Memphis was a playoff team back when Shane was there. Allow me to repeat. THE GRIZZLIES WERE IN THE PLAYOFFS. Why are you bolding that "everywhere Shane has been he was a winner" and asking come again? Do you not know your Battier history? He was a former most outstanding player at Duke capturing a championship, he was a key component on a playoff team in Memphis (they have not been back to the playoffs since his departure), he has been a key component on our playoff team. He does the little things. Brings the intangibles. Every great team needs a player like him. There are not that many players like Shane Battier in this league. His intelligence, his professionalism, his commitment to winning, his overall team play. You really can't put a price tag on him. I don't think there is anybody in this league like him.
The biggest difference between Battier and Wafer is not their skill sets but this: Battier does everything the coach asks him to do and makes 100% effort to prepare for the game plan. Wafer does not. This is why I love players like Battier.
No one's talking about the aesthetically pleasing Francis years much, compared to the slugfest 90's Hakeem years. Game 2 against the Lakers with the pushing and shoving, people getting knocked to the ground, blood, and whistles being blown every 15 seconds slowing the game to a crawl was some of the funnest stuff I've seen all year. And that was a Rockets LOSS! Who says slow plodders with big heart giving it their all cant be more exciting than flashy athletic players?
Tough comparison since Battier makes starter money and Wafer has an unknown market-value. I love Wafer at $2M per year, not so much above. Shane is special. Still not sure how his legacy is going to be written, but as a role player his greatness will be defined by the success of his teams. As a GM, I love getting Battiers. You need to build the Pistons since you cannot decide when you are going to get a Super-star. Sure the overwhelming majority of Championship teams have a great great player, but you can't plan for great players -- you need to have great luck and win the draft in a great year, have atop 10 pick that comes through, or trade or sign a FA at just the right moment. But if you try and only live for those moments you become the Knicks of the last few years -- trying to grab potentially top talent in exchange for flexibility and stability. All said, I'll take the solid guys like Shane (an they are few and far between) and leave the Maggettes, Wafers, Harringtons, Randolphs of the world. And I think that's exactly why we have Lowery, he is the PG version of Shane.
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Oooooooh. I never thought of it that way. You just explained my fan-crush on Lowry. LOVE the way that guy plays. I've had my fingers crossed that he's the one Adelman and Morey are grooming to take over the team.
lowry is a fiesty defender for his size but offensively i think hes at his peak. its frustrating because he could be as good as chris paul if he wanted to but he seems content with his current skill level. he seems content with only taking 8 shots a game. in memphis he only averaged about 4-5 assists when he was playing over 40 minutes. he seems like the guy who's always played this way though so i dont see him upping his level to star status any time soon.
I know why coaches rave about Battier. Game in game out he gives you solid minutes of error free basketball. He seemingly makes all the high percentage plays away from the ball. He's always in good position defensivly. He stops fast breaks by himself. He doesn't commit stupid fouls. He takes high percentage shots, and he's a very underrated passer. I love watching him play. People who don't understand his value just don't understand basketball.
I think ideally you like to have both types of players on your team but if you asked me to choose, I would choose Battier every time. Lots of guys in the NBA can score and most can dunk....but few have the intelligence it takes to be efficient and make the little plays off the ball that make the game easier on their teammates. It's hard to put a value on that, but trust me it's more rare than a jump shooter/slasher. As for Wafer, there are some things I like about him - he plays with a chip on his shoulder and doesn't back down which is always something you like to have on your team(remember Sam Cassel?). My problem is, he takes that attitude and focuses it solely on his scoring. He seemed to get worse over the course of the year at looking for teammates, taking quality shots, and putting effort into any other part of his game where he isn't handling the ball to score. He's a selfish player and ultimately I think it hurts the team and since this is a team game, that's why I prefer Battier style players.
battier is better off coming off the bench because we can't win it all with defense alone but ariza is combination of both
Man I hope you are right but Ariza has not been averaging double digits.....in like...well...ever. DD
For someone who loves to quote Von's 11 game sample size as a starter, why would you dismiss the 23 game sample size of Ariza in the 2009 playoffs, in which he averaged double digits in every single series?
I don't discount it, I hope it is a harbinger of things to come. Let's hope his playoff run was more indicative of his growth etc. DD
Ariza was playing in an offense that involves two of the most gifted scorers in the league. He was basically asked to space the floor for gasol and bryant. Ariza made the most out of his scoring opportunities, and I expect him to average 16 ppg easily as a rocket.
I hope you are right, but scoring 16ppg when the attention is focued on you is much different than when you are the 4th or 5th option. We shall see.. DD
Man, you guys are awful. You're making me rep DD...because he's so right and you all are so wrong. I think I saw someone try to make the case that Battier was more of a winner than Kobe...wth? It's about team balance and overall production.
If he's asked to score more, I could see him getting 16 a game...but probably at a much lower percentage.
