I like the way you think BrooksBall...well...sometimes... I don't know if Artest is the answer but it does surprise me that a team lacking so much in other areas is dead set on keeping all these defensive players when they've proven they are good at it. Not to take anything away from shane, everyone hates to see a player who puts that kind of effort in go but we were pretty good defensively before he got here. Everyone is talking about this is the season tmac goes, it is probably more likely (and better GM'ing) that Battier goes. Think about it, tmac has had some of his worst games on national tv while Battier has shined and garnered attention as a possible DPOY. Trade him and you might get the same caliber of player that you would get for tmac (since his trade value is pennies on the dollar). It's much more likely that we upgrade our talent through the draft and expiring contracts because we don't really have enough talent to take a chance on trading any one of our top 3 guys. If a guy doesn't pan out we could easily be looking at the lottery. Unfortunately i foresee us trying to continue to get better with minimal upgrades until the wheels inevitably fall off this yao/tmac bus (Groundhog Day).
That is how you win championships, you make minor adjustments to your team until you get the chemistry just right. Big sweeping changes mean big sweeping risks and they rarely work out, unless you get a Garnet and Allen over the summer. I like the core of Yao, Tmac, Battier, Scola......we need to get pieces that fit around them and take advantage of their talents. For Yao you need players that can pass, cut and shoot a wide open jumper. For Tmac, you need players that can catch and finish as well as shoot an open jumper and cut to the basket. For Battier, you need players that can draw his man and allow him to be open for his corner 3s.... For Scola you need players who can pass to him on the cut and in rythmn to allow him to roll to the basket and finish. DD
This is not what i see in McGrady though when the playoffs role around. During the streak McGrady speed is based on attacking the basket in a slow down game or finishing a break without the ball. With the ball since he is our focal point he is applying the offense to get better looks and finding the seems to attack and create for others. Playoffs isnt determind on superior Athlectismn its determind on getting back on defense and playing the right way. Battier is fundemantally sound and keeps his body on people to keep them from showing that off.
All I can say is that Battier and Scola are clearly slow compared to the average players at those positions. I don't know how anybody could think otherwise. I also agree that their bball smarts are off the charts. If it weren't for that fact, neither of them would last a day in this league because of their lack of athleticism. I agree that Artest is a chemistry killer. What a shame for a player with such immense talent on both ends of the court. However, Rasheed Wallace was once the same type of problem. He got straightened out in the right environment.
I beg to differ. The recipe for success is not always the same. Both the Pistons and Heat overhauled their teams right before their championship runs. It is not always slow, piece by piece changes that lead to championships, especially when your foundation is questionable, as is the case in Houston.
Never thought i would see Battier compared to Bird... but yeah, he has the IQ...but...that ain't enough (sorry about the Unforgivable reference) Bird and other historicly great unatheletic players had the offensive skill to compensate. One of the best shooters ever, an underrated post game, deceptive quickness, and great handles for a 6-9 guy. Battier's intelligence is fine for defense but while he is also smart on Offense he is much less skilled than he is on the other side of the ball. He doesn't have the moves to make up for his lack of speed. You would have to get a guy who was good on both ends of the floor though to make up for shane's contributions. As far as your 'no knuckleheads' comment goes... I guess there's never been a guy with a bad attitude come to a team and be that extra piece they needed to put them over the top, that team never won a championship, stop me when you figure who i'm talking about... That's one of the few ways that you can get good players w/o giving up much.
Thats very true. Artest has been on his best behavior too. Battier though is too much at this point to just let go. What we could bring in as well as keeping him will make us a much stronger team. Its the fact Battier is just as or if not more fundmentally sounded than Head on offense and a over the charts defender than Head this is what he is.
Saying that Battier is more fundamentally sound than Head on offense doesn't mean squat. Head sucks. Period.
Generally i would agree with you but i think the rockets got a little hasty. As i have said before i think the rockets have overacheived with mediocre talent around two good players. Usually, teams start this process when they already have more solid pieces. Seems like the rockets too early and ended up with a deep rotation of hustlers and not many real ballers. You said that Battier can fit in the Bowen role. Well where's our Finley, our Horry, our Barry, our Parker. Neither one of those guys are great defensively or are known for their hustle but they can do one thing most of our guys can't. They can put the ball in the hole. Those scrappy defenders (as we should know more than anyone) can come later from the dleague or other avenues.
Head isnt known to be a very good shooter off the dribble as those names you just mentioned exept for Horry. Offensively Head is no different than Bowen.
I said that Head sucks and you seemed to challenge that by saying Head doesn't have a developing post game. That supports what I was saying, it doesn't refute it. Maybe a lot of that stuff you have been talking about doesn't make sense.
The poster you just responded to didn't even mention Head. Are you even reading others' comments? Or, are you just not comprehending the comments?
It makes perfect sence and was just giving more insight. I was not challenging nobody where does this come from? Im simply stating facts as to why Battier is to valuable for this team to let go.
What im saying is Head is trying to full fill the roles of those types of players. When you mentioned those names automatically i think Spurs and 4 championships.
Which is who the Rockets are trying to emulate in their building process, not player for player, but all the abilities and flexibilities of the Spurs. While Seth is incorrect in that it is RAFER with the ball there, it further empasizes my point that Rafer is incapable of setting up teamates or seeing the floor correctly...a simple lob to the rim and Scola lays it in or gets fouled..... UGH DD
If you want to try a quite Risky move, Prigioni has been Scola PG for about 8 years and is a great Pick n Roll player (Same as Sanchez recently retired from our NT) both will be free this summer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfShCoIn1lY Prigioni (a lot of Scola in this game) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz-SOWRjeLA "Pepe" Sanchez
