<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Houston Chronicle - While Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy says he agrees with and is happy with the deal which will land his team forward Shane Battier from Memphis, the Houston Chronicle is reporting that Van Gundy would have played Rudy Gay, the piece the Rockets gave up to get Battier. "I have played rookies," Van Gundy said. "I have played young veterans. I have played old veterans. The only thing that matters to me is putting the best team on the floor. "I am fine with playing anyone of any age. We play to win and we play the best players. I never think about how old they are; I think about how good they are." That said, Van Gundy confirmed that he agreed with the decisions made by Rockets management on draft night. "I was absolutely in favor of our draft strategy," Van Gundy said. "I agreed with the draft-night decisions of Carroll (Dawson), Daryl (Morey) and Dennis (Lindsey)."</div> http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/411...de_for_battier/
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">Welll, if he would have played Gay, Someone call Jerry West and tell him the deal is off!</div> Agreed.
Of course he does. Battier is a Van Gundy type of player. The fact is that with Battier, this team is that much closer to being true contenders. The Rockets have a window of maybe 3-4 years of winning a title. It will take Gay 3-4 years to develop into a consistent player capable of contributing on BOTH ends of the floor.
