[Avenger]

0-5 FG
0-5 3PT
3 rebounds
in 23 mins.



Why did they let him play 23 mins? They kept passing him balls at the 3 pt line... I was thinking "WTF, he didn't make it the first 4 times, why do you think he'll make it the 5th?"

There was a reason Wolves weren't guarding him and swarming over Lebron and Wade.

And we wonder why Heat can't close spreads? Oh well

[suicidekings]

Battier's not really a prime offensive player. He's a defensive pickup that's only going to average a few points a game, and when all you normally do offensively is shoot 3s, that's going to happen some nights. He'll prove his value by season's end.

[onlooker]

He took like 4 charges today, and I don't know how many for the season so far. Yes his shot is off, but he is doing the hustle plays. He also had 3 steals today.

[Avenger]

Wolves shot 37.9% at 3pt line. Not too shabby.

I think it was third quarter, they kept nailing 3's one after another. Unbelievable, same guy, same spot, at least 3x.

I'm not bashing Battier (oh wait, yes I am!) but I think he has a hold (even over the Heat) on people but truth is he had a lucky playoff season and it won't be repeated again. Jmo, of course.

[Avenger]

3 steals is impressive. Ok, I'll give him that.

[onlooker]

At least he has a sense of humor about it.

via Twitter:

Shane Battier @ShaneBattier

Just telling you guys now that my New Year's resolution for 2012 is to make a shot........it's gonna happen.

[zsr]

Battier's not really a prime offensive player. He's a defensive pickup that's only going to average a few points a game, and when all you normally do offensively is shoot 3s, that's going to happen some nights. He'll prove his value by season's end.

No, he won't. Like I said, pointless addition. He used to be a defense stopper and everyone assumes he can still shut down players. He can't. Nice guy and he used to be one of the best defenders in the game, but he's not even close to that.

[tullamore21]

give him a shot. Just wait to become part of the team and then we discuss it again.

[antifoil]

if he really had 4 charges and 3 steals that pretty good. he caused 7 turnovers.

he he can do that consistently the heat will win the championship with ease.

[BernardMadoff]

Battier's been stealing money from the league for about the last 5-6 years, hardly ever see this guy hit a 3 and thats about all he takes, but he's a good guy so he's stuck around, any character issues and he would have been out of the league.

[BallSoHard]

If you truly know basketball you'll understand Battier's value. Yes, he is past his peak in terms of athleticism, but he's still one of the elite defenders in the league. Not only is he a phenomenal 1-on-1 defender, but he can also guard 3 or 4 positions so he gives the Heat the flexibility they need with their small-ball lineups. Anything he does offensively is just gravy.

[zsr]

Lol. He's not close to an elite defender, surely your joking? You talking about 3 years ago?

[Goat Milk]

If you can't hit wide open corner threes though, no matter what you do on defense, you're hurting your team because those are points from james jones. And I'd rather have James Jones shoot 3/5 from wide open 3s with only 1 steal and 0 chargers than have Battier go 0/5 with good defensive stats. If Battier can just hit 2 of those open threes that's huge. He will turn it around. I trust him in the playoffs to hit easy corner 3s.

[BallSoHard]

Lol. He's not close to an elite defender, surely your joking? You talking about 3 years ago?

Look up defensive stats from Synergy and you'll quickly see. He's also even more valuable in a strong team-based defensive scheme, like the one Spoelstra employs, because he has such an advanced understanding of the game.

[zsr]

He's a serviceable man to man defender. He's not going to stop an above average 4, he's not going to stop an above average 3. And he hasn't in 2 years. He's taking minutes away from people who can score (James jones, mike miller when he comes back) his little defense contributions will not offset his poor shooting.

[PR9]

Relax.

Battier was out with injury and barely practiced with the team since he signed. He had no training camp, and this is after a lockout.
He'll get in better shape and play better in these regular season games.

The Heat and Riley only care about the playoffs and championship titles, and using the regular season for experimenting with lineups/concepts/plays. The post season is their focus, not the regular season. This is what I've gathered after scouring for every interview from Spoelstra since the start of training camp.

Last year the Heat destroyed the bad teams and played poorly against the really good ones (aside from the lakers where the heat went 2-0). This year I see the opposite, the Heat will relax and conserve themselves a little more against the bad teams, do just enough to win or not embarrass themselves, and will turn it on against contending teams (and when they're on prime time TV against upper teams)

that 1st half against the Mavs and the 1st half against the Celtics is who they really are.