Ed Stefanski has another feather for his cap. His eternal quest to fill the Sixers' front court with players who can neither rebound, nor block shots just keeps on rolling. The latest addition, according to Tom Moore in the comments, is Tony Battie.
If you don't know who Tony Battie is, you obviously aren't a fan of journeyman bigs in their mid-thirties who weren't even relevant in their primes. Here are some quick highlights:
- Played 134 minutes for the New Jersey Nets last season (a team that found 900+ minutes for Kris Humprhies at the four)
- Last averaged 9 rebounds/36 minutes in 2002-2003
- Last averaged 1 block/36 minutes in 2005-2006
- Has averaged more attempts from 16-23 feet than at the rim for each of the past two seasons.
On the bright side:
- He's old, which means he definitely brings 50% of the much needed "veteran leadership." I'll let you decide which half.
- If you squint when you read it, his last name sort of looks like Battle, which is definitely "tough."
Hat's off to you, Mr. Stefanski! You found a 34-year-old version of Jason Smith to round out your roster. Who's buying at Chili's tonight?
He used to destroy us when he played for the Magic.
I don't mind the signing. He's a smart player. I'm surprised a signing like this happened so early. I thought Ed would be rounding out the roster with these signings 2 weeks before training camp.
Now, we just need and old pg. Let's go Sixers!
I don't mind the signing.
I don't care either
Pointless
I agree. He's solid. The Celtics fans I know all loved him. I realize that was a long time ago, but he's a good athlete and an improvement over Primo & Elson (I know, that ain't saying much.) And he'll push Speights.
What do you think of the Celtics signing of Jermaine O'Neill? That seems a lot riskier than this move.
I remember when Battie was drafted, the Sixers were supposedly considering taking him over Van Horn.
This one got me so excited I already added him to the depth chart on the home page.
Battie in conference call: "I talked to (Collins) last week and he told me he thought I could be a major piece as far leadership and a defensive closer."
A defensive closer or a defensive center? Closer's really pushing it.
And what happened with Cedric Simmons? Because he showed some real promise.
I think he rebounds too well.
Stefanski didn't like how inconsistent Simmons was in the summer league. Had a bad game, then a real good one, then some more unimpressive outings. He could possibly come to camp without a guarantee.
Consistently bad is better than inconsistent.
Battie's real name is Demetrius Antonio Battie; maybe this is so Zumoff can make corny Demetrius/Thaddeus rhyming jokes.
At least The Count from Sesame Street would be stoked:
"That's v-one! V-one free agent! Dis Ed Stupanski drives me Battie! Hahahahaha! "
eh,whatever. You'll see him wearing a suit on the bench more often than not...
Am told he will wear solid red "power" tie as part of wardrobe. Power tie demonstrates toughness and grit that he delivers to roster.
So instead of buying a Day 2 pick to try and get a big, we get Tony Battie.
I feel like Stefanski is trying to build a poor mans 2004-2005 nets.
lol sorry for day 2 a round 2*
Very poor man...
If you ever get the chance, go on the bio section on the Sixers site, read up on Stefanski. Some of the highlights:
*On the foreign front, Ed was at the forefront in the drafting of center Nenad Krstic of Serbia with the Nets' first round pick (24th overall) in the 2002 NBA Draft.
*Under his guidance as the Nets director of scouting, Ed played a significant role in the drafting of Kenyon Martin as the overall Number One selection in the 2000 NBA Draft
I admire anyone that drafts Nenad Kristic, and boldy takes the consensus number 1 pick
http://www.nba.com/sixers/news/Ed_Stefanski_Bio.html
Who's your favorite meaningless big man signing for the Sixers over the past four years?
1. Booth
2. Brezec
3. Battie
I liked Lou Amundson. He played well this past year, too.
Yeah, he wasn't meaningless, neither was Theo.
Let's not forget Amal McNoskill, er, McCaskill, a while back.
I'm pretty sure he was better than Battie is now.
You must really hate this guy. McCaskill might have been the worst NBA player I've ever seen. It's between him and Bob Thornton.
On the bright side, Battie now gives the Sixers someone to challenge Jason Smith for worst PER differential, now that Kapono is rumored to be leaving. (Battie's -9.6 was slightly worse than Kapono's -9.3 but still not as poor as Smith's -13.3.) The most amazing Battie stat from last year, though, is that his 134 minutes translated to a -53 for the Nets, so he got a hard-to-comprehend -19.0 "On Court" rating (-19 points per 100 possessions).
You can't measure veteran toughness in plus/minus.
He's going to spend the year tutoring Jason Smith on how to stick around the league when you're tall and you suck.
Battie said he narrowed his choices down to the Sixers and Bobcats, and went with the Sixers in part because Charlotte has Dampier and Ratliff.
Battie had choices?
wait, he had a press conference?
That's what he said.
More Battie: "I’ve never been a guy to fill up the stat sheet. I'm a team guy. I play the game with a defensive presence and am a hard-nosed rebounder. I'm a guy who loves to do the dirty work, (like) setting a screen to give a guy like Iguodala an open look. Every game find something to do to help your team win."
Defensive Presence
hard nosed rebounder
Someone should explain to Tony what those things actually mean
Anyone lacking offensive effectiveness is a tough defender and a hard noses rebounder, in their eyes at least. Battie's been neither in quite some time.
(actually, I think he's still a slightly above average defender, probably).
a conference call at 3.
I would have rather signed Earl Barron or Juwan Howard
Why not give a younger guy like Josh Boone a shot as your 12th man? The dude is actually a pretty good rebounder and worth a look. He could end up as a decent contributer. While he doesnt have a ton of upside he has more then Battie, who is a total stiff besides the fact that he can hit a jumper every now and then. Seems like they sacrificed rebounding again to find a big that could step out for a jumper. Collins says the focus is supposed to be on defense this year but all our moves seem to be centered around the offense.
When did Josh Boone become a free agent?
Ahh ok I see he's a restricted free agent...thought he was unrestricted
35 year olds are typically better suited to be DNP/spot rotation guys. It does not make sense to bring in a young guy unless you plan on giving them minutes to develop.
if i remember correctly, the nuggets GM (was it dan issel?) that drafted him turned around a few years later and gave tony a nickname: El Busto
yea i found a link: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/skybolt/battie.html
VIVA EL BUSTO
His mom's first name is Dell? is that real?
Judging by the picture he does a mean Gilbert Arenas impression
The best vet. min signings in recent history would be two seasons ago with Ratliff and Donny-Ice. Ratliff could defend well off the bench; Donny-Ice had a gut and could hit threes.
I think the worst might have been last year with Brezec. He was completely useless, but was a shell of what I think EJ wanted in a center - defensively inept but could hit 18 ft jumpers.
Can anyone think of any good reason why Battie was signed? Anyone? Something? Can he grow a mullet?
Didn't he seriously hurt a Sixer with a flagrant foul back when he played for the Celtics? That's pretty tough. Forget who he injured, though.
Tough as in reaching through a players legs and grabbing his nut sack?
Reggie Evans?
he broke iverson's hand in 2002 i think
yeah i fucking want reggie back. trade kapono back for evans.