I'm in favour of Batum starting a few games. I want to see lots of lineup configurations this season. The team has so many interesting, moveable parts, I think it will be impossible to figure out what works best without some tinkering and experimenting. It may not lead to the most wins this season, but working to hone this roster of myriad talents into a keen blade for next year should be the main obective.
No kidding! I love it too. Maybe our best coast-coast finisher since Patterson? And I think he can top Ruben. On a few of those breakaways he made the impossible possible in a way Drexler and Kersey used to. Throwing down in the narrowest of gaps in all sorts of contestion. The guy is fearless. Definitely a good antidote for the this team.
What's really annoying is the play-by-play crew on NBA 2K9. I've had Batum in my starting line-up so far the entire season, and I cringe every time I hear BATE-um's name called out. It was beginning to bug me so much that I almost pulled him from the starting line-up, but I didn't. I haven't lost a game yet too.
I know several people have suggested this lineup but I really like the lineup of Roy, Rudy, Batum, LMA and GO (Pryz until GO gets back). Roy can do no worse than Blake guarding the opposing PG's and Rudy or Roy can bring up the ball. Rudy needs as much playing time as possible and something that honestly concerns me. He needs PT if Roy can play PG this allows Rudy to start and then allows Bayless to get some back up minutes. Gets your 3 best guards on the floor as much as possible. Also as seen in the SA game Batum can guard the 1,2, or 3 for short periods. Roy runs 90% of our sets so what is the point of having Blake out there?
I hope he guards both Brewer and Kirilenko. Brewer only hit one shot last night. I'm sure he's going to play better. I want Batum to take him out of the game first thing and then limit the amount of damage Kiri can do on us on the hustle board.
Pippen nearly always guarded the oppositions best perimeter player. If it was a smaller guard, so be it. I'm really hoping that Batum can have that same affect on the court. We'll see soon. I'm guessing Nate will only try Batum on Williams situationally, but I'm thinking he can hang for long periods of time on Williams.
Nice part is Williams will likely miss tonights game. I agree I think defensively Batum can be similar to Pippen and in some respects has the potential of Pippen. It all comes down to desire and the will to be the best. He has the ability now he just needs to put in the work to get there.
Wrong. AK47 hasn't started a game this year as Jerry Sloan has elected to take him off the bench. The wing starters are Brewer and C.J. Miles, neither of which are extremely good offensively. Realize that if you bring Travis off the bench then he will be matched against Kirilinko, who is a good defender. But yeah, I'm all for Batum starting. He's a good compliment to the starters in that he doesn't need shots. Every team needs a player like that.
I guarantee at some point of the game Batum and Kirilenko will mix it up. Just because Kiri isn't starting doesn't mean they won't meet each other.
I have no problem with Batum starting as it keeps a very good second unit mostly intact, but Webster will be the starter once he returns, and Batum's role will be uncertain at that point.
Headline on blazers.com confirms. Batum To Start Against Utah Jazz First Nicolas Batum was the projected starting small forward, then Nate McMillan decided to go with Travis Outlaw at the last minute in Los Angeles. And now the rotation has come full circle. According to McMillan, Batum will get the start against the Utah Jazz Wednesday night. For a guy that I was hoping may contribute at some point a few years from now, and was thinking maybe should be made to play a bit in Europe before coming over, especially after seeing him in Summer League, I can't believe what a natural player he is. It's so flipping exciting to have a young guy with this much hustle, talent, and instinctiveness.
Yes, I suspect you're right. Kirilenko didn't start in the preseason game in Portland, but Batum spent quite a bit of time matched up with him in that game. It was fun to watch those two go head-to-head. BNM
That's true, but even though he doesn't start, Kirilenko plays more minutes per game than either Brewer or Miles. In fact, he plays over twice as many MPG as Miles (32.7 vs. 14.7). Miles is really just a token starter. Utah's most frequently used line-up has Brewer at SG and Kirilenko at SF. So, no matter who starts and who comes off the bench, both Batum and Outlaw are likely to see sginificant minutes matched up against Kirilenko. BNM
Too bad we're not playing them tonight. I've heard there is a chance he'll be playing in our game tomorrow. Gramps...
