number 10
Our Savior
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http://www.basketsession.com/blog-batum-plus-peur-de-defendre-sur-ricardo-greer-que-sur-dwyane-wade/
Right off the bat when I learned that, in the end, I wouldn't start the first game of the season against the Lakers, it really pissed me off. It wasn't the fact of saying “what do you mean, I'm not in the starting 5?”. It wasn't that. I was pissed off because it's your first game in the NBA, you're told that you're starting, and at the last moment, nope. It was a letdown. I wasn't saying “it's up to me to go in the starting five,” even though I think there are people who interpreted it like that. Who told themselves that I had a big head and that I found that I had the right to start, but not at all.
It's just that I was told that I'd be starting and suddenly, the night before, I was so excited, I was telling myself “Holy shit! Tomorrow is my first game, it's against Kobe and I'm starting.” I was really happy. And after, no. That fact that it was Outlaw who started in the first game of the season, against the Lakers, I can't say anything, it's normal, no worries: he's been there 5 or six years, I've got nothing to say, it's normal. But it's true that I had started to tell myself that I was going to start against Kobe. Afterwards, he didn't have to justify himself anyway, I'm only a rookie. But still, it bothered me a bit, but afterwards when we lose by 20, that, that bothered me even more!
It was a bad loss, and we were good in the preseason. In the locker room after, the coach told us “well there you go, now you'll understand what the league is about. Preseason is over!” And I admit, in the first game, we played like it was the preseason. And we got our asses kicked! But it's the only ass-kicking we've had all year. Because I can tell you that the next day in practice, there was a reaction. There, we played hard! More so, I was still disappointed from the previous day, having played 2, 3 minutes. As a result, I defended like a madman, I made some hard fouls.
At a moment, I don't know anymore what exactly I was doing, the coach told me “what are you doing?” and he chewed me out. It bothered me so much that I turned my back to him and I didn't listen to him. Afterwards people told me “you're crazy.” After I talked with the assistant and he was like “are you serious?”, but I was so annoyed that I didn't even realize it. The assistant also told me “I'll tell you, what you did isn't good. But I like seeing you mean.” And the next game, against the Spurs, I went in the game as the 6th man.
Finally, I returned to the starting five against Utah. I felt good, I wasn't really afraid and I had a good game, 6 points, 6 rebonds, or something like that. I was comfortable. And honestly, I have less pressure on me being a starter here than in France. I feel zero pressure when being asked to defend really strong guys... The game after Utah was against Houston, I had to guard T-Mac and I didn't feel any pressure. I was happy and afterwards I was bragging a little about it, jokingly
. I was telling everyone “I held T-Mac to 0 points after a quarter.” It's true that it went rather well against him.
In fact the thing with these guys I'm defending, the Wades, Hamiltons, McGradys, it's that unconsciously I manage pretty well to anticipate what they're doing, because I've seen them play so much. That really helped me when I kept Wade to 12 points. I don't know if that's why, but I've grown compared with last season : I'm not at all afraid of them. I was more afraid of defending Ricardo Greer than Dwyane Wade. Last year when I had to defend Ricardo, I was under pressure... And there I have to defend Dwyane Wade, and before getting on the court, I'm normal. I don't really know why, but all the better!
The thing where I saw that I was causing Wade problems was when he elbowed me in the nose. He did it on purpose, he looked at me before. And there, I told myself “that means that I'm pissing him off.” It was the 3rd quarter, he was having problems, he was still pushing me, hitting me, and then he got the ball and he elbowed me. It made me laugh, in fact, I was happy because that meant that I was doing well.
Otherwise, the day where I was having problems, where I struggled but all the same had the most points, was against Stojakovic. I swear, that guy's uncontrollable, he shoots too quickly. He's a pain in the ass.
Still, I think that the hardest player to defend is McGrady. Physically, he's ridiculous. He can post up, he's got a great handle. But it went well against him. All right, I took a few shots to the face. When he dribbled into traffic, fadeaway. But I'm not the only one to have problems... the coach was like “he's an all-star, don't worry. Just try to contain him.” Before, when I got scored on, it sucked, because in France everyone tells you about it. But here, you get scored on by T-Mac, you forget it. They're great players, it's normal that it happens to you. It's certainly why I'm less afraid than last year.
Right off the bat when I learned that, in the end, I wouldn't start the first game of the season against the Lakers, it really pissed me off. It wasn't the fact of saying “what do you mean, I'm not in the starting 5?”. It wasn't that. I was pissed off because it's your first game in the NBA, you're told that you're starting, and at the last moment, nope. It was a letdown. I wasn't saying “it's up to me to go in the starting five,” even though I think there are people who interpreted it like that. Who told themselves that I had a big head and that I found that I had the right to start, but not at all.
It's just that I was told that I'd be starting and suddenly, the night before, I was so excited, I was telling myself “Holy shit! Tomorrow is my first game, it's against Kobe and I'm starting.” I was really happy. And after, no. That fact that it was Outlaw who started in the first game of the season, against the Lakers, I can't say anything, it's normal, no worries: he's been there 5 or six years, I've got nothing to say, it's normal. But it's true that I had started to tell myself that I was going to start against Kobe. Afterwards, he didn't have to justify himself anyway, I'm only a rookie. But still, it bothered me a bit, but afterwards when we lose by 20, that, that bothered me even more!
It was a bad loss, and we were good in the preseason. In the locker room after, the coach told us “well there you go, now you'll understand what the league is about. Preseason is over!” And I admit, in the first game, we played like it was the preseason. And we got our asses kicked! But it's the only ass-kicking we've had all year. Because I can tell you that the next day in practice, there was a reaction. There, we played hard! More so, I was still disappointed from the previous day, having played 2, 3 minutes. As a result, I defended like a madman, I made some hard fouls.
At a moment, I don't know anymore what exactly I was doing, the coach told me “what are you doing?” and he chewed me out. It bothered me so much that I turned my back to him and I didn't listen to him. Afterwards people told me “you're crazy.” After I talked with the assistant and he was like “are you serious?”, but I was so annoyed that I didn't even realize it. The assistant also told me “I'll tell you, what you did isn't good. But I like seeing you mean.” And the next game, against the Spurs, I went in the game as the 6th man.
Finally, I returned to the starting five against Utah. I felt good, I wasn't really afraid and I had a good game, 6 points, 6 rebonds, or something like that. I was comfortable. And honestly, I have less pressure on me being a starter here than in France. I feel zero pressure when being asked to defend really strong guys... The game after Utah was against Houston, I had to guard T-Mac and I didn't feel any pressure. I was happy and afterwards I was bragging a little about it, jokingly
. I was telling everyone “I held T-Mac to 0 points after a quarter.” It's true that it went rather well against him.In fact the thing with these guys I'm defending, the Wades, Hamiltons, McGradys, it's that unconsciously I manage pretty well to anticipate what they're doing, because I've seen them play so much. That really helped me when I kept Wade to 12 points. I don't know if that's why, but I've grown compared with last season : I'm not at all afraid of them. I was more afraid of defending Ricardo Greer than Dwyane Wade. Last year when I had to defend Ricardo, I was under pressure... And there I have to defend Dwyane Wade, and before getting on the court, I'm normal. I don't really know why, but all the better!
The thing where I saw that I was causing Wade problems was when he elbowed me in the nose. He did it on purpose, he looked at me before. And there, I told myself “that means that I'm pissing him off.” It was the 3rd quarter, he was having problems, he was still pushing me, hitting me, and then he got the ball and he elbowed me. It made me laugh, in fact, I was happy because that meant that I was doing well.
Otherwise, the day where I was having problems, where I struggled but all the same had the most points, was against Stojakovic. I swear, that guy's uncontrollable, he shoots too quickly. He's a pain in the ass.
Still, I think that the hardest player to defend is McGrady. Physically, he's ridiculous. He can post up, he's got a great handle. But it went well against him. All right, I took a few shots to the face. When he dribbled into traffic, fadeaway. But I'm not the only one to have problems... the coach was like “he's an all-star, don't worry. Just try to contain him.” Before, when I got scored on, it sucked, because in France everyone tells you about it. But here, you get scored on by T-Mac, you forget it. They're great players, it's normal that it happens to you. It's certainly why I'm less afraid than last year.
