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damelo2
Guest
Oh, no! Once again, a French guy going early in the NBA after one good season here with a chance to make it as a starter...
Well, we will have to create a special formation for EL now...
It's not a real surprise, but still, I don't expect him getting too much time on the court. With Webster and Fernandez sidelined, maybe, but what when they will come back?
Well, we will have to create a special formation for EL now...
It's not a real surprise, but still, I don't expect him getting too much time on the court. With Webster and Fernandez sidelined, maybe, but what when they will come back?
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raph2
Guest
He won't compete with rudy for a spot (who should be most likely the 6th man for Portland), mainly with outlaw & webster. Webster is sidelined for about 8 weeks which means batum might have some decent minutes till december +/-. Then we will see (a lot will depend on how he behaves in the official games)
What's interesting though is that he seems to have regained some confidence in his shoot and in his driving skill (prolly the result of his physical & mental work already). If he manages to stick with his all around play and to keep good performances he might definitely stay in the roster & have decent playtime this season.
On a side note, he could do very well in association with sergio.
What's interesting though is that he seems to have regained some confidence in his shoot and in his driving skill (prolly the result of his physical & mental work already). If he manages to stick with his all around play and to keep good performances he might definitely stay in the roster & have decent playtime this season.
On a side note, he could do very well in association with sergio.
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damelo2
Guest
raph said:
Sergio, Rudy and Batum on the same 5 could be quite refreshing for the international game in the NBA. That would be interesting, because it would be athletically enough to compete with most of the American guys.
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raph2
Guest
Btw he's also rumored to draw girl's interest. Quite funny to read a few forums/blogs related to the Blazers in regards to that point.
ps : Thanks for the link jgx btw, i was used to mostly read oregonlive news (we got a Portland fan on our forum who is posting regulary to keep us informed about how he's doing in the team) when i wanted info about how Batum was improving over there, now i got another source
ps : Thanks for the link jgx btw, i was used to mostly read oregonlive news (we got a Portland fan on our forum who is posting regulary to keep us informed about how he's doing in the team) when i wanted info about how Batum was improving over there, now i got another source
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JGX2
Guest
Batum will begin the season in the starting lineup, although I suspect that Rudy and Outlaw will play more minutes.
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Charbel Sakr2
Guest
JGX said:
Batum starting really? i dont think so but we'll see tonight
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damelo2
Guest
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raph2
Guest
Mc Millan wants to keep rudy & sergio + outlaw together in the "second unit". So with webster's injury that does not leave a lot of choices.
His role will be limited anyway as he's supposed to stick with defense on the wing, blocking shots, grabing a few rebound & basically give the ball to roy, oden & co. Cept if he has an open shot to take. He could do a decent job as people won't look so much at him (which is still a major weakness as we saw in the last preparation games) though his playtime will be short (& even shorter if he's not agressive)
His role will be limited anyway as he's supposed to stick with defense on the wing, blocking shots, grabing a few rebound & basically give the ball to roy, oden & co. Cept if he has an open shot to take. He could do a decent job as people won't look so much at him (which is still a major weakness as we saw in the last preparation games) though his playtime will be short (& even shorter if he's not agressive)
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JGX2
Guest
McMillan changed his mind and decided to start Outlaw:
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2008/10/breaking_news_mcmillan_changes.html
Batum hasn't appeared at all so far...condsidering how poor the Blazers look that might be a good thing.
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2008/10/breaking_news_mcmillan_changes.html
Batum hasn't appeared at all so far...condsidering how poor the Blazers look that might be a good thing.
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damelo2
Guest
Finally 3 minutes, 1-1 shooting, and 3 rebounds.
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krikit2
Guest
12pts 1reb 1ast 1stl 2blks against Spurs in 21 minutes. Very solid game, good defense and passing.
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raph2
Guest
I hope mc millan will keep him on the bench for now, he proved he could bring good things and the "starting 5" makes me fear he could vanish from pressure once again.
As long as he's not on people's attention he can really perform well.
Glad he blocked parker muahaha (bonus was the one on duncan even if it came 1st).
We shall see if he can still "steal" some minutes to the other backcourt rookies (mostly bayless though as rudy deserves quite some minutes), we 're couple weeks away from webster's come back, the point is to secure a spot in the rotation at the wing for the whole season (and hopefully the PO as well).
On the side note, it seems that blazers's fans wants to call him "crazy88". As long as it does not turn into "lazy88" we're ok ^^
As long as he's not on people's attention he can really perform well.
Glad he blocked parker muahaha (bonus was the one on duncan even if it came 1st).
We shall see if he can still "steal" some minutes to the other backcourt rookies (mostly bayless though as rudy deserves quite some minutes), we 're couple weeks away from webster's come back, the point is to secure a spot in the rotation at the wing for the whole season (and hopefully the PO as well).
On the side note, it seems that blazers's fans wants to call him "crazy88". As long as it does not turn into "lazy88" we're ok ^^
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Khalid802
Moderator
krikit said:
I agree. Very descent performance by the young French man. I hope he keeps playing like this early on in the season so that he can be part of the regular rotation on the team. (Portland has some great young prospects and will be one of the most exciting teams to watch for the next few years to come).
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rikhardur2
Guest
French NBA players 2008-09
Mickaël Piétrus playing his second game of the season and again scoring 20 points as the Magic beat the Kings.
Mickaël Piétrus playing his second game of the season and again scoring 20 points as the Magic beat the Kings.
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damelo2
Guest
Nico Batum, after announcing he will play with NT next summer, is still starting for the Blazers, despite going still with small time in game. Hopefully, he will go on starting and progress.
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mvblair2
Guest
I saw him play last night. Batum looked a little "lost" on offense, although he is very athletic. He was fantastic defensively. On one play, Dwayne Wade stole the ball from someone and looked like he was going to get a clean lay-up. Batum came running from behind like a deer and blocked the shot. Very cool.damelo said:
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damelo2
Guest
mvblair said:
It made the top 10 as number 3. On, offense, I think he will get back. He is still very young, and last year had the whole scheme designed for him. He will need more time to adapt I think than Rudy, but, already, he started in the Blazers team, which means a lot. In offense, he will need to learn to play as a pure outside player(in France, he used to post up regularly), and to play better without the ball.
Mike Pietrus is doing a nice season at his original spot, the 2, and surrounded by better offensive players. If he goes on like that he will end up with the best offensive stats in his career, while being in Orlando for his defense mainly.
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raph2
Guest
That has been said several times, he's not an option in offense (it has an impact on his assists as well since he cannot create and stick to his D role). Mc millan considers he has enough with oden (now back) and above all roy & LA who are supposed to lead Portland's offense (with outlaw & rudy running from the "second unit")
Nic has "just" to take the open shots he gets (from fast break where he keeps shining and from mid range with less success (at least for last two games)). His steal was also amazing considering miami was almost dealing a 3-1 fastbreak when he ran back in D to steal the ball.
Most concerning thing about his game is rebound though. He's often "shaked" while in good position to grab some boards & obviously the physical reinforcement he had during pre season is not enough by far for now.
anyway, last game was encouraging since he made a good job (best of his team in that area) defending wade. He was not so good in the game before, but he still has to improve his overall contribution. Since he's in the starting 5 Portland keeps winning by the way. it sucks for his stats as he would prolly make better stats in the second unit (or off the bench) since he would play against other team's bench most likely but that's a good way to improve for him for his rookie year.
Nic has "just" to take the open shots he gets (from fast break where he keeps shining and from mid range with less success (at least for last two games)). His steal was also amazing considering miami was almost dealing a 3-1 fastbreak when he ran back in D to steal the ball.
Most concerning thing about his game is rebound though. He's often "shaked" while in good position to grab some boards & obviously the physical reinforcement he had during pre season is not enough by far for now.
anyway, last game was encouraging since he made a good job (best of his team in that area) defending wade. He was not so good in the game before, but he still has to improve his overall contribution. Since he's in the starting 5 Portland keeps winning by the way. it sucks for his stats as he would prolly make better stats in the second unit (or off the bench) since he would play against other team's bench most likely but that's a good way to improve for him for his rookie year.
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damelo2
Guest
raph said:
He is listed at 90kgs, and in the NBA, for a 2m03 guy as he is listed too, this is very soft. So, he should take some weight. Offense will come I think.