Huffington Post: LeBron Makes Nicolas Batum Fall Down With Amazing Crossover

[SlyPokerDog]

It's no secret that it's difficult to defend LeBron James, especially when he's making moves like the one he made on Portland's Nicolas Batum on Tuesday night.

In third quarter, LeBron broke Batum's ankles with an incredible crossover. The 22-year-old from France fell down and slid several feet until he was under the basket out of bounds.

[video=youtube;90yN16EczKk]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/09/lebron-nicolas-batum-crossover_n_833435.html

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Wow, kind of a bunch of horse shit. Lets not focus on how much Miami is SUCKING! No, lets just give King James lots of praise for one play.

FAIL!

 

[illmatic99]

Batum is becoming the king of floppers. I would hate it if he wasn't on the Blazers.

 

[Public Defender]

That wasn't even really a cross-over. It was a sharp cut to a pull-up jumper. While it looked like LBJ might've pushed off, it's more likely that Batum flopped. He should know better - he's not going to get that call against The King.

 

[hasoos]

Lebron executes crossover he does every game, and the Heat lose. That should have been the headline. For all the spectacular plays Lebron and Wade make, they still only count the same amount as the plays with not so much publicity.

 

[Rhal]

LBJ gave Batum a little shove and when your running like that a little extra push no matter how hard is gonna put you off balance and send you flying.

 

[Spud147]

Wow, kind of a bunch of horse shit. Lets not focus on how much Miami is SUCKING! No, lets just give King James lots of praise for one play.

FAIL!

Did you watch Sports Center last night? They had basically all Heat highlights and one of the hosts even made some comment about what a poor defensive play the Blazers made. If you hadn't watched the game you'd think the Heat had won. Until finally one of the guys admits that Portland might be a tough "out" in the play offs.

I also had to laugh when CWebb, et al. were doing the "shut up and play" lecture and either McHale or Webber mentioned that the Heat had gone some adversity with injuries this year which is challenging. Are they serious?!? Don't they realize what Portland has dealt with over the last two seasons? For a while there I thought there was something in the Tualatin practice facility water that causes knees to explode!

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Did you watch Sports Center last night? They had basically all Heat highlights and one of the hosts even made some comment about what a poor defensive play the Blazers made. If you hadn't watched the game you'd think the Heat had won. Until finally one of the guys admits that Portland might be a tough "out" in the play offs.

I was reading USA Today this morning and they didn't even report the results of the game. I can understand late results if the game was played on the West Coast but it was in Miami. WTF?

 

[HailBlazers]

Did you watch Sports Center last night? They had basically all Heat highlights and one of the hosts even made some comment about what a poor defensive play the Blazers made. If you hadn't watched the game you'd think the Heat had won. Until finally one of the guys admits that Portland might be a tough "out" in the play offs.

Yes it was Ridiculous. They would talk about the Blazers scoring runs without actually showing any highlights of them! They didn't show a Blazer player score until the fourth quarter highlights, the previous five were all Heat.

 

[Public Defender]

Yes it was Ridiculous. They would talk about the Blazers scoring runs without actually showing any highlights of them! They didn't show a Blazer player score until the fourth quarter highlights, the previous five were all Heat.

ESPN is part of the "NBA is a superstar league" movement. If they could've gotten away with only showing Heat highlights of Wade and James, they would've. Next best? Show only B-Roy and Aldridge. But since Matthews hit the "dagger," they had to show him, too.

 

[bluefrog]

I like this play better. Does anyone have a link to that stuff G-Force had on Wade?

[video=youtube;qHeLM-PgGyk]

 

[chris_in_pdx]

Yes it was Ridiculous. They would talk about the Blazers scoring runs without actually showing any highlights of them! They didn't show a Blazer player score until the fourth quarter highlights, the previous five were all Heat.

Yep. It was all Heat, no Blazers. But let's be honest: no one outside of the Portland Metro area gives a rat's shit about the Blazers. Miami's supposed "meltdown" makes better news in Peoria than "Blazers play great and destroy slumping Heat". I'm surprised that the SportsCenter talking goofs even mentioned the Blazers at all.

 

[HailBlazers]

I like this play better.

[video=youtube;qHeLM-PgGyk]

Yes Yes YES!

I'm surprised that the SportsCenter talking goofs even mentioned the Blazers at all.

I know, I guess I give sportscenter too much respect thinking they would show highlights of what good basketball is.

Drama Sells. Before you know it ESPN will have no sports at all, just reality television shows about superstar athletes. Following in MTV's footsteps!

 

[Bob Dobalina]

Initially thought it was a push off, but in the replay it doesn't appear to be, still hard to see though. This leads me to believe it was Batum flopping again. Honestly I wish he'd quit doing it. I hate flopping.

 

[HailBlazers]

This leads me to believe it was Batum flopping again. Honestly I wish he'd quit doing it. I hate flopping.

I hate flopping as well but it goes along with Nik's stellar Defensive style. He shadows, getting so close to a player without actually touching them. It's extremely tough to do, keep your balance, and stay with the player your guarding at the same time. He's like the Brandon Roy of Defense, a natural silent killer. It's fun to watch players get annoyed of it and push off.

 

[Spud147]

I don't mind the Blazers being over looked by the media when it comes to the title of "contender" but it really sounded to me like the media saw the Blazers as an easy win (like a game again the TWolves or Cleveland).

I don't think this is just a continuation of the Miami funk, I think Portland is much better than the media thinks. It's a totally weird make up and would be so tough to deal with. If Nate can keep this going and get everyone's buy in about this rotation (i.e. Wallace and Roy coming off the bench). We've got two recent All stars with high basketball IQs coming off the bench and a should be an all star in LaMarcus starting. There no let down when the starters need a breather. That's a pretty relentless and brutal team that could be very successful in the play offs. I think we'd be able to play more players in the play offs than most teams and hopefully that would keep them healthier and more rested. It's like we have two very very good teams in one and they're both peaking at the right time.

Also, I think the problem with Miami is that they spent all their money on 3 players who have played well for them (including Bosh who averaged around 18 and 8 this season). They just have no money for any quality bench/role players and it's killing them in the regular season. When they get to the play offs the bench will play less minutes so they're going to be all right for the post season. I think what they really need is a road trip to get away from all the invasive media in Miami and develop some us against the world attitude on the road. IMO they're going to right the ship going into the play offs like the Lakers alway do. I really wouldn't be surprised to see them beat the Lakers on Thursday at all. They won't over look them like they may have overlooked the Blazers.

 

[MIXUM]

nic is a very avg nba player.

 

[HailBlazers]

nic is a very avg nba player.

And an above average, I'd say Great Defender.

Man he had a slight fade-away 15-20 ft jumper last night over someone that looked so clean. If he could polish a high post game like that he would could be a great offensive threat. he's only 22 after all.

 

[hasoos]

And an above average, I'd say Great Defender.

Man he had a slight fade-away 15-20 ft jumper last night over someone that looked so clean. If he could polish a high post game like that he would could be a great offensive threat. he's only 22 after all.

He is good defender with the right matchup. He tends to not be so effective against physical players and some point guard matchups. His offensive game has a lot of holes and teams consistently hide their worst defender on him, with effect.

 

[maxiep]

Initially thought it was a push off, but in the replay it doesn't appear to be, still hard to see though. This leads me to believe it was Batum flopping again. Honestly I wish he'd quit doing it. I hate flopping.

It's not a flop, it's a genetic condition called "French Surrender Reflex". Anytime anyone comes at you, you raise your arms in surrender and fall backward.

 

[hasoos]

It's not a flop, it's a genetic condition called "French Surrender Reflex". Anytime anyone comes at you, you raise your arms in surrender and fall backward.

Well at least he didn't end up with a Napoleonic complex! I don't know what we would have done with a 4' tall french small forward!

 

[Minstrel]

ESPN makes no pretense of selecting their programming (which includes cutting together highlight films for SportsCenter) to appeal to the greatest number of people possible. They're not looking for "objective reporting," they want the largest audience and will program for that. That's why they show so many Yankees and Red Sox games...because they believe those teams generate the best ratings. In a Portland-Miami game, more people want to see James and Wade highlights rather than Aldridge or Miller highlights. So that's what ESPN is going to show. I read one of their ombudsmen make this point (confusingly in an attempt to argue against ESPN being biased).

So you just have to accept that that's ESPN's mission statement. They're a company and they're aiming for greatest audience and therefore greatest profitability. Not most objective sports reporting.

 

[maxiep]

ESPN makes no pretense of selecting their programming (which includes cutting together highlight films for SportsCenter) to appeal to the greatest number of people possible. They're not looking for "objective reporting," they want the largest audience and will program for that. That's why they show so many Yankees and Red Sox games...because they believe those teams generate the best ratings. In a Portland-Miami game, more people want to see James and Wade highlights rather than Aldridge or Miller highlights. So that's what ESPN is going to show. I read one of their ombudsmen make this point (confusingly in an attempt to argue against ESPN being biased).

So you just have to accept that that's ESPN's mission statement. They're a company and they're aiming for greatest audience and therefore greatest profitability. Not most objective sports reporting.

It's always nice to see a self-avowed socialist recognize the realities of the free market.

Welcome to the dark side, Minstrel.

 

[jlprk]

Batum seems to flop when actually, he guards people so closely that he loses his balance. James made a sudden stop to throw off Batum, Batum tried to duplicate the sudden stop and stay in front of James, and Batum lost his balance. James didn't push him off in anger--he softly pushed him away to create space to shoot.

I see something similar was said earlier.

He shadows, getting so close to a player without actually touching them. It's extremely tough to do, keep your balance, and stay with the player your guarding at the same time.

 

[B-Roy]

He is good defender with the right matchup. He tends to not be so effective against physical players and some point guard matchups. His offensive game has a lot of holes and teams consistently hide their worst defender on him, with effect.

I'd say he's a versatile defender in who he can guard, but an average one in terms of actual defending.

 

[Minstrel]

It's always nice to see a self-avowed socialist recognize the realities of the free market.

Welcome to the dark side, Minstrel.

I've never had a problem with businesses trying to maximize profits. I simply think that government's role is to define the boundaries that companies can go to in that pursuit. I believe in both capitalism and socialism, and every democratic nation is a mixture of both. The debate always has been, and always should be, how much of each should be in the mix.

And I don't think Batum flopped. I think when you play defense that tight on a guy, you run the risk of occasionally overcommitting and looking silly. It's an occupational hazard of good defense. Ewing was a great defender and endured endless mocking for his famous "posterization" moments...because he actually challenged dunks whereas many lesser defenders conceded them.

 

[Eastoff]

It's not a flop, it's a genetic condition called "French Surrender Reflex". Anytime anyone comes at you, you raise your arms in surrender and fall backward.

Excuse me?! I believe your narrowed minded thought process is all wrong sir. You are forgetting a very important French reflex, which is to then spread their legs.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Initially thought it was a push off, but in the replay it doesn't appear to be, still hard to see though. This leads me to believe it was Batum flopping again. Honestly I wish he'd quit doing it. I hate flopping.

I think Batum was anticipating LeBron driving to the hoop and had all his momentum that way. When LeBron stopped, Batum couldn't. I don't view that as a flop.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

I think Batum was anticipating LeBron driving to the hoop and had all his momentum that way. When LeBron stopped, Batum couldn't. I don't view that as a flop.

It's hard to tell, but with Batum's latest "highlights", flop is what came to mind for me. Not that it's a big deal, I just hope he keeps the flopping to a minimum.

 

[KevinJBonn]

I like the Huffington Post for a light sampling of what's going on nationally, but their sports section is all about little highlights picked off of YouTube for entertainment value. Whoever wrote that article probably never even saw the full highlights of that game. Clips like these are fun when they have another team's players, but they're really stupid.