I don't know if you guys haven't noticed but nic is starting to run more and more plays. He has developed into a very nice distributor. I know some are making jokes at him only caring about triple doubles; but I think that's more valuable for this team. We have plenty of scorers and will probably find a more consistent scorer to come off the bench. Rebounds and assists are sooo valuable from the sf. If batum gives us a career line of 12 points, 5 boards and 5 assist; that's more valuable to me than 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. This unselfish style is just what the doctor order IMO.
Absolutely! I think he sits in the middle of prince and Pippen. He has surprised the shit out of me this season!
In the Lillard interview last night they asked him about playing off the ball while Nolan was in since Wes is out. Lillard basically said playing off the ball is "fun" and that more options are open to him on how to attack. Batum taking point is another way to free Lillard up to play some off the ball. This flexibility of being able to switch point back and forth between Lillard and Batum will open up many new schemes to Stotts and allow Lillard more energy late in games or in back to back. Also, it's fun and exciting for both the fans and the players.
I think anyone who says he only cared about Triple Doubles was saying so to get a rise out of people. And in the case of what I said, I said it because it was so absent of logic and reality that I was being controlled by some other worldly force whose sole purpose in life was to make fun of it.
We'll see more of this from Batum, and it will be hard to defend. Sounds crazy, but I think Will Barton has great vision and passing skills. He really showed it in summer league and once he calms down I think we'll see it more at this level.
I am so glad we got a new coach. I think not having Nate take out people after a turnover each time is a huuuuuge reason why Batum is blossoming. I haven't been able to watch many games this year now living in LA but just reading/seeing some of the games makes me so hyped that we kept Batum.
I sure hope so. It's ridiculous. The guy's wrist is killing him, so he's trying to set up teammates for better shots instead of jacking up bad shots with a bad wrist. When he has to shoot within the offense, he does. Yeah, let's bash a player who is rebounding hard, playing defense, hitting clutch shots, and making his teammates better. The very definition of a "stat whore".
I was pulling my hair out in the first half last night at all the open shots Lillard passed up. Usually resulting in an eventual turnover or missed shot by someone. Must be stat padding.
Nic is now my second all-time favorite Blazer, behind Sabas. He's just such an incredibly smart player. Sure, sometimes his passes don't quite work out - but the vision is there. He's definitely the best play-maker on the team - the only thing that's holding him back is his dribbling ability. If that continues to improve, watch out! Also, once that wrist heals up he's going to be so much more dangerous.
That makes two of us. I had no idea he could play such a complete game. It's been great to see him take a quantum leap forward this year.
Like Aldridge, Batum brings the ball to only 3-4 feet from the basket, then either passes into a turnover or bobbles a missed layup, rather than jamming it in.
