Nicolas Batum grabbed only 2 rebounds in the fourth quarter, leaving him 2 short of a triple-double. I appreciate his restraint in not mindlessly chasing an arbitrary stastical feat, but, uh, that’s kind of what you’re supposed to do. Especially if your team is losing. You crash the glass every time. No one’s gonna call you out on it, because no matter how hard you pad your stats, Russell Westbrook already did it harder.
Batum is basically a nightly triple-double threat, but he has only one on the season. That’s because he’s not dedicated enough. If he was dedicated, I bet he’d have 10 of the things by now. But he doesn’t, because he cares about “playing the right way”. As if. Last time I checked, “playing the right way” meant accumulating as many stats as possible. Intangibles don’t win basketball games. Stats win basketball games. More stats equals more wins. It’s simple math.
The Hornets aren’t that good anymore, so if I don’t see Batum mindlessly chasing trip-dubs (thus earning his team wins), I’m gonna write a letter to Michael Jordan and tell him that Batum needs to be traded to Siberia where he can not statpad as much as he wants.