http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4360 Recent articles about Shane Battier en-us AT Houston Rockets (2-0) at Boston Celtics (1-1) Saturday October 11 Verizon Wireless Arena Manchester, New Hampshire 7:30 PM TV: CSN, LP Ch 751 (DTV) Radio: WEEI Game Thread (index.php?option=com_smf Itemid=64 topic=22926.0) l Chat (index.php?option=com_wrapper Itemid=240) The Houston Rockets have to be one of the teams that will be challenging for the title in the West. They had a 22 game win streak last season that was ended by the Boston Celtics. And, this season they have added Ron Artest who gives the Rockets their own Big Three of Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Ron Artest. They have also added 3 point specialist Brent Barry who gives them another dimension and spreads the floor.. They also have a James Posey type player in Shane Battier who may be a difference maker for them with his defense.. They are 2-0 this preseason, having beaten the Grizzlies and the Spurs. Since they are still trying to find chemistry with their new pieces and have two major pieces out (McGrady and Battier), we won't see what they can really do in this meeting, but they are a team to watch this... Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:17:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/348819 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/348819 Now here is a championship contender that cannot be described as boring for fantasy managers. New additions creating upheaval in the regular rotation? Check. Fluid roles that can create opportunity for minutes? Check. Young players coming up behind flawed veterans? Check. It's almost a perfect storm of confusion, and confusion is good for fantasy upside.... Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:30:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/347749 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/347749 Check out the Rockets rookies and second year players breaking it down. Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:06:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/346714 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/346714 Most Valuable Player - Chris Paul Chris Paul led his Hornets to the Western Conference semifinals last year and went 7 games with the San Antonio Spurs. I think this year New Orleans has the potential to be number one in the West, and as a team they are aiming for nothing short of a finals appearance. Last season, Paul raised his points, assists and steals numbers and was a stud in the playoffs. He made Jason Kidd look old and he had one of the best positional matchups with Tony Parker. I expect Paul to have a phenomenal fourth year. Whereas in seasons past, Paul was considered a top 5 point guard, he'll sit at the top of any of those lists this year. Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:21:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/343550 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/343550 The "Associated Press"A has reported that Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier will be out of action for at least the next four weeks, due to inflammation in his left foot. Battier underwent surgery in early May to remove some bone spurs in his ankle. A spokesman for the Rockets said that the inflammation was a result [...] Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:30:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/343062 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/343062 The "Associated Press" has reported that Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier will be out of action for at least the next four weeks, due to inflammation in his left foot. Battier underwent surgery in early May to remove some bone spurs in his ankle. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:13:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/340865 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/340865 The "Associated Press"A has reported that Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier will be out of action for at least the next four weeks, due to inflammation in his left foot. Battier underwent surgery in early May to remove some bone spurs in his ankle. A spokesman for the Rockets said that the inflammation was a result [...] Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:25:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/340819 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/340819 Just as players like James Posey and Glen Davis helped the Celtics win a championship last year, your fantasy team must all consist of a few solid role players in order to step ahead of the competition. FIO writer Dan Rossi looks the effect of role/bench players, while also naming a few to target in fantasy basketball drafts this year. Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:27:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/339905 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/339905 If I were Ron Artest, I would relish this opportunity to play under a creative coach with talented teammates, keep my mouth shut, and play hard. If he keeps his head in the game, he has a chance to do truly great things for the remaining duration of his career. Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:10:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/337237 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/337237 A Daily Babble Production There is a lot to be excited about for basketball fans in Houston these days. Or plenty to be nervous about, depending on your feelings about Ron Artest. Yao Ming is expected to return to action fully healthy. Renowned high-octane offensive coach Rick Adelman will be back on the sidelines for his second season in Houston after helping the Rockets to boast the league's second-rated defense in his first campaign with the team. Shane Battier comes off one of the best seasons of his career and a break-out showing as a lock-down perimeter defender. Tracy McGrady is hungrier than ever for a trip out of the first round. And Artest, nut that he is, has come to town and presumably brought his fairly sizable basketball acumen with him. So it's easy to forget amongst all those factors that the Rockets could have yet another dangerous piece waiting in the wings. He is injury-prone. He seems to have aged quickly as a basketball player. But Steve Francis says he is committed to getting back on the floor (http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Five_Minutes_with_Steve_Franci-282725-34.html), and if the 31-year-old can do that, he could be a big bonus for the... Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:15:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336378 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336378 FIO and TalkHoops.net staff writer Zach Harper breaks down the Top 25 small forwards heading into fantasy basketball drafts this season, including in-depth analysis about the Top 10 and some notes about the remaining players on the list. Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:04:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/333475 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/333475 The Redeem Team came out with gold at the Olympics in Beijing. With the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey less than 2 years away, Henry Abott from TrueHoop takes a look at who will be coming back and who might make their Team USA debut, including a certain Yardbarker from the Blazers we know. Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:51:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313757 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313757 Ok… so he's not playing overseas… but he IS hawking Chinese shoes.  The Sporting News brings us word that Jason Kidd has dumped Nike to wear Peak shoes.  If you want to see more photos… including close ups of his shoes and a lot of things you can't read… go here. So Kidd joins Shane Battier [...] Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:27:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313380 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313380 Ju-Ju is taking on the presumptive champ, Shane Battier, in Round 3 of HoopsAddict.com's Floor Burn Tournament, celebrating all things hustle.  This could be his last match unless you all rustle up the votes!  Do it!  Do it! Um..yeah, and there was some U.S.A.-Germany game.  Sorry about that.    Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:54:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/309352 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/309352 All it takes is one good playoff series, a single spectacular game, even one buzzer-beater for a player to boost his status among the NBA's elite. Before long, he is being praised with the game's all-time greats and all but guaranteeing his spot in Springfield. A reputation can sometimes be a tough thing to gain, but is usually an even tougher thing to lose. Reputations, right or wrong, lead to the notion that a player is either underrated or overrated. Both sides of the coin are often debated, but I find it more interesting to talk about why a player is overrated than why he is underrated. Without further ado, here is my list of the five most overrated players in the NBA: 5. Dwyane Wade, Heat: Some may scoff at this ranking, pointing to the NBA Championship he won after being in the league just three seasons. I've even heard such absurd comments as "Wade won a title before Lebron, so he is a better player in my book." My response: has Lebron ever played with Shaq, or any player for that matter, that was a viable scoring option? No. The Cavs have never had a better second option than a slow, soft, and certainly goofy Zydrunas Illgauskas. I'll admit, I was on the Wade bandwagon -- until this year. I realize Wade was struggling with injuries, but did you watch any Heat games this year? Silly me -- they were on TNT every week, so how could you not have watched them play? Without Wade, they were pitiful. With Wade, they weren't much better. When Wade hung up the sneakers for the season, the Heat had an NBA-worst 11-54 record highlighted by a stint where they went 1-26. Can you honestly imagine KG, Lebron, Kobe, or Duncan - even paired with eleven of the league's worst players - starting a season 11-54? I sure can't. In fact, I think Wade is surrounded by just as much talent as Lebron and the Cavs finished 4th in the East. So why does Wade get mentioned in the same breath as the superstars I mentioned above? I rest my case. 4. Robert Horry, Spurs: I know he doesn't get a whole lot of mention during the regular season, but when the playoffs come around he is getting more publicity than the Beckhams. I swear Marv Albert is going to spontaneously combust every time he utters the phrase "Aw-ry, for three!" I realize big names are born in the playoffs, and Horry has hit numerous game winners, but let's examine his career stats: 7.0 pts & 4.8 rebs. "Yeah, but he saves his game for the playoffs when it counts..." Horry's career playoff averages? 8.4 pts & 5.8 rebs. He shoots 42% in the regular season and 43% in the playoffs. Those shots in the final minute have been clutch, no doubt, but what about the other 47 minutes in the game? Is he more valuable than the guys who put up 20+ during the game purely because he has a propensity for hitting the "big one" at the end? Apparently so, because I've heard more than one broadcaster plead Horry's case for the Hall of Fame. If that prophecy ever came true, he would have beat out hundreds, if not thousands, of current and former players who have contributed more to their team's success over the course of an entire 48-minute game. 3. Yao Ming, Rockets: I really hesitated on this one, because I think Yao has all the tools to be one of the most dominant forces this league has ever seen. He is 7'6", yet shoots free throws better than most guards (85%+). It's not that I think Yao has underachieved per say, I just think he has been the victim of unparalleled hype. The first player to come to the NBA from the World's most populous region, this hype was probably inevitable. That said, he is grossly overrated. I measure a player's worth by the overall impact he has on his team's winning. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Rockets play their best ball while Yao has been out of the lineup? I'm not saying he makes the team worse, I'm merely pointing out his team has continued to improve despite his absense. I hate to bring up King James again, but every time he is out of the lineup, the Cavs play miserably. Same goes for the Suns when Nash is out, and the Spurs when Duncan isn't playing. At this point, Yao is an offensive force who is incredibly injury-prone, a defensive liability, and picks up stupid fouls. Sure, he is capable of putting up 30 & 15 any given night, but does he really make the Rockets much better as a team? If this past season showed us anything, it's that the Rockets can be an elite team -- with or without Yao. Part of my claim that Yao is overrated stems from my beef with McGrady-haters. T-Mac has taken most of the heat for the Rockets' underachievement in the postseason, while Yao has escaped criticism for the most part. If you watched the Rockets-Jazz series two years ago (like I did), you saw McGrady at his best, putting up 25 pts, 7 asts, & 6 rebs per game in the series. By no means did his play lead to the Rockets' demise. The Rockets lost that series because Yao couldn't contain a smaller, quicker Carlos Boozer, giving up 35 pts and 14 rebounds to the Jazz big man in the decisive game 7 (Boozer scored 41 in game 2 of that series, as well). 2. Shawn Marion, Heat: This selection probably has a few of you scratching your heads, and I think I know why. This may be counterintuitive, but Marion is a rare player that has been called underrated so much over his career that he has actually become overrated. Marion's pouting in Phoenix these past few years has been well-documented, as he has called himself undervalued (despite being paid $16.4M per year) and asked to have more plays called his way. Either D'Antoni totally missed the ball, or Marion just isn't the type of player you can run an offense through. I tend to believe D'Antoni in this case, as he is an offensive mastermind. Marion will fill up the stat sheet, but he cannot create his own shot. He may be the best "garbage" player in the league, but his team will only be successful if he is surrounded by capable offensive threats and he doesn't have to be a primary option. Case in point: the Heat got no better after acquiring the Matrix and his efficiency dipped with Wade out. For this reason, I don't think he's deserving of that gaudy contract. If a player's contract is reflective of his perceived worth, I think he is one of the most overvalued players in the league. 1. Shane Battier, Rockets: I know a lot of you Dukies are going to be butt-hurt over this selection. Coach K's golden boy could never do wrong if you're a true fan of the white and blue. His heroics guided Duke to a National Title and his intellect warranted Billy Packer's bona fide man-crush during March Madness. I know, I know, Shane is "Mr. Efficient." He's as consistent as winter rain in the Northwest. If by consistent you mean consistently mediocre, I agree. Despite playing nearly 37 mpg, he has only managed to average 9 pts and 5 rb per contest this season. For a player who's consistency and fundamentals are constantly praised, I was surpised to find he was shooting a miserable 43% from the field and a below-average 72% from the charity stripe. It's not that Shane is a bad NBA player, it's just that he is very average. For whatever reason, though, USA Basketball (mainly Coach K) felt inclined to include him on the National Team. I know that the staff is looking for the best "team," not necessarily the best "players." Using that criteria, what makes Battier a better fit than Ime Udoka or Luke Walton? Because he is Shane Battier, "Mr. Efficient," "Mr. Intangibles," or whatever other adorable nickname he earned in college. In my opinion, Shane Battier has been a bigger beneficiary of his past reputation than any other player in the league. The fact that he was asked to represent our country last summer as one of our best fifteen players is reason enough to call him the most overrated player in the game. Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:12:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/306453 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/306453