I don't think it is panic time with Nic yet. Each of the last several seasons he has practiced with the french team in the off season. What Batum really needs IMO, is a summer with Bayno, not the french team.
This isn't rocket science. Batum is an awesome complementary player. Just like Wesley. He fills in gaps exceedingly well around talented players. But if you put him in the second unit and expect him to take over a leadership role off the bench, he fails. As a starter: 12 pts, 45FG%, 35% from three As a reserve: 7 pts, 31%, 24% It's the exact same problem we had with Matthews. He looked like utter shit as a bench guy at the start of the season. Give him a starting job and watch him take off. Roy has to go to the bench. It's abundantly clear Matthews and Batum are worthless there. But we don't know if Roy is. We simply don't know. We also don't know if Matthews and Batum can work as starters together. Once we make this move, we'll have a really good idea of what to do next. If that lineup fizzles, then you have to trade Batum while he still has some value. (He's got more value than Matthews, I think, and we can't trade Roy's contract. So it has to be him.) If it works, then hot damn. You ride Roy in the Ginobili super-sub role for years, and hope (once again) Oden can come back and be your franchise guy.
Or, it could be that Matthews and Batum are more effective alongside Roy because Roy still commands a double-team, freeing up Matthews/Batum. I don't know how effective a starting offense with one guy that sometimes gets doubled (LMA) is going to be in terms of winning games or being at all consistent. I'd bring Miller off of the bench and go "big" for a week or two if it is that important for Batum and Matthews to start.
I think it's more a case of both guys being great "finishers" but lousy "creators", particularly in the half court. Aldridge, Roy and Miller all create open looks for those two guys. Aldridge by drawing double teams, and Roy/Miller with passing and double teams. There's nobody to create for them off the bench. Our bench is Rudy (who only really is effective at shooting off screens), Przybilla (useless on offense) and Cunningham (opportunistic jump shooter). Our young PG's just aren't good enough to get the offense moving. Roy, on the other hand, knows how to create shots for himself in pretty much any circumstance. You put him next to Przybilla and Cunningham and Fernandez on the bench, and he'll still make something happen.
This saddens me that after what happened before you would post something like this. Everyone deals with passing in different ways. Every Feb 22nd since 2002 when my grandfather died we have a family Dinner where all of us get together, and I promise you to this day, if its on a workday I havent seen my dad go in to work, he takes a Vacation day. It still affects him that much. But since its been over 8 years he should just move on and make him proud... What a puss my dad and Nic are!
The answer (aside from starting Batum, which I would like but don't necessarily know who I'd send to the bench) is not to play the bench as a "unit." Don't replace the entire starting unit with an all-reserve unit. As long as one of Miller or Roy is on the floor, you have a creator. If you have two of Roy, Miller and Aldridge on the court at all times, Batum or Matthews never have to be the focal point. I hate the concept of a "bench unit" that needs to balanced as though it's a mini-team of its own. Playing all reserves, outside of garbage time, is a bad idea. Starters should always be on the court, and you rotate which one or two starters are getting rest at any one time...which is when you bring in one or two reserves.
I get nervous at the end of the first quarter/start of the second quarter when Miller and Roy are both out. Sometimes Miller, Roy , and Aldridge are out.. :shudder:
