Yes or No? Right now would you play Batum over Outlaw?

Yes

 

I would yes if your talking starting. I really wouldn't start either one but would go with a 3 guard starting lineup of Blake/Roy/Rudy at least until webster comes back or we trade for a good SF at the trade deadline. I like what I have seen from Batum so far but he isn't ready to start IMO.

If your talking about who gets the most minutes I would say Outlaw should coming off the bench.

 

Sure I would try it in pre-season for sure. I would let Outlaw get another start but if he doesn't snap out of it I would start Batum until Rudy comes back or Nate wants to try a 3 guard lineup.

 

I'd move Roy over to the three, but if I'm restricted to just those two options then I think I'd take Batum, his outside J is dicey, but almost every other facet of his game (passing, defense, rebounding, hustle, court awareness) looks miles ahead of "Big Shot" Trav -- how sad is that?

 

I'm not talking about starting, I'm just talking about which guy you would opt to play more.

Batum has shown me more than Outlaw thus far. When Outlaw is in the game, he isn't playing strong defense, he isn't going to the basket in a smart way. He seriously sucks the life out of the offensive and defensive execution.

Batum may not be the playmaker and shot-maker that Travis is, but in terms of net impact on the game, I'm much more comfortable right now with Batum.

-Pop

 

Listening to the FAN on the way in to work . .. there is a lot of Travis hate going on (maybe he is the scapegoat this year).

TO had a break out year last year, developed a repuation as Mr. Clutch, has a good attitude, improved every year since he has been in the league and Nate talked this summer about how valuable he is to the team.

Don't dis him by starting Batum over him in the preseason. IF Webster is hurt, I think the message to Travis should be it is nows your position to win or lose in the pre-season and regular season til Martell get back. He deserves that.

 

I would want both to get a lot of minutes in the pre-season. I would hope Outlaw would snap out of his funk and I would want Batum to get as much experience as possible. Then it depends how they play before I would say for sure how the regular season minutes went. I would probably say Outlaw would get more minutes at least at first unless Batum blows up in the pre-season.

 

I think Both the Fan and 95.5 the game morning announcers are both idiots IMO. Neither team knows what they are talking about.

 

Two preseason games doesn't make much of a basis for a decision on Travis. The guy played mostly at the 4 spot last season. He also played off the bench so moving him to the starting spot is a major adjustment where he has to learn how to fit with the starters. I think you have to cut him a bit of slack and use these preseason games as a chance for him to show whether he can make the change. Given that Webster's down, it's not as though there's much alternative anyway. Batum had a nice game last night, but he's a long way from being a starter or even getting major minutes. Once coaches figure out that the guy can't score, they're going to make the Blazers pay on the offensive end by consistently doubling off of him.

Frankly, if Travis isn't showing more by the end of preseason, I think it's time for KP to start looking for a trade that brings a legitimate starting SF to the team.

 

I would love to see Batum starting - and hope that the PG/Roy and Aldridge hit their open shots - Outlaw coming off the bench might just be better for him.

Anyway, did you notice the Sergio/Rudy/Batum lineup we had last night. Should get Joel Freeland to come over and with Steven of Nazareth this is the Euroleague unit...

 

I didn't know Hill was a Euro?

 

Nazareth is in Israel. Israeli teams play in the Euroleague. He is an honorary Euroleaguer. Sort of like an Honorary degree - with the purpose of finding a Euroleaguer Center for the squad (We already have a PG/SG/SF and with Freeland a PF).

Of course, we could also bring Kopo over and play him at Center - he would be a short Center but being a playboy - he can pretty much write his own ticket.

 

OH I get you now. It went over my head.

 

I don't know this is tough. On one hand I would like to see McMillan allow Batum to start at the 3, like he allowed Bayless to start at the 1 last night. This would give them a different look.

On the other hand, Outlaw is going to be down about that performance. If he's not given another opportunity to redeem himself tomorrow night, then I'd worry about his confidence.

I'm all for trading Outlaw. We have little use for him now. As a small forward he hurts the team. He's never been successful at that position and he never will be. I'd be in favor of moving him to the power forward spot, but we have Frye, who I like a lot more. Until Frye returns, I think Travis is best to back up Aldridge. This would keep his trade value from plummeting and help the flow of the game on D and O.

But still, you've got to give Travis another shot at the 3 tomorrow. Allow him one more opp and hopefully he can at least hit a few buckets, raise his head, and quickly get his ass on the bench!

 

Batum has looked better in the first two games, so I'd play him more in the next game.

But I'm also aware that it's a tiny sample size. I'd be very interested to see how he's been doing in practice.

You go with whomever has played better recently.

 

Actually, I don't worry that much about Outlaw's confidence. Face it--he's kind of empty headed. Which is actually an advantage in the fourth quarter of a tight game--he doesn't let the pressure get to him, because he just doesn't think about it. Similarly, he has nights where he goes 1-9 because he doesn't let bad shooting stop him. He just doesn't think about it.

Webster, in contrast, has always thought too much, and a bench demotion could send him into a month long shooting slump.

Outlaw might have his feeling hurt by a bench demotion, but I really don't think it'll affect his game much.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but I've said before that Travis is very limited in certain areas. It is my opinion that he comes off as a ball hog because he really doesn't see what's going on around him. When Nate first got here they said that Travis was having trouble learning the plays. I think when Travis gets the ball he goes into score mode simply because he has a low basketball IQ and doesn't see the things that Rudy or Roy sees. Sad but true.

 

No. I would not play Batum over Outlaw. Outlaw, last year, was fairly good and an offensive player. He needs to learn from his mistakes and focus more on being a defensive stopper and attacking the basket instead of a spot up shooter.

 

I don't think it's really sad. If a boxer only has one punch, he'd be a fool not to use it often.

Outlaw's one punch is that he can jump and he can shoot. That's about it. People can get mad at him for being dumb, but what's the point? You might as well get mad at the ocean for getting your feet wet. He doesn't want to be dumb any more than I want to grow old. But he can't make himself smarter, and I can't stop aging.

So the question is, is there a role on this team for a guy who can shoot and can jump? A shot blocker and gunner off the bench?

I don't really see it.

We've got four big-minute players who are 6'11 or bigger, and two of them are Oden and Przybilla. So I don't see a great need for more shot blocking.

We've got Roy, Fernandez, Webster, Bayless, Blake, Frye, Aldridge and maybe Rodriguez, who all can hit a jumper. So I don't see a great need for more shooting.

He's a guy with a limited skill set that's actually a pretty valuable skill set to many teams. We just don't need it.