FRA - Batman's new suit

PORTLAND (NBA/EuroBasket) - In his fifth NBA season, Nicolas Batum has been taking his game to another level for the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Frenchman has worked hard to reach his goal of being a pillar for the franchise.

With his long-term security taken care by virtue of a new contract, Batum is ready to show what he can do.

Following a career year in 2011-12, the 2.05 forward became a restricted free agent over the summer. He signed an offer sheet with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the Blazers matched it to extend the stay of their versatile forward in the US northwest.

"I knew that the Blazers wanted to keep me, and now I have the opportunity to prove to them that they were right to make me sign a good contract," Batum told FIBA.com.

With a four-year extension worth $46 million to his name, his on-court responsibilities need to reflect his new status as a leading player. And the former Le Mans player is confident he can achieve that.

"We’ve been talking with both the front office and the staff about me being a more important player for the team for a long time," Batum revealed.

"I know what I can do to help and even if I’m only 23, I know that I can be one of the team’s leaders."

Even though he has struggling of late because of a flu virus, Batum has got off to a great start this season as he has posted career highs in most statistical categories.

“I’ve felt good since the beginning of the season. I’m having more opportunities to shoot the ball, but I also feel more comfortable on the court by having those kinds of responsibilities. I’m ready to be one of the team’s captain,” he explained.

Portland have no fewer than five rookies on their roster, making it one of the youngest teams in the NBA. As a result of that, they need their veteran players - including Batum - to help the group mature faster.

“We have a young group of guys like Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard for example, who are very talented players. Our future is bright by having talents like that in here,” Batum stated.

The Blazers also added two exciting European prospects to the team, with Spain’s Victor Claver and Great Britain's Joel Freeland.

“They are still adapting to the NBA, but I’m sure they will be important players for the team very soon," Batum said of his fellow European team-mates.

"We need to be patient. It’s never easy to make the transition from Europe to the NBA, but they are great players, so they’ll make it. I try to help them with my own experience."

Even if the team is in a period of transition, Batum is confident they can get out of the competitive Western Conference and reach the NBA playoffs next spring.

“We are young, but we’ve got talent. We’ve been playing very well, even if we lost more games than we won. We can make it to the playoffs,” he warned.

One of the leading players for France's national team, Batum is not ready to forget last summer’s Olympic experience.

“The experience was so nice. From the Opening Ceremony to the tournament itself, my teammates and I had a wonderful time in London. Even if I’m still frustrated about the way our game against Spain went," said Batum.

“We were two minutes away from beating Spain and we lost control of our emotions. The flagrant foul I committed on Juan-Carlos Navarro was the result of that. I should not have done this.”

While France didn’t reach the medal games, the future of 'Les Bleus' is still very bright, according to the player who's come to be known as 'Batman'.

“We are very close to reaching the top. We still need to work on some aspects of our game, but I’m confident about our future," said Batum.

"With all the talented players we have and the new generation coming up, I’m sure that we’ll have lots of success very soon.

"We want to win the next Eurobasket. It’s time for us to win titles.

“Our group (at EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia) is interesting, but we need to beat every team to win the title.

"We’ll fight hard for it. We need to do our best for the Tony Parker and Boris Diaw generation, as they’ve been playing for the national for 10 years and they’ve been dreaming about that for so long.”

FIBA