Is funny that he is the only rocket other than Yao to ave. 1+ BPG, not even T-Mac, Scola, Hayes, Bonzi, etc are close to ablock per game.
I think the drawing charges thing is pretty significant, even though some of that is reputation, it shows that he is great at getting down the floor in transition and rotating from his player once the opposing team has penetrated the defense. That is not indicative of a person being slow footed, or slow to react, so I have a hard time with that criticism. I really do think that the guy could benefit greatly from consistent touches on the low block, especially if he is the bigger player. Those post up plays that they run for him occasionally look terrible, so I agree with the idea that he is a little too robotic in his approach to put the defense on their heals. However, his mid range jumper is a tool that I think is under used in our offense he has good range from 15 feet but nothing in our offense facilitates him being there. I with agree with the lack of free throw shooting as a sign of a lack of aggressiveness though, if he posted hard and had a good move (the drop step he did a thousand times at Duke) he could get to the line a couple of times a game for something other than drawing a charge after the penalty.
I have to say, as a proud fantasy owner of Shane, that I have no idea how people can say he has no tangible stats. He's good for one block, one steal, one trey...every night. All on one turnover. I'm not even going into points, rebounds and assists. Add in the defense he plays, the charges he takes, the plays he steals (literally) from the other team and the basketball IQ... I have to say, and maybe I am the only one, but I am completly satisfied of how the Gay/Battier trade went down.
Thanks, good post! Right now Shane is on my fantasy roster, too. Sometimes I will remove him for brief periods, but every basketball season he is the very first person I put on my roster. How can one not love Shane? BattiersBaby.
Battier isn't good when T-MaC is out... Battier works only well when T-Mac and Yao are together. If McGrady is not on the court then of course you will see Battiers flaws. He is what the Rockets need though in the long run once everyone is healthy
Shane's problem is that he never misses a game. If he ever sat out (with an injury or "personal problem"), it would be easier to determine just how valuable he is or isn't.
He's a good team defender. He's lost a lot of the lateral quickness and athleticism he had when he first entered the league - keep in mind he didn't have that much of either to begin with. He's just not that good. He gets lit up by quicker and more athletic players and gets outmuscled by stronger players. I think his intangibles are overrated and his tangibles are very little. Bottom line, the Rockets should've got a lot more for that #8 pick. It was a bad move and I believe that it's time to cut our losses and trade him. I agree with you about Hayes and Rafer, but you have other options on the team. I've said that Scola should be starting. Also with Alston, you hae 3 other pgs you can put in his place. So the upgrade for those positions you ask for is on the bench. I've already explained that Battier is overrated and might be you main perimeter defender, but what does that mean when he gets lit up and outmuscled a lot of the time? If you can trade him for a proven 3rd scorer to add more scoring punch to our roster then you do it.
shane battier and mike james for richard jefferson. we get our third scorer we get more athletic and someone who will brings energy every night. good thing we only loose one rotation player salaries will work.
Battier has almost zero driving ability. One of those drives you are referring to in recent games was a rare miracle for him when he stole an inbounds pass and scooped a shot in at the end of the 1st half. It was a great play but he can't come close to doing that kind of stuff on a consistent basis.
These are very good arguments. The rebounding point was excellent. I didn't consider how far he is from basket on many plays. However, even if he played closer to the basket more often, his very poor leaping ability would never allow him to be better than an average rebounder. Bowen is far quicker than Battier and is a far superior perimeter defender. Battier's best defense is in the paint. He just isn't that good on perimeter players no matter how smart he plays because he simply doesn't have enough speed. I still think Battier is too slow and unathletic and that all his positive attributes unfortunately don't outweigh those limitations. I hope I am wrong because, as of know, he is a Rocket. I'll keep watching and trying to believe he is legit piece of the puzzle.
It's hard to see Battier getting many mid-range shots because his release is relatively slow and deliberate like most other aspects of his game. I'd love to see more post moves out of him but I don't think he has the physical presence to do that at this level like he did in college. That is the main reason why you rarely see it. He doesn't have the offensive ability and athleticism that Bonzi has (yes, I know Bonzi is a butterball these days but he is still way more athletic than Battier) to be effective down low against bigger players. I just hope that the things Battier does well are really that valuable to make up for his shortcomings. I just don't see that, though.
Are you female? If so, there is your answer. Most guys don't judge Shane the same way that I suspect you do. Even if I am wrong about everything I said about Battier's value to this team, he is still just a slightly above average player at best.
Funny thing, I just flipped to ESPN Classic and they are showing Duke vs MD from back in the day. Battier just took a charge. No doubt the dude can do that.
Watching Boozer reminds me how overlooked he was coming into this league. He slipped to the 2nd round and is now one of the premiere PFs and players in the game. Imagine a Boozer + Yao frontcourt. Just a nice thought.
Ha ha ha! They just announce Battier's 0 points in the last 21:30. They said he is stone cold on offense. Maryland wins this game. I lived in MD during this season when they won it all against Jared Jeffries and the Hoosiers. This Duke-MD game was the real final though. Blake, Dixon, Wilcox, Baxter took MD all the way, baby. As I type, Battier just nearly turned the ball over trying to dribble on the perimeter. He wasn't even trying to make a move and couildn't handle the ball. Then, he just hit his first shot in over 25 minutes...
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Shane sucks so bad that he has averaged over 30 minutes per game every year he has played except one. And it's not like he is playing for bad teams and bad coaches. For a small forward, I will take near 40% 3-point shooting, decent rebounding, and excellent man and help defense. I think an excellent comparison is Bruce Bowen, whose stats are actually worse. Also, Robert Horry might be a good comaprison, though Horry's minutes and stats were significantly worse than Battier's. I wouldn't trade Gay for him if we had to do it over, but that's a separate issue from Battier's quality as a player. I think that trade is clouding people's judgment here.
