Why is Battier's defense overrated?

[TMU]

Here's the Grizzlies' defensive rating over the years with and without Battier:
03-04: 11th in the league
04-05: 5th in the league
05-06: 2nd in the league (TRADED BATTIER IN THE OFF-SEASON OF 06)

06-07: 30th in the league
Today: 28th in the league

After they traded him to the Rockets, Fratello and the Grizzlies went 6 - 24 before he retired as their coach. This shows how much impact Battier had on the team's defense. Without him, their defense was never the same.

And how did Battier's acquisition help the Rockets defensively?
04-05: 4th in the league
05-06: 6th in the league (TRADED FOR BATTIER IN THE OFF-SEASON OF 06)
06-07: 3rd in the league
Today: 2nd in the league

The Rockets were already one of the best defensive teams in the league before the acquisition of Battier Although this improvement isn't significant, it's still an improvement considering that Yao and McGrady were injured for good amount of games last season.

As our best perimeter defender (as most of you say), he has sustained this team to be one of the best defensive teams in the league. Yet he has NEVER been named in any All-Defensive teams.

I see a lot of posters on this board saying that Battier's defense is overrated, but I am hardly convinced that their claim is true. So under what basis are some of you guys saying that his defense is overrated?

The fact that he's been a snub from any defensive recognition tells me that his defensive has been nothing but underrated.

[bubba]

bottom line: he is our best perimeter defender. you can look at all the stats you want. you wont find hustle plays or drawn charges in there. thats what he does.

[A.J.]

Battier defense is not overrated...btw, have you guys noticed he hasnt taken a charge lately?

[TMU]

Some quotes from previous threads.

Not at all imo , he is still overrated as a man to man defender.
He can never be a lock down defender because he lacks the athleticism and quicknes.
He will do very good against guys like Peja , Gay and even Melo that can't out quick him but he will struggle against quicker guys.
Battier is still a very good one on one defender but the fact that you cosider him are some people consider him the bst perimeter defender in the NBA makes him overrated.

Was never that great of a defender but its more so seen now b/c he can't focus all his energy on defense.

Battier may be, honestly, the most overrated player in the NBA.

His shooting is off, and frankly his defense is arguably the most overrated in the NBA and doesn't provide too much after that. I seriously think we should trade him with his value right now at least being above average.

[aznkillabeezZz]

wow do you really have to dig quotes from old threads. LOl you have alot of time in your hands.

battiers d is not overrated.

[dontel]

its not overrated, in fact its a little bit underrated. but that's just me!

[moofs]

wow do you really have to dig quotes from old threads. LOl you have alot of time in your hands.

battiers d is not overrated.

Do you have ANY idea how many people on here switch opinions at the drop of a hat? It's not exactly a hard trend to notice, and if you don't rub their words back in their faces, they won't pay any attention to anything outside of the last 5 minutes and the next 3.

p.s. The problem with threads like this is that most of the people who are guilty of saying this stuff won't bother to give it a good defense. You declare something, it is a fact, you are right, and anyone who disputes it isn't worth your time. That's the rules. Afterwards, it seems like everyone agrees with the point, then the very next day you see the argument you just attacked pop up in another thread. I've had it happen to me at least 5 times lately.

[TMU]

wow do you really have to dig quotes from old threads. LOl you have alot of time in your hands.

battiers d is not overrated.

All of the above quotes came from one thread. It wasn't a tough task.

[TMU]

-= original quote snipped =-



Do you have ANY idea how many people on here switch opinions at the drop of a hat? It's not exactly a hard trend to notice, and if you don't rub their words back in their faces, they won't pay any attention to anything outside of the last 5 minutes and the next 3.

p.s. The problem with threads like this is that most of the people who are guilty of saying this stuff won't bother to give it a good defense. You declare something, it is a fact, you are right, and anyone who disputes it isn't worth your time. That's the rules. Afterwards, it seems like everyone agrees with the point, then the very next day you see the argument you just attacked pop up in another thread. I've had it happen to me at least 5 times lately.

Some wise words there..
It doesn't bother me that people aren't willing to acknowledge the things they said previously. What bothers me the most is that a lot of people here on the board make their arguments without any basis, but often as a result of this team's poor performance (pointing the finger).

On another note, I just wanted to see how people's opinions have changed after having a 16 game winning streak. At the moment (when things are good), it appears to me that no one has any problem with Battier or with the rest of the team; which is often a good sign.

[BaYBaller]

Wasn't there a thread on this exact same topic like a week ago? What's the point of creating a new topic?

[DreamShook34]

Wasn't there a thread on this exact same topic like a week ago? What's the point of creating a new topic?

that was my thread asking the question: is batt the best defender in the NBA and half the people who posted said he was an overrated defender I'm glad someone posted stats because i think battier needs some acknowledgment of his accomplishments i think we as rockets fans take him for granted.

[moofs]

Some wise words there..
It doesn't bother me that people aren't willing to acknowledge the things they said previously. What bothers me the most is that a lot of people here on the board make their arguments without any basis, but often as a result of this team's poor performance (pointing the finger).

On another note, I just wanted to see how people's opinions have changed after having a 16 game winning streak. At the moment (when things are good), it appears to me that no one has any problem with Battier or with the rest of the team; which is often a good sign.

I suggested we trade him just yesterday!

that was my thread asking the question: is batt the best defender in the NBA and half the people who posted said he was an overrated defender I'm glad someone posted stats because i think battier needs some acknowledgment of his accomplishments i think we as rockets fans take him for granted.

Adelman and others have all said that Battier is the cornerstone of the Rockets defense. He's the one who lets everyone know what's going on and acts as our defensive coach on the floor. Those stats earlier back up what everyone says nicely.

Or you could always start moaning that Kobe dropped 45 on us and ignore that it was on 13-42 shooting with 8 freethrows.

Scola's low-post no-jump fingerroll is LETHAL

[Texas Longhorns]

He has the best 1 on 1 defense on our team. That's all I care about, I don't care where he ranks in the league.

[King Roosk]

TMU I feel ya, but no one is gonna have anything negative to say because we've been playing very well lately. It's the same situation with Rafer. I don't know if you remember, but before the start of this season almost everyone on this board wanted to trade Alston and start Mike James...but look at things now.

When we play well, no one complains. When we start losing, we hear everything from trading Alston to trading Yao and/or T-mac. It sucks, but unfortunately that's how things seem to work.

[tha_rock220]

TMU I feel ya, but no one is gonna have anything negative to say because we've been playing very well lately. It's the same situation with Rafer. I don't know if you remember, but before the start of this season almost everyone on this board wanted to trade Alston and start Mike James...but look at things now.

When we play well, no one complains. When we start losing, we hear everything from trading Alston to trading Yao and/or T-mac. It sucks, but unfortunately that's how things seem to work.

I've had some bad things to say about Rafer in the past(I still get annoyed with some of the boneheaded things he does that border on Swiftlike), but I never wanted to start Mike James.

I've never been a big fan of the Gay trade, but I've always appreciated Shane. A guy who plays good defense, hits open shots, and doesn't try to do too much is the epitome of a chemistry guy and he'll only make a team better. He's not going to wow you with blocks and steals. His defense is built on anticipating moves and getting hands in faces. Watch him play, he never tries to block a shot or gamble for a steal because those things hurt you more often than they help. The stats TMU posted are hard to argue with.

What a lot of guys fail to realize is that not being able to shut down big stars isn't an indicator of poor defense. In baseball good pitching generally trumps good hitting, in football a good defense generally stops a good offense, but in basketball there's really only so much that can be done defensively. If a guy like Kobe, LeBron, or Wade gets hot there's nothing you as an individual can do except do what Shane does, get help from your teammates, and hope he misses.

[E Wizzle]

I think a lot of the criticism is just displaced frustration stemming from Battier's seeming lackluster interest in generating offense. It's one of the only things you can criticize him about and inevitably leads to the argument that what he brings on defense doesn't compensate for what he doesn't contribute at the offensive end. Before Battier came to the Rockets, he was a relative unknown as a defensive stalwart (remember everyone was scratching their head during the draft day trade and the coverage he's received in Memphis is nothing compared to his Houston tenure) and a lot of people are still stuck on the days where Bruce Bowen and Jason Kidd were premier defenders. Sort of like the idiots who as recently as last year suggested that Shaq had more impact during his limited minutes than Yao and criticized the latter for that. Just polemics living in the past and looking for an argument.

[moofs]

There have been few things in my life as weird as being the ONE GUY jumping up and down and cheering in the middle of a bunch of hysterically mad and booing fans. I sat down pretty quickly to avoid getting lynched.

[KaZiSaiZ]

battier's defense isn't overrated @ all.....people need to recognize that he could be considered the glue of our team/any team as MAC pointed out with his grizz (with battier) comparisson to grizz w/o battier...... i am also very surprised how adelman has used him..... we all did scratch our head after that trade and i dont think that battier's name will ever go into a hall of fame book or his jersey hung in the rafters but his teamwork and ethics are what makes his play priceless