PrintBattier's List
Rockets forward shares his goals for 2009
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - Tucked away in Shane Battier’s locker is a list.
It’s not out in the open, demanding the attention of all who pass by. Neither is it hidden so that it might be kept away from prying eyes. The list’s placement and existence serve but one purpose only: To be a daily reminder of the goals Battier hopes to achieve in 2009.
Its content is simple, direct and to the point. It’s also classic Battier. The list reads as follows:
1. Get out of the first round.
2. Win an NBA championship.
3. Make first team All-Defense.
4. Win Defensive Player of the Year.
No one who’s followed Battier’s career could be surprised by his goals or even the list itself. It’s a tradition he began during his high school days. Some years he checks off every one and sometimes he falls short. But the importance and meaning behind that simple piece of paper remain the same either way.
“It’s not for anyone else,” he says. “I don’t really care if anyone else agrees with my goals or even knows that I have them. I just want to put them somewhere where I see them every day and am reminded of my purpose here.
“I think it’s good to have goals. And I’m tired of losing in the first round. I’ve been there, done that too many times so I’m ready for something new.”
Strikingly self-aware, Battier knows all too well that his contribution to an extended playoff run is never going to include a 20 points per game scoring average. And while his post-entry passing and spot-up shooting are more valuable than many realize, there’s no denying the fact Battier makes his living on the other side of the ball.
Yet even defensively, his efforts often seem to fly under the radar. Battier’s block and steal totals are often modest, and his nice guy demeanor doesn’t exactly fit the mold of the traditional down-and-dirty shut-down defender. No surprise, then, that Battier has heretofore fallen short of his defense-centric goals, even though they’ve been included on his list from the moment he set foot on the NBA hardwood for the first time.
“What I’ve learned is that it’s really out of my control. All I can do is try to play hard and play good defense. But it gives me a tangible goal. It gives me something to look at every day and say, ‘Alright, what am I going to do today to get closer to this goal?’ versus sort of wandering aimlessly through the season not knowing what your purpose is.”
If you ever want to pick a fight with a Battier-basher, simply tell them they have to “look beyond the box score” to see the 8th year forward’s true impact on the court. In no time, you’ll find yourself entangled in a passionate debate which boils down to traditional basketball numbers versus the impact of efficiency and intangibles. But the truth is that the standard NBA box score simply doesn’t measure Battier’s ability to read and react, communicate, anticipate and subtly impact the game at both ends.
He is the basketball equivalent of the savvy quarterback who always makes the right pre-snap reads, or the wily catcher who deftly mixes pitches and steals signs. It is difficult to properly define the true value of those qualities except, of course, on the scoreboard at the end of games. And that’s ultimately where Battier excels. His teams win when he’s on the floor, which is why Rockets GM Daryl Morey said earlier this week that, though he dismisses all Big Three talk as extremely premature, any discussion along those lines should instead be about Houston’s “Big Four, because Shane is such a huge factor for us.”
Ever self-deprecating, Battier laughs off such comments, shifting the focus back to the one issue which forever hovers over the Rockets’ hopes of a true title run.
“The only way we’re going to go anywhere this year is if we get the Big One – the Big Health,” says Battier. “That’s the only ‘Big’ thing I really care about. I do my job and I don’t really mind if I get attention for it. I know I’m doing a good job for this team and I’m too old to worry about the bloggers and what everyone else has to say.”
And 1’s: After shootaround today, Battier was asked if Utah ranks among the NBA’s best when it comes to the art of flopping. The question prompted the customary Battier guffaw, but his response was quite telling.
“No one flops in this league,” he said jokingly. “What are you going to say? We’re professional entertainers, alright? We all have a little drama in us.”
Then Battier got serious.
“We’ve talked about this before: On the block/charge, unless you go down to the floor, you’re not getting the charge, trust me. I’ve argued with the referees, I’ve argued with the coaches and I’ve been around long enough to know that if you don’t fall, you don’t get the call. So you have to go down.”
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