I will concede that Battier's defense has improved since getting into the L. Then again, without that improvement he'd probably be doing a Jeff Capel right now or maybe chillin with Hurley and Wojo. People talk about "contract years" and players' motivations (and in certain situations there is some merit), however in Shane's case I think he focused on one thing and one thing only to survive in the NBA - defense. It worked insofar as keeping himself employed, but he really sold himself short by not working on his complete game. Ironically, people despise and criticize McG for not being all that he is plus a fulltime lockdown defender (something no one, really, has done since is requires too much energy), yet love Shane (who was a credible 20+ppg scorer his Sr year at Duke, and flatout abandoned working on it once he got his 1st paycheck). See also: I Am, Sam Synonyms: ET, The Alien, 93-94 NBA Champion Speed and quickness are by no means the key to McG's progress. Elevation is more indicative than speed, imo, because if he cannot jab and pull or stop and pop or finish comfortably with his favorite lefty layup, he'll struggle. I have no doubt that it won't be a problem though, assuming the surgery was successful. All evidence points to Grover working him hard, so McG should be back at an EXTREMELY high level. Lots of folks will be eating crow and flapjackin on how he really is (and always has been) the best player on our team. DD's comment about speed and quickness being where you make you $$ in the nba is disproven by every Sammy, Tracy, Chauncey, Baron, or Larry Legend that ever laced them up. Agreed. I, again, have no doubts on McG's upcoming season. He's going to be outstanding. My thread ("No longer defensive, 2009-10 Rox going eraserless") addressed that extensively. The acquisition of a defensive paint presence is enormous in the eventual outcome of next year's campaign.
Anyone have new videos or pictures of him working out? He looks like in good shape in the china pictures.
