Nic Batum better not play like that when he gets back to Charlotte
Batum, the Charlotte Hornets’ highest-paid player, scored only five points and had four turnovers as Australia upset France 87-66 in the Olympics Saturday
RIO DE JANEIRO
If all you knew about Nic Batum was the one game he played in these Olympics so far, you would truly believe that the Charlotte Hornets just made the worst decision of their lives last month when they gave him the biggest contract in franchise history.
Batum was absolutely awful Saturday as his France team got drilled by Australia 87-66 in the first game of round-robin play. How awful? He started and played 22 minutes, but he
didn’t take a shot or score until the third quarter.
Batum ended up with five points. Worse than that, his turnovers (four) matched his assists and rebounds combined (two apiece). And, like the rest of the French team, he kept getting beaten on clever backdoor plays by an Australian team that looked like it was running the Princeton offense.
“We were not ready to play,” Batum said. “We played bad. They played great. That’s it.”
You have to take the long view with Batum, and I still believe the
Hornets did what they had to do when they gave him a five-year, $120-million contract in July to stick around. He helped Kemba Walker to his best season in 2015-16, taking a lot of the playmaking pressure off the point guard.
