Hi all, here's something you might enjoy. -Ken
Battie confident after disappointing debut
By Howard Ulman, Associated Press, 01/24/99 15:08
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) - The tattoo on Tony Battie's left bicep reads ``Battle Forever.'' In Denver, his battle lasted just one year.
After a disappointing rookie season with the Nuggets and a trade to a team he never got to play for, Battie hopes to hang around longer as another young cornerstone of the Boston Celtics' rebuilding project.
``Maybe I can plant a strong foundation here in Boston,'' said the 6-foot-11 Battie. ``If all of us can stay here together, we can grow old together so we'll start a chemistry and hopefully keep it.''
Rick Pitino began creating that mixture when he became coach before last season. It includes Antoine Walker, 23, Ron Mercer, 22, and Paul Pierce, 21. Only three Celtics remain from the last pre-Pitino team that went just 15-67 and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years.
He even shipped out center Travis Knight, whom he had signed to a seven-year free agent contract. That trade last week brought Battie from the Los Angeles Lakers, where he had been traded last June for Nick Van Exel.
That's part of the strange odyssey of the former Texas Tech star who averaged 18.8 points and 11.8 rebounds as a junior and then left school. He was the fifth player drafted in 1997 and thought the Celtics might pick him.
``I had a great workout for coach Pitino,'' Battie said. ``He had the third and sixth picks. He was telling me he was really looking forward to me being around at the sixth pick, but I wasn't.
``Draft day all over again, I guess,'' he said of his belated arrival in Boston.
At 240 pounds, Battie won't win most of the battles with the NBA's more physical centers. But his athleticism fits Pitino's uptempo offense and pressing defense.
``He's a great rebounder, shot blocker,'' forward Walter McCarty said. ``He can also score in the post and, for a big man, he can get up and down the floor just as fast as any of our guards.''
``It's the same type of ball I played in college, run and gun, press,'' Battie said.
He figures to play both center and forward and may not be a starter. With Denver, he started 49 of the 65 games he played and averaged 8.4 points with 5.4 rebounds and 1.06 blocks. That's decent for a rookie, but not one drafted so high.
Battie did learn something from that experience with one of the NBA's weaker teams.
``I can say on a positive note that I had my senior year (of college) in the NBA so that's cool,'' he said. ``It's just a rough year. The Nuggets had a rough record, a rough time.
``Individually, I think from a coach's standpoint I did everything that I was told to do, so I'm proud of that.''
The demanding Pitino, known for his grueling practices, may ask him to do more.
``I had a real strict and hard coach in high school, and college was the same so I'm used to this style of coaching,'' Battie said.
He also could pose matchup problems for teams with slower, more physical centers.
``I'm not the biggest guy in the world. I'm kind of thin,'' Battie said, ``I'm not a post-up Shaquille O'Neal type, but I can outrun him. I'll use what I have to my advantage.''
Even if he's already wearing the uniform of his third pro team after just one season in the league.
``A uniform's a uniform,'' he said. ``The hunger's still in me. I've got a new cast of guys around me. I can't do anything but go up from here.''
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I