**The Official Shane Battier as a Member of the Memphis Grizzlies...Again Thread**

Might be the best Grizz trade ever. Just the fact that we no longer have to watch Thabeet is great but to get Battier has been the golden ticket.

 

He has been quite solid for Memphis thus far. He's rebounding like a boss, too. In an effort to catch Memphis, Houston sure shot itself in the foot trading Battier. It looks like New Orleans may be the one to drop out at this rate, though.

 

battier is in a good position not having to start

 

WTF? I thought he was starting

 

Tony Allen having a good game means Battier sucks? Why does one player having a good game mean his teammate must have had a bad one.

Battier played 26 minutes, had 8 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 block. The Grizz were +8 in his minutes (one game +/- don't mean much, but Battier has had positive +/- pretty consistently). Seems like a fine enough performance.

Allen, Randolph, Young, Conley and Gasol all played well. I would have praised them, but was worried some thread police would complain about such praises would be off topic and belong in another thread because this thread is about Shane Battier as a Grizzlie only.

 

Keep asking, my man, I might even give a **** one of these days.

Good you are not saying Battier sucked, but what exactly were you demanding that "the voices hyping up Battier" say in the post quoted below?

Where are "all of the voices hyping up Battier" supposed to be? What are they supposed to be saying?

As far as I can tell, nobody says Battier is the only one making the Grizzlie's win, or even the #1 reason they are winning. People merely observe that Battier has been a significant contributor, along with other players, to the recent Grizzlies wins. If you agree with that, I don't know what the argument is supposed to be about.

 

So, about last night's game. Did he play well or not? What are "Battier worshippers" supposed to have said about that game specifically?

 

Kwame, have you thought that maybe we're not as concerned with battier's play, now that he's no longer a rocket? Why would you expect Rockets' fans to keep checking in and talking about whether he played well or not? They don't have to do it simply to satisy your obsession.

I'd say the majority of posters who came in here to "defend" battier are doing it mainly because they're annoyed with your posting habits, rather than fighting for Battier's honor or something, myself included. Battier's done here for this season, maybe forever. I wish him well, like i do with every ex-rocket, but now its time to focus on the current players.

 

Would have been nice to have Battier on Vince Carter tonight.

Absolutely atrocious wing defense by the Rockets without Battier.

 

So, he played OK last night, but not as good as Randolph or Allen in your opinion. If so, it sure doesn't sound like it's worth commenting on to me. Still, you felt compelled to make a post demanding the "Battier lovers" say something about an "OK" game by Battier and praise Randolph and Allen? Not sure why there's a need to comment about an "OK" game if that's what it was. I watch about half of that game channel flipping on league pass, it seems he was doing pretty well. Hustling and helping out on D. Got a good swat on Westbrook, which turned into a fastbreak and 2 points (on a layup by, I think, Sam Young) with about 3 or 4 minutes left. His overall +/- seems to bear that out and he was contributing to it.


I didn't watch his 1st or 4th games. If you did, could you let us know how you think he played. If you think he played terribly, could you provide an analysis as to how he played terribly and how his play hurt the Grizzlies? Was he passing up open shots? Was he missing rotations? Was he turning the ball over excessively? If he played badly and the Grizzlies still had a positive outcome during his minutes-- either increasing a lead or trimming the opponents lead, could you tell us who on the team was carrying Battier during that time and what Battier could have done to make it more positive?

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't remember ever saying Battier is "perfect." I just think he's playing as well as one could expect a player with his talents (height, defensive awareness, shooting) and limitations (lack of explosiveness, lack of ability to dribble) to play. I also think that, based on both observational and statistical data, he generally makes a positive contribution to team play by filling that low-volume shooter/defender role. Part of that data is the fact that his coaches, from Hubie to Fratello to Van Gundy to Adelman and now Hollins, keeps giving him minutes. Maybe 1 or 2 of these guys are stupid or irrational, but I don't think all 5 of them are.

Also, as far as the "Battier don't work on his game" thread, I don't think the point is that Battier is perfect, I just don't agree the point made by leebigez and others that he would have been much better had he worked on an "all around" game. He just doesn't have the athletic gifts to be a high volume scorer and trying to be one will simply result in him taking extra low % shots and taking away possessions that could have been better used by a teammate.
And it's not just a Battier thing, either.

 

Kwame is probably the biggest idiot and most annoying douchebag on the site, and that is saying something.

 

Subtle... :grin:

 

Your right Kwame. Just like you were right about Ariza being better than Lee. Just like you were right about Outlaw, Posey, and Pietrus being better options than Battier. Too bad their careers are taking off and we missed out.

Which reminds me, why is Harpring no longer playing in the NBA? I asked you this a while back and you refused to answer. I guess he was just that bad of a player and couldn't secure a roster spot anymore, like you implied, right?

 

Is there middle ground between being a Battier worshiper and hating the guy? Just wondering.

 

^^Edit **You're**

There is, but with Kwame you can't say anything positive about Battier because he'll have to find a way to take a jab at him. That kind of constant reply will always swing things out of that middle ground, especially on a Rockets board.