Bravo Battier

Here's a gem on one of the most under-appreciated athletes in all of sports, Shane Battier. As a die-hard Duke fan and a moderately devoted Houston Rockets follower, I've had the fortune of cheering on Battier for almost twelve years now, seven of which he's spent on the aforementioned teams.

At Duke, Battier was one of the best college basketball players of the modern era. His individual accolades were superb: he won Defensive player of the year three times, was the 2001 player of the year, and was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team. While his individual awards and statistics were impressive, they pale in comparison with his team's successes. Battier played on two of the best college basketball teams ever, the 1999 and 2001 Blue Devils, reached the NCAA championship game both those years, won the 2001 National championship, and tied the all-time record with 131 wins. Not too shabby.

While it would most certainly be a stretch to consider Battier's pro career as successful as his amateur one, there's no denying his importance to the teams he's been on. As his career statline (10.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.0 bpg) would suggest, Battier's impact doesn't typically show up in the boxscore. But clearly, as the excerpt below indicates, he has a significant impact on what's really important: the standings.

One well-known statistic the Rockets’ front office pays attention to is plus-minus, which simply measures what happens to the score when any given player is on the court... A good player might be a plus 3 — that is, his team averages 3 points more per game than its opponent when he is on the floor. In his best season, the superstar point guard Steve Nash was a plus 14.5. At the time of the Lakers game, Battier was a plus 10, which put him in the company of Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett, both perennial All-Stars. For his career he’s a plus 6. “Plus 6 is enormous,” Morey says. “It’s the difference between 41 wins and 60 wins.” He names a few other players who were a plus 6 last season: Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady.

It's not too often you hear Battier's name thrown around with perrenial all-stars and MVPs, but it's nice to see him finally get some of the press he deserves.