Batum blog April 12

"Maintenant, on va chercher le titre !"

via www.ouest-france.fr

I got hurt at the end of March. Against Indiana, 4-5 minutes from the end, I came down on Danny Granger. Immediately, my ankle hurt a lot. I couldn't go back to the locker room by myself. I was put on a wheelchair. I didn't really have the time to reflect. I told myself: "I'm going to have to go to the hospital..." But two minutes later, I was being x-rayed. There, every locker room is equipped with medical equipment. When I say two minutes, it's not just a figure of speech. It literally was two minutes, watch in hand.

I was a little disappointed because one of my objectives was to play in all 82 games of the regular season. And the following game, the next day, was against Cleveland. I didn't want to miss it. Next, against Milwaukee, I wasn't able to move laterally so we didn't take any risks. I carried the injury for almost two weeks but I was followed 24 hours a day by the kinesiologist [physical therapist], I had treatment four times a day.

"If LeBron James isn't MVP, it will be robbery."

This week, we clinched our spot in the playoffs. That's why we lost against Houston... In fact, we knew, half an hour before the game, that Phoenix had lost against Dallas. Which as a result meant that we qualified for the playoffs. We congratulated each other in the locker room. The warmup was bad, we turned it into a dunk contest... The concentration level wasn't sufficient enough to hope to win. We were kicking ourselves afterwards.

Now, all we talk about is the playoffs. We're telling ourselves: "We're going for the title!" The team is young so there is a euphoria. For three quarters for us these will be the first playoffs. The city has also been waiting for that for a very long time. When we came back to Portland, there were banners not far from the airport congratulating us. We have to try to finish in the top four to have homecourt advantage in the first round. If we play at home, I'm sure that it will be crazy! The crowd at the Rose Garden is one of the loudest in the NBA. However, I'm incapable of saying who I'd like to play against. I've asked myself that question every day and I don't have an answer.

With the regular season finishing, I would give the MVP title to LeBron James. If he doesn't get it, it will be robbery. I've often said that Dwyane Wade deserved it because he is on a team a bit weaker. He has less good players around him than Kobe Bryant with the Lakers or LeBron in Cleveland. The best rookie is Derrick Rose. There's also OJ Mayo, but he doesn't win enough with Memphis. Rose has the chance to play in the East whereas Mayo, in the West, has more competition. Finally, I should give my ideal starting five, I would choose Deron Williams at point guard. Chris Paul is also very good but I love Williams since he was in college. At the 2 and 3, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant of course. I'd put LeBron James at the 4, with Dwight Howard at center.