Which is why i wouldn't want to trade them as of now...it's likely Outlaw just had jitters in the playoffs, but there's also a chance it wasn't just jitters and the guy freaks out under that much pressure. Some players are like that. I wouldn't want to trade for him not knowing what the case is AND on top of that he's not a good defender. With shane we're not giving up a lot of scoring, but a lot of defense and leadership. there's a lot of teams out there with talent, look at the kings, super talented, but no leadership, nothing that can keep them focused and consistent. I understand shane isn't won't do that for the current lineup, but on a yao-tmac team he can. Pure talent doesn't always translate into wins. We have comparable talent and are built similarly to the Lakers, spurs, celtics, etc. Yao/scola/ariza or shane/tmac/brooks is up there. It's the injuries that make us want to look for more offensive power. I can't blame fans for seeing it that way, but realize that's not the answer as long as we have yao and tmac on the roster. Like i mentioned before, either we continue with the yao experiment, or we blow it up, right now Morey is still building the team around yao, if we can't see that and evaluate the team in that way then we'll never be on the same page as the front office.
For quite some time, the Rockets have been a team in search of "who are we"? Due to injuries and roster changes (some dictated by injuries) the team has not had a chance to decide or "settle in to" who they are. This takes time. Not only that, but just about the time they start to figure this out, then the apple-cart will most likely be upset again with the addition(s) of McGrady and Yao, at some point. Then the reinvention will start again. Who are we with the players on the floor now? For this reason it is harder to predict what they will do this year; having rotations changing MAY make it easiest to predict sub-par performance, just due to inability to form chemistry over the long haul. Just adding one player that the other four haven't played with much can totally disrupt habits that were/are forming. Sure, they can practice with these players (not Yao, yet) but practices become fewer and further apart during the regular season. Game summary: definite rough spots (as Battier warned in his comments about their first game of the season). Some bright spots -- Anderson and Budinger. Uneven effort. Landry still looks like he's sleepwalking some games. Defense looks like it can better than imagined, even without 7-footers. If the players let the "system" be their star player they will be competitive 90-95% of the time. Other teams that use speed may be harder on them than big teams. Speed is always an advantage to counter size. If they can learn to create more open mid-range jumpers for themselves it will help.
Fouling is definitely why is unlikely to see the floor, but we can't afford to get dominated on the boards. Portland was first in rebounding differential last year, and we didn't help ourselves by shooting a low percentage. I'm just hoping it evens out a little more next game.
I've mentioned other scenarios as far as trading Battier. I was one of the first, if not the first, to suggest a Jax for Shane trade. I think leebigez was the first to mention Battier for Outlaw plus a filler. I like the idea and have advocated for it. But stop beating around the bush. Instead of criticizing all the time, present us with some alternatives. Give us some realistic trades that you would make involving Shane. Please don't be ambiguous. Name specific players we could possibly get in return. Also, I'm just curious, have you ever criticized Battier for anything? If so, when and for what? Thanks in advance.
Every NBA team "tweeks" their lineup somewhat each season, but the Rockets for years have virtually "started anew" each season. Some of this has been because of injuries and some by design. Since Morey, the "fruit basket turnover" approach has moderated somewhat. Historically, it still seems like more than most teams. It appears now that the Rockets are trying to build a core, but even in the Yao/TMac era the "role" players were changed each year. Therefore it takes most of the season for the new configurations to jell. Remember when the Pistons ran the same starters at you for years. Remember the Celtics, the Showtime Lakers, even the current Lakers, many familiar faces. The Rockets now have a relatively talented cast of role players, but they don't have Stars. I would love to see the same faces for a few years, but that appears unlikely and it is one of the main reasons that for the last fourteen years the Rockets have contended at a high level only once, last year.
The first game of the season doesn't really say much about how the Rockets will eventually fare this season. There are indications though that they are seriously undersized no matter what Mr. Feigen said in his blog. The 12 blocks by the Blazers would intimidate any team from going to the hole. The Blazers laid down the law defensively inside and it affected the Rockets throughout the whole game. The dynastic Bulls had similar games against teams with great shot blockers. I remember them not daring to get to the paint so much whenever they played against Manute Bol. Their games too were significantly affected by Olajuwon although I am one who does not believe that the Rockets would have beaten the Bulls in the playoffs at that time. The Knicks would own them during the regular season but when the playoffs came the Knicks had no chance. My point is the Blazers big men had a lot to do with problems with the Rockets offense in the painted area. The season is one day old so there is plenty of time for this team to adjust and learn. I believe that this season of learning for this team will make them contenders next year when Yao returns. A championship run starting in the 2010 season may not be impossible, barring major injuries, of course.
So you want me to come up with a trade scenario for shane when i dont want to trade him right now? Yeah that makes sense, let me waste my time doing that.. ....and let me waste my time telling you when i criticized shane, only for you to not believe my words and request evidence. Does that sound familiar? Yeah you've done that before, and even evidence wasn't enough then, so i'm sure nothing will be enough now either. Typical Kwame, make others do your work...and incase you haven't noticed, i'm not the only one shooting down your trade proposals (now AND in the past), so quit making it about me liking Shane and being "blind". The only reason you go after me is because I said "yeah i love shane " some time ago to humor you and you've ridden that since.... don't bother replying, i'm not wasting more time
I wonder if Battier's +/- has ever been that low with us. Regardless, I think we will bounce back. I still have playoff hopes for this team.
One well-known statistic the Rockets’ front office pays attention to is plus-minus, which simply measures what happens to the score when any given player is on the court. In its crude form, plus-minus is hardly perfect: a player who finds himself on the same team with the world’s four best basketball players, and who plays only when they do, will have a plus-minus that looks pretty good, even if it says little about his play. Morey says that he and his staff can adjust for these potential distortions — though he is coy about how they do it — and render plus-minus a useful measure of a player’s effect on a basketball game. A good player might be a plus 3 — that is, his team averages 3 points more per game than its opponent when he is on the floor. In his best season, the superstar point guard Steve Nash was a plus 14.5. At the time of the Lakers game, Battier was a plus 10, which put him in the company of Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett, both perennial All-Stars. For his career he’s a plus 6. "Plus 6 is enormous," Morey says. "It’s the difference between 41 wins and 60 wins." He names a few other players who were a plus 6 last season: Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady.. I'm wondering about the adjusted +/- for all the rockets, has morey still not made it public ?
There are public adjusted +/- numbers available, though the Rockets probably have proprietary methods for measuring it more accurately. basketballvalue: http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers.php?team=HOU&year=2008-2009 Steve Ilardi's "low noise" adjusted +/- (split between offense and defense), based on 6 years of data: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnGzTFTtSPx_dFVrZXdHNlNZQUJadllKUm1Ld294WkE&hl=en
Just answer the questions. I'm not concerned whether you want to trade him or not. We are talking about a hypothetical situation. Since you don't think Outlaw is good enough, give us some realistic trades involving Shane. Please don't be ambiguous. Name specific players we could possibly get in return. Also, I'm just curious, have you ever criticized Battier for anything? If so, when and for what? Just answer the questions.
Maybe he doesn't think there are any "realistic" trades out there that make the Rockets better off. Or he can't think of any off the top of his head. Obviously he values Battier's strengths more than you. Nothing wrong with that.
