I can't stand it anymore. It has been with great patients that Nic has received a pass by myself and most fans. I've had it! I am sick and tired of his turn overs (and I don't care what the stat line says for HIM tonight) and lackadaisical play. I'm finished, though I've been a staunch fan of his from the beginning. If Neil finds a trade for someone with decent ability... let it rip. If Nico isn't willing to forgo his national team and commit to being a pro... screw him. He had 9 unforced turnovers/broken plays from his possession of the rock. Absolutely inexcusable. It makes me sad, but he has outlived his usefulness on the Blazers.
I'm not too worried about Batum's long term prospects. I'm fairly sure 26 year old players nearing the prime of their careers don't just drop off like a rock. He's obviously hurting, tired, played too much during the summer and it's coming back to bite him now. As far as this season goes, we're probably going to have to live with this version of Batum unless they shut him down for awhile. I hope he takes the summer to rest up instead of playing for France, and hopefully he gets back to being the player he was next year.
Batum is just the latest scapegoat. He's just banged up. He'll get it turned around. Might need some rest though. Some fans were just DYING for batum to struggle. There's always been these huge expectations on the guy like he was the next Pippen. He's under appreciated by many in rip city.
I love how people are still defending Batum to the death around here. Batum has been one of my favorite players since he became a Blazer. But the guy is paid 11 million dollars a year for a reason, and that reason is not to play like absolute shit. He deserves the criticism he has been receiving this year.
' Of course he does, but do you really think he's regressed as a player? He was worth the money up till this point.
Batum isn't the scapegoat for me he just isn't performing. I love the guy and would love to see his game come back. I don't want to trade him but I wouldn't mind him resting. And more importantly we can't afford to sit back and wait for his game to come back. It totally fucks our offense when he isn't a threat. We need someone we can plug in when he isn't getting it done and we need more from our bench anyway so it's a group thing for me anyway not just Batum.
Honestly I don't know. I doubt he has regressed, but he isn't your average 26 year old. He has played for many years and never takes time off. He has a lot of miles on his body from this. Last year Batum looked great. This year he just looks terrible and it's really hurting our team. He keeps grabbing his wrist during games, if that were the case he should take a month off. Crabbe filling in for him seemed to work fine earlier in the season and teams wouldn't play off Crabbe as much as they are Batum right now. He needs to rest, get his mind right, do whatever he needs to do to fix himself before the playoffs. That's what the Blazers pay him for, to help the team. Not to play like garbage and hurt our team. It's actually pretty sad.
Playing for team France is partly to blame. When will GM's ask their highly paid players to take a break? Mark Cuban hit the nail on the head on this subject.
Did you two even read my post? No shit Sherlocks... he does need rest... because being the hero on his Euro National team has been his focus. The point was he needs to decide whether he is a national player or a pro in the NBA. Nico is too frail, more than most, of keeping that kind of commitment and the one he has to the Blazers. Not being argumentative, but his focus is not one for the goals set forth by the Blazer organization. I love Nico for the player he could be, but his distraction is becoming relevant to trade scenarios. He is well into his "big contract" so assuming growth or even recovery is not a wise thing. And Scalma, I do appreciate your posts and insights, but Nicola Batum is not a scapegoat to me. I'm just sick and tired of the mistakes a true "PRO' would not make on a continual basis... i.e. lazy, bad decisions and lack of aggression.
Thank you! Exactly my point. The man is getting paid to play 82+ games a year. If his current loyalty is to the French National Team, fine. Let someone else take his leftovers. Those of us who run or have run a successful business would take a much different attitude of an employee who will not make our business a primary focus rather than a loyalty toward a non-profit they ascribe to supporting.
I starting to get fed up too but guess what? This is not a game thread and there is already a Batum Tracker thread that gets plenty of posts that this can be merged into. We can discuss it some more to death in there. Thanks mods!
Definitely agree. It's up to Stotts to make that decision though. Batum obviously wants to be out there, shitty game and all.
He's a good kid. But it's extremely frustrating that were talking about a guy that is tired and guy that needs to sit for a few weeks. To me there is no excuse for this. Who is the one writing the damn check here? It's the Blazers. It's not France. Who is being effected now due to all the basketball that's being played It's not France, it's the Blazers. If I was the owner, I would look into charging him back some of that money that is being dulled out this year. He's just not producing what he is bringing in. The bottom line is the Blazers cannot allow him to continue to go about his business they way he has been. He needs to rest and take care of himself. And if he is unwilling to do that. Than he needs to go.
I believe we're undefeated this year when he doesn't play. He killed our momentum in the last two games with sloppy play.
Hard to say as Wes would never let on. Wes did have an even shittier game than Batum tonight though. Both could use at least a night off but we can't afford it on Wes with MEM next.
