Is Battier a better player now than he was when we traded for him?

If we hadn't given up a freakin lotto pick for him, I would have nothing but good to say about him.

 

What's there to fight about? You've already LOST with this post ^

 

As said previously, there need to be an "about the same" option here. There is little doubt that playing the way Battier does, in taking charges, scrapping for loose balls and playing a ton of minutes while doing it, has taken a toll on his physical skills, and subsequently, his offensive repertoire. I feel that on Memphis, he was far more of a jack of all trades kind of player, perhaps Bobby Simmons's first year in Milwaukee. Under Jeff Van Gundy, he took the strongest parts of his game and exclusively focused on them; making him a specialist, rather than a well-rounded player. Does that equal better?

There is little doubt that he's a more cerebral defender now than when he had better athleticism; you can take a look at his foul rate to see that it's improved quite a bit from his younger days. I believe that in baseball, most pitchers say you reach your physical prime in your mid 20s, but don't really learn how to pitch effectively (knowing the umpires, controlling the tempo of the game, "fooling hitters") until your early 30s. Battier seems to be the same way with his defense; so often now you see him giving guys a shot that has been deemed "inefficient" by the Morey Bible; rather than aggressively pressure them into making a mistake, like Artest used to do. Artest was like a former pitcher with a 98mph heater which he used to intimidate hitters, only age made that ball fly at 94, and he more and more frequently got burned. Battier was they journeyman pitcher who decided to instead pitch to contact, keep the ball in the park, and scrape out quality starts; not pretty, but his team has a good record in games he starts.

I believe that he's also become a more effective leader in Houston as he's aged.

Does this all excuse his very minimal contributions on the offensive end? If he has another year like 2009, then I doubt it. But if he returns to being a 3-4 Win Share guy next year on offense, as he's been throughout his career, then I think you' be hard pressed to call it a decline based on how experience has improved his particular craft. If he repeats last year's numbers? I might have to see if there's room on the "dump Battier for a bag of basketballs" bandwagon that's rolling on through lately.

 

HI Mana, I really like the analogy you used and it backs up what I've said. In memphis, shane scored 30% of his points from 3, 30% from the ft line and about 30% around the goal and inside the arc. Now, about 70% of his points come frm 3s because 70% of his shots come from there. Its called being multiple and getting better. What I appreciiate about scola is he takes advantage of the attention from Tracy and Yao. That's why he shoots such a high % and teams actually respect him when he's on the offensive end. Kenny smith once said that in sacramento it was the hardest 17 ppg he ever had to get and in houston was the easiest 13ppg he ever scored. Is it against the laws or rules of basketball to make yourself effective even at 30? I mean if you just perrform basic basketball in adelmans system, you can get easy points and make the defense guard you.

Maybe Bob shouldve put a option of about the same, but my college coach always said either you're getting better or you're getting worse. I think bob chose good options, its really that simple.

 

He doesn't have one. Even his hook is painful to watch. For me as a true rocket fan, I'm grading Morey's off-season on if Battier is traded or not. Its time to cut the deadweight, stop the BS about how much heart he has, ad get someone who can actually play.

I want someone who can knock down 50% of the most open 3's in the history of the NBA.

 

The public perception of his has gone up, since he has far more exposure as a Rocket than as a Grizzly, so in the public eye, he's a better player.

In actual basketball terms, he's pretty much the same.

 

I think hes defense and mentality and leadership got better
but he became more hesitant and less confident on offense ..

 

I'm a Battier guy. That said, where will his minutes come from this season? Would it not make sense for both teams to trade (virtually) identical contracts, Barbosa for Shane?

 

Shane's value increases exponentially in proportion to how good his team is. When every trip down the floor is important ....that's when he shines.
That said,he's lost a little bit,but is still a KEY component for a title team.

 

Shane was a lotto pick himself.

DD

 

Sorry for inconvience but how do I search for past threads?
Thanks

 

which is laughable of how bad that draft was. Probably the worse draft class since 86. When Mike Miller was rookie of the year and probably has had the best career, that says a lot.

 

Battier was a #6 pick in 2001. Here are all the #6 picks over the last 10 drafts:

2000 - DerMarr Johnson
2001 - Shane Battier
2002 - Dejuan Wagner
2003 - Chris Kaman
2004 - Josh Childress
2005 - Martell Webster
2006 - Brandon Roy
2007 - Yi Jianlian
2008 - Danilo Galinari
2009 - Jonny Flynn

When its all said and done for these 10 players, how will we rank their careers?

 

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Or become a Contributing Member by donating money.

 

i like me some shane battier as much as the next guy. but i fail to understand how people can think he is a better player now. the evidence is there. unless he has found the fountain of youth, very few players are much better after 5 years (unless they came in the league very young). battier's abilities and strengths require him to maintain a level of athleticism to guard other teams wings.

his offensive game has not improved, perhaps this is due to him deferring too much to the star players on the team. i think the level of fanboyism for battier is at an all time high. I would think that if the league thought so highly of him as well, there should be more talks of impdending trades from "contenders" that require his services. either we think too highly of him or the league thinks too lowly of him.

2 cents

 

Battier's strengths include his preparation, his mental approach to the game, his understanding of what the other team is trying to do. Those things can definitely improve with experience and more resources (which the Rockets staff provide him).

 

He is about the same but much more valuable to a contending team now than he ever was.