I noticed that too......he's smart about picking when to contest calls and the refs probably know they've screwed up when they do get an earful from him Regarding the OP's topic, Shane has stepped up the past few games.........but thinking back to his Memphis days, he was a much more productive offensive player back then......not just on drives to the basket, but especially with his midrange shot......he was a real bball player before TMac/Rafer/Artest/Brooks came along to hog all his shots
If we could combine Kyle and Aaron into one person that person would almost exactly be like Deron Williams.
personally, i like how he stays in a triple threat position when his teammates shoot, until the ball is out of their hands. Thats an important thing to do because some guys gets stuck in the air or change their mind, but everyone else crashed the boards early so the shooter ends up throwing it away. It's very possible he just does it because of Scola
i 've seen him disagree with the refs, then watch the reply, and then give the ref a nod to let him know the call was right. i got to believe he earns big props from the refs with that acknowledgement.
Battier's unexpected offense is a reason why we were able to withstand poor offensive nights from Artest or Brooks and pull out wins in Games 3 and 4. OTOH, his disappearance in Game 5 is a big reason why we lost.
Ok that doesnt really make sense.....can you really say it was disappearance when he was stepping up previously? the ones who's offense disappeared were ron and brooks....again
i gotta admit i was wrong about the guy. however, i do feel he could have done this more in the reg. season. and it helps that he makes shots. but battier has been our 3rd best player in this series after scola and yao. he blows artest OUT OF THE WATER.
This series is the first time I have seen Battier argue with the refs. He's playing with fire I've never seen him with.
I'd say going from 10+ points and hitting clutch 3 pointers to 4 points and one missed 3 pointer is not showing up offensively. When Shane disappears from the offense, he doesn't go 3-11. He just doesn't shoot. And the way we've been winning, it's crucial that he remain offensively aggressive IMO.
I think it has to do with us driving and attacking the basket more. (See Aaron Brooks.) I love AB, but he needs to realize he's not going to get a foul called everytime he drives to the basket.
technically it is disappearing if you're comparing it to one other game, but your post seemed to place most of the blame on shane, which was odd considering you also pointed out the real problem in the same post. It's easier for ron and brooks to get into the offense than it is for a spot up shooter who relies on ball movement or putbacks..Those 2 are also suppose to be consistently big parts of the O, unlike shane..
Well, I'm not talking about just one game. In both our wins at home, we didn't get a lot of efficient offense from either Brooks or Artest. Combined, those two have given us 20 points (Game 3) and 17 points (Game 4). Meanwhile, Battier went for 16 points (Game 3) and 14 points (Game 4). Without those points, we wouldn't have squeezed out those wins. In Game 5, we again got little from Brooks and Artest, who combined for 23 points. But the difference this time was Battier giving us 10 fewer points and taking much fewer shots. Of course, I'm not blaming Shane for the loss. There are too many factors to say one player is to blame. However, something changed between Game 4 and 5 that led to Battier's offense disappearing, and whatever it is, the Rockets need to figure it out.
Just reread my previous posts, and you're right. I do sound like I'm accusing Battier for not scoring enough, which wasn't my intent. Still mad about the loss, I guess.
He had more offense while with Memphis, he just doesn't typically do as much with the Rockets since we have a better team.
