MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- So some smart-aleck friends of Shane Battier can't help but suggest that he will have won more games as a Duke senior than as a Memphis Grizzlies rookie, and Battier is way too polite to go J-Will on these guys and use the middle finger to tell them who's going to be No. 1 some day. But he answers with a wry smile that suggests he could offer a reminder of some of the places that a Blue Devil pitchfork can be planted.

	Shane Battier celebrates after the Grizzlies selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft.

The sense of humor, one of the many positives of his personality, will help. It's like when the Grizzlies opened their new life in Tennessee, after the move from Vancouver, by beating the Portland Trail Blazers in the exhibition opener Tuesday at The Pyramid.

"Well, I'm 1-0," Battier said. "Can I quit? Retire in a few days?"

You mean like get out while there's still time?

He was kidding. We're not.

It's going to be the first season in Memphis but also a very long one, despite the presence of the talented, consistent and grounded Battier, who won't win Rookie of the Year because major awards rarely go to teams that finish deep in the lottery, but might be the best first-year player in the league. Of far greater certainty is that this will be a huge step up in talent level of opponents and a massive comedown in the rate of success.

Duke will win more games than the Grizzlies.

	Williams

Which could be startling, but nothing compared to what Jason Williams will face. Barring injury or unforeseen collapse in Sacramento, J-Thrill should consider it a success for Memphis if the Grizzlies win half as many games as the Kings. Not that he should worry about chasing that ghost, the real challenge for his new teammates being just to match the 23 wins of the final sputter and exhale in Vancouver.

Williams and Battier, who have little in common, can at least share a parachute. A season of new opportunities -- for pro hoops in a town that is into its college ball, for Battier in the NBA, for Williams to get a fresh start, for everyone to finally learn what a Tam is and how did Memphis' ABA franchise pick that name -- will also be a season of old results. The Grizzlies will lose a lot. People will make a lot of comments about how Elvis will show up more often than some of the players. The city didn't get an expansion team ... and it did.

The future may be encouraging (two lottery picks in Battier and Pau Gasol, a talented young point guard like Williams who only needs to channel the potential, Michael Dickerson as a scoring guard), but there is no getting around that the standings of the day will show something quite different. That will be the fate, and that will be the challenge for two Grizzlies (Grizzly? Grizzli?) in particular.

Battier and Williams. From the success of winning to the excess of losing.

"I haven't talked about it," coach Sidney Lowe said. "Number one, because I don't want to put that thought in their minds. What I told them was that they have an opportunity to lead this group vocally and by example, to show what it takes to win, to show you have to do to win. I don't want to put anything in their minds where they're going to face some adversities. Obviously having a young ballclub and a new team and everything, you're going to have that. But I don't want to put that in their minds. What I want them to concentrate on is getting the other guys to understand how we have to play to win the games."

The especially interesting part being that Battier, the rookie, will be more helpful in this way than Williams, the veteran with playoff experience. This won't come as a surprise on either front. Jase In Your Face could have been everything in Sacramento and too often struggled just to be something, or at least something besides a handful. He had the kind of personality behind the scenes, usually far from view of the fans who tried hard to adore him, that teammates enjoyed, but also the kind of work ethic and lack of communication that frustrated the same teammates. The only thing clean cut about him was his head (Next on SportsCenter: he's got hair again), contrasted at the very same time against the showing of Battier.

All-America at Duke and all-american guy. Talented, smart, personable, four seasons of college ball when he could have been a favorite on NBA draft boards years before, a game based on the fundamentals of defense and perimeter shooting and court sense. Others have the flash of playing above the rim and he has the success of, figuratively, playing with his feet on the ground. And no need to worry that they may have broken the mold on this one. Shane Battier, the academic all-american, can fix it.

That means he's also smart enough to know things can't stay this way for long with the Grizzlies. (Not a word from you, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Mike Bibby.) So retirement is off. He'll go for 2-0 and then maybe even hang around for another decade or so after that.

"I've never been frustrated with losing while knowing that I'm doing everything I can to help us win games," Battier said. "If other people share that attitude, you're going to get better. Especially in this league. Not everyone plays hard every night and if you can catch a team on a down night and play hard, with the level of talent that we have, we can win a few games."

And Williams, in going from a team that reached 55 wins and the second round of the playoffs to the Grizzlies? How tough will it be to play that transition game?

"Not at all," he said. "I'll get through it."

Not at all? You won't have to be careful that the losing won't add up as an emotional burden?

"Nope," Williams said. "We ain't gonna lose."

Let's hear it for new beginnings.

Scott Howard-Cooper covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.