We live in a country where people obsess over their families pre-USA heritage and put a lot of emphasis on being proud of their roots. Collectively we don't have the same national pride that most other countries have. Kids grow up in France and Italy and Spain dreaming of playing in the Olympics for their country. Our kids view turning pro as their goal with Baseball and Basketball.
Exactly. Work ain't the end-all be all. Portland probably knew this about Batum (and most countrymen overseas), so maybe it's their fault?
On paper Batum would excel on this roster. Especially when teams trap the pick & roll. - Have Batum set the pick. - Lillard or CJ gets trapped. - Batum becomes the outlet man creating a 4 on 3 situation. However trusting Batum to not make flat foot, one armed passes is a huge risk. Especially after watching him last year... But nonetheless Batum in that position would be far better than any current forward on the roster. Though Plumlee would prolly be the odd-man-out if Batum was still here. But personally? I never liked Batum. His weak attempts inside letting someone like Tim Frazier cause him to miss a wide open layup(that should be a dunk) bothered me greatly. I appreciate Aminu's ability to attack the rim with both hands. It's enjoyable to see someone using their body to their advantage, rather than playing smaller than their height suggests. As far as getting fleeced in the trade. Don't know yet. Have to see if hendo leaves(& isn't playing better due to contract year). As well as what improvements Vonleh can show.
This trade was a no brainer. We gave up a player who was probably going to leave anyway for a valuable bench player and a future asset. If Vonleh only some of his potential we still win.
Yeah, no. I don't agree with this notion. My point of contention was not whether Aminu has filled the production. It's whether Henderson or Vonleh has. That's who we traded Nic for.
You're right. I came in at the end of it and made an attempt to dispel that silly notion of including Aminu's production.
My point is this. Regardless of who was traded for who, Aminu is the person who has filled Nic's position form last year and has done so in similiar fashion to what Nic's prodcution was last year, but we got Aminu for much less. Does that not make Hendo and Vonleh basically freebies? Maybe some are comparing numbers across the board, but IM evaluating NO's moves and I think he did great. I think the Aminu signing made Nic leaving a wash and so we got Vonleh and Hendo for free. Hope that makes more sense.
Understand your notion, I simply don't agree with it. And I think that this team would be better with Nic Batum at SF instead of Aminu.
See I think we should've kept Batum and STILL brought in Aminu. At that point we could start Nic or CJ depending on who won the spot. We'd be MUCH better defensively with a lineup of Dame Batum Harkless Aminu Plumlee (or Davis who I really feel should start)
If we want the best defensive lineup I'd go; CJ Batum Harkless Aminu Davis If we put Hendo in Batum's spot; its fairly comparable.
Yeah I enjoyed watching the games Lillard was out; we see a whole different element of CJ's game when he has the chance to run the whole show. The team's consistently been better with just CJ than just Dame; and plus/minus reflects that. Of course we're best with both of them in.
I like to keep Dame in the game. I'm saying CJ off the bench at the 1-2 spots with Batum and Dame is a hell of a guard rotation.
We have had multiple games where the offense sucks when Dame is off the floor, as well. +/- doesn't reflect that. Sources: all the games I've watched and the game threads relaying as such.
