[Yahoo Sports] Battier doing the little things to help Team USA

I'm not saying nothing bad, but the dude acts like Carlton sometimes so I understand. Carlton was cool. Battier's cool. Chill out.

 

Well, you have to admit...being the best rebounder on THIS team is really nothing special.

I don't know, he got a lot of PT when we first signed him, but then it seemed like he got in JVG's doghouse for some reason. He didn't play much towards the end of the season, did he?

Again, I love Hayes. I'm glad we re-signed him. But if we're counting on him to be a regular cog in our rotation, we may be in trouble. I still think the PF minutes will be split between Shane and Howard. You know JVG loves Howard. Not sure why, but he does.

 

Juwan can probably be relied upon to be the anti-head case of many athletes. Or maybe he's just well-spoken, smart, who knows.

Still, CD has tried to move Juwan the hell out of Dodge, and if the right deal comes along (can't imagine what it would be), then Juwan is gone.

But I've lost my lucky charm, rabbit's foot, horseshoe, so Juwan is likely going nowhere.

 

.....supposedly Hayes is going to play more this season (see below) but I'll believe it when it happens.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/rox/4030154.html

 

How about being the #3 rebounder in the entire NBA per 48 minutes?

#10 in defensive rebounds per 48 minutes...
#2 in offensive rebounds per 48 minutes...
#14 in steals per 48 minutes...

All while in his first season, and while being very undersized for his position. Is that special?

 

It would be special to see him rank like that for a full season while playing more than 5 minutes a game. The 'per 48 minute' stat can be misleading, as I'm sure you know.

Again, I love Chuck Hayes. I'm just saying Shane gives us more than he does. But there's room on this team for both of them.

I'm not sure how this argument started, but I feel like I'm at an arbitration hearing or something, being forced to emphasize the negatives of a player I actually like.

 

I see good things coming with Battier on our team this year.

Move over Year of the Yao, here comes Year of the Batt.

 

Well, he did play more than 5 minutes, although I know you're exaggerating. 13.4 mpg is probably still a decent sample. It's not like someone who averages .5 rebs in 2 minutes per game and then saying they average 12 rebounds per 48 minutes.

As I just pointed out, I do understand that the per 48 stat can be misleading at times, but it's also impressive in its own way, since pretty much everybody qualifies for it. That means he's beating out a lot of other people around the league, even other guys that only play "5 minutes".

I realize you like him, and I agree he may have trouble seeing the floor if Battier plays as much PF as some of us expect him to, but I just wanted to give him his due credit.

 

Re draft-day recriminations: This is a lesson in how big a difference each slot in the draft can make, even in a weak year.

If we were #7, we'd have Brandon Roy right now.

If we were #9, the Warriors probably would have taken Gay at #8 and either kept him or traded him. And we'd have Thabo Sandwichefska.

Coulda been better. Coulda been worse. Be grateful for the late-season losses (no matter what Van Gundy says) and the coin toss.

 

Rudy Gay + Swift for one Shane Battier, Memphis didn't even give up a first round draft pick.

Rox management did it in a heart beat and a lot of fans are saying it is a good deal. Sigh, I don't know what is wrong with the Houston franchise and their fans.

 

. . and they say we always bring up race

Rocket River

 

We should have just kept Swift at least.. we would have Mr. Intangibles every few games and huh? what? in the others.