120 Guarantees: the Nic Batum thread

[JDR720]

The biggest things for him is not commit so many dumb turnovers and play defense.

wasnt he a good defender in portland?

[bravor]

Yes he was. Basically when he started he was the counterpart in defense for Roy (along with Blake at pg), knowing the main forward at that time was Outlaw.
Nic was checking the best player and he was doing a good job, even though the most physical players (like Anthony with Denver at that time and LBJ and couple more like Pierce etc) often torched him (but he often realized his best scoring games against those).

He had his best defensive games against many pg's because he was using his wingspan and foot speed to deny them the pnr or make it very difficult.

He alos had bad habit when he was in iso defending a pg in crunch time (couple games against irving), he was focused on not fouling and too far from contesting the 3, and the Blazers lost couple games because of this (even though it was obviously the good tactic for me against a very reliable ft shooter and in a league where a star gets to the line when someone from 5 ft is blowing in his direction).

He was a good complement of Matthews because Matthews was always torched against speedy pg's (westbrook comes to mind here, also Harden etc) but he was useful to switch from Batum against LBJ/Anthony etc because he was much more physical.

Hard to know how to improve Batum's defense except at the detriment of his point forward duties. I don't see him able to be an above average two ways player while playing 35/40 mn a game.

Btw, he has to fix his efficiency late in the game too. This is also where he lost the track of his career. He used to be clutch (in a good way) while this season he was just unplayable at times. No idea if it's because of the size of his contract and the pressure he had to carry, but at least this summer he has taken the good decision.
We will see if he really improved his game quite fast, even though for the turnovers i don't expect miracles (since he was a kid with Le Mans he has those mind blowing to's..).

[JDR720]

He doesn't seem to have much athletic ability anymore, maybe that hurts his defense.

Ideally we demote him to #3 or #4 scorer and let him be the playmaker-defender guy.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Straight knees ... my guess would be conditioning, soft tissue issue in the knees, or back pain.

[bravor]

For the ones interested, Nic had an interview yesterday as our french pro league (lnb) unveiled its new partnership with Amazon (as a guest of honor).


What do you think about DH joining the Hornets ?

NB : I did not expect that. They often ask me what i think (about moves), but this time it happened in the night for me. I realized what had happened when i woke up at 6 am. This is good news, very good news. Initially, we were looking for a backup at center. Instead we got a starting center, and no matter what they say about Dwight, he is still worth 15 pts, 13 rbs and 2 blocks a game. You won't find a lot of players that are able to deliver these stats in the NBA. He is gonna bring us a lot.

What will it change for you ?

NB : As a player, to play with a guy like him is absolute gold. I am gonna enjoy. I pretty much know how i will play with him. We have a coach who coached him in Orlando. I am not saying i am Turkoglu, but i have watched videos of his games when he was plying with Turkoglu. That is what i have been doing last two weeks. I am gonna try to reproduce the chemistry he had with him. I am not saying i am gonna play like turkoglu. He is way above me.

This is what the Hornets were missing to come back in Play offs ?

NB : No, because we started to sink once Cody got injured so we basically played without center. Currently, Cody is healthy and we added Dwight which means we have a solid rotation at center.

During this offseason, we saw a lot of talented players joining Western conference teams. Is the all star game a goal now ?

NB : I have read and heard that lately, but no. I am not overthinking about this, otherwise i will not play well. I focus on myself, and i am gonna try to play as hard as possible and win some games. Doing what i have to do. Especially with this team at this stage of the rebuilt. I am gonna enjoy this team. My goal is to come back in play offs, help Dwight recover his level, help Kemba to come back to the All Star Game and for me, if things go well (and that i am selected), great. But that it is far from being my very goal.

Precisely, what do you think of this trend ? Some were already saying that the East is weaker...

NB : That is rather crazy indeed. It could be a coincidence though. I don't think all players want to play in the West but when you see Millsap or PG go there, that is significant. But teams like Cleveland, Boston or Washington will remain strong. Toronto also resigned Lowry, there are teams like us that could move up, the Bucks are competitive again, so there are still some strong teams in the East.

Some words about Frank Ntilikina who just joined the NBA ?

NB : Another one (laugh) !This shows how good our developpement is in France. There is almost one french that signs in the NBA every year or that gets drafted, and that proves that players developpement is working nicely here. And that is not just for the NBA, we saw a lot of our players signing in the biggest teams in Europe. Now we have players at every level. To come back to Frank, this is a good thing for him., and that is a good thing for bball. For Vincent Collet - french national team coach - too because i have a strong bound with him since he is the one who sent me to the NBA, and i am really happy for him (Ntilikina's team is coached by Collet). That's good, but now the real deal begins, especially when you join the hardest place to play in the nba. But the challenge is exciting and i know he will succeed.

Credits to basket usa for the itw (link above).

[BatumtheGlue]

Nic is a humble person, maybe too humble. Turkoglo is not far above him, he is just a better 3p shooter.

[Braggins]

Has Nic ever played with someone as big and good at finishing inside as Howard? Their fit seems like something to get excited about.

[HornetJail]

He played with LMA for years, by far the best finisher he's ever played with.

I'm excited to see that Batum/Howard connection.

[bravor]

LMA was more a pick n pop guy, his cream & butter is still his fade away J from midrange. They often had a pnr in the post with Alridge setting the screen at th edge of the key wit Batum rolling by him for the lay up but for Batum's part, he never really created anything for Alridge. He manaded to fill him for some alley oops after a curl a few times (Rudy Fernandez did a lot of this as a blazer) but most of the time it was iso plays for Alridge (and a lob for him) to play 1/1 (and most of the time it was creating space with defender and shooting a fade away).
Anyway, Alridge was playing pf. The only times he played center, he dominated. But stubborn as he is, he just does not want to do it and remain the soft pf he is.

A comparison can be done with Robin Lopez. He is less athletic than shaq (thanks Mr Obvious, i know ^ ^), but he plays in the post and he has some moves in the post. But no, he never played with such a dominant center.

[Snidely FC]

This year I'd like to see Nic try to make 3s rather than try to get fouled shooting 3s. Really feel like that would help him eclipse his 33% 3pt shooting from last year.

Happy Eclipse Day y'all

[HornetJail]

This year I'd like to see Nic try to make 3s rather than try to get fouled shooting 3s. Really feel like that would help him eclipse his 33% 3pt shooting from last year.

Happy Eclipse Day y'all

Is there a stat for how many 3PAs he drew a foul on but didn't make it and went to the line for 3 FTs? Let's say he did it 30 times last season (my estimate that I pulled out of my ass right now), that's roughly 75 points based on his current FT%. That's the equivalent of going 25-30 from 3. If those were counted as regular threes, that brings his 3P% up from 33.3 to 36.8% (on over 2 makes per game). Sure he gets burned on occasion when he doesn't draw contact, and instead just chucks up a bad shot, but he'd have to not get the call and miss it 38 times for it to bring down that 3P% below 36.8%. It makes his 3P% stat look bad, but it's effective to get free points.

[euphorbus]

Is there a stat for how many 3PAs he drew a foul on but didn't make it and went to the line for 3 FTs?

TS% captures that pretty well, although it includes any time that a player goes to the line, not just on three-point attempts. Batum's TS% last season was 52.9, good for 113th place among all guards in the NBA, minimum of 40 games played. Kemba Walker was 50th, Marco Belinelli 54th.

http://stats.nba.com/players/advanced/#!?sort=TS_PCT&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PlayerPosition=G&CF=GP*GE*40

[Mystical Apples]

This year I'd like to see Nic try to make 3s rather than try to get fouled shooting 3s. Really feel like that would help him eclipse his 33% 3pt shooting from last year.

Happy Eclipse Day y'all

Is there a stat for how many 3PAs he drew a foul on but didn't make it and went to the line for 3 FTs? Let's say he did it 30 times last season (my estimate that I pulled out of my ass right now), that's roughly 75 points based on his current FT%. That's the equivalent of going 25-30 from 3. If those were counted as regular threes, that brings his 3P% up from 33.3 to 36.8% (on over 2 makes per game). Sure he gets burned on occasion when he doesn't draw contact, and instead just chucks up a bad shot, but he'd have to not get the call and miss it 38 times for it to bring down that 3P% below 36.8%. It makes his 3P% stat look bad, but it's effective to get free points.

Excluding and1's it looks like 23 times (on 405 3PA). Kemba was 22 (602) and Marco 16 (283).

It's an interesting topic though. The "23" was just 1 outcome out of 100's of plays where the defender was chasing him 25 feet from the basket. Even if the play resulted in something other than Nic shooting, passing, or getting fouled, there was tangible gravity being created for his 4 teammates. Same goes for Kemba on those high screen pullups and Marco off screens/DHOs Nic uses.

Also like reason #19 why Malik is perfect for Clifford's offense.

[amcoolio]

No posts since August?!?

Anyway on the broadcast tonight Nic said he plans to be in uniform Wednesday vs. the Cavs

That would be 5.5 weeks since the injury

[-Ian-]

Considering the team's current play, it's likely Nic would play vs the Cavs. I just hope he doesn't get injured again if and when he returns next week.

[Snidely FC]

In the past when Batum has been less than 100% healthy he has been nigh unto unplayable.

Will be watching for green shoots of photosyhnthesis between Nic and Dwight

[HoopsMalone]

I have a bad feeling about Nic rushing back from injury.... I feel like he will either suck or get re-injured. Really hope I'm wrong. He cant be worse than Bacon though I guess

[316Hornets]

Nic should be fine. We don't need him to score, just play tough D and be a facilitator on offense.

[TheKingofSting]

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I expect the worst.

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[catch20two]

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