His assist numbers were up, yes. But they were definitely a little inflated when you look at the way he got them (turning down wide open shots and kicking the ball back out). If that excites you then.... Batum didn't really make the leap that he should have this season after signing the contract. That's not really debatable.
He was injured but you know this and you also take the stance of "No excusses!". He played pretty well the first 20 games of the season then his numbers dropped that is true. The way our offense is run Batum will always take most of his shots from 3 because of how Stotts spreads the offense out, the same will happen for Mathews as well. Batum needs to work on Slashing more and his post ups as well as being more assertive offensively instead of attempting to set people up. He showed bigger flashes of being able to step up in a big way then at anytime prior to last year. He will earn that contract if he can stay healthy.
One if the all-time great winners in his sport yesterday: http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9211879/derek-jeter-new-york-yankees-says-return-2013 Beautifully said by The Captain.
I wish we could use the excuse of oden being injured like we are using on batum right now. Fact is, there will come a time when the injury excuse can't be used. If batum keeps playing over seas and wears his body down like this every year, he will be too worn down to perform at the level of his contract. Batum already said he's playing this summer again. This bothers me. He needs to work on strength and conditioning this summer. Instead, he's playing for France. No time to heal.
I reviewed Batum's game-log yesterday, identified his 20 worst games (based on bkref's "gmscr" stat, both overall and per minute). Of those, the worst was easily our second game of the year (we all remember that one, right?). 6 came during a 9-game stretch that was primarily a 7-game Eastern conference road trip, and all the rest came after his wrist injury. Even including that one bad 9-game stretch, he was obviously significantly better before the injury than after. Between the bad stretch and the wrist injury, he had strung together 18 consecutive good games. I think it's unfair to malign him for inconsistency, when it seemed like he had finally found a groove before getting hurt.
I'm not concerned about his skills, and if healthy, he would be a very important piece to our success. But the real question is "can he stay healthy playing a full 82 game season and for France?" And if we make the playoffs, that increases. Personally I think it's really hard. This is what concerns me. I hope eventually he decides to take the summer off and work on strength and conditioning instead of playing for France.
For the most part we ere all thrilled to have kept him early in the season. So what happened? I can't see any explanation other than he was hurt. It was in deed frustrating to watch him late in the season because he obviously was not the same player. He just passed up too many opportunities to attack the rim. On the positive side it looked to me like he tried to play through it. This is what we want from our leaders. At the time we were still in the playoff chase. On the negative side he got hurt......again. I am concerned that this will be an annual occurrence. Will it keep him from playing aggressive and attacking the rim? The hits take a toll on your body. Next year is huge for Nic. If he stays healthy he was worth keeping. I do enjoy watching him play.
I don't recall Nic using injury as an excuse. He tried to play through. A lot of fans would appreciate that he hung in there and found ways to contribute....like those inflated assist numbers. Some fans are pointing out the obvious, that he was hurt. I don't get the point of your quote at all. Go Blazers
I am going to keep harping on the same thing. There comes a time when the injuries can't be an excuse, just like there was no justification for Roy to get his max contract. Batum must stay healthy. He owes it to the team that gave him the large contract. I don't want to keep harping, but he needs to stop playing over seas and get healthy.
The Dude believes Nicolas Batum is a glue player, and probably not worth the contract he received. However, it's not like Free Agents are banging down the door of the practice facility to join the Blazers. I guess if I won the "be the Blazers GM for a day" lottery I'd probably trade him this off season for a player and maybe picks. Then use those picks to add another veteran player.
Yeah, Nic wasn't bitching about injuries or making excuses. We fans were. When Jeter is injured, he doesn't talk about injuries, but the fans and media do. So, if Jeter is the man for not talking about his injuries, I guess that means you think the same of Batum?
I agree with you for the most part when it comes to Batum playing for France in the summer. Especially when the Blazers made the huge commitment to him with the fat contract. However, much of who Batum is as a person is about the country he comes from and I doubt there is much anyone can do to stop him from playing for France in the summer.
I am absolutely opposed to our players wearing themselves out playing for other teams. I had hoped Nico would have decided to take a summer off from competition by now.
He landed on his wrist in practice here and hurt it. It wasn't a wear and tear injury from playing overseas. I also want him to not play there, but this didn't really have anything to do with him being there.
I understand that, but healing is resting the arm. And if you keep playing, there is more chance of injury. It's like going around a 30 mph corner at 55. You can most likely make the turn 9 times out of 10, but if you do it 30 times; there is a more likely chance you will crash. When I pay a player that much money; I want all the possible playing time and health from that player. Playing over seas without resting the body for an entire season is just playing Russian roulette.
I wonder who'd be complaining if he was playing for the US team. Or, to put it another way, if he was offered a chance to play on the US team and said "nah", would fans applaud him?
I would still complain because he hasn't fully developed physically, IMO. He needs more strength and he's not ready for long minute 82 game seasons. He needs more training to get him to that level. I'm not saying I'm for getting rid of him or anything. I just want the best possible player for the contract we gave him. He has the capability to be a great player in this league. But if he's constantly playing overseas every year; he's going to wear himself down.
Hey, if you're bored, can you do that for his BEST 20 games (or some other number) and tell us his averages in those?
