Blazers forward Nicolas Batum shared his thoughts on matching up with Dwyane Wade, Richard Hamilton and Tracy McGrady recently:
In fact, the thing about the guys I have to guard, Wade, Hamilton, T-Mac, is that I can anticipate what they do as I have seen them play so often. This has helped me very much when I took Wade down to 12 points only. I don’t fear them at all. I feared defending Ricardo Greer of Nancy more than taking on Dwyane Wade. I saw that I put him in trouble when he voluntarily hit me with his elbow in my face. That made me laugh: I was happy because this meant that I was doing well.
Batum’s confidence is admirable. Although he failed to mention Wade’s 36-point performance against the Blazers on November 12th or Tracy McGrady’s 30-point game against Portland on November 6th. If Batum thinks he’s seen all that Wade, Hamilton and McGrady have in their arsenals after a combined four games, he has another thing coming.
Batum is 6-8, 210 pounds, and possesses all the tools to become an elite defender. But at 19 years of age, he has a lot to learn. It’s one thing to be fearless, it’s another to give your opponents extra incentive to beat you. Batum would have been better off keeping his thoughts private. By pointing out that he contributed to a poor outing from Wade, Batum has placed a target on his back.
