During his seven-year stint with the Portland Trail Blazers, Nicolas Batum
was never better than the fourth-highest scorer on his team, playing
alongside top players like LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Damian Lillard.
Now with the Charlotte Hornets after being acquired from Portland in a
three-player trade in June, the 26-year-old forward will have the opportunity
to establish himself more on offense. Head coach Steve Clifford even went as
far as saying he can be the team's No. 1 option in that department.
"Nic has always been 3rd or 4th option. Now he's going to be 2nd or 1st
option" offensively. -- Clifford.
Batum has always been a jack-of-all-trades on the court, thriving as a
shooter, rebounder, passer, defender, and ball-handler. Not once has he been
tasked with carrying the offensive load for a team, however, having always
played a secondary role to more capable scorers.
The Hornets have functioned with point guard Kemba Walker and center Al
Jefferson as their first and second scoring options in recent years, which
may be why Clifford is entertaining the idea of changing the pecking order on
his roster. Charlotte ranked 28th in points per game (94.2), 29th in field
goal percentage (42 percent), last in 3-point percentage (31.8 percent), and
28th in offensive efficiency (97.6 points per 100 possessions) in 2014-15.
"I know my role is going to be different and I like that," Batum said during
his introductory press conference. "I know I can do a lot of things on the
court; I'm a very versatile player.
"I'm easy. I'm coachable. I'm able to adjust."
Batum is set to make $11.8 million next season, and will enter unrestricted
free agency in the summer of 2016. He averaged just 9.4 points on 40 percent
shooting in his final year in Portland, which was his lowest per-game output
since his rookie campaign.
在拓荒者七年的日子裡, Batum曾在Aldridge, Roy, Lillard這類頂尖球員身旁
打球, 而Batum最好也只是球隊的第四得分點. 然而經過這次的拓荒者與黃蜂的
交易案, 26歲的Batum將會有更多機會在進攻方面證明自己, 黃蜂總教頭Clifford
更表示Batum能當任球隊的第一進攻箭頭.
Clifford說: "Batum以前都只是球隊的第三,四的(進攻)選擇, 而現在他不是第
一, 就是第二個進攻點."
Batum一直以來都是個全能球員, 他能投籃, 搶板, 傳球, 防守甚至控球, 但他從
未被賦予扛起球隊進攻的責任, 他通常都只是第二個選擇. 黃蜂近幾年來把Walker,
Jefferson當作球隊的第一, 二的進攻選擇, 然而2014-15賽季, 黃蜂在場均得分
排行榜上僅聯盟第28名(94.2分), 命中率第29名(42%), 進攻效率第28名(100回合
得97.6分), 三分命中率排名更是聯盟墊底(31.8%).
Batum在黃蜂記者會上表示: "我知道自己扮演的角色會將不一樣, 但我喜歡這樣.
我知道自己能在球場上做很多事, 我是個很全能的球員."
"我很隨和, 而且受教, 我可以調整自己."
Batum新賽季的薪水為11.8M, 而他會在2016年暑假進入自由市場. Batum在拓荒者的
最後一年僅繳出場均9.4分, 命中率40%, 得分為新秀賽季以來最低.
http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/839658
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