I was not expecting him to be this cool this early. We’ve all heard about his defensive presence but I had no idea this kid could hit the trey, or that he was that good on the fast break. Very impressive. I didn’t even question his age or maturity when he had his hands on the ball, in fact I was telling my girlfriend that they needed to put him back in in the second half. I am a fan.

our SF worries may be over, we just gotta let him develop his game a little bit and we are set.

I’m glad we have some positive material to work with…..

19 year old rookie? I think that’s just a vicious rumor!

the poster worthy, in your face, gritty, not backing down, help side REJECTION of Tim Duncan, the future hall of famer. This kid has brass ones.

that “people will be talking about Batum in Portland.”

Haven’t they ever been to BE? Batum is one of the most often discussed players! Silly announcers…

Wow, really impressive.

Playing together with Petteri against the likes of Bayless, Beasley, Rose, Love.
Here is a nice highlight clip (got deleted from Youtube, but I found it here):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1s2ix_nicolas-batum-nike-hoop-summit

And of course he was already playing great in Europe for three years, winning MVP titles in prestigious junior tournaments, a European U18 championship and the French national title as well as a few good performances in the EuroLeague. All of which got the attention of quite a few scouts.

He was amazing tonight! He totally sold me tonight – any remaining doubt I had was wiped out tonight! Batum is for real and may just be the ultimate answer to our SF issues. Outlaw and webster had better keep their eyes on the rear view mirror because there is a 19 year old French Hotshot closing fast on owning one of their jobs.

Part deux?

I used to be able to get some Mexican TV in my old place on the pecan orchard and they just called Prince flaquito. Batoom looks skinny and maybe fragile . . . until he moves with or without the ball. I saw him in places SA was willing to let him get to that we didn’t even capitalize on. OOOOH! Another player to see sometimes and drool over. That was a great game and he really was instrumental.

Webby better bring it when he gets back.

Its only one game but he sure was impressive.

Someone’s going to be the odd man out when Web returns… and it could be the newly signed Marty. A trade may prove necessary eventually.

but I gotta hand it to him, he really showed toughness, good defense, control and poise, especially for being so young and new to the game. He may really turn into something special.

I think there’s some emotional overreaction going on here, but he played well tonight. I hope to see more of Batum and more of what he can do.

its one game so no final judgments yet… but it appears that:

• on offense he is Travis in year 3 or so (much better jump shot than rookie Travis but doesn’t have the fadeaway that Travis displayed last season so well).

• on defense he is (from the looks of things) better than Travis right now.

Batum appears to make Travis very expendable. We need to see if he can do this regularly, but he certainly shows the potential to be Travis but with better D. It will be very interesting to see how the roster shakes out over the next year or so.

Remember when you were proclaiming doom and gloom about Oden’s first game as a pro?

You’re doing the exact same thing here, except in reverse.

If Batum develops and does this night in, night out, then you got something to cheer for.

Tonight was just a really great game for him, and let’s not diminish that, but let’s not act like he’s the answer to all of the Blazers’ problems.

Batum rocked tonight! Stayed focused on D. Kept moving on offense, and wasn’t afraid to take the opportunities that presented themselves. All that talk of looking for a Tayshawn Prince could be moot. I think we have a young version of him in Batum!

is skrew up, then it’s easy to look good too.

nic raised his level to thiers and delivered…

GOOD JOB NIC.

He sure looked good last night against SA. I have to admit I was very sceptical. I had mostly seen Batum in summer league. I’ve been very impressed by what I have seen this season. For a 19 year old he seems to have an advanced on the court maturity. He’s definently shown me why with tough decisions to make about this roster we decided to give him a guaranteed contract. Good Job Blazer Management. I’m for using him as we are using him, I want to see a little more. Right now he’s suprising opposition. Let’s see if he can be consistent and how he will react when opposing defenders start paying closer attention to him. Batum…Impressive, keep on convincing me.

Channing Frye with the monster dunk and Batum about 5 different times. That block on Duncan. Driving layin. Guarding Parker. Hitting a three and airballing a three after traveling for no reason. Batum played exclusively the three while Outlaw played the 3/4.

hopefully rudy can do to the suns what batman did to the spurs- – send us to victory

It really isn’t about numbers or an impressive performance for one game. Batum knows where to be on offense and defense and Outlaw is a good player and great athlete but he just is not a natural team basketball player. Outlaw has the ability to do all the little things that Batum did against SA, but it doesn’t come naturally to him and he hasn’t learned it after 5 years.

Batum is young and still learning Na