Did you watch the Dallas - Memphis playoff series? How well did Battier did? Did he stop any of the Dallas forwards? How can we claim that he will be able to do that in our team?
No link to a major news media outlet just yet, maybe it is too early. ->Just a link to the Hornets forum (from a respected "Insider" on their board who got the Peja signing scoop before the news media, and he knows about the supposedly pending Tyson Chandler trade where the Hornets give up JR Smith + PJ Brown to the Bulls)... http://hornetsreport.com/HRForums/showthread.php?t=34771
Yeah, I read that too. Pretty interesting stuff. The Hornets are shaping up into a pretty good team. We better get Mike James.
I really hope we dont waste too much money (or cap space) on this year's freeagents, besides peja, ben wallace, theres not really alot of eye popping talents out there.
You must be the assistant coach. Again the question of who better to guard them? TMac is one of our better defenders because of his length. JVG stresses team defense more than individual defense. The entire purpose of my post is to show that I dont think Hayes will be playing 20 minutes, Deke playind 13 minutes. With the roster we had, Im showing how I feel JVG will proportion minutes. Im not saying I like it and I do think we need a shot-block presence in the post and perimeter player to play defense.
don't forget, Evans is also a (nutgrabber), don't find too many of those. I'd still take him over Howard
Again, it's not a question whether he can or can not do it. Throwing T-Mac on those guys would be just reckless, both b/c of his back and negative impact on his offensive production, which is what we need him most for. If T-Mac's actual height is 6-10, I guess that makes 6-9 Pat Garrity look like a 6-11 guy: So like I said earlier, it must be the weather in Houston area. What every statistic? His PER for his playing time at PF, which was just 1/3 of his total PT? If that's the case, let's go a little back, to 2004-05 season when he actually played more SG than SF, and no PF at all: http://www.82games.com/04MEM7C.HTM Or 03-04, when he equally played SG and SF (again, no PT at PF): http://www.82games.com/03MEM7C.HTM Nah, hell with it... here's 02-03 also w/ no PT at PF: http://www.82games.com/02MEM7C.HTM So, in the past 4 seasons, Battier played just ~1/3 of his PT (or 1/4 of his teams' minutes at PF) last season and virtually no PF at all in the previous 3 seasons and that proves he'll handle opposing PF's with ease? So I should go talk to Hubie Brown, the coach who didn't play Battier at PF at all, about non-traditional PF's?
HAHAHA.. and how about 2005-2006? Battier isnt the nimble bunny he was in the four years you provide your statistics. Just as TMac was moved to the 3 spot the last couple seasons, Hubie has realized Battier's lack of lateral speed to play 2 and as a result has played NO minutes at 2 last season. So again, what were the PT stats for 05-06? Its easy to pick the stats that support your argument, isnt it?
And McGrady is the same height as Duncan here, whats your point? My point is heights get fudged all the time. McGrady can disrupt Duncans offense better than anyone outside of Yao. If Duncan in fact plays the PF position against the Rockets, I anticipate McGrady guarding them for... ooooooh... all 4 games!
If I were you, I'd probably also anticipate being disappointed... McGrady excelled guarding a guy like Dirk because he has no post up game outside of turnaround jumpers. His offense is based on driving past slower 4s and getting easy buckets in the form of open 3s and layups in transition. T-Mac was able to stay in front of Dirk and put a hand in his face on all his jump shots. A traditional low-post PF like Tim Duncan would in all likelihood have his way with McGrady on the low block. (By the way, Fratello now coaches the Grizzlies)
Im not saying that McGrady would do an excellent job, Im saying hes probably our best option over Chuck Hayes, Shane Battier, Juwan Howard. I think most people are missing the point of my posts. I want to show that Battier is capable of guarding at the PF spot with the exception of all-stars like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, in which case I feel McGrady might be the better option.. not necessarily the sufficient option. I still think we need a banger inside to take that role of guarding the big all-stars and am in agreement with most of you that what we have now wont cut it with these big guys. I wanted to expose the weakness of playing Chuck Hayes so many minutes and show strengths of playing Battier at 4, but everyone seems to be blind to that and is getting really caught up in my McGrady comment when my proportion of minutes do not even have McGrady playing minutes at 4. Again, with the exception of all-stars, I think Battier would be a capable option at 4 and fits JVG's system well and meets his intention of spreading the defense for Yao. I think more than matching up the teams with traditional power forwards, JVG is building his team to beat PHX and Dallas. I think JVGs intent is not to play Battier at 3, but more at 4... because (1) he wants to free up Yao as much as possible; (2) TMac is playing well at SF and playing SG will wear down his legs and back from crouching and chasing smaller and quicker guards. I think JVGs bought into the rotation of 4 athletic guards and 1 center because of the clear advantage on the perimeter with respect to league rules.
I just can see that the Rockets are going to be the worst rebounding team. We don't have anybody that can rebound. Even Yao can not be counted as a rebounder because he has to be chasing guards on the perimiter in JVG system.
I think Orien greene would be a good addition to the team or maybe Jay Williams... and Lorenzen Wright might help us a bit too if he is able to be had.
I dont even want to argue this anymore, IMHO Shane Battier will play minutes at 4 because Chron and McGrady says so... ok? Battier's ability to play three positions could be especially beneficial to the Rockets, especially his ability to play power forward. They have lacked 3-point shooting between McGrady and Yao Ming, a skill that would bring big men away from the lane where they have cut off penetration and double-teamed Yao. With so many teams down-sizing at the position, the Rockets had only traditional power forwards. "When they told me that's the deal we made, I was so happy," McGrady said. "Shane is a solid player and the type of player we need, a player that can inspire the team with hustle plays, a defensive presence. He's smart and can shoot outside. But I really like that when we match up with Phoenix or Dallas, we can match up with Shane at the four. And I still dont think Chuck Hayes will break 20 minutes and I dont think Mutombo will break 13 minutes like my original post was supposed to point out.
