I am loving this new Blazers team for so many reasons. Aldridge has made the leap to top ten player in the league, Lillard is proving he's a winner more than someone concerned about stats, Matthews has improved massively and is one of the most efficient scorers in the league and Lopez may be the biggest steal Olshey will ever make. All of these things are contributing to the surprising start. But I think perhaps the biggest contributor may be Batum. That's odd to say because he doesn't seem that much different from last year, but he seems to be the biggest difference maker in individual games. Think how many times he's hit crucial threes. And that's after shooting comparatively little the rest of the time. And look at how many times he leads the team in assists. And WATCH his assists (as I do when I go to the NBA.com "feature" boxscores) - they're typically things of beauty - pretty little bounce passes to a surprisingly-open teammate (often Lopez). He has truly become the straw that stirs the drink. He has been allowed to be the player he was when he was playing for Nancy in the lockout - somebody who controls the game without being flashy about it - except when necessary. It's no surprise he's been the leader in +/- of late. All praise Batum!
Agreed! Watching the game last night I was quite impressed with his contribution and made a comment to my wife about it. He only had 7 points at the time if I remember correctly. His contribution is understated, but vital in my opinion.
Batum is doing all the necessary things needed for this club to win. One of the greatest contributions is his distribution when teams are hounding Lillard.
Preach. That said, I do like the way he's filling in the gaps and doing all of the little things that contribute to wins; he looks about as comfortable as I've ever seen him ... but maybe winning makes everybody look that way?
The Legion of Batum! I think he improved from last year but not that much. Its more that everyone else around him has stepped up which means his passes become more assists. The play of everyone else opens up his shot but he been clutch in key moments and should be praised for it.
I think his improvement is confidence. He isn't second guessing himself and taking risks. Even if those risks are causing him to turn the ball over. That wouldn't ever happen under the regime of Nate
I don't know, but whoever was on replay last night when Batum hit the 30 footer should be fired. They chose to show the Lillard shot like 5 times instead. Meanwhile Mike and Mike were going on and on about the Batum shot.
I'm not one of the people who thinks Nic needs to score to be effective on the team, BUT I would like to see him take more than 4 or 5 shots. He was 3-5 from the floor, and I would much rather see Nic take a couple more shots, rather than see Mo take 12.
Amen to that. I couldn't believe how many times Nic was being guarded by Jose Cal_eron in the Dallas game and the Blazers rarely exploited the mismatch.
Nic is a strange cat. It's like he has no idea what he wants to do from game to game. One game he decides, "hmm I think I'll pass tonight," and ends up with 11 assists. One night he decides that he wants to shoot and drops 30 points. The game seems to come so easily to him that he just goes with whatever strikes him. If he ever put it all together, the guy could be one of the best players in the game. He can do whatever he wants. He could be one of the best defenders in the league. I just wish Nate hadn't held him back for so long.
Nate definitely pigeon-holed Nic, but the fact that he is so passive at times is his responsibility at this point.
I agree. But I'm not bothered by it. It's amazing to me that he's still averaging 13ppg. His FG AttPG are at a 4-year low - which I'm not surprised at, because when I watch the games I rarely see him shoot. But he's dramatically increased his FG%. Despite his ability to score he seems perfectly content to set up his teammates and only shoot when absolutely necessary. He remains our team's best passer, despite some of those bounce-passes that get deflected by the opponent's legs. Last year it seemed he had a better connection-rate on those passes, but this year legs are getting in the way. I had hoped that his dribbling would have gotten better. But he's not the only one with mediocre handles (Mo, Dame, LMA). I don't think he has the natural ability to dribble-drive - and that's fine because he can still throw accurate passes from 18' to 75' from the hoop! I also think he's biding his time on the scoring-front. Let the league forget about him, and then when the games really count he'll crank it up.
I agree, but like I said, it's like he just goes with the flow from game to game. If he's feeling hot, he'll shoot. Dame's lack of assists have been mentioned quite a bit on this board, but I honestly think Nic is running the point for us right now. I think Dame is playing to his strength, which is scoring. I don't care who gets the assists as long as the team is passing. 23 dimes last night against the Jazz.
I get the impression that he doesn't want to detract from LMA and Lillard. Particularly LMA. He seems to really want to make sure the league, and everyone else, knows that it's all about LMA. He's seen how hurt LMA was in the past when people raved about Roy/Oden. Now that it's an LMA/Lillard team he seems to be subjugating himself to pump up LMA. He knows a happy LMA is better for the team, than an LMA concerned about being perceived as a 2nd/3rd option.
Funny though, I think Nic has done wonders for Lopez. That give-and-go that they run is a thing of beauty. Nic might not be a volume scorer like many small forwards in the league, but what he's doing is so much more difficult. I think is just as valuable to our success as Lopez, LA, or Dame. His playmaking has been huge so far this year.
Yes, that's true. But there are still more than enough opportunities for Dame to increase his APG. All those dribble-drives that end with a missed lay-up and him picking himself up off the floor? Also, it'd be really nice to see some actual pick/rolls. I remember seeing one earlier in the season and was excited that it might become something we use - but I can't remember the last time I saw a P/R featuring Dame/LMA.
Half of those dribble drives involve Dame getting plastered with no call. The refs still aren't giving him the calls. It's funny because most of the replays from the game last night show Dame hitting a layup that he was clearly fouled on, with no call. I like seeing his FTA going up (he has 7 last night) but the guy still isn't getting the calls he deserves. Teams are slamming him in the paint. I'm sure it's frustrating for him.
Absolutely! Nearly all of his assists are the same as if he had scored the basket himself - he's creating high percentage shots for other players. It's not like a Brandon Roy assist where he only passes out to a corner shooter off a well defended dribble-drive and relies on a low-percentage shot in order to record an assist. Nope - he's creating easy baskets for his teammates.
