Batum is being used at the beginning and end of a bunch of 3-4 pass plays, so it makes sense that his AST stats are low (I'd say artificially so, not that he can't pass)
Things were a lot different in 1977-78 than in 2010-11. That 58-win Blazer team averaged 107.7 PPG. That sounds like a lot of points by today's standards (10.1 more PPG game than this year's Blazers at 97.6 PPG), but they were 18th of 22 teams in pace that season. Dr. Jack's motion offense involved a lot more ball movement and player movement than Nate's slow it down, grind it out, milk the shot clock iso centric offense. So, that leads to more assists and more turnovers. BNM
I do remember the old pace from the late 80's/early 90's teams, before Shaq came into the league; lots of quick shots. I also imagine that, without a 3pt line, a lot of shots were closer in and less risky too, since tossing a long bomb was only worth 2 points.
Very cute girl . . . I bet she has you wrapped around her little finger. I know that hat . . . opening night 2008. How long was the line to get the signature?
Thanks. Yes, she does. Not only is she a great kid, but a HUGE Blazers fan. Yep, I took all three kids and we sat in the 12th row (thanks to free tickets from a friend who happens to be an NBA referee). So, we have four of those hats. That's actually a pretty subdued look for Tiny McMighty. She usually does the face painting, pompons, big signs, etc. to try to get on the jumbotron screen (her career best is 7 times at one game - which isn't bad considereing were sitting in the upper deck). We got there about 12:45 and waited in line about an hour an 15 minutes before she got to meet Nic. He signed her Blazers Christmas ornament and gave he an autographed picture. He also gave her a hug. She was so nervous and excited to meet him, when it was her turn she started crying. Nic gave her a big hug and said "No cry, no cry" with his French accent. No wonder the ladies like him. He's a genuinely nice guy. It was definitely worth the wait. There were still a LOT of people in line behind us. We were probably at about the 1/3 point in the over all line. They stopped letting people queue up as we were leaving at about 2:00pm. BNM
