Now we lose Batum?

[illmatic99]

Quick mentioned on his chat that it's not serious.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Dear Diary: day 23 in the lifeboat. Maris continues to remind us how much he enjoys the ocean air, and how soothing he finds the calls of the seagulls. Tomorrow, we eat him.

 

[BalancedMan]

Continue to draft people, stop paying (let them walk in free agency) or trade the less-productive players.

We'll be losing LaFrentz, Randolph, Frye and Ruffin in the off-season. There's some roster slots opening up. Portland may let Blake go. They may trade Sergio. I don't think Pritchard is going to ever want to just give away draft picks...he's too good at getting value out of them.

Especially when you consider having picks as assets. You can throw them in a trade, and it's easy to unload a pick you don't want on draft day for a future pick. We're lucky to have Paul Allen willing to spend to acquire those late round picks that have gotten us Sergio, Rudy and Batum.

 

[gambitnut]

Continue to draft people, stop paying (let them walk in free agency) or trade the less-productive players.

We'll be losing LaFrentz, Randolph, Frye and Ruffin in the off-season. There's some roster slots opening up. Portland may let Blake go. They may trade Sergio. I don't think Pritchard is going to ever want to just give away draft picks...he's too good at getting value out of them.

I'd like to keep Frye, and I wouldn't mind keeping Randolph as well. I'd be perfectly happy with a simple offseason, Let Ruffin and LaFrentz go, sign either a third string C or SG (they can fight for second string if they want) with our cap space and get the other with our first round draft pick. Then hope the Clippers' pick we own is the first pick in the second round and use it on a European we can keep overseas for a year or two and trade the rest of the second round picks for future second round draft picks like we have done the past few years.

 

[STOMP]

It is my belief that the team misses Martell more then most folks think. Near the end of last season he was showing some positive growth on both ends of the floor. His absence has forced Portland to rely on Batum who can do a lot of things. Unfortunately, the offense is setup for a small forward with a nice 3-point jump shot. That is not Batum's strong suit.

Nic's jumper is not a solid one at this point. But the offense runs through Roy who isn't the strongest defender, and you'd rather him not having to stop the opponent's top wing player. Last year's early season talk of Martell's defensive potential from Blazer brass quickly faded. By the time the trade deadline approached, KP was regularly mentioning the club needing to add a wing defender. Same thing during the offseason... and then he went out and traded up for Nic. That might tell you something about what management wants from their SF. While NB's outside threat has been less then desired, he does everything else at least as well as MW did, and some things a lot better.

here's some stats comparing 2008 Martell with 2009 Batum adjusted out to 36 minutes...

~ Pts - % - 3Atmt - 3% - FTA - FT% - RBs - Asst - TOs - Stls - Blks - PER
MW 13.5 - 422 - 5.4 - 388 - 2.8 - 735 - 5.0 - 1.5 - 1.4 - 0.7 - 0.5 - 12.0
NB 10.4 - 422 - 4.5 - 336 - 1.4 - 767 - 5.6 - 1.9 - 1.4 - 1.4 - 1.1 - 12.3

For whatever reason, T-Law is pure ass when he starts, so Batum starts by default.

it would take only one solid game by Travis starting to refute this claim. He had several very good starts last year, how many would you like me to link? Maybe you were just throwing out hyperbole? It's my view that TO comes off the bench mostly because he can create his own shot, which is something the 2nd unit lacks. I formed this view having heard Nate and KP say so ad nausea... neither Martell or Batum can do this well.

Second, our little polls here indicate that most here would want Batum to continue to start over Martell if he were healthy today. Nic may have initially started by default, but that term has been out of date for a few months now in the eyes of a great percentage of the posters here. I really can't see how you are denying this fact.

I think on knock against Martell is something he can't really control. He will never, ever be as good as the guy Portland passed on to draft him. Martell will be a quality pro and a key piece to the team's future success. I have felt that way for a couple of years now.

Ah I see, everyone else is hung up on irrational nonsense that they never mention No way the opinions of those here who favor the other guys were formed in part watching MW's poor ballhandling/passing/off the dribble game, or his less then mediocre D... or that for a shooting specialist his shooting is only so-so. It's a fact that the team is shooting both a slightly higher % from 3's and making more then they were last year with him. Others have stepped up and filled the 3 point shooting void he left and then some. The PTB are one of the league's top 3 point shooting teams so it's hard for me to see how they're really missing a 3 point shooting specialist who does little else as well as the other options.

Batum appears to the the long term future at the 3, but he isn't there yet.

Statistically he appears to be putting together at least as good a season as a 20 year old rook as Martell did as a 3rd year vet at age 21, and statistics don't really reflect the half of the game that is clearly in Nic's favor.

Anyhoo, my initial point was that having MW out didn't hurt the PTB like it would if say Brandon or LA were out... that teams like the Suns (missing Amare) or the Rockets (McGrady) were bitten harder by the injury bug because they lost more important players then a rotation level guy. I didn't anticipate someone taking issue with that... but whatever

STOMP

 

[Minstrel]

I think on knock against Martell is something he can't really control. He will never, ever be as good as the guy Portland passed on to draft him.

I can't speak for anyone else, but the knock on him to me is that he's been mediocre without much improvement through his career. He can shoot the ball when open. That's the extent of his value. He can't create a shot, for himself or for others. He's nothing special as a rebounder. He's nothing special on defense.

Yes, Nash screwed up in passing on Paul. He also screwed up in taking Webster. Webster has not been a good player. He doesn't need to compared to Chris Paul to be a thoroughly disappointing player. He hasn't even been a high-quality reserve player. He's basically been a bigger, worse-shooting Steve Kerr.

Perhaps there's still some hope for a break-out from him. I hope so. If he doesn't take a significant step forward, he's going to be a waste of even his modest salary.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I think on knock against Martell is something he can't really control. He will never, ever be as good as the guy Portland passed on to draft him.

You are probably right. But it is insane for people to do so. Every move taken and every move not taken changes the dynamics of a team. Taking Paul or Willams was the right pick at the time (you never trade down at the top of the draft imo) But it would have changed our draft position the next two years. Everything would be different. You can't dwell on it.

The Jazz brought Tony Parker in twice for pre draft workouts. They loved the guy. But in the end they went with Raul Lopez (who they thought was equally as good) because they could save money by stashing him for a year in Spain. This was STUPID! But.........because Lopez was a bust, and the Jazz had a bad year, they ended up with Williams. Things change. Adapt amd move on.