Well just call me Homer but I'm not throwing Nico under the bus for a bad game. Yeah, he had a bad game. Boards seem to have gone in full on panic attack mode. See you all when this calms down. I still enjoyed the game last night. Adios to the fair weather fans and naysayers out there. Go Blazers!
[video]http://www.csnnw.com/blazers/batum-had-bad-game-its-me[/video] Fact is, Nico is 25 and much like Aldridge of a few years back is still evolving. Similarly people want to jump shit on him. Just like with LA I'll continue to be patient and enjoy the moment when it finally comes that he capitalizes on his potential.
LA had some dominant stretches early in his career when Roy as injured. Batum hasn't demonstrated any sort of consistency to be compared to LA at the same age.
True . . . there have been posters questioning "LaMarshmellow's" heart for years and calling to trade him. I guess LA had more in him than many people thought. Nic is soild and improving . . . doubt Blazers have any intention of moving him.
Agreed. Batum plays through injuries, which speaks to his character & determination. He had to know that playing with a fractured finger on his shooting hand was going to affect his offensive production & percentages. He's started all 54 games this year. He's averaging almost 38 min in Feb. He's guarding other teams PGs. The offensive results? He's shooting around 27% on 3s going back to Jan. He's not able to back down smaller players and shoot over them, or hit runners like he did early in the season. He didn't sit out because his will to win & be there for the team is greater than his fear of playing poor (due to injury). That's rare.
Downward trend and not near the consistency of LA. Some people questioned LA's toughness which was reasonable given his talent but he was always quite consistent with his production. And Nic's injured finger is no his non-shooting hand. I believe it is the ring finger on his left. It's not that Nic isn't talented and this certainly is not a knee-jerk reaction to one game. It is just amplified by the fact that LaMarcus was out and every other teammate stepped up except for him....in a game where every other player on the other team stepped up as well because they had 3 starters out. Nic has the tools but I just don't see near the signs like you saw with LA.
Fans creating a supportive environment for team success...and just when did this become a character flaw? No excuses, mistakes were made in every loss any team has had all season. To harp endlessly about them is to really miss out on the joy of competitive sports. People are not machines. There's a 50% chance that every team will lose a game tonight. Pick the one you enjoy the most and start cheering. Bashing teams is boring, misses the point of why we follow them and escalates doubt and negative affirmations. Sometimes the reactions you read on these threads just baffles the mind
so when he plays through injuries huh? what happened earlier in his career when he had injuries? certainly didn't play through it. but at least hes not Meyers leonard with his sprained ankle. oh gee -.-
I have no problem celebrating a win but that doesn't mean I go Pollyanna and just accept losses like there is nothing to be done about them. As for having a 50% chance of winning/losing each game, that would shout out 'mediocrity' and I don't think that is the goal here. Fan support is great but I don't expect it to be 'blind support'. Realistic support with legitimate questions or expectations seems completely appropriate. If everything is just roses, why compete? Why try to get better? Why have trades at all? Heck, why even have practice? Just be happy with what is and don't dare question or try and improve on anything. Now I'm baffled...
You saw him miss his first six shots, right? If he'd kept shooting and missing, you'd be complaining that he was jacking up too many shots. I have my complaints about Nic's game, but his positives drastically outweigh his negatives.
What's this? A Post that doesn't rail about Lamarcus? Does this mean you think Stotts needs Lamarcus on the court?
Not if they are good shots. If he is jacking up contested '3's, yes. If he is attacking the rim and taking advantage of his mismatch against almost any defender, absolutely not. Type of shot means as much as percentage. Sometimes they don't go down but that doesn't mean you stop taking good, aggressive shots. His positive CAN CERTAINLY outweigh his negatives....no question about it. But for the money tied up in him, it's just not worth it for what he is producing. Low shooting percentages, barely breaking double-digit scoring and not nearly the defensive intensity he used to have. Again, all the tools in the world but he just doesn't use them that often.
Nobody cares what you consider a good fan or whatever you're talking about. The joy of competitive sports is that you can say whatever you feel/want and it doesn't really matter, because it's just a game. There's no "point of why we follow them", because everyone can have a different reason and it doesn't matter what it is.
Batum was always all potential. He’d look good on 10% of his plays, bad on 10%, and mediocre on 80%. He loved to rove like Mo Williams does, but had none of Mo’s dribbling ability. So he had to quickly unload the ball and pretend to be a good passer. When the Timberwolves wanted him and he hinted he wanted to go, this board displayed all sides. As the most reasonable person here, I struck a practical compromise. I said, “Yes he’ll be vastly overpaid, yes he has potential but is taking forever to meet it. But if we don’t sign him, we’ll give him away to Minnesota for nothing. There is a good chance that his new salary will cause 1) him to feel that he owes it to us to expand his role, out of guilt, and 2) management to expand his role, to get a return on their investment. Gifted with the wisdom of Solomon, I continued, “So this contract might cause him to approach his potential. Give it one year. Then trade him if he’s not there. That way we won’t just give him to the Wolves for free.” The high pay did indeed motivate management to expand his role. Now he boastfully catches and passes with one hand, piling up assists and turnovers in a bad ratio. His conception of what he should do is still all wrong, which is why his potential is still unrealized. As the George Washington of the board, I say, trade him.
