http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/1942/on-the-carmelo-watch-tonight-watch-batum Does anyone know why the Nuggets like Nicolas Batum so much? Batum is a 22-year-old small forward averaging 11.1 points and 4.5 rebounds. His numbers aren’t all that impressive. The Nuggets seem to be more enamored with Batum than even Wilson Chandler, despite Chandler having better numbers than Batum. It can't really be the age difference, because Chandler is only 1 year older than Batum. In my opinion, from what i see on the floor, Wilson Chandler appears to be the more fluid player. Does anyone know why the Nuggets have such a man crush on Nicolas Batum?
This isn't just about numbers. You have to watch Batum play. This guy will be a championship caliber SF in coming years. His game continues to grow. There are any number of NBA teams that have a "man crush" on Batum. He hasn't been shooting the ball well. I wonder if his shoulder is acting up again.
Batum has been highly sought after by a number of teams, probably because of his defensive abilities.
You answered your own question....he's only 22. He's putting up solid numbers already and has an all around game. Scoring (can shoot the three, good FT shooter, etc.), rebounding, defense, shot blocking. Passing is the only "weakness".
He is the ultimate young complimentary player, he is to Portland what Battier is to us. Unselfish and smart, he is a solid starter and most importantly has a lot of room to grow too. If you ask yourself why, please consider he came to this league without much competitive experience, he didn’t play in college, and the most experience he had was one full year playing around 28 mins a game in France, half of those games in the mediocre by Europe standards French league. He is a better shooter than his percentages say right now and I think he needs to be a little more aggressive offensively. I would say he is a sure upgrade over Battier. What seems more remarkable to me is the fact that he came into this league as an unproven Euro kid and rapidly gained trust from his demanding coach and the starting spot.
Everyone (including coaches and GM's) loves a young player with talent and size that works hard. I could see him getting a Deng type contract and/or the blazers regretting not trading him in a solid move (probably not this one) down the line. At some point a team will offer up a proven player for this kid and they'll need to make a tough decision.
I'm kind of with you on this actually. Batum is solid, but not worth all the noise, felt the same way about Deng - Chicago didn't want to give up Deng for Kobe at one point. Seriously?
As the OP already said Wilson Chandler is better than him, more durable and only a year older. Most of the posts here imply he's gonna be an improved version of Battier. THat is indeed pretty good, but still not worth the noise he's been getting. Personally I'd rather have Wilson Chandler.
No way in the world. If you'd actually seen how Batum has developed since joining the NBA, I'd be speechless if you still felt that way. I will go out on a limb and repeat the phrase "30/30 NBA GMs would take" Nicolas Batum over Wilson Chandler. It's lazy to say Batum is "an improved version of Battier" when you don't know much about him. If you must compare the two, imagine an athletic Battier that can block shots, run the floor, finish on the break and doesn't take most plays on offense off by parking and standing in at the 3-point. Can somebody pull out Batum's facial on Pau and some of his fast break finishes?
All those things you mentioned are stuff that Chandler also does. Chandler also defends extremely well, he blocks shots, he can run the floor, he can finish on the break, and he's always agressive, yet I don't see anyone going nuts over him. In fact Chandler is averaging more pts, rebs and assists per minute than he does. He's doing it at a more efficient clip too, 0.582% TS versus Batum's 0.532%. Batum's getting 29 minutes of play a game, if he was really all that it should have showed on his production one way or another.
Batum has a lot more tools to develop than Wilson Chandler. I don't give a care who's better now. He's more raw with far more upside. Those who think he will be just "an improved Shane Battier" can learn a lot just watching tonight's game, not Batum's best. It illustrates Batum's defender must actually guard him. He can take people to the rim, post up, get alley-oops, this year he's added shooting off the dribble, etc, etc. Besides the corner 3, all Shane does is a baby-hook every other game. Batum is a work in progress and the progress looks very promising. In 2-3 years, we'll see who's better when you add it up. Won't be close. If had to play for it all this season, it would be close between the two. The thing Chandler clearly has over Batum is health.
As the OP stated Chandler is only a year older than Batum. How much phenomal growth are you expecting out of Batum in a year or so? Will he go from 11 pt scorer to 28 pts a game in a couple of years? Because right now Chandler is already a 17 pt scorer. Being raw isn't doesn't automatically mean there is upside there, again I fail to see why Chandler doesn't have upside when you see tangible production now while Batum oozes with potential All those improvements and Batum's only converting at 44% from the field. Guess what, Battier also converts at that exact same FG% a game. If you include the fact that Battier can actually hit 3 pointers while Batum can't, old man Battier actually scores at a better clip, 0.567% TS versus Batum's 0.532%. I guess we'll see. Since you think so highly of him there must be something there I'm missing. I'll start following this guy's career, although I think it would be pretty funny if 2-3 years from Batum's post's Chandler's numbers this year.
