Translations of Nic Batum's Blog - Before and After his Injury

More great translations from Blazersedge reader #10.  

In this post he translates two of Nicolas Batum's blog posts, before and after Batum decided to have shoulder surgery.  Click through the jump for literally everything you need to know about this setback.  

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

the blog was obviously written before the injury :(  It's a bit of a loose translation, but I don't think anything got distorted.  I'll try to update this post later as I'm sure there's going to be plenty of new interviews coming in.

"If we're not playing for the title, what are we playing for?"

via www.basketsession.com

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've posted, but after the difficult loss against Spain, everything has happened very quickly.  Training camp started a week after the end of the Euros.  We started on Monday and I had arrived in Portland on Friday, just to be able to get over the time difference and to rest before attacking.  Monday was media day.  There were photos, interviews, videos, photo sessions, clips for the pregame intro or the ones that are played in the stadium.  It was pretty long.  It lasted two, two and a half hours.

via www.basketsession.com

In the interviews, pretty much two thirds of the questions were about the Eurobasket.  They were really interested over there.  I was a little surprised but apparently they followed what Rudy and I did and the France-Spain game was live on TV in Portland.  Even our teammates followed a little, they were happy for me.  I also talked about it with Rudy.  But it's good, he's cool, he doesn't brag too much...  Well, a little bit.  The worst was during the Fanfest, in front of 17-18,000 people.  We were sitting in chairs in the middle of the court and they asked us each two or three questions in front of everyone.  And he was ahead of me and they basically asked him "You're the champion of Europe, what does that mean to you?"  He was like: "The best thing isn't being the champion of Europe, it's scoring 20 points on France."  18,000 people, everyone laughing, everyone looking at me, everyone teasing.  But I can't say anything...

Now, in retrospect, that fact that I came back without anything around my neck bothers me a bit.  At first, in the heat of the moment, I was more positive.  But now that I'm thinking about it, it pisses me off to have not won a medal.  Being 5th, with only one loss, is just...crap.

After media day, going back to basketball went well enough.  I was fairly well in rhythm.  I tried to attack like last year and to be at practice at 7:30 or 8:00, to train before team practice.  In fact, coming back to Portland pretty late, three days before we started, let me go to sleep really early because I hadn't gotten over the time difference.  So I was up at 6:30 and I could go to practice awake.  So I took some shots and lifted weights before the start of practice, because they had warned us, me and Rudy, that it was going to be soft the first week.  It has to be said that we had only had 7 days between the end of the Euros and the start of training camp.

So we trained normally, except that, when we played games, Rudy and I were on the same team, and we rotated.  Sometimes we didn't even participate in parts of the game.  The other thing was that we didn't do the conditioning test that I talked about last year, with 4 series of 5 sprints cross-court.  At the same time, it's to test your fitness, and as we had just been at the Euros, were were fortunately in shape.

But, even if we had a lighter regime, we still practiced hard because you have to earn your place, there are a lot of people.  Notably Webster who is back.  So coming to the gym early, it's also a way of showing that I was there and that I was working.  So weights and shooting.  At the end of the season, they told me that I should take just shots in the corner anymore, not be just a Bruce Bowen.  So for my shooting sessions, I no longer take just set shots, feet on the ground like before.  Now, with Monty Williams, I work more on coming off screens, on the dribble, one on one.

via www.basketsession.com

I think that it has been fruitful, even if I can't really see it in the preseason games because, like Rudy, I'm not playing much.  Nate told us that he was going to rest us during the preseason.  Webster is playing a lot.  With his ability and knowing that Travis is also going to play the 4 sometimes, we'll be able to rotate because we have lots of quality wings who can bring a lot of different things to the table: Roy, Rudy, Bayless, Travis, Webster, and me.

Ordinarily, I should still be in the starting five.  McMillan wants to keep me there, but still it's up to me to keep my place.  If I play like shit, I'm not going to stay there :)  But he said that for the moment the best combination, the one that worked best for him, is between me and Roy.  First of all, he doesn't defend, I do.  No I'm joking: in fact, it's just that I Take the best opposing attacker, and Brandon doesn't have to deal with that.  And [Nate] also told me that my game combines perfectly with Roy.  He brought up the example of Pippen who was able to adapt to Jordan's game.  And me, a fan of Pippen, when he tells me that, I'm obviously happy...  So my game has to improve in that sense.

In attack, now, Nate told me: "As soon as you sense an opening, a possibility, take it." And so in preseason, I'm trying to be more aggressive, to attack the paint more.  I've even had the remark: "alright, not too much..." :)  The coach told me that sometimes I attacked too much, that I attacked all the time.  Sometimes, I go too far.  I have to do what I did last year, but adding a few things on offense, but not completely changing.  Whereas every time I had the ball in the preseason, I attacked immediately and saw the possible passes afterwards.  It's also an adjustment period, because I'm trying to be more aggressive, but I'm doing it a little too much.  That's what they tell me: "You're coming off a big summer, you're full of confidence, you think you can do everything.  Don't forget that you're in the League.  You're not playing against European players, it's Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant."  So I have to add more variation to my game.

And we have a team that has great expectations this season.  So we need to have a coherent  and structured game.  Our goal is pretty much to win the title!  That's what they told us from the very first day.  First day of practice, we had a notebook, and under the cover of the notebook, nothing was written, just a photo of the trophy.  Some laughed.  The coach said "Why are you laughing?  Everyone in this room who isn't playing for that, leave!  Why are you in the NBA?  To do what?  You're coming off a big season, you made the playoffs, we know that you can do something special.  So, what are you playing for this season?  To make the playoffs?  Nobody cares."  And it's true, if you're in the playoffs, it's to be champions.  It's not to tell yourself "I hope that we'll only reach the first round."

So it's not going to be easy, we know that we're going to have to make a lot of sacrifices, work hard, but we're telling ourselves that he do have a chance.  It'll make a lot of people laugh, people are going to say "sure they're talented, but they're still young, it's not their time."  But we know that we have a chance, and we owe it to ourselves to have this goal when go out on to the court.  If we aren't playing for that, what are we playing for?

UPDATE - new blog, written after his injury, posted on the 27th (in France).

via basketsession.com

As you perhaps know, on Friday I'm going to go get my shoulder operated on.  For two weeks I've felt more and more pain inside.  It was more and more frequent and the pain more and more intense.  And it's true that in the end, you can't stand it, because it hurts; and I continued to play with it.  And so on Sunday, I took a screen from Greg Oden.  A good screen... and that was the last straw.

I left running towards the doctor's office.  It was the first time I had left running like that, I was nervous.   I kicked the ball away.  I was fed up with my shoulder.  It's been seven months with this problem, it bothered me more and more during the last three months, and the last two weeks, the shocks were more and more frequent and the pain even worse.  So I was sick of it.  When I took that blow, I knew that it was dead and just two days from the start of the season...  it sucks!  But I can't play 82 games like that.  Even with all the willpower in the world, I wouldn't have been able to be at 100%.  With the role that I have on this team, guarding Kobe, LeBron, etc..., getting hit on screens every night, that would've been even worse.  So it's wiser to get operated on now.

In fact, at first, I didn't want to have surgery.  Kevin Pritchard joined us in the doctor's office, we spoke and he told me "Are you sure that you can really play the whole season like that?"  And I kept saying yes.  I didn't want to be out for three months at the start of the season.  But I can't continue.  They told me: "We don't want you to be out, but it's not just the player we're talking to, it's also you, the person and you're health above all.  We don't want you to be out, but..."

Even if at first I didn't want the surgery, I changed my mind after thinking about it.  Play 82 games, with a bum shoulder, with the goals we have, it's useless.  And then if I'm not at 100%, I'll lose playing time, I'll lose credibility, I'll lose the coach's confidence, the staff... it wouldn't have been good for me.  And it would've aggravated my health.  So it's better for me to have surgery.  Even if I don't want to...  I want to call them and tell them "No, it's good, it's over, I'm not going to have surgery and I'm playing tomorrow."  I'm dying to do that.  But a moment comes when you have to be clear and judicious for the rest of my career.  Maybe it will make me miss 5 months, but I'm not 30 either, I'm only 20, it's ok.  And at my age, I hope that I'll be able to come back even faster.

I'm going to have a hard time being out 3-5 months.  The operation will be in Los Angeles on Friday.  I'm going to be operated on by the doctor ElAttrache.  He's a shoulder specialist, one of the best in the US and the world.  He's the official doctor of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  And given the specifics of baseball, he has lots of experience with shoulders.  He's the one who operates on 75% of NBA players who have shoulder problems.  Notably, he operated on Blake and Aldridge.  I saw this doctor two weeks ago when we played the Clippers.  He told me that I should get surgery but if I managed to play with it, I could continue.  But after practice yesterday, we called him and he said "I have an opening every Friday, he just has to come then."

McMillan is crazy pissed off.  He came after practice and told me: "It bothers me because you're now a big, big part of this organization.  You're my starter at that position, I have confidence in you.  But if that's what you have to do, do it.  I don't like it, but do it anyway.  But come back quickly.  Because like I told you, I want to see you on the court with Brandon, I want to see you on the court every night.  We'll miss you a lot."  It really made me happy that he said that.  So voila, the official starting 5 will be Blake, Roy, Webster, Aldridge, and Oden.  This morning, McMillan talked to me in his office and told me: "When you come back, you have to be ready, because I'm going to put you back in the starting lineup on your return."  I was happy to hear that as well.

Personally, it's alright, but I have a hard time imagining that I won't be on a court for three, four months.  This morning, I was at practice, I stayed to the side and I didn't do anything.  And voila, that's what's going to happen for at least three months.  And f***, it sucks!  It's hard to tell yourself that I'm going to be in a suit on the bench for three months.

During the next weeks, I won't be doing nothing either, but I'll only be able to work on my legs, do situps and dorsal exercises.  I'm going to reinforce my back and abdominal muscles.  For the moment, I haven't had the time to start this program yet, because we're talking more about the operation, but basically that's all I'll be able to do in the coming days.