Two Battier Articles And Some Classic Quotes Revisited

Here are two Shane Battier articles, one
from the Orange County Register, where a west coast writer has seen him up
close and personal in the NBA Summer League.  And here's another, by Mike
DeCourcy, about how
coaches are
all looking for the next Battier.  Good luck on that one.

And actually that reminds us of two points, the first being the DeCourcy animus
against Duke which surfaces from time to time, though this year he discouraged
the conspiracy theorists, even though earlier, he bought into it, and wasn't
impressed with Battier:   "It's already tough enough because so many officials view Duke with such reverence. Brand gets far more leeway than players his size ordinarily do, and Battier's tumbles in the pursuit of charging fouls should make him the Oscar favorite for Best Actor over Nick Nolte and Tom Hanks. "

And
along the same lines, one of our favorite quote machines, Brendan Haywood, had
this comment about Battier a few years ago:  "Not all their players flop, except for Shane (Battier). Shane used to be a great player back in high school and he can still develop into a great player. I think he flops too much. I saw a play where he tripped Max (Owens). It is almost like he was the No. 1 player in high school and now he is trying to be like Wojo (Steve Wojciechowski) or something. "

And speaking of Haywood, it might be time to update the Wit n' Wisdom of
Brendan Haywood.

• "He's like the dirty old man at the YMCA."  on Weber St.'s 6-7 center Andy Jensen.

• "It's like this, if I said what I really wanted to, I'd be Penny Hardaway [and fined] But in college you get
  suspended, in the pros you just get fined." 

• "It (playing against Brand) was tough. I felt I was getting pushed. They definitely, after the last game, weren't
  going let me do a lot of things I wanted to down there but with the double teams, it was very physical down
  there. I would have loved to get a couple whistles going my way, but that's how it is."
• "Well, I usually commit the fouls that are called. But yeah, he kind of stumbled
  or fell and I ran into him."  on his fifth foul vs. Duke last
  year
• "Not all their players flop, except for Shane (Battier). Shane used to be a great player back in high school and
  he can still develop into a great player. I think he flops too much. I saw a play where he tripped Max (Owens).
  It is almost like he was the No. 1 player in high school and now he is trying to be like Wojo (Steve
  Wojciechowski) or something. " 
• "I don't care about the fans. If the fans boo, let 'em boo. If they don't want to
  come, they don't have to come. When we play Maryland, we're playing for
  pride. We're not playing for the fans and we're not playing for anybody else." 
  After the UNC team was booed by fans last season
• "They don't want you to be comfortable at all; I don't think they know air
  conditioning was invented over there. You can't breathe." On Cameron
• "I'm not happy, don't get me wrong, but I can live with this."
  Brendan Haywood, after UNC's third straight loss last season

• "One of my friends is a Duke fan. I told him, 'Virginia might not beat Duke at
  Duke, but I guarantee you at U Hall they beat Duke. It came true. I know
  how they play up there, the atmosphere, the fans. They feed off the energy.
  They are a different team at home. We know what we're running into. Maybe
  Duke didn't, but we know what we're getting into up there." on how much
  better prepared UNC would be for UVa than was Duke (Duke lost by 2, UNC
  by 22)

• "I don't pay any attention to Shyatt. He got mad at me last game. He got mad
  at me this game. Coach Shyatt helped recruit me. He knows what I'm about.
  I'm about business, and I'm about sportsmanship." after Larry Shyatt
  was unhappy with Haywood's behavior

• "That type of thing, you can't do. You're up by a certain amount of points and
  you can't be running around and shooting people with elbows or bumping
  people or talking junk like that because you never know who you're going to
  see again. We plan on being in the championship game of the ACC
  Tournament and somewhere along the line, I hope we see Virginia there."
  On Virginia's defense

• People talked about Jesus, so they're going to talk about me."

• "Oh, this team's gonna keep rolling.  This team's gonna keep rolling.
  We lost this game, but our heads aren't down. As bad as a lot of people think
  this is, it's not that bad. We're still co-ACC champs. Actually, we're the
  champs because we're No. 1 in the ACC Tournament."
  Haywood after losing a big game

• "It means a lot. This is what you dream about, a chance to win the ACC
  tournament ring. This is what I want. I want that ACC championship. I haven't
  won one since my freshman year."
  Before the ACC Tournament

• "This is a small-time tournament."
  Brendan Haywood after losing by 26 in the ACC Finals