Nicolas Batum Discussion Thread

LOVE IT!! I thought Morey might be targeting him. I wanted either Batum or Greene. Hopefully Morey can buy a pick here and pick up another solid player. GREAT PICK!

 

Great, his weaknesses are lack of aggression and heart. GOOD THING WE DONT ALREADY HAVE THAT IN OUR SWINGMAN!

 

So much for "It's Time"....

 

and add "I had a great feeling about this guy even though I never heard of him before..."

 

thats what the questions were with gay as well.

 

Exactly! Typical Rocket's draft though, I have watched this for decades. When it comes to drafts, the Rockets just go brain dead. Owners, managers, assistants to the assistants come and go, but this rarely changes. Lot's of projects that never quite materialize.

 

from draft express blog:
The Rockets totally busted up the Spurs’ plan to hide Nicolas Batum’s physical and get him to fall there. Batum might not be happy to get picked here, but will report to Houston like a good soldier. “We missed by one pick” his camp told us immediately after the Rockets took him. You could see Batum fidgeting in his chair in the five minute span between picks.

 

I like Nicolas Batum, athletic, lengthy, and has some huge upside.

Side note: Darrell Arthur just got picked, good for him.

 

we need help now but we were never going to get it from the 25th pick.

I trust Morey's judgement.

 

Please elaborate.

 

So we picked a Rudy Gay clone that won't be ready for 3-4 years, but didn't keep Rudy Gay because we needed to win now?

 

Batum was projected as a lottery pick a year or two ago. His stock took a plummet because of that health scare which turned out to be nothing.

 

I thought CDR or Greene would really filled in some holes, I can't really say about someone coming over from another country, because it is going take them a good two seasons to become solid contributor.

They could've let SA have him as planned

 

That's all it said.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Blogging--live--through-the-NBA-Draft--2952/

 

Exactly. The Rockets franchise continues to slap the fans in the face on draft night.

 

I'm very excited about this pick!

Hopefully he's playing this season and be the main backup for Tmac and Battier.

 

Has anyone seen this guy play? I've never even heard of him. Can he handle the ball better than CDR?

 

25 Houston Nicolas Batum 6-8 210 SF France
Here's something interesting. John Hollinger, our resident stats guru, expects Nicolas Batum to be a draft bust, according to his Euroleague translations. The Rockets, led by GM Darryl Morey, are considered the most stats-savvy team in the league. Something doesn't add up. I wonder if there's a trade here. Batum has some physical talent and some skill, but he's yet to put it together in any meaningful way.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/round?draftyear=2008

 

I honestly would have preferred Greene. Maybe we ccan move up in the second round?

 

I honestly wish we took Arthur with the way he fell right in our lap. If not him, I think CDR would be a great fit and ready to go right away.

Batum....I dunno. That the Spurs had a deal set with him is a substantial vouch, but I am unenthusiastic , especially with the "soft" label on him. That's plaguing our team already - do we really need another contact-shy guy?

At least we didn't join half the league grabbing scrub bigs that won't last 3 years.

Evan