I'm sorry, I simply don't see a downside. Shane Battier is a brilliant acquisition. A few facts: 1. He's never missed more than about 4 games in a season (i.e. he's sturdy). 2. He's a career 38% 3PT shooter, pushing 40% for the last two seasons. 3. He's regarded around the league as a lock-down defender. No one in the league wants to be guarded by him. Think Bruce Bowen, if Bruce could shoot from somewhere besides the deep corners. 4. He's a consumate professional, and the Rockets' locker room does need character. 5. He's immediately ready to play. No growth period, no rookie wall, no learning curve. Plug him in, instant results. Almost every scout (and even Jim Calhoun) raised the issue that Rudy Gay spaces out for stretches. Sometimes for a half, sometimes for a week. So do the Rockets want to risk grooming him? You know JVG won't tolerate someone who can't or won't focus. I remind you that in '00, some of the hype surrounding Stromile Swift sounded very much like the hype on Rudy Gay... "amazing athlete"... "impact player." And the knocks are almost exactly the same... "needs to improve his ballhandling"... "sometimes poor decision making"... "tremendous athlete, but"... "all the tools, but"... (I sh_t you not, by the way, I'm copying and pasting directly from ESPN's website.) So you take a total space cadet (Stro) and a 50/50 potential space cadet/impact player (Gay) and send them off for a proven veteran who can lock people down and shoot a damn good percentage from the outside. I think it's brilliant, considering what was available to them at #8. Seems to me that they're giddy in Memphis because they're failing to see the risks inherent in taking Gay. Personally, I think Memphis has the next Stacey Augmon on their hands.
I think you're confusing fact for opinion in some cases. Agreed. That's not much better than Wesley. And did you also notice he only shoots two a game? I don't think so. He's known as a good defender, but I believe he's more known as a team defender versus a lock down defender. There's a big difference. Bowen is a lock down defender. Artest is a lock down defender. No one would say that Battier is at their level on defense. How many all nba defensive teams has Battier made? He's very professional and seems like a very good guy. I wouldn't say our locker room needs any more of that. Yao, Tracy, Juwan are all incredibly professional. He's ready to play, but I don't think Gay's waiting period is going to be that long. How long was it for the other 7 Uconn lottery picks? Calhoun and the scouts had much bigger questions about Villanueva and he turned out fine. Gay also has a better jumper and is more athletic than Villanueva. But no one ever said Swift was fundamentally sound and could hit a jump shot. Did I mention that Uconn's program builds great NBA players? Not one lottery pick from the school has failed yet. Augmon was not as athletic and did not have the jumper that Gay does.
What risk? Memphis was never going to beat anyone with Shane Battier. At least there's a possibility that Rudy Gay can become a superstar. Basically, we just gave them our "lotto" ticket for nothing - unless you think Shane Battier is the last piece of a championship run - which he will be once we find a real PF, SG, and PG
Listening to Jerry West Makes me want to throw up. The way he is talking about the trade, he has pratically confirmed everything about this deal. To me the denial is now officially over, and the deal is done. Interviewer "Do you think Gay has superstar potential" West "Absolutely" Interviewer "And you got Stromile Swift" West "Yes, and he's a tremendous shotblocker" And the like... ugh I feel sick, it's 3:11 AM of the next day, and I can't let it go. CD, Morey, and Lindsey - you guys make Weisbrod look like Jerry West, matter of fact, I'm pretty sure even Isiah Thomas is laughing at us right now.
You know...I've been reading this board and this site for a few years now, and I don't remember seeing so much dissention from this site on one freakin move. We must have a collection of scouts that have nothing better to do than to post their whack azz opinions on players.....HAS ANYBODY BOTHERED TO ASK (MAYBE THEIR IS A POST) WHY 7 OTHER FREAKIN TEAMS PASSED UP ON THIS GUY??????Please somebody enlighten me, If this guy is top 2 talent, then why in the hell did he not go in the Top 5? Oh yeah there were other players....better players.....better prospects.....higher potential prospects? And apparently it wasn't worth it to Memphis to move down, to make sure they get this incredible talent, I mean it's not like people weren't willing to trade....So I guess the Rocket fans must know something that 8 teams must not know... Don't mean to be an azz...but give the Houston Brass a break Im sure they heard all offers, but they have to balance winning now with winning in the future, we need role players, we're not rebuilding, even if this kid is the next freakin Kobe Bryant...How long did it take Kobe to be Kobe....you think our window is that wide? And is Kobe winning now? By himself? That is why we here on this board are employed by the NBA for our incredible scouting ability.
Hopefully the front office rescinds the deal and makes Jerry West look like an idiot. Gawd, that would be great. Just to see the look on his face. Priceless.
How have we closed the gap? With this trade: We are slower(again). We are older(again). We depleted our bench further. We lost 2 steps in the running game to gain one step in the half court. ASSUMING Yao and TMac stay healthy ALL SEASON LONG (you getting the picture here?), just what free agents do you think close the gap?
I don't know if we got slower. I actually think we got faster. How many times last year did we see Stro just gandering up the court and his man beat him to the other end? I can remember several of those. And he never raced down the floor on the break. Stro acted like he didn't want it and he was in the dark as to what he was supposed to do. Granted he was still better than Howard, which is really what is so sad. But Stro plays to about 20% of his potential. If that dude simply ran the floor with reckless abandon like Battier does, he could have been putting up 15 a game on lobs, layups, and junk put backs. You can have all the speed in the world but if you don't use it, what good is it?
For the most part, I guess he hasnt thought about the fact that the Rockets gave up far too much, or could've gotten more from those other teams who passed him up for what we gave up. Now this team is more depleted, and for the most part, we dont care why others passed on the guy, we just know we needed that extra body
Oh well if that's the case, then everytime we get a lotto pick, let's just trade him away for a "proven" roleplayer who will "fit" us perfectly.
Charlie Polillo has basically been comparing this move to the move that brought Mario Elie to Houston, because at the time everyone thought he was a nobody and ended up being was of the most beloved Rockets of all time and that he sees Battier in that mold. To keep from driving myself crazy over this, this is the attitude I've decided to adopt on this. Battier can play multiple positions, shoot a good percentage, and guard taller opposing SG's and who knows maybe our system will be better suited for his game and he ends up playing the best ball of his career here. Either way its over Battier is a Rocket... so lets talk free agency or something else because hashing this out over and over is BS becasue we won't know for sure if this was the right move for three or four more years. Honestly I don't see Gay being much better than Caron Butler, Butler was twice the player he was at Uconn and he's nothing but a solid third option in the NBA. Battier, on our team, is automatically the third best player in our rotation and we got rid of Swift's contract we're gonna be fine.
We are slower - I think we are about the same, Wesley is replaced by Battier, but intelligence will be increased thus negating the speed, ask Miami about that. Older- No, we got rid of a 35 year old Wesley, a 37 year old Jon Barry and brought in a 27 year old Battier, and he is the same age as our 2 superstars, so can be productive for the next 5 years. Depleted what bench? - Our bench sucked, and Swift was one of them problems, the team decided he was a cancer and wanted him off the roster so they forced Memphis to take him back, he was a poison pill, our Darius Miles. Half court wins championships - again see any NBA champion...EVER ! DD
