Columnist Dean Juipe: SI will owe Battier an apology

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 10:15 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

I have never had any contact with Shane Battier and might never have reason to meet him. Our paths may simply never cross.

But if they ever do, I can introduce myself as the guy who defended him in print for the unscrupulous manner in which he was treated in Sports Illustrated.

Maybe you've seen the current issue that at least partially projects the NBA draft, which will be held Wednesday in New York.

In the article, which uses quotes from an anonymous pro scout, Battier is on the receiving end of a good deal of glowing praise yet is demeaned as well and miscast -- I feel -- as no better than the 14th to 20th pick.

This being Las Vegas, I'll take that bet.

If Battier doesn't go in the first few selections, or at least before No. 14, I'll relinquish my interest in the league. And if he does go high -- Atlanta at No. 3 is a perfect fit -- SI ought to apologize to its readers for not only misleading information but relying on the comments of a scout who refused to be identified.

(Ideally, the scout's name will be revealed as he applies for unemployment compensation.)

Battier is a gem of a player whose value is compounded by his extremely high personal standards. He's a 6-foot-8, 220-pound graduate of Duke University who just happens to be the reigning college player of the year.

The Blue Devils have won consecutive national championships and Battier -- whose high school team also won three straight state titles -- was the principal reason why.

Consider all the pluses he brings to a team: he's coachable; he's very cerebral; he provides leadership; he has great poise and composure; he plays hard but under control; he has good hands; he talks constantly on defense and is a two-time NCAA defensive player of the year; he collects a ton of garbage baskets; he's steady; and he holds the Duke career record for taking charges.

Any decent analyst can look at Battier and project him as another Scottie Pippen or Robert Horry, two players of similar physiques and talents who also have 10 NBA championship rings between them.

Yet SI's unidentified assailant claims Battier "relies too much on his outside game" and "doesn't run the floor that well" and sees him as a risk for whatever team takes him.

A risk? He's the surest thing in an NBA draft that is top heavy with raw talent -- a record six high school seniors -- and middling undergraduates and unspectacular veterans such as UNLV's Kaspars Kambala.

If anything, Battier is the one and only proven commodity in the draft.

He's also a young man who, since the age of 14, has made a list every New Year's Eve of 10 goals he wants to accomplish in the coming year. (There's something all parents should get their kids to do.) He was also a straight-A student who held the No. 1 chair for the 106 trumpet players in his high school band.

He's driven and he has distinguished himself in everything he has tackled. The fact that he's a smooth and relentless basketball player with multiple talents also makes him a prized catch for whatever NBA team is lucky enough to call his name Wednesday.

No. 14? Or even No. 20? I don't think so.

SI goofed on this one.