It very painful and embarrassing to watch Shane play basketball right now. He was getting passes on the wing on a fastbreak and instead of going for a layup, he was pulling it back. Those are sure 2 points for almost every wing player in the game. He was missing wide open threes, which is really the only thing in his arsenal on offense. He was stuck on a pump-fake loop. Shane, if the player does not bite on 7th pump-fake in a row, it will take an act of Stormile Swift to make him pump on the 8th one. In his defense.....wait... Where was his defense?
It's comical to think of how many people were blasting everyone who was pointing out Shane's terrible play early on. Chase is sucking too, but at least he has a few things on his side. 1) He is recovering from injury 2) He is a 2nd year player What exactly is Shane's excuse? If anything, he has been on the decline for a while now and it's just come to the point where it can't be ignored anymore. The sorry part is that he has the perfect makeup of a coach's favorite, so he gets that extra bit of favoritism and that longer leash than just about everyone else.
Couple of years ago, he was one of the best perimeter defenders in the game (if not, THE best). I am shocked that he has declined like he has given that his game was never really dependent on athleticism and given his intelligence. But I do agree, he has to go.
I say we send him to the D-League. Let him put up some monster stats, play some amazing defense, make an All-Star game and hopefully boost his trade value.
Heres part of our problem, we have Lowry who is best running a fast break with a rotation which is designed for half court sets. Need to get all our bodies back to together and get rotations set in spots where they excel.
It seems like the longer a player is in Houston the worse they get. Barry - did well in his first season, but he was never the same after. He and his brother were old, but when you look at their prior year performances they shouldn't have dropped off that much. Kyle- much better last season. Contract year, so I won't say much. Yao - entered the league at 22. Statically he improved every season as his minutes went up, but he took too long to peak. As soon as he did injuries decimated his career. Tracy - came to Houston as one of the best in the game. Left as one of the worst in the league. Luther - I don't think I've ever seen a rookie hit more clutch shots than him. It was all downhill after his first season. Rafer - came to Houston to play next to two stars. His FG, and three point percentages went down by 3%, and his FT% went down by 5%. His ppg went down, yet his minutes went up. This is probably because he took less shots next to Yao and Tracy. Budinger - had a great season last year, and now he is worse than Head. Brooks - was great when he came to Houston, and he hit so many clutch shots last season. Although he's only played 5 games this season, he doesn't seem to have the same killer instinct. Scola - he seems to be the only anomaly. Probably because he is from an international league where high pay outs result in better performance on the court. Shane - has become progressively worse every season. I remember when I would actually cheer when he took a three. Now, I cringe every time he touches the ball. Maybe he is getting old, but he is only 32. He is the only player on the Rockets that's been on the team for five years (that still gets significant minutes). Everyone else has been on this team for 3 years or less. The fourth quarter (and third quarter) collapse has been a trend for five seasons. Teams figure out how to beat the Rockets when Shane is in the game. Players know the way he is a threat is if they leave him open at the three point line. The Rockets need a young SF with length that can both defend and provide offense and rebounding. Shane Battier's contract should not be extended after this season.
We just need to upgrade our SF spot. I love Battier. I completely respect what he did for this team over the years... but at this point in his career, if he's not hitting that wide open 3-pointer, he's not giving the team much. Unfortunately, he's not hitting those 3-pointers anymore. The really bad part about it is that Budinger isn't hitting anything either.... so we're between a rock and a hard place at the SF spot.
Rather trade Chase and the NY Picks for Iggy. Could use Iggy at the 2 and Battier at the 3. But we hella good defensive squad once again. Iggy would solve so many problems it would be unbelievable.
Don't get me wrong cuz Battier definitely has intangibles. He's intangibly good, just tangibly craptastic.
I still love him though. I mean it. He just seems like a great guy. It'll be a sad day when he leaves the Rockets.
