MERGED: Roy endorses Batum

mook · Oct 17, 2008

Re: Roy endorses Batum

Masbee said: ↑

Yes, it will have to evolve over time and experience.

But having Oden in there makes doubling and tripling Roy significantly riskier for the opposing teams. With Roy's passing, if they sag off Oden, even a bit, Roy could find him for a power dunk. So now what do they do?

Sag off Rudy? Try it and see what happens. Leave a shooter like LaMarcus open? Bad idea.

No, we are again left with the double coming off Blake or Travis or whoever is the 5th guy. But, we won't have 3 players constantly shadowing Roy anymore. Funny thing is, Blake and Travis, for example, have knocked down many open shots - so for us - even a well run defense against us won't always end up with a "bad" shot taken.

Sure the burden will be on Roy, but he will find he has more room to work and more viable options when trying to make plays.

The ABR defense will not be the no-brainer it was, even early in the season.
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Funny. Your description makes us an interesting hybrid of the 2000 Lakers and the 2000 Blazers squad.

It's like the 2000 Lakers team because you have this overpowering center and a star shooting guard who is also a great passer. Which guy do you try to limit? Focus too much on one and the other will destroy you. Don't focus on either, and they both destroy you.

But it's like the 2000 Blazers team because you have a collection of really talented guys, but no clear cut superstar (at least yet). Your best shot at beating them is to have 5 great defenders on the court at all time playing perfect man defense, because there's nobody you can consistently sag off or you'll pay the price.

It was a classic battle of two superstars vs a team of all-stars. This team looks like it'll eventually have 2 superstars (Roy, Oden) and a couple of extra all-star quality talent (Fernandez, Aldridge).

handiman · Oct 17, 2008

Re: Roy endorses Batum

mook said: ↑

It was a classic battle of two superstars vs a team of all-stars.
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"Two Deep vs. Too Deep," classic indeed.

Shapecity · Oct 17, 2008

Roy Endorses Batum as Starter

When 19-year-old rookie Nicolas Batum practiced with the first unit on Tuesday, coach Nate McMillan more or less downplayed the surprising move as merely putting one of the roster's small forwards into the slot vacated by Martell Webster's injury.

Today, it became evident there is more behind this move, as observed by team leader and star Brandon Roy.

"I mean, at first it was one day. Then it was two days. And now it's three days. And it's still Nic,'' Roy said, pointing out that Batum has worked exclusively with the first unit the past three practices.

That leaves Roy with no other conclusion than McMillan is very serious about starting Batum at small forward in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, which his a mere 11 days away.

And the more Roy thinks about it, the more he likes the idea. In fact, Roy endorses Batum as a starter, having already gone to assistant Monty Williams with his support of Batum.

"Honestly, I think (Batum) might be able to start at the three,'' Roy said. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's going to be tough, but I think if you look at the matchups early - I think you can get away with Batum on (the Lakers') Vladimir Radmanovic, and the Spurs have Bruce (Bowen) - so I think (McMillan) might be able to get away with it.''

The rationale here is that by starting Batum - a noted defender - it will allow McMillan to keep the team's second unit of Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Channing Frye and Joel Przybilla intact. The other options being considered were putting Fernandez as the starting shooting guard and moving Roy to small forward, or moving Outlaw into the starting small forward position.

"That second unit, they somewhat have an identity now, and you don't really want to break that up,'' Roy said. "That's why I think I like this. Just because I like our second unit - I like what Sergio and Rudy do together ... and that second unit has that identity, that's their team. When they huddle up in practice, it's like they say 'You (starters) have your team; this is our team'. It's almost like football teams, how they have the offensive and defensive units. That's the approach they have.''

Plus, Roy feels it keeps Outlaw - his best friend on the team - in his comfort zone.

"On the second unit, Travis doesn't feel the pressure as much,'' Roy said. "His shots come differently in the first unit. He may still get 10 shots, but they are 10 different shots than he is used to taking. He's better in that second unit. When he misses in that first lineup, he's like 'My bad, I should have passed it to Brandon or LaMarcus'.''

Also, Roy feels that Batum is a nice fit because his game is predicated on defense and movement on offense that translates into rebounds and tipped balls.

"I see him being a potential starter at the three spot just because of the way he plays,'' Roy said. "I mean, you got me, you got LaMarcus, you got Greg. Now you need a guy who is kind of selfless - who just kind of wants to rebound, play some defense and he just fits that mold better than anyone else.''

Not to state the obvious, but this would be a startling development. Batum was the 25th overall pick in this summer's NBA Draft, acquired in a trade with Houston for Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey. Anyone who saw this kid in the Las Vegas Summer League would have pegged him for the Development League. Even Batum says he played poorly in Vegas.

Of course, there is a ways to go before this is final. The Blazers have today off, and will practice Saturday and Sunday before heading to Sacramento for a Monday night exhibition against the Kings. Then it's road games at the Clippers on Wednesday and the exhibition finale Thursday at Utah.

McMillan hasn't said anything yet, but I would suspect Batum and the rest of the regular starters (Steve Blake, Roy, Aldridge and Oden) will take the floor for the opening tip in Sacramento. If Batum grades well in that game and starts against the Clippers, I would venture that he has won the starting job.

But there are still hurdles to overcome.

Roy said he is a tad concerned about the language barrier. The Frenchman has a difficult time picking up the calls, Roy said, which can put a stress on the rest of the unit.

"There are certain things we say that he is not picking up quite as fast,'' Roy said.

And, as is natural for a 19-year-old rookie, the pace of the game and the amount of information and reads can be tough to process.

"I think the question is going to be, is this too much pressure for him? Like now, I see him walking around and it's like he has that 'Uh oh' look,'' Roy said while making his eyes big.

For instance, when the first team huddles up, McMillan will tell them what play to run and everyone breaks out of the huddle and goes to their spot. Batum will stand in place for a second trying to process it all. And that's when McMillan will remember he has a 19-year-old with the first unit.

"And that's when coach will go 'My bad. OK, Nic. Do this and then do that','' Roy said. "So the quicker he learns the walk of the first team, and he doesn't put too much pressure on himself, the easier this will be. But the first thing I told coach (Monty Williams) was that I don't mind him there because I think he would be better in this lineup because he doesn't have that pressure. Offensively, he knows he's not going to get that many touches. He just has to hit the open shot. And eventually, that will become the pressure - his man will say 'We are going to make Nicolas beat us.' Then I think it will be an adjustment. But I like him out there.''
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Source: OregonLive Blog

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MERGED: Roy endorses Batum

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