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Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers

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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#41 » by nickhx2 » Tue Dec 8, 2020 8:30 pm

pb running his mouth is one of the most infuriating things about this team. costing the team points in critical possessions is the epitome of selfishness and stupidity.

my hope is that lue will reign him in. mostly because it seems doc was the kind of guy to let his players do or say whatever they want without holding them accountable. so basically anything is better than doc, in more ways than one.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#42 » by TheNewEra » Tue Dec 8, 2020 9:55 pm

Need practice footage
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#43 » by clipperlover » Tue Dec 8, 2020 11:06 pm

esqtvd wrote:
Yup, that's the official narrative all right. Otherwise they'd have had to fire the whole team, fire the front office, and fire Ballmer too.


Ballmer's single biggest failure as owner to date was giving Doc a long term extension and more control before he had even coached a game under Ballmer's ownership. Ballmer should have put the entire organization on notice that there was a new sheriff in town. They would have been playing and coaching for their future.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#44 » by NickP » Tue Dec 8, 2020 11:12 pm

clipperlover wrote:
esqtvd wrote:
Yup, that's the official narrative all right. Otherwise they'd have had to fire the whole team, fire the front office, and fire Ballmer too.


Ballmer's single biggest failure as owner to date was giving Doc a long term extension and more control before he had even coached a game under Ballmer's ownership. Ballmer should have put the entire organization on notice that there was a new sheriff in town. They would have been playing and coaching for their future.

True. Except Doc made it hard for Balmer not to give him that extension based upon the way Doc handled the DTS saga. As if any other coach wouldn't have handled it properly. Doc became untouchable after that.
Even now, Ballmer fired him because Doc refused to do what the analytics team recommended. Which was to play Zu more than Trez.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#45 » by esqtvd » Tue Dec 8, 2020 11:29 pm

NickP wrote:
clipperlover wrote:
esqtvd wrote:
Yup, that's the official narrative all right. Otherwise they'd have had to fire the whole team, fire the front office, and fire Ballmer too.


Ballmer's single biggest failure as owner to date was giving Doc a long term extension and more control before he had even coached a game under Ballmer's ownership. Ballmer should have put the entire organization on notice that there was a new sheriff in town. They would have been playing and coaching for their future.

True. Except Doc made it hard for Balmer not to give him that extension based upon the way Doc handled the DTS saga. As if any other coach wouldn't have handled it properly. Doc became untouchable after that.
Even now, Ballmer fired him because Doc refused to do what the analytics team recommended. Which was to play Zu more than Trez.



I disagree with most of this premise but it's all irrelevant now. Now that the scapegoats Doc and Trezz have been driven out of town there is ZERO excuse not to win the title. And if they don't beat the Lakers [or at least take them to 6 or 7 games in the WCF], I think Ballmer will blow the whole thing up and we'll be starting over next summer--just like you said he should have done years ago.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#46 » by MartinToVaught » Tue Dec 8, 2020 11:42 pm

LOL at Doc being a "scapegoat." Not a single other team in the NBA would have had anywhere near as much patience with Doc as the Clippers did with the results he delivered. No other team would tolerate the OKC meltdown, the Houston meltdown, the GM Doc experience AND the Austin nepotism situation and still give him a chance with the next core despite already failing to ever get past the second round with Lob City. His firing was long overdue, not a scapegoat situation.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#47 » by nickhx2 » Wed Dec 9, 2020 12:20 am

was actual insanity when ballmer gave him that initial extension after his absolute failure up to that point.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#48 » by esqtvd » Wed Dec 9, 2020 8:17 am

nickhx2 wrote:was actual insanity when ballmer gave him that initial extension after his absolute failure up to that point.


I'm thinking you weren't actually following the Clippers at that point. Ballmer made his position transparent. He knew nothing about professional basketball and instead of coming in swinging his balls ignorantly, he took baby steps. He gave Doc full rein because as an outsider who knew no more than we do, he had no personal knowledge, no reason to trust anyone else more. He hired Doc's recommendations then ended up demoting Doc.


The short version is: it was Doc who hired his OWN replacements--Lawrence Frank is now the GM and now Ty Lue is the coach. Doc accepted his demotion gracefully and has left Steve Ballmer with nothing but 50-win seasons and a functional organization.

I also agreed Doc needed to be fired after last year's playoff disgrace regardless of reasons---but Doc walks away from here clean.

_____________________

Frankly, I think Ballmer has zero regrets---zero regrets up until going ALL-IN on Kawhi in the summer of 2019. The organization to that point under Doc and Lawrence was in great shape--with all its draft picks [and more!] and a likeable albeit marginal playoff team with Gallo, Shai, Trezz, Pat and Lou.

And even if Doc urged the sell-our-future move for Kawhi, he had already been demoted so that decision is on Lawrence Frank's head, Jerry West's head, and ultimately on Ballmer's head. Not Doc's.


I think if Ballmer could rewind to Summer 2019 and undo the Kawhi deal[s] he would. I would. Right now I'd rather be rebuilding with a fistful of draft picks and tradable assets than trying to run this clusterfck one more time and pray it can somehow beat LeBron's Lakers.

But I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go 'round and round, Nick. Thrill me, Kawhi. Make me a liar.


I do appreciate your courtesy in this discussion Nick. I appreciate the opportunity for adult discussion as Clipper fans and the lack of personal attacks. :beer:
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#49 » by TucsonClip » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:56 am

What?
Plus, why would I want to go to the NBA? Duke players suck in the pros.

- Shane Battier
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#50 » by TheNewEra » Fri Dec 11, 2020 1:52 am

nickhx2 wrote:pb running his mouth is one of the most infuriating things about this team. costing the team points in critical possessions is the epitome of selfishness and stupidity.

my hope is that lue will reign him in. mostly because it seems doc was the kind of guy to let his players do or say whatever they want without holding them accountable. so basically anything is better than doc, in more ways than one.


I think Pat will have a more humbled season
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#51 » by cavs4872 » Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:25 pm

KL2 wrote:If Batum can play/provide a similar role as Diaw did for the Spurs that would be phenomenal.

This is the exact comparison I thought of when watching Tuesday's game.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#52 » by MartinRiggs » Sat Dec 26, 2020 2:42 pm

He will fit just fine it seems. :)
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#53 » by Clemenza » Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:02 pm

Wow, who would've thought

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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#54 » by TheNewEra » Sat Dec 26, 2020 5:37 pm

Clemenza wrote:Wow, who would've thought

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Great start
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#55 » by cavs4872 » Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:17 pm

He is such a joy to watch play.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#56 » by TheNewEra » Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:09 pm

Great addition so far and even though I don’t think we should have him guarding smaller guards he’s crafty against bigger players
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#57 » by TrueLAfan » Thu Dec 31, 2020 7:50 pm

I agree about the smaller guards--but it shows the type of player Batum is and how/why he is (so) valuable. Batum could stay with the majority of SGs ... in 2016. Now, not so much. But because he's a smart ballplayer, look what he's been able to to do--shift his skills to become a SF/PF. He's got the size; you forget that he's a legit 6'8", and has a 7'1" wingspan. In other words, he's not a small ball PF; he's a decent sized PF--and rebounds/defends like one too. He'll be able to stay there as he moves into his 30s. Honestly, I see him providing similar value and versatility to Marcus. At one tenth of the price.

Some of the other things I alluded to in an earlier post are relevant--last year, Batum had a freak injury to his shooting hand that is (obviously) healed pretty well, given how well he's shooting now. But here's what somehow got missed--in the nine years before that, Batum played in over 90% of his team's games. Nine years ... big sample size. In other words, the injury last year was unusual. Nicolas Batum is a workhorse. We are talking about a guy that we can reasonably expect to give us 2000 to 2250 high quality minutes because that's what he's always done. (He actually averaged a hair under 2500 minutes per 82 games from 2011 to 2019.)
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#58 » by esqtvd » Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:50 pm

TrueLAfan wrote:I agree about the smaller guards--but it shows the type of player Batum is and how/why he is (so) valuable. Batum could stay with the majority of SGs ... in 2016. Now, not so much. But because he's a smart ballplayer, look what he's been able to to do--shift his skills to become a SF/PF. He's got the size; you forget that he's a legit 6'8", and has a 7'1" wingspan. In other words, he's not a small ball PF; he's a decent sized PF--and rebounds/defends like one too. He'll be able to stay there as he moves into his 30s. Honestly, I see him providing similar value and versatility to Marcus. At one tenth of the price.

Some of the other things I alluded to in an earlier post are relevant--last year, Batum had a freak injury to his shooting hand that is (obviously) healed pretty well, given how well he's shooting now. But here's what somehow got missed--in the nine years before that, Batum played in over 90% of his team's games. Nine years ... big sample size. In other words, the injury last year was unusual. Nicolas Batum is a workhorse. We are talking about a guy that we can reasonably expect to give us 2000 to 2250 high quality minutes because that's what he's always done. (He actually averaged a hair under 2500 minutes per 82 games from 2011 to 2019.)



Batum will get JaMychal Green's 20 minutes a night. Huge upgrade IMO--I always thought J-Myke's numbers looked a lot bigger than his actual contribution to the team.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#59 » by LamarWho » Fri Jan 1, 2021 6:25 pm

Batum to me is our Iggy (a semi-washed Iggy). He can pretty much provide what J-Myke gave us, but with better play making. He can also bring the ball up and run some point forward, which J-Myke can't do.
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Re: Nic Batum To Sign w/ Clippers After Clearing Waivers 

Post#60 » by TheNewEra » Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:58 pm

What a steal of a signing so far

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