The Teflon Don, Shane Battier.

It's not just about shot attempts and points. It's about moving around, getting offensive rebounds, assists, and actually being an active part of the offense instead of camping out in the corner. This is what I've seen from Battier more this post season and especially since Yao went down. Even though he's one of the worst ball handlers on the Rockets, I've even seen him drive it to the hole a few times this post-season as well.

@ Carl Herrera and durvasa: Why have we not seen this type of activity on the offensive end for most of his career as a Houston Rocket?

My theory is that he gets complacent on the offensive end when everybody is healthy and just stands in the corner hoping somebody spoon feeds him the ball for an open 3. I don't think anybody expected that when they traded a lottery pick to Memphis for him.

@ durvasa: I'm glad you're enjoying yourself even though you predicted the Rockets to lose in the first round.

 

Come on, the guy is manning up his own bad. Give him some credit for it.

 

again, it was not to call him out but to show how clutch fans in general act towards their players when they have slumps.

i remember there was a luis scola thread a while back...

 

Frankly, I don't see a whole lot of difference in "this type of activity." For example, Battier averaged 1.6 offensive boards a game last season. Pretty good for a perimeter guy who is supposely hanging out at the 3 point line all day.

His offensive rebound was lower in 07 and in this season because of either strategy (JVG love spacing the floor with shooters, and had him playing transition D rather than crashing the boards) or injury (this season).

In any case, his teams have traditionally been better with him on the floor on the offensive end than with him off. He runs the offense, makes good entry passes, isn't a "ball stopper." He's certainly not been hurting a team's offense.

 

You mean you of all people are tooting your own horn? How surprising...

 

Don't want to bring up that Battier-Gay debate again. But boy am I glad that we are having Battier and not Gay in this playoffs.

 

He is a good entry passer and he gets tired because he doesn't get much help from the others on defense,but he hasn't shot well on the road. We need that in Game 7.Frankly speaking we are an offensively challenged team on the road and all the guys including Battier have to put up more points in addition to playing defense. Even the guys on 1560 pointed that out.

 

Battier is going to have to hit some threes on Sunday. There is no way around it. I don't want to see him, or Scola bypassing open looks. That's what gets the offense in trouble.

 

Battier is underrated offensively because most people don't see these so-called intangibles. He may not shoot a lot, or grab a lot of offensive rebounds. But he moves the ball. Many of his passes aren't assists but are necessary for the offense. He spaces the floor correctly to create room for the interior players to operate. He doesn't make boneheaded turnovers, jack up ill-advised shots. In other words, he is 100% dependable for executing whatever offense the coach wants to run.

His weakness is that he is not very creative or aggressive in doing anything outside of that.

 

@ Carl Herrera: I've never seen Battier this active on the offensive end during his tenure here, which leads me to believe that he does get complacent and is content with a self-imposed diminishing offensive role in general and hanging out in the corner in particular when everybody is healthy. The fact of the matter is that due to the mpg he plays, the Rockets need him to score and provide tangible production whether the team is healthy or not.

Using your logic, we can blame Battier for Memphis being winless in the post-season during their entire history as an NBA franchise.

 

I think most of this is probably imagined on your part. Battier is playing the same game he's always played. There is more player movement, ball movement, and overall activity from all the players on the team in Yao's absence for straightforward reasons. Battier is just blending in and running the offense, as he always does.

Enjoying myself? I really don't know what you're getting at. Am I supposed to be ashamed because I didn't think the Rockets would play this well? Sorry, I'm not.

I'm glad the Rockets are winning, and I am "enjoying" watching the Rockets win games. I'm "enjoying" that many of the players that before were unheralded are getting more national recognition and respect.

 

Yes Sir,it's not only on Battier,Scola but all of them.

 

and you can also blame Battier for Memphis being never in the playoffs during their entire history without him.

 

i tend to agree with this one.

but iirc, batier actually outscored kobe in game 1 and yao was still playing. so maybe kwame had a point in that one, too.

 

Wasn't really logic, I would describe it as "Idiotic Kwame Nonsense" that I decided to give a whirl to see what it feels like.

So, to continue, please explain how you got Battier being blamed for Memphis post season woes from me just asking if 2 random players I named are in the playoffs right now. Your jump in thought process logic is fascinating.

 

maybe batier outscored kobe, but im sure battier didnt

 

@ v.3.0: Your name-calling doesn't surprise me. I should do what almost everybody else has done so far in this thread and ignore you until you start posting material that actually contributes to the thread instead of nonsense.

To the people who have singled out leebigez in this thread, I think it's unfair. The criticism that was directed towards Battier at the time was completely legitimate. Also, how come nobody is giving leebigez credit for calling for Brooks to start a long time ago? I remember more than a few posts from a while back by him saying that this should happen.

No, I don't think it's imagined at all. I've seen this type of activity from other players before, but rarely do you see it from Battier on the offensive end. See my response to Carl Herrera in post #310 for why I believe this to be the case and why Battier scoring and providing tangible production on the offensive end is necessary in order for the Rockets to succeed.

As far as your incorrect predictions are concerned, I hope you've at least admitted that you were wrong. I'm pretty sure you have and if you have, I give you credit.

 

you're right. that was game 4 where shane scored 23 and kobe 15. yao was already out.

so i rescind my original post.

 

Totally didn't see this post, but I think people are blinded by their emotional reactions when they see the name of certain posters. I've seen this on many message boards. It's sort of a shoot the messenger syndrome instead of focusing on the message. Also, I've found that it's difficult for people to think outside the box in general. Thus, when people present thoughts and solutions that depart from the mainstream way of thinking, it's difficult for others to comprehend those ideas because over time they've been programmed and even subconsciously programmed themselves to think a certain way. But I did give you your props especially on calling for Brooks to start in post #318.