On the old imtrailblzaersfan.com Blog, I have been critical of Batum even prior to the Blazers getting hosed on the RFA deal. I used to get persecuted for stating my opinion about his inconsistent play when the facts only concluded he played when we wanted to play. Reading all the posts on this board, it is nice to see people are waking up and calling for the Blazers to get rid of him. I guess what bothers me most about his play are a couple of things: 1. He disappears and no one knows where his game goes; 2. He is extremely inconsistent in his play. If it comes down to Batum over Wes, the Team better keep Wes and let Batum ride off into the sunset. But of course trade him to Minnesota where he really wanted to go and play with Ricky Rubio.
I think playing year round is starting to take a toll on Nic. lets wait till the end of the season to judge him. i honestly think after this road trip he should sit for our homestand against some of the worse teams in the league. we can win all of those games without him
Not to discount your comment, but similar things were said about his poor performance on the imamtrailblazersfan.com board. It is time for the Blazers to be rid of him
Nico is one of our best players, period. He has qualities as a point-forward that we don't get otherwise. Can we win without him? Yes, we certainly can but if we didn't have Batum we'd have a worse record season-long and worse chance in the playoffs. Nic isn't the heart of this team but he may very well be the brain. Don't hate on him.
Iamatrailblazersfan.com doesn't appear active anymore. We were chosen by the Blazers to replace it. As far as Batum is concerned, whatever he's been doing has contributed to a sweet record.
what "facts" show that he plays only when he wants to play? I get the general appearance on the surface of being inconsistent, people look at points and see him score 13, then 6, and he's inconsistent! He's the 4th option in our starting lineup, and 5th option, basically, overall. His rebounding, passing, and defense all seem to be there game in and game out, or consistently, if you will. How consistent do we really expect our 5th option to be scoring, when game to game situations change so much?
I've never been pissed about his scoring. The missed wide open shots are driving me crazy. This is not the Batum I know and love! Honestly, if he just drove to the basket more while in his slump, I wouldn't complain.
Yeah it sucks to have the missed shots, but there's just a difference between inconsistent and just being in a shooting slump, which is more what this seems to me.
I agree. I think this mainly has to do with his injury, then evolved into a mental block. That's why driving to the hoop and working dunks may get his confidence back.
Do you want me to list the names of those posters who are either banned from S2, never bothered to show up, or just went inactive?? or shall you? I remember at least a couple of them.
Agreed. This forum always needs a scapegoat for something and nico seems to be a popular one at the moment.
4 month rental? No thanks The dream to resign him this summer is absolutely ludicrous. He's going to get at least 12-13 mil. Even if we release every player but our starter free agents, that leaves us around 8 mil to give out. Only trading Batum for Monroe and expiring will do it. Then who do we have play 3? Crabbe is decent for spurts, but he ain't ready for the big stage.
Last time he did that he got Ariza'd. I appreciate the fans who appreciate the nuances of team basketball enough to appreciate Batum's contributions and value to the team, his teammates, and the team's success. I'm sure his teammates appreciate him as well.
I actually really appreciate what Batum does for this ball club. I don't harp on the silly things like "padding assists, gambling, or not being aggressive on the offensive end". Batum just needs to add a efficient 2 point shot so he can get through his slump". Getting "Ariza'd" was on a break, which he would have done regardless. He was wide open on a fast break and I don't see him doing anything else. If you are playing to "save yourself from injury" being timid on the offensive end, then you absolutely become a liability. If Batum had a post up game, slash moves and a decent mid range shot, he won't be an offensive liability when his 3 isn't falling.
