HoopsNotes.Com: Nicolas Batum Says He Will Play in Worlds
HoopsNotes.com has translated Nicolas Batum's most recent blog post, in which he says he will play for France during this summer's World Championships in Turkey. The translation reads...
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"I will be with the French team this summer at the World Championship in Turkey, Portland agrees," he wrote. "With Nate McMillan, we talked about this season and the next season. He also asked me if we will saw each other this summer at the World Championship. So I told him ‘I do not know, it’s your decision.’ He replied ‘Well, I’m not against it.’ I said that I was willing to play, of course. Suddenly, he said "OK, I’ll see you this summer and we will kick your ***" because he is an assistant coach for Team USA."
Kevin Pritchard said to Nicolas Batum that he was both for and against his participation to the World Championship. He is concerned by his injury but knows that this competition will make him a better player.
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Ben Golliver
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On the other hand,
He didn’t play all that much this season, so maybe he could use some more action.
Disclaimer: everything I know about basketball I learned on Blazersedge.
Team USA will be in this World Championship thing?
Who’s on the team? I’m excited to watch some summer USA basketball.
A lot of the players from the 2008 Olympics. The tournament is August 28 to September 12, in Turkey.
Tryouts for the remaining spots in a camp in Vegas, including LaMarcus. Roy has declined his spot.
The most likely players to join the team in my opinion are Kevin Durant (for Tayshaun Prince), Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook (for Jason Kidd), and one more mobile big man (Brook Lopez, Kevin Love, or maybe maybe LaMarcus).
The extended roster for the remaining sports will look something like this
http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=2009MNTroster
The US is in a preliminary round group with Slovenia, Brazil, Croatia, Tunisia, and Iran.
Here is the 2008 roster
http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=2008MSNTRoster
Effectively they’ll have to replace Redd, Prince, maybe Paul and Kidd depending on how healthy they are (and I think Kidd outright declared his national team retirement). James was a bit miffed about a few statements from managing director Colangelo, but is likely to return. Oh, and he and the other big free agents of the summer should have a new contract by then of course, but that is likely to happen in July.
ehhhh
I’d rather him let his shoulder completely heal. He barely played in that last series and was a shell of himself.
good
World Championship is around mid-September I think. Batum has 4.5 months to let his shoulder completely heal. That should be more than enough.
On the other hand, we all saw what the experience of French National team did to Batum last summer. I expect to see the same effect this year.
True
that experience will be great for him, again. But please basketball Gods, no more injuries!
Roy on the other hand will never be an Olympian because there is no way his body could handle the added stress of off-season competitive basketball. Neither could Oden. But I think LMA could do it!
Treat people well because Karma can hit you at any second.
I don't think we're in danger of the Team USA asking for Oden
And I hope they don’t ask for LMA.
Really, though: don’t you think Team USA would do best if they just borrowed an average NBA team, say the Bulls? I’ve seen scores from past games of NBA teams vs euro champions, and afaik/iirc, the NBA teams win handily. I’d think a regular team would play better than an ad hoc group of quasi (and a few real) all-stars. I think the original Dream Team was an exception.
by Cepstrum on May 2, 2010 4:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I've thought the same thing in the past
but a lot of NBA teams have a bunch of international talent these days, and even removing a few guys makes a big difference.
You're right, but
there are still a few teams that could manage, eg the Blazers could do w/out Batum and Rudy.
The thing is, no team would be willing to do this, for obvious reasons. They’d have to be coerced somehow.
by Cepstrum on May 3, 2010 5:52 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Maybe he'll actually heal faster...
Other than injury, the worst (and most typical) negative effect of these off-season events is fatigue, right? Well, Nicolas is young, so fatigue shouldn’t be a big thing. I see three positives from this:
1. He’ll get experience playing against pros and likely play a much bigger role than he does for us.
2. He’ll gain confidence along with that bigger role.
3. The French Nat’l Team’s medical staff may prove better than ours, and they want him to be in good shape for themselves and probably also for the NBA (he still is one of France’s few representatives in the NBA); he could come out of this summer healthier!
Those are all optimistic, though. More likely he and every other Blazer will suffer season-ending injuries in the next few months.
by Cepstrum on May 2, 2010 3:59 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
He only played limited minutes in about 43 games of this past
season including the playoffs. He missed 45 games! So this year I think the benefits outweigh the risks.
Good for Nico
He developed offensively a lot last year playing for his national team.
On game day, I leave the turkey alone because it is some chemicals in that thing. Nate Mcmillian 11/26/09
Hopefully it will be good for Nic. He only played half a season so I think there's less risk for big injury than last summer. I hope he lets that shoulder heal though.
"What people need to know is that those pictures were taken a year and a half ago, and I've grown since then." - Greg Oden
I'll be honest
I’m just gonna wait and decide what I think about this until next winter.
by jiminut on May 2, 2010 4:55 PM PDT via mobile reply actions 2 recs
Rectastic.
"If we win a title, I promise not to hate on anyone associated with the Blazers for 1 full season" - jksnake99
We will meet them with our fury and we will crush them like vermin.
miked feelings about international play
check ginobli last year, but also consider how lebron killed it last year
conflicted
Nicholas hurt his shoulder last season in May (according to him) then played all last summer and well we know the rest about this season…I don’t know…I am a season ticket holder who wants to see him on the floor all season for the team that pays him…
I know he will gain experience and he is someone who just wants to play and get better…this decision of his,Nate’s and KP’s comes with great risk I believe..I hope this is not a mistake…another season of injuries will not make this fan very happy….
Portland Trail Blazers - where injuries and people come together"
I don't believe this!!!! It is insane!!!! He couldn't even playworth a @#&%$ in the last game!!!!!
Why do people think that this is anything less than moronic???
Any player that has played the preceding NBA season with chronic injuries – including Batum, Rudy, Roy – should be banned from any competitive basketball for the entire off-season! Why is this so difficult to understand? Haven’t we all had enough of players that could not play due to injuries???
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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If Batum's shoulder can't return to health after 4+ months of rest
then his pro career will be short, regardless if he plays a couple of weeks in the Worlds this August-Sept
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I'm okay with it
Nic is young. He’s got time to heal before the tourney, he’ll be fine.
I’m kinda curious to see if he’s going to be a lot more recognized among his french teammates this year. I think only Tony Parker is a better player at this point (though the argument could be made for Diaw.)
Man i wish i could watch him play, but it probably wont be on TV
it probably wont be on TV
Norsk and others usually will provide the links to live streams, you’ll just have to stay up late (or wake up early) to watch ’em. Or wait for the highlights to show up on youtube
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I'm happy for Nic
This experience should really help his game as he’s going to be the #2 or maybe even #1 option if TP doesn’t play. I think his shoulder has plenty of time and hopefully he can come into camp next year completely healed.
Bat88m
im good with it
more experience etc. I would probably want to play for my country and guys who speak my language
I think it depends on tony parker
if tony parker is healthy and will play for france, batum has less of a chance of getting injured.
"There are a few teams you have to watch out for in the fourth quarter."
"Yeah, but Portland definitely is not one of them."
-New Orleans Hornets broadcasters at the end of the third quarter with the Hornets leading 74-59. Portland later ends up winning 97-89.
"They don't mind him shooting that shot at all. Rudy Fernandez is not that great of a 3pt shooter."
-New Orleans Hornets broadcasters right after a Rudy Fernandez missed 3pter. Rudy Fernandez finished the game with three 3pters on six attempts.
Seriously
Nic and Rudy struggled at the end ecause they’ve played too much in the past two years.
by doomsdaymachine on May 2, 2010 11:12 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
nope
they struggled because they played through lingering injuries. Nic only played a half season, so he’s got plenty left in the tank, but he strained his shoulder so his shot was off. NOT a long term injury, NOT an injury which requires surgery. He will have three months to recuperate before the Worlds, which should be plenty of time to get healthy. Playing last year improved his skills and confidence by leaps and bounds, and there’s no reason to believe this summer will be any different. I saw let him play.
Jaycation: Indie, Americana, Folk, Blues, Soul, Jazz, Afropop, Saturdays 3-5pm on KPSU Radio, 1450am and online worldwide at www.kpsu.org
Not a Fan
The time to heal will be affected by the beginning of practice prior to the championships. Personally, given that both Rudy and Nic came to us either tired, or injured, or both last fall, I’m not a fan of this. It’s risky, and last year we paid the price. Don’t forget that they can also get injured while playing, duplicating last leason. As far as improving his game, Batum needs several things. On the one hand he needs a rigorous work-out schedule, and on the other, practice. And not practice to play Europeon ball, but practice to excel in the NBA. I’m not sure that he’ll get either if he first has to heal, then begins practicing with the French team, and then start playing the games. That will consume most of the off-season – and that doesn’t sound to me like he’ll be doing what he needs to do to improve his NBA game, let alone his strength and conditioning.
A fan
One done, still waiting for the same post from Parker, Diaw, Noah, Beaubois and we could match with any team.
It's a great idea for LMA to play for USA
It’s not as if he plays aggressive anyways which decreases the chance of getting hurt and the experience he will gain will be tremendous.
But for Batum not sure, the doc did say he’s gonna feel it for a while but if he comes out healthy and plays like he did the first games when he came back… wow will he be really pumped to play a more aggressive NBA style
Gobble up dem rebounds Greg
by RipCity2K9 on May 3, 2010 8:44 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
nick
Well, you can’t keep a guy from playing his sport just out of fear he’ll get injured.
That being said, for God’s sake Nick don’t let that shoulder get re-injured!
Dont do it Nic.
It aint worth it! Take your summer vacation and rest your damned body! You dont need summer euro league or any bball during the summer. Just chill the funk out, and come back to us 100% next season. And that goes for all of the Blazers.
The Dude: Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here!
by cavejunctionblazer on May 3, 2010 10:27 AM PDT reply actions
All the people that say don't play
It is a rational thought but you have to understand that these guys do what they love to do no matter the consequences ie.. Roy in game 6 when he was laggin big time. so we just have to support them no matter what. even if it means Risk of injury they will still be gaining EXP
Gobble up dem rebounds Greg
by RipCity2K9 on May 3, 2010 12:11 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
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