How much more of this do we have to take? Ron was on his game tonight, but for the longest time Battier was still in there hurting the team. Sure most of the starters played bad tonight with the exception of Scola, but he's been playing like this the whole season. How much longer will his supporters use the "he's still recovering from an injury" excuse for him? He had a routine procedure done in May of 2008 and he's still not healthy yet? I think the real reason for his poor play is that he's declining rapidly. This isn't a slump. They should've traded him to the Blazers for Outlaw and fillers when they had a chance. Hopefully, we can still get something of value for him. Just imagine Rudy Gay on this team. He'd basically be Von Wafer x10. What could've been. Unless he's being showcased for a trade (which would look counterproductive given his play), his mpg need to be reduced and he needs to be taken out of the starting lineup. No more than 15-20 mins for him. The rest of his mins can go to other productive players. Battier's poor play couple with Rafer's typical uselessness leaves the Rockets playing 3 on 5 a lot. 3 on 5 basketball is no fun and I don't care who you're playing, it's going to be hard to win.
It wasn't a knee jerk thread, it was a accumulation of data. I've been saying it and telling it like it is. When yao and tracy struggling, he's useless. RJ torched him the whole night, yet others were blamed.
I think he's declined so bad and the reason he sticks out so much is because he lacks tangible basketball skills and has little athleticism to compensate for his rapid decline. It's sad.
HE IS A ROLE PLAYER, he plays a ROLE.... The alleged BEST players are not living up to their role either.... The entire team is in disarray and is not playing together....it is not one man's fault it is several. DD
I agree to a certain extent, but I would say he's not playing his role well. The only difference I feel between the other guys minus Rafer of course is that you have to at least guard them and acknowledge their presence on the court, but with Battier and Alston, it's like their defenders are taking a vacation and/or making it much tougher for the main guys to score.
DD, I never said was shane fault. I said if yao and mcgrady suck like did tonight, he's useless. Throw in rafer and the paint drying contest is on. Every player is a role player because everyone has a role. The problems with the rockets are no one is fullfillin their role.
bigez, I say its reflects the Rockets nation now. People who think we deserve things before earning it. back in the day Rocket fans were hard working Houstonians who were tough and gritty like the Rockets. Now houston is basically looking like LA, we want the flash and glamour, the marketing.. you got it. it wasn't about Team, its about individual superstars, you got it. we got what we deserve. its time to go back to those old days where hard working players like a Mario Elie or Otis Thrope made us proud. And for Shane, I feel for the guy. He's a good player and a professional.
Its tracys fault NO ONE had a problem with shane the last couple of years and this year is no different except for tracys play Shane's offense depends on tracy and tracy doesnt have it anymore thus shanes game is suffering this is what happends when u trade rudy because you felt like tracy was going to be an allstar for a long time now ur stuck with an slow tracy that rather shoot flat jumpers and a offensively challenged defensive "good locker guy"
Rudy T traded OT and tried to trade Elie. He went for the glitzy homerun trade in Barkley and got burned. Irony is that he works for the Lakers now, the team he transformed the Rockets into.
Wasnt the point of the Barkley trade to get us past Seattle? That Stockton 3 off of the Malone bear hug is what doomed us a year later or whenever that was.
It is the TRUTH. Battier is a liability on offense now. He is a one trick pony who is not even very good at that one trick right now. He should not be a starter any longer. I'm not sure if you trade him or what, but he is no longer a starter. We need a SF with skills. I don't care if he is not a defensive stopper or hustle guy. We need a guy that can fill it up. Shooting and slashing. Able to handle the ball and break down his defender. T-Mac looks like he will not be giving us any of that anytime soon so we need somebody with the starting unit that can do that. Something has got to change.
So you are saying we traded a first round pick (#8 ) for a role player. I am sure any first round player is more than a role player. Finally people are realizing that Battier was a BIG mistake.
NewsFLASH....most number 8 picks are ROLE players.... Most first round picks are ROLE players...... Once you get past the top 5, it is all a gamble. DD
Shane has been getting rained on this entire season..His offense is worst than luther head right now...The rockets are playing 4 on 5 on offense with shane, and 4 on 5 with tmac on defense. THe rockets should be allowed to play with 6 players on the court
When you draft in the top 10 you aren't looking for a one dimensional role player. Teams drafting in the top 10 should be looking to get a future all-star. I believe Kobe was a #8 pick, Brandon Roy #7, Amare #8. Just because some teams suck at drafting players doesn't mean the intent is to have a simple role player. Shane was not worth a #8 pick. You couldn't trade Shane today for a #8 pick and you wouldn't have been able to trade him 2 years ago for a #8 pick. Boston traded a #5 (Jeff Green) in a weak draft and got Ray Allen who is an all-star caliber player. The Rockets trade a #8 (Gay) in a strong draft and they get a role player. Something is wrong with that. You can give me the glue guy, intangible, good character talk, but Bruce Bowen is the same thing and he didn't cost a #8 pick. You get those guys out of the D-League and in the second round. You don't trade lottery picks for them. Continuing to contend that the Battier deal was a good trade would be like the Hornets saying they made a good trade when they sent Kobe to the Lakers for Divac because they wanted to "win now". You don't give away the future to "win now". It is possible to build for the present and the future. Brooks, Landry, and Scola are all able to contribute to the team and they started their NBA careers a year after Gay. The whole idea that Battier has some how improved this team is a misconception. The Rockets have always been able to get a player to fill Battier's role. They did it with Jim Jackson, the Wesley, even Bowen. They were able to win 50+ games in all those seasons. They still didn't get past the 1st round and they still haven't after mortgaging their future. Battier was a bad investment.
I remember the exact day of the trade. I waited to see the rockets pick even though I was late to a pool party in college. The rockets selected Rudy gay and I was happy as hell. (even though I wish we could have magically gotten brandon roy.) I left to the party and when I came back, it said the rockets traded him for Shane....now that hurted.
DD, I remember you and I leading up to that draft. I wanted brewer, you wanted JJ. I thought the rockets needed a athletic,slashing multi defending wing, you wanted the former shooting chanp from college. I don't think either thought Gay would be there at 8 because projections were he was 3-5. That neither here nor there. I know you're smart enough and basketball savvy enough to know at 8 you're not looking for bruce bowen. You're looking for a guy that can make a few all star games and have a really,really good career. Go back the last 10-12 yrs and look at 8th pick or lower. Just because a team sux a drafting, doesn't mean u have to.
