I must say I am impressed. 16 points, 5-8 from the field, 4-5 from downtown... and really tough defense on Williams in the second half. I saw shades of Pippen tonight and I can't say I'm not excited.
Batum sometimes struggles offensively but what I like best about Nic is not only his defense but he knows how to stick around for boards. That really opens things up for Greg and Joel when he's doing that because then the other team can't afford to put two men on them. He's also easily one of the fast break runners and finishers we've had in years - which is really impressive not only for a forward but for a rookie.
I love Batum. I've always love him. And funny, because he doesn't really average much in the stats department. Doesn't do much in a BOXSCORE most of the time. But I WATCH THE GAMES so I know how well he fits with the team. He fits great with the starting unit. Will take and make open shots if they present themselves and he plays good defense. The next Tayshaun Prince but cooler!
By the way, speaking of boxscores, I stuffed one today in my E-League. I had two rebounds and in the second half, Brian McKnight shot me a no look pass and I knocked down a three. And we won! And I played good D but I always play good D. Nice to do something to the boxscore.
Batum is the man. Don't be hard on him for his inconsistency yet... let's give him a season in the league at least before we come down on a barely 20 year old for a rough game or two. He is one of the very few above-average individual defenders we have (along with Oden and Przy, IMO).
He's my youngest daughter's favorite player. We were at the game tonight and she was wearing her black 88 Batum jersey. He was on the cover of the game program tonight, and of course, he played great. So, needless to say, Lil Bit had a great time at the game. BNM
This was one of Nicolas' best games of the season, and probably his best since the Laker game. And it was the Batum we saw early on the season before he got into that little funk offensively. I can't wait to see Nicolas continue to grow and grow, and if he can play like this, why need a small forward? In 2-4 years, he could be a really good one.
i can't wait for him to have a couple down games and idiots to start saying he's holding us back. don't go jumping off the bridge folks cause he doesn't do this every night. he (and all our rooks) will become more consistant over time.
it certainly bodes well for us that we have been doing good without webster, i dont think anyone thought batum would be playing this much this year.
Ya, it will be tough when Webster comes back. Before Fyre was going to lose his mins, but he doesn't even play any more. Where are the mins going to come from?
Mmmm, I am starting to wonder if that is going to happen. The team has gelled and seems to be too good to have a major lull in the second half. We could make a trade that would help us out this season, but most of the trades I have heard on here wouldn't really do much to address a potential SF logjam- they all include SFs. The main issue I see there is that, if Outlaw is included in the deal, we are actually trading away a 4/3, not really a 3. He has shown very consistently that he can't defend the quicker SFs in the league, but has had success against many 4s, esp finesse players. Unless we somehow pry Butler away from WA or Deng from Chi, which seem unlikely, I am not sure that any potential upgrade at SF would be worth the salary baggage that comes attached, esp when we already have a couple good deals in Marty and Travis, and a strong developing player in Batum.
What's amazing is that he looked absolutely horrible in Summer League. I thought he would be getting Ha minutes -- what he has done this year has been completely unexpected.
