Ha ha ha ha. He needs a lot more offensive game before he is anything. Right now he is like a young but bad version of Bruce Bowen. Can play D. Can't or won't shoot to save his life. I hope the best for Batum, I really do. But he needs to show he can put the ball in the hoop, and not be a liability on offense.
I think we forget that he was the leading man (on a pretty bad Le Mans team) in France, routinely scoring 20 a night with a handle, moves, and a here-and-there jumper. I think you could see glimpses of that at times last year, but it was overshadowed by "rookie-itis". It's not that he looked horrible taking the ball to the hoop, it's just that he rarely did it, and the offense wasn't set up for him to do so often. I expect a bunch more of Nic this year.
I do too, the one thing I want to see gone is his hesitation in the offense. I think that is most of his problem. His problem isn't missing shots so much, as 2nd thinking himself. As he becomes older, that should go away. If he developes some go to moves, that will help a lot. Work on the handle, and the athleticism all the sudden is a bigger part of his arsenal. Athleticism undeployed is a waste. Look at Travis. he is a 6'9" super athletic jump shooter. The area where athleticism is most important is attacking the rim. Anybody can takea jump shot.
I'm not willing to go as far as "best teen prospect since Kobe" (McGrady, Durant, Paul, Rubio, etc, were all much better prospects among perimeter players, IMO) but I think he has a special look. It's purely an observational thing, an amateur scouting, since the measurable data in the NBA is still a small (and unimpressive) record. But watching him play, he has a fluid, self-assured and intelligent presence. That has already translated into exceptional defense for a teenager in the NBA. I believe it will translate into a pretty nice offensive game and even greater defensive heights.
Hey, I'm not questioning your opinion at all. I love his game. I think in a few years he be a very special player. Lets not forget that he wasn't big-time over in France either. France has a basketball academy that all young up and coming players go to. He told me once that he tried out for it a couple times and kept getting shut down saying he just didn't have it. He is a great story and I hope he's with us for a long time, And if it means anything, he is a very cool, laid back, nice guy!
While it's true that Le Mans were terrible in Euroleague play, they were and are one of the better teams in France. And though he did lead his team in usage rate(15% of possessions), the team was pretty well balanced (5 other players over 10%). link. I can't find a game log anywhere, but I'd be very surprised if he ever scored 20 more than once or twice.
I can't find game logs other than Draft Express recaps, but in the 2007-8 season he started a 17.7/6/3 in his first 3 games, followed it up with a 9/3/5 against Maccabi Tel Aviv, a 25/9/5 against Nancy, a "poor game" against Milan (I saw this one, iirc he had around 12?), 24/4/4 against MTA, 21/5/3 against Clermont. then they stop talking about him. I guess that, since he ended up about 11ppg in 43 games, you're right...I was going off of my memory of reading up on him (and seeing the Dec 3--iirc--game against Gallinari). To be completely honest, it was Gallinari outplaying him head-to-head that originally had me drooling over DG. I'd still like to see him as a 3/4 for us. But that's not going to happen.
All Portland has to get it out of it's small forward is 13 points and 6 to 7 rebounds a night, and you have an excellent, consistent SF that fits the bill. The problem is, in most games last season, Batum was nearly a doughnut offensivly. That is why Houston could double team Brandon Roy with ease. That is why they could double team Aldridge and bring help with ease. If you have a balanced team, the opposition will pay for double teams and cheating on D. Batum, being out there with Joel and Blake was too hard of a hit for the offense to deal with when you have a defensive minded opponent. If all those guys slide to the 2nd team, I would expect the same problems, only with Rudy getting hounded on the 2nd team. If you look at the teams in the playoffs, the teams that went to the conference finals were all defensivly very good teams. What set them apart was how many offensive weapons they had to use against the high end defense. The teams that moved on, had more weapons. The only exception to that was Denver. They slid through a few weak opponents to get to the finals. WCF should probably have really been Houston and LA.
That was certainly true of New Orleans, but by and large Denver punched other teams in the mouth and out hustled and out toughed the teams they got past, it might of worked against the Lakers, but the LA's length and overall talent differential was too much for them to overcome.
Wow, I like Batum, but a better teenage rookie prospect than LeBron James? You can't possibly be serious. And Nic was only a teenager for the first month and a half of his rookie season. LeBron was over a year younger his rookie year than Nic was. At the same age (19/20) as Nic, LeBron averaged 27.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 7.2 APG and had a PER of 25.7. For comparison, Brandon Roy last season averaged 22.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 5.1 APG with a PER of 24.0. LeBron as a teenager was a better player than Brandon Roy as 24-year old. Nic's numbers as a 19/20-year old: 5.4 PPG, 2.8 PPG, 0.9 APG, PER = 12.9. BNM
Since you brought up playoff numbers. How does: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/nicolas_batum/index.html compare? And since when does one series make a player?
Only great athletes like Outlaw and Roy can create their own jump shots. Mateen Cleaves, among many other mediocre athletes, could attack the rim due to their bulk/strength. I think you are undervaluing how difficult it is to create a shot in the NBA when the offense breaks down. Using Outlaw as an example of wasted athleticism seems unfair to me.
