into tonight’s game against the Rockets. They also reclaimed the right to summarize their offensive philosophy in a handy, catchy phrase — “seven seconds or less.” “We want to play quick. We don’t want to play out of control,” Battier said. “A breakneck pace is normal for (the Suns), but it’s out of control for us. I don’t know what to call it.” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6352793.html
Here is the problem though, if the suns Offense was truly unstoppable, they'd be in the playoffs. As it stands though, they are on the outside looking in needing to win all 7 of their games. It isn't unstoppable. You're basically saying that our defense performance was OKAY. I didn't know letting a team shoot over 60% from the field was EVER okay just because the other team is so good you can't even think to stop them. So it's better to just lie down on defense and try to outscore them...which never works by the way. Because any time someone plays defense against the Suns, that team wins. That's why they say defense wins championships, last I checked the Lakers were unstoppable on Offense last year...until they met Thibadeux and the Celtics. Just like how the Celts smashed all that run and gun stuff with BARBOSA and AMARE playing.
I hope you're right durvasa. The Rockets cannot afford to have Battier playing poorly if they want to advance in the playoffs. Good work on the charts.
