Batum interviews

The NBA is exactly how I imagined it. Everything is out of proportion. On road trips, we stay in unbelievable hotels, crazy stuff. And it's not a private jet for the team, but a private Boeing! At the time of the game in Los Angeles, we had a day off so, with Rudy Fernandez, we took advantage to go to Hollywood. We just did the tour but we saw actors in costumes everywhere, disguised as Spider-Man or Elvis Presley.

Concerning my performances on the court, I had a bit of trouble during the first games. It went better afterwards. I had two great performances out of 16 games, played in 24 days I think (30 in reality). Which gives you an idea of the rhythm. Now, I know that Martell Webster is going to come back. If he hadn't have gotten injured, I probably wouldn't be playing as much. I'm aware of it. Martell is a great player and he's going to bring a lot to the team. I'm not worried, I think first of all of the team and his return will inevitably help us. Whereas Greg Oden's absence at the start of the season had nothing to do with what happened last season. He simply twisted his ankle. Every basketball player has experienced that in his career. It just happened at a bad time for him, during the first game of the season. But he's coming back well.

The first month, I think that the team is at the level it should be at (10 wins, 6 losses as of November 28th). There were a few games we lost when we could impose ourselves, like against Phoenix or New Orelans, but globally, we're in rhythm.

The fact that we have four rookies allows us to share the burden of hazing. Jerryd Bayless is the biggest target. He's in charge of breakfast. Oden, as he was already here last year and was drafted first, is mostly left alone. And for me and Rudy, we play on the language barrier, pretending to not understand. I often say: "oh that's what you wanted me to bring? Sorry, I didn't understand."

I watched online live the game between Le Mans and Olympiakos. There was a curse, it's not possible! Losing so many close games... That was already the case when I was there last year. And it had happened the previous year. It could go either way, that's why I still think they can qualify for the Top 16 (ed. - advance past the first "round" of Euroleague games). But there's something! Somebody cursed the city, there's a sorcerer somewhere!

The frantic rhythm of the NBA continues. I just had three days without a game. It's very rare. The last three weeks, we had games without ever having more than one day of rest. Since the start of the season, we're the team that's played the most often on the road. Result: we got beat three times in a row because we were on our last legs. We were dead in practice, tongue hanging out.

This mini-respite happened during my birthday (he was born December 14th). Sunday, my 20th birthday, I wanted to go to practice to take some shots. But there was a snow storm in Portland. Leaving was impossible, I was stuck. So I partied at my house. But it was cool to have a partie with my family. I never would have thought of celebrating my 20th birthday while in the NBA, especially as a starter!

Personally, I was pooped during the last two weeks. There were five or six games, it really wasn't that, completely rotten performances (???). I started to ask questions of myself. I was annoyed with myself. I understood that my body had problems keeping up. Since mid-august, I've had four days off. So Channing Frye told me: "For your rookie season, you have to hit the rookie wall, it's not possible any other way." Steve Blake and Joel Przybilla told me the same thing.

Fortunately, the game against Sacramento (December 16th) reassured me. I scored points at important moments (12 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes). I did a good job on defense, The coach was really happy with me. After half time, he asked me to defend John Salmons. He had scored 21 points in the first half. And he didn't score any afterwards.

I hope that that will relaunch me because when Martell Webster came back, my performances were really average. I told myself "there it is, he's back. He's going to take advantage of my poor form for playing time. It's dead, my season is over." And then, he got hurt again. Already, if I was a starter at the beginning of the season, it's surely because of his absence. Then he's out again for a month. I'm seeing it more and more as a sign.

The last days were marked by the trade of Boris Diaw to Charlotte. It must be hard to leave a solid team to go to a club that's rebuilding, that doesn't win much. When I talked about it with Alexis (Ajinça), he told me: "We're a good team, I promise you." We must not watch the same games... Boris didn't have anything to say about his trade, that's the law of the NBA. I experienced that a bit in the draft. I almost went to San Antonio, then, in the end, Houston took me, and a quarter hour later, I was traded to Portland. I was really mad. But that showed me the way things are. Now, I know what's to come. In the NBA, there's no remorse. A director can hold your hand then can get rid of you as he please. Basketball is a business where you even play on Christmas day.