rewatching stuff, i think this kid is gonna be an absolute steal. he is batum redux. summer league takeaways: - gets from half court to the rim in two dribbles. like WHOA. - monster point of attack defender. look at him fight through screens. - his defensive awareness now is better than half the guys on our roster last year. - that jumper's mechanics are all there. just doesn't go in. - wtf. he can run a P&R already. - he turned 19 two months ago if he figures out his handle and has some semblance of a jumpshot, look out. he's about 2 or 3 yrs away, but if he has any work ethic at all, we might have something here.
been watching a bunch of his new zealand vids. think he's closer to being a positive contributor than you think. batum was completely lost in SL his rookie yr-- rupert has better instinct at the same level. some good insight here: the batum connection also runs deeper than on the floor. Rupert's father (played for the French Natl team) also died unexpectedly from a heart issue at age 35 when Rayan was 9. parallels to nico are wild when you look for them.
He has the same footwork as Batum and dribbling motion. He shuffles his feet instead of strides much like Batum did and dribbles within his body instead of outside his frame. His length and defensive instincts are above par but his shot is so flawed. Batum fixed his so maybe this kid can do the same.
In the last game, every time he tried to make something happen, he turned the ball over. Needs a LOT of work.
What's different from Batum is that Rupert plays hard all the time, and practices like a maniac. Similar to Wesley Matthews.
I think people forget how talented Batum was. He was the main player on a French team that was top 5 in the world. Yes, Batum could drive you crazy and definitely was not Overly Determined to Dominate but that might be because everything came pretty easy to him. This kid doesn't look as smooth as Batum - he's like a baby deer on ice.
Sounds like you are comparing Rupert to the later, more matured “French National Team” version of Batum. Don’t you remember how lost Nico looked in his first Summer League? Not saying this kid is a starter this year, or anything, but let’s let it breathe a bit, shall we?
Oh I remember. We all thought he was going back to Europe (and Petteri Koponen, who looked much better, was staying in the US). But he was already regarded as the top French player of his generation and one of the top European players of his cohort. I doubt that's true of Rupert. Don't get me wrong - I was very happy when we drafted him. But Batum was picked at 21 and would've been picked much higher if there hadn't been rumors about a bad medical.
I’m a Batum fan from his Summer League. Modern SF body type, motoring up the court with a still upper body, and effortlessly getting up for a rebound. It was there. Multi-skilled but needing development on everything. Batum was not used well by his coaches. Secondary initiator … but they had ball dominant Roy in the time of a 2-man game. Always should have been put on tough covers, especially PGs going off. When he had to take on the D challenge, he was good at both ends. If not, he floated on O and then, too often on D. Rupert lacks that elegant movement on the court, but he’s showing a work ethic and skills on D. Billups needs to demand that effort. On O, they need to not pigeonhole him early as he needs to work on everything … especially on developing an NBA body, handles, … Rupert COULD become a good SF. Time. All three of Murray, Walker, and Rupert need time and work but there are possibilities … even Matisse has room to up his game as he showed that last season with his getting and taking more of a role on O. He can step that up. Grant has moved his game along and next year is big for him on what he is for his prime. Little has to stay healthy and finally show he’s stepping forward, or this should be his final year as a Blazer.
Maybe I was expecting too much. From what I saw in summer league, even his defense seemed pretty average, seems to lack some toughness.
Rupert moves on defense in a way we have not seen any Blazer do in a very long time. Even Matisse - who is a great defensive player, is more of a "come at you from strange angles" kind of defender. Rupert works his rear-end off to stay in front of people, that's going to get better as he gets stronger and more seasoned.
The kid is the definition of a project. If it works out great, if not, will be fine also. Do like his energy.
Pt of attack defense...between Mattisse and Rayan, we will improve our defense across the board in the future...both have some Iggy in their game...the guy you want to bother KD or Lebron at the SF position. I have high hopes for both guys as the glue for a real two way team in the future....Rayan has just started speaking English so I think as he gets comfortable here, he'll become more confident...he's going to have good teachers to bring his game along. I used to call Batum "triple 9" because he had so many games with 9/9/9 stats and never forced a shot to get that double digit...he was more concerned with defending. Very rare in the game to have that sort of unselfish rotation player. I'd kind of like to bring Nico back to mentor him and retire as a Blazer as well. Also to translate and help him find his way around Portland.
Certainly a raw, work in progress, but I don't doubt his willingness to work....and that is where huge improvements come from. Props to his work ethic.
Oh I totally agree on both Batum and the kid. It is just their mannerisms are so similar. Their games are definitely at different levels. I don't think Batum was as raw as this kid, but I do see some much of him in Batum. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.
