Earlier today, KP was interviewed by Kenny Vance and Jay Allen. And he had nothing but high praise for Nicolas Batum. Even said he has been the best player in europe this summer. He thinks he will really help this team this year. If that is indeed the case, it would appear he has accepted the challenge from Martell. And Martells attempt to push him back to the bench.. It may not be as etched as I once thought. Training camp should be a lot of fun this year. The competition for the starting three, should be really exciting. I hope it's the same story for the center position. Oh and he also said that Martell should be cleared for five on five by mid september and even Martell is looking good in the time he has has a chance to watch him.
Martell is basically an afterthought at this stage. I hope he does come back strong and healthy, however, because he has a contract that is trade friendly.
Having watched almost all of Batum's games so far this summer, I can attest to what KP's saying. The interview had me excited as well. Some links: KP interview: http://vault.desjalogic.com/rcrweb/podcasts/sports/WAW_8_25_h2.mp3 Batum video: [video=dailymotion;xa7xta]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa7xta_batum_sport[/video] More Batum video: [video=youtube;QJxuZkrF6b8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJxuZkrF6b8[/video] I'm almost as pumped to see this dude develop next season as I am about GO.
I'm really surprised that KP didn't slag him a little bit -- I mean, it seems like KP is always throwing his guys under the bus somehow.
Batum is the real deal. He is the anti Bayless. Batum should teach him how to play. But I think at this point its a lost cause
Glad to hear he's playing well! I'll admit it, I LOVE Batum. I think he has a chance to be a very special player.
Those two videos are really interesting to watch in succession. There aren't any highlights of him taking his man off the dribble when he's a Blazer. Most of his offensive highlights are spot up three pointers or dunks set up by somebody else. On the French team he definitely demonstrated a skill at taking his man off the dribble I just didn't realize he had. It'll be interesting to see if he adds that aspect to his game this fall. There really isn't a huge demand for it, with Aldridge in the post and Roy and Miller breaking people down with their dribble. His rookie year he seemed to play like he aspired to be the next Bruce Bowen. Defend and hit threes, and nothing else. And that's probably the style he had to play to get Nate's trust. But just watching that French video you can see he can do a lot more.
I believe I read somewhere that Nate told Batum he only wanted Nic to play D and make open threes. Then you avoid the unnecessary turn-overs. This offseason they are going to open up his game some more. He is only 20 or 21 ffs. They just don't want to give the 16 year old the keys to a new Porsche just yet. First he gets the indestructible Volvo station wagon.
That's what I was thinking while watching those videos as well. Only caveat though, is that he's going up against the likes of Belinelli, Bustnani, and an assortment of Italy's scrubs in the French video. That said, if he can carry over that new found mentality of attacking the rim off the dribble, he'd add a whole new dimension to that SF spot.
Seriously, though. DMiles was a monster when he wanted to be. Here's a video of him destroying the Nuggets: [video=youtube;tS1vLbIXDD4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS1vLbIXDD4[/video]
Have to admit I was kind of thinking the same thing. Darius was so smooth and graceful. It's a shame injuries ended his career. That and he was an idiot and he couldn't hit a jump shot.
Darius Miles was a talent. For everything he was physically, was taken back for everything that he was mentally. Thats what it is for a lot of players though.
