Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Shane Battier played a good game, and like all the Rockets, deserves credit for the win. However, before you give him "credit" for this good game, do you also give him "blame" for our previous losses? Apologies, but I still believe we made a huge mistake trading away Rudy Gay. Swift for Battier would have been very good. But, remember, we didn't even get a late round #1 from Memphis in exchange. I still take Pepto whenever I think about this draft day fiasco.
I like Shane. I really do. I just wish he was more aggressive and athletic. He's a very smart defender but lacks the athleticism to keep up with some of the bigger stars that he faces, and he's a solid offensive shooter but lacks the drive to take over at any point. Nonetheless, I like what he does do, and he's doing a very good job doing what he can.
You honestly think the Grizzlies would have traded Shane Battier, Team USA defensive specialist, for Stromile "my dunks are great, too bad I'm a bust" Swift? Get real here, man. Shane Battier has been great for us this year, like everyone he has nights that arent as good as others, but night after night he is providing this team with those ever important "intangibles" that everyone talks about. He is a shut down defender, he takes more charges than anyone I know of in this league, and has certainly been known to hit important shots when the team needs that lift to slow down a streaking opponent. Batty isn't an impressive scorer, he's not a flashy passer, he's not even a great rebounder... but he is good and capable when it comes to those things. What the hell is Stromile good at other than highlight dunks some nights and taking up space? And Rudy Gay... perhaps he'll turn out to be a good player, perhaps not, but he's not what we need right now. We need leadership, intangibles, a defensive specialist, and someone who has little weakness in any area of his game. It amazes me that after watching Battier perform and assist his team in every way possible there are still people out there who whine about the Rudy Gay trade.
you know why I know he has a high IQ? when the spurs made their run in the third, after missing all his 3pt attempts so far, battier was left wide open from 3, instead of chucking it, he took a few steps in and shot a 17 ft jumpshot and nailed it! smart. very smart.
Yes, Battier is indeed a very smart player. Thats part of those "intangibles" that always accompany the description of Battier as a player. But uh, you know who wasn't smart? ONCE AGAIN, Stromile "at least I'm not the biggest NBA bust of all time" Swift. Seriously, Swift for Battier? Not in a million years would that have been successful. Their numbers are somewhat comparable, but that says nothing about the players Battier and Swift are. Do people forget Battier was on Team USA? And he certainly didn't get there because he averages a lot of points and rebounds, he got there for being a great roleplayer and defensive specialist, both rare things in today's NBA. In more drastic terms, trading Swift for Battier would be like trading... Marbury and Francise for a guy like Chauncy Billups. Rudy Gay was enough to tempt the Grizz to trade the ultimate roleplayer, cause they really liked what they saw and despite some flaws he's gonna have to overcome, could become a pretty good maybe great player. But that'd be in 3 years or so... if you're lucky, and what good is that to us when we need to try to get a title as soon as we can before T-mac turns to dust midway into a layup? Plus, I betcha Gay ain't that smart either. NOT BATTIER SMART.
