Will Nicolas Batum break out of his slump?
By Bryce Olin
Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers is having a hard time getting his offense going, but can he find a rhythm in time to salvage his season?
In 31 games this season, Portland Trail Blazers wing Nicolas Batum has struggled to find his offensive game.
At first, I thought Batum was just getting off to a slow start. He played in the FIBA World Cup and probably didn’t rest as much as he should have this summer. I attributed Batum’s sub-par offensive performances and mediocre shooting numbers to tired legs. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened to a player.
However; as the season has dragged on, Batum hasn’t gotten much better, and now I’m starting to wonder if he’s ever going to get back to where he was last season or even the year before.
Batum has always been a fairly inconsistent player, but he is usually a reliable shooter. In six NBA seasons before this one, Batum had only shot below 45 percent from the field one time, and he had never shot worse than 34 percent from beyond the arc.
This season, Batum is shooting career-lows in field goal percentage (40 percent) and 3-point percentage (26 percent!). It’s just not like him to struggle this much.
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It is possible that injuries are a factor. Remember, just because a player is on the court does not mean they are healthy. Batum missed four games with a knee contusion back in November and two more after that nasty spill in December. His wrist still bothers him daily from the latter, and you can see him grimace while flexing his hand when the injury is aggravated.
I don’t think that is the direct cause of Batum’s struggles, though. He is almost always at least a little banged up, and has earned a reputation for playing through pain. We have not seen accumulated injuries have this sort of impact on his game before.
If Batum’s knee was bothering him, it would affect him in other aspects of the game besides shooting, and that’s just not what’s happening. Defensively, Batum has been fine for Portland. No complaints there. He is even averaging more steals per game this season than he was last season.
He is shooting the same shots that he always has, he is just having difficulty hitting them. It’s weird. So, when will Batum get his stroke back?
Honestly, I think it will be soon. There is really no reason to think he won’t break out of this slump. He had a promising string of four games just the other week where he averaged a more robust 15 points per game. It’s all part of being a streaky player.
The Trail Blazers are one of the best offensive teams in the league and average 103.7 PPG, which ranks sixth-best in the league. If Batum can begin to approach his career averages for shooting percentage, the Blazers may even jump back to being the top-3 offense that they were last year.
And, wouldn’t that be crazy?