Fitting In

Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- Before he could finish lacing his loafers and walking out the front door of the locker room Sunday night, Shane Battier had a crowd of reporters circled around him.

Tough luck.

The Rockets' newest addition had actually been hoping to avoid the media crunch because he was meeting up with family across town shortly after scoring 17 points in Houston's 93-72 preseason win over San Antonio.

He instead ended up delaying his family outing to answer questions.

"I'll answer some questions because I don't want to make my new employers mad," Battier kidded.

The new guy is simply doing everything he can to fit in.

Over three months after being shipped to Houston in a trade from Memphis, Battier is spending his first preseason with the Rockets adapting his blue-collar game around a new set of teammates.

Battier has received mostly rave reviews for how he has inserted himself into the lineup. Rafer Alston has described Battier as an ideal teammate and McGrady has been so impressed with the forward's addition and others that he is confident the Rockets have the potential to make a deep postseason run.

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, however, believes the team can get even more out of Battier once he finds his niche.

The coach is asking Battier to play multiple positions and, of course, to be more assertive on the offensive end.

"If he wants to run for office, I'm all for it," Van Gundy said. "I'll vote for him. 2016. I'm on the band wagon. But he needs to shoot more out of a double team. Right now, he's just trying to do the right thing and fit in. I think people have minimized his abilities because of how great of a guy he is."

Battier readily admits that he came to Houston fully expecting to look for Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady on the offensive end before searching for his own shot.

Since entering the league with Memphis, Battier has made a living with such an approach.

His game is rarely about statistics. He averaged double figures in scoring only twice in his five-year career, but has transformed himself into one of the game's most reliable defenders and passers. He finds open men, steadily knocks in open shots and usually defends another team's best offensive player. Battier said he simply tries to make "winning basketball plays."

That's what the Rockets were hoping for when they shipped Stromile Swift and Rudy Gay's draft rights to Memphis for Battier in July.

But after getting a better look at what Battier can do on the offensive end, the Rockets are looking for even more. The forward has been asked to increase his shooting attempts and to be ready to carry the offensive load on nights when McGrady or Yao might be struggling.

"It's been a somewhat of a difficult transition for me," Battier said. "After five years (with Memphis), you have the same mindset for a while and then coming here, you have a different philosophy. It's been a slow progression, but a good progression."

During Houston's preseason win over Dallas on Oct. 17, Battier was given more of an indication of what the Rockets wanted from him. Battier attempted only one shot in 25 minutes of action and didn't score a point against the Mavericks.

After that performance, Van Gundy informed Battier that he couldn't keep passing up open looks to get others involved. The coach wants the forward to put the ball up because he is a consistent shooter -- 45.4 percent over his career -- who can stretch the defense for Yao and McGrady.

"I'm trying to figure out what the heck I'm supposed to be doing," Battier said with a laugh. "I'm trying to get my spacing down and figure out where my cuts are. The offense will come. I'm just trying to be in the right place before I look for my shots."

Battier, however, was looking for his shot on Sunday night. He scored a preseason-best 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, burying 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc. He also got several easy buckets on cuts to the hole.

"I took a lot of flak for the game I played in Dallas so I guess I looked a little more aggressively for my shot," Battier said. "The shots were there tonight. They aren't there every single night. But they were there tonight."

Less than five minutes after Battier left Sunday night for his family outing, Alston was holding a box score with Battier's numbers.

17 points. Six rebounds. Three assists. Zero turnovers.

Alston thought the new guy was fitting in just fine.

"Shane doesn't have to score a lot of points to fit in," Alston said. "Shane fits in as soon as they announced they were trading for him. You could put him on any team. If there is an expansion team from Idaho, he's going to fit in."