Nic is our backup PG, just without the title. Heck, he probably passes better then Lillard (isn't a better overall PG though).
One of the biggest reasons for the Blazers record has been the consistent play of Wes and Nic. He's been inconsistent in past years. This year, no. Does he have bad games like every other athlete in the world, I imagine so. Nic is a glue guy, so the scoring fluctuates but he does other things. As to your assertiveness comments, that's exactly why this starting five works well together, because guys like Lopez and Nic don't always have to be assertive in shooting the ball in order to help them win. This comment doesn't mean he can't become assertive on his own, he's just explaining what happened this time and giving his teammates some props. I can't imagine if people dissected all of my sentences like this. (not you, but others in this thread) It's funny and sad at the same time.
Since this seems to be the thread to air complaints about our favorite frenchman I'll lay mine out here. Batum is a turnover machine. Dame has the ball 6.9 mpg and gets 2.3 to per game, Nic has the ball 1.8 mpg and gets 2.6 to per game. That is atrocious. His turnovers are extremely costly to the team. Nic has a varied skill set and is very talented but he does not have the mentality to make full use of it. Nic is 25 years old now, the he's young and still learning the game argument needs to stop. This is a scouting report from February 4, 2008:
Paraphrasing maxiep: Being french, he's genetically predisposed to keeping his hands up on defense...
And there you have it. It seems a few kids have to make a new thread every time they see something they don't like about the Blazers or a Blazer player they are trying to live vicariously through. So when they write Batum doesn't have the mentality, what they are really thinking is they wish they could be Batum, and think they could do better. Get a life of your own please and stop complaining. It's immature.
Batum isn't either of those guys. He's better than both of them at passing and in clutch shooting at line and from three. Batum is one of a kind. One of like 11 people to ever get a 5 x 5 in the history of the league. With Lillard and Aldridge as top scorers, we don't need him to be Paul George. We need him to be Nic Batum. He's doing great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Fully agree. He has been amazing. My only criticism, and it seems to be a common one is that he doesn't always have the same killer instinct on offense that he almost always has on defense, it's just frustrating because he has so much potential to score high numbers.
Not sure if you're aware, but English is not Nic's first language. Have you ever talked to a foreign speaking person before?
Great post. I've always been a proud Nico supporter. He does so many great things on the court and is so versatile. This new distributing wrinkle to his game is just icing on the cake.
This thread blew up. I think Nic is a very graceful basketball player. He is very fundamentally sound and he means a ton to this team. And more than I think he recognizes. I like the man...wasn't out to ruin him. But there is more there. And when your team game after game is losing or winning a game by a point or two, I think it's time to make the decision to step up the game on your end. For the record, I have no interest in Melo. I digress from here.