Re: 2013 Official NBA Off-season Movement & Rumors
It's harder to score when you take more shots? C'mon now.
Also, maybe I'm totally off-base on this, but it would seem to be a lot easier to make an all defense team when you're on the best defensive team in the league (that was IND, right?). Sure, George is a great defender and is part of the reason they're top ranked. But he had a terrific system to work in and the best big to funnel guys towards. What system was Nic playing in? Who did he have to funnel players towards?
And even assuming that George IS better, that doesn't take away from how good Nic is. And as the numbers show, the production is very similar (I never said "better").
The hypocrisy is that people around here would cream themselves over George but Nic is "garbage".
I said harder to score with better players around you - which typically equates to less shots, obviously not in this case, as Batum has never been overly aggressive (which is one of my issues with him.)
I would agree, but George also put on very strong displays of defense throughout the season, which goes deeper than system. I look more at positioning, denial, shots you force players to take, and knowing the scouting report. Personally, I think all-defensive teams are a bit skewed, but I think it is reflective somewhat of the top defensive players. Obviously I have issues that players like Kawhi Leonard, Roy Hibbert weren't mentioned and then the whole the DPOY went to Gasol (which is a joke, IMO) and he was second team.
True, the production is similar, but I believe George is a far better defender (Nic relies pretty much on his length, not so much scouting report and positioning - which works most of the time for him because he is a damn chimpanzee...but against better players it won't work. I realize he slowed LeBron, but in a playoff series, lebron would've posted Batum up and went to work on him). Also, I can't stress this enough, the numbers are similar in George's second year, not his 5th.
Would I cream myself over George? Not necessarily - but from what I've seen from him opposed to Batum, I'd be lying to say I wouldn't think the future is significantly brighter, as George has showed he is capable of drastic improvement. If Batum made those kind of jumps, I'd eat as much crow as possible. The issue is, after 5 years, I don't think it'll happen or make a big enough difference for him to become a true 2nd fiddle. and to be completely honest, I think it is partially his mindset. If he strengthened his handle and was more of an asshole, I'm sure he could be a force in this league, but he is too nice and to be honest a little too soft.
If the Batum that dunked on Gasol and let him know about it came to play every game, this wouldn't even be a conversation.
