Oct 13 2009
Player Preview: Nicolas Batum
My music isn’t just music, it’s medicine
Before last season, all we knew about Nicolas Batum was that his arms were long, he might be able to play defense, and he was French. Then Martell Webster got hurt and he became our starting small forward. A frightening proposition if there ever was one. When I was 19 years old, I was struggling to keep Bud Light down – Nicolas had to deal with a playoff race.
And deal he did. Not only did he do a serviceable job at small forward; he earned his spot. There was constant criticism of Travis Outlaw chattering throughout last season – some of it was due to Travis’ lackluster play – but most of it was simply due to how good Nicolas Batum was. Here’s a guy from a similar situation to Travis age-wise, coming into the league before his twentieth birthday, but he gets it as soon as he steps on the floor. Contrast that with Travis’ continuing confusion six years in. When he came in, there was pep in the Blazers’ collective step. When he left, eyes darted to the scoreboard to guess what Travis’ +/- would be. (-7 seemed like a consistent good guess.) He took on the most difficult defensive assignments, hit big shots, and, most memorably, even built a bit of swagger (ask Pau Gasol).
Last year, he healed the small forward position with his play. He learned quickly, and not only won the spot last year, he earned the spot from Martell Webster this year. When he was on the floor, he made Blazer fans excited not just for our present, but for our future. He’s the kind of role player that turns good teams with a superstar into Great Teams. The only possible thing that could hold Nicolas back is a nagging shoulder injury. He wants to start, and until Martell Webster proves otherwise, Nicolas Batum is going to start. Merci pour ça.
I like bantum, he needs a lot of work though in several areas, i’d like to seem him improve immensely in all areas in defense, even blocking. This player looks like he shows a lot of promise, greg oden is my favorite player on the team but followed closely by martel webster who has lots of potential, he could be a great shooter.