I don't mean "tank" as in driving the plane into the side of a mountain -- gunning for a first overall pick -- but more or less just going young, taking your lumps and then picking around 10 or so in a very talent laden and deep draft ... and then you can still explore free agency and try to get a difference maker or trade into your cap space.
I'm going to say this now, Batum is just....better than Wallace. Sorry, I love Gerald, but Batum would be preferred over Gerald by every team in the league that isn't a direct contender (and hell, maybe even some of the contenders). That's not to say he's a better player RIGHT NOW, but he's much more likely to give you sustained production in the long run. He's both young and talented enough to be a core level player for a long time AND he's also more likely to hold up his trade value. It's a no brainer, if we had to keep one of the players, it's gotta be Nic.
[video=youtube;Z9Cpt3oT_H8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Cpt3oT_H8&feature=g-u&context=G2e73574FUAAAAAAADAA[/video]
It gives me no end of joy watching Nic come out of his shell the past couple of games ... I hope to god he puts the pedal to the metal and keeps it up for a good long while.
If we keep playing as badly as we have recently over the next 10 games or so count me in. We have huge choices and changes likely coming this summer, we could look to build toward next yr by dealing Camby-Wallace-Crawford and whatever else, I would not do this yet but if we keep playing this bad the next 10 games may as well give Nolan abd Ewill some burn and see what they got.
I'd never seen that site before. Seems like a really interesting way for a graphic designer to make a buck while skirting very closely into the territory of copyright infringement, but maybe never quite stepping over the line. The shirts are about half the price of what you'd pay in a Blazers store. But a lot of that extra cost at the Blazers store goes into paying player salaries. So, ironically, you can support your favorite player without actually supporting your favorite player.
[video=youtube;R6tZNPKsK5g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6tZNPKsK5g&feature=g-u-u&context=G23d324dFUAAAAAAABAA[/video]
The first half of this thread practically demands that management cave in to Batum's agent. This is the same fan pressure we saw in the Roy and Aldridge negotiations. As I said in another thread... You guys seem surprised that management didn't strike a deal with Batum the first day of negotiations. Whoever's doing the talks has Pritchard's firing in mind. Remember why he was fired? Hardball negotiations will go on a long time.
Thanks for posting that. I missed the game last night and the first thing I thought when I saw the box score was why the fuck did Batum play less than 23 minutes. He was clearly very effective at both ends of the court and had a much better game than Gerald. Did he get injured, or was this just a case of Nate being a dumb ass and not properly using the talent he's been given? BNM
Yup, Nate was clearly picking Gerald's defense over Batum's offense. Which IS dumb, because Batum's D is solid.
Nico was crashing all over the place, pardon the expression. Those hightlights are incomplete. I don't know when I've seen him more aggressive.
So, why'd he get less than 23 minutes of PT? It wasn't just the video, when I first looked at the box score, I though Nic had another good game. He shot the ball better than anyone else, got to the line more than anyone else and had a couple of blocks - then I noticed he only played 22:39. WFT???? Nate seems to always have this annoying habit of pulling the guy with the hot hand (wth the possible exceotion of Brandon Roy). Most other teams will ride a hot player until he either drops or the other team figures out how to stop him. Nate seems bound and determined to stick with his planned substituion pattern no matter who'se hot and who's not. BNM
There was a stretch of time in the fourth quarter from about 8 minutes to go until a minute where he wasn't on the floor and it really showed. Guys looked dog ass tired, heavy legged and the only guy all night who didn't seem affected was Nicolas. When he finally came in it was far too late.
That makes no sense to me. Nic averaged less than 20 MPG over the back-to-back-to-back stretch. Wallace averaaged over 33 MPG - not that that's alot under most regular circumstances, but 3 games in 3 nights is not regular circumstances. Wallace's game is entirely dependent on how much energy he has. When he's rested, he's great, when he's not, he's not. Just looking at his numbers last night, it was his worst of the three games, and Nic's best. In fact Wallace steadily got worse with each game and Batum steadily got better. That's the difference between 29 and 23, and their styles of play. That just seems so logical and so obvious. How can Nate not see that? BNM
If the Blazers don't screw it up, they could actually get better by next season. Trade everyone not named Lamarcus or Nicolas for someone of at least near all star caliber. Use cap space to sign another out of the free agent pool this summer. Sign Nico. Fire Nate. Easy-peasy.
