Some of us accepted him for who he is 4 years ago instead of pretending he's the next Scottie Pippen . Role player in the Tayshaun Prince mold. Said it years ago and was labeled a Batum hater. It makes me laugh when over the years the talk has gone from "Batum is an all-star talent/Scottie Pippen" to "accept the guy for who he is". Role. Player.
Prince never had a 10/5/5 season, and he has played in the NBA for 13 seasons and counting. The last two years, Batum has gone: 2012-13 14/6/5 1spg 1bpg 2013-14 13/7.5/5 1spg 1bpg He's been in the league 6 years and is only 25 years-old. Terrible comparison. Batum the past two seasons has been asked to do more for the Blazers than Prince was ever asked to do by either Detroit or Memphis. Also, Nic isn't the same player he was 4 year ago. His assists have gone up over 150%.
Nic had a PER of 16 on a USG of 16.5 last season. At 36 minutes per game, that's some nice production on low usage for a secondary scoring option.
List of NBA players who went 13/7/5 last year, and remember Nic upped his numbers in the playoffs. http://www.basketball-reference.com...tat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws Kevin Durant Nic Batum That's a really nice role player to have.
His stat line may be inconsistent from game to game, but his effort and his contribution are constantly at a very high level. People who say he coasts are making the same mistake Red Sox fans made with a young Ted Williams. Both the Splendid Splinter and the Flying Frog-eater are so graceful, they look like they're moving slowly when they're really hauling ass.
Who's better: Kawhi Leonard or Nicolas Batum? There seems to be this weird fascination of finding the most obscure filter of stats with Batum, then saying he's awesome because of them. Kawhi Leonard didn't make that list, but he is clearly better than Batum. Also missing: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, etc Assists are the only thing that stand out with his line. As a SF making $11M per year there's no reason why he shouldn't be averaging at least 13pts and 7reb. Big whoop. Kawhi Leonard is at 13/6 in 29 min a game to Batum's 36 minutes per game. He also shoots 52% and is easily the better defender. Keep posting the obscure filter of stats, though.
I don't think the comparison to Prince is an insult. They're not identical players, but Prince was one of the best non-stars in the game in his prime. Whether you call such a player a "great role-player" or a "great secondary player," it comes out to the same: very talented player who helps his team win, but you wouldn't target to build your team around. That's Batum. In the Spurs' system, he wouldn't be that far from the flavor of the moment, Kawhi Leonard.
Kawhi Leonard is clearly better? Better at what? Scoring? Sure. He's a much better scorer. Passing? Hell no. Batum is a significantly better play-maker and distributor. Rebounding? Nope. Nic averaged a full rebound more last season. Defense? Yeah, Kawhi is a better defender. That's pretty obvious. So I guess if you're looking for a stereotypical small forward, Kawhi would fit that bill, but Nic isn't a stereotypical small forward. The reason why people compared him to Pippen is because of his playmaking ability. He scores, he passes, he rebounds, and he plays defense. You clearly haven't accepted Batum because you still rail about his lack of scoring, but we don't ask him to score. We ask him to run the offense at times. We ask him to defend point guards. We ask him to rebound. We ask him to score when he's got it going. It's been six seasons and you STILL don't understand his role on this team. And I can't believe you haven't looked at some of the contracts that have been handed out and think that Nic is getting paid roughly what he's worth.
Leonard has a better trb%, so uh, yeah. Nic's playmaking is overrated. I'm sorry, but when you're not more than an average ball handler, you're not a great playmaker. I know his role just find: Tayshaun Prince. But Kawhi Leonard is clearly the better player. If you can't admit that you're a homer.
So predictable. So because he had a 1% better TRB% he's a better rebounder? If you know his role, why do you constantly (and I mean constantly) complain about him?
Seems pretty logical for someone to think he's a better rebounder based on having a better trb%. This confuses you? Not complaining. Just shooting down posts I think are weak.
