USA vs France, Sunday Aug. 15

I didn't think he looked as bad as the stat line indicates. I'm pretty sure he had more than 4 rebs. However, it did look like he wasn't all that interested in the game. His defense was much more lackadaisical than we are used to seeing, and on offense he looked convinced that his teammates wouldn't be able to accomplish anything anyway.

 

Batum is a kid, and the coaching staff needs to help him develop his game. Rudy is a vet, and needs to take responsibility for his own performance.

 

I agree. There's not much you can do when your team doesn't have a true ball handler and your opponent is throwing half court presses at you. They were using Boeheims zone defense and nobody was attacking. What good is your offense going to do when no one even looks to attack the zone, instead they stand around the 3 point line chucking the ball around like a hot potatoe.

To me, Batum's play was a product of the system which France was playing. There was no system, it looked like shit ball to me.

 

That's a pretty fair description. He knew the buzz saw his team was about to get into. He seemed to have a pretty good first quarter, but after that he just seemed to give up.

I'm not entirely sure I blame him. When you see Diaw show up so ridiculously out of shape, and you see Turiaf and Parker out, and you realize he's just recovering from injury, it's hard to get that motivated in a game that doesn't really matter in the middle of summer. It was the kind of game an older Scottie Pippen would've coasted on, too.

 

Excellent. This only makes Batum long for getting back to the Blazers where he can be on the court with studs who care and resume his role as a glue-type player. Batum is a good player to have on a good team. Batum is not a D-Wade type that can carry a team with holes, playing lots of 1 on 4 offensively.

This experience is the opposite of what happened to Rudy when he became an international star with the high powered Spanish team, only to find it difficult to play a different role on the Blazers. This time, Batum will be happy to go back to his old role.

 

I'm not singling anybody out, I just saw a whole lot of really extreme points being made on both sides and I was just a little floored that people were able to get that much out of what was on the TV yesterday ...

 

I wonder if Batum will command a big salary next year and if GO plays like we all hope . . . can you give a max salary to GO and a big contract to Batum with Roy and LA's contracts?

I guess if your PA, anything is possible, but at some point even PA will draw the line on total player salary . . . I think.

 

Thats when you consider moving LMA for a player with similar abilities, but a smaller contract. Like Kevin Love

 

Yeah ... but then Love is due for an extension the year after that (and on it goes).

I do think with Camby and Miller set to expire in the very near future, it's going to make contract extensions for some of the younger guys like Oden and Batum much easier to stomach.

 

Joel expires even sooner... but with those guys off the books, how will our collective stomachs handle whoever is getting their minutes?

If PA's to double down in support of the headline guys to the tune of going deep into the lux tax for a while, it's time for them to put up a great season. Another season of ifs and buts and I'd understand if the club's decision is to keep the dollars within reason.

STOMP

 

I totally agree. Batum and Oden getting big time dollars is going to come down to productivity and demonstrated "reasonable" health.

 

Batum's schedule for the Worlds:

28 Aug. vs Spain
29 Aug. vs Lebanon
31 Aug. vs Canada
1 Sep. vs Lithuania
2 Sep. vs New Zealand

 

Probably a bit of both. Beaubois puts up very similar, if not a little better numbers per 36, and Pietrus is more well known by the National media. Beaubois and Pietrus also play in larger tv markets than Portland does, so they get more exposure. I think in general, Portland fans value Batum a lot more than the rest of the league....not to say they don't value him highly though.

 

I seem to recall Batum being amongst the leaders on his team last year and Beaubois doing nothing.

About the similar per36... Roddy B played 12.5 MPG last year, so putting up similar stats per 36 is not really an advantage.

 

I guess you don't know how per 36 stats work then?

It's just an opinion. You and others can attack it all you want, but I'm not changing it. PG's are more valuable than wing players, and I think that has something to do with him being included in the best 4. I don't think he is better than Batum, but I think other might based on my reasons above

 

Is Beaubois really a point though? The times I saw last year he didn't really handle the ball a lot. He had a couple games where he scored a bunch because he was out in transition and hitting corner 3's.

 

I think he is technically a point. Certainly not one if the pass first sense though. He would actually be a nice little PG for our team

 

Meh. He's about as much a PG as Jason Terry.

 

Who also would be a nice fit for our team