This week caps off the last third of the NBA season and Blazer fans will see Roy return healthy and much of the rotation become more predictable. To start off the festivities, the deceptively bad Los Angeles Clippers come to town to take on the Blazers Tuesday night at the Rose Garden.

The Los Angeles Clippers' bad record and front office turmoil cause many to overlook the team, potentially writing them off as an automatic "W". But the Blazers have struggled in recent years to dominate this Clippers squad, in part because of Baron Davis and more specifically, this season Chris Kaman has been playing out of this world, leading the Clippers with 20 PPG. Although the Clippers are 24th in the league in offensive efficiency, they do hold opponents to below 50% from the field and this could be key for the Blazers, who have recently struggled of late on the offensive end. A problem however, that will most likely resolve itself when Brandon returns to the court.

They key for the Blazers to win this game, will be to maintain their sluggish pace and stick to the half court offensive which is, of course their bread and butter. As for the defensive end, the Blazers will need to hold the Clippers under 90 offensive possessions.

This should turn out to be an easy win, but with a couple days off to rest and relax, many players may come out flat. Let us hope the Blazers provide energy and focus to start the last leg of the long season. To maintain playoff position, every home game must be a win going down the stretch for the Blazers. They cannot let sub-500 opponents come to the Rose Garden and win.

On Friday, the real fun begins, as the Boston Celtics (Ruff Ruff!) are in town. Hopefully Jerryd Bayless plays some minutes, as I am convinced he's the only person in the entire league who is creative enough, and crazy enough, to counter Garnett's endearing, in game theatrics. A great, boisterous crowd is expected and hopefully the Blazers can match the Celtic's defensive intensity and treat Portland fans to a huge home win. The Blazers will have to be on point, in every aspect, in order to win this game.

Factors definitely working in the Blazers' favor this week are the multiple days off between games. After the Clippers' game, the Blazers will have two full days off, no doubt resting for one and practicing during the other. This will be a time the team can rest physically and prepare themselves mentally for Friday's match up.

Now, back to the Olympics. Don't bother me, male figure skating qualifiers are on.

Sophia Brugato | Twitter: @sophiabiabia | S.Brugato(at)Gmail(dot)com

The evening before the actual All-Star game is played is when we enjoy the highest level of basketball-related goofiness: the NBDL All-Star game, HORSE, Shooting Stars, the skills competition, the three-point shootout, and of course the dunk contest. It is an evening long orgy attended by novelty, awkwardness, and the NBA (and the NBDL, who shows up with a creepy mustache). If you love watching those elements blend together it gets no better.

The events became more exciting for me when I made a simple bet with Rip City Project. We each predicted winners for the events (starting with the Shooting Stars competition), and whoever had the most correct picks would win the night. If I won, RCP would have to write a post on Bust a Bucket on a topic of my choosing. If I lost, well we never really talked about that. Clearly I was thinking like a champion from the very beginning.

The Rip City Project picks:

Shooting Stars: Atlanta

Skills: Deron Williams

Three-point: Stephon Curry

Dunk: DeMar Derozan

My picks:

Shooting Stars: Texas

Skills: Steve Nash

Three-point: Danilo Gallinari

Dunk: Shannon Brown

I will (gleefully) come back to how the bet turned out at the end of this recap.

NBDL All-Star Game

Winner: The West…and this guy:

Ok, so I technically didn’t watch this game at all. That picture sort of makes me wish I did. I’m going to get into the D-League eventually. Promise. Maybe.

HORSE

Winner: Kevin Durant

Is this the first and last year we see this thing live and unedited? I like that they have the contest but could live with a pre-taped condensed version that cuts out some misses. Peter Robert Casey had a suggestion of streaming a live version online, which I would be down with. Also, as suggested by Rip City Project, reduce the TNT folks’ banter and allow the actual participants to trash talk each other.

I was disappointed that they made an actual trophy to give to the winner. I loved the My Little Pony hardware from last year. It was hilarious to hand something so crappy to an NBA player. Oh well.

Durant ended up winning after a tie-breaking three point shootout with Rajon Rondo. Why was a three point shootout used to decide a game of HORSE? Because they ran out of time of course. Omri Casspi didn’t do so great in spite of a super enthusiastic cheering section. But he did the following during the Rookie Challenge, so all is forgiven:

The best part is that this wasn't even the first time Casspi did that to Gallinari this month. If I'm Danilo I start calling in sick whenever I see the Kings on the schedule.

SHOOTING STARS

Winner: Texas

Much like the Jamie Foxx Show, this event is pure goofy fun. It’s also a reminder that women basketball players are often better shooters than their male counterparts, especially when you factor in that the women are using a different sized ball than they're used to.

My favorite part of this competition is that it usually comes down to who hits the half-court shot the quickest. A team can overcome a shaky start as long as they come through on that final shot. The hometown team put up a smoking final round score to take the victory and give me an early lead on the bet.

SCOREBOARD: BUST A BUCKET: 1 , RIP CITY PROJECT: 0

SKILLS COMPETITION

Winner: Steve Nash

I ran through the skills competition course at an NBA fan event once. I thought I did well until my time was crushed by the ten year old that went immediately after me. That has nothing to do with tonight’s event, but I have little else to say. As soon as Steve Nash, who lit the Olympic Torch in Vancouver like an hour before the competition, flexed his muscles and raised his eyebrow during the introductions this thing was over. Speaking on his demanding travel schedule, Nash said “it makes it OK when you win a résumé-builder like this.” I love that man.

SCOREBOARD: BUST A BUCKET: 2 , RIP CITY PROJECT: 0

THREE POINT SHOOTOUT

Winner: Paul Pierce

We saw some low scores posted in the shootout this year. It’s kind of funny how when the contestants don’t bring it in the three point event nobody talks about how the contest is dead or broken, but when we have a mediocre dunk contest people act like the NBA is about to fall of the face of the Earth. Hmm...

Paul Pierce, who was picked to win by pretty much nobody, ended up beating out fan-darling Stephon Curry and Chauncey Billups in the final round. More importantly, neither I nor RCP picked the correct winner, sealing my victory.

SCOREBOARD: BUST A BUCKET: 2 , RIP CITY PROJECT: 0

DUNK CONTEST

Winner: Nate Robinson

I have a pet peeve involving people that talk about how un-entertaining the dunk contest is. This year I have to make an exception. There are a handful of previous dunk contest losers would have came away victories in this 2010 competition. But still, let’s not get all crazy and proclaim the dunk contest dead (ahem) and all of that. People have said as much before, and they were just as wrong then as the people are who will be saying it now. The contestants just didn’t bring it this time, end of story.

Unfortunately, tonight we saw Nate Robinson become the first three-time winner of the dunk contest. More interesting is the fact that so many people actually rooted against a small man in a dunk contest. Has that ever happened? Will it ever happen again?

FINAL BET SCOREBOARD: BUST A BUCKET: 2 , RIP CITY PROJECT: 0

Sweet, sweet victory. Per the terms of our bet, Rip City Project owes Bust a Bucket an entry on a topic of my choosing. What should I go with? I have some ideas floating around in my head, mostly involving RCP's favorite movie ever Eddie, but I want as much input as possible before making a decision. Please put any ideas you have in the comments.

I’m aware that it is totally not cool to enjoy NBA All-Star Weekend. Sheed showed as much with his informal Twitter survey. No Blazers playing? No big deal for me, having a Portland representative would just be the cherry on the already sweet and delicious icing.

What about All-Star Weekend has me awkwardly mixing up my idioms? Mostly it’s the novelty. We watch these guys play serious basketball all year long. Seeing them have some basketballish fun for a little while is a neat little change of pace. There’s a sense of humor to the weekend that I have always appreciated. I mean, look at Durant holding that My Little Pony trophy. Plus, it comes at just the right time; February, when the newness of the season is gone and the playoff excitement is just a speck on the horizon.

I accept your disapproval and scorn. Yes, I understand that All-Star basketball is not competitive and is sloppy and boring and totally lame and all that other stuff you say every year. To me it’s a fun time. A really fun time. Like, watching porn with the Golden Girls fun. Or the show Viper fun. (Do I keep going with these?) Finnish-Rap fun. This commercial fun. (And I’m spent.)

I will be your not necessarily welcomed guide to this weekend. Let me know your reactions/thoughts/jokes/whatever on Twitter, @Seth_Johnston. If you are hilarious enough I will send you a prize (not) and post your stuff on Bust a Bucket (possible). To get things started let me share some of my random All-Star thoughts:

-Enjoy rooting against Nate Robinson. This has to be the only time a little man dunker has become a certifiable villain in a dunk contest. It really is amazing that Robinson and the NBA have managed to turn the fans against him. Did you know he has a chance to become the only three time dunk contest champ? I really, really hope that doesn’t happen.

-Don’t whine about Monta Ellis not making it. His numbers are very nice, but not nice enough to overcome the Warriors 14-37 record. There are too many other players having comparable personal success on better teams.

Jason Kidd? Jason Kidd? To contradict my previous thoughts on Ellis, Jason Kidd?!? Is he the first All-Star ever to not be averaging double digits in points, rebounds, or assists? Yet I still accept his presence over Monta. These types of games function better with a point-guard like Kidd to orchestrate things.

-How small is Brandon Jennings, really? Look at the picture below. I assume that is an official sized NBA basketball and not some giant inflatable novelty item he picked up at the gift shop:

Also, this:

For those of you who don't know already, I went by the alias "Sheed" for the last year and a half, but my real name is Matt. I am him and he is I. Just something to keep in mind. Now, moving on to more important issues...

For the first time in what seems like forever, the Portland Trail Blazers finally get a break from their exhausting schedule. The All-Star break is a chance to relax, recharge and re-evaluate. But for the last two years, since Brandon Roy emerged as a star in the NBA, we've all been more interested than ever in watching the All-Star game. This year is different though, Roy made the team but he's not playing, and I'm having trouble psyching myself up to watch a Roy-less All-Star game.

I remember how I felt watching Brandon's first All-Star game in 2008, two years ago. It was like watching your kid who you knew has special talent, and was getting the chance to be seen on the big stage by the entire nation. So many NBA fans had no idea what he was all about and the All-Star game is a great opportunity to show off Portland's best basketball asset. I recall being focused so intently, more than most regular season Blazer games. Patience was rewarded and Roy was amazing. He played 28 minutes, scored 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting, grabbed 9 rebounds, dished 5 assists, and played at a truly All-Star level. That performance put Roy on the map in a lot of ways, and made Portland proud.

A year later, in 2009, Roy came in as a better player and with higher expectations. Once again I found myself planning around the All-Star game. There is just something about rooting for Brandon and watching him continue to solidify himself as part of the NBA elite. Brandon once again did not mess around. He played the most of any player on either team with 31 minutes. He ended up with 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 5 assists. It was a truly sharp shooting performance by Brandon and another proud moment for fans in Portland.

Now it's 2010, Brandon has missed a large chunk of games for the Blazers, and has already said he will not play in the All-Star game. I hadn't thought about it too much until today, but what's the point if Brandon isn't there? I know it's something to watch on Sunday afternoon, but my interest level plummeted when I accepted Roy wouldn't play. I even posed the question to Blazer fans on twitter and got responses that seemed to mirror my same sentiments. Here are those tweets:

BustaBucket: Blazer fans: On a scale of 1-10, how interested in the All-Star game are you with Brandon Roy out because of injury?

mitchwinn @bustabucket 0

JeffIsBallin @bustabucket 6 or 7 pretty much just the usual

d3c0n @bustabucket 4, if Brandon was playing it would be a 8 1/2

Bridge_Design @bustabucket w/ him in must watch. w/o him will watch if convenient, but won't go out of my way if I have something else going on.

teemunny @bustabucket 2

Sophiabiabia @bustabucket i predicted Casspi wins the HORSE tourny ;-) so I have to watch that LOL

TheTower51 @bustabucket -124685

philthyanimal @bustabucket my interest level is 3...probably watch highlights and read boxscores and whatnot but wont watch game

mickelsona @bustabucket im a 1 too. I could care less about it with no Roy.

mburnard @bustabucket ASG interest sans Brandon Roy/other blazers: 3. (I may watch the 3pt contest to see C.Frye)

mcshanem @bustabucket Same as if Roy was playing. About a 2.

Blazersrule88 @bustabucket 1. But its not just no Roy. If every one that was selected originally was there, my interest would be 3.5-4

twiggs1 @bustabucket not at all, I won't be watching it.

Obviously Blazer fans want Roy to play, provided he's healthy. The All-Star game is virtually irrelevant to Blazer nation if no player is representing Portland. It's an exhibition game anyway, and it becomes even worse without Brandon. Ultimately the time off will be hugely beneficial for Portland who has played more games than any team in the league so far this year. Even though Przybilla and Oden won't be returning this season, the return of Roy and Outlaw can make this team a playoff threat and the rest will help that process.

So how do you feel about the game? Will you look forward to it, perhaps watch it if it's on, or maybe no interest at all? It's Valentine's Day, that is one excuse to miss it, I'm just not sure there will be much to miss. Hopefully next year our All-Star can do what he does best once again. For me, I'm not interested unless all other Sunday afternoon options are unavailable.

Well that game was certainly unexpected. Based on the way Portland played last night against Oklahoma City, there is no way they could hang with the Suns in Phoenix right? Wrong. Apparently the lethargic, lack of energy effort in Portland was somewhat of an aberration. The Blazers took a page out of the Suns playbook by hitting them hard early, making every shot they took, and finishing off a big time game in Phoenix, 108 to 101.

I don't think anyone would have faulted Portland had they lost this game. 9 losses in a row in Phoenix, injuries to key players, and mentally limping into the All-Star break. Honestly, after scoring 77 points against the Thunder, I thought there was absolutely no possible way the Blazers win. But as usual, when everyone thinks they can't win, the Blazers just seem to step up.

Tonight started unlike most games this season. Portland aggressively attacked the basket on offense and most importantly all of our guards were hitting their shots. As much as we talk about different aspects of how a game unfolds, every problem can be remedied with good shooting. Portland got started early and often, even matching last night's 77 point output midway through the 3rd quarter. The Blazers shot 58% from the floor and Jerryd Bayless was the only player with a noticably bad shooting night.

The absolute biggest turnaround from a personnel standpoint, had to be the play of Steve Blake. From absolutely terrible last night to "best game ever" with 20 points and 12 assists. I can't really explain it, but for some reason Blake was just making everything in this game. He managed to outplay Steve Nash in almost every aspect, more points and assists, less turnovers. It was nothing short of tremendous and neccessary.

Andre Miller and Juwan Howard were also big contributors in this win. Both guys seemed to show that veterain savvy and take some of the young guys to task. Juwan Howard's post up bucket over the other Lopez brother was beautiful. Dante Cunngingham has also proven to be quite the player and a versatile addition to the team. He blocked shots, hit jumpers, ran the floor, and even threw down a sick dunk on Amare Stoudemire.

One guy who won't get the credit he deserves for getting the Blazers the big lead early on, is LaMarcus Aldridge. He got the game going in the first half by hitting everything in sight. He caused Alvin Gentry plenty of frustrations and the Suns had no answer for Aldridge. They tried to double team him, but then his teammates did the damage. He may not fill it up from start to finish, but there is something to be said for getting the game in control in the first half.

Excellent win and a great way to enter the All-Star break. I'm proud of the team for bouncing back and making it 10-3 in the 2nd game of back-to-backs this year. Enjoy the days off, and let's get ready for a stretch run to make the playoffs!

On an awesome sidenote, Bust a Bucket's own Sophia Brugato was on Talkin' Ball tonight. She did a tremendous job; jarring with Jerome Kersey and Michael Holton, talking about the Blazers and even discussing some other topics relating to the representation of women in the media. I have a feeling she'll get asked back on the show sooner rather than later. Way to represent all Blazer fans from the blogosphere Sophia!

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Trail Blazers forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge was named to the 2010-2012 USA Men's National Team program, it was announced today by USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo.

Aldridge, 24, was previously selected to the USA Men's National Team Select Teams in 2007 and 2008 before being named to the Team USA Mini-Camp in 2009.

"It's a great honor to be selected to participate in the National Team Program," said Aldridge. "I'm really looking forward to competing at the highest level and representing my country this summer."

A 2007 T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie First Team member and University of Texas product, Aldridge is posting career averages of 15.7 points (48.8% FG) and 7.1 rebounds in 271 games (230 starts) through four NBA seasons.

That was not fun.

That was the main thing I kept thinking about last night as I drove home from the game and even when I woke up this morning. Now that much of the season is in the books, I can reflect on how tough it has been this season for the players, and how frustrating it has been for the fans. It doesn't seem like anyone is having fun.

This game was another example, in a string of games, that showed why Brandon Roy and our two big men are so important to this team. With no closer/go to guy and no interior defense, the Blazers look like a bunch of guys with no purpose on either end of the floor. The Thunder made extra passes, including passing out of the double team for easy buckets, while Portland stood stagnant shooting jumpers time after time. Andre Miller tried to break the bad behavior by driving to the hoop but guys were off, not cutting, not moving and basically Oklahoma City handled Portland for most of the game.

Getting back to reflecting on this season and last, one difficult thing to get over is how well Portland always played, and finished, at home last year in the regular season. 19 of the 21 games I attended last year were wins. It was fun, they played more free with less to lose. A lot like the Thunder are playing this year. But once expectations, extensions and injuries crept in, the happy Rose Garden has been different.

Individually, Kevin Durant is a freak of nature and a scoring machine. He's a guard in a lanky, sometimes awkward, forwards body and he can shoot over anyone he wants. He's already getting the benefit of calls and going to the line. I'm amazed by his output but still not completely impressed overall. I think a lot of NBA players could be plugged into the position of shooting 25+ times a game and put up big scoring numbers. The NBA and it's fans seem to obsess over guys who can score the ball. The NBA also changed every rule so scoring is easier. Durant will probably continue to progress, and be an amazing player, but we should be able to beat them even when he scores 30+.

For Portland, the focal point of the offense was LaMarcus Aldridge. Most of the time the offense went through him and he didn't always make the most of his opportunities. For him to only attempt 10 shots is a travesty. He should be moving towards the hoop looking for the ball at all times. There were a few times where he literally faded away from the hoop while his teammate went into the paint looking for a bail out. LA could bail guys out and get easy buckets, but he won't. The 15 rebounds is great, but against a somewhat undersized team like OKC, LaMarcus should be licking his chops and looking to put up 25 himself.

Portland has a game tonight against Phoenix, a chance to pick up a win before the All-Star break. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I'm also not going to feel too terrible if we lose. The Blazers need Brandon Roy and hopefully he'll return next week. This team is an awkward shell of themselves without Roy, and without any offensive creatiivity or defensive committment, the losing will just continue. Let's hope not.

Box Score

LaMarcus Aldridge has generated some debate this season. That happens when a player follows up signing a big contract with what can be considered lower than expected output. Aldridge has managed to silence much of the debate with his recent play, but I can't help but wonder what really caused his slow start this season. We've heard the theories. They range from the reasonable; pressure from newly increased expectations, to the ridiculous; a lack of caring. Somewhere in the range of theories is one that has become my personal favorite lately, we'll call it the Oden Factor.

First of all, statistics increase when opportunities increase. It is usually the case that a player's stats will rise, for example, when they get more chances to score/pass/rebound/whatever. That is the first part of the Oden Factor. With Oden no longer gobbling up rebounds or getting some shots of his own Aldridge has more opportunities. From a psychological standpoint being more integral to team success gives a boost as well. A player gets more opportunity to find his rhythm, he doesn't worry as much about missing shots because he knows more are coming regardless. It should be expected then, that Aldridge's stats would rise as a result of Oden being out. They have. Look, I even have a graph:

I kept it to points and rebounds for a couple reasons. First, its simple and illustrates my basic point. Second, earlier this season some people were hammering LaMarcus on his points and rebounding averages. So now they have to be quiet or at least go back to talking about how he is "too soft" or whatever. We can also see that Aldridge has gotten more consistent with his points and rebounds since the Oden injury.*

We could do a graph and see similar results for Brandon Roy pre and post Oden-injury. If Mr. Everything struggled a bit with Oden I think we can give Aldridge a pass this time. But how much of Aldridge's improvement is due to increased opportunities, and how much is can we attribute to not knowing how to play with Oden? I'm not sure we can disentangle the two.

This leads us to the second part of the Oden factor, which is Portland's three pillars learning to play together effectively. This is an unknown variable massive enough to sway the ultimate potential of this team. We were supposed to be getting this figured out right about now but um, yeah, let's not go down that road. (I'm too close to a ledge right now.)

When we were blaming Aldridge for his lowish averages earlier this season we were missing the real issue entirely. When we find ourselves being encouraged by his turnaround in these areas we are doing the same thing. He wasn't buckling under the expectations that came with his contract and he wasn't slacking. He had less opportunities, sure. Like Roy, he was also having some trouble figuring out the Oden Factor. Any conclusions regarding Aldridge's value to this team will have to wait until at least next season. Again.

*For nerds only: I wanted to understand how consistently players contribute, so I created a simple statistic that is a crude indicator at best. You take the standard deviation and divide it by their average. This is to account for the fact that players with larger averages will have larger standard deviations simply because they have a bigger possible range of production. It is explained better here. LaMarcus' points consistency went from 2.65 with Oden to 2.93 without. With scoring, All-Stars are usually above 3.00. His rebounding consistency jumped from 2.23 to 2.38.