I think summer leagues are a horrible way to judge a players game either good or bad! Remember how Qyntel Woods looked like the next Pip during 2 summers in SLC?
Freeland, Monia, Khryapa, Rodriguez, Koponen... exactly which foreign steals have the Blazers benefited from recently in the later rounds?
I agree. I just wonder what gatorpops saw in Vegas that told him Batum was a better basketball player than Bayless.
I have no idea, I just thought those names sounded cool. Say it out loud "LEEEEE-AANNNN-DRO BAR-BO-SAHHHHHHH!" It really rolls off the tongue and it's fun to say.
We've been lacking a fun name to say since Arvydas Sabonis retired. I'm hoping Nicolas Batum can fill that void. Fernandez and Rodriguez have first names that are too pedestrian. LaMarcus Aldridge isn't bad, but not quite "fluid" enough. Roy and Oden, of course, are complete duds.
Nope, it's the character Begbie from Trainspotting. In my youth (teens and early twenties) it wasn't unknown for me to do a little bit of followed by ... and I'm 3rd generation Scottish so it has that going for it too. Mostly if I do too much now I usually end up at the end of the night
Man, I just checked that out for the first time since it was released the other day. I was in Scotland this summer and wanted to see it again. That movie FREAKS me out! I had to take a shower after watching it.
True, judging a player in SL is risky. But you can see how a player moves and how long he is and if he can play D and the intangibles that many players demonstrate. Batum got very little shooting opportunities in SL as Bayless hogged the ball and was fortunate to be just fast enough to get fouled a whole lot and therefore score an exorbitant amount of points. (Now he earned most of those points but did not demonstrate very good passing abilities especially off the drives he made; of course he had no one to pass too either) Batum played much better in last couple of games however. And he looked very smooth doing so and also moved very well without the ball. He surely had problems with seeming to know where to be on the court, but I assumed that that was because he did not understand the language that well. I did not mean to imply that Batum has more potential than Bayless although he may very well have. They do play different positions so I look for different skills in in each player. g
Drawing fouls is a talent anda mindset. He was not just fortunate to be just fast enough to get fouled a whole lot. He has the attitude that he is getting to the rim and there is nothing you can do to stop him. We shall see if that carries over against real NBA players, but you can not make it seem he was lucky to get fouled, he could have settled for the easy jumpshot like a lot of players do. Also Nate clearly said during an interview during one of the games not to get on Bayless for not passing the ball, he said they told him not to pass it.
