Its Time to Seriously Consider Moving Battier

Are you kidding me? His contract is an absolute value contract. This guy is the leader of the team. Did you like the chemistry we had in the playoffs? Did you like our hustle, our focus, our determination to win, our heart? That was all Battier. If you want to move him right after our run this year, then so be it. Prepare to be seriously flamed.

 

Are you high?? Who else is going to give us same kind of energy, hustle and leadership with that price? Plus he's a great lockerroom guy and all of he's teammates respect him a lot. We're talking about the best perimeter defender in the league!! WAKE UP!!

 

Battier is not the reason that the Rox lost to the Lakers.

 

Um no

 

You can look at his individual D and say it is not as good, but something overlooked is our team D. He is the key to keeping our teams defense strong. He has been the one to keep the Van Gundy intesity on the defensive side of the ball.

 

You have to move Ron or Shane......I vote Ron....

If you are starting both of them next year you are not a championship contender...

You can have one in the lineup, and I choose the smart one that plays within the offense over the crazy one who thinks he is an older Lebron.

DD

 

I thought he played pretty well in the playoffs - I agree that he's not a great wing player with Chuck Hayes and other offensive misfits, but then maybe you've got to get keep them off the floor instead.

I think you might be reading too much into averages as well - that's what a certain poster did with Aaron Brooks to obscure the fact that he put up 3 clunker games in the middle of the Portland series- the playoffs aren't an aggregate, the playoffs are about deliveing in individual games & moments. Battier hit several clutch three's vs. Portland and had one big outburst vs. the Lakers too - that's about what you'd expect.

I guess we'll see what Dahntay Jones does in teh Battier role vs. LAL next round - I think he gives you about the same on a points basis but I don't think Kobe will take as many contested shots and I don't know if he gives you the back-tap rebounds & other plays that Battier gives you.

If you want to trade him though, now is the time, his value I don't think will ever be higher.

 

Not saying we should trade Battier, but Tayshaun Prince is a better individual player than Battier. I think he is the Kobe stopper. The year Detroit beat down the Lakers, Prince's length, agility, and not going for ball fakes gave Bryant fits and he was busy jacking up outside jumpers the entire series.

What I don't know about is his intangible stuff, like how good a teammate is, how well does he coach other players on the floor, how well does he help defend, etc.

He makes about 2mil more than Bat and is a better individual defender and shows more offensive game, but I think the Rockets org are just fine with Battier.

 

Somebody already said it before, but Battier wasn't brought in to be an offensive powerhouse. And Kobe shouldn't be the litmus test on how good of a defender Shane is. Kobe is the best player in the league. But if you do want to use Kobe, show me somebody who defends on par with Shane in that category. I challenge you there. I bet you can't do it.
Everybody want to point out how unproductive he is by pointing to OFFENSIVE statistics. Last time I checked, offense wasn't the only thing basketball players did on the court. Artest is slowing down. He was getting burnt badly by Kobe. Battier is our best defensive player. If we lose him then a big chunk of our defense goes with him. If anybody thought Shane was "exposed" or was surprised about how little he produces offensively, then you are someone who has never watched Shane play in your life. Most Rockets fans already knew what he brought to the table.

That being said, I'm not opposed to trading anybody on this team as long as it makes sense and it makes the team better. But let's try to analyze things from a complete perspective and not just from the offensive side of things. What's that saying, something like, "Defense wins games, but offense gets the glory."

 

We held the Lakers to 89 points yesterday...did the defense win the game?


Balance wins....not defense, not offense...balance, we are unbalanced towards defense right now....mostly because Tmac and Yao were out, but even then, we still need some efficiency on offense.

DD

 

I'm with you....frankly, regardless of what happens with Artest. I understand Battier is a "born winner" and a "great defender" - and I do actually agree with those statements. But great individual offense beats great individual defense 9 times out of 10 - even Battier would agree that for as much love as he gets for guarding Kobe, he gets scorched by him regularly. He makes him work, sure, but the best defense on Kobe, or any great player, is suffocating team defense.

My two biggest concerns about losing Shane would be:

1. Does team defense get more than proportionally worse from losing Battier? You'd expect some drop in team defense if you replace Battier with a worse defender, but does it drop even more than expected? Is he the glue for the defense overall?

2. Leadership. I think Yao has nicely slid into that quite but respected leader role finally. But Shane is clearly the vocal leader. And with Ron on the team, and Brooks as your starting PG (even with another year under his belt), I think you need a vocal leader.

That said, I would support any trade that gets you something valuable in return, and that might be something - a team on the cusp, not financially in trouble

I really think they need a true "shooting guard" to play the shooting guard position. It's why Rick went with the Brooks/Lowry combo so much. A guy who has decent speed, decent handles, can run off picks, pop some threes and make some basket cuts. Maybe a sign and trade for Ben Gordon - you'd be way too small in the backcourt, though.

D. Jones makes under $800k and plays 18 mpg. I don't think Shane should be relegated to D. Jones status, but I think it is interesting you make that comparison.

Shane just isn't a great value player. Luis Scola is a great value at $3.1 million. Our rookie contract guys (Brooks, Landry, Lowry) are great values. Shane isn't. He makes $6.4 million, going up over the rest of his contract - 3 years. Which puts him behind Tracy, Yao and Ron. Hey, at least he is rarely injured when it counts.

Obviously, in Shane's defense, it's a little tougher playing your role when the top two guys are out and your role changes. I think with a healthy Yao, Tracy, Ron, etc. Shane does become the perfect role player. He'd still be overpaid, though. And it is unlikely that trio will ever play together when all are healthy.

I do see the intangibles with Shane, but I'd agree with the OP - if you can move Shane to a team that has some productive talent to give up but needs the intangibles more, than it could be a smart move.

 

you only move battier if you get something really, really good back.

otherwise, move ron. or rather, let him walk.

if you put battier on the market, every other team in the NBA would get in line. he might be the most valuable player on our team in that regard, either him or scola.

i'm not saying he's off limits at all. he has more value now than he has had in the past because of what he did in the playoffs. but if you move him, its going to leave a big hole, so you better really know what you're doing.

 

The absolute best thing about all these threads is that we are not the ones who make the decisions. It's funny how we all talk about "it's time to seriously consider moving Battier" as if we have anything to do with the decision-making process (or that a GM would actually come on this board and take our advice). I am just thankful that we have two very qualified individuals in Morey and Adelman to take care of this.

 

Daryl Morey is a lot smarter than you. His contract is the best bargain in the NBA for non-rookie contracts.

Kobe Bryant shot 42% over the last four games of the series. Do you know how many teams would kill to be able to contain Kobe like that over the course of a playoff series? I can name at least two: Nuggets and Cavaliers.

He won't say it, but Battier is the leader on this team. He is the Yin to Ron-Ron's Yang. Let's face it: if Battier wasn't on the team, by the end of this series Ron-Ron and at least two second-year players on the roster would have been killed in a shootout at Treasures by now.

 

Lol, Rockets finally get to second round, had a good run with last year's runner up, and all of a sudden fans are asking to trade everybody....

 

Are you guys smoking crack? Did you watch the playoffs?
Battier is the leader of this team crackheads.

 

Depends on who we get in return, but this teams needs more athleticism, youth, and scoring - badly. Ultimately, no matter who the Rockets trade, or choose not to resign, you can be sure that there will be plenty of complaining over it.