So if he doesn't have the lateral quickness to stay with SG's, does that mean Tracy now has to check Kobe, J-Rich, etc? If so, I don't see how that helps us as a team. By the way, if I came in here a few days ago and said I heard a rumor that West would land a top 10 pick with Battier and nothing else, how many people would NOT have laughed at me?
4) If we are to use it, a future pick to compensate the pickup of this player, which another team wants to unload, would be included. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but after the move we made last night - call me a skeptic. 5) Pick 1. I don't know how you can add 2 quality players with 1 MLE. So I see us picking up 1 FA, 1 old vet and a few CBA players to round out the roster. Does that make me look forward to 2006-07? Hardly.
Good Story - Seems like Battier was Locker Room Leader of The Gtiz http://www.nba.com/games/20051108/SEAMEM/recap.html Battier Stifles Allen, Leads Grizzlies Box Score | Grizzlies Home | SuperSonics Home MEMPHIS, Tennessee, Nov. 8 (Ticker) -- Shane Battier frustrated Ray Allen and provided some offense of his own. Battier scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting and limited Allen to 15 points as the Memphis Grizzlies rolled to a 94-69 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. NBA TV highlights from Sonics-Grizzlies: Play Seattle never scored less than 73 points last season while winning the Northwest Division. The SuperSonics had also won the last six meetings with the Grizzlies. But on Tuesday, the 6-8 Battier used his three-inch height advantage to stifle Allen, who averaged 31.5 points in Seattle's first two games this season, but made just 6-of-15 shots, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range. "You're not going to count on Ray Allen struggling through too many tough shooting nights," Battier said. "When you chase those guys around and make them miss shots, you know it's your lucky day." "It was a tough night," Allen said. "The shots are not going to fall all the time. Give them credit. They made plays and kept pounding us." Meanwhile, Battier and Pau Gasol combined to score 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the third quarter, when the Grizzlies outscored the Sonics 27-14. Seattle made just 5-of-18 shots in the period. "I thought in the second half our energy picked up more than it had at any point in the game," Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello said. "We chased a little harder and fought through screens, and that made the overall effort much better. It was much easier for us in the second half because we moved the ball around more and found open guys. Once we settled in on defense, our offense got clicking." Battier nearly outscored the Sonics by himself in the third quarter, making all six of his shots from the field, including a 3-pointer. "It was just one of those nights where it seemed like I was in the right spot at the right time," Battier said. "My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball in the right spots and I was able to convert." Three of Battier's baskets were layups. He also converted a six-foot turnaround and a 12-foot jumper after opening the quarter with a 25-footer from the right corner. A 3-pointer by Eddie Jones with 38 seconds left capped a 13-3 run and gave Memphis its biggest lead of the quarter at 67-49. The Sonics got no closer than 17 points in the final period. "It was great to see (Battier) play so well," Jones said. "He does all the little things. You know that half of the time the little things don't get reported, but in the locker room we know how important that really is. Before (becoming teammates with Battier), I thought he was a defensive player and a facilitator. Now I know he is our team leader and a very selfless player." Gasol also finished with 20 points, including 10 in the third quarter on 5-of-8 shooting. "We moved the ball well (in the third quarter)," Gasol said. "We were making the right plays on offense and playing pretty good defense. But the best thing is that we held Seattle, one of the top offensive teams in the league, to under 70 points. I think that's pretty impressive." Rashard Lewis scored 13 points - none in the second half - for Seattle, which shot just 33 percent (23-of-70), including 5-of-24 from behind the arc, and committed 21 turnovers. "We're not getting much help to Rashard (Lewis) and Ray (Allen)," Sonics coach Bob Weiss said. "We have got to have some guys step up. I told the team I want to drop the running for a while - too many turnovers and we're wasting too many possessions. I want us to look into controlling the game better." The rest of the starters - Luke Ridnour, Reggie Evans and Johan Petro - made 2-of-11 shots. Mike Miller scored eight of his 14 points in the first quarter when the Grizzlies built a 24-20 lead. Seattle tied the game at 37-37 on a pair of free throws by Evans with 2:24 left in the second quarter, but Gasol closed the half with a 12-foot jumper and a dunk. Battier and Gasol then took over in the third.
Exactly. While Battier is a good defender, I don't think he can guard SGs nor do I think TMac should have to guard them. We would have the same problem w/ Gay but I think he has the potential to play some PF if he can gain muscle. IMO, we went into the draft w/ holes at SG, a backup PG, and a backup C. As of now, we still need a SG (unless they plan on moving TMac back), a backup PG and C, and NOW WE NEED A PF! Just shows how unbelievable this trade is. If Gay was gone and we were dealing w/ Brewer/Redick/Carney, I could absolutely understand, but Gay was a Top 5 Prospect.
Grizzlies-Rockets deal delayed The proposed Grizzlies-Rockets trade first reported by ESPN.com's Andy Katz that would send Shane Battier to Houston for the rights to the No. 8 pick in Wednesday's draft (Rudy Gay) can't be completed until the trade moratorium ends in mid-July. Battier is a base year compensation player and needs his salary to reset July 1. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006/news/story?id=2503390 Any chance this deal could fall apart?? GOD I HOPE SO!
I really like battier but i think we should gotten at least their 24th or hakim warrick especially since we are giving up swift. Now i guess the mle might go to a guy like radmonovich
the only way the Rockets pull this off season out of the fire is thru a major free agent deal. Stoyakovic, Wallace, somebody PLEASE!
It all makes sense now. Battier comes in starts at 2 guard and bring Wesley or another vet back for LLE at 2 guard. Sign FA PF like Radman or Wilcox with MLE. Keep Mutombo alive long enough to play another season. Trade JHo for "depth" pieces. So we can look like: Yao - Mutumbo MLE sign- Trade Piece - Hayes TMac - Battier - Trade Piece Battier - Head - LLE sign Alston - Head - LLE sign Either that or it's Greg Oden for 07 draft.
C - Yao, Deke PF - Howard, Hayes, Novak SF - Battier, Bowen SG - TMac, Head PG - Alston, Looking at the above, how is this team going to compete with DAL and SAN? Who is guarding Ginobli and Terry on the perimeter? Dirk or Duncan? While the entire NBA is trying to get faster, quicker, longer, we got shorter and slower. The same holes in the lineup exist. Need a PF that can defend, shoot from the outside, and protect Yao. Need an athletic perimeter defender. Need more outside shooting. Need more talent. Battier is a solid player. A "taller Bowen". Great. Welcome to Houston. Hey, an improvement over David Wesley. But the trade wasn't Wesley for Battier.
what in God's name is making you think that Gay is such a project that he would take 3 years to become productive? is it the fact that every UConn player to come out recently has been solid from the get-go? or that CD has proven - for the most part - to be an awful evaluator of talent?? if this deal stands as is, the Rockets f*cked themselves. end of story.
I blew $140 on League Pass this past season, to watch all the Rockets games here in Chicago. Even though this team (health assumed) just improved, possibly even significantly, I'm not looking forward to watching this team, and spending $100+ to do it. I love this team, and I've defended them against rabid Bulls fans since '91. This trade makes me sick to my stomach. I've been numb since about 8pm last night. And what's worse, given our history in the draft, I can't say I'm so surprised. I like JVG, and I think CDs a great guy. We just traded youth and height and "athleticism" away for a solid role player. This team just traded it's future away. This has to get better. Maybe I'm just not seeing it right now. There has to be something better about this whole thing... If we don't crack the 2nd round in a big way this season, then it may be time to open some discussion as to the merits of seppuku.
I thought his BYC status had something to do with the delay. I don't quite understand it though. Can one of the gurus chime in?
what are they saying on Houston sports radio (assuming they're mentioning it at all)? you guys better be blowing up the 610 and 790 lines.
Oden mysteriously drops to us @ #3. We promptly trade him to Memphis for Stromile Swift. Jerry West is a hypnotist!
Anyone care to post what was in that Breakfast with the Coach thread now, because what the heck does it matter anymore? This team has no tradeable assets anymore (Swift actually was one) and only have a MLE and a TE (when have we ever effectively used that anyways?) to use to acquire new personnel.
Ok, i didnt like this trade at all, but after reading Richard Justice's column this morning I have calmed down a little. I think what it comes down to is: 1. whether or not we will be able to get james with the MLE and 2. what we will do with the 4.2 million trade exception. Personally, I think adding Drew Gooden would be do-able and add a lot to the team. He makes 4.1 m a year with the Cavs. So that would make the roster look like this: Yao/Deke Gooden/JHo/Hayes/Novak Battier/McGrady/Bogans James/Alston McGrady/James/Head James is the third scoring option, Battier and Gooden play D and shoot a little. Seems to me that team could win 55. Eight man rotation of Yao, McGrady, James, Gooden, Battier, Alston, Howard, Head with Deke, Hayes and Novak getting spot time.
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/Draft/2006/reportcard.htm ROCKETS GOT A D+ THE SECOND WORSE. THE SUNS GOT A F CAUSE THEY TRADED THEIR PICKS. AND IF YOU LOOK ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE LINK RUDY GAY WAS THE ONLY 6 STAR PROSPECT IN THE DRAFT.
