tlongII
05-13-2014, 10:16 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2014/05/even_in_his_finest_hour_trail_blazers_forward_nico .html#incart_big-photo
http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/pgmain/img/oregonian/photo/2014/05/-c623efbf2da2f177.jpg
As we are wont to do, us silly Americans, we are always wanting more.
A sack of french fries will not do: super size them into a box. A soda can will not do: give us a 64-ounce Big Gulp.
We want more channels, more choices. And we want it now.
Here in Portland, that attitude hasn’t escaped the average Trail Blazers fan when it comes to Nicolas Batum. A wonderful player, who is a joy to watch, Batum seems to always leave you wanting more, or expecting bigger things.
Until Monday.
With the Blazers’ season on the line in Game 4 against San Antonio, the only thing Batum left us wondering is whether he could have done any more to help save the season.
In a performance that captured the breadth and beauty of his talents, Batum had 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, all while slowing Spurs point guard Tony Parker for the first time this series.
“Like we have said all along, I could be the key, the X-factor on this team,’’ Batum said. “And I feel tonight, I had an effect on the game both ways.’’
He had just left the postgame podium, and I managed to divert him from his exit into the Portland night. We talked in a small hallway adjacent to the Spurs locker room, and two questions into our interview, Parker emerged.
They slapped hands, leaned into each other, then began a back-and-forth in French. At the end they nodded to each other and laughed.
“I won’t translate,’’ Batum said immediately and with a smile. “Trust me, I can’t translate that.’’
Their exchange looked like Parker telling Batum nice job, but it’s not happening again, kid. And it looked like Batum saying, we’ll see.
It took four games for it to evolve, and for Blazers coach Terry Stotts to commit to it, but Batum guarding Parker has become the most intriguing and pivotal matchup of the series.
“I respect him a lot, he’s my big brother,’’ Batum said. “But I have to challenge him.’’
Parker, who averaged 26 points and 8.3 assists in the first three games of the series, was held to 14 points and one assist Monday, when Stotts made the decision to start the game with Batum on him.
“I think tonight, putting me on Tony made me more aggressive,’’ Batum said.
That has always been the knock on Batum, that he isn’t aggressive enough, that he doesn’t bring it every night. He has heard all of it, and by now, he shrugs his shoulders and says ‘whatever.’
“Yes. I know people say I can do better, be better. I know that. But, I’m over it,’’ Batum said.
He is not programmed like us silly Americans, where more is never enough. Growing up in France, he was taught the team game, and how to be a well-rounded player.
Those roots run deep with Batum. He is immensely prideful of his country, and his standing among French athletes matters to him.
And nothing will raise his profile more than going head-to-head with Parker, and winning.
“He is one of the best players in the game, and he is the best player in France,’’ Batum said. “If I want to be up there, I have to challenge the guy.’’
He has been guarding Parker for stretches of games for four years now, and Monday was the longest, and most important assignment. The theory is Batum’s length — he is 6-foot-8 — bothers Parker (6-2), but really, Batum says his biggest asset against Parker is his mind.
“I know him,’’ Batum said. “I’m not saying I can stop him, but I know Tony, I have played with him a lot, I have watched him for so long.’’
The only thing keeping Batum from being an elite defender is his consistency. He can drift during games, sometimes within a possession. But on Monday, Stotts said he liked how Batum never let up.
“I thought he was persistent,’’ Stotts said.
Because of it, Batum says he avoided a long summer in France, where he will spend time with Parker and Spurs forward Boris Diaw.
“I didn’t want to get swept by Tony and Boris, because they would be in my ears all year long,’’ Batum said. “Now, no trash talking for both of them.’’
Instead, Batum has started his own talk, his own anthem. After the Blazers were soundly beaten in Game 3, putting them in an 0-3 hole that no team has ever recovered from, he dressed alone at his locker, then looked up.
“Why not make history?’’ he asked. “Why not? Why not us?”
On Monday, he remembered the exchange.
“Told you,’’ he said with a smile. “History. Why not? Why not us? It’s gotta start somewhere.’’
Even then, in his finest hour, he did it again. Nic Batum left us wanting more.
http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/pgmain/img/oregonian/photo/2014/05/-c623efbf2da2f177.jpg
As we are wont to do, us silly Americans, we are always wanting more.
A sack of french fries will not do: super size them into a box. A soda can will not do: give us a 64-ounce Big Gulp.
We want more channels, more choices. And we want it now.
Here in Portland, that attitude hasn’t escaped the average Trail Blazers fan when it comes to Nicolas Batum. A wonderful player, who is a joy to watch, Batum seems to always leave you wanting more, or expecting bigger things.
Until Monday.
With the Blazers’ season on the line in Game 4 against San Antonio, the only thing Batum left us wondering is whether he could have done any more to help save the season.
In a performance that captured the breadth and beauty of his talents, Batum had 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, all while slowing Spurs point guard Tony Parker for the first time this series.
“Like we have said all along, I could be the key, the X-factor on this team,’’ Batum said. “And I feel tonight, I had an effect on the game both ways.’’
He had just left the postgame podium, and I managed to divert him from his exit into the Portland night. We talked in a small hallway adjacent to the Spurs locker room, and two questions into our interview, Parker emerged.
They slapped hands, leaned into each other, then began a back-and-forth in French. At the end they nodded to each other and laughed.
“I won’t translate,’’ Batum said immediately and with a smile. “Trust me, I can’t translate that.’’
Their exchange looked like Parker telling Batum nice job, but it’s not happening again, kid. And it looked like Batum saying, we’ll see.
It took four games for it to evolve, and for Blazers coach Terry Stotts to commit to it, but Batum guarding Parker has become the most intriguing and pivotal matchup of the series.
“I respect him a lot, he’s my big brother,’’ Batum said. “But I have to challenge him.’’
Parker, who averaged 26 points and 8.3 assists in the first three games of the series, was held to 14 points and one assist Monday, when Stotts made the decision to start the game with Batum on him.
“I think tonight, putting me on Tony made me more aggressive,’’ Batum said.
That has always been the knock on Batum, that he isn’t aggressive enough, that he doesn’t bring it every night. He has heard all of it, and by now, he shrugs his shoulders and says ‘whatever.’
“Yes. I know people say I can do better, be better. I know that. But, I’m over it,’’ Batum said.
He is not programmed like us silly Americans, where more is never enough. Growing up in France, he was taught the team game, and how to be a well-rounded player.
Those roots run deep with Batum. He is immensely prideful of his country, and his standing among French athletes matters to him.
And nothing will raise his profile more than going head-to-head with Parker, and winning.
“He is one of the best players in the game, and he is the best player in France,’’ Batum said. “If I want to be up there, I have to challenge the guy.’’
He has been guarding Parker for stretches of games for four years now, and Monday was the longest, and most important assignment. The theory is Batum’s length — he is 6-foot-8 — bothers Parker (6-2), but really, Batum says his biggest asset against Parker is his mind.
“I know him,’’ Batum said. “I’m not saying I can stop him, but I know Tony, I have played with him a lot, I have watched him for so long.’’
The only thing keeping Batum from being an elite defender is his consistency. He can drift during games, sometimes within a possession. But on Monday, Stotts said he liked how Batum never let up.
“I thought he was persistent,’’ Stotts said.
Because of it, Batum says he avoided a long summer in France, where he will spend time with Parker and Spurs forward Boris Diaw.
“I didn’t want to get swept by Tony and Boris, because they would be in my ears all year long,’’ Batum said. “Now, no trash talking for both of them.’’
Instead, Batum has started his own talk, his own anthem. After the Blazers were soundly beaten in Game 3, putting them in an 0-3 hole that no team has ever recovered from, he dressed alone at his locker, then looked up.
“Why not make history?’’ he asked. “Why not? Why not us?”
On Monday, he remembered the exchange.
“Told you,’’ he said with a smile. “History. Why not? Why not us? It’s gotta start somewhere.’’
Even then, in his finest hour, he did it again. Nic Batum left us wanting more.