By all accounts, Nicolas Batum is a classy fella. Until this week, anyway.
Chances are by now you’ve seen or at least heard about him taking a full on, close-fisted swing and connecting squarely with Juan Carlos Navarro’s man region.
The incident seemed very un-Nic… and that spells great news for the Portland Trail Blazers.
To recap, the Blazers just ponied up some big bucks to keep Batum in black, red and white. Some people thought it was a good move, others not so much.
Then, in the Olympic quarterfinals, Batum hauled off and punched an opponent squarely in the groin.
Now, with this one classless act, I’m sold on the idea of Portland spending big bucks on Batum.
The biggest knock on Batum is that he lacks aggression at times; that he’s too passive and not assertive.
In the final minutes of France’s Olympic quarterfinal game against Spain, Batum showed he will no longer sit idly by.
I’m not condoning nut punches, nor am I saying Batum has turned into a tough guy. What I am saying, however, is Batum showed he has a nasty side to him. We’ve caught brief glimpses of it before – incidentally, also against a Spaniard – when he reminded Pau Gasol how many times he’s dunked on him.
This time around, he demonstrated he won’t stand for other teams flopping, which is a sentiment I think we can all get behind.
More respectable than the act itself was Batum’s honesty afterward. When Adrian Wojnarowski asked him about the incident afterward, Batum responded, “I wanted to give him a good reason to flop.” (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics–blazers–nic-batum-punches-juan-carlos-navarro-in-groin-in-france-s-loss-to-spain.html)
Sure, his emotions got the best of him, but don’t you like seeing a little fire in the belly?
The Nic who hit Navarro isn’t the same Nic who stands around, hoping someone passes him the ball for a corner three. This Nic is going to slash to the rim and demand he gets the rock in his hand.
This Nic isn’t the guy who sags off his man on defense, hoping maybe to block a shot from the weak side. He’s the kind of guy who harasses ball handlers constantly and makes them uncomfortable.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8249995/olympic-hoopalooza)
In a strange twist of fate unforeseen by probably anyone before yesterday, Batum could become the muscle of the Blazers. He may now be the team’s enforcer. If Chris Paul tries bullying Damian Lillard in the Rose Garden Nov. 8, Batum could be the guy who – in the absence of Joel Przybilla – shows the Clippers’ point guard that doesn’t fly.
The guy too often seen as letting the game pass him by for stretches at a time and then flashing signs of brilliance looks like he just had his breaking point.
In a way, we could credit Nasty Nic to Rudy Fernandez’s incessant flopping. (Thanks Rudy – you finally helped Portland!)
Batum’s punch was bad for him. It was bad for France. It was bad for the Olympics.
But it just might be good for the Blazers.
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