I think right now, Nic is NBA-ready defensively. I really do," McMillan said. "I think his feet are good and his positioning is pretty good. What he has to learn is about the hand-checking and all that. But for a young guy coming into this league, he defends well. Not only is he on the perimeter guarding, but he is blocking shots, he's getting offensive and defensive boards, he's starting fast breaks. He has a lot of talent. I like him. He's smooth. Really smooth.
McMillian on Batum
over 3 years ago
Winchester
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If only Outlaw was NBA-ready defensively.
If somebody hits you with an object you should beat the hell out of them.-Charles Barkley
by Winchester on Oct 12, 2008 1:42 AM PDT reply actions 4 recs
Ouch!
Sad, but true.
Jerryd Bayless has two emotions: Kill and Win.
"I think it’s going to be very beautiful game next year."
-Nicolas Batum
NorrisHopper30: "someone injure pubert jones"
by rockingharder on Oct 12, 2008 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions
I can't help but stare
at his arms every time he’s on the court. Longest arms I’ve ever seen.
My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.
This is a family site!
"Thanks for coming to the game." - Kevin Pritchard
by DarthBlazer on Oct 12, 2008 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions
what? :-/
My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.
by OCBlazerFan1 on Oct 12, 2008 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Nate doesn't know what he's talking about
If he commented on Blazers Edge, then I might trust his judgement.
Blazers Edge has an alarmist vision and a poet's heart.
Yeah
at least KP is a reasonable man.
--
by CaptainSexyJacob on Oct 12, 2008 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Is Batum
the next Taurean Green, probably not but I like to bring up guys that look like DL Hugely
Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.
Nic is like 6' 9" w/ 7'4" wingspan and can defend and rebound and block shots
Nope. Not Taurean.
the Spanish contributors on this board are hellah cool
I meant in the sense
that he gets hyped by Nate early on and then does nothing. It is kind of like the Dajuan Wagner a few years back with the Warriors where he was getting tons of early season buzz as he was in better shape than the vets, but once the vets turned it on he went back to being a dude with colitis and a 100pt HS game under his belt…+ millions of dollars for being a lottery pick.
Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.
Yeah,
but Batum will stick around. He is already effective, he’s only 19, and if he can develop a 3-point shot in the next few years he’ll be a Bruce Bowen-like presence.
--
by CaptainSexyJacob on Oct 12, 2008 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions
that would be ideal
"It was halfway through the fourth quarter of an exhibition game, a 30 point blowout, and I absolutely did not want it to end. Time: move slower so this moment stretches.
Dunk Parade.
Forever."
-Ben
"...our second unit is probably going to be a little better than your second unit…and by "probably going to be a little better than" I mean "is going to crush like a dump truck running over an empty beer can""
"YOU MOVE NOW! GREG DUNK BIG!"
-Dave
It will be ideal that everyone in the league
will regard him as a dirty player?
"Personally, I'd rather give an elephant a prostate exam on Chili Day." --Dave on rooting for the Lakers or Celtics
Bruce Bowen like doesn't mean dirty
or Cptn. Jacob would have said the next Bruce Bowen
All the qualities we want, none we don’t. Speaking of that, does Paul Allen have enough money to create some sort of 6 million dollar man like project? We need to invest in genetic engineering so we can really build our squad from the ground up just the way we want.
"It was halfway through the fourth quarter of an exhibition game, a 30 point blowout, and I absolutely did not want it to end. Time: move slower so this moment stretches.
Dunk Parade.
Forever."
-Ben
"...our second unit is probably going to be a little better than your second unit…and by "probably going to be a little better than" I mean "is going to crush like a dump truck running over an empty beer can""
"YOU MOVE NOW! GREG DUNK BIG!"
-Dave
I thought we'd been doing just that?
Jerryd Bayless has two emotions: Kill and Win.
"I think it’s going to be very beautiful game next year."
-Nicolas Batum
NorrisHopper30: "someone injure pubert jones"
by rockingharder on Oct 12, 2008 11:07 PM PDT up reply actions
I hadn't heard.
Why can’t we get the PG down right then?
"It was halfway through the fourth quarter of an exhibition game, a 30 point blowout, and I absolutely did not want it to end. Time: move slower so this moment stretches.
Dunk Parade.
Forever."
-Ben
"...our second unit is probably going to be a little better than your second unit…and by "probably going to be a little better than" I mean "is going to crush like a dump truck running over an empty beer can""
"YOU MOVE NOW! GREG DUNK BIG!"
-Dave
He will stick around
as he has a guaranteed contract unlike Green who only had a year guarantee
Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.
I know you're just half jokin'
But not even Nate would be talkin’ up this Batum fellow if he hadn’t been playing so well in pre-season, YEARS ahead of schedule.
I don’t think Batum is hype, since the hype preceding these games was so low due to his age, inexperience with actual NBA-level athleticism, and his weenie-esque play at summer league. But, he’s got that body, he plays pretty smart (ESPECIALLY for a super-athletic kid his age), and he is eons ahead of most players his age drafted on future potential and raw athleticism.
I liked the pick then, like it even more now. I daresaid Batum was gonna be good before, and I daresay Batum will be good now— perhaps sooner than I expected.
He seemed so timid before, and I think he needed to get past the awkwardness he felt being around better players and a new country. Getting this confidence that he can play in the NBA early on will probably help a lot.
All I’m sayin’ is, on a lot of teams Batum would be the young guy everyone is pinning their hopes on that he becomes good one day and everyone would be annointing him ROY already after these preseason performances. On our team, he’s just another great prospect who we can say “yay” if he’s good and “oh well yay ODENROYLMARUDYMARTELLTROUTETC” if he ain’t.
Cheese n’ crackers we’re stacked, for the now and the future now!
Mortimer
As usual
all good points
I was just thinking about Sophia’s kid when thinking about sending Batum back to France. Batum seems to dominate her time to the degree that it could be unhealthy for her kid. (If I was savvy I would put a winky face or some other dumb crap here, but that is not my style.)
Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.
Even better
He can shoot free throws
by southern oregon on Oct 12, 2008 2:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Even better still
He can evidently shoot tres.
the Spanish contributors on this board are hellah cool
I kind of overlooked this but
this isn’t a writer or some dude at a bar saying Batum can defend. This is Nate. Nate knows defense. I think that if there was one thing he wouldn’t be embellishing about one of his players it would be defense. This statement carries much more weight once I really thought about who was saying it.
I don’t know if I’m just slow, but I thought I would include that.
"It was halfway through the fourth quarter of an exhibition game, a 30 point blowout, and I absolutely did not want it to end. Time: move slower so this moment stretches.
Dunk Parade.
Forever."
-Ben
"...our second unit is probably going to be a little better than your second unit…and by "probably going to be a little better than" I mean "is going to crush like a dump truck running over an empty beer can""
"YOU MOVE NOW! GREG DUNK BIG!"
-Dave
No, it's true
No one would blink an eye if Nate said Batum had a long way to go defensively. Yeah, we know he’s SUPPOSED to have the tools, but he’s 20, a Euro, and raw. He ain’t SUPPOSED to know NUTHIN’ about no DEE-fense.
If Nate is impressed, that does mean something.
Of course, it could all be relative— for a 20 year old Euro raw rookie, he is a good defender maybe. Nate COULD have meant that.
Where’s the dude who had a Nic Batum avatar, even before the draft? I wanna see him come back and say “SEE? SEE? I TOLD Y’ALL SO” even though it’s still way too early.
In 3 to 5 years, do we got our Teyshaun Prince?
Mortimer
Nope.
Of course, it could all be relative— for a 20 year old Euro raw rookie, he is a good defender maybe. Nate COULD have meant that.
No Nate clearly means it. Pritchard has also been clearly stating that he believed Nic was capable of defending NBA wings “now” (since June).
That Pritchard. I would love to know the process he uses to evaluate talent. He is a friggin’ genius at spotting these guys, and then not afraid to pull the trigger, e.g., signing Nic after the very lackluster performance by Nic at summer league.
I think first and foremost, KP is a “Scout’s Scout”. Like Rudy can see the floor and make the improbable plays that dazzle, KP is utmost an evaluator of B-ball talent. He knows it. He can smell it,. Tastes it. And now he’s in charge so he can pull the trigger. And he damn good at that too!
Heeee’s goooood.
It must be really fun being Nate right now. KP sashays into Nates office and says something like, “Hey Nate! I’m going to get you this 19 year old kid from Frahnze,” or “I gotta get you this kid from Spain! Trust me, he’s good”. Nate eventually checks out “some grainy you tubes” and says, “I dunno. Can’t see in the third dimension, and these are just grainy you tubes, and oh yeah, it’s Frahnze for crying out loud! Who knows?” And then he like see’s one of KP’s prospects almost beat Team USA in person before the kid even shows up to camp…
…Love to be a fly on the wall in that organization…
the Spanish contributors on this board are hellah cool
A big part of it was this game
Nike Hoop Summit 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akr4jxCARXk
Batum and Petteri were on the International side which lost but still played really good against top US talent including Bayless, Rose, Beasley, Love, Mayo.
Odenied: If you're given lemmings—make lemming-ade (Bow4Meow)
Totally
I bet that Batum will win like three games for us this year with his defense. I mean Nate would never overhype a rookie in the preseason, would he?
Can't believe KP got another one.
it does carry weight. Earlier in the summer, Nate also commented that Batum was a prototypical small forward. And if he can defend, he’ll get minutes with Nate, you can count on it. Outlaw better gear up that part of his game, because with Rudy and Oden on the floor, and Bayless on the bench, they’ve got more firepower than last year – and if you read the interview on the sidebar with Batum, you can see from the kids comments that he seems to have a good head, and a solid work ethic. He “intends” to succeed. Mac, even in summer league, noted how smooth Batum was. The kid is an athlete, no doubt about it.
Hard to believe. Maybe I still don’t. Oden, Rudy, Bayless and Batum all added to Roy and Aldridge. All drafted. And I happen to buy KP’s take on all of them. May take a year or two – but they can definitely play.
Can't Overhype Defense
It is one thing to overhype the offensive skills of a player but you can’t really overhype defensive skills and BBIQ. Batum will always have his physical attributes to be a good defensively …for the majority of his career at least.
People are lavishing about the small things he does on the court. A player may struggle with his shooting on a given night, but a player’s effort, speed, and presence remain constant. He is 19 and will only improve.
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