|
Written by CDub
|
|
Wednesday, 28 January 2009 07:15 |
|
Yes, I wanted to draft Adam Morrison leading up to draft day 2006. I was a big fan of the mustacioed college star as a Gonzaga University grad. There's a good chance I saw 75% of his college career either live or on TV. Sure he didn't play a lick of defense, but he was a fierce competitor, hated losing, and brought a lot of offense. I thought those were all traits that the Blazers could use to stop their recent losing ways. The Gonzaga basketball team was my basketball outlet during some of the darker years in Blazer history. So I had my reasons for wanting him, but my view was obviously skewed by my love for my alma mater.
I wasn't alone in wanting to draft Morrison. A whole campaign arose from the local sports radio station to "Draft the Stache". I believe it was Gavin Dawson leading the campaign (I wonder what he says about that now?). The campaign gained a lot of steam heading towards draft day and got a lot of press. We all know how that day turned out though. Kevin Pritchard wheeled and dealed, ending up with the 2nd pick (Aldridge) and the 6th pick (Roy), while Morrison ended up going 3rd to the Charlotte Bobcats. I was disappointed at not getting Morrison, but was pleased with all the moves that were made to improve the team. Aldridge seemed like a project with a lot of potential, and Roy was a solid 4 year college player, but whom I had rooted against as a Washington Husky (Gonzaga's yearly in-state rival).
So I suppose the Blazers made the right decision. The 06 draft was the day the Blazers got things pointed in the right direction. Pritchard made all the right moves, and I learned I will never be an NBA GM. Adam Morrison struggled out of the gates and has since had injury problems. He needs a fresh start on a new team, but that probably won't do the trick. After knee surgery he is even less athletic than before. It's safe to say the Stache is a bust, not the next coming of Larry Legend like I had imagined. Meanwhile, Brandon and Lamarcus are on their way to becoming superstars (Roy having already arrived). Roy quickly won me over his rookie year, and I've been wearing his jersey ever since. Yes that is my Morrison jersey above, but I swear I got it for free through a friend at Adidas...I paid full price for my Roy jersey.
I wasn't the only Blazer fan that felt like the Stache was the player to draft that year, but I'm sure there are few and far between that will own up to it now. I will though....BRoy will you forgive me? |
|
Written by Sheed
|
|
Tuesday, 27 January 2009 22:22 |
|
The Trail Blazers welcome the Bobcats to the Rose Garden with revenge on their minds. Charlotte will have tired legs following an OT game against the Lakers in Los Angeles. But, even though Charlotte beat Portland two weeks ago in their house, it shouldn't have happened. The Blazers are the better team, or at least the records show this to be true. The Blazers will not let Charlotte win for an astonishing fourth time in a row. The key to this game will be stopping Gerald Wallace, who torched us for 31 points and 16 rebounds last time.
The three game stretch against bad teams, which I was so adamant about us going undefeated, ends here. I would like nothing more than a complete victory from start to finish. But, if they can't dominate the Wizards and Clippers at half strength, how can they do it against the Bobcats? I'd like to believe we can lock up our perimeter defense and start to play as a unit, that will go a long way in gaining confidence for our divisional foe the Utah Jazz, who happen to come to town Saturday. No looking ahead yet, let's break the streak and beat the Bobcats.
Bobcat info at Queen City Hoops.
BLAZERS
CATS |
EDGE |
COMMENT |
|
|
|
Felton has been playing very well in January. Although he doesn't have a pass first mentality, he's been a doing a good true point guard impression. He played well against us two weeks ago, 16 pts, 5 rbs, 7 asts is solid. Now, Sergio has also been good as a starter, he's getting confident and I expect him to compete. Ray is just a better player so he gets the nod. |
|
|
|
I still can't stop thinking about that dunk Brandon had on Monday, ridiculous. Something else that got forgotten was his 22 points in the first half. His shot is back, his game is locked and he is ready for a big second half. Raja Bell usually D's up Roy pretty well but with Brandon's regained momentum Raja will have trouble, especially at home. Look for Roy to end this game emphatically like Monday. |
|
|
|
UPDATE: GW is out for this game, maybe the stache will take his place?? Here's a key guy who needs to be stopped. Gerald Wallace absolutely annihilated us last game. He did anything he wanted and our defense just let it happen. Starting with Batum, Wallace needs to be on lock-down. No matter what he will be better than Nic but hopefully it's not 31 pts and 16 rbs. |
|
|
|
Boris Diaw was nonexistent in the last meeting, but he is capable of having a huge night. If Wallace gets stopped, I think Diaw could be the next scoring option. We must defend the perimeter and LaMarcus getting after Boris will help. LA disappeared in our game Monday which means he is due to score 20+ in this one. LA should get it. |
|
|
|
When Portland went to Charlotte on the 19th, Greg Oden was still in the midst of a terrible foul trouble stretch which lead to question marks about his game. Now, after 4 straight solid games, things are looking up. Greg is confident and I see him hanging with Emeka. This will be a much better battle then the previous meeting. Look for Greg to notch his first double double since I can remember against a quality opponent.
|
|
Bench
Bench
|
|
Our bench is going to be key in this game. Travis has had a good January and on Monday he really came alive in the second half. I definitely see us hitting a lull that either he or Rudy will have to pull us out of. I also like the idea of Bayless guarding Felton, a little change of pace if Ray gets hot. The Bobcat bench is pretty weak-sauce. Adam Morrison still hasn't found a groove in limited minutes and newly acquired DeSagana Diop will bang inside. But with Augustin out the Charlotte bench can't match Portland. |
OVERALL DECISION
TRAILBLAZERS |
|
Written by Sheed
|
|
Tuesday, 27 January 2009 12:35 |
|
Comic by: Friend of the Blog Jerry.
The curious case of LaMarcus Aldridge, where for art thou LA, whatever the phrase may be, the bottom line is LaMarcus Aldridge is somewhat of an enigma. I've said in previous posts that he has been putting together some good games of late, but then out of nowhere he has a game like last night. 10 points and 3 rebounds in 34 minutes. Huh? How is that even possible? A lot of us would love for him to become an All-Star but All-Star's don't just completely vanish during a full game. As our starting power forward he should at least get crash the boards during an off night shooting.
Another interesting comparison presented to me about LaMarcus is the idea of pressure as a top draft pick. Consider this, Greg Oden was drafted as the number one pick in the 2007 draft. His level of expectations has been astronomically high. The pressure on Greg was so bad earlier this year that he had, at time, become a shell of himself.
Now think about LaMarcus. He was drafted as the 2nd overall pick in the 2006 draft, and most notably 4 spots ahead of Brandon Roy.
LaMarcus has zero pressure in his 3rd year, despite being an underachiever for NBA standards. 17.5 points and 6.8 rebounds for a starting power forward, drafted 2nd overall, and in his 3rd year, is pretty low output considering what his peers are doing.
Maybe it's all just part of the maturation process, maybe LaMarcus is always going to be a finesse type player as opposed to a banger like Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire. My question is this; does Aldridge disappear in games? Have you noticed this? Am I taking crazy pills or do we need more overall production from our starting power forward?
Please, tell me what YOU think, state your case and I will most certainly consider all possibilities. |
|
Written by CDub
|
|
Monday, 26 January 2009 22:25 |
|
Yes, that's Jessica Alba blowing a kiss to Brandon Roy in front of her husband Cash Warren. He's cool with it though because BRoy just threw down a hammer on Cheikh Samb. Roy led the Blazers to a 113 to 88 victory over the Clippers in LA, but it was an actual game until the Blazers blew it open in the 4th quarter. I was hoping that Portland would come out with revenge on their minds and take control early. But I guess it's hard to be thinking revenge when none of the guys that beat you (ZBo, Baron, or Camby) are playing.
It was a fun game to watch though. Roy was an all star, Oden was very efficient, and the bench played well. Oh yeah....there were a lot of highlights. Roy had his facial, Outlaw had a nice fast break dunk from Rudy, and Sergio tipped that rebound over his head to Oden for the slam. 58% shooting from the field ain't bad either. But it was the lowly, injury depleted Clippers, which keeps me wondering how we allowed them to stay in the game so long.
We need to get that revenge attitude going in Wednesday's game vs the Bobcats (that was an ugly loss in Charlotte a couple weekends ago). A 3-game winning streak heading into a big match-up with the Jazz would be mighty fine.
I also heard that Jessica Alba is sporting the new BRoy Blackberry Bold theme!
Box Score
NBA.com Recap Video
NBA.com Top 10
 |
 |
Blake coming back too early
|
Roy solidifying his all-star berth
|
|
Letting the Clips hang around too long.
|
Oden 7-7 from the field
|
|
Steve Novak season high
|
50 pts from our bench
|
|
Clippers' injury woes
|
Nice to see Freddie do well (19, 4, 7)
|
|
Roy deciding he didn't want 10 steals again
|
58% shooting for the game
|
|
Disappearing act by Lamarcus
|
Winning at Staples Center (it's good practice)
|
|
|
Written by Sheed
|
|
Monday, 26 January 2009 15:26 |
|
Sean Meagher of the Oregon Live Blazers Blog did a write-up on the Blazers and what to look for the rest of season. I didn't get to add this to my bucket of links due to slight tardiness, but it's a great read and hits on some very key points. For example, how about some D:
Heading into this season, defense was the name of the game for the Blazers. Nate McMillan preached it and his team echoed it. They talked the talk, but we've yet to see this team really walk the walk.
Not much else to say, read it for yourself then enjoy the Blazer game tonight. Quick, can you name the starting five for the Clippers without looking at the Shakedown!? I knew you couldn't do it. |
|
Written by Sheed
|
|
Monday, 26 January 2009 13:01 |
|
Ben at Blazer's Edge announced today that he will be hosting Powell's Books presentation of The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac written by Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko.com. I just ordered my copy of the book and should be reading it by this weekend, you should buy it too, Amazon has a copy for around $15.
On a very related note, yours truly will be in attendance, along with CDub. Bust a Bucket is honored to be named as VIP guests for this prestigious event. I won't let my proximity to Portland hurt my chances, I'll be ready to go at Powell's on Monday February 9th at 7:30. All are apparently welcome so be there or be a total square! Head on over to Blazer's Edge for all the details. |
|
Written by Sheed
|
|
Sunday, 25 January 2009 20:30 |
|
The Trail Blazers take on a very depleted Los Angeles Clippers team who can't seem to stay healthy. With Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, & Zach Randolph not expected to play, the Blazers face a pretty young team in so cal. Both Eric Gordon and Al Thornton have thrived since getting big minutes with all the absentees. I consider this little three game stretch we're in the middle of to be important to the Blazers making the playoffs. Portland handled business against the Wizards, but they need to do the same in LA and then back home against Charlotte on Wednesday.
Our big three appears to be rounding into form here late in January. Oden has had a few good games, LaMarcus is steadily increasing his numbers every month of the season, and Roy getting through his hamstring injury finally exploded on Saturday. The big three will be important in setting tempo against the Clippers.
Basically, the game against the Clippers last month is still on my mind and I think the Blazer players haven't forgotten it either. They'll be looking to beat down the Clips after the late game heroics in Portland. It's important that we don't look ahead to the Utah game and focus on wrecking both the Clippers and Bobcats.
Clipper details at the Clipper Blog.
BLAZERS
CLIPPERS |
EDGE |
COMMENT |
|
|
|
Sergio has played very well as a starter. He's been running the offense well and basically doing his part for the team. With Baron Davis out, Mardy Collins should play. He didn't play last night due to injury but i suspect he'll be back in against Portland. Either way, I think Sergio wins.
|
|
|
|
Roy had a monster game across the board on Saturday versus Washington. I think those 10 steals will give him a ton of overall confidence. He gets Eric Gordon who has been on a tear in January. The kid can score, he had 41 points on Friday and is capable of big numbers. I knew he would be good, but not better than Roy tonight. |
|
|
|
With all the injuries the Clippers have sustained, it's hard to tell who is going to start in what positions. I am going to assume that since Portland is a bigger team the Clippers will play the bigger line-up. Al Thornton, like Gordon, can score a ton of points. Batum has been picking it up lately but I don't think he has a chance to out produce Thornton.
|
|
|
|
Assuming Brian Skinner is back from the flu, he'll most likely be matched up against LaMarcus. LA continues to be solid and efficient, his game Saturday was very close to 20 and 10 with no turnovers. I think LaMarcus wins no matter who the Clips throw at him.
|
|
|
|
Oden is really starting to feel it now, his last few games have been a good show of what he can and will be for Portland. Tonight he'll take on yet another young center and I expect much of the same goodness if he stays out of foul trouble. DeAndre Jordan probably didn't expect ot be starting this soon into his NBA career but he's been pretty good since he was inserted. Look for Oden to take advantage of injuries here. |
|
Bench
Bench
|
|
The Clipper bench is completely depleted. They've got Steve Novak who contributes here and there but not much else. I think Travis will build on a big game from Saturday and Jerryd Bayless will get back to doing work. I guess Fred Jones is an option as well for the Clips but if Collins is still hurt then Jones is starting. Vicious cycle.
|
OVERALL DECISION
TRAILBLAZERS |
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. Here are some of our high-priority areas that we're specifically looking to grow. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 