OMG! That's it! Stotts played in France from 1988- 90. Batum's DOB - 12/14/1988 Stotts is Batum's father! :MARIS61:
Woulda been funny if not for Nic's tragic story about his father and basketball. Instead, it's just tasteless.
In seriousness..yeah that's right, I said seriousness. Claver is an above average defender, good passer, sets great screens, has a high hoops IQ...and according to Wes shoots better than fans think. He is not a young rookie like Crabbe or Leonard and he needs to play at this time in his career. It's a coaching mismatch that has him on the bench. I don't blame his agent at all for wanting to find him success in the NBA. That's his agent's job. Vic deserves a shot somewhere and it's apparently not going to be here. You have to break a sweat in a real game to get into an offensive flow and Vic isn't getting that chance. He's better than Crabbe as far as his defensive skills. I think whining is the wrong word to describe his frustrations.
I really think what Sly posted was extremely funny but here is the story on Nic's father. His father, Richard Batum, died of a ruptured aneurysm. "My father was a pro basketball player in France," Batum said. "He passed away while playing in the game on the basketball court. I was 2 years old. I was in the crowd with my mom when it happened. "That's a terrible memory. I think about it sometimes. I just remember he got fouled and went back to the free-throw line to shoot his free throws, and then he was falling down at the free-throw line. I can remember when my father went down, and I can remember later, when I wake up, all of the TV stations around and my mom crying and all the craziness going around. Here I was 2 years old, but I've got memories about it." When Batum arrived in North America as a 19-year-old to try out for the '08 draft, he heard repeatedly from NBA coaches and executives about the death of Hank Gathers, who was 23 when he suffered a fatal heart attack during a 1990 college game in Los Angeles. "People were scared that the same thing could happen to me," Batum said. Batum's pre-draft workout with Toronto was suspended when he failed to pass a stress test of his heart. "It became a huge story and it was 10 days before the draft, so I didn't have a lot of time to show that I'm good," he said. "So I did some different [medical] tests in San Antonio and Cleveland and I showed I was OK. It surprised me, like, why now, 10 days before the draft -- 10 days before my goal and my life dream? So that was a tough moment.'' -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
During the FIBA tournaments there was a documentary about Nic's father and Nic's journey to the NBA. Nic also owns a chunk of the French team in his hometown and wants to be a GM in France when he retires. Nic's story is a great one. His father died playing the sport he loves and Nic loves basketball. When asked about his FIBA commitments he answered that he's young and love to play the game. We're lucky to have him.
I remembered the story of Nic's father when I posted my remark. I thought it was common knowledge. I'm sorry if I have offended anyone.
I have seen a few posts stating that Claver is better than some players playing ahead of him and would like to know who he's better than from those making such a statement. Yes, guys, I'm here to stir the pot,
CUP! Long time! It's great to see you over here. To answer your question, I have full trust and confidence in Stotts. If he doesn't think Claver deserves minutes I'm fine with it.
