Overheard in the media room down in LA from a couple of other team's scouts that NOBODY had George turing into this kind of player....NOBODY!
Oh I completely agree. I figured if he fulfilled his potential he'd probably end up a 15/3/5 kind of small forward. A good starter, but nobody you'd expect to be pushing himself into the discussion as a top 3 small forward in the league with Durant and Lebron being the only two guys clearly better than him.
PG's game last night reminded me a ton of Dame's explosion at GS in our loss there last year Had 37-6-4 on 15-25 FG with 7-12 on threes. A game we lost by 6 pts.
Yup, I can't help but think of Steve Jones when a player has a game like that. "Ball movement, player movement." When a guy is basically the entire offense, it stymies offensive flow.
Dude the difference between the two players is George has the "IT" factor. He lives up to shutting the crowd down. He wants to be the man. Batum has the talent to be "IT", but doesn't have the mindset to take it.
I don't think Batum has the scoring talent that George does. We're seeing Batum do what Batum does best. He's a versatile player capable of doing many things. Some nights he might drop 30, but I don't see him as a guy who could do that regularly. He grabs boards, he hands out assists, he runs the offense, and he can score when he needs to. That's Nic Batum.
Haven't read the thread but to add to George . .. he is one cocky mother fucker. They probably showed him putting a finger to his mouth after making a big shots and shutting up the crowd, but he also interacted with the crowd and would talk or stare down our section any chance he got. Reminds me a lot of Kobe the way he does it. He lets us fans know he is the man. I usually try to egg players on telling they have no game and not going to happen in Ptd . . . last time I did that to Kobe he played the whole game and tore up the Blazers (keep telling him his legs are getting tired and end of the game he gave me a eat crow look) . . . George is the first player I didn't want to egg on during the game. Other funny note, was yelling at the coach he needed to call a time out in the 4th during some free throws by the Blazers. Indy brings the ball up court and of course George hits a three and the coach turned right around and gave me a look and smiled. God it was a fun game last night.
But the point is that people need to stop lamenting what Batum is not, and start accepting what he actually is. It's like the parents that keep trying to push their kids into law school. Take him for what he is. Let him be the player that he wants to be. If I've learned anything over the years, it's that you can't wish a player into a role that they don't want.
Oh I'm happy we have Batum! He is absolutely a "glue guy" for this club. There have been moments where his presence was essential for our success. Also, Batum is a 11 mil player and PG is a max player. Different caliber of players and Both players are worth every penny of their contracts.
Not when it comes to running an offense and getting the team involved. Scoring, yes. Defense, yes. But passing is ALL Nic. Saw some comparisons to McGrady, and mentions of Durant. Made me think that George reminds me of a young TMac, and Durant reminds me of an old TMac.
The same could probably be said of Hibbert and Granger. Indiana must be doing something right with player development. Are there any common pieces in place from when Jermaine O'Neal pulled off a similar feat there?
And that is why you go to the game. Note: I get what you are talking about with traffic. Taking the max to the game is the way to go.
