Time to replace Shane Battier in the starting rotation?

LOL, did you just dodge the question for a second time?

Whats coming?

 

It's not that he's THAT bad, it's just that he doesn't fit. Battier is a good compliment to a star player; he was a great fit when we had McGrady. He guards the best offensive player and allows the star player to just focus on offense.

Unfortunately, this Rockets team doesn't have that one star player. The only way we can compete with the best teams in the league is to play as a team -- on both offense and defense. Battier doesn't fit in with the motion offense of making cuts, swinging the ball and being able to hit the open shot. In his 'prime', he was an above-average spot up shooter who expended all his energy defensively. Now, he's an average shooter who still is probably above-average defensively but slipping from where he once was.

Plenty of teams with star players could use him (Roy, Melo, etc.); there is definitely a market for him. Unfortunately I think the Rockets brass might overvalue the actual contribution he gives to the team.

 

It must be contagious. Battier makes Brooks and Martin play bad defense, too.

 

Gerald Wallace was playing well in his last couple years with SAC?

GW left SAC after the 03/04 season. He spent 3 years with SAC.

During the 02/03 season, GW's TS% was .510, his PER was 12.4, his ORtg was 94. For Peja, the numbers were .590, 19.6, and 117. For Christie, the numbers were .545, 15.0 and 113.

GW did start 7 games, in which he avaeraged 26 minutes, 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds 1.2 assists, had a TS% of .566, but also turne the ball over 2.0 times per game (which is quite high for someone scoring just 8.3 points). Decent, but hardly spetacular numbers and certainly not as good as Peja (who missed 10 games that season).

During the 03/04 season, GW's TS% was .377, his PER was 10.4, and his ORtg was 97. For Peja, the numbers were .624, 21.8 and 120. For Christie, they were .544, 14.0 and 107.

Adelman may or may not have an attachment to the vets, but he certainly seem to have a rational basis for sitting GW in favor of these two vets.

 

^ Furthermore he had no loyalty to McGrady who was a vet nor Hardaway when he was jettisoned and went on to play well w/ his new team.

 

Gerald Wallace was nowhere near as good then as he is now.

Citing him as the only example of a guy Adelman did not play is silly.

DD

 

Their defense was ok, for the most part.

They got burned late by some 3s, that were not contested, but their job on the team is to attack the guy in the paint and try to dig the ball out when it goes in and then recover to the 3pt shooters.

The recovery thing was bad last night but the one on one defense was ok.

How did Fisher do BTW?

DD

 

Christie was on a sharp decline and he missed some games. When they had wallace and hedo before the trade of both,it was clear both peja and christie were slipping. When peja was coming back from injury and clearly struggling, adelman stuck with him vs playing hedo more who filled in nicely. When wallace was part of the rotation due to injury, he played pretty well considering the guy was 20-21 or so.

Its nothing really wrong with sticking to the vets if thats what you do and thats what adelman do for the most part. Maybe because there arent enough minutes or something, but also lost in the stir, hill didnt play 1 minute. Those missed layups couldve been dunks. Hayes, on a good team doesnt play either, yet he played 15 mins of useless ball.

 

Rebounds and the lack of rim-protecting lost the game for the Rockets, not Battier. Yeah Battier had a few bad shots and def wasn't top notch but he wasn't the only one. I can't count how many times Gasol blew by Miller when he was out of position for easy lay-ups and dunks. Scola played well in the fourth but where was he in the first 3 quarters with blown lay-ups and terrible D losing Odom on numerous possessions. Team wins together and lose together IMHO...Rockets still have a chance to go 81-1 though :grin:

 

How many games did Christie miss between 2001 and 2004 (the time Wallace was a King)?

 

So we just trade the most important one because we have to many, which i dont even think is true. I guess we have to trade scola too, since we have too many Pfs.

Should we then continue with Martin and brooks, since they are handicapped defensively?

 

LOL wut?

Scola, Brooks and Martin contribute to WINNING games on this team with their scoring. What does Battier do, other than play mediocre defense now that he's older?

Lee can do what Battier does now and at least he can score. It's not like we are losing our defense if Battier is gone.

OUR DEFENSE SUCKS ANYWAYS with him here. Might as well put Budinger in there to score since that's the only way we'll be able to beat teams. By out scoring them.

Most important one? Hayes is by far the most important Rocket on Defense behind Yao.

 

ummm...not sure if you've noticed, but there's a play everyone is talking about, when brooks left someone open...does that not contribute to LOSING?

It's ridiculous how some fans believe games are only won by scoring and not also trying to stop your opponent.

What happened when battier sat? Did the rockets gain defense? Stay the same? No. They LOST it.

 

Exactly. Battier has proven worthless in the only side of basketball that matters: offense. We have proven this season based on a sample size of 1 that whenever Battier is starting we lose. We can therefore conclude that we will go 0 and 82 unless we start that red headed guy (and once we discover some limitation of the red head we will realize we need to get rid of him too)!!! Trade Battier and Budinger for Melo!!! I can't believe Morey hasn't thought of trading people with less value for a superstar!!! That is the strategy that wins championships--I know because of my years of experience playing NBA 2k10, NBA 2k9, going all the way back to NBA 2k8 where I always win when I'm able to trade Battier for Lebron or Melo. Then, there's the incompetence of Rick Adelman for being brainwashed by the legions of Battier-lovers. He's probably just following the advice of all the Battier--lovers on Clutchfans instead of the years of experience that has brought him to have the 3rd highest win percentage of all active coaches. His record is just a statistical anomaly due to the low sample size of only 1400 games.

 

Shanes not as important as people think. We need playmakers. People who make plays at crucial times. One guy making a play or two at his position that he doesnt normally make? We win the Lakers game. It doesnt matter defense or offense oriented as long as he can still make plays. Battier rarely makes them anymore. He plays solid enough team defense to not hurt the team but not contribute in any way towards a win either. Thats pretty much sums up his career. He at one time was a elite defender andthat made a difference big enough to be tangible towards winning. Its not the case anymore.

 

There is some positive to have Battier in the lineup and i admit that....positive being that he doesn't take shots away from Aaron and Martin and he doesn't force the issue.

 

one guy making a defensive play or two at his position that he doesnt normally make? We win the lakers game.

Where did all these people grow up ? where is this world where defense does not exist in basketball?

If you don't hurt the team, how is that not contributing to a win?
If everyone made plays that "didnt hurt the team", would you expect a loss??

 

What defense? You have a stat for his 112 points defense? I have one. 112 points.

 

what are you talking about. You just reinforced my point, that we need defense, not freaking offense. ONE HUNDRED AND TEN POINTS. Does it look like we need more offense?

How do you look at 110 pts scored, which would be considered not just above average, but at the very top of the list, and come to the conclusion that we need less defense and more offense? Seriously??

Teams dont score 130 a game....but they can be held to only 90. In other words, what you want is NOT realistic, for us the Lakers, Celtics, or even the 72 win bulls.

 

uhmmmm...Matt Bullard just said he thought a switch will happen sometime this season where Bud starts and Shane comes off the bench.