The Miami Heat don’t usually get the ball too often to Shane Battier. In 293 minutes of 13 games so far, he’s touched it 451 times. Still, even if Battier main use is either hit open shots or grab rebounds and give the ball to LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, it’s quite remarkable he still hasn’t turned the ball over even once.
Averaging 22.5 minutes a night, Battier’s scoring is down to 4.7 points per game so far this season, shooting only 32.4% from beyond the arc. These numbers should pull up at one point, including his turnover numbers – he’s bound to make a mistake at some point, but not by much.
Since playing for the Miami Heat, Battier is averaging 0.8 turnovers a game per 36 minutes. Sure, it has something to do with mostly being a spot up shooter, hardly even putting the ball on the floor unless it’s garbage time, but a career average of 1.1 turnovers per 36 minutes suggests that this is a player that rarely makes bad decisions with the ball. If there’s one thing you want your role player to do, it’s not trying to be something he’s not.
Just to compare this to the top players in the NBA in terms of usage – DeMarcus Cousins, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving and Rudy Gay, who all turn the ball over at least 2.8 times a game. Westbrook himself leads this pack with 4.3 turnovers a night, but that just comes with the territory when you touch the ball on almost every possession your team has.