Brooks and Martin are the featured scorers this year and barring a trade, look to be major pieces next year. They've put up some gawdy offensive numbers but look at what's going on around them.... 1. Battier's minutes are waaay up. If AB and Martin are on the court, the SF must be defensive minded and serve as offensive "grease" -- move the ball, hit the open shot, not massage the ball. And Battier has focused on helping on the interior defense and rebounding. 2. Budinger's minutes are in the teens (after having been in the 20's for a while in February). He's not the defensive presence, offensive grease or interior player that Battier is. The box score doesn't tell the tale. Watch the games and you'll see that he is having less of an impact than before. (Query, with potential answer below -- how much of this is due to Lowry's absence?) --> With Ariza and Lowry coming back, we'll get some questions answered... 1. Does Buddddinger's minutes continue to dwindle? Ariza fits the mold at SF better. 2. Are we better balanced with Lowry/Martin paired with Buddddinger in terms of overall offensive and defensive efficiency? 3. Some key efficiency trios to monitor: -- AB/Martin/Battier -- AB/Martin/Ariza (who is a better slasher than Battier) -- Lowry/Martin/Ariza -- Lowry/Martin/Buddinger: The efficiency of this trio could dictate the extent to which we value Buddinger in trade talks. This trio has to outperform the others. Otherwise, Budddddddinger looks more and more like a trade piece. He doesn't pair well with AB/Martin. Also, we have to watch the trio's of Lowry/Martin/Ariza vs AB/Martin/Ariza. If the Lowry led trio works better, that would obviously signal that AB is a candidate to be traded, particularly if you consider that the Lowry/Martin/Ariza trio would add Yao's scoring (and Bosh's if he's the target). On balance, I think it's likely that Budinger is the odd man out. We just need to get excellent value for him... like a quality big to go with Scola and Yao. (Budinger and Hill for Speights as an eg.)
Very simple Budinger and Martin on the floor together means no d. Chase will have to improve on D and bulk up to get more minutes. He is very athletic but he needs to contribute more with rebounds steals and blocks. Battier said defense is all about desire so let's see if he improves next year.
Yes, I say Budinger does not have much role after we got Martin. I do even not recall his great plays since Lowry was out, Hill may be more valuable right now if he can improve his game every day. Budinger is just a soft shooter who can not see the ball when AB and Martin are the floor.
Relax. The guy is a rookie. Morey himself said that Chase is THE most NBA-ready rookie he has ever seen (moreso than even he thought when they first acquired him). I will trust in Morey on this, and trust that between he and Adelman, they will be able to find a way to fit Bud in there in a positive way.
Budinger has the IQ to become a very good defensive player in the future, especially if Battier can mentor him. I'd put my money on Budinger being the Battier replacement we've been looking for. IMO, Ariza is more expandable than Budinger. Especially with Martin who is basically doing what we wanted/hoped Ariza would do..
Is it some sort of trend to think that every damn player on the team is only here for the sole purpose of being traded??
Buddddddddddddddddinger [thankyou - enjoyed that part immensely and know where you're (your) coming from :grin: ]
Wow. I'm pretty sure you have no idea what the Rockets hoped/wanted Ariza to do if you think it's what Martin is doing now.
I think we put budinger in the 2-guard spot so we can occasionally release a fast-paced small ball, no defense line up to give the starters a rest and wear the other team down
You guys are looking at it wrong. The expendable swingman is Battier, not Budinger. Everything makes a lot more sense all of a sudden.
Fact is we need to trade one of Ariza/Battier/Budinger and keep the other two as a tandem 3. Personally, I think Battier should be packaged in a big deal for a game changing 4 or 5 (bosh). Budinger is a more than capable defender as a ROOKIE, he will get better. Him and Ariza can both slash, cut, dunk, defend and shoot the trey (well, bud can while ariza occasionally strikes gold in the form of a 3 ball). That would set up young talented tandems at the 1 (brooks/lowry), 2 (martin/taylor?), 3 (ariza/budinger) and 4 (scola/godsend 4/hill) with YAO/hayes/andersen/draft pick. CHAMPIONSHIP? i think so
There's already a Pete Chilcutt, plus you spelt his name wrong...you should start over since your still a rook with a low post count...just a suggestion not trying to be a dick. If we trade for Bosh it will take more than a Battier centric package, if we bring in Bosh you can waive good bye to Brooks and Scola as well.
Cool man i didn't know there was another pete chilcutt and yes i put an extra 'L' in chilcutt on purpose, FYI. Your right, Scola would have to be a part of the deal but I don't necessarily think Brooks has to. Scola + Battier + 2 first rounders and anyone else on the roster not named brooks, martin, bud, ariza, yao seems like a qualified offer seeing as how we apparently could've gotten amare for scola + battier + picks alone but who really knows? I can make pipe dream predictions like this because of a certain man on rockets payroll named morey who gives me confidence that we can make anything happen (a la a Pau Gasol to lakers or KG and Allen to Celtics type trade). Keep the DREAM ALIVE.
Solid reasoning, well said. Although given the choice I'd keep Scola over Brooks and run Bosh at the 5 at times. I've never really been a fan of shoot first point guards. We could possibly get Banks back in the trade and bring him off the bench with Lowry moving to the starting spot. ...I was wondering if you did that on purpose...I'll rep you and if you decide to keep the name you'll have a couple extra points for the resume.
What do you expect Ariza to do? said the Rockets were disappointed in Ariza. To be honest, I knew he wouldn't come in and score 20 a night, but I was hoping that his defense would be better and his open 3's would fall a bit more...
He's been hitting his open 3's more and if you haven't noticed his defense you've missed the last 4 game without him.
The players to shed after the season are Chuck Hayes, Shane Battier and Jermaine Taylor (in that order). Armstrong and Andersen should be on the bubble, depending on whether we draft a center. Budinger's defense has been dramatically improving and he is unselfish with the ball, in fact, so much so that I get aggravated with him for not taking the shot. With Martin and Budinger on the wings, you have two players who can shoot from anywhere or take the ball to the hole (Bud's vertical is 44 inches compared to Shane's 4). That means more foul shots for really good foul shooters and opens up the middle for Yao. No team would risk packing the paint with Brooks, Martin and Budinger grinning at them from the perimeter. On a side note, and I know I will get flamed for this, but I don't see that much of an upgrade if we exchange Scola + for Bosh. Bosh will cost us $10M to $12M annually more than Scola for 4-5 points offensively and maybe one or two more rebounds defensively. Bosh is half a decade younger but not nearly as strongly built as Scola.
I agree Budddd's defense has improved, but he is light years behind Battier (even with his decline). Also, Battier has been valuable on the glass and is a better passer because of experience. They are comparable three point shooters. Buddddddd's only advantage is slashing to the basket, which next year will be less important with Yao back. On balance, I don't think it is close between the two of them, now that we have Martin's offense. You can't measure the difference between the two just by stats. Those are averages that accumulate in the regular season. Focus on the post season, against the best competition. That's where the delta between Scola and Bosh widens dramatically, and alters the complexion of the lineups and matchups. If we get Bosh, the Rockets will dictate matchups, not react.
