This is just a dumb thread because Battier fit this team perfectly. Yes Battier does not attack the basket but when you have Yao and Tmac and Brooks, we have enough scorers that it is OKAY to have Battier sit in the corner looking for three. The series make him look bad because we don't have Yao and Tmac. But it is never his game to have him create his own shots. Your thread is pointless. Battier is a hell of defender. Nobody can't guard Kobe you can minimize what he can do. But if we don't have Battier, it's going to be even easier for Kobe to score.
Yeah, about that... We're gonna have to ask you to stop posting on this forum.. Right... You're an idiot. Battier is the reason we took this series to 7. Ron Ron and Battier contained Kobe. The games we lost were because we didn't have a center. We went against LA and took it to 7 without a seven footer. That's insane. You want to trade the role player who helped get us there? That makes perfect sense.
For the money you're getting, I do think you're getting good production from Battier. He's earning his paycheck. That said, his stock is pretty high right now, and we need to get better offensively. You've got guys on national TV (Mark Jackson) saying that there's no player in NBA history that could defend Kobe as well as Battier does. So, milk that, and see what you can get for him.
Battier did better than anyone else in the league typically does against Kobe. Kobe was forced into contested long jump shots 80% of the time. With a guy like Kobe that is all you can do. Kobe rarely got to the free throw line and averaged less than 4 assists per game because he was unable to drive and then dish when the help defense came. He averaed 3.7 assists against us compared to 5.6 against Utah. Battier forced Kobe to become a jump shooter and that is it. Kobe wasn't the dominant force that scores, gets assists and rebounds. He just scored and that is because he is one of the few players in the world that can hit 45% of 15 foot contested jump shots.
He didn't contribute, it was a 2 man show in both series. And if you are defensive specialist who didn't stop anyone, I say, yes you were a bust.
If Battier does not slow Kobe below his season average, I am not sure what forcing contested long jump shots means. Lets get the intangibles out and talk about stats. He didn't slow Kobe down at all. Kobe did what he normally does against ANY defender. No other way to spin it.
Yeah, it's interesting how that salary range is kind of like the no man's land. You see more big men in that range, really. Of the remaining playoff teams, the closest salaries for the 1-3 positions (PG, SG, SF) are: 1. Nuggets = JR Smith (44.9 million) 2. Lakers = No one (Fisher, Walton, Sasha at $4.7 million or less..though Walton does have 5 years)...so Walton may be most comparable. 3. Cavs = No one (Pavlovic at $4.5 million, 2 years left). 4. Magic = Pietrus ($5.3 million) There are no "role" players at those positions on any team making more than Shane. I'd rather have Shane than some of the above guys, but would rather have Smith than Shane, and Pietrus is probably a wash. Plus, most of the above guys you'd say are also overpaid. The point I was trying to make, though, is from a pure what you get to what it costs ratio, it is very difficult to honestly say that Shane is a bargain. At very very very very best, you get what you pay for. More realistically, though, you are overpaying for those "tangibles" - which might be okay, if you had the team around him to make serious championship run. Which you might have with a full, healthy season from all the Rockets "Big 3"...but that's something I don't think will ever happen, as it depends on (i) resigning Ron, (ii) Tracy coming back healthy and then resigned, (iii) Yao staying healthy. I'd contend the thread starter would argue that if Battier wasn't so anemic offensively through the early points of the game, we wouldn't be reliant on him to hit a big three every now and then. And I'd agree. It's great that he hits big shots every now and then. You know who else also did that? Rafer...and you'd have to shoot me to take that cat back. I'm not saying Shane is Rafer - he's clearly a more valuable player, but offensively, hitting a big shot every now and then isn't all that special (though hitting a big shot often, regularly and pretty much every time the opportunity presents itself - see Robert Horry - is pretty unique). Also, again, $6.4 million is actually a fair amount of money in the NBA. As noted above, the majority of players on teams getting paid more than Shane Battier are either: 1. Clearly better than Shane, or 2. Overpaid You'll find a few guys here or there who are getting paid that much and you'll say "that's fair" - I don't personally think Shane is one of those guys though. I think the $4.0 million'ish range is his true value.
i'm confused... 2-man game? you mean yao and mcgrady? did yao even play the second utah series? and shane is more than just a defensive specialist. for example, he outscored kobe, you know, the mvp-caliber player he was guarding, in game 4.
For LA, yeah the defense did win them the game. They held their opponent to 70 points. They weren't exactly stellar on the offensive end. Every teams offense usually relies on 1 or 2 guys. The Rockets are no different. And when their offensive production is sitting on the bench in suits and ties, we start looking at Shane Battier to carry the team because he makes more money then the rest of the active guys???? We're talking about trading Battier because he can't carry the team offensively when our two best players are hurt. I just don't see the logic behind that.
No way, if you can get a player like Roy, of course we will do it, but the problem is that we can not. Without Battier, we would not pass the first round, and Kobe will eat Ron alive. Get real.
this is reasonable. that's why i said we need some details for this thread to be meaningful, such as whom the op has in mind that we'd trade for.
Oh you are using that one game to make what point? I am confused. I think couple of other Rocket players also outscored Kobe. How about we talk about the series average?
Battier's trade value us at an all time high with the publicity from the NY article and the undermanned Rockets's post-season breakthrough. Battier could be part of an opportunity to upgrade. Morey has options in the coming months.
lmao. THAT'S the misconception that needs to be addressed. Battier did not guard Kobe, Kobe did what he did all year against ALL defenders. He shot 46% and 27 ppg. Stop what? Since Yao joined the Rockets, we have been top 5 defensive team in opponent's FG% allowed! Now go check Memphis's numbers when Battier was there. Battier didn't bring team defense to the Rockets. On the contrary.
You, me and Durvasa are all talking about the same thing. Battier fans need to chillax and put their Rockets fan thinking hat on for a moment.
i said "for example" to make the point that he's more than a mere "defensive specialist". chuck hayes is a true defensive specialist, but shane is more than that.
