He lacks defensive intensity though. I think he was benched for this reason.
Are you sure you watched him a lot? As a Religion major at Duke, Battier was known as the Minister of Defense, and earned all kinds of hoopla for his tenacity on the other side of the ball, particularly his willingness to draw the charge. And he certainly hasn't lost his fire after joining the NBA. Coach Hubie Brown, who considers Battier one of his favorite players, just wanted to balance his rotation with consistency from the bench. In fact, here's a Hubie-on-Shane excerpt from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Brown lauded Battier for the defense he played against Ray Allen down the stretch. "You can put Shane on anybody," Brown said.