Post by Rog on Dec 18, 2016 0:57:41 GMT
The 59th Hall of Fame nominee was a complete bulldog. He'd beat you up in the most ugly way possible, but was an invaluable piece of a bunch of contending teams. Will he be remembered as a Hall of Famer because he was the greatest defender in league history or will he be remembered as a one side of the ball type guy who didn't achieve greatness because of it? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
28.8 MPG, 11.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.6 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 0.9 TOPG on 45.2% from the field, 85.2% from the line, and 41.5% from three
Best Season
Jazz(2009) - 20.4 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG, 2.2 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 1.2 TOPG on 47% from the field, 85% from the line, and 41.9% from three
Career Highs
Points: 42
Rebounds: 13
Assists: 12
Steals: 7
Blocks: 6
Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 32
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 35
Triple Doubles: 0
Accolades
2001 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2001 - All-Rookie Second Team
2002 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2005 - All-Defensive Team
2006 - All-Defensive Second Team
2008 - All-Defensive Second Team
2009 - All-Defensive Second Team
Arguments For Induction
- Battier was named to three All-Defensive second teams and an All-Defensive First Team in his career.
- Above and beyond anything else, Battier was potentially the greatest defender in league history. He could lock just about anyone down with his combination fundamentally lockdown on ball defense. His rating looks nice, he has good statistics, and he appeared on the Per Defense up until the year he retired. That is commitment. Even just statistically, its a wonder he didn't get more awards defensively as he went years with over 2.5 stocks, combined with his rating you'd think he'd have racked up more awards.
- Was not useless scoring the ball as some would remember him as. He has a season where he scored 20 points a game when he was used in a way that showcased him offensively. He was constantly over 13 points a game, and thats impressive considering the amount of effort he gave on the defensive side of the ball.
- He was incredibly efficient with the ball in a couple ways. His 45/85/41 percentage line is really effective at conveying when he shot the ball he was pretty open and pretty capable of hitting those shots at a high rate. He also turned the ball over less than 1 a game. If you gave him the ball you could count on a basket, an assist(where for a while he was a great passer at shooting guard, or at least into the hands of anther teammate.
- Overall, we're talking about potentially the greatest defender of all time who wasn't useless on the other end of the court who won a title and was always in the mix on other teams. This is the Scott Pollard of guards, potentially with a slightly better case and Pollard was super borderline and will come up as a nominee again this year. Its hard to say no.
Arguments Against Induction
- But its necessary when we're talking about a guy who didn't even play 30 minute a game in his career, only has four defensive awards which somewhat destroys the notion that he is the greatest defender of all time, and doesn't really possess another good quality, let alone great.
- After his best season, he never started again. And his ratings WENT UP. A Hall of Famer doesn't get replaced on the same team when his ratings get better at age 31, they just don't. Of course the Jazz acquired Hall of Famer Vince Carter and got a game better, but again that move isn't necessary if Battier was irreplaceable, which obviously he was not.
- Poor rebounder, even for a shooting guard averaging 4.2 on his career and only being at or above 6 one year in his career. He was seriously one dimensional and this hammers that point home.
- Overall, you can't vote a guy in with 35 player of the games, little awards, and with the statistics that just don't stack up to be an elite player. Did you fear playing Shane Battier? You may have feared what your shooting guard looked like after playing Shane Battier, but you didn't fear him carrying his team to a title, even with his defense. He just wasn't good enough.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully!
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25**
*
