That wasn't my point but I get your point. The problem is as soon as you lose one of your top scorers (or two in our case), Battier is fully incapable of picking up any real portion of that slack. For his value to be maximized, he needs scorers around him to compensate for his relative ineffectiveness at that end. I'm not trying to slam Battier, just stating the facts about his limitations. With the loss of McGrady and Yao, we are looking to 2nd-tier or worse offensive players like Brooks, Wafer, Artest, Scola, etc... to pick up the slack. Battier is still doing pretty much the same things he did when we had all our weapons in the lineup last season because he's incapable of doing much more.
You are right. Battier is not able to pick up offense consistently. That's why a few years back when Tmac and Yao were injured, Rockets couldn't hang with anybody, Scoring in 70s and low 80s all the time. Now we have a bunch of 2nd-tier offensive players, we still have enough offense to go around without Tmac and Yao, Battier doesn't need to change his way of playing too much. That makes Battier a constant in this system, a very good and very important constant.
I bumped this thread to admit I was wrong and I'm sure many who posted negatives about Battier in this thread feel the same way. Don't come into this thread acting like some know-all when you weren't even around and pretend like you've never once been frustrated with Battier's play before. I bumped this thread to turn a negative into a positive and give props to Battier and his teammates.
They dont have tons of offense. Tons of offense doesnt equal 97ppg. Even in the playoffs, guys need to step it up at home and on the road. The 40pt loss was a out the box experience, but the 2 other double digit losses were cut and dry. Look, when shane played well in game 4, i was the first to say so and i know he has it in him. I watched shane in memphis when they had some quality scorer's and he still managed to be into the flow of the game. No one is asking shane to be kobe, just dont let kobe rest on defense when he guards you. Make him respect you all over the court by cutting hard, running the break, and if he falls asleep, make him pay. When shane does that, it really makes it easier on the rest of the rockets.
I have been a critic of Battier for a very long time. Now, I pay homage to the man. Mr. Battier, you have my respect.
i never said i never was or wasn't frustrated with battier's play before. actually i have been frustrated with everybody's play at one point. the point i'm making is people of this forum always get frustrated with a player and make these types of threads when they are struggling at some point in their career when it not fair to the player. a couple bad games doesn't merit harsh criticism on a players talent as a whole. you obviously got offended by what i said even tho it wasn't aimed t you but to show how clutch fans can be with evaluating their players
Leeb, You have to admit this is funny....next thing you know I am gonna bring up your take on Scola... DD
Battier always shows up for the big games. Its about time this guy gets some respect. Hes been guarding the other teams best player since he got here. Every good team needs a guy like Shane.
I bumped this thread ...... " to show how clutch fans can be with evaluating their players". That was my point we're on the same page. Hence why I said I made a mistake.
I haven't been wrong all year. I was on the Ron Artest wagon when the warier came to town. I lost faith in Tmac. And I was right about Rick the Ruler.
Battier has played well during these playoffs most of the time. At other times, he's played poorly this post-season. What people don't understand is that the criticism that was directed towards him earlier this season was absolutely warranted. I've always said that the Rockets would not be successful in the post-season if Battier continued his historic poor play in the playoffs due to the mpg he receives. That's why I either suggested that his mpg be reduced or he needs to show up. He's played well at home, but poorer on the road. Hopefully, he shows up Sun. This leads to a more important question. How come Battier hasn't played like this more consistently? When the team is healthy he gets complacent and even lazy on the offensive end, which leads him to just hang out in the corner. He needs to understand that when the team is healthy, they still need tangible production from him as well. His mindset should be no different then than it is now. I will always stand by the notion that the Rockets overpaid to acquire Battier. Players of his caliber are available through minor transactions and free agency.
Battier plays the same way, all the time. He's more in the limelight now, because he's guarding the best player in the series. What are you seeing him do more this postseason that he didn't do in the past?
You can't deny that he's been more aggressive offensively since Yao went down. That's what I was referring to. When everybody is healthy he parks himself in the corner and just settles for standing there offensively most of the time. Also, what makes up for the discrepancy in the way he plays at home vs the way he plays on the road this post-season? On an unrelated note, you've made quite a few horrible predictions lately. Didn't you pick Portland to win against Houston saying they would take game 6 and 7? Also, didn't you pick the Lakers to win this series a long time ago? All this along with a thread about the construction of this team so that it might not need a backup C. Not a good time for durvasa. You're right up there with the espn "experts."
FG attempts by Battier: Game 4: 12 (6 FTs) 40 minutes Game 5: 7 (0 FT) 30 minutes Game 6: 8 (0 FT) 40 minutes. Aside from Game 4, I don't see how much more "aggresive" Battier has been than he usually is. For the season, he averaged 6 FG and 1 FT attemps in 33 minutes a game. Getting 1 or 2 shots more up in a lot of minutes doesn''t exactly spell "super aggressive mode" to me.
I don't deny it. I'm not sure why you think there's something wrong with that. When a team's number 1 option goes down, all the players (especially the ones who's primarily responsibility before was to get that player the ball) need to be more aggressive. I think you put way too much stock on Battier's shot attempts and makes. Battier does not create scoring opportunities for himself. If he's to get open looks, its because the team is executing well and/or the defense is playing poorly. That should explain his discrepency home and away. It's simply reflective of the team's superiority at home. Yes, I picked the Rockets to lose in the first round. I'm not sure what you think that thread about the backup C was about -- there were no predictions in there. And this is a great time for me, as it should be for any Rockets fan. Should I be disappointed that the Rockets, without McGrady and with an inexperienced PG, have thoroughly exceeded my expectations?
What a horrible predictor you are. Smart people make smart comments like this team need Ricky Davis and Tim Thomas instead of ass players like Battier. This team needs offensers, don't you know?
