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new interview
He thought he would discover the NBA in Portland’s starting five, moreover against the Lakers. Last night, Nicolas Batum finally had to content himself with less than 4 minutes of playing time. A disappointment for the French wing, who confided Wednesday in the mike of RTL-L’Equipe, in the program Carrément Basket.
Nicolas Batum, you played your first match in the NBA last night against Los Angeles. How did you experience this moment?
A little (hesitating)… bizarrely. A little bizarrely because the coach had told me that I was going to be in the starting five. And then the morning after practice, he changed everything! He changed the plan of attack, all the strategies, and he took me out of the starting lineup.
How did he explain all these changes to you?
He told me: “Given all the tactical changes that we’re going to make, I think that Travis who has been with the club for longer will absorb them quicker.” But on the other hand me I was supposed to be in the second unit, off the bench, for my defense against Radmanovic or especially against Lamar Odom… in the end I only had a few minutes at the end of the game.
You can imagine your disappointment at the end of the meeting.
Yes it’s true that I took it badly at first. But it’s just like that. I talked about it with Didier Mbenga (a Laker player) and he told me: “That’s the NBA, that’s how it is here.”
Did you feel like you were set aside?
I don’t know. I have to meet with the coach today or tomorrow. I hope that this choice was specifically for the game against the Lakers. I don’t think that I’m being put aside because he talked to me about it again this week. He told me that he had confidence in me, that I was capable of playing. So I think that it’s more for this game that I was set aside.
Does the fact that you only played 3 minutes in the meeting ruin your first NBA game?
A bit all the same…because if the coach had told me, two months ago, that I will be on the bench, I wouldn’t have said anything. But given everything that’s happened and everything that I’d been promised, of course I’m disappointed. I didn’t really understand, but oh well, I’ll deal with it… Now I know where I stand, I see the start of how it works here. I won’t be surprised anymore. That’s the only positive of this whole thing!
How did this young Portland team cope with the first game against last year’s finalists?
There’s a lot of talk about us as one of the possible surprises of the season in the West, but we’re still very young. And I think that we played this game like a pre-season game. I don’t think that we didn’t prepare like we should’ve, like for the first game of the regular season. I think that we got a good cold shower, that will wake us up. Friday, the San Antonio Spurs come. The fact that we play another ace team of the League will do us good, it will launch our season. We s tart with five complicated games (L.A. Lakers, San Antonio, Phoenix, Utah and Houston). It’s good for us. We’re going to evaluate ourselves against the strong teams of the conference.
Your center Greg Oden got hurt again (right foot), do you already have news from him?
Not really. All that we know is that he left with a big splint. It’s true that Joe (Joel Prizbilla [sic], in place of Oden) had a good game on the court last night (11 rebounds). But it’s true that he doesn’t provide the same contribution offensively like Greg. And it’s true that when LaMarcus (Aldridge) had a game like last night’s (8 points, 4/12 shooting) it becomes complicated for us. We’re hoping that Greg is going to come back quickly with us.
He thought he would discover the NBA in Portland’s starting five, moreover against the Lakers. Last night, Nicolas Batum finally had to content himself with less than 4 minutes of playing time. A disappointment for the French wing, who confided Wednesday in the mike of RTL-L’Equipe, in the program Carrément Basket.
Nicolas Batum, you played your first match in the NBA last night against Los Angeles. How did you experience this moment?
A little (hesitating)… bizarrely. A little bizarrely because the coach had told me that I was going to be in the starting five. And then the morning after practice, he changed everything! He changed the plan of attack, all the strategies, and he took me out of the starting lineup.
How did he explain all these changes to you?
He told me: “Given all the tactical changes that we’re going to make, I think that Travis who has been with the club for longer will absorb them quicker.” But on the other hand me I was supposed to be in the second unit, off the bench, for my defense against Radmanovic or especially against Lamar Odom… in the end I only had a few minutes at the end of the game.
You can imagine your disappointment at the end of the meeting.
Yes it’s true that I took it badly at first. But it’s just like that. I talked about it with Didier Mbenga (a Laker player) and he told me: “That’s the NBA, that’s how it is here.”
Did you feel like you were set aside?
I don’t know. I have to meet with the coach today or tomorrow. I hope that this choice was specifically for the game against the Lakers. I don’t think that I’m being put aside because he talked to me about it again this week. He told me that he had confidence in me, that I was capable of playing. So I think that it’s more for this game that I was set aside.
Does the fact that you only played 3 minutes in the meeting ruin your first NBA game?
A bit all the same…because if the coach had told me, two months ago, that I will be on the bench, I wouldn’t have said anything. But given everything that’s happened and everything that I’d been promised, of course I’m disappointed. I didn’t really understand, but oh well, I’ll deal with it… Now I know where I stand, I see the start of how it works here. I won’t be surprised anymore. That’s the only positive of this whole thing!
How did this young Portland team cope with the first game against last year’s finalists?
There’s a lot of talk about us as one of the possible surprises of the season in the West, but we’re still very young. And I think that we played this game like a pre-season game. I don’t think that we didn’t prepare like we should’ve, like for the first game of the regular season. I think that we got a good cold shower, that will wake us up. Friday, the San Antonio Spurs come. The fact that we play another ace team of the League will do us good, it will launch our season. We s tart with five complicated games (L.A. Lakers, San Antonio, Phoenix, Utah and Houston). It’s good for us. We’re going to evaluate ourselves against the strong teams of the conference.
Your center Greg Oden got hurt again (right foot), do you already have news from him?
Not really. All that we know is that he left with a big splint. It’s true that Joe (Joel Prizbilla [sic], in place of Oden) had a good game on the court last night (11 rebounds). But it’s true that he doesn’t provide the same contribution offensively like Greg. And it’s true that when LaMarcus (Aldridge) had a game like last night’s (8 points, 4/12 shooting) it becomes complicated for us. We’re hoping that Greg is going to come back quickly with us.
