Batum whined about wanting to be more than a 3pt shooter, but he's actually taking a higher % of his shots from 3pt range this year. http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Nicolas Batum Some fans get excited about his 5 assists per game, but he's averaging as many turnovers a game as our rookie PG, which kinda negates that. He looked like he'd turned a corner earlier in the year, but now he looks like an over-paid scrub like I thought he was when we gave him that contract.
I agree with MM 2.0. And Nate. I'd like to see how well the hatrs play with a with a fucked up wrist.
Obviously it affects everything if it is your shooting wrist but even if it isn't it still hinders you.
Injured wrist or not, he's a 4th option on offense getting paid too much. He's been better than last year, but he's not living up to his contract IMHO. We simply need more production for the cash on this roster.
Batum has been fine. When healthy he was really starting to blossom into a play-maker complimented with a nice outside shot and some pretty good rebounding. Could he be better? I don't know, maybe. But I think he's done a pretty good job of transforming the way he plays and he should still have some room to grow.
Really? His contract was reported a lot higher then it turned out to be. And his skill/product level is matched by few in the NBA: http://www.basketball-reference.com...&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ts_pct If you raise up the total to 4.5 asts/g and 5.5 rbs/g then it is merely Batum and LeBron. By the way, all the guys on that list are at least 2nd options on their team. Batum is doing it as the 3rd option.
To play on that and normalize it to per 36 minutes: http://bkref.com/tiny/j6Gkz Larger list, Batum is the least efficient among them, but he's on the list.
Most of that is because his turnovers are way up, which isn't really all that surprising given that he's been asked to do more with the ball than he ever has before. In a weird way that's actually encouraging, because I think that's something that can be curbed with reps and becoming more comfortable with the facilitator role, while on the flipside it's impossible (or nearly?) to teach instincts, vision and creativity. The one area where Nic really has to improve is his handle, and I sort of doubt that he ever becomes anything more than an average ball-handler.
I guess it is fair game to use Batum as the scapegoat given his new contract . . . but seems like blind hate to me as OP is trying to justify his pre-season projection about Batum. Batum is one of the bright spot on this roster. There are so many problems with this roster, starting SF position is the least of the Blazers concern.
He's been shooting mostly 3s all year long, even before the wrist injury. And he's actually have his best 3pt shooting month of the SEASON right now with the injured wrist. So your argument destroyed. Batum has had some terrific GAMES, but not a terrific season. He has too many stinkers, which bring his averages down.
He has had some bad games statistically. I suspect he could have decided he wasn't able to be as productive with a sore wrist and decide not to play. I like the fact he tried to tuff it out and contribute in whatever way he can. And to show how important he is to this team, when he is playing injured, the team as whole does much worse. But even with his down games, Batum has tripled his assists from last year and is averaging more rebounds and points than last year. One can point out the fact that he has gone from a 1.5 TOs last year to 2.9 TOs this year, but it seems like a strange stat to focus on and doesn't discredit his 4.9 ast/gm the way you think it does. Face it, you came out with such a strong opinion of Batum before and afer the signing, you were just waiting for that stretch of games to go back to your "over paid scrub" talk. But with Batum averaging 15.3 pts, 5.9 rebs and 4.9 asts (and yes 2.9 TO) and playing hurt, he is anything but a overpaid scrub.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/batumni01/shooting/2013/ At Rim: Attempts: 90, Made: 142, %: .634 You are correct about most his shots from 3 point, but he's almost taken just as much as that at the rim to inside the 3 point line (289). I don't know what this debate is about, but I think he's worth every penny of his contract.
This is what is really keeping him from getting to the next level. He can't create separation to score against good defenders and settles for 3's. I like Batum as a "glue guy" ala Shane Battier, but this roster has much bigger needs than a streak shooting, complimentary SF. Committing so much cash to a role player really tied our hands to improve the roster long-term.
I don't like this version of Batum. He passes up wide open shots/lanes to make a pass. Plays with no aggression now. I've factored in his wrist lately but he's now like Boris Diaw without the weight/court vision/low post game. Fez is definitely not impressed.
