Shane Battier- arrogant? - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

scooterj5 · 06-13-2001, 06:33 AM

Does anyone else think he's really really up himself?

"People checked their watches and said, "Is that right?' about his speed tests

About possibly playing with the Clippers...."That would be interesting, I think I could come in right away and provide maturity and consistency. These kids have one good game and think they've arrived. I think I could provide the stability to make them even better."

And then, "I look at it in terms of the stock market. A lot of the younger guys are like the IPO's. The potential for greatness is obviously there. But there's a chance that they could dissolve and fail, as opposed to a blue-chip stock that you know will improve steadily every single year."

Thoughts?

MFFL · 06-13-2001, 07:09 AM

He's got to sell himself. The man is a STUD basketball player and he's getting no respect in the draft. For Battier to go 10-12 (a lot of projections put him there) is crazy. He has to work to go high (because that's where the bigger dollars are).

Murphy3 · 06-13-2001, 08:54 AM

battier is simply telling the truth.
isn't he? isn't that the case with these young high school kids that think they're the shit coming out of high school? the clippers could be down 30 and miles would make a good play and freaking celebrate for a half hour and get burned going down court because he's too busy telling everyone how good he is.
it's that way with alot of players that come straight from high school or after a year of college or so.

battier is a guy that busts his ass for everything that he has, and he knows it. he'll continue to do it in the NBA. he's going to be a guy that eveyone wishes they had on their team. no, he might not be a star, but he'll be a quality player in the NBA for a long time.

Mavinator · 06-13-2001, 07:06 PM

Who's your daddy?

Hales233 · 06-13-2001, 07:29 PM

Battier is!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Mavinator · 06-13-2001, 09:11 PM

You hit the nail on the head, hales... Battier is the Clippers' daddy...

giostar · 06-14-2001, 08:00 PM

I agree... everyone that passes on him is going to regret it... this guy is a stud, and can play some serious defense.

MFFL · 06-15-2001, 12:45 AM

I want Battier in a Mavs uniform next year!

Evilmav2 · 06-15-2001, 12:47 PM

Battier is going to be a 10 year floor leader and defensive anchor for whatever team drafts him... If only Chandler, Curry, Randolph, Griffin, Cisse, etc... weren't so potentially great players he would be a lock for one of the top five picks...

TheKid · 06-15-2001, 02:28 PM

If I were the Bulls there is no way I pass up on Battier. They have the most cap room to try to lure a free-agent. So draft Battier, they have already drafted their young players, why do they need another one. Battier is going to be a SOLID pro not great but solid, I would take him and be happy too!

MFFL · 06-20-2001, 06:11 PM

I agree with evilmav. That's what I like about Battier - he's a 10 year floor leader and defensive anchor for whatever team drafts him. Just what the Mavs need. Another smart b-ball player and a defensive stud.

Flying Tiger · 06-20-2001, 06:22 PM

MFFL...how do you suggest we go about getting him?

MFFL · 06-20-2001, 06:28 PM

I posted an idea to kick around over in the other section.

I would like the Mavs to trade one of their seconds for a late first (with the 3 mil kicker) and then trade the other second for a late first (with another 3 mil kicker). Take those 2 firsts and package them with Eisley or Wang and trade them for Battier.

Flying Tiger · 06-20-2001, 10:12 PM

Sounds good to me if we could pull it off. Just a hunch...but are you a fan of the 3 mil kicker?

MFFL · 06-20-2001, 10:40 PM

Ain't my money, so yea. It's just another salary cap loophole as far as I'm concerned.

MFFL · 06-23-2001, 11:15 PM

Another fine article: posted link-free for Flying Tiger!
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Battier's stock remains unclear as draft nears
June 22, 2001

DURHAM, N.C. -- Shane Battier, master of the spoken word, hasn't always been comfortable promoting himself -- a personality quirk that has changed over the past few weeks.

"If there's any time to sell yourself, it's during this time," the college player of the year said Friday. "If you don't do it or your agent won't, nobody else will. It's not really in my personality to go out and say I'm the greatest thing, but you do have to show people things they may not see or want to see."

Battier learned his 19.9 scoring average, or his leading Duke to this year's national championship in his senior season, didn't carry much weight with NBA general managers, coaches or scouts who are preparing for next Wednesday's draft.

"I don't think it matters if you can walk on water or eat bullets or be the second coming of Michael Jordan. They are still going to try to find a part of your game that's less than scintillating and comment about it," Battier said. "I was waiting for them to measure the length of my earlobes and comment on how that would affect my jump shot."

Battier has completed tryouts with teams who hold the top six picks in the draft -- Washington, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Golden State and Vancouver.

But this year's draft is about as uncertain as Battier's stock. Though he's a good outside shooter and a superb defender, many have questioned Battier's overall athletic ability. Sports Illustrated even projected him to be picked between 14-20.

Keith Drum, who scouts the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Sacramento Kings, said that assessment is ridiculous.

"If he's picked at 20th it would be the biggest shock I've ever had in the NBA," Drum said Friday from California.

"Shane has gotten better in his career and he will continue to get better on using the dribble to get shots," Drum added. "There is some rap about what kind of athlete he is. Well, he's not a Vince Carter or a Corey Maggette type of athlete, but he's good enough and he's better than a lot of athletes in this league."

Battier, who heard about the article, remains confident he'll be one of the top 10 players selected.

"I think that was written a long time ago. I take that stuff with a grain of salt," Battier said. "Everybody has an opinion."

Battier's individual workouts may have changed the opinions of some general managers. In Atlanta, Battier beat Michigan State underclassman Jason Richardson in a "Superman" drill, dunking the ball 70 straight times without missing or quitting.

At the other end of the court, Richardson dunked 63 times before falling to the floor from exhaustion.

"I could have kept going but I messed up my footing and missed a dunk," Battier said. "After that I turned to the GM and said, "I guess I'm a little more athletic than you thought, huh?' He smiled and walked away."

The feat "doesn't surprise me at all," Drum said. "In a lot of ways that's not pure athleticism, it's that mentally he is tougher and more prepared than anyone in this draft."

Battier's college coach, Mike Krzyzewski, although biased, couldn't agree more.

"He is the most proven person in the draft," Krzyzewski said. "But to some people, they won't take that. They'll take something for the future."

Flying Tiger · 06-23-2001, 11:22 PM

He does sound a bit cocky...but he should be. I think he is the best player in the draft to help your team in the near future. There may be some more athletic younger players that will be better in 5-6 years, but Battier's ready for the NBA right now.

djb · 06-26-2001, 04:10 PM

Silly Shane, you're years too late for the draft
By Jeffrey Denberg
Special to ESPN.com

Shane Battier screwed up, didn't he?

Went to Duke four years, made solid grades, gained high confidence and self-esteem, won a national championship.

Battier is going to be 23 a month before his first NBA training camp. What was this guy thinking?

When Battier says he enjoyed his college experience, you know the guy doesn't understand the system.

You want to be a high pick in the NBA draft you simply can't be more than 20 years old.

You want to sign a $6- to $8-million lottery deal, they don't want you old enough to shave. Read and write? Optional. But you don't want to have a college degree, be so smart you can't relate to your teammates.

Battier waited until he reached a full 6-8 1/4, 220 pounds, developed a well-muscled physique, learned to shoot, learned the game. He read where the commissioner of the NBA said to stay in school. Saw the PSA's by NBA players and believed them. Hey, Shane, the guys who say to stay in school mostly didn't.

He won the Naismith and Wooden awards, the best a college player can do. He was consensus national player of the year, a unanimous All-American, outstanding player in the NCAA Final Four, coaches' defensive player of the year three times. Battier is one of four college players to compile more than 1,500 points (1,984), 500 rebounds (887), 200 steals (266) and 200 assists (239).

Uh, Shane, baby, this is information overload. The guys who draft in the NBA didn't need to know all this. They don't like you for your accomplishments, Shane. They only like you if they don't know what you can do. Here's the deal: Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler and DeSagana Diop, big high school kids who made their reputations against little high school kids, are going to be taken in the lottery.

At least two of them, Brown and Chandler, are expected to go one-two. And while Brown is almost 20 and showed some skills and strength in pre-draft workouts, Chandler struggles to bench press more weight than his own 220 pounds. Curry is 300 pounds of baby fat and Diop is only 18 years, 5 months old with a screw in his foot.

The scouts don't know how good they can be.

They don't know how bad they will be.

All they know is potential. All they know is what they don't know.

What does that say about the system? What does that say about Shane Battier?

"I think it's the thing about looking at somebody so long that after a while you only see the warts," Lon Babby said, a little frustrated by the process. Babby is Battier's agent. "That's all I can come up with me."

Battier should have come out after his freshman year at Duke when he averaged 7.6 ppg., didn't have a long range jump shot anybody knew about, when people didn't know if he could play tough defense and didn't have enough information to decide that he wasn't going to beat people off the dribble in the NBA or that, as some anonymous scout said in a national magazine, that Battier does not run the floor hard. That piece of inside information appeared under a photo of Battier driving for a loose ball. You decide if he plays hard.

While Elton Brand left Duke after his sophomore year and became the top pick in 1999 when unaccomplished youngsters Corey Maggette and William Avery followed him at No. 13 and 14, Battier stayed in school, honed his game, built a reputation, averaged 9.1 points as a sophomore, 17.4 as a junior, 19.9 as a senior.

Draft expert Brad Greenberg wrote, "Battier will be able to step right in and help any team. While some young players intrigue scouts with their potential, Battier is a lock to realize his. He is a winning player and someone who will enhance any franchise's value, on and off the court."

At one time personnel chief in Portland, later GM in Philadelphia, you think Greenberg would feel this way if still employed by an NBA team? Of course not. He would be worrying that Battier is not a great one-on-one defender at the dawn of the Zone Defense Era in the NBA.

Mike Krzyzewski, Battier's college coach, said, "All of us benefited from being on Shane's team" and called Battier "the most complete player I have ever had."

Of course, Krzyzewski isn't an NBA insider. Once, a few years ago, he scolded a Duke team, saying it "played NBA defense."

Besides, they don't develop great NBA players at Duke. Look at Bob Hurley, Christian Laettner, Roshown McLeod, Cherokee Parks, Art Heyman, Grant Hill... Okay, forget Grant Hill.

But that's a knock on Battier, isn't it? New Wizards coach Doug Collins wants to draft Battier, but what does he know. Collins was the last coach who failed to win a championship with Michael Jordan in the lineup. And it's Jordan who won't let him make the pick.

Lon Kruger, the ex-Florida and Illinois coach now laboring in Atlanta, knows something about college players and something about Battier. Kruger loves his work ethic and his intelligence. Back in March, Kruger was talking about what a nice fit Battier would be for a team like his. Now, of course, there are six high school kids in the draft and a lot of college freshmen, including Rodney White, whose broad education experience includes no fewer than five high schools.

Now Kruger, like other newly-hired coaches in the league who are trying to turn around bad teams, must deal with that frightening word potential that has made so many high school kids so attractive.

So Battier is hanging. He won't go No. 1 and he can't be a Clipper. No way, a four-year college guy could ever be drafted by the Clippers. That leaves the Hawks at No. 3, or...

Who knows?

Shane Battier made his mistake. Now, he has to live with it. They won't take back the degree.

Source: Silly Shane, you're years too late for the draft

Murphy3 · 06-26-2001, 04:30 PM

thanks dj..enjoyed the article
..i would love to have shane as a mav...alot of teams will screw up for not drafting him

Big Boy Laroux · 06-26-2001, 04:34 PM

he played great ball in one of the top basketball conferences... and he was freakin' player of the year! what more could he have done to prove he's ready? i agree, teams will regret passing on him...

TheKid · 06-26-2001, 04:36 PM

I tell you what. The same stuff I'm hearing about Shane Battier I heard about Michael Finley when he was going into the draft. Twenty teams passed on him and now there is only ONE player (Jerry Stackhouse) who produces more out of that draft.

Same situation, Fin was there for four years, people questioned his shooting ability, said he would be at best a solid player, but 20 teams passed up on him. If he drops pass three, then it's official people in the NBA are crazy!

Murphy3 · 06-26-2001, 04:36 PM

and what's the deal with bringing up christian laettner as an example of duke players that weren't good nba players...what the hell does he have to do?

Big Boy Laroux · 06-26-2001, 04:40 PM

exactly. L8 may not be an incredible NBA player, but he's done damn well. people just think he should have dominated because he was on the freakin' dream team.