Budinger spreads the floor the best, but can he be a starting SF in the NBA? Offensively, he has no problem. His defense against bigger starting 3s in the NBA is questionable. Ariza needs the ball in his hands to be effective offensively, and Battier will be 33 next season IIRC.
if the rotation is the same (big if), then battier is the starter next to yao. if you build around yao you have to surround him with the players who play best in a half court set, because thats where yao plays his best. the starting lineup will be half court oriented: yao, scola, shane, kmart, brooks. while the bench will score in transition: lowry, chase, ariza, hill
Chase should come off the bench. His defense is too suspect. I guess it'll depend on how much more Battier declines, and how much more Ariza improves over the summer.... My guess? Shane Battier. Out for the rest of the season, plus the offseason.
I'd say Ariza starts, he has played more of what he should be playing like since Kev came over. I would like to see what he can do next to Yao but I will admit his 3 point shooting concerns me.
Battier won't improve. He went down 2% from 3 this season. Budinger shot 37% from 3. He is much better than Battier offensively, and I don't think the gap defensively is as big. I doubt Ariza works on his game during the off season.
Ariza has had an entire season to show Rockets fans what he can do. I think he is better suited off the bench. He is sound defensively, but he needs the ball in his hands to produce offensively. That was fine this season, but Yao, Scola, Martin, and Brooks are better scoring options. He shoots a lot and doesn't make a high percentage. Even if he cuts down on the amount of shots, Battier and Budinger are much better three point shooters. That is very important when playing next to Yao. Yao is a good passer and always finds open cutters. Budinger is the best at making cuts (slightly better than Ariza).
Ariza is playing a little better but still shooting only 40% since martin came here. Code: March 12 32.8 4.4-11.1 39.850 1.5-4.3 .346 1.8-2.8 66.667 2.17 0.75 1.8 2.3 1.0 4.5 5.5 4.0 12.2 April 4 31.0 3.8-9.5 39.474 1.8-5.3 .333 1.5-3.0 50.000 2.00 0.75 2.0 2.8 1.3 4.3 5.5 3.8 10.8
You say this, but we've always found success when Battier was playing at the 3. Ariza is more sound offensively than Battier, while just a step below him in defense. If we keep Lowry this offseason, I'd rather have Budinger and Lowry come off the bench to play a deadly two-man game. Brooks Martin Ariza Scola Yao Bench: Lowry Budinger Battier Hill Lottery Pick would be freakin' scary.
chase doesn't have to start, but he needs to play more minutes next year. 29-30 minutes for him would be great.
I have been thinking AI. Just because, whoever that SF is, they have to be a good defensive player, able and willing to check the other teams primary guy on the perimeter in man defense. Granger would be sweet and Brooks/Martin/Granger would be awesome. Granger for Jeffries, Ariza, Budinger and 2010 lotto pick. Yao/Hayes/DA Scola/Hill Granger/Battier Martin/Brooks/Taylor Brooks/Lowry And we still have the MLE to play with.
Although I would love Granger or AI, I also think that the SF probably should not take a lot of shots. Assuming Yao, Scola, Brooks and Martin start, the SF should be a defender who isn't going to kill a lot of momentum by taking bad shots (like Ariza does sometimes, just jacking it up) I think that if we keep the guys we have, Battier should start, with Ariza coming off the bench.
