ALERT - Shane Battier played his final real basketball game

[Billy Dat]

Those following the NBA Finals know this to be true, but for everyone else whose basketball watching experience ends on the first Monday in April, or the final Duke game, or sometimes most gloriously both, I wanted to give you a heads up that Sunday evening may be the final game of Shane Battier's illustrious career.

It's not ending the way we all would have wanted, that might have happened had he retired after last year's title and his fantastic Game 7 performance. Now, he's lost his shrinking spot in the rotation and has been relegated to mop up minutes or a really brief stint at the end of the first quarter. Unless Miami mounts some kind of epic comeback, I think they'll lose on Sunday and Shane's career will come to an end.

Set your DVRs, tape the game, and, if you don't care to watch it, zip through and catch #31 in his last go round. Who knows, maybe he'll get more minutes and help lead a Heat resurgence? If you've been watching, you know how extremely unlikely that seems at this point, but nothing is impossible.

His career may be ending with a bit of a whimper, but I thought everyone would appreciate the opporunity to see him on the hardwood in a real game one last time.

[BD80]

Those following the NBA Finals know this to be true, but for everyone else whose basketball watching experience ends on the first Monday in April, or the final Duke game, or sometimes most gloriously both, I wanted to give you a heads up that Sunday evening may be the final game of Shane Battier's illustrious career.

It's not ending the way we all would have wanted, that might have happened had he retired after last year's title and his fantastic Game 7 performance. Now, he's lost his shrinking spot in the rotation and has been relegated to mop up minutes or a really brief stint at the end of the first quarter. Unless Miami mounts some kind of epic comeback, I think they'll lose on Sunday and Shane's career will come to an end.

Set your DVRs, tape the game, and, if you don't care to watch it, zip through and catch #31 in his last go round. Who knows, maybe he'll get more minutes and help lead a Heat resurgence? If you've been watching, you know how extremely unlikely that seems at this point, but nothing is impossible.

His career may be ending with a bit of a whimper, but I thought everyone would appreciate the opporunity to see him on the hardwood in a real game one last time.

Excuse me, but when Shane is in the White House - the staff games will be REAL!

[Faison1]

I haven't been following closely, but why hasn't Shane been playing much in the finals? Is it a matchup issue? I thought he was getting respectable minutes in the playoffs leading up until now.

Frankly, I wonder if there's a correlation between Shane's minutes, and the Heat's results.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

I choose to believe his last game will be Friday.

I don't think the Heat's lack of success has much do with Shane's lack of minutes, beyond the fact that his lack of minutes belies his inability to contribute consistently at this stage in his career, which therefore means the Heat's bench is one player thinner. It's been a great run, but I do believe time has caught up with my favorite Duke/Heat combo player of all time (the only other one I can even think of is Christian Laettner, who predates my time at Duke and who was barely with the Heat).

[CDu]

I haven't been following closely, but why hasn't Shane been playing much in the finals? Is it a matchup issue? I thought he was getting respectable minutes in the playoffs leading up until now.

Frankly, I wonder if there's a correlation between Shane's minutes, and the Heat's results.

He hasn't played because he doesn't have a clear role in this series. The Spurs don't iso their post guys too much this year, so they don't have a guy who can be affected by Battier's craftiness. And when they do post it is either a guy like Diaw (who is too powerful for Battier) or Duncan (who is too tall for Battier). And without a defensive edge to be gained, Battier doesn't add much because Lewis is a better option as the "stretch 4" guy on offense.

I don't think Battier's absence has any causal effect on the results in this series. The Heat are being beaten with incredible ball movement. The Spurs are just spreading the floor and cutting and passing so smoothly that a 35-year-old vet like Battier isn't suited to play the chase game.

[Henderson]

I can't wait to see him doing brackets on TV from the White House. But who will be his Reggie Love?

[rasputin]

I can't wait to see him doing brackets on TV from the White House. But who will be his Reggie Love?

Nate James.

[brevity]

I can't wait to see him doing brackets on TV from the White House. But who will be his Reggie Love?

Nate James.

The Secretary of Defense has more important things to do than hang around the White House when Andy Katz is visiting.

[Henderson]

The Secretary of Defense has more important things to do than hang around the White House when Andy Katz is visiting.

Like guard the door to make sure that Dougie Gottlieb doesn't come in with his phone during the White House bracketology?

[msdukie]

Shane Battier played his final real basketball game on April 2, 2001.

[moonpie23]

his last game is tomorrow....





i think he can do whatever he wants, but i think he'd make a great coach...

[DevilWearsPrada]

Shane Battier played his final real basketball game on April 2, 2001.

And what a great game!!!!!

Shane has played his last NBA game!!!! I have enjoyed watching him in the NBA!!! And look forward to seeing him on ESPN

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Love Shane more than just about any other player, but it was clear tonight he's outta gas.

Great guy, great player. Can't wait to see where his path goes next.

[Reilly]

... Can't wait to see where his path goes next.

I bet he hangs out in Spain for the hoops world cup in 10 weeks or so (not playing, just taking in the scene) ...

[g-money]

Thanks for a great career Shane! It was a real pleasure to watch you, the "no-stats all-star", impose your will on the NBA in such a subtle yet effective way.

And, good luck with the next stage of your career. Hopefully ESPN will have you back in Cameron for a few games next year.

------------------

Not sure if anybody caught it, but Jeff Van Gundy gave Shane a nice tribute at the end of the game.

Too bad Shane couldn't do much to help the Heat this year. Getting old is the pits, to put it nicely.

[miramar]

Shane had a huge final game in last year's championship, but unfortunately father time caught up with him this year.

But we'll be able to read all about it soon enough according to the Miami Herald:


There’s no decision for Battier, who is becoming a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

“When I’m old, fat and gray, and my grandkids say, ‘You never played in the NBA,’ I can tell them I did it at a high level,” said Battier, who kept a diary of sorts this season to use in a book. “I gave everything I had to this game and I don’t have any more to give.”

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sport...#storylink=cpy

[BobbyFan]

A good time to watch this again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyTMgqd6iuo

[Billy Dat]

Shane had a huge final game in last year's championship, but unfortunately father time caught up with him this year.

But we'll be able to read all about it soon enough according to the Miami Herald:


There’s no decision for Battier, who is becoming a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

“When I’m old, fat and gray, and my grandkids say, ‘You never played in the NBA,’ I can tell them I did it at a high level,” said Battier, who kept a diary of sorts this season to use in a book. “I gave everything I had to this game and I don’t have any more to give.”

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sport...#storylink=cpy

Good quotes in that article:

### Battier: “It was a trying year from the standpoint there were very few pure moments. We were always trying to conjure something and for a while there in the second half, it worked. But you can’t win a championship trying to conjure something. It has to be who you are and it has to be pure, and that wasn’t the case for us this year.

“Unfortunately, I made the mistake of looking up our defensive rank before the Finals and no team outside the top 10 had ever won the title. We just didn’t have the fundamentals to stop an offensive juggernaut like the Spurs and we were exposed.”

[cspan37421]

A good time to watch this again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyTMgqd6iuo

Nice visuals, but my goodness that song has worn thin and grates on my ears. It sounds like the cheesy theme to a short-lived, family-oriented sitcom from the 80s. Except even worse - it goes on for 3 minutes!

[g4orce]

There are so many Shane highlights from his time @ Duke (& even the NBA), but to me, the one that stands out the most was the reverse tip-in during the Arizona championship game in 2001. It was the moment that I went from thinking we would win to knowing we would win. If I'm remembering correctly, the game had tightened a bit, and the missed shot could have given Arizona a chance to cut the lead to 4 or 5 pts. I've since seen other highlights, but what I remember was seeing Shane come from nowhere in the viewing screen from the side of the basket and willing his arm up and through another player's arms to reverse tip the ball in for us to keep some distance.

That game especially showed how much passion he had when he played. It was a great game by so many, but his dogged determination to win was fantastic to watch. He will be missed playing basketball, but I'm one of many who think we'll see him at some point in a much bigger stage than ESPN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq3QU...VyNnBs&index=2
1:05 mark