I think it all depends on what the rest of our offseason looks like. If we can pick up a good SG, look for Battier to play PF w/ TMac at SF. If we can't find a SG, etc... But I suspect we'll see Battier at SF to start the season. I don't think he has enough (or any) experience at PF to start him off right away.
I'm starting to agree with this line of thinking. Shane can cover the better offensive player weather it be the 2 or 3. besides, looking at teams rosters today you can see that the majority have taller 2's and 3's which shane / tmac can matchup well with. atl-smith, johnson bos-wally, pierce cha-morrison, wallace chi-nocioni, gordon cle-james, houghs dal-howard, stackhouse den-melo, patterson det-prince, rip gsw-dunleavy, richardson ind-granger, jackson lac-maggetty, mobley lal-odom, kobe mem-miller, jones mia-posey, wade mil-simmons, redd min-davis, foye njn-jefferson, carter nok-peja, mason nyk-richardson, francis orl-hedo, redick phi-iguodala, korver pho-diaw, bell por-miles, roy sac-artest, wells? sas-bowen, manu sea-lewis, allen tor-graham, mopete uta-kirilenko, brewer was-jeffries?, butler only 4 teams (highlighted) have players at the 2/3 which might be too quick for shane/tmac to keep out of the lane.
You forgot to add "remember fans, get your season ticket applications in now!" We are a lottery team right now that was miles away from title contention last year, and with all due respect to Battier (whose natural position is Tracy's natural position) the "best case" realistic scenario is a low seed and a 4 or 5 & out and the worst case scenario is another lotto douche season from hell. After draft & FA, we are still the least deep team in the league. Battier helps but not where we needed it most. Other than that, the plan is apparently just hope that the 1-2-4 and backup 5 spots will fix themselves out of re-treads and chewing gum. Hope is not a plan, however.
The problem with playing Battier at the 3 is then we have a slow center, a slow PF (do you want JaHo chasing you Diaws, Marions, Odoms, Dirks, Horrys--not me) and are slow at SG. But play Battier at the 4 and Tmac at the 3 with some athletic SG (Fred Jones), all of a sudden we have a very quick and good defensive coverage line up around Yao. You also allow Tmac to almost always get a break on D, with Battier or you quicker SG taking the tougher covers. Also, playing Battier at the 4 allows JaHo to back-up both the 4 and 5--probably his best role now in todays more athletic NBA. BUT we obviously need a good athletic SG to put this plan in motion. I am really not sure with starting Head and Alston--not only pretty small and light for a backcourt, but somewhat inconsistent on the shot.
I wouldn't call the 4 spot a gaping hole. I'd call Hayes/Howard serviceable. On that note, several championship teams have had very average starting 4's. Magic's Lakers had Jim Chones and later Kurt Rambis. Moses Malone's Sixers had Marc Iavaroni. Of course the Rox had Chucky Brown. This year's champs had Udonis Haslem - no star in anyone's book. It seems that the championship formula is usually a top notch 5 and a scrapper 4 or vice versa. Another case in point - Spurs won 2 titles with Rasho Nesterovich at the 5!! Yao doesn't need Elton Brand next to him. He needs hustle guys - Howard, Hayes, Battier will do.
Please, shut down the shill mill for just a few minutes. I have swiss cheese in my refrigerator with fewer holes than the Rockets' roster. As far as tweaks, we are just an injury tweak away from the basement.
The sixers started Bobby Jones - who was a damned sight better than any of th e Rox current PFs. The Lakers were not only blessed with the otherworldly and versatile talents of Magic & Kareem but had wonderul mix of, interchangeable, talented guys who could play multiple spots like Jamaal Wilkes and Michael Cooper (as well as Magic himself) Even Haslem, IMO, would be a MAJOR upgrade over Hayes/howard. Hayes is a poor mans Haslem at best.
