He'd be absolutely perfect for Memphis right now. His defense would complement Gay's offense, much like it did when he played with McGrady. Put Battier back on that team and the Grizzlies make the playoffs easily.
I appreciate the character you are trying to play, its good for a chuckle or two now and then, but can you try a little harder because lately it has been lame more than anything else.
I feel that like a horrible correlation you are drawing because as a starting SF whose offense is just as needed as his defense, ten points for a guy who sits at the three isn't much to ask. when your starting SF who puts in his type of minutes doesn't put up ten points, than yeah you probably will loose.
http://espn.go.com/nba/depth Some teams yes, some teams no. He plays good defense, he can hit the open shot. He isn't selfish, and he's incredibly smart with the ball. He hustles, He rebounds, he passes, he runs. He should be a starter on any team that doesn't have an all-star sf. Battier is a glue man, you aren't going to have 5 all stars in your line up. You need defenders, good passers, smart players, to ensure everyone else does things right. He is a floor general who knows the game inside and out. There's a reason so many coaches have such a high regard for him. Stats deceive
Battier is the same low volume, high efficiency player that he's been for a while. Except this year his +/- on offense is +8.8, while his rating on defense is "just" -1.9. But hey, that's a huge +10.7 anyway. Of course he could start. As others have pointed out, there are some horrific starters out there, like Keith Bogans.
He could start anywhere except Boston, SA (only because RJ is playing out of his mind), OKC, and Miami.
As long as he good enough to keep us below 500 and disappear in big games against Superstars like Carmelo his fans will disagree. They will just say? Awe thats just because he is Carmelo Anthony and Budinger is horrible blah blah blah. Then come up with no other reason to keep him besides Budinger sucks. No stats allstar, swell guy, bench coach, mentor to young guys who arent playing, and apparently cant play defense after he mentors them....
Not so sure, the "Coach's dream" seems to find a way into the lineup regardless of pace, whether it's Fratello, Van Gundy, Gene Shue, or Rick Adelman. Somewhat bizarrely, with Gallinari injured D'Antoni replaced him with Ronnie Turiaf last night. And then the Knikcs had their best offensive game of the season, against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, the spurs no less.
I am amazed at the results; the correct answer is absolutely not. On most teams, he is a defensive specialist who comes off the bench. He is too much of an offensive liability for most teams including the Rockets. When he scores well, the Rockets almost always win or so it seems.
Get over ourselves? Are you going for irony here? This isn't 2001 when we thought all-NBA defense nominations (or lack thereof) actually meant something. Furthermore, Shane's value is in his ability to direct traffic and bolster a team defense more than his above par man-to-man defense. Analysts and coaches have said multiple times that today's NBA team must rely heavily on a quick-rotation, savvy team defense. Battier can give you that. On the current team, one of Battier's biggest strengths is being negated due to lack of size in the backcourt, lack of lateral speed and rotations all-around, and lack of size in the front-court. On a team with athletic players around him, Battier could run a high caliber defense. On a team with little gnats flying around their guys (Martin, Brooks) or pylons getting run over underneath (Miller, Hill), you won't see the value of how he forces opposing players out of their spots and their comfort zone on the floor. Some teams (not all) would love to have Battier. Shane is a role player and people who continue to wish otherwise will be complaining until the end of time.
yes he would. also, does anyone know why become a defense specialist? he seemed like an offensive player during his rookie year. then he focused on defense, why?
