Batum got 20/8 against Italy

[zeded]

Watched the whole game.
...
Easily the most talented sf we have right now.

Where? How?

That Eurobasket site isn't so user friendly and I can't find when the next game is, which I assume is against Finland. I'm also not sure what the criteria for advancement is against the other three team pool winner. I'm assuming if France beats Finland, they'll play the winner of the other side for the 16th slot in the the main tourney.

I also saw a blog post from Rudy yesterday that he's back in training and looking forward to Eurobasketball. Can I dream about a Spain-France final? Anyone feel like going to Poland in late September?

 

[Tince]

I've always thought Batum had the tools to be a deadly slasher, but it seemed like he rarely got the ball in position to do so. It will be soooo nice having someone on the team who will actually pass him the ball when he isn't just standing in the corner!

The Batum I saw last year was unable to create for himself or for others. He was most effective standing in the corner and getting his baskets off of kickout, slashing and getting the pass on the way to the hoop, or finishing off of offensive rebounds.

An ability to improve his ball-handling and becoming more consistent from the outside would really change the way we can use him.

 

[zeded]

Next game appears to be vs. Finland on Saturday the 8th. It also appears each team plays each other twice as a home and home. If anyone understands the finals formula feel free to explain me to it.


http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ci...ompID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.html

 

[JDC]

Where? How?

That Eurobasket site isn't so user friendly and I can't find when the next game is, which I assume is against Finland. I'm also not sure what the criteria for advancement is against the other three team pool winner. I'm assuming if France beats Finland, they'll play the winner of the other side for the 16th slot in the the main tourney.

I also saw a blog post from Rudy yesterday that he's back in training and looking forward to Eurobasketball. Can I dream about a Spain-France final? Anyone feel like going to Poland in late September?

There was a link on justin.tv....my bad for not posting it over here.

got it from myp2pforum.eu. Just click on the "NBA+Basketball" section.

Here's a link to the exact thread where I found it.

http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nba-basketball/41437-european-championship-additional-qualification.html

Just check here for future stream links.

 

[Reep]

The Batum I saw last year was unable to create for himself or for others. He was most effective standing in the corner and getting his baskets off of kickout, slashing and getting the pass on the way to the hoop, or finishing off of offensive rebounds.

An ability to improve his ball-handling and becoming more consistent from the outside would really change the way we can use him.

No disrespect, but there were a lot of signs of his ability last year. I don't think I can count how many time Batum hit Joel in the hands with a drive and dish only to see Joel fumble it away. You could write this off as poor decision making by Batum, but I saw it as a sign of what to come. Also, the few times he did slash (especially on Gasol) or run the break were amazing. Very solid handle and vision. I think the main problem was he was shy about using it and was trying to do only what the coaches told him to.

 

[Tince]

No disrespect, but there were a lot of signs of his ability last year. I don't think I can count how many time Batum hit Joel in the hands with a drive and dish only to see Joel fumble it away. You could write this off as poor decision making by Batum, but I saw it as a sign of what to come. Also, the few times he did slash (especially on Gasol) or run the break were amazing. Very solid handle and vision. I think the main problem was he was shy about using it and was trying to do only what the coaches told him to.

No disrespect taken.

I agree with you that his passing is one of his better attributes, that's why I didn't mention it as a weakness in my post.

I do remember plays where Batum looked awesome, but I also remember long stretches where he didn't look comfortable with the ball in his hand. I don't know if you're assuming that because he's done something a few times, that makes it a strong suit of his. I've seen TO play really good defense on plenty of possessions, but it doesn't mean he is a good defender overall.

It was very rare to see Batum dribble through traffic. We mostly saw him handle the ball in transition or when the ball was reversed to him. This is an area of his game that I think he can improve on. He certainly looks more comfortable during international play, but that might be due to the fact he's a far superior athlete in the majority of those games.

 

[Reep]

No disrespect taken.

It was very rare to see Batum dribble through traffic. We mostly saw him handle the ball in transition or when the ball was reversed to him. This is an area of his game that I think he can improve on. He certainly looks more comfortable during international play, but that might be due to the fact he's a far superior athlete in the majority of those games.

True, he was very tentative in traffic and usually only drove or broke when clearly open. I assumed that was him trying to stay in his role rather than him not having the ability (or confidence in his ability). Either way, I think some of that will disappear this year and we can look forward to a lot more.

 

[Boob-No-More]

The Batum I saw last year was unable to create for himself or for others. He was most effective standing in the corner and getting his baskets off of kickout, slashing and getting the pass on the way to the hoop, or finishing off of offensive rebounds.

An ability to improve his ball-handling and becoming more consistent from the outside would really change the way we can use him.

He also got an occasional fast break dunk - usually off a steal or deflection. With Andre Miller capable of pushing the tempo, Oden controlling the defensive boards and two fast, long gazelles like Aldridge and Batum at forward, I wonder if this is the year we will finally see the Blazers start racking up some easy fast break points.

I know Nate is still our coach, and in spite of him claiming he'd like to run more, I won't belive it until I see it. In the past he's never had a PG he trusted capable ot pushing the tempo. He trusted Blake and Jack, but neither was good at leading the break. Sergio could push the ball, but Nate never trusted him. Will a proven veteran like Andre Miller earn Nate's trust so that Nate will finally let this team of great, young athletes use their speed and athleticism to get some easy baskets?

BNM

 

[Nikolokolus]

Travis averaged 12.8 last year.


You might want to rethink that

hasoos is safe, Travis is a backup power forward.

 

[el_Diablo]

additional qualifying round:

GROUP A
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 1/0 62/56 2
2. Portugal 1 0/1 56/62 1
3. Belgium 0 0/0 0/0 0

GROUP B
1. France 1 1/0 80/77 2
2. Italy 1 0/1 77/80 1
3. Finland 0 0/0 0/0 0

France 08.08.2009 20:00
Finland

Finland 11.08.2009 19:00
Italy

France 14.08.2009 20:00
Italy

Finland 17.08.2009 19:00
France

Italy 20.08.2009 20:30
Finland

group winners play each other (both play once at home and the aggregate score decides the winner) for the last available spot in the final round (tournament). those games are on 27th and 30th august.

the tournament system is as follows:

the initial group draw, with b/2 being the winner of the additional qualifying round:

GROUP A
1. F.Y.R. of Macedonia 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
2. Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
3. Israel 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
4. Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
GROUP B
1. Russia 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
2. Team(B/2) 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
3. Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
4. Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
GROUP C
1. Great Britain 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
2. Serbia 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
3. Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
4. Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
GROUP D
1. Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
2. Turkey 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
3. Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0
4. Bulgaria 0 0 0 0 0 0,000 0

http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ci...ompID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.html

and schedule:

http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ci...ompID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.html

I hope the links work, they seem somewhat cryptic..