tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279506612024-03-19T09:44:25.958-07:00StumpTownSportsThis is a place to read and comment on my rantings and musings about sports.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-16317786884364864372017-10-25T01:28:00.000-07:002017-10-25T01:28:15.699-07:00The Return?I've been posting on Facebook but I think I may be getting ready to expand my platform. If you have interest in sports and especially the NBA, NFL, College football and basketball and the MLB, then stay tuned. Something fun could be on its way for this site.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-12771393946999600182008-12-05T14:51:00.000-08:002008-12-05T14:53:32.140-08:00The ReasonJason Quick of the Oregonian says that one of his readers has labled Brandon Roy as "The Reason." As in, the reason Portland is so good, or the reason Portland's future is so bright or the reason their young players are so good or the reason your team just lost or the reason Portland is never out of a game or....well, you get the idea. I love it. I love "The Natural" too, but The Reason may be even better.<br /><br />I'm going with it. You should too. Spread the word.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-31032017165271245642008-12-04T16:30:00.000-08:002008-12-04T16:31:22.704-08:00Some quick thoughtsA few quick sports thoughts for you today:<br /><br />I don’t understand why people don’t talk about how much Tyler Hansborough looks like a really tall Frodo Baggins. Also, why does he have such a bad haircut?<br /><br />I think the teams in the Western Conference should be afraid of Denver. They are playing as well as anyone outside of LA and Melo hasn’t even started playing well yet. What if this is the year that Nene and Kmart actually stay healthy and Karl becomes a big game coach? Oh yeah, forget everything I just said. Oh well, at least the trade helped Billups on my fantasy team.<br /><br />I can’t figure out why the Blazers don’t throw lobs to Oden. There is no play where this is even attempted. Yeah, he is still getting his legs back and doesn’t jump out of the gym, but he jumps well and is 7 freakin feat tall. Do the Blazers (other than Sergio) not know how? Does coach Nate hate lobs? It seems like Oden could get 8 points a game just by either running to the hoop on pick and rolls like Tyson Chandler or just jumping up when the defenders turn their back like Howard does. I don’t get this, and like most things I don’t get, it pisses me off.<br /><br />Is the Plaxico shooting himself story the least interesting sports story of the month or the whole year? I thought a long time to see if I could care less about this “saga” and decided I could not. I almost long for the days of daily Barbaro updates.<br /><br />I’m sad that Rudy doesn’t just go with “Rudy” on his jersey like he does on the Spanish team.<br />Is it possible that Kevin Durant is the next Shareef Abdur-Rahim? Great talent, great stats, no Ws. I know his team sucks, but isn’t that partly the point? If he is all that, should they suck that bad? It is early, but I have seen him play a couple times and yet to be wowed.<br /><br />Speaking of hyped phenoms, I think everyone who favored Rose over Beas is looking pretty smart. I have to say that B Easy is looking more and more like Glen Robinson every day and that’s not a good thing.<br /><br />Is there something about the Arizona sun that makes basketball players stupid? First Marion was upset that he played in the most fun system with the game’s best PG that made him look 5 times better than he was and now Amare is in the same boat. Why? Because Shaq is playing well again and gets more attention? Because you want your name to be mentioned with Wade and LBJ and Kobe? Get over yourself. Amare will never be “the man” on a contender so long as he needs to be so badly. Also, no player that plays such bad D should be that mouthy. He’s like a middle class man’s Zach Randolph right now. You heard me.<br /><br />Blazer fans seem to be stuck in a state of deep emotional dissonance. No one is real sure whether to be disappointed in Oden or patient but everyone seems determined to talk about the debate until we all reach consensus. The local sports radio idiots have been fueling the fire lately on their morning show as they alternate dissing Oden and then swearing they’ve been Oden fans from day 1 when he has a decent game the next night. I blame the Blazers for this. They half-heartedly told us we would have to be patient and then started “leaking” news out of practice that made Oden sound like he would immediately be Shaq and Hakeem rolled into one. The Blazer broadcast guys, KP, Nate, the assistant coaches and the players all did nothing but talk about how unstoppable he was. Then when he finally got on the court for the public to see he looked confused, slow, disinterested and generally the opposite of dominant. If we hadn’t had to suffer so many winks and wry smiles and promises of “just wait and see” we the fans would have been willing to give him time. But since we were told to expect Wilt, we expected Wilt. Instead we got a young Erick Dampier and were justifiably disappointed and irritated. Personally, I think Oden will be just fine and may still end up being great, maybe by the end of this year but more likely in the 2010-11 season. But that’s fine because this team doesn’t need “great” from Oden. So, I don’t blame Oden. I blame the Blazers. Either he is a different player in practice than he is in the games or everyone just got a little overly excited. Whatever the reason it has led to constant annoying chatter on local radio which is only now slowly being replaced by the equally hysterical fans calling for Roy to be named MVP right now. Come on. Can’t we just sit back and enjoy this ride?<br /><br />I know that I can…at least now that I’ve gotten this off my chest.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-43881078213536808162008-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:002008-04-15T11:55:01.007-07:00Your Portland TrailblazersDing Dong the witch is dead. D Miles is gone and the last of the foul stench that was the Jail Blazers has finally wafted away. Good ridance. Now we just have to hope that he doesn't sign elsewhere and play in 10 games (his money comes back on the cap if that happens). To memorialize the moment, I am posting some Blazers thoughts on my orphaned sports blog. Enjoy and feel free to note your agreement in the comments section.<br /><br />Next year, the Blazers will need:<br /><br />1. A starting lineup of:<br /><br />PG - Jose Calderon - I'm a Jose Calderon fan and to a lesser degree an Andre Miller fan for this team, though it would be preferable to find a point that can actually shoot. Problem is there aren't many PGs in the league that are an upgrade over Blake and the ones that are could not be less available. The best PG who might be available is probably Baron Davis, but I don't think he fits with this team unless Nate could make him stop shooting 3s and I just don’t want him. So, I'm in favor of trading up to get Rose or trading the pick and pieces for Miller. But I think the best course of action is somehow to convince Toronto to part with Calderon. He is underrated and underutilized and somewhat tradeable for Toronto. Is there someone else who would be an upgrade that might be on the market? I don't want Arenas. I'm not sure Hinrich is an upgrade. It’s easy to say we need a better point guard, but making it happen is a different story. Good thing we had Telfair so we didn’t need to draft Paul.<br /><br />SG - Roy - I still don't want him at the Point full time as it exposes his weaknesses (durability, speed) and limits his strengths (everything else), but I do want to see him at the point in the 4th quarter like Miami uses Wade when he's available. That brings into question how much you spend on a topflight PG if he might be on the bench during crunch time. Personally, I think you still go after the best PG you can and just try to find one who can shoot well enough to play off the ball.<br /><br />SF - Hedo Turkoglu - Made a huge jump in production this year, but is still redundant of Lewis. They are about to find out that you can't win in the playoffs with two outside shooting small forwards and only your center left to rebound and bang inside. Hedo was actually better than Lewis this year, but Lewis is too expensive to move. I think Hedo is available for the right price. It is probably dreaming to think the Blazers could get both Calderon and Hedo, but it's worth a shot. He would be perfect for the Blazers. Good passer, spreads the floor, can actually be a playmaker on offense, isn't a prima donna, and has turned into a good closer. My one concern is Defense, but you can live with one guy on the floor who doesn't play much D especially when Oden is guarding the rim.<br /><br />PF - Aldridge - I think he took a nice step forward this year, but he needs to get stronger and improve his rebounding. Still, he looks like he could occupy this spot for a decade.<br /><br />C - Oden - Count me among those who don't think he will dominate this year, but could still be the difference in 5-10 wins.<br /><br />2. A bench of:<br /><br />PG – Blake – It wouldn’t kill me if he was the starter again so long as we had another shooter/scorer who could play in the 4th with Roy. Blake was good, but not great this year and while I think they need an upgrade here to go forward, I have no problem with Blake getting quality minutes off the bench. – Westbrook? – Of the draftable PGs without getting Rose, I like him the best – Taurean Green – Still don’t get why we traded him. Koponenenenen – Hopefully he’ll be ready for a few minutes here and there. Missing – Jack and Sergio – I was a huge Jack fan and while I still think he’s a solid NBA player, he is no longer looking like part of the future. He’s too much 2 and not enough 1 and not consistent enough. I still like him, but he’s a trade asset at this point. Sergio has no place on this team. Can’t shoot at all, can’t finish at the rim and can’t play D. Do we really want to put that on the floor just so we can see a sweet no look pass once every 4 turnovers? If the only way to get Rudy is to keep him, fine. But he gets no minutes and I would rather see what we could get for him…..don’t you think he would fit well with the Raptors uptempo style?.....hmmm….<br /><br />SG – Say it with me now…Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! The Blazers sent a team over to Spain this week to try to convince him to come. He seems to hold it against Nate that Sergio sucks and he can make a ton more money over seas, but other than that, why wouldn’t he come? This is another test for KP. He found the talent, now he needs to land him. He immediately becomes the Blazer’s Manu. A 6th man that scores for the second unit and plays down the stretch for the first. He and Roy can both handle and the combination they could provide could be one of the league’s best. Not sure about Rudy’s D, but hopefully he can at least flop well. - Stephon Curry – Might he slide to the Blazers in the second? Who knows, but I’m thinking the Blazers look for someone like Curry or Eddie House who can come off the bench on any given night and go bezerk even if you know it won’t be every night. I also think Martel can play some 2. Missing – Von “illa” Wafer. Why is he on our team again? – J Jack – See above.<br /><br />SF – Webster/Jones – I still like this combination of shooting. Webster gets better doing other things every year and we can just ride whoever is hot or healthy. You can’t have too much shooting and maybe Webster has to go to make some of the above referenced trades happen and if so, ok, but otherwise, I still think the kid can play and gets better every year. He is secretly one of the best dunkers on the team. I also think Roy, Aldridge and Rudy can potentially play some minutes here as needed. If we got Hedo, Outlaw might be a better change of pace fit off the bench, but he’s actually better at the 4 and should be the prime trade bait. Missing – Outlaw – I appreciate the effort and the improvement, but like Jack he is probably needed more as a trade piece than a building block.<br /><br />PF – Joel Freeman? Josh McRoberts? I like both of those guys, but what the Blazers really need is a rebounder. Suddenly Frye is a rebounding machine for the first time in his life with Prz on the IR. Where was that earlier in the season? If he can keep that up he can stay. Otherwise, he needs to go. He needs to go because his minutes need to be given by an Oakley/Kurt Thomas/PJ Brown/ power rebounder type. I don’t know who else might be out there in the league or in the draft in the second round or if Freeman could be this guy, but I think he’s a bit short. Blazers need someone with size that can get 10 boards and hit an open 8 footer and put in some tip ins. Sometimes you can find guys like that in the second round. Bottom line, this is one of the biggest areas of need for the Blazers. They have to upgrade at the 4 off the bench.<br /><br />C – Prz – If he plays like he did this year, he probably becomes the best backup center in the league. He can’t score, but he does everything else you want and should mean that we have some flexibility on the bench since his defense improves the team D so much. We could still use some more size here which is why Fry would be a good fit to stay if he is willing to rebound, but otherwise, a guy who could play some tough minutes at the 4 and 5 and score a little and grab rebounds is essential. We need the next Turiaf or Verajao. Surely we can find that guy somewhere.<br /><br />So, the keys for the Blazers as I see them are:<br /><br />1. an upgrade at the point, though you don’t sell your soul here because Blake is solid<br /><br />2. an upgrade to the 4 off the bench<br /><br />3. an upgrade at the 3. Need a consistent scorer with some versatility without breaking the bank. Jamison might also look good in red, black and white.<br /><br />4. a healthy GO<br /><br />5. A stateside Rudy.<br /><br />If even most of that happens, the Blazers win 50 next year and get the 7th or maybe even the 6th seed. I can’t wait.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-71656106052474939202008-02-01T10:43:00.000-08:002008-02-01T10:44:23.559-08:00ROYRoy is an All-Star. I could not be happier.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-14346590370341675322008-01-11T13:10:00.000-08:002008-01-11T13:15:46.270-08:00PippenI'm planning to start posting here again now that I've got some professional changes handled. To start with I'm stealing a link from Henry Abbot's great work for Truehoop and espn.com about Dirk and Pippen.<br /><br />I never really liked Pippen. There was the unforgiveable shoes incident in Chicago. There was the fighting with Barkley in Houston and then there was an inability to score or get a stop by one of the 50 best players all time in the fourth quarter of the 2000 WCF against the Lakers that I will never, ever forgive him for.<br /><br />And now recently there is all the brutal things he said about guys he allegedly wnats to coach in Chicago. If he's not a jerk, he does a pretty good impression.<br /><br />Anyway this is a link from some pretty interesting sounding German show where they matchup two celebs from different backgrounds and follow them around during a night out. This is Dirk and some musician I've never heard off. A little ways in Dirk says something like, "I was disappointed (by his then idol Pippen) because he's an arrogant A** like you would not believe."<br /><br />Good stuff.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ballineurope.com/us-basketball/nba/through-the-night-with-dirk-nowitzki/#more-411">http://www.ballineurope.com/us-basketball/nba/through-the-night-with-dirk-nowitzki/#more-411</a>Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-79449153793463409932007-11-14T10:09:00.000-08:002007-11-14T10:13:49.901-08:00More YiFollowing up on yesterday's post, I just found out that Yi will likely be left off the All-Star ballot. Apparently, the NBA is just as sure as I am about what would happen if he was. It seems a pretty transparent move given that high profile rookies generally make the ballot. I bet Durant will be on there. Yi is about as high profile as anyone and has actually been playing as well as any rookie, so leaving him off the ballow would make a statement.<br /><br />I will be very curious to see the ballot because in years past there has been a place to write in votes. Is it really that hard to imagine half of the people who watched Yao v. Yi would write in Yi's name? If that happens, he will be a starter. I might have to come off my "it's an absolute lock" prediction, but I still think it will happen.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-64904761669277346852007-11-13T14:03:00.000-08:002007-11-13T14:11:14.481-08:00YiJust a quick comment about the Yi v. Yao game. By all estimates, this meaningless duel between two players who don't play the same position or anywhere near each other on the court, was one of if not the most televiewed sporting events of all time. Nearly as many people as live in the US saw a game that US basketball fans thought was more about TMac and Redd. I only bring this up because, as I've said before, I am going to laugh until I wet myself when Yi is averaging 12pts and 5 rebounds and is the leading vote getter for the Eastern Conference All-Star game. Not only will Yi, who is about the 6th best player on his own (which isn't any good) is not only the biggest lock ever to be voted in as a starter this year, but he is nearly certain to be the leading vote getter for the Eastern squad. Also expect Redd to enjoy the TMac effect and get a boost in voting.<br /><br />When this happens, we will find something interesting out about the NBA. Will Stern flip the bird at American fans who have zero interest in watching Yi take up an all-star roster spot and hold the status quo in favor of expanding his empire into Asia? Or will this be the year we finally get some welcome changes to the way fan voting works?<br /><br />Only time will tell, but Yi is going to get more votes than probably MVP KG this year and if that doesn't inspire change, nothing will.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-32081065626203457372007-10-25T13:27:00.000-07:002007-10-25T13:37:32.020-07:00More Blazers and stuffMy buddy Jeff was good enough to take me to the Blazers/Sonics preseason game last night, so I thought I would leave a brief report and then hopefully comment on a few other sports related items. Jeff has fantastic seats which always adds to the experience and in general, I just find the Rose Garden a nice venue.<br /><br />Last night was great. Greg Oden finally hit his stride after struggling some in the preseason. It is obvious that on this team, GO doesn’t have to score much, but last night it all came together in a 22 point, 14 rebound 5 block performance that had the Rose Garden buzzing with anticipation for what this team will do when he is in his prime with Roy and Aldridge. Almost all of his points came off vicious lob dunks and put back and he so dominated the paint on the defensive end that Ridnour actually started to cringe when he entered the paint in anticipation of another volleyball spike block. <br /><br />On the other side of the ball, Durant was slightly less spectacular as it is clear he will have to carry a large load on the talent depleted Sonics. Still, after hitting back to back 3s late in the game to bring the Sonics back, he had a chance to bring the score within 4 when he beat his man off the dribble and went in with a mind to throw down. Unfortunately for Durant, he was met at the rim by Mr. Oden who not only blocked the dunk attempt with both hands, but simply ripped the ball out of Durant’s hands with a growl that made the hair on the back of everyone’s neck stand up. It was amazing. This will be a great duel for years to come.<br /><br />So, that’s what this recap was supposed to say. It was supposed to be the first meeting of the two most heralded rookies since Lebron and maybe the most heralded 1-2 picks in the history of the NBA. Instead, GO is out for the season and Durant sprained his ankle and missed last night’s game. So sad. I'm still trying to get over it.<br /><br />So, instead we were treated to the sometimes forgotten talent that is Portland’s future and in one game saw the good and bad of this new Portland team.<br /><br />In the first quarter, with Roy, Jack, Webster, Aldridge and Przybilla on the floor, the Blazers looked good. The defense could have been better, but the offense was flowing and Aldridge appeared unstoppable. The choice was to let him score or put him on the line. When the starters sat down, it all went down the drain until the 4th quarter when the “finishing” lineup of Jack, Roy, Webster, Outlaw and Aldridge were on the floor and Roy went Roy and scored 14 points on clutch basket after clutch basket and had one of the prettiest assists I’ve seen in a while. He drove right and got stuck in a double team. He started pivoting around looking for a teammate and one of the defenders left him thinking he was now bottled up. So he juked and stepped under the remaining defender and went up for what looked like it would be a tough leaning jumpshot. He hung there long enough for a new defender to come help and then slipped the ball around him to the now open Aldridge who dunked and sent the crowd into a pretty good frenzy for a preseason game. It was oh so nice.<br /><br />Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve read elsewhere or maybe saw, Roy and Webster hit some clutch baskets and the Blazers won. Since this is preseason though, the more important aspects of the game were what we saw from the other players.<br />Here’s a player by player look:<br /><br />Jack – By FAR the best PG last night. He is a good defender and it showed early in the game. Ridnour got loose a couple times, but for the most part, Jack played good D. He was also in control the entire time. He made solid entry passes and controlled and directed the offense. He didn’t shoot a lot, but when he did he only took good shots and made several that he just created when the offense had bogged down. I don’t know or care what his numbers were, Jack played really well in limited minutes. Jack was definitely a stabilizing force and did everything you could ask of a your PG.<br /><br />Roy – All the papers are talking about it, so I won’t just rehash, but he really got in a groove in the 4th quarter after looking somewhat lost in the first 3. His shot wasn’t falling and he couldn’t seem to decide when to be aggressive and was not looking for his own shot nearly enough. When he came back in unexpectedly in the 4th, he was a different player. For a long stretch he looked like he was playing against Jr. High kids. He would simply get the ball at the top, make a little move and overpower anyone trying guard him until he made an easy shot right at the rim. He is a remarkable player. He doesn’t need to play that way all the time because he is also good at getting his teammates involved, but he does need to look for his own shot much more often than he did earlier in the game. Still it was a relief to see last year’s magic reappear when the Blazers needed it. He’s a stud. Have no doubts. I could go on and on about this, but I’ll leave it at that.<br /><br />Webster – Who is this guy? 19 points on 7 for 12 shooting including 3-5 from behind the arc and a late go ahead 3 that gave the Blazers the game? What? Are you kidding me? I don’t know where he found the confidence he is playing with now, but I hope it sticks around. And it isn’t just the numbers. He is just so much more aggressive looking for his shot. That’s the good. I still noticed some bad as well. There are still times on the floor where he looks genuinely lost. I noticed this especially during out of bonds plays. He just didn’t know where he was supposed to be. This was evident at times when the Blazers played zone as well. Also, I don’t know if he just can’t dribble or doesn’t like to, but he never tries to take his guy one on one and I mean never. The thing is, if he is ever going to take the big step from designated shooter to all around player, he is going to have to at least pose the threat of driving the ball. Haven’t seen that yet. To be honest though, I would be happy if he were just a really good designated shooter at this point. Also, he has to start so Travis can be the go to guy off the bench. It is the only way the lineups work.<br /><br />Aldridge – We all know the good. I think he’s going to replace Randolph’s numbers a whole lot sooner than anyone expected. He’s amazing in all facets of the offensive game. As I’ve been saying for a while, he has the body and talent of Rasheed with the discipline and head of someone like Duncan. You think that might work out for him if he stays healthy? My only concerns are: 1) there are still times when he is out of position on D and either has to foul or just gets beat badly. He’s a decent help defender and shot blocker, but he gave up 2-3 dunks last night that were just him being in the wrong place. Fixable, but not fixed yet. 2) Rebounding. I know, I know, he had double digits last night, but he and Frye both need to work hard on this aspect. I see it as their biggest defensive liability at the moment. Joel is the only one who consistently beats other people for rebounds.<br /><br />Przybilla – He rebounds, he draws charging fouls, he sets good picks, he doesn’t turn the ball over and now he hits his free throws. If he can just do those things all season, it will make a huge difference for this team. He doesn’t need to score, but he does need to defend and rebound like his life depends on it. He showed last night that he still has it in him, though he didn’t play long minutes. I think this will be a big bounce back year for Przybilla and I bet the Blazers start getting good enough offers for him around January, that they will have a real decision on their hands.<br /><br />Outlaw – Outlaw played great. Didn’t force it, shot the ball well and hustled on defense. I think he will be the power forward at the end of games with Aldridge moving over to the 5. They present a good defending, super fast and versatile front line. The only question will be, can they rebound. Outlaw really looks like he is picking up where he left off last season which is great.<br /><br />Blake – Blake looked horrible last night. I know he can play better and I’m certain that he will, but there were a couple things that were a concern. I thought he was a decent defender, but Ridnour and West chewed him up as did anyone in the shooting guard spot. It was to the point that I’m not sure the Blazers can play man against a team with aggressive guards while Blake is on the floor. I also really question whether he can play shooting guard unless Roy is also on the floor playing point at the end of games. I can see Blake out there to stretch the D with his shooting, but his D is so bad, I don’t think he can play the 2 as Roy’s backup. So that raises questions about when and how you play the guards.<br /><br />Sergio – Sergio played pretty well and actually outplayed both Blake and Green last night. He didn’t do anything special, but he hit a 3 which was surprising and wasn’t a turnover machine. That said, he and Blake can never, I repeat never be on the floor together. Sergio is, without a doubt, one of the worst guard defenders in the league. He puts out the effort but he is the wrong combination of short, weak and confused. Last night they ran some time in the disastrous second quarter with Sergio at the point and Blake at the 2. Suddenly, it was if the front line was playing 3 on 5. They can’t play the pick and roll because they can’t fight over screens or cover a bigger cutter. They can’t stay in front of their men, or at least hey couldn’t last night. It was a real concern. If either of them were playing with Roy, or even maybe with Jack, it would have been better, but never together…..never.<br /><br />Green – Green looked worse than I have seen him play in the 2 prior preseason games, summer league games and scrimmage that I have watched. His shot wasn’t falling and he took some ill advised outside shots that did not come within the flow of the offense. He played pretty good defense, but also threw some terrible passes. Overall, he really looked like a rookie for the first time. I still like him. I still say he is already much better than Sergio, but he had a bad game last night and will clearly have some growing pains.<br /><br />Lafrentz – He is no longer a serviceable player. I hate to admit that since the Blazers could use his size and shooting, but he just looks overmatched even against guys like Swift and Petro. I don’t think he will be a rotation player for this team.<br /><br />Frye – Frye didn’t look good at all. He doesn’t really seem to know his role yet. And he looked slow and he does not rebound well. He seems to get decent position, but whether it is his timing or desire or strength, something is keeping him from getting the ball. He has a nice looking shot, but it hasn’t been falling all preseason. I still have hope for him, but he’s been a bad groove for a while now.<br /><br />In general, it was a great game and good to win and even better to see Aldridge (I’m not on board calling him LA, because LA is our rival) and The Natural get it going like they did. Not everyone played well, but this team is not going to finish 4th or 5th in the division as many are predicting. The only real disturbing things I saw last night besides the fact that the Blazers have 5 guards to play but only one shooting guard, were: 1) Darius Miles and GO were hanging out and chatting it up throught the whole game. NOOOOOOOOO. someone stop this now. Can't we ban Miles from the arena or something? 2) they replaced the Blazer dancers last night with something they called the "Jam squad" that was completely unwatchable. Just awful. Bad move.<br /><br />Other sports thoughts:<br /><br />• Seattle is going to be bad this year. They look like they have some talent, even without Durant, but they do not look like a team. I predict they win at least 10 fewer games than the Blazers.<br /><br />• I knew Kevin McHale was among the worst GMs in the league, but even given that, the trade with Miami surprised me. How in the world does that benefit Minnesota? They traded Ricky Davis, a talented, but expendable player for a completely washed up Antoine Walker. Then they traded a younger, more talented backup center for an older less talented one. And then they picked up an injury case and a conditional (sure to be late first round) pick. Why? Weren’t they lots, lots better just keeping Ricky? For Miami, I think it was brilliant. Both Blount and Davis can help and Davis is a big upgrade from Walker or Posey. Especially while Wade is out, they are going to enjoy having Davis there. I also think Riley and Shaq can keep him in line. This is exactly what Miami needed.<br /><br />• I think things could very well work out to have Oregon as the number 1 or 2 team in the nation after this weekend. That would be fun.<br /><br />• I can’t wait until my fantasy hoops draft. Right now, my goal is to avoid drafting players I hate just because they fall to me at the right place.<br /><br />• I think the Giants will go after a big time offensive player to replace Bonds. Not sure even who is out there, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they talk to Tori Hunter and maybe even A-Rod.<br /><br />• I’m still too upset to talk about the NFL. It hurts too much. I’m not even excited that Alex Smith is coming back this week. It’s just all so depressing.<br /><br />• But not even the NFL is going to get me down. I’ve got Blazermania!!!Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-20188727618612289732007-10-11T11:36:00.000-07:002007-10-11T11:38:52.656-07:00Here come the BlazersSince I had the privilege of attending the season’s first Blazer game last night (preseason home opener against the Clippers, I thought I would share my scouting report of the team and the event. The Blazers won 111-102 after an impressive run at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth led primarily by 22 second half points from Webster who couldn’t miss.<br /><br />The Rose Garden<br /><br />• MAX is really the only way to go when going to a game. No parking cost or hassle and the train is full of Blazer fans which helps get you in the right mood for the game. It’s not like tailgating at a college football game, but it still has a small, but beneficial fraction of the same affect.<br /><br />• There is a giant Oden jersey hanging from the outside of the arena. My son and I just stood for a moment and stared at it in subdued sadness. Then my Son said, poignantly and profoundly, “I think that jersey is too big for him.”<br /><br />• My son was disappointed that our favorite Blazer dancer (his former Sunday school teacher) has retired. However, he still said the other dancers “seemed nice too” so it will be ok. I thought you would want to know.<br /><br />• The arena has a brand new scoreboard. It is the most amazing piece of arena/stadium technology I have other seen other than the retracting roof at Safeco. WOW!. First, it is enormous. I don’t know the specs, but the thing is really, really big. Second, it has screens on all 4 sides that show the game and highlights and silly videos in HD. That’s right, true HD. If you are in the upper level, you can actually see the game much better on the scoreboard than on the court. It is fantastic.<br /><br />• I was unable to find the garlic fries they served last year. I’m not saying they’re gone as I didn’t go all the way around the arena, but it did make me nervous. I love me some garlic fries.<br /><br />The Clippers<br /><br />• The Clippers are going to be really, really bad this year without Brand. Not T-Wolves bad, but still very bad.<br /><br />• Neither Magette nor Kaman played so I didn’t get a real good picture of their starting unit, but those guys are going to have to have career years for this team to be even respectable.<br /><br />• Sam I am isn’t done. He is still one of the best offensive point guards in the game. He single handedly carried the Clips for most of the game. He’s old and can’t play huge minutes any more and is a bit of a liability on D, but if I were Danny Ferry and couldn’t pry Mike Bibby away, I would take a hard run at Sam. He could be the difference maker in the Eastern conference if he’s traded. If the Celtics get him, fuhgetaboutit.<br /> <br />• Al Thornton is a darkhorse candidate for rookie of the year. I know everyone has already given it to Durant and that is probably a good bet. I expect Durant to put up fairly gaudy numbers (except for FG%) because Seattle will have to rely on him so much. That said, Thornton looked good. He’s a good rebounder for his size and very good slashing to the basket. He looks like more of a one-on-one player than one who fits in the flow of the offense, but he doesn’t look like a rookie. He went for 18 and 10 last night and was fairly impressive.<br /><br />The Blazers<br /><br />• The team started strong with Aldridge hitting everything he threw at the rim, but faded at the end of the first quarter. This fade previewed two problems I expect they will have all year. First, this team still has some issues defensively. Aldridge and the Thrilla are the only natural rebounders on the team. While the rest of the guys give it an effort, defensive rebounding is going to have to improve. Plus, I hate to say it, but Blake is a liability on D. Sam made him look silly and I’m not really sure why Jack didn’t get that assignment right away as he is exactly the kind of physical defensive guard that could slow Sam up a bit. That said, Cassell did get Jack to bight hard on his signature pump-fake and then throw your flailing body into the defender and draw a foul. Ridiculous, but extremely effective move. I have a hard time blaming Jack though since Sam has been doing that to everyone in the league for years.<br /> <br />Second, this team is going to struggle in the half court. That is where they miss Roy the most since he remains the only guy who can get his own shot consistently, but still they have to improve. When they have to play in the half court for multiple possessions in a row, they get very jumpshot happy and don’t look good. This is going to be an issue all year I think. How much of one remains to be seen.<br /><br />• The new desired uptempo pace was on display as the Blazers hit their 100 point goal relatively early in the 4th quarter and really kept a consistent scoring pace throughout. This team’s struggle in the half court makes the new pace absolutely critical. The problem I saw with it is that the team lacks good finishers on the break. Jack and Green are the only point guards that are even serviceable at finishing their own shots at the rim. If the ball handler is not a credible threat to beat you, this will kill many a fast break. The wings are either jump shooters like Webster and Jones or spot up shooting post players like Frye and Aldridge. Roy will help here a lot, but I was looking for Outlaw and even Aldridge for that matter to be flying up the court and at the rim more than they were. Outlaw is such a bad ball-handler that if he doesn’t catch a lob pass for a dunk, he is worthless. Aldridge and Fry just don’t look fluid in transition unless it is to hurry back and post up. So, there were lots of times when the PG would push the action and end up without anyone filling the lanes. That’s going to be a problem<br /><br />• The Point guards – Jack played fewer minutes than anyone else, but was easily the best of the group. His defense is better than solid and he just seemed to command the team better than the others. Even more important, as noted above, he can finish at the rim. He is so strong that he doesn’t have to be a great leaper and is pretty good at getting his own shot or drawing a foul on the break as needed. Blake and Sergio are worthless in this department. Because they are so bad at finishing (though Blake had a great drive at the first half buzzer), when they are in, the fast break becomes considerably more difficult. Sergio can really push it, but teams play off him so much that they can just play the passing lanes and render him harmless since he can’t shoot. Blake just isn’t athletic enough, though he is going to help this team.<br /> <br />Staying on Blake, he had a poor shooting night, but he is a great asset. Calm under pressure, gets other people involved and can usually hit the open shot. He’s not a great defender, but he works at it. I think he will be a great back up, but Jack is clearly better, especially as a starter.<br /><br />Sergio does not deserve the minutes he’s getting. He has no shot at all and teams now realize it and back way off him making his ball handling and passing skills much less dangerous. He is also such a liability on defense, the Blazers are going to have to play a lot of zone when he’s in the game to keep every guard in the league from either posting him up or just going by him. He can push the tempo which is good and is still the team’s most creative passer, but he is still a novelty act more than a real contributor. If he has any trade value off of last year’s buzz, I think the Blazers should cash in now. Maybe he becomes a good PG in the future, but he is not the next Nash. Nash came in as a shooter. He was money in college and that was really his primary skill. The great passing came later. I don’t think you can do it the other way nearly as easy. Also….<br /><br />Taurean Green was a steal in the second round. That kid can flat out play. Like Sergio, he loves to push the ball and has a good feel on the fast break. Unlike Sergio, he can really shoot from the outside and even finish at the rim a bit. I like what I saw out of Green. He played under control and with a surprising amount of confidence for a rookie playing PG for Nate with 3 guys ahead of him. I would give every one of Sergio’s minutes to Green right now. He may not be quite the passer, but every other aspect is so superior, I don’t see how they keep him on the bench this year.<br /><br />The Wings – Wow, do the Blazers miss Roy, especially in the half court. There is just no one else (except maybe Jack) that dribbles well enough to consistently create a shot for himself when the offense breaks down during a half-court set. I was hoping that would be Outlaw who can get the ball at the free-throw line and just jump over everyone for what should be an easy shot. But I don’t think it is. The wings don’t contribute much but shooting without Roy which will be a problem when those shots aren’t falling. Still, the shooting appears to be vastly improved, so maybe it won’t be as ugly as I fear.<br /><br />Roy – Did I mention they miss him?<br /><br />Webster – It was fun to see him play aggressively and hit his shots. I expect those two things were very closely related. He scored 28 and had to have shot a high percentage and probably knocked down 4 or 5 3s. Aldridge and Frye were both getting doubled and Martel hit every open shot. More importantly, he appears to have developed a reliable mid range shot off of a fake drive and step back. He hit every one he tried last night. I would still like to see him attack a bit more and fill the lane on the break some instead of immediately fading to the 3 point line, but his rebounding and D looked improved and if his shot is falling like it was last night, he is going to be a huge difference maker. Since he seems a bit fragile emotionally, it was good to see him get off to such a good start.<br /><br />Outlaw – Outlaw started, but he’s clearly better with the second unit. He needs to get his points going one on one or by outrunning power forwards. At the 3 as a starter, he just isn’t going to get plays called for him and that seems to take him out of the offense. When he came on last year it was when he was one of the focal points of the offense off the bench. I think they need to start Webster or Jones and make Outlaw the 6th man. He was also much less active than he was at the end of last year and I can’t help but think that is related to his reported lack of conditioning. So, that will hopefully get better and lead to further possessions where the PG beats everyone down the floor and has to pull up. Finally, someone needs to take him aside and teach him how to play the screener on the screen roll. It was ugly.<br /><br />James Jones – He’s going to help. He can play both forward positions as long as he doesn’t have to guard a real bruiser at the 4 and he can shoot. I think Aldridge is going to get some double teams and having Jones and Webster looks like it will pay dividends. In fact, they played pretty well together spreading the floor and I won’t be surprised to see them get some run at the same time. Jones didn’t shoot all that well last night, but hit enough to keep the D honest, but I think the Blazers are much better equipped this year to handle the Zone.<br /><br />The bigs – Joel and LaMarcus started and I think they will all year barring injuries. They play well together since Joel doesn’t need the ball and can get Aldridge’s back against bigger players. As good as Webster played, I really thought it was the big guys that gave me the most hope for the upcoming season and beyond.<br /><br />Przybilla – He knows he’s putting the z in his name in the wrong place right? I mean he’s pulling a Favre and someone should let him know so he can do something about that. I didn’t really get to see the much ballyhooed new shot, but he at least looked like himself again after last year’s absence. He can’t buy a foul call going his way, but he rebounded well and played solid D. Because Frye and Aldridge are so good offensively, it will not surprise me to see Joel lose minutes to that combination, but he looks ready to help the team again which is nice.<br /><br />Aldridge – He was money. I really think he is primed to become a force offensively and I think it will happen this year. If he stays healthy I think he will score close to 20ppg, no kidding. He is such a good shooter and has such a good feel around the basket, that when you combine that with his length and ability to get down the floor he is going to be really tough to stop. The only areas of concern were his difficulty in finishing on the break and his strength inside. To the first point, he just looks awkward trying to fill the lane. He doesn’t have any Shawn Marion in him. He wants to come down and get open, not come down and dunk over someone. He can still be effective, but I was hoping to see him finishing a bit better in the flow of the fast break. To the second point, the no name power forwards for the Clippers were moving him off the block pretty easily. To his credit, he still found a way to score or get to the line, but it was usually from further out. In other words, he’s not really a great post player yet and is going to be vulnerable to lesser but physical players like Craig Smith or Rony Turiaf. Still, he looks much more ready to replace Randolph’s offense than I expected.<br /><br />Frye – Frye missed some gimmes, but he still played well. He has been advertised as a great shooter and he certainly showed a nice touch from the outside, but he was very active on the inside as well. I expect he could be the Blazers’ leading offensive rebounder and will even provide some good post options with the second unit. He runs the floor very well and I definitely see him being able to play with Aldridge when the offense needs a boost. Really, their games and styles look amazingly similar with Aldridge just being somewhat more skilled. It would be nice if one of them were more of a bruiser and they may struggle on the boards against some bigger teams, but Frye is going to be good.<br /><br />LaFrentz – He’s not going to be in the rotation. I went in thinking he could get some minutes this year after Oden went down, but he just doesn’t fit with this team. He doesn’t run the floor well enough and can’t score in the post at all. He’s not a terrible player, but he doesn’t seem to fit here.<br /><br />Overall, I liked what I saw last night. There is lots to improve on and it did come against one of the worst teams in the league playing without 2 starters, but there was still lots to like and after all, the Blazers did it without their best player as well. It also would have been great to see the big fella out there doing his thing, but this team is still going to surprise some people and whether it shows up in wins and losses this year, they will be a fun team to watch.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-71687191190100153042007-10-05T15:37:00.000-07:002007-10-05T15:38:46.520-07:00My teamsSome quick (I hope) sports thoughts on each of my favorite sports teams:<br /><br />NFL – San Francisco 49ers – Ugh. I could just stop there and pretty much capture it. After years of being awful, they have finally made some major steps in the right direction. They brought in a classy head coach with a good mind for defense and team discipline. Plus he likes to wear suits (even if they are made by Rebok) during games, so how can you not like this guy? They have drafted rather brilliantly (though I’m having my doubts about Smith and Davis), but still they seem to be rebuilding this team in the right way through good draft picks (I love you Patrick Willis) and well chosen free agents. For the first time in years, I allowed myself to get excited. I genuinely thought the Niners were a playoff team this year. They had the NFC’s best RB, an unguardable tightend, a QB just coming into his own after a semi-breakthrough year last year, new WRs, great FAs on the defensive side and a weak division. They won their first game by a miracle closing drive. They looked bad on offense, but still got the win and it was just the first game and they did beat a division opponent.<br /><br />Then in game 2, they looked bad again, but beat another division foe. 2-0. All they needed was to start opening up the offense a bit and all would be well. Then they had to go to play a red-hot Steelers team in Pittsburgh. No one is beating them at home this year, so while a win would have been nice, the loss wasn’t devastating. The most troubling part was the fact that they still could not move the ball at all.<br /><br />Then they played the Seahawks at home. The Hawks are not a good team this year. Alexander doesn’t run hard outside of 5 yards away from the endzone and they just look old, slow and sloppy. Very beatable. Not for the Niners though. The whole thing came crashing down as the Niners embarrassed themselves, the franchise, the city, their fans, and all of humanity with one of the worst offensive displays in football history. Oh, and plus they lost Smith to injury….and were already missing Davis…oh and they don’t have a WR who can catch the ball or a line that can stop the run or an o-line that can keep Gore from being hit in the backfield or a coordinator who can call anything but run up the middle for 1, run up the middle for 2, drop back and hold the ball until sacked on 3 and 7. I swear, 75% of the possessions went just like that last week.<br /><br />Completely depressing. Who would have thought Norv Turner could single handedly destroy two franchises with one move. In addition to getting SD to be the must underperforming team in recent memory, he also abandoned the Niners where he had done an outstanding job as the O coordinator and left things in the hands of a rookie who apparently has as much imaginiation as a crowbar. <br />They aren’t going to the playoffs. They may not win another game at this rate. Of course, Baltimore should be vulnerable if it were someone other than Dilfer playing QB now. So, so painful. Fortunately, the Patriots get their number one pick next year, which could be the top pick over all. I’m going to go somewhere and cry.<br /><br />NBA – The Portland Trailblazers<br /><br />Sticking with a theme, the only thing nearly as depressing as the Niners right now is Blazers. Like the Niners, this was the year they were going to turn it all around. Instead, they lost their franchise center for the year before he even played a game and now have lost last year’s rookie of the year to injury before he even played a game this season. This season went from the most exciting, anticipated Blazer season in years to the most depressing thing in basketball in a matter of 2 weeks. I now cringe every time I see a headline about the Blazers.<br />On a positive note, I do think the Blazers will still be fun to watch this year assuming Roy gets back and stays healthy. They will be able to run and defend much better and have a roster of good guys who play hard and seem to genuinely enjoy playing together. I’m still looking forward to the season, it just makes me sad.<br /><br />MLB – The San Francisco Giants<br /><br />Sticking with a theme, the Giants are as depressing as a baseball team can get. They loaded their rosters with ancient players to try to make a run with Bonds and then made Bary Zito the highest paid pitcher in history. Then Zito stunk and so did the Giants. Now they have no Bonds, no youth, no speed, no reason for optimism and absolutely no one to lead or carry the team. Ugh.<br /><br />Fantasy Football – StumpTown<br /><br />Sticking with a theme, my best player is F. Gore who can not get near the endzone in this offense and now has rediscovered the joys of fumbling. My second and third best players (Harrison and Boldin) are both hurt and every RB on my roster except Gore is either hurt or named Dunn. Also Baltimore can’t play D any more after I made them my keeper this season and my QB play is mediocre at best. Other than that I’m having a great season. We play 2 games a week and I am miraculously 4-4, but I have scored the second fewest points in the league, so that isn’t going to keep up.<br /><br />College Football – Oregon Ducks<br /><br />Sticking with a theme, Oregon choked away its only shot at winning a championship last weekend. Since college football still believes that sports writers should determine who is better rather than playing actual games, the Ducks actually dropped by nearly beating the alleged 3 best team in the country. College football makes no sense. I would be more upset about this, but I just can’t get into college football until the games matter more than the opinions of the analysts.<br /><br />Wow, I should have blogged more when I was high on the Oden pick and could have been cheerier. <br /><br />I need a hug.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-78738561262179950502007-07-20T16:28:00.000-07:002007-07-20T16:37:24.386-07:00It Takes TwoJust for fun here’s a look at every team in the NBA with an eye toward whether they would make good trading partners with the Blazers based on they players they have, the players they need, the contracts involved and the likelihood that they would do the deal. I’m not going to bother with every possible scenario or deal with things like whether the Blazers could get in on a trade for KG or Kobe. I’m working with the premise that the Blazers would, for the right deal, be willing to part with Jack, Przybilla, Webster, Green, McRoberts, Outlaw, LaFrentz and Jones. I’m sure they would trade just about anyone other than Roy and Oden if the price was right, but the Blazers clearly want to keep Roy, Aldridge, Frye, Oden and Sergio…and Blake at least for this year. So, I’m not going to discuss those guys very much if at all. Also, I’m assuming that both Raef and D Miles are basically untradeable because of their contracts and health. Finally, I’m assuming that the Blazers really only need a new starting 3, so I’m looking specifically at trades that would net them a significant upgrade at small forward.<br /><br /><strong>Atlanta</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Josh Childress, Marvin Williams. Both play the 3. Both have the right timeline for age. Both have manageable contracts at the moment. Of the two I like Childress better because of his D and his shooting. That said, he’s basically a better shooting Travis Outlaw with perhaps less upside. Even with Acie Law playing well in the summer league and Speedy under contract, they could still use PG help and Zaza or the undersized Horford and S. Williams are the only options at the 5, so they may be interested in Joel as well. A trade of Jack and Webster for Childress and Salim Stoudamire (an underrated NBA scorer) would work, but I don’t really like the trade. I think that is too much to give up for a guy that is redundant of what we already have. A guy like Childress fits, but isn’t a significant upgrade.<br /><br />Willingness – I think Atlanta would be interested in both Prz and Jack, but unless you started talking about players like Josh Smith, I don’t think they have what Portland needs.<br /><br /><strong>Boston</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – For the last couple years Paul Pierce might have been on this list, but that ship has sailed and his health and the pouting he would do if traded to a rebuilding team along with his timeline and his contract make him undesirable. Otherwise, Jeff Green is an interesting player, but he is more of a shooting guard than a SF, so I’m not seeing much the Celts have to offer.<br /><br />Willingness – I don’t think the Celts are a good trade partner because they are looking for veterans to help Ray Ray and Pierce win now. Jack might be an attractive player for them since they don’t have much at PG, but they just don’t have much to offer. Possibly Gomes, but I think the Celtics really like him and he makes so little money, he would be hard to trade for without taking back a contract like Ratliff which the Blazers do not want to do. <br /><br /><strong>Charlotte</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Hermann, Morrison, G-Force, JRich, and Carrol can all play the 3. Of those, only Morrison, Carrol and Hermann might be available. Of those, only Hermann is desirable. I think that guy is a stud even if he does look like Fabio’s skinny cousin. Because he can shoot and is flexible enough to play the 4, he is a good fit for Portland, but I think Charlotte really likes him and the salary is so small, the trade is hard. Plus, I’m not sure he is an upgrade (considering timeline) that makes it worth trading some of Portland’s prospects.<br /><br />Willingness – Charlotte actually looks an awful lot like Portland in that it is pretty stocked with good young players looking to hit their primes about the same time. They don’t really need Jack or Joel, so I’m thinking they wouldn’t be all that interested in what Portland has to offer.<br /><br /><strong>Chicago</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – I still wish the Blazers could have worked out a deal that brought Nocioni in for Zach, with other players involved. I just think Noc fits the need better and would have provided better value for Zach. Oh well, I have to move on. The Bulls have Sefalosha and Gordon who would both fit a need for the Blazers (no point in even commenting on Deng). But I’m not sure Thabo is going to be any better than Outlaw and Gordon might not be happy coming off the bench. Still if we could trade Jack, Webster and one of this year’s picks (Green or McRoberts) and get back Gordon I would do it in a nanosecond. But, of course, the Bulls would not.<br /><br />Willingness – The Bulls are pretty set at every position except power forward or center where they lack any inside scoring and have guys who are so redundant they can’t really be on the floor together. The Blazers had the perfect player for what they needed, but the Bulls foolishly decided to pass on a guy that would have made them the prohibitive favorite to win the East. Now, I don’t see them having interest in any of the Blazers’ pieces.<br /><br /><strong>Cleveland</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Pavlovic is really the only player here even remotely interesting. Truth is, I don’t think he’s an upgrade over what the Blazers already have. Man the Cavs are screwed in their attempts to improve. I mean if Hughes doesn’t completely transform this year, they are stuck. Anyway, no one here helps except Lebron and I have a hunch they would want to hold onto him.<br /><br />Willingness – I’m sure they would love to get Jack or Blake as they desperately need for someone named Booby to be their starting PG, but they don’t have anything to offer. I wonder why they didn’t make a harder push for Blake. Seems like he would have fit well there.<br /><br /><strong>Dallas</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Josh Howard is the only player that fits the bill. He’s a stud and would certainly help the Blazers. I think he’s one of the top small forwards in the league other than the marquee guys. Based just on the contracts, I couldn’t find a deal that works even if the Blazers took back a bad salary like Jason Terry. Maybe there are salary cap loopholes that are out there that could make it work, but because of the base year compensation rules, it would nearly be impossible for Portland to offer anything close to equal value, at least before the season starts.<br /><br /> Willingness – I could see Dallas having an interest in just about any of the Blazer players. They could use help at the 1, 5 and 2, but the Blazers available probably wouldn’t seem that enticing.<br /><br /><strong>Denver</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Available/Desirable – Kleiza is a nice player at a cheap price, but is he an upgrade? Not enough to ship out the prospects it would take to get him. Otherwise the only player who fits is Melo and on top of his contract making it nearly impossible I’m guessing, and this is only a guess, the Nuggets wouldn’t be interested unless the Blazers were offering a package that included Roy and Oden and maybe not even then.<br /><br />Willingness – They need someone to take Kmart off their hands. They don’t need what the Blazers have.<br /><br /><strong>Detroit</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Both Prince and Rip would be nice additions. And if they had somehow missed out on getting Billups back, then maybe they blow it up and try to start over and those guys might have been available….maybe. but even if they were, Rip makes too much money and is really more of a 2 than a 3 and while Prince is nice, he is also expensive. A deal for Prince would mean giving up Prz and Webster, which I think Portland would do in a flash, but why would Detroit? As nice as a player like Prince would be, this ain’t happenin’.<br /><br />Willingness – The Pistons could actually really use Przybilla, but wouldn’t give up Prince to get him. They would give up Nazr and probably several others like Flip, but that doesn’t help Portland at all. Nonstarter here.<br /><br /><strong>Golden State</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Al Harrington is an interesting option. He is almost certainly available after last year’s playoff meltdown. He would fit Portland’s system and can shoot a little. He would give Portland a consistent scorer which they badly need and he’s still young enough that he could help down the road when the Blazers are good. However, he is currently way overpaid and I just don’t really like him. He was useless in the post season and seems like one of those guys that just doesn’t care that much and provides no positive leadership. I don’t like the contract or the game enough to hamstring the Blazers financially. Somewhat intriguing, but in the end, I don’t think this works. What about Piertrus? He’s an interesting prospect, but it would take a sign and trade and I don’t think he would offer enough upgrade if any to make it worth the trade. Oh and while Belinelli burned up summer league, he has never been that great a shooter in Europe and the Blazers have Rudy coming next year who is better.<br /><br />Willingness – GS doesn’t need what Portland has. Personally I think they are still trying to get Yi or KG or both and I don’t think they like or should like the available pieces from Portland.<br /><br /><strong>Houston</strong><br /><br />Availabile/Desirable – Battier would look so nice in a Blazer uni. I mean, the leadership, the character, the defense, the shooting, he would be ideal. Like a rich man’s Ime. He makes almost identical money to Przybilla, so a one for one swap could work on the books. Think the Rockets would be interested? Yeah, me neither. The Rockets really only need a power forward. What about Frye and Webster and a draft pick? It would have to wait a while since Frye was just traded. That could make some sense for Houston, but I see them wanting to keep a guy like Battier. Still, it’s nice to ponder. Or how about Bonzi? Kidding. Just kidding.<br /><br />Willingness – Frye would give them their missing PF and a starting lineup of Yao, Frye, TMac, James and Bonzi would be pretty dang good with Martel hitting open 3s off the bench. But I think the Rockets want to give Butler and Scola a shot first and even then still don’t want to trade Battier.<br /><br /><strong>Indiana</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Danny Granger is really the only interesting player on this roster. He’s a nice player that would be a legit upgrade over what Portland has. I would rather have a shooter, but Granger’s good. Problem is he makes so little other players would have to be involved. Some combo of Martel, Joel and Jack would match up contract wise fairly well with Granger and Tinsley. It doesn’t quite work, but is probably close enough to make something happen. That said, do the Blazers want to take back an overpaid backup PG with health issues just to get Granger? Probably not.<br /><br /> Willingness – they should be willing to do just about anything. They were awful with this roster and need to be trying hard to make some moves. I think they are trying to get someone to give them 85 cents on the dollar for O’Neal, but that might be tough. In any event, they could use plenty of the Blazer players, but don’t have much to offer except really bad contracts.<br /><br /><strong>LAC</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Magette should be very available. He has about the perfect skill set for Portland’s needs. Then there is just that little issue of production, attitude, health and contract. Pass. After that, there’s…..nope, that’s it. Nothing more to see here folks. The Clips are in the lottery to stay. Get ready for Elton Brand trade rumors to start around Christmas. Wouldn’t a Brand back to the Bulls deadline deal stir the pot a bit? Or maybe the Mavs? Just wait for it. It’s coming.<br /><br />Willingness – shockingly, they don’t seem even willing to part with Magette. They could use any of the Blazer PGs right down to the Finish kid. But they don’t have much to offer unless it was a three team deal and this post is taking too much time as it is.<br /><br /><strong>LAL</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – No Laker is desirable, ever. Odom? We’re still trying to get the smell of chronic out of the facilities. Pass. Walton? We have the cheaper, higher ceiling version as a second round pick (McRoberts). Pass. Vujacic? Still wondering why he is in the league. Pass.<br /><br />Willingness – The Lakers need nothing but someone with enough star power to keep Kobe in town and the Blazers don’t have that and wouldn’t offer it if they did.<br /><br /><strong>Memphis</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable - Jack plus Przybilla for Mike Miller works as to contracts. Let’s make this happen right now. I think Mike Miller is a near perfect fit. I might like Battier a little better because of his defense and leadership, but Miller would be an amazing addition. Consistent scorer, good passer, would spread the floor for the bigs. Could play the 2 or the 3. Just makes me giddy thinking about it. He has 3 more years on his deal which would mean that in 2 years when the Blazers are hoping to have available cap room, he would be a very tradable expiring deal. Or he would come off the books the next year when a certain Chris Paul hits the FA market. I’m telling you, lock this down. Other than Miller, I’m also a Rudy Gay fan, but I kind of think he might be untouchable.<br /><br />Willingness – Not so much. Maybe before they signed Darko and drafted Connley and then saw the emergence of Lowry in the summer league, but not now. Now they have a good young team possibly able to make a playoff run right now. Sounds silly maybe, but they were a 6 seed two years ago right? How much of their roster is different than it was then? I’m just saying. But maybe they secretly know they still have to trade Pau and will be interested in rebuilding with a good young PG and a good young center. Hey, I can dream can’t I?<br /><br /><strong>Miami</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Wow, the Heat suck. Can you believe they won a title two years ago? I mean, there’s Wade and Shaq and a bunch of has beens and never weres. How about Antoine Walker for 8 Mil? He can shoot? He can play multiple positions. Heck, he can even bring the ball up so long as you don’t mind him shooting it from 25 feet. He’s the perfect fit I think. Of course I’m kidding. Unless they wanted to take D Miles back (assuming we are 100 percent sure he is not retiring), then maybe….maybe…..ok still probably not. Incredibly, Walker actually has more years left on his outrageous contract than Miles does.<br /><br />Willingness – Sure, they’re willing. They’re probably desperate. They need any semblance of a player right now. That said, what they really need is proven guys, but they would probably give up half of South Beach to get one of Portland’s PGs. Too bad they don’t have anything.<br /><br /><strong>Milwaukie</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Here’s an interesting one. What about Yi? He’s probably a 3 right? Flexible enough to play some 4 maybe. Fits the age/timeline. Has huge potential. Good shooter. Portland has a large Asian community. He doesn’t help the Blazers this year at all and still leaves them without any proven scorers on the roster, but he might be too good to pass up if he were available. A trade would be complicated, but I wonder if Jack and Prz would get it done? I think I would do that trade if I were Portland. They also have Charlie V and Simmons, but both those guys have injury issues that concern me. That said, Villanueva is an interesting option. Has some flexibility, has some shooting ability. I would have to leave him on the potential target list depending on his price.<br /><br />Willingness – As for Yi, it is looking more and more like they can either save their pride or help their franchise but not both. That means, they need to suck it up and trade that kid. I’m thinking GS might be willing to offer more, as might Philly or some other team, but Portland has a lot of good young players and if we are comfortable being pretty bad this next year, adding Yi might be worth it.<br /><br /><strong>Minnesota</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Hey, maybe we can get Ricky Ricky? Yikes. They don’t have an NBA starting small forward. Sure, Corey Brewer would be a nice addition, but for what? What would the Blazers be able to offer that would even get them close? Nothing. Not much of anything here.<br /><br />Willingness – I don’t think they will do anything until they either trade or decide they will absolutely not trade KG. <br /><br /><strong>New Jersey</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – How about this. Oh, this is perfect. NJ needs low post offense and an upgrade at power forward. Portland needs a proven scorer and an upgrade at small forward. How about Zach for Jefferson? Win/Win. No brainer. Sure they both have some risk, but they just fit so much better on the other team, this makes too much sense not to happen. Oh yeah, the Blazers decided a simple downgrade at PF was the better way to go. Jefferson is still a good fit, but now the Blazers don’t have the pieces. Plus, and I will say this about this deal even if we still had Zach. Jefferson makes ridiculous money for a long time. Nothing else to offer.<br /><br />Willingness – No way, no how. NJ is built to win right now. They should move Jefferson for someone like Zach or O’Neal, but they aren’t interested in the Blazer kids.<br /><br /><strong>New Orleans</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Rasual? Julian Wright? Both would fit well. Buler plays no D though and I think Nate would hate him. Wright is a nice player, but a significant roster upgrade? Not sure about that. Too bad Peja wasn’t 4 years younger and healthy…and available…..and dying to move to Portland.<br /><br />Willingness – they could use some depth, but I don’t see them anxious to part with Wright and aren’t going to trade any of their starters.<br /><br /><strong>New York</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong>Available/Desirable – Jeffries is a decent player and would be a good fit except now he makes way too much money and isn’t a huge upgrade. Q would be a decent fit except for his attitude, defensive limitations and oh yes, he is also grossly overpaid. Plus adding Q would give D Miles a reason to try to come back and we don’t want that under any circumstances.<br /></strong><br />Willingness – I get the idea that everyone on this team is available for the right price and by right price I mean one that has the Knicks way overpaying. But Isaiah only wants to get guys who are big name guys who keep the team’s profile high in the Big Apple. The Blazers only have Oden that fits that bill and he’s not going anywhere.<br /><br /><strong>Orlando</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – A couple interesting options here. I’m thinking with Lewis taking 40 minutes a night, any other wing player is available. Plus, wouldn’t Orland want another option at PG? To say nothing of SG? Their front line is even thin other than Howard. They could use some other pieces and they have two players that could help the Blazers. The first is Trevor Ariza who I believe is just waiting the right opportunity to really bust out. I think I would give up Webster and one of the new picks for Ariza and a second rounder. I think Ariza is better and will be better. Then there is Hedo. I think he is a good fit. Prz and some loose change could bring him to the NW. I hear this has been discussed and is dead, but would be a good deal. I’m worried that with Oden likely to be in foul trouble a lot, Joel could be useful. Plus as my buddy Jeff points out, Przybilla probably brings a bit more toughness. But Hedo has a semi-reasonable contract and can spread the floor. If Raef is healthy enough to play some minutes at the 4 and 5, I say do this deal.<br /><br />Willingness – I don’t know why they wouldn’t jump at the chance to trade Hedo for Prz with as thin as they are at the power forward. Plus, how do you play Hedo and Lewis at the same time? They are basically the same player, just one is better. But like I said, I hear this is dead, so who knows?<br /><br /><strong>Philadelphia</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Both Korver and Iggy would be good fits. But the new AI is surely absolutely untouchable. Korver may or may not be. He is really mostly a specialist and it is tough to say how highly Philly might value him. I think I think Korver fits well on the Blazers. Good shooter to spread the floor. Still young. Relatively reasonably paid. Seems like a good fit. For the contracts, Przybilla for Korver and Shavlick Randolph works. Why Philly would do that when they already have several mediocre big guys who can’t score, is another question.<br /><br />Willingness – Tough to say if Philly would be willing to discuss moving Korver. I’m guessing it would have to be a part of a much larger deal than Portland would be interested in. Really, I just don’t think Portland has anything that would get them very excited.<br /><br /><strong>Phoenix</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Sure Diaw and Marion and Hill and even Raja Bell would be upgrades to the roster and players that fit from a talent perspective, but I think Diaw only works as a Sun and even there has motivation issues. Marion is too much money and too expensive I’m sure. Hill is too old and doesn’t want to play anywhere else and Bell isn’t a big enough upgrade to make it worth it since he is really a 2 rather than a 3. <br /><br />Willingness – I don’t see much here. I imagine they would be happy to get Portland to take on Diaw’s huge contract, but that isn’t going to happen.<br /><br /><strong>Sacramento</strong><br /><br />Avaialable/Desirable – I hate this roster. Artest would be a good fit as far as talent goes, but he is a walking nightmare and now that he shoots all the time, it is just worse. Yuck. The player at the 3 that I like here is Francisco Garcia. Man he has bulked up since college when he looked like the second coming of Tayshawn Prince. I like his game and think it would fit for Portland. But he’s still mostly upside which is what Portland already has plenty of. Pass.<br /><br />Willingness – they should be blowing this thing up, but I don’t see any kind of discernable plan. Tough to say what they might be willing to do. I know Artest is available, but who wants him?<br /><br /><strong>San Antonio</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Too old and too entrenched. Manu’s great, but not being traded. We’ll just move along<br /><br />Willingness – Uhmmm….no.<br /><br /><strong>Seattle</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – Well, Green and Durant would be nice, but not likely to be traded. Wally fits pretty well if he were healthy and not paid 12 million dollars next year. Though considering he doesn’t fit into Seattle’s plans either I’m sure how about a LaFrentz and cash or picks for Wally? Both are banged up. Niether fit in the team’s plan. Both come off the books in two years. Sure Wally is better, but he plays the same position as Green and Durant so are they even going to play him? Seems like something that could work out for all involved.<br /><br />Willingness – I don’t think so. Seattle’s not looking to do any trading with Portland after Mr. Sonic’s defection. Interesting idea though.<br /><br /><strong>Toronto</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – I don’t see anyone who they would consider trading that fits what Portland is trying to do. Just don’t see it.<br /><br />Willingness – they could use someone like Przybilla, but not enough to give up something like Bargnani or Garbajosa.<br /><br /><strong>Utah</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – AK was another one I wondered about when Portland still had Zach, but we’re past that…seriously, we have to be past that. I actually think the Blazers could use someone like Harpring. For the contracts Prz for Harp straight up works. He would add some toughness and leadership to a young team and plays like Nate likes. Not a great guy for an uptempo team, but would be a nice yin to Outlaw’s yang (I promise to never write about Outlaw’s yang again). Ronnie Brewer could turn out to be a nice player, but doesn’t really fit Portland’s needs right now and is still very unproven.<br /><br />Willingness – I don’t see Utah wanting to trade Harp for a back up center. Maybe if there was a way to sweeten the pot, but this seems unlikely and nothing to get excited about even if it was likely.<br /><br /><strong>Washington</strong><br /><br />Available/Desirable – You know what I said about Jefferson above? Well replace him with Jamison and you get the idea. Oh, what could have been…. Anyway, as it is, since Caron Butler is surely not available for a back up center, prospect shooter and backup point guard, I don’t think we need to spend much time here. Though I would love to see the Blazers get Caron.<br /><br />Willingness – I bet they are very willing to move Jarvis Hayes. Just a guess. But, you know, who cares?<br /><br />So, after all that, what’s the lesson to be learned? After that Zach trade failed to net a scoring small forward, there really isn’t much out there. Only 2 or 3 teams could provide any options and none of them are likely to really want what Portland has. I am becoming more and more convinced that the Blazers will start the year with a starting 5 of Blake, Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge and Oden with Jack, Frye, Webster and Jones all getting some starts in the early going.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-325755510873041612007-07-19T16:24:00.000-07:002007-07-19T16:26:17.221-07:00NFL, time to step up.Mike Vick was the Lebron James of the NFL. Hugely hyped when he came in the league and had the type of skills that translated very well to marketing prowess. Even though he didn’t match Peyton Manning’s endorsements and has never really lived up to expectations as a QB, he was nonetheless as much the face of the NFL as any other player. He was also such a freakish athlete, that he has the Bo Jackson “you never know what you might see when you watch him” factor. Some of the most amazing things I have ever seen on the football field were done by Vick. He may be the fastest guy in the league on the field and is so dazzling you can’t help but watch.<br /><br />Of course he had is downside as well. Even though he led Atlanta to some victories, he never really seemed to fulfill his promise. He is not an accurate passer (to say the least) and also seems to lack a mind for the game that allows him to pick defenses apart like Manning and Brady do. But even with that, he was still perhaps the greatest active American athlete in terms of athletic ability, even if that didn’t always translate the way his team would like.<br /><br />Now he’s in big trouble (massive understatement) and if the NFL continues to sit back and watch, it will be in trouble as well. Goodell has done a good job since coming in as commish. He has taken a strong lead to get the thugs to clean up their acts or bear the consequences. He has shown courage and decisiveness. That is critical because if the players start to alienate the fans by being criminals and just all around bad guys, the league will be in serious trouble. Right now, the NFL is at the top, but much of that is because they have avoided the problems that have plagued the MLB and NBA. <br /><br />Steroids and recent strikes together with some brutally bad work by Bud Selig has tarnished baseball significantly. Plus, their lack of a cap or some kind of revenue sharing arrangement has made the MLB essentially a two team league in terms of media attention even though neither are the best team (Yanks and Sox). <br /><br />Crime and general bad behavior, combined with a few other factors that can’t be blamed on the running of the league like the biggest name stars failing to become dominant championship winning players (Wade excepted), have led to an alienation of much of the fan base and hurt the image of the NBA. That said, I think Stern has done a great job and they are fairly quickly even cleaning this aspect up. And there are some great young stars in the league, so unlike baseball, I think the NBA will be fine.<br /><br />But the NFL has been on a constant incline. It is more popular than ever and consistently puts a great product on the field. The labor agreement, the parity, the power of the team over the individual, it’s all great.<br /><br />But like everything going well, it can go bad quickly. The Vick debacle puts the league at risk. Everyone from young and old fans, to animal rights groups, to politicians, to business owners and advertisers will be watching this situation very carefully. So how the NFL deals with this is critical. I really don’t think it can be overstated.<br /><br />That is why I believe that the NFL can not take a wait and see approach. Don’t talk to me about “innocent until proven guilty.” Those are your rights against the government, not your employer. That is a standard designed to get at the truth by forcing the government to play fair. It is not even really about guilt and innocence. For example, no one is proved “innocent” in a criminal trial, just “not guilty.” There’s a difference. But all of that is when your freedom from prison is on the line. Your employer doesn’t need to wait to see if a prosecutor can prove what he needs to for a jury. Your employer can (and should) fire you for things that are not even criminal. So, the idea that the NFL should wait to see if a jury decides the charges have been proved is nonsense. The NFL should be the jury for Vick’s career. They should do what they need to do to become convinced of his guilt or innocence and act accordingly.<br /><br />Here is what they should do. They should do their own investigation. They should contact the law enforcement people involved and the Federal prosecutors involved. They should hire their own investigators and they should do what any large company would do when one of their employees is accused of something that could hurt the company and find out the answers for themselves. <br /><br />Then, if they find that Vick is involved in anything like the way that he is accused of, he should be banned for life. They don’t need to wait to see if he’s going to jail, they should just fire him and take whatever steps they can to get back the money the Falcons have paid him. Short of the murders and rapes that have occurred, I can not think of any worse conduct ever committed by an athlete. Worse than gambling, drugs or any of the others. I’m not a PETA supporter. I’m not a vegetarian. I believe animals are not of equal value to humans. But I’m also sickened by anyone treating animals cruelly, especially for no greater purpose than their own enjoyment. If he did what the indictment says, he should be banned from having anything to do with NFL for the rest of his life….oh and should go to prison for a long time.<br /><br />But it shouldn’t end there. I am afraid that Vick might be the tip of the iceberg. Granted a very famous tip, but still just the starting point. I’m afraid there is a large underground culture where this kind of behavior is acceptable and thriving. Whether that is true or not, the NFL and all the other sports leagues need to investigate themselves thoroughly before it becomes the next steroids issue for sports.<br /><br />I hope in my heart that Vick has been wrongly accused. But if I ran the NFL, I wouldn’t wait for a trial to find that out. And if I found out Vick was some kind of dog fighting kingpin, I would act as swiftly and harshly as I possibly could.<br /><br />Time to step up NFL. We’re all watching.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-42491825413777786892007-07-16T16:49:00.000-07:002007-07-16T17:02:20.625-07:00Welcome back BlakeNow that the Blazers have finally signed Steve Blake, here are my thoughts on the signing and what the Blazers should do next.<br /><br />I like Blake. Good, solid veteran guy who limits his mistakes, plays hard and seems like a good teammate and person. I think he fits well in Portland where he was very well liked when he was here a couple years ago and should have a much more fun team to play with in a City that is electric with Blazer hype right now even when the news is all about Oden’s tonsils.<br /><br />Blake also brings much needed shooting and flexibility to play both the 1 and the 2. I really only have 2 concerns about the signing and only one of those is Blake’s fault. First, I’m afraid that it means the Blazers have to trade J Jack for chemistry reasons. From a talent standpoint, I still like Jack and would still prefer he get the minutes as starter or off the bench over Sergio or the other PGs on the team. However, I think Blake came in to start and I’m not sure Jack won’t sulk if he gets benched. That would be too bad. I think a better move might be to trade Jack as part of a package to bring in some consistent scoring.<br /><br />That said, I still think it would be ideal to keep Jack, hold a true competition for the starting job and play both Blake and Jack minutes at the 1 and 2 with Roy. Sergio’s frighteningly bad play in Vegas over the last couple weeks should be telling to Blazer management. He is quick, has a great handle (that he over-relies on at times) and has great court vision. However, he also has an apparently low basketball IQ, can’t shoot a lick and plays defense like the late great Drazen Petrovic whose tragic death did not diminish his defensive abilities. In other words, he is not a starting NBA point guard. Not yet at least.<br /><br />Many in Portland already assume that the Blake signing means that the Blazers will trade one of their other point guards. If they do, it will be because they can get good value for Jack and are concerned he will pout. It will not be because they have too many. First, you really can’t have too many good young point guards. Second, Roy is really the only natural 2 guard on the roster and they expect him to play solid minutes at the point. Koponen will play another year in Europe, so that really only leaves 5 players total to man 2 positions (Roy, Blake, Jack, Sergio, Green). That doesn’t sound like too many to me. I think the Blazers (assuming no trade) will play Roy, Jack, Blake and maybe even Green at both guard spots and will probably even play some with Jack, Roy and Blake all on the floor together. I say, you make those 3 the primary rotation and keep Sergio to 10-12 minutes off the bench at the most unless he really takes a leap this year and if he does, look to trade Jack later.<br /><br />As for other moves, I think the Blazers should be patient. They could start the year with this team and make decisions on potential trades depending on how guys like Przybilla, Webster, McRoberts (who I am really growing to like), Outlaw, Jack and Sergio develop. If a good 3 comes along in a trade offer (like Mike Miller (who my buddy John wisely suggested), Caron Butler, Josh Howard – none of which will happen), it would be ideal to get them in before training camp, but not critical.<br />A quick note on some other signings:<br /><br />Mo Williams to the Bucks – Good call. Great position on talented young team that everyone would be in love with but for some brutal injuries last year. Win/win here, especially for Mo who nearly fell for the fool’s gold in Miami. If they can get value for Yi, either from Yi or in a trade, and get Simmons and Charlie V back, they could have a playoff home game in the East. They probably won’t, but they could.<br /><br />Magloire to the Nets – Hilarious. The best thing I can say about this signing is that it is so nice to know for sure Jamal won’t be a Blazer next year. He is a turnover machine. Fortunately he makes up for it by completely sucking in every other way. He is awful. He was by far the worst Blazer on the team last year and that includes Darius Miles who didn’t play. I think the only explanation for this signing has to be that Rod Thorn goes to bed before the teams in the West play so he never saw the “Big Cat” coughing up hairballs for the Blazers.<br /><br />Mikki Moore to the Kings – Why? On either side? Why would someone, anyone want to play for the Kings at this point? And why would the Kings want to spend money on a guy that basically has one good year in the league? I guess I like it for the Kings alright, but that franchise is such a mess right now, I don’t really know where anyone fits. After they trade Artest and Bibby, they will be in full blown rebuilding mode. Does Moore help you there? Not sure.<br /><br />Francis to ? - He hasn’t signed yet, but I sure hope Francis stays in the west to help kill one of Portland’s competitors. Call it “death by dribbling.”<br /><br />Bold sports predictions of the day:<br /><br />1. The San Francisco 49ers will win their division this year<br />2. The Portland Trailblazers will make the NBA playoffs this year<br />3. Bonds will not break Hank’s record until August and regardless of what happens, this will be his last year as a Giant.<br />4. Durant will score 23+ppg this year in the NBA, and will win ROY, but there will be quiet rumblings that Jeff Green might actually be the team’s MVP.<br />5. The Blazers will lead the NBA in lob passes caught for dunks.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-43118651620079838582007-07-12T17:27:00.000-07:002007-07-12T17:44:23.390-07:00NBA StuffSure, I could have posted something right after the most important NBA draft of my lifetime. Or I could have waited and posted something as soon as teams could talk to free agents. But then I would have been just like every other writer and blogger dispensing relevant insight in a timely manner. And where’s the fun in being just like everyone else?<br /><br />So, instead I decided to wait until no one really cares any more. It’s a technique I will be sure to teach whenever I’m invited to be a sports journalism professor at Harvard or some place like that.<br /><br />Lots to cover. Should be a long post. Let’s get right to it.<br /><br />DRAFT RECAP<br /><br />I got to watch the NBA draft (or as I like to call it, “The birth of a dynasty”), with my good friends John and Jeeva. Wanting to avoid the usual sportsbar dive food, we met at a swanky sports bar in a trendy part of Portland. Turns out, they import all of their food from dive sportsbars. Dang. Can’t really endorse the “Upper Deck” sports bar…or is it “On Deck”? Either way, avoid all Portland sports bar’s with “deck” in the name.<br /><br />Still, nothing could dampen our spirits on this night, not even the waiter’s steadfast refusal to come clean on what kind of animal produced the ribs I was eating. After all, my favorite NBA franchise had the first pick in a draft featuring two franchise players including one that happened to be 7 feet tall, skilled, young, mature beyond his years, strong, athletic and hilarious. With The Natural fresh off his rookie of the year season and Aldridge looking like a future star, adding either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant should ensure that Portland is very good for a long time.<br /><br />Thankfully, when the time came, Kevin Pritchard did the right thing yet again and took Oden with the top pick which I figure means the Blazers will bring in the next decade with another championship parade down Broadway. Hopefully no one will steal Oden’ bike.<br /><br />But tons has been written about Oden already, including waaaaaaay too much information about his tonsils so let me give my take on the rest of the lottery.<br /><br />Seattle – Durant – easiest choice in the history of the lottery. Too bad their best young player plays the same position, but since they aren’t stupid enough to give Rashard Lewis 120 mil over 6 years, Durant is the perfect pick<br /><br />Atlanta – Really, really thought they would trade this pick. I think they are closer than people think to being good. I would say a decent PG and veteran big away. For example, if they had gotten KG and signed Blake or Mo Williams or something like that, they might be my pick to win the East. Lots of rumors but nothing happened so they did the smart thing and took the best player available in Horford even if they do already have a bunch of forwards including a power forward taken with their first round pick last year. At least this year they didn’t take a player like 25 picks too early.<br /><br />Memphis – Mike Conley Jr. – I’m sorry, but I’m just not sold on this kid. I don’t think he can take over games. I don’t like the basketball IQ. I don’t like the outside shot. Maybe you can look past some of that for a young PG, but not one you are taking 4th overall in a loaded draft. Memphis did desperately need a PG but give me Mo Williams and Yi instead. If Yi was going to hold them up like he’s holding the Bucks up, then maybe you take him and trade him for Andre Miller and the Sixer’s pick. Maybe Conley will prove me wrong, but I bet he gets beat out by Kyle Lowry.<br /><br />Boston – Traded to Seattle for a front row seat to Ray Allen’s declining years – Jeff Green – Love this trade for Seattle. They knew they were losing Rashard and knew Ray Ray was just going to get grumpier with a rebuilding team. So, why not dump all your stars and start over while they still have enough value to get some decent players to keep you marginally competitive (i.e., not a total disgrace) and a great draft pick. Jeff Green was one of my favorite players in this draft. I think he had that Brandon Roy, NBA ready college player feel to him. I thought he was being underrated and would have taken him ahead of Brewer who people seemed to like more. But, I don’t like this pick for Seattle. They just took Durant. Are they going to play them together and make one of them guard an NBA 4? Yikes. Do they figure anyone they take is coming off the bench, so who cares? Why take the two best small forwards in the draft, when there is a Chinese Dirk Nowitzki just waiting to go to a city with a huge Asian community? Ok, so maybe Yi and Durant’s game overlap as much as Durant and Green, but I still think Yi was the better pick. That said, still a great move for Seattle and a disastrous move for Boston. I think Ray has another good year or two in him, but the outside-outside combo of Pierce and Allen will not only not make them contenders, but it will stunt the development of Jefferson. I think they would have been better off trading Pierce and moving on. Oh well. At least Allen is able to pull off the impressive feat of playing with 3 NBA teams who have green and white as their colors.<br /><br />Milwaukee – Ji Jianlian – We need to get this guy a nickname soon so that (a) we can stop trying to figure out which of his names to call him or how to pronounce either and (b) get to him before Berman does a highlight package and calls him Yi “true Hollywood story” Jianlian. I feel for Milwaukie and do not believe Yi’s agent should be able to get away with their little blackmail game, but I would have avoided the mess and taken Brandon Wright who fits better on this team anyway. I hope Ji goes to Milwaukee to preserve the integrity of the draft, since I root for a small market team. But Milwaukee knew what they were doing and made this bed for themselves when a player that suits them better was on the board. They need someone to go inside and be able to finish inside, but doesn’t Yi basically do what Bogut and Charlie V already do?<br /><br />Minnesota – Corey Brewer – Easy call. He wasn’t supposed to slide this far. Great pick for them really as it gives them a good backcourt of the future in Foye (offense) and Brewer (defense) to build around along with whatever they can get for KG and Ricky Ricky before the trade deadline. Just make Phoenix trade Amare and be done with that mess.<br /><br />Charlotte – Traded to GS for the right to curse at JRich for taking so many ill-advised 3s until he gets injured 20 games into the season – Brandon Right – GS was pissed that the Bucks took Yi, who appeared built for Nellie ball, so they took the best prospect on the board and a guy ‘Sota could really use in their rebuilding plan should they finally decide to part with their franchise player. Interestingly, even though this is the best talent available, if this is not a trade piece, it is a questionable pick. He was the best talent on the board, but does he fit in Nellie’s system? Seems not. Also, with GS so close, why give up JRich (even though he’s not that great) who fits perfectly in their system? I don’t get it unless it all leads to a bigger trade later in the summer. Just a terrible trade for Charlotte. I get that they have to spend that cap money sometime, but on this guy? Still, Felton, JRich, G-Force, May and Okafor is no joke, so if that gets them to the playoffs (which it won’t ), then it’s not a terrible trade…I guess.<br /><br />Chicago – Joakim Noah – Just don’t like this dude. Don’t like his personality, his dancing, his hair or his game. Can’t shoot at all and should get shoved around plenty. Plus, Wallace becomes more and more untradeable by the minute and you can’t have both of those guys on the floor at the same time. Plus you already have a skinny, energy forward with Thomas. Should have traded this pick along with Noc in a sign and trade to Portland for Zach. Works better for both teams.<br /><br />Sacramento – Spencer Hawes – Sorry, but has “next white stiff center” written all over him. He’s actually looked pretty good in summer league, so maybe he’ll be better than I think, but I think he’s not going to help much now or later. People keep comparing him to Brad Miller, but Miller was a dominant player in college and Hawes was streaky at best. I think someone like Thornton, who could come in and give your fans something to cheer for now after Artest and Bibby are gone makes more sense.<br /><br />Atlanta – Acie Law – I like this pick. This kid is a killer. I think he will be Sam Cassel Redux. He also fits Atlanta perfectly because he’s a good enough scorer to play off the ball when JJ plays at the point. Good pick.<br /><br />Philly – Thaddeus Young – Supposed to be very talented. I don’t know too much about him. They seem to already have Carney and AI playing this position though, so I think I would have gone with Rodney Stuckey here as a scoring compliment to Dre Miller, but Young could prove to be good, so I can’t criticize it too much. Actually, yes I can. They shouldn’t have grabbed another 3.<br /><br />NO – Julian Wright – Great pick. If NO is healthy, they have Paul, West and Peja who can all score, so they don’t need a big time scorer. Wright is a great talent who is unselfish and a good passer. I think he fits the Diaw role for this team and helps right away.<br /><br />Clippers – Al Thornton – I would get this more if there were more Maggette trade rumors floating around, but I hear none. I think Thornton can come in and help right away off the bench, so I don’t have a problem with this pick. If it were up to me though I would have taken Crittenton who I think will end up being a steal for the Lakers (except that he won’t be allowed to develop there unless they trade Kobe). Forunately for the Clipps and their fans, they intend to sign the ghost of Steve Francis to save them at the PG position. Brand should start practicing now to not get the ball earlier than 22 seconds into the shot clock to approximate Stevie’s love for dribbling away the offense.<br /><br />Other first round picks I liked:<br /><br />Crittenton to LA – big guard, more ready now than people think because of ability to finish and score<br /><br />Fernandez to Portland – Manu with better hops. This guy is fearless and will be a Barbosa type headache off of Portland’s bench next season. <br /><br />Almond to Utah – They desperately need shooting and he is a good one. Makes sense to me even if they sign Mo Pete<br /><br />Tucker to Phoenix – I’m a big fan of guys that show they can really play even if a break down of their individual skills isn’t flattering. So, he’s not the greatest shooter or athlete, but this late in the draft, I think he was a steal. He just knows how to play basketball. He’s the opposite of a guy like Martel Webster. Webster has the talent to be the next Ray Allen, but has as yet not shown that he knows even how to be the next Allen Ray.<br /><br />Koponen to Portland – Universally loved by scouts. Good size, decent shooting, good vision and gets to develop in Europe for a couple years. KP learned well in San Antonio. Don’t forget this name.<br /><br />Second round picks that I liked:<br /><br />Glen Davis to Boston via trade – Fat players usually stay fat or get fatter, but something tells me this guy is going to make it work. Another guy that just flat knows how to get it done. I don’t care about his combine stats. I think he can help that team right now. He could be a poor man’s Charles Barkley with just the slightest amount of self discipline with the room service menu.<br /><br />Josh McRoberts to Portland – I know I’m singling out all of Portland’s picks like any homer, but this was a great draft and they deserve it. McRoberts was first round talent. He’s a facilitating forward that doesn’t need plays called for him to be effective. He can rebound, has good handles and is a great passer. Great fit for the team and it doesn’t hurt that he is buddies with Mr. Oden which should ease that transition as well. Inspired pick.<br /><br />Reyshawn Terry to Dallas via trade – overshadowed by the rest of NC’s impressive talent pool, but for this late, I think he has very good potential.<br /><br />Renaldas Seibutis to Dallas – Portland had this guy in and he tore up his work out. Everything I read tells me this guy will help Dallas after another year or two in Greece.<br /><br />Taurean Green to Portland – What you thought I would leave one out? Leader in a winning program. Used to being a distributor first because of the talent around him. Used to being in the spotlight. He has already dramatically outplayed the now overrated Sergio Rodriguez in Summer League. He will push Sergio for minutes this year unless they sign Blake.<br /><br />PORTLAND’S BIG TRADE<br /><br />I will admit I was angry and somewhat distraught when this trade was announced. First, it involved bringing Steve Francis to Portland. Second, it appeared that Portland just gave away a 23 and 10 guy and got nothing in return that will help a team in need of scoring, score. I still think Portland should have waited and tried to get more. I still think they gave Zach away for too little. I’m still bummed that’s all they got for their most valuable trade asset. But, as all of the pieces of the trade came to light, KP started looking smart again.<br /><br />It was a bad trade for Portland because they gave away too much scoring on a team that needs it without getting scoring back.<br /><br />It was a good trade for Portland because:<br /><br />1. They got rid of a head case that didn’t fit with this team and almost certainly would have corrupted some or all of the new players. Good riddance to the whole “Hoops Family.”<br /><br />2. They bought Stevie out so the only harm done from his arrival is to Paul Allen’s wallet and I couldn’t care less about that.<br /><br />3. Getting Stevie for Zach allowed them to shave off the last 30 mil of Zach’s contract leaving the Blazers lots of space at the exact time they will need to extend Roy and Aldridge. Brilliant.<br /><br />4. By trading Dickau and Freddie Jones who were not needed they got a trade exception and were able to get James Jones, whose shooting should be a real help and more importantly Phoenix’ pick which they turned into Rudy Fernandez who, I’m telling you, will be a monster.<br /><br />5. Channing Frye is not a bum. With Oden headed toward lots of foul trouble this year, Frye will be able to help at the 4 and 5. I think he can play with Joel or Lemarcus at either position. Though not well publicized, KP and Nate are building their ultimate team plan around an offense that relies on the bigs being able to beat their man down the floor and either get easy baskets in transition or get early position and avoid double teams. Consider, for example, why Zach gets doubled so much more than say Amare. It’s not only because the Suns have so many other weapons, it is also because Amare is rarely just standing on the block in the half-court set. He beats his man down and ends up single covered by a guard or small forward and gets easy baskets and trips to the FT line. This is what KP and Nate are aiming toward. Frye, like Aldridge, Oden and Outlaw, all fit this model.<br /><br />FREE AGENTS<br /><br />Now, real quick to the Free Agents –<br /><br />Rashard to Orlando – not a max player. He makes Orlando better, but so not worth it. Terrible contract they will regret immediately when they realize that he is only marginally better than Hedo. Plus he will not be enough to make up for the loss of Hill and Darko. Plus, they paid for an extra year at more than 20 mil for no reason. Orlando was going to get him for 5 and 90ish, but instead traded a 2nd round pick and helped Seattle with a trade exception for the rights to overpay for another year. If a trade like that went down in fantasy hoops, the commissioner would get death threats if he let it go through. I like the fit on the team and the aggressiveness of the Magic to get him, but not at that price.<br /><br />Kapono to the Raptors – You can’t have too many shooters, but this is the classic case of a guy looking better than he is because of his team. See, e.g., Tim Thomas with the Suns. Kapono robbed Toronto plain and simple. He is a poverty stricken man’s MoPete. Plus Toronto should have known Darko was going to be available and held out for him.<br /><br />Darko to Memphis – Good deal for both sides. Memphis only paid for 3 years at what appears to be a reasonable sum. They get a guy to play up front with Pao who is young and still getting better and Ivaroni should be a great coach for him.<br /><br />Mo Williams to….? – He should sign with Milwaukie over Miami. He’ll enjoy the extra cash and Milwaukie is better and soon to be lots better. Miami is a paper tiger. The Bucks are a healthy season from being the 3 or 4 seed in the East.<br /><br />Billups, Carter, Wallace to their old teams – all good moves for all sides. Those teams had to keep those guys or start over which they were not in a good position to do. NJ and Detroit overpaid, but they had to.<br /><br />Finally, I hope Portland re-signs Outlaw and concocts some kind of trade for a consistent scoring small forward. My dream is Prz, Webster and spare parts for Mike Miller and returning spare parts. But I would take Hedo (the rumor of the moment) if we didn’t over pay.<br /><br />Whew, glad to get that out of my system finally.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-52985405289982682342007-06-25T14:46:00.000-07:002007-06-25T14:47:52.169-07:00Radio Maxim and other things I dislikeI love sports and I’m not generally a cranky guy, but getting a fresh dose of my least favorite sports talk guy on this morning’s commute must have put me over the edge because I find myself itching to complain about a few things I hate in the world of sports at the moment. Not a complete list. Not in ranked order. Just a few things off the top of my head.<br /><br />The Herd - The afore mentioned disfavored sports talk guy is none other than Portland’s own Colin Cowherd. Actually I don’t think he’s from Portland, just made an idiot of himself here for a while before ESPN inexplicably picked him up. My dislike for him started when he began referring to himself as a local media icon. I think that’s kind of like being a genius in that if you have to tell people, chances are real good that you are not. The Herd does know football, I will give him that. He seems to have a very keen eye for who is legit on the gridiron and cuts through a lot of the nonsense that floats around from pundit to pundit. Plus he talks about it year ‘round which I appreciate. The problem is, that is all he knows about. He knows nothing about any other sport and so is left to try to do a mini-stand up routine about every sports headline, often doing little more than showing off his immense ignorance. If he were funny, that would almost be forgivable if it weren’t for the additional fact that he is often obnoxious just for the sake of being obnoxious. His rude and abrasive style is so obviously a gimmick that I tire of it in less time than it takes for him to dismiss anyone that disagrees with him. This morning he went off about how he has no use for the NBA (which I love) and is instead trying to embrace soccer. That’s like your personal chef telling you he is going to give up on choice cuts of Grade A premium beef in exchange for Spam. I know, I know, no one is making me listen and it’s not like I’m paying for it, but he is my one sports option on the commute, so if it isn’t Cowherd it is the latest remix of Akon’s continuing and mysteriously popular Chipmunks impression on pop stations or NPR where I’m at constant risk of a Frank DeFord interview and I just can’t take that.<br /><br />Steroids in baseball – I just don’t think it matters. I mean, they should have had testing and they should have it now, but I’m sick of hearing about it because I think it is a non-story. It wasn’t against the rules. The general term “steroids” now covers a pharmacy worth of different drugs each of which have a different desired effect and outcome. So, you never even really know what is being discussed. I mean even though we’ve heard about them a million times can you tell me the difference between the “clear” and the “cream”? Can you tell me whether either of them makes it easier to hit a baseball? There is no evidence I have seen that they make anyone a better baseball player and even if they do I don’t think the effect is dramatic enough to really be an issue for Baseball’s hallowed records. Look, I’m anti steroids, I just don’t want to keep hearing about them. It is depressing and largely irrelevant. Let’s move on already.<br /><br />Athlete Predictions – This week it was apparently news that the starting QB for the Detroit Lions (an irrelevant sports franchise) thinks his team is going to win more than 10 games next year. What??? That’s news? How? I mean, let’s do a survey of QBs around the league and see how many think their team is going to be above .500 next year? If any of them say, “no way, not us”, that guy should be canned immediately. Of course Kitna thinks they are going to win. Who freakin’ cares? Just ridiculous. All of these “stories” drive me crazy. Every time an athlete who is drilled constantly to be confident predicts his own or his team’s success in public we make a story out of it. I blame Namath of course. Isn’t the athlete guarantee of victory the dumbest thing in the history of dumb things? Does it suggest, he’s going to try extra hard so his team will win? Why wasn’t he already trying as hard as he could? Plus, what if he’s wrong? Is he going to refund my ticket, cable bill, DirecTV sports package? Of course not. So how is it a guarantee exactly? When a player thinks he’s going to win, it isn’t a story. It should be a story if some guy says he thinks his team has no shot.<br /><br />Radio Maxim – Here in Portland we have one sports talk radio station. For at least one hour in the afternoon, the hosts stop talking about sports and move to topics like who was the hottest sitcom mom of the ‘80s. Now maybe that’s a perfectly legitimate debate (no way Merrideth Baxter Berney doesn’t win), but if I want to hear about that topic, I’ll turn on VH1. If I want to hear about who’s the prettiest and what’s the best pickup line and who has the best embarrassing sex story, I will read Maxim. I don’t want my only radio sports information source to suddenly cut me off from sports so a couple juvenile sports guys can rant and rave about pop culture that I’m apparently supposed to care about just because I’m a red-blooded American male. I hate it. And everyone from Cowherd to Rome does this and I can take a little, but I wish the sports guys would stick to sports and not decide that because they know about one thing guys like, they clearly know about everything guys like. Absurd.<br /><br />Ok, I feel better now.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-36351254383513511512007-06-15T16:28:00.001-07:002007-06-15T16:28:50.096-07:00Too early to talk fantasy? NeverI love to make sports predictions and mouth off about what I think is going to happen for a player or team or anything else in the world of sports. I find that being right in that situation allows you lots of bragging rights and no one really holds you to it when you’re wrong. So far my favorite “got it right” was when I called a local sports talk station before the NBA draft last year in response to a local beat writer who said the Blazers should offer every player on their roster to get the first pick so they could take Adam Morrison. I called in and said Morrison had a ceiling of Mike Miller and probably wasn’t that good and that the best player in the draft was Brandon Roy and that if the Blazers moved up they should take Aldridge. They ripped me for that on the air, but I’ve been bragging about that ever since.<br /><br />But for every time like that when I called it right, there are 50 times when I was wrong. Truthfully, I follow sports fairly religiously now and that has greatly boosted my ability to call things right. Still, I’m haunted by one particular goof. The biggest Ryan Leaf call of my sports fan career is the cause for this article. It is none other than Mr. Tim Duncan. I thought he was going to be a bust. It sounds absurd now, but I honestly did. I watched him play in the ACC and he seemed soft. I just thought, this guy has the tools, but no heart and plus he can’t jump. I openly told people that he would be at the end of someone’s bench and never get off by the end of his first year. Hmmmm…guess I was a little off on that one.<br /><br />To compound my mistake I argued about it repeatedly with my friend John who got me involved in his fantasy basketball league. John took Duncan with the last pick of the first round his rookie year. I made fun of him for weeks until I finally had to eat so much crow I started sprouting feathers. Duncan is, of course, a great player and looking back I should have seen then what the rest of the world did. But even more surprising to me was that Duncan was immediately an impact fantasy player.<br /><br />I know we are months and months away from the start of the next NBA season and fantasy basketball drafts, but I’m still curious. Which of this year’s rookies will be worth drafting and how high will the first rookie go? Assuming you don’t play in a keeper league, do you take Oden or Durant in the first round? Second? Assume they go to Portland and Seattle as predicted. Then assume Seattle lets Rashard go. Both of those guys are getting lots of PT. I think both guys are impact fantasy players their first years, but I think Durant will put up the better numbers of the two. Still, I don’t see taking either of them before the 3rd round in an open draft with no keepers. Am I crazy? Should they even go that high? On the flip side, if they don’t go in the first round this year it could very well be the last year of their careers they aren’t lock first round picks.<br /><br />For what it’s worth, depending on where they go, here are the guys I think could make a fantasy impact as rookies: Oden, Durant, Thornton, Brewer, Green, Yi and Horford. It is really too early to make such predictions, but watching Duncan tear things up reminded me of that fantasy season when John crushed me on the back of his Duncan prophesy and I started thinking about fantasy hoops and how to avoid that happening again.<br /><br />I guess I could start by not being a freakin idiot.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-9661733692206506932007-06-13T17:13:00.001-07:002008-12-09T03:28:12.541-08:00Perfectly Suited<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuuI7gWwJkxAzZmrPFV69Lg2HyMwcFMC-Kf8eVyckntjf5KdDV0eG5Oh3OtUUpe2xEEYYB2bVa6PqV9JnH_ovb1Gfipa-Fx5pX0mWucAXVmP7-P9LLVGzOlnvh3tl4auym4y2/s1600-h/Nolan+in+suit.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075707757756450898" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuuI7gWwJkxAzZmrPFV69Lg2HyMwcFMC-Kf8eVyckntjf5KdDV0eG5Oh3OtUUpe2xEEYYB2bVa6PqV9JnH_ovb1Gfipa-Fx5pX0mWucAXVmP7-P9LLVGzOlnvh3tl4auym4y2/s400/Nolan+in+suit.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>FINALLY!!!! <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2903560">Coach Nolan can finally wear his suit</a>. Great decision by the NFL even if it did take too long to make. Heaven forbid someone show a little class and respect. Apparently the NFL would prefer that everyone dress in that awful cut up sweatshirt that the Pats' coach <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">embarrasses</span> himself in every week.<br /><br />I really couldn't like Nolan any more at this point.</div>Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-47325309007223544282007-06-13T15:30:00.000-07:002008-12-09T03:28:12.688-08:00On my mind...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVg-UUD0vBnw28_VMfpLKHkVCukV-lKuvg0lR44adFqzNP3r-gh3fBxSYEINDqMZUoPbntzI-bWl-f8uRaKAp4aorRNYLY_LWThG6v8AMK_rYkGfwJb62bQTI0ZxTA_-hFSop/s1600-h/greg-oden-8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075680669397715010" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVg-UUD0vBnw28_VMfpLKHkVCukV-lKuvg0lR44adFqzNP3r-gh3fBxSYEINDqMZUoPbntzI-bWl-f8uRaKAp4aorRNYLY_LWThG6v8AMK_rYkGfwJb62bQTI0ZxTA_-hFSop/s400/greg-oden-8.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Just some things in the sports world to get off my chest:<br /><br /><br /><ul><br /><li><br />This is a brutal time of year unless your baseball team is in first place. Mine (the Giants) are far from it. That means, since the NBA finals are all but over, I have to wait until August before there is something interesting going on in sports. Fortunately, this promises to be one of the most interesting and entertaining NBA offseasons in recent memory. Of course, that may only be for me and other Blazer fans, but still…. I love that everyone is talking about the Blazers these days. I couldn’t help thinking as I saw Oden at last night’s game, that Portland may be on its way to where Cleveland is now. Cleveland merchandise is in the top 10 for the NBA even though they are a relatively small market that the rest of the country usually doesn’t care too much about. I don’t expect Oden to have that kind of marketing power (though Durant would), but Portland is relevant again in hoops even before they draft and that’s a good time.</li><br /><li>Staying with the NBA for a bit, did you see Side Show Bob’s shot last night at the end of the game? The Cleveland Lebrons are down 2 with about 15 seconds left. LBJ dribbles into a double team and has to kick out FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF RECOVERING HIS DRIBBLE, (this play happens almost every game in the NBA where the star or PG loses his dribble in a place where the play just needs to start over and they do a quick exchange with another player to get their dribble back. Apparently Varajao is the only guy in the league that doesn’t get this. Instead of passing right back to Lebron or even calling time out, he decided he should try to take the best defender in the entire league off the dribble. To his credit, he did avoid a blocked shot by throwing the ball a good 3 feet away from the rim, but alas avoiding a swat does not net your team 2 points and the game was over. I didn’t think I would see a worse shot than Varajao’s late game 3 pointer earlier in the playoffs, but he managed to top it last night and between that and Parker’s brutal dagger 3, the Cavs’ season came to a close. How did Lebron not immediately go over and snap his neck?</li><br /><li><br />Also, Bowen obviously and I believe purposefully fouled Lebron in an attempt to keep LBJ from shooting a 3. Lebron got off a decent shot anyway and the foul was not called. My thoughts: First, no question at all that it was a foul. Can’t be debated. Second, if the foul had been called it would have been a non-shooting foul and would have essentially sealed the game for the Spurs. Third, it probably did affect Lebron’s shot as he was probably waiting for a whistle, but that’s on Lebron not the refs who made the right no call and thus gave Lebron a chance to win the game for his team. He just missed. Kind of like the 2 layups that rimmed out earlier. Part of what makes these finals so boring is that there are absolutely no subplots. Lebron isn’t choking or overcoming the odds. He’s just playing hard and it’s understandably not enough against a far superior team. SA is boring in a dominant sort of way with no one player standing out (though please stop the TP for MVP talk right now). Duncan is the MVP and there is no debate. Just ridiculous discussion. You really forget how good he is until you watch him play a full game and never be in the wrong place, never make the wrong play, never get in foul trouble, never let the refs or other team take him off his game. It is amazing. He may not even be human.</li><br /><li><br />No matter how good you were, wouldn’t you be embarrassed if you were being marketed with the slogan “we are all witnesses?” Wouldn’t you cringe when someone was calling you “King” when you have no MVPs or rings? I sure would be.</li><br /><li><br />Unless some terrible tragedy intervenes, I will be posting a running diary of the NBA draft on this blog on the 28th. I expect it to start with something like, “Well the Trailblazers one giant step toward the playoffs today when they broke the worst kept secret in the NBA and drafted Greg Oden with the number 1 pick. Oden immediately becomes the odds on favorite to retire as the greatest Blazer in history. ….oh and this just in, it appears that Kevin Pritchard has found pictures of the Sonics’ majority owner in compromising positions and in a related story has traded Zach Randolph to the Sonics for the number 2 pick and select, Mike Connely Jr…..just kidding, they take Durant.” I think that’s going to be how it plays out.</li><br /><li><br />I know it is lame to pat yourself on the back, but sometimes if you want something done you have to do it yourself. My secretary was good enough to remind me that right after the all-star game I told her that the Spurs would win the championship in 5 games over the Cavs. Looking now like I’ll be off by one game.</li><br /><li><br />I’m going to try to figure out a way to get to Vegas in mid July for the NBA summer league. Anyone want to join me?</li><br /><li><br />I’m opposed to all this “we have to fix the finals” talk. Last year the finals were compelling. Just an off year. Settle down. There are bigger issues facing the NBA like when are we going to start having H-O-R-S-E as a part of all-star weekend? Also, why are the finals stretched out over 6 months with 3 weeks between each game. Totally kills the drama.</li><br /><li><br />Tiger Woods is going to win the US open with a score of 1 under par and will win by 4-5 strokes.</li><br /><li><br />Man I hope Bonds breaks that stinkin record and retires this year followed by A-Rod convincing the union to allow him to take a pay cut and force a trade to the Giants.</li><br /><li><br />Also have to address the Blazer off season. Here is what I think they should do. KP, I hope you are reading this.<br />o Draft Oden and sleep like a baby knowing that you can not build any kind of team you want.<br />o Trade Jack and a second round pick for Atlanta’s number 3 pick. Draft Al Horford. I like Jack. I’m a fan and I think he is a legit starting PG in this league who has improved every year and will likely continue to improve. But I think he has taken all the trade talk and Sergio love too much to heart and I think he is a bit oversensitive and could hurt the chemistry of this team and since his trade value is pretty high right now, I would make this deal. I draft Horford because I think he is the 3rd best player available and I think he gives the Blazers and up and coming stud off the bench in the post who can play right away spelling Aldridge when Aldridge goes to the bench or spells Oden at the 5.<br />o Trade 2 of the remaining second round picks and cash to move back into the first round late to take Almond or Byars. You can’t have too many shooters and I like both of those guys.<br />o Sign Steve Blake to a modest FA contract.<br />o Re-sign Ime and Outlaw<br />o Trade Zach and Martel to Chicago for Nocioni P.J. Brown and Gordon. Maybe some other spare parts would be needed, but make this deal work. That would give the Blazers a starting lineup of Oden, Aldridge, Ime, Roy and Blake and a crunch time lineup of Oden, Aldridge, Nocioni, Roy and Gordon. That is a killer team. You also have Prz, Outlaw, P.J., Sergio and Almond off the bench. That’s a playoff team starting next year for the next 15 years.</li></ul>Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-44269907393943028902007-05-23T12:49:00.000-07:002008-12-09T03:28:12.831-08:00LOOK WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN, RIP CITY'S BACK, TELL A FRIEND<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKTvRKxy-mIn5WwoWkxFc3BsPjqgvBe4cH2p7pApoGBdijwNG7bqaxSe6Fr7O3b5dnRRrHh9i2kzCzygKhALz_v-JWspRKFWOaB4WtD5lTbEZxDAqH0f2JznH-uKvNJnZrzl-/s1600-h/greg_oden.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067845944016014850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKTvRKxy-mIn5WwoWkxFc3BsPjqgvBe4cH2p7pApoGBdijwNG7bqaxSe6Fr7O3b5dnRRrHh9i2kzCzygKhALz_v-JWspRKFWOaB4WtD5lTbEZxDAqH0f2JznH-uKvNJnZrzl-/s400/greg_oden.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Given the significance of this moment, I am way behind getting something posted. But I’m a family first kind of guy and as giddy as I am about the Blazers, that news paled in comparison to the news I got about my Dad yesterday. For those who don’t know, my Dad is fighting the return of a particularly nasty cancer. There is one treatment. It is a drug that either slows or stops the growth or is ineffective. We found out yesterday that preliminary results show that the drug is working. So, rather than watch the biggest draft of the last 20 years I spent the evening coaching my son’s T-Ball team and having dinner with my parents and siblings. It was hard to ignore the roughly 40 emails I got from friends about the draft, but in that context basketball is pretty meaningless. So, please excuse my tardiness in posting about yesterday’s lottery.<br /><br />But this is a sports blog, so let’s move on to my comments about yesterday’s improbable events.<br /><br />First, let me speak for reasonable, articulate Blazer fans everywhere when I say<br /><br />“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”<br /><br />I’m not really sure I can say it any better than that.<br /><br />So, there I am in the little neighborhood park by my house filling in for our coaches who came to the game late. It was a big game with the Cedar Mill Pirates for whom my son Gibson plays every infield position (there is no outfield) and is the team’s undisputed best hitter (in that he usually hits the ball instead of the T and often hits it past second base which is something like a 600 foot homerun in the MLB based on how frequently it occurs in this league), playing against the Cedar Mill Royals. The coaches were late, so I took the players through warm ups. I discovered that it is nearly impossible to check for draft updates on your blackberry while guarding your groin from the errant throws of 6 year olds warming up for a T-Ball game. So, finally, I put my blackberry away to focus on the task at hand.<br /><br />I had nearly no thought the Blazers would get a top 3 pick. I was just hoping the Blazers would not fall as low as 7. I made up my mind that Corey Brewer was the best possible scenario for the Blazers and was even concerned that he wouldn’t fall that far. I’ve also been hearing good things about Yi, the new Chinese player who seems to have a game that is modeled exactly after Dirk Nowitzki and I thought maybe he would fall to the Blazers.<br /><br />Even so, I knew that The Natural was going to represent the Blazers at the lottery, so I threw on my number 7 Roy t-shirt just as a show of support since I’m not a believer in luck or fate or whatever you want to call it. And of course I dreamed of the possibility of landing one of the top 2 picks, but they were only dreams.<br /><br />Then, after the first inning where both teams scored the same amount of runs as there are players on the team for the 42nd consecutive inning, I checked my blackberry again. There were 27 emails all from my sports fan buddies. The first several were agonizingly vague. They said things like “Oh my gosh!” and “Holy ____!!” People were claiming an inability to type or control their bodily functions, but they were not telling me why. I kept opening message after message until the real message became clear: THE BLAZERS GOT THE NUMBER 1 PICK.<br /><br />I did a double take. I checked more messages. I even emailed a few people back just to make sure they weren’t messing with me. Then I just stood stunned for what seemed like an hour. A voice inside my head started repeating “are you ready?” I wasn’t sure how to answer. Am I ready to have the best center prospect since Shaq on my team? Am I ready to be cheering on a playoff contender? Am I ready for my favorite team to be relevant again? The question kept getting louder and louder until finally it was accompanied by the face of a bewildered shouting opposing coach yelling “coach are you ready???”<br /><br />Oh, yeah, I’m in the middle of T-ball.<br /><br />I stayed up watching every sports show I could to try to make up for missing the biggest moment in franchise history since at least their trip to the NBA finals if not their championship in 77. Now that it is starting to sink in, here are my thoughts in no particular order:<br /><br />I think you have to take Oden – When Kobe and Shaq were headed for divorce, they started a great debate. Who would you rather build your team around? Shaq is a unique dominant force. Kobe is a hyper-skilled scorer with apparently no ceiling. Both play to win and both have their flaws. In my experience, the common answer outside of LA where people are still drunk on the Kobe Kool-aid, was that if they are both the same age, you take Shaq. Why? Because as skilled as Kobe is, big guys who dominate are extremely rare and two-guards that score in bunches are much less rare.<br /><br />I agree with that take and would add something else. The best, most consistent basketball teams play the game inside-out rather than outside-in. There are exceptions to that general rule, but in general, the game is better when you can have your first option be close to the basket and allow the perimeter players to play off that rather than the other way around. Something tells me, Chicago Bulls fans will have my back on that one as would anyone who has to play the Spurs. You will just usually be better if your top scorer shoots the high percentage that comes with point-blank shots than if your top scorer is a volume shooting guard who shoots in the 30s.<br /><br />I’ve already heard comparisons between Oden and Durant to the Okafor/Howard (not in the same league) draft when it could have gone either way and lots of comparisons here in Portland to the Bowie/Jordan fiasco. But this is no Bowie/Jordan. If you are going to go back to that draft, you should be asking Hakeem or Jordan. Even with it being Jordan, that is still a tougher question. Ha made the Rockets contenders and brought them some jewelry as well, but Jordan was the best ever, a marketing freak and got 6 rings for the good folks of Chicago. Still, I think there will never be another Jordan and the closer comparison is Kobe and Shaq. Who do you start with if they are both the same age? Even putting aside my hatred for Kobe, I would still take Shaq. And, likewise, I think you have to take Oden over Durant.<br /><br />I believe Durant could be the better player. He will certainly be the better scorer and could be a one of a kind franchise player mixing the best of Kobe and KG in an unstoppable combination. Of course, he could also be a more athletic version of Dirk with the same defensive liabilities and could fall in love with his jumper so much that he never becomes more than Rashard Lewis. I really doubt it, but it is possible. To be honest, especially living with the whole “passed on Jordan” thing, I am terrified to pass on Durant. But I think Oden is the better pick. Here’s why:<br /><br />a. He could be the best true center since Shaq and centers like that come along once every 20 years or so. Great scoring wing players come along in some form just about every year. Maybe not like Durant, but still.<br /><br />b. Portland needs a 5 more than they need a 3. The current team and what is out there in the league will allow Portland to cover the 3 spot much easier than they can the 5 especially if Przybilla doesn’t awaken from his coma.<br /><br />c. Personally, I think Oden is going to be better. I have concerns about health, but I think he is going to be dominant offensively when he gets his wrist all the way back and is already a much better defensive player. You can build any kind of lineup you want around a player like that. Not as much with Durant.<br /><br />Couldn’t be happier for the Celtics and Bucks – I don’t hate those teams. In fact I grew up loving Bird more than anything else about basketball and so always rooted for the Celts. But that tank fest in Milwaukie and the utter incompetence of the Celtics left them undeserving. Glad the basketball gods agreed. Though maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh. After all, it was the Celtics that handed the Blazers The Natural.<br /><br />Goodbye Zebo, hello Rashard – One of the reasons the Blazers will draft Oden is Nate’s love of Rashard Lewis. He will be the number one off season priority and that means you have to move Zach. Look for a sign and trade that will send Zach to a third team (Chicago? Dallas? Minnesota? NY?) and bring Lewis to Portland. Lewis and Durant play the same position and in fact are going to look a lot like the same player next year. With Seattle getting the Durant pick, that will only make this scenario more likely. Pencil Roy, Aldridge, Lewis and Oden into the starting 5 next year right now.<br /><br />Season tickets are just too expensive – I bragged about how I would be buying tickets if the Blazers got the first pick. Ummm…well…now that it comes right down to it, as much as I would like to be at every game next year, they are still really expensive and my entertainment dollars are already spent on a ridiculous TV and the NBA package. I’m still trying to work something out, but it looks dicey at the moment.<br /><br />My who they should take top 8 mock draft. I don’t have inside info to tell you what teams will likely do, so I’m giving you what the top 8 teams in the draft SHOULD do with their picks.<br /><br />Blazers – Draft Oden, print playoff tickets and look forward to another championship in the next 5 years.<br /><br />Seattle – Draft Durant and make him the center of rebuilding in Oklahoma City.<br /><br />Atlanta – Trade this pick – They need a PG, but not bad enough to reach this far on Connely Jr. That is just silly. He should be decent and might even be the next TJ Ford, but there are some really good players to be taken in this spot. I say they trade what should be a very valuable pick to get a PG. In fact, Portland wouldn’t be a bad partner. I hear that Atlanta likes Jack and the Blazers may try to move him and bring back Blake to play some point with Sergio when Roy isn’t handling those duties. Trade this pick to the Blazers for Jack and Webster or some other spare parts. The Blazers can then take Brewer and be shamelessly stacked with young talent.<br /><br />Memphis – Sucks to be Memphis. I say you take Yi here. Gasol and Yi both come from the international game and I bet they could both play a little 4 and 5 in the new more uptempo NBA. I’m tempted to say Horford, but from the video I’ve seen of Yi, I think he could be something special.<br /><br />Boston – Wow, did they ever get hit hard. How does all that tanking feel now? I love it. Just love it. Anyway, they still make out alright because they can take Brandon Wright. Still raw, but could fit well with Jefferson especially if they can go small.<br /><br />Bucks – Did I mention I love what happened to the teams that tanked? Under this scenario they luck out and still get Al Horford. They can go huge and play Charlie at the 3 or just add depth. I know they need a 3 more than a 4, but you can’t pass on Horford at this point especially for guys who are less a sure thing like Julian Wright or Jeff Green<br /><br />Timberwolves – This is the worst spot in the draft. Everyone on this list with the possible exception of Brewer could have been in the mix for top pick in some of the last several years. I don’t think there is another guy here that you can say that about. I think they should look for a 3 here and go with Jeff Green. I can totally see them reaching on one of the centers here, but I think the talent of Green suits them better after they move KG which they have to do.<br /><br />Charlotte – I could see them taking Noah, but if you’ve read this blog before you know how I feel about him. I think Thornton is the guy here. Don’t get caught up in need when your team is this bad. Just go with a guy that can help you right now. Thornton is the best talent on the board for my money.<br /><br />Now what do the Blazers do – Trade Zach. Sign Lewis. Buy out Darius. Trade Jack and Martel for depth at the 3 and/or 1. I love Jack, so that is hard for me to say, but I get the idea, that he doesn’t mesh with Nate. Wake up Joel. Bring the other Joel over from England. Kick Magloire to the curb. Get a shooter. It’s as simple as that.<br /><br />One more note before signing off. The Blazers will make the playoffs next year. Mark it down.</div>Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-44151277095346322122007-05-22T15:30:00.000-07:002007-05-22T15:34:04.738-07:00Big money, no whammies, big money, no whammies.....HUGE day in the NBA today. If you are lucky, every 3 or 4 years the top pick in the draft is a player who can single handedly remake his team’s fortunes and change the landscape of the NBA. That’s if you are lucky. This year, we have the momentous blessing of 2 such players. Greg Oden and Kevin Durant will go 1 and 2 (probably in that order) in this year’s NBA draft and the lottery which will determine which lucky franchise gets one of those guys takes place tonight. Hopefully I will scrape up the time to do a recap and some analysis of who should go where later this week, but for now, here is how I would order the teams if I were in charge. Or maybe this is how I would rank the lottery teams from teams I would most like to have the top pick down to the least.<br /><br />1. Portland….of course. With the top pick, they have to grab Oden. Both Oden and Durant fit a need and Durant may be the better player, but you don’t get size, strength, skill and ability in the combination you find them in Oden very often. Could end up being the closest thing to Shaq we’ve seen since the Diesel was breaking backboards instead of scales.<br /><br />2. Philly – They should have folded up the tent when they traded AI and started playing for ping-pong balls and tanking as much as possible, right? Well, they didn’t. The new AI led them to some astonishingly good play in the later part of the season and Iggy and Dre Miller deserve some love. No tanking, good guys on the team, interesting collection of players, finally unloaded Iverson so they can build a winner, I’d like to see them get rewarded for that.<br /><br />3. Wolves – I want them to get a high enough pick that they feel comfortable shopping KG. No one in this draft outside the top 2 could really help KG and I don’t want him to get help, I want him out. Minny had their turn and they botched it royally. Now they should have to go it without him and let KG remind everyone that he’s one of the best players in the league again for some other team.<br /><br />4. Bulls – Love to see them stick it to NY with a nice high pick and they could be instrumental in huge trades and more shake up around the NBA, so them getting another good asset would be fun.<br /><br />5. Hornets – I just like them. I love Paul, I love the move to get Chandler. I love that instead of just collecting cap space, they actually tried to collect players. Afterall, no one ever won a game with cap space. Give them a good pick and year of health and they are a formidable team.<br /><br />6. Phoenix – Any team who plays like that should be rewarded. It doesn’t win in the playoffs, but it sure is pleasing on the eye. Working against them is the disgraceful handling of the draft last year, but I still like them.<br /><br />7. Sonics – So many needs, so many bad centers. I want to make sure they are high enough that they are able to draft another huge stiff in the making like maybe Grey or Hibbert.<br /><br />8. Bobcats – they are just neutral. I just don’t care enough about them to wish them well or ill.<br /><br />9. Memphis – Kind of like the Bobcats, I just don’t care that much. That said, I think this team is interesting because I thought holding on to Gasol in a lost year was the right move and adding someone decent could make them a playoff team again.<br /><br />10. Sacramento – they are a mess. They don’t deserve anyone good<br /><br />11. Clippers – they don’t deserve a higher pick after ridiculously benching Sam I Am this season in one of the worst coaching moves of the year.<br /><br />12. Hawks – The ultimate mess (or is that the Sonics). We need to keep them out of the top of the draft to avoid them taking Brewer or Green or some other long, athletic small forward. That said, wouldn’t they be much more entertaining (and probably even better) if they just played Josh Smith at the 5 and went Warrior style with JJ, Williams, Smith, Childress and someone like Jeff Green?<br /><br />13. Boston – Ainge and Doc are idiots. Just morons. I don’t know how else to say it. I would hate to see them get bailed out.<br /><br />14. Bucks – They cheated their fans with their tanking. They ruined fantasy seasons the same way. They shouldn’t even get a first round pick this year.<br /><br />Ok, that’s all for now. There is just over a 5% chance that the Blazers could go into next year with Oden, Aldridge, Rashard Lewis, The Natural and J Jack starting and leading them back to the playoffs. It could happen.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-21232759640660182942007-05-04T09:55:00.000-07:002007-05-04T09:57:08.212-07:00Kobe is the new IversonNow that the Lakers have been ousted and that ousting has been inevitable for several days now, you have already been seeing a lot written about what they should do now. Suddenly lots of people who were saying the Lakers would be crazy to trade away a great prospect center like Bynum for a veteran near the end of their career like Kidd are now changing their tune. When Bynum was one of the early surprises of the season and putting up good numbers everyone (the Lakers included apparently) thought he was the one guy they had to hold onto. Now everyone is killing the Lakers for not giving Kobe help. The real problem? Before you can really help someone, they have to (a) realize they need it and (b) actually want it.<br /><br />Kobe does niether.<br /><br />As a result, I believe Kobe’s Lakers are about to look very much like Iverson’s Sixers. Chad Ford on ESPN.com said that the Lakers could end up looking like the T Wolves, but I think the Sixers are a much better comparison. Two things conspired against Philly putting a decent team together while AI was there and in his prime. First was terrible management. Bad draft picks, bad free agent contracts, bad coaching decisions, bad employee relations. The track record of management in the AI era was….well…bad.<br /><br />The second factor, however, is even more important. Iverson was not someone you could build a contender around. I love Iverson’s heart, competitive drive and awesome skill set. But he is a great scorer, not a great player. He has the skills to be a great player, one of the greatest probably, but his consistent inability to make his teammates better keeps him from the label of “great” in my mind unless you are just talking about his scoring. I argue about this with my buddy Adam who writes great stuff over at <a href="http://www.wisinsider.blogspot.com/">www.wisinsider.blogspot.com</a> all the time, and Adam is a smart guy, but he’s just wrong about this one (of course since I think I’m the only one that thinks this, odds are probably in his favor, but I’m going to ignore that). <br /><br />The real problem with Iverson from a franchise perspective is he can’t be the centerpiece. The same is true for Kobe. Here’s why:<br /><br />1. During his prime in Philly he was the alpha dog. No way would he have modified his game to suit another dominant player or defer to that player. Who knows what might have been if Shaq had been brought in, but other than that, Iverson never would have deferred. As a consequence, that would have either alienated the other star or would have still left AI as the go to guy and that would have been trouble. Duncan defers to Parker and Manu at times. Shaq defers to Wade. Sometimes, the best player on the team, needs to defer to the other star for that star to be effective. No way AI would have done this unless the other star was a bonafide superstar already established and how many guys like that are there that are on the trading block?<br /><br />2. Iverson ruins his help – I know the list of guys who were supposed to be the wing man for AI is not particularly distinguished. Still DC, Hughes, Van Horn, Stackhouse and Glen Robinson all played the worst ball of their career with Iverson. Iverson dominates the ball and the thing that makes him great (his belief in himself) is the thing that holds him back because he won’t allow the players around him to develop or excel.<br /><br />3. Iverson dominates the ball – he over dribbles, refuses to play within an offense and is a classic volume shooter. Sure he scores 30 and that’s impressive especially given his size, but he has to take a ton of shots to get there….shots that his teammates aren’t getting to take.<br /><br />4. He’s a coach killer. He is such a strong personality and so beloved by fans and makes himself so necessary to the team (in appearance) that he is not required to play in an offense and will, knowingly or not, completely undermine a coach to the rest of the team.<br /><br />All of those things led to disaster in Philly. As I mentioned, management was terrible and that contributed as well, but even the proven champion builders would have had a nearly impossible time building a contender there. Iverson wouldn’t allow it even though it is truly what he wanted the most.<br /><br />The comparisons with Kobe in LA are pretty easy to spot for anyone who follows the NBA and isn’t drunk on Kobe Kool-Aid. Kobe suffers from the four problems I listed above every bit as much as Iverson and maybe even more in some ways. I mean, at least Iverson is driven by a will to win. I believe Kobe is driven by a will to be seen as the best. That is a huge difference and is reflected in their play and attitude. And that difference only amplifies the problems listed above.<br /><br />So, where does that leave LA? Well, where did it leave Philly? It left them years of frustration as they tried combination after combination of players trying to find one that could play and win with Iverson. They never found it, because AI wouldn’t let them (and because they couldn’t find wood in a forest). I think LA is headed in the same direction. There are only 4 things that will keep LA from reaching the depths that Philly did with AI. It will take some combination of all 4 to ever see LA a contender again with Kobe on the team.<br /><br />1. LA is not Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a great city, but if you were a young famous millionaire who makes their money as a professional entertainer, do you go to the land of the sun and beautiful people, where Hollywood beckons and stars are seen in every trendy café? Or do you go to the historically rich, cold and blustery city in NY’s shadow where you can play for some of the most passionate, but also lamest fans in sports? You may like the snow and the old world American charm, but most freshly minted young rich hoop stars are going to like LA. That gives la la land a significant recruiting advantage when trying to find stars to come play with Kobe.<br /><br />2. Kobe has even better skills than Iverson. He’s a better shooter, better scorer and even more clutch. This means that even if he remains a one-man show as I predict, that one man show should still win more games than AI did as a Sixer. It’s not enough to make them a contender, but does mean less additional talent is needed.<br /><br />3. The NBA will protect the Lakers. They need them. The biggest market, the glamour franchise. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but the NBA will start helping the Lakers in any way possible if it really starts to go into the tank. Not sure what form that takes, but it’s real.<br /><br />4. The T-Mac factor. T-Mac got it this year. He is a completely different player. I have killed him in this post before for being selfish and he does have a terrible history of selfish play, including his shameful behavior in Orlando. That said, Van Gundy or something finally got through to him this year. He has always been one of the most skilled players and best scorers in the league. But this year he finally seems to get that his team has a better chance of winning if he (a) defers some to that 7’6” giant in the paint and (b) expends considerable effort making plays for his teammates (who aren’t very good by the way except for Battier). This led to astonishing feats like his 16 assist performance in the playoffs. Even if Houston doesn’t win, this is a huge development for TMac and the Rockets and has made me a Rockets fan for now.<br /><br />Well, if T-Mac can turn himself around and start playing the right way, then so can Kobe. Kobe has 3 rings so he may be even more entrenched in his selfish ways, but I think there is hope. Kobe can be a tremendous passer and playmaker and for 2 games in last year’s playoffs against the Suns, he showed that off to great success. But he lapsed back into his usual style and sunk the team. Maybe Kobe will figure it out. He needs to if the Lakers are to have any hope.<br />The sad reality of all this is that the Lakers would be better off trading Kobe. I know that sounds crazy, but it gives them the best chance to rebuild. Kobe could keep them in the first round of the playoffs for as long as he’s healthy, but probably will never lead them past that. It is a sad waste of talent, but they should trade him and trade him now when they could get anything they wanted for him. They won’t of course and since I’m a Blazer fan, that is just fine with me.<br /><br />LA, congratulations, you are the new Philadelphia.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-17284153938551758882007-04-23T14:52:00.000-07:002007-04-23T14:55:01.984-07:00Playoff ReflectionsThought I would take a minute and pass on some stream of consciousness thoughts about the first weekend of the NBA playoffs. It was a great hoops weekend for me in that I actually got to watch quite a bit of hoops. Thanks to my lovely wife for putting up with that. If you haven't done so already, scroll down and check out my playoff predictions. I'm already looking pretty dumb. Good times.<br /><br />Detroit v. Orlando – Orlando’s just not ready. Detroit should absolutely sweep. No news there, but it was even more obvious than I expected. Detroit showed little to know weaknesses, though I still think they will against better teams, and Orlando just doesn’t have a legit number 1 or number 2 option on offense. Howard is a beast, but he is not a go to scorer. Great rebounder, decent defender and very limited offensively. And he’s a disaster when Detroit slows the game down. Bigger mystery though is what happened to Jameer Nelson this year? This was to be his year. He came on strong at the end of last year and then stunk up the joint this year. I ask now because Orlando could really use some scoring from him right now. I know Detroit didn’t blow them out, but that’s not their style. In just about every game, the Pistons get up by about 10 and hold that lead for the entire game and then either push it to 15 or see if get cut to 5 in the final minute depending on the quality of the opponent or how hard they are playing. That might lead to a couple losses against Cleveland or Chicago, but not Orlando. I hereby declare this the most boring series and I will likely not watch more than 5 minutes combined the rest of the way.<br /><br />Cleveland v. Washington – I said Cleveland in 5 and that’s looking like I was being a bit generous to the Wiz. Bron looked fiery and it was a huge deal that Hughes stepped up. Still, the Cavs take games off. If they do sweep Washington, it will be a bigger statement about this team than people realize. This was the only game I didn’t see any part of this weekend and I will only watch this one if completely convenient and that’s just for LBJ.<br /><br />Toronto v. NJ – Fun, fun hoops to watch. Love the Raps style. Love Bosh. Still love watching Kidd and VC on offense. Gotta say, first game played out like I thought the whole series would. NJ’s big 3 and experience are just too much…this year. Sucks for the Raps that they get stuck on NBA TV tomorrow night. Less for me, since I get NBA TV, but a lot of people don’t. If you haven’t seen them, got to a sports bar and check ‘em out at least for a game. They are better than you think. …just not good enough.<br /><br />Miami v. Chicago – I may get to have an I told you so moment here. Miami should be worried. I meant to do my list of players I thought would break out this year in the playoffs mostly so I could talk about Deng, but didn’t get to it and now it seems pretty obvious. Still, I wasn’t surprised at the game at all. Here’s the deal. Miami is in serious trouble. D Wade has to be 30+ a night D Wade for them to win and he is a shadow of the player he was last year. He still has the speed, vision, handle, to be a great playmaker, but doesn’t have enough finishers for him to be limited to that role. I think this one is over.<br /><br />Mavs v. GS – I’m shocked. Stunned. I could not believe what I was watching. Would the real Dallas Mavericks please stand up? Please stand up. Please stand up. What was that? Avery apparently missed the memo that goes out to everyone related to sports explaining how things work when you have the better team. When you have two teams and one team can only win if they play their style and they are the lesser team, the better team forces the lesser team to play its way and proves its dominance and also beats the pants off the lesser team. I mean, we all know this right? The Suns didn’t slow it down against LA. The Spurs didn’t try to outrun Denver (of course they also didn’t try to defend Denver, but that’s another story). So, why, why, why did the Mavs try to play Nellie ball? The Warriors can only play running all their gunners at once playing at a break neck pace. They don’t care about turnovers or giving up layups, they just want to run and shoot and shoot some more. Their players are stat hogs that need the ball in their hands and don’t have anything like the skill or patience needed to win in a walk it up/half court game.<br /><br />I predicted the Mavs would cruise because I saw the Warriors play against a depleted Blazers team and they still couldn’t stop the likes of Martel Webster or Travis Outlaw. They make absolutely no attempt to defend the rim. None. Beat your man, get a layup. It is that easy. I figured a good veteran team like the Mavs would be able to take advantage of the haphazard play of the Warriors, slow them down, take advantage of their size and impose their will on the young undisciplined, inexperienced 8th seed.<br /><br />So, after coaching pretty dang good in last year’s playoffs, Avery Johnson lost his mind. He changed his lineup to go small even though he is coaching the winningest team in the league. Then the Mavs pushed the ball even harder and at times much more recklessly than the Warriors. Guys were pulling up for jumpers in the 2 on 4 fast break for crying out loud. Not surprisingly, Devin Harris had a great game playing in this style since it fits his game perfectly. The other Mavs?...ummm…not so much. Why no Dirk on the low block? Ever? Why keep the pace so fast when you know that is the only way your opponent can survive? Why play 4 guards at a time when your opponent does that with bigger, better guards? It was almost like Avery wanted to show his old mentor, “see, anything you can do I can do faster and uglier with more unforced errors.” I’m bewildered. If the next game doesn’t see the Mavs slow down the game and try to play bigger, they could lose this series. Astonishing. If they lose, they should take back Avery’s coach of the year award and prohibit this year’s MVP from going to Dirk.<br /><br />Phoenix v. LA – LA played them tough when Kobe couldn’t miss in the first half. And then, (stop me if you’ve heard this one), when Kobe inevitably cooled some, no one else was in the flow. Luke Walton and Odom seemed to have some pretty good matchups. To bad they can’t get the ball out number 24’s hands. You watch Wade and LBJ and especially T-Mac (this year) and even Iverson a little, and they are setting up their teammates. They start the game as the playmaker to get everyone else involved. Occasionally when they are feeling it, they go on a run in the first quarter, but it’s usually because they are hitting an insanely high percentage or the offense is stagnant, rather than them putting up tons of shots. Not Kobe though. He didn’t get his first assist against run and gun, play no D Phoenix until 6 minutes to go in the 3rd. For a guy who touches the ball on every possession and has the skills he has, he should be ashamed of himself.<br /><br />That said, Phoenix might want to consider at least one play where they try to throw it into the post. Amare looked lost with his back to the basket. Is Diaw, really the only guy who can catch and score in the post? That could be a very bad sign in the series to come.<br /><br />SA v. Denver – SA looks old. Manu especially just doesn’t seem to have it any more and Bowen and Finley look completely done. That leaves the Spurs razor thin and much too dependent on Parker and Duncan. I think this game is a bit of a fluke since SA missed so many shots they will normally make, but still. That was the kind of game they used to come back and steal in the final minutes. Give Denver credit. AI and Melo played well and played well together and for most of the game Nene outplayed the best power forward in the game. Next game is an absolute must win for the Spurs. Look for Duncan to get 30+.<br /><br />Houston v. Utah – this is going to be a good series. Houston looked like the better team and I do think they will win, but these teams look fairly evenly matched and if Utah can get some offense from someone other than Boozer, they will make this a long series.<br /><br />Some Blazer notes:<br /><br /> --Portland won the coin flip with the Wolves for draft position. In this draft with some very good players in the top 6-7, that could be a huge coin flip.<br /><br /> --Staying with Portland, word is they are making Rashard Lewis their number 1 offseason priority. There is even talk of Pritchard and Nate showing up in Seattle at Midnight the day FA season opens. With ‘shard seeking max dollars (he is just not a max guy, I’m sorry), they would have to trade Zach. A swap seems unlikely so a third team would have to get involved. I hope they know what they are doing. I like Lewis alright and Nate loves him which I take very seriously, but that means Aldridge has to be and stay healthy and take a step forward or this team takes a step back next year. Still, replace Zach with Lewis, count on Aldridge stepping up, get a versatile stopper in the draft like Brewer and things could be looking good next year.<br /><br /> --Of course, if they think they can get Lewis, do the Blazers still draft a 3? If thy get a higher spot than they have, they may want to hope for a Horford or Wright. If they think Zach is gone, does that make Noah an even greater possibility. Nooooooooooo.<br /><br /> --Word out of Blazers HQ is also that Martel may have played his last game in a Blazer uni. I’m not surprised. Nate has been begging him to assert himself all year and given him lots of chances. It hasn’t happened. He’s also a bit of a loner and doesn’t seem to fit in on what is becoming a pretty close knit team. I say, trade him now while there is enough unknown for his stock to be high. He has a bunch of talent, but he may not be ready to show it, at least not in Portland.<br /><br /> --Telfair just got picked up on gun charges. Shocker. We made a promise to take a thug 10 picks too high at least and then made him the reason we didn’t go after Chris Paul. Brilliant!!!<br /><br />Ok, that’s all for now. <br /><br />PS., don’t go to sleep on the SF Giants this year. Their pitching is great and as the weather gets better and the bats heat up, they could make a hard run at mediocre.Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-21543964446622378592007-04-20T17:05:00.000-07:002007-04-20T17:07:18.202-07:00NBA Playoffs and AwardsJust so I can say I knew it all along, here are my predictions for the NBA playoffs:<br /><br />WEST<br /><br />Round 1<br /><br />Dallas v. GS – Dallas in 5. GS will get hot and beat them in one game, but their D is so bad, that will be all.<br /><br />Phoenix v. LA – Phoenix in 6. LA is a mess since they went back to relying on Kobe to score all the teams’ points and the rest of the team are just the only ones in the arena with a better view than Jack. Still Phoenix plays such bad D and plays at such a consistent fast pace that the Lakers will be able to hang around a few games and even take a couple. By the way, anyone arguing Kobe is the MVP is right out of their mind. The league MVP doesn’t allow his team to back into the playoffs with a sub-.500 record after the all-star break and with the team playing its worst when he plays his best. Enough already.<br /><br />SA v. Denver – Spurs in 5 – Karl, AI and Melo against Pop, Parker, Manu and TD? Not even close. I don’t care how “hot” or “dangerous” the Nugs are. The only parts of the game they will dominate in is turnovers and technical fouls.<br /><br />Houston v. Utah – Houston in 7 – This one is almost too tough to call. But Utah seems more capable of absolutely tanking and they have absolutely no answer at all for Yao or T-Mac. Also, here’s where that Battier trade starts looking like pure genius.<br /><br />Round 2<br /><br />Dallas v. Houston – Dallas in 6 – Tough series, but the breaks will favor the better team and by then T-Back will have some kind of health issue.<br /><br />Phoenix v. SA – Phx in 7. I see this going down to the wire with the difference in the end being age and conditioning. It will take all 7 games, but Phoenix will outrun them. Either way, I think the Western and NBA champions will come out of this matchup no matter who wins.<br /><br />Round 3<br /><br />Phx v. Dallas – Phx in 7 – this has the makings of a classic. I know this isn’t real technical, but I just don’t trust Dallas. Phoenix has more weapons.<br /><br />EAST<br /><br />Detroit v. Orlando – Detroit in 4. Detroit is a machine and doesn’t take games off in the playoffs. They just never look like they aren’t in complete control of the game.<br /><br />Cleveland v. Wizards – Cleveland in 5. What a gift for the Cavs. I actually think Washington might win one in Cleveland. I fully expect the young cocky Cavs led by a young cocky LBJ to take Washington very very lightly. And that’s understandable with no Gilbert, but it will result in a home loss that freaks everyone out and gets everyone piling on Lebron only to have him come out like an caged animal for the rest of the series and take care of business.<br /><br />Toronto v. NJ – NJ in 7 – NJ barely escapes on the experience of their big 3. Bosh will wake up the whole basketball world and remind them that the best young big in the game might very well reside in Canada, but in the end their defense and erratic play will give in to some clutch shots and NJ will win. That said, this may be the toughest matchup to call. I could see Toronto winning it too and will be rooting for them.<br /><br />Chicago v. Miami – Chicago in 6. Chicago is not that good, but D Wade is playing on guts alone. His body will not hold up to the punishment and Miami is not even a playoff contender without Wade. If by some miracle, Wade is actually 90% healthy and stays that way, it will be Miami in 6 because Chicago can’t score enough.<br /><br />Round 2<br /><br />Detroit v. Chicago – Chicago in 7. This series could flirt with records for lowest points scored. Detroit is a machine as noted earlier, but I think Chicago has the better players and will have huge Mo after beating Miami.<br /><br />Cleveland v. NJ – Cleveland in 7. Two flawed teams, but NJ has zero interior defense and Lebron will be able to absolutely dominate.<br /><br />Round 3<br /><br />Chicago v. Cleveland – Cleveland in 6. Cleveland gets rolling. Chicago stops scoring altogether. LBJ is getting overpraised just as much as he was overcriticized earlier in the year.<br /><br />NBA Finals<br /><br />Cleveland v. Phoenix – Phoenix in 5 – LBJ goes off one game and gets the W. And that’s it. The east without Miami at full strength is sooooo much worse than the west, the outcome won’t change here whether the West sends Dallas, SA or Phoenix. Cleveland’s only hope is that a more vulnerable team like Houston or Utah get hot and survive the West. The Eastern teams could (probably wouldn’t, but could) beat those teams.<br /><br />Phoenix will win and people will be making fun of the people that voted Dirk MVP over Nash.<br /><br />My Reg Season Award votes:<br /><br />MIP – Lots of good candidates, but I’m going with Kevin Martin over Biedrins.<br /><br />6th Man – Barbosa over Manu, even if Manu is eligible.<br /><br />MVP – Nash – Listen, the point is to be good and make your team good. that’s the goal of every player. The player that does those two things the best in combination is the MVP. It doesn’t matter that he can’t play D. Neither can Dirk by the way. It only matters that he is a one of a kind player that improves his team’s ability to win more than any other player in the league. He may not be in the category as the others who have won 3 MVPs, but that’s not a reason not vote for the best candidate.<br /><br />ROY – Hmmm…let’s see…that’s a tough one…Umm…guess I’ll have to go with Brandon “The Natural” Roy. One year in the league and they already named the award after him (obligatory name/award reference). By the way, his rookie numbers are nearly identical to Dwayne Wade’s. I’m just saying….Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27950661.post-83428745764719897972007-04-13T16:26:00.000-07:002007-04-13T16:28:30.233-07:00Still No NoahThis is the continuation of an email discussion on the NBA draft. Scroll down to the beginning post entitled "No Noah" and read that first.<br /><br />Here is my reply to Adam's response:<br /><br />KP - I'm completely convinced Pritchard was the brains behind last year's brilliant draft, so I think the Blazers are in good hands. I also completely agree about Roy and Brewer, so I'll comment on one other thing from your first response. If the Blazers keep Randolph, and barring injury, they will make the playoffs next year regardless of who they draft. Now if they get it right and get a decent 3 in the draft that helps, but if they resign Udoka (really much more valuable than people who don't watch this team play could know), and just trot out the same team as this year without the injuries, this team should beat out the Warriors and Clipps and Wolves for the 8th spot. I'm not saying that because I love Zach and I think Aldridge will be better, but Zach is a freaky scorer in the low block and Aldridge isn't ready to completely replace that scoring yet. <br /> <br />Roy in the Allstar game is actually a more ballsy prediction than the Blazers in the playoffs I think. I would be more comfortable saying Roy will deserve to go to the allstar game next year. But you have to be extra good to make that squad as a Blazer. Plus, there are so many big name guards in the west, he will have to go absolutely nuts and he's not a youtube/sportscenter/big time scorer type (which is a good thing by the way) that will grab the national attention until the team is more of a force. Of course I hope you're right, but I'm cynical about the Allstar game. Speaking of, what will the NBA do when Jianlin is one of the top 5 vote getters in the NBA for the allstar team? Don't get me wrong. This isn't a risk, it is a certainty. Until voting changes, 3 guys are locks to be voted on: Yao, T-Mac and Jianlin. I'm already pumped for that controversy.<br /> <br />Draft Express - I guess you were right about getting a rise out of me<br /> <br />Chad Ford - Great 300 reference. I did see it and got it. Not a great movie I didn't think, though that scene you reference was pretty fun. I think Ford is going John Clayton on us. I think Ford was/is a geek who was never invited to sit at the cool table with the likes of Bill Simmons/Klosterman/Scoop Jackson/Rick Reily and the rest of those who are funny and witty and provide you something other than sportscenter breakdowns in written form. As time went on, Clayton kept doing his homework and sports fans became more and more rabid for geeky type sports info since there was so much info out there to consume. Pretty soon, geeky Clayton became a celebrity of sorts and now tries to be funny and hip on his radio show and on sports center. It never works. It always comes off forced and nerdy and worst of all the actual information suffers. I think that's happening to Ford. He appears on TV. He has a podcast and so now he tries to be one of the cool kids instead of the smart geeky kid and ends up being neither and we end up wondering how he writes something like Durant would be his draft pick over Lebron and Wade. I've forgiven him for Darko, but he needs to re-embrace his inner nerd.<br /> <br />Summer Hoops - Great point about the guys who played in the WBC. When you went down that list I was amazed at how many players had off years mostly due to injury. Elton Brand killed me in fantasy this year. I may have to start taking that as more of a factor in fantasy drafts in the future. Goodness knows my brain didn't need another factor to try to compute. If you could get the phenoms to play, and there are ways you could do it (Nike, Addidas, Starbury...kidding), that traveling team of kids would be great to watch. The only downside I see is that I don't think they would be competitive. The world is too good now. I don't really think there is a "solution" to that problem. I think we just have to accept (and believe me it is as hard for me as anyone) that the world caught us at our own sport and then made rules that benefit everyone more than us and now we can't count on winning all the time. We're a contender, not the perennial favorite. it sucks, but I don't see us going back.<br /> <br />The Wright Stuff (auditioning to write headlines for espn.com) - Julian's shooting really bothers me and it should bother coaches in the workouts. I do think he'll slip some in popularity, but I also think he makes a really good fit for Milwaukie. I'm sure they are hoping Simmons comes back strong, but that's a sizeable if and he may be better off the bench anyway. Julian doesn't need the ball to be effective and on a team currently stacked with guys who do, he seems like a better fit than Brandon. That is not, however, to say I think he's the better prospect. I'm not sure B Wright is the next Bosh, but I do think he's better than the last UNC one and done that's making slow progress for the Hawks. I also agree Brandon was underused at UNC. Don't get me started on Roy Williams. That guys is the George Costanza of coaching. He's great with the mothers (they all want to send their boys to play for Roy -- great recruiter), but not as good when he actually has to start doing something with the daughters...or sons....you know what I mean. No one gets less out of good talent than Williams. This is well established. Not even Lute. And I think Brandon Wright is the 3rd best player in the drat, but not so good that you draft him regardless of need and he's not a need for Milwaukie. That's my point.<br /> <br />I think Wright could fall to 4 and then he would be a lock for just about anyone picking there and it looks like we're in agreement that he would be great for Phoenix. By the way did you see that there's an article on Marion in ESPN the mag coming out (on line right now) echoing my thoughts from yesterday? I love it when that happens. both times it has.<br /> <br />Rashard to Phoenix - Lewis to Phoenix is terrifying. Perfect fit. I would do that deal if I'm Phoenix in a heart beat. If I'm Seattle, not so much. Diaw works in Phoenix, but there's too big a risk he reverts back to his Atlanta days for another coach in a different system. Too risky. Then again, at least they would get something for Lewis. I still maintain that Marion is done. Not sure the best fit for him. He's a unique player. if both guys are going to be gone anyway, why not a Marion for Lewis trade? If Marion had to leave, that seems to work for everyone.<br /> <br />Brewer - We agree...again, I might add as I seem to recall we both liked Roy for the Blazers last year around this time. My only concern is that I could really see his stock rising in the workouts. Plus as much as Blazer management tries to get them tanking by sitting players, Nate and the remaining players refuse to lie down. The comeback that fell short the other night against Houston was remarkable. The blazers went with a starting 5 of Jack, Roy, Maurice Lucas, 90+ year old "Blazer Betty" and Blaze the mascot who refused to play without his trampoline. They went down by 20 something and came all the way back to get within 2 in the final minutes. Nate won't let them let up. I love it. But, with the real risk of winning a couple more games, the Blazers could fall to 7th or so and Brewer might be gone. Still, the draft is deep enough that I think the Blazers could get a good 3, so as long as they stay away from Noah and the 3 giant but slow centers in the draft, I think we should be ok.<br /> <br />As for your second rounders, I just want to add that Aaron Brooks is the most underrated player in college. He is a leader and clutch and can score or create as needed. I'd love to get him in the second, but someone's going to have screwed up if he falls that far. that may be even more true for Rush. You really think he might fall out of the first round? that would be astonishing given his one time hype. I think we were all oversold on him at first, but there is still a lot to like. I bet he stops his slide once workouts begin. <br /> <br />If by some miracle the Blazers were to get one of the top 2 picks and assuming Oden is coming out, I will be on the phone that day buying season tickets.<br /> <br />Oh, one more thing. I know most people think Gasol has burned too many bridges to return to Memphis, but I think it is interesting that no one is talking about the fact that they were an up and coming playoff team just a year ago. If they added Oden to Gasol and did something in FA to add to Miller and Gay (like got a real PG...Kidd?) that could be a very dangerous team over night. Maybe it's not Duncan joining the Admiral, but Memphis could go from worst to homecourt in the playoffs if everything went right. <br /><br />After all that, Adam said:<br /><br /><strong>A lot of great stuff there. I want to get to all of it, but have to run right now. </strong><br /><strong><br />Other than that, I will just add that 300 was hilariously not good (and that a few of my law school buddies picked up about six sweet catch phrases for just that reason) and that your Memphis theory is A) intriguing and B) something I am quite sure that Jerry West was counting on, now that you mention it. I mean, they started tanking the minute they made Barone (spelling?) the head coach and started playing Phoenix basketball without the man power. Which was pure genius because they managed to tank without offending the fans, because at least the style of play was fun to watch. That is groundbreaking, really.<br />Okay, gotta run. Te be continued ...</strong>Josh Stumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10172632315739605607noreply@blogger.com0