SB Nation - Ruben Patterson

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Portland Trail Blazers - The Fire Keeps Burning

R Dizzle — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:51:00 -0000

Can't read their, can't read their, no, you can't read their Poker Face!

I must say, the Portland Trail Blazers might go down as my second favorite team. Why? They went through some troubled times a few years ago, broke down their team, brought in a new mentality, drafted really well, and now they're succeeding.

Sounds like a pretty ideal situation right? Realize your mistakes and then do something about it. Like make trades. Search for great young talent in the draft and then build upon them. Make it to the playoffs. Win a series and get into round 2. Sure, you might lose there, but you take a look back at your season and understand that your roster has plenty of room to grow unlike the team that just beat you. The old only get older. So you keep your roster and don't make too many drastic changes because you know that it'll soon be your time.

Why does that sound waaayyy too familiar as a Warriors fan? Hmm...maybe someone can answer that for me.

Whateves..R Dizzle will make you, jump jump!

The Old - "The Jail Blazers"

Instead of looking back at the 08-09 season, I thought it might be fun to take a gander at what i considered to be the funniest team ever assemblied. Not "ha-ha" funny but "OMG-this-is-terrible-I-hope-Dave-Chappelle-eventually-makes-a-skit-about-it-to-lighten-the-situation" funny.

From the years of mid-90's to the mid-00's, the Blazers saw...

Jermaine O'Neal (on his way to his prime) being traded for Dale Davis (way out of his prime)
The addition of Shawn Kemp (Twinkie-sized)
Addition of Rod Strickland leading to a first round exit first round of the 2001 playoffs
The hiring (and firing) of Mike Dunleavy Sr. (good move with the firing)
Added a registered sex offender - Ruben Patterson
Qyntel Woods pleaded guilty for staging dog fights in his house
Rasheed Wallace suspended for 7 games for threatening a referee
Zach Randolph sucker punched a teammate in practice (some things never change!)
Isiah Rider's arrest for marijuana possession
Rasheed Wallace's arrest for marijuana possession
Damon Stoudamire's arrest for marijuana possession
Qyntel Wood's arrest for marijuana possession

Guess the grass DOES grow differently in Oregon...

The Now - "They on Fire"

Just out of curiosity, have any of you guys had a look at the Blazers' roster lately?

Let's just say it's a bit stacked...

You've really go to be kidding yourself if you think this team isn't going to end in the top 4 of the Western Conference. Hate all you want on former #1 pick Greg Oden, but HE'S ONLY HAD ONE SEASON IN THE NBA. Plenty of room to improve. He was a beast in college and he WILL BE a beast in the NBA. Of course, who knows how long that will last since all 40 year old NBA players tend to be injury prone.

But hey, just for the heck of it, let's go down the list.

PG - Steve Black with free agent aquisition Andre Miller and Jerryd Bayless coming off the bench? Check.

SG - All-Star Brandon Roy with Rudy Fernandez coming off the bench? Check.

SF - Nicolas Batum with Travis Outlaw? Check.

PF - LaMarcus Aldridge and rookie Dante Cunningham.

C - Greg Oden followed by Joel Pryzbilla

Um...excuse you...this is young developing talent at its finest (forget that they're all on rookie contracts and the combination of guys won't last that long). This team is going to contend. I predict they'll end #3 in the West (Lakers, Spurs, then Blazers) and they'll make it to the Western Conference Finals..to get beat by the Fakers. I'm excited to watch them play and destroy the lower-end Western teams.

Ya ya, there was that whole Hedo Turkoglu thing..but I don't want to talk about that. Go to our RaptorsHQ if you want some science on that.

Want some proof?

Brandon Roy Mix (2008-2009) (via frederlk)

Like I said, this just goes to show what happens when a team

Realizes its mistakes
Does something about such as making trades
Searches for great talent in the draft
Builds upon them
Gets into the playoffs
Wins a series
Loses, but then takes a second to look back and realize that there is plenty of room to grow.
Does not break up their team
REALIZES THAT IT IS ALMOST THEIR TIME.

If only some other team could follow that philosophy...

For more coverage on the Portland Trail Blazers, hit up Blazersedge!

2009-2010 Around the Association

Introduction
Atlanta Hawks: Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. The Hawks are for real.
Boston Celtics: Sheed in Green + Another Answer
Charlotte Bobcats: They Do Exist
Chicago Bulls: Ring Around the Rose-y
Cleveland Cavaliers: Now or Never
Dallas Mavericks: The Curse of the Dampier
Denver Nuggets: If it ain't broke...
Detroit Pistons: The Return of the Bay Boys
Houston Rockets: Yao-ch!, that's gotta hurt
Indiana Pacers: A One Man Show
Los Angeles Clippers: Warriors South No More
Los Angeles Lakers: Big Brother, Little Brother
Memphis Grizzlies: Going Back to Vancouver
Miami Heat: Need to get the point
Milwaukee Bucks: Saving a few buck$
Minnesota Timberwolves: Donde esta Senor Rubio?
New Jersey Nets: The Year of the Yi
New Orleans Hornets: Two first names, one great point guard
New York Knicks: Is it summatime yet?
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic: Are they Vinsane? You be the judge
Philadelphia 76ers: Are they (Elton) Brand New?
Phoenix Suns: Who knows?
Portland TrailBlazers
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
Rewind

Poll

How far do you think the Blazers are going to go this year?

Lottery

41 votes

First Round of the Playoffs

147 votes

Second Round of the Playoffs

300 votes

Western Conference Finals

236 votes

NBA Finals

96 votes

820 votes | Poll has closed

2008 Preseason Game 2: Denver Nuggets 77 Phoenix Suns 72

Jeremy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:30:04 -0000

Box Score

It is a good think that game was outside otherwise there was absolutely no reason to keep watching.

I am going to assume that the cold and wind made an impact on the shooting by both teams. I think that is a safe assumption. There were a couple of things to take note of so let’s get to some game notes.

Before training camp Nene said that he still feels the effects of his chemotherapy from time to time. Well, I do not know if that had anything to do with it, but I thought he looked less explosive than he did the night before against the Timberwolves. He did a good job guarding Shaq and on the glass, but I think he had a couple of shots blocked that he would typically be able to get away. I have no idea if there is any connection between the lack of spring in his step on the back end of games on consecutive nights and his cancer treatment, hopefully it was just the fact he was playing more than 20 minutes on consecutive nights for the first time since early January. Regardless of the reason his physical performance in the second night of back to backs may bear watching.

I thought it was interesting Mateen Cleaves played the back up minutes at the point. At the time I wondered if George Karl was giving him a chance to state his case as to why he should be kept around. Whatever you want to think of Mateen, he played a solid game. After Smush Parker made a nice contribution on defense against the Timberwolves it will be interesting to see how the minutes are divided over the next couple of weeks.

The energy from the bench was very good once again. Chris Andersen, Renaldo Balkman and Ruben Patterson bring an in your face enthusiasm that the Nuggets have been lacking for a few seasons. Add in Dahntay Jones, who started in place of Carmelo Anthony and then Linas Kleiza and/or J.R. Smith coming off the bench as well and the Nuggets are going to be very deep.

Speaking of Kleiza, so far I have not seen anything that has led me to believe the 2008-2009 LK is going to be any better than the 2007-2008 LK. He did do a good job crashing the boards against the Suns and grabbed a couple of caroms that required him to jump a zone or two over from where he was when the shot was in the air.

One of the stated reasons the Nuggets traded their first round pick in the last draft was because a rookie would probably not contribute on a playoff team. A few days later they made a draft day trade for Sonny Weems. Well, it looks like the guaranteed contract they gave Weems is going to cost them a veteran who could contribute much more.

Between Juwan Howard, Ruben Patterson, Smush Parker and Mateen Cleaves Denver will have to let at least two of them go and all of them have made a solid case so far for having the ability to contribute.

I believe Howard is the closest thing to a lock to making the roster out of that group. He is not the player he used to be, but his game was never based on athleticism and will be an asset not just behind the scenes, but on the court as well.

Patterson brings a style that excels in chaos. He is good at creating an up tempo “atmosphere” with his energy (some people just make things feel faster based on the way they move and Patterson moves in a frenetic way that makes everyone else respond by speeding up what they are doing too).

Parker can be an effective full court player. He has good size and is very quick. I was very impressed with the group of Parker, Patterson, Jones and Andersen with their ability to shrink the court with their athleticism.

Cleaves has the lowest ceiling of the four and I think would be the easiest to let go. He really duplicates much of what Anthony Carter already provides.

The bad thing is none of them can shoot very well.

Chucky Atkins had an amazing performance. Despite not playing, he somehow garnered a rebound. Well done Chucky.

Andersen has really earned the moniker “Birdman” during the first two games. If an opponent even thinks about looking at the rim he takes flight. He can be a very good shot blocker, but what would make him a potentially great shot blocker is the ability to stay on the floor until the offensive player actually shoots. That is something Tim Duncan excels at.

I was not a fan of the Jones signing, but he has won me over quickly. He has never shown a desire to play lock down defense in the past and has tried to get by with his offense. However, he has clearly realized that the way he will get minutes based on his defense and has shown that he can be a scrappy player. He received a stamp of approval from Charles Barkley who when informed Jones played for the Kings last season uttered soomething like, “Why’d they get ridda 'im?”

The Nuggets struggled again with their communication and rotation on defense leaving the man with the ball open off of a pick and roll on a couple of occasions, but it they were much better than in the previous game. They have made it clear that they are going to pressure the ball and try to clamp down on pick and rolls this season. Those are two areas which will be easy for everyone to follow as the season progresses.

It was kind of cool seeing blimp shots during a basketball game.

It was kind of funny seeing basketball players trying to keep warm during a game.

If we cannot count on it being warm and windless in the desert then we might as well make these outdoor games really interesting and start holding them in Chicago or Boston. Let’s see how well these guys play wearing ski gloves and moon boots.

By the way, here is an eyewitness account that was emailed to me from someone who was actually at the game.

Poll

Should the NBA hold more outdoor games like this one?

Yes, it was cool

10 votes

No, it was ridiculous

3 votes

Rarely, the novelty is what made it interesting

17 votes

Yes, somewhere north of the Arctic Circle, that would be funny

2 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

2008 Preseason Game 1: Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Jeremy — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:13:55 -0000

Game Info

The Denver Nuggets opened up their 2008 preseason schedule tonight at the Pepsi Center against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They were without Carmelo Anthony due to a bruised finger, but that is something they will have to get used to as he will miss the first two games of the regular season due to suspension.

The game was not on television nor was it on the radio. To prove my dedication to all of you I actually spent my own money to attend the game along with my wife, daughter, nephew and sister in law. (As the guy in the video for Yankee Rose by David Lee Roth says I like to keep two women around at all times. That way if there is any conversation, I don’t have to be involved in it.

We will all get to see the Nuggets tomorrow night as they play in the great outdoor game of 2008 against the Suns so my observations will only be relevant until everyone sees them play tomorrow night. That means here is a quick and dirty review of what I witnessed first hand tonight during the Nuggets 118-95 drubbing of the Timberwolves unfiltered and as I scribbled everything down on my little notepad. Well, actually they are somewhat filtered for your protection.

· Nuggets fans were treated to quite a slam dunk extravaganza by The Birdman and J.R. Smith in the pregame layup line. The best of which was a dunk by Chris Andersen, sporting a sweet mohawk by the way, as he came in from the right side, passed the ball between his legs and dunked on the left side of the rim with his left hand.
· Nene, in his first game as the Nuggets starting center, played a very solid game. He showed the ability to face up and drive both right and left and did a good job of finishing at the rim. He rebounded well and was solid on defense against Al Jefferson. He did get a little lost during his rotations, but that was a common theme. Offensively, he allowed himself to get pushed out beyond the block by Jefferson and as a result mostly faced up when he received the ball in the post. Even though he did not do much traditional scoring on the block, he still was a massive upgrade over Camby. With Nene and Kenyon setting solid screens the Nuggets pick and roll game will be much improved this season. In fact there were a couple of occasions where they ran a successful high screen and roll with Kenyon and Nene. Kinda weird, but strangely effective.
· The Nuggets newfound defensive focus seemed eerily similar to last season’s defensive focus. Early on there seemed to be a lack of communication on pick and rolls and it was not a rare occurrence where Timberwolf players were left open after a missed rotation. The starters did do better in the second half and the second unit was much better, but we will get to them later.
· The Nuggets look to be attempting to implement a man defense with zone principles like the Celtics did last season. That means they bring an extra defender over to the ball side while the weak side zones up to cover the other three offensive players in case there is a rotation. I do not think the Nuggets played any straight up zone tonight.
· I was excited to see Kevin Love play and he had a pretty average game. Whether he was guarding Nene or Kenyon Martin they both would face him up and drive. Love ended up in first quarter foul trouble attempting to guard the Nugget big man duo.
· We may have seen a bit of insight into what George Karl is thinking from a rotation standpoint. Things were thrown off a bit thanks to Melo’s absence and I assume the minutes that went to Ruben Patterson would be absorbed by Linas Kleiza who started in Carmelo’s stead. J.R. Smith was the first sub and he entered the game for Anthony Carter and played in the backcourt with Allen Iverson. Andersen was the first big off the bench replacing Martin and Steven Hunter replaced Nene soon after although Hunter did not play in the first half. Juwan Howard, Renaldo Balkman and Patterson both played a few minutes in both halves. The first point guard off the bench was Shush Parker and he also made an appearance in each half. Players who only received garbage time minutes were Mateen Cleaves, Nick Fazekas and James Mays. I would think the way minutes were handed out things are not looking good for Cleaves, Fazekas and Mays, although I doubt anyone expected either of those three to make the team.
· J.R. Smith ended the game with only a 6-16 performance, but he really played well. In my opinion he only forced one shot, he continued to display his improved midrange game hitting a couple of pull up jumpers. He played under control looking to set up teammates (he made a really nice entry pass in traffic to Kenyon in the post). Defensively he did have flashes of disinterest, but for the most part, he made an effort. He still needs to work on his positioning and he tends to give up on plays too early after he is beaten. He did give up a four point play, hitting Blake Ahearn with a cross body block after he let go of the ball. It was a poor mental decision, but I liked the effort. He can learn the mental side of playing defense, but without that effort it will not matter what he knows.
· Surprisingly enough, the Nuggets defense did not collapse in the absence of Marcus Camby. All of the bigs did a better job of hedging out on pick and rolls than Nugget fans are used to seeing. I already mentioned that they struggled early on with their recovery rotations though. I trust they will clean that up though. Andersen did a good job hedging, but tended to leave the ball handler a little too early in an attempt to get back to his man.
· Smush Parker entered the game and made two poor decisions right off the bat. After that he seemed to settle down and he played a solid game. He has the potential to be a very good defender with his 6’ 4” frame, long arms and quickness. If Atkins did not have a guaranteed contract I would swap him out for Parker right now as the third point guard (behind Carter and AI).
· Speaking of Parker’s defense, I really liked the defensive energy the second unit of Parker, Smith, Dahntay Jones, Andersen, Balkman and Hunter displayed. Karl had spoken of his desire to do more trapping and pressure defense and it was those guys who he chose to implement those strategies with. They are all quick, have good size and can guard more than one position. They created a lot of havoc on the floor and they were able to get some easy baskets off of turnovers. Andersen did a very good job on the boards. He was strong boxing out, crashing the glass and chasing down longer caroms as proven by his nine boards (editor's note: his nine rebounds somehow became 11 in the box score after this post was published) in under 18 minutes. Karl stuck Jones Randy Foye to provide some full court pressure and he had his moments in that role. Birdman tried to block everything in sight which resulted in a couple of legit blocks, a couple after the whistle and a plethora of instances where he was shot faked out of position. There was not much offense on the floor as J.R. was forced to carry the load of scoring and setting everyone else up on his own. I would expect to see Karl keep another starter who can score or Kleiza on the court so that the offense is not completely reliant on J.R. in the future.
· One of the reasons I wanted to see this game was to assess whether or not Juwan Howard could contribute in more ways than in the locker room. Howard played well on both ends of the floor and I see no reason why he cannot make the team as a guy who can play ten minutes off the bench and provide some injury insurance for the front line. Howard moved well on defense and did as well as could be expected when he was guarding Jefferson. He did not provide much of a boost on offense, but he kept the ball moving and did not take anything off the table. However, Howard’s biggest contribution was I his leadership. There were a couple of occasions where he called his teammates on the floor together to discuss what was going on. That was a pleasant surprise. I think there is room on the regular season roster for Howard.
· Anthony Carter had some success last season shooting from 19 to 20 feet instead of moving out behind the three point line. As the season moved on he abandoned the long two point shot and began taking more threes and as a result was less successful. Tonight he was back to shooting that 20 footer and he looked good doing it. Hopefully, he will not try to do too much and will set up in that area instead of behind the three point line when he is waiting for a reversal.
· Renaldo Balkman was brilliant. He has amazing defensive instincts which allow him to make steal after steal while not taking unnecessary risks and leaving his teammates to play four on five. I would love to see Balkman play 20 minutes off the bench at the three and four.
· A little note for Timberwolf fans in case any are reading this. Randy Foye looked really good. He never forced anything, but proved he could get in the lane and finish. We already knew he could shoot and I expect a nice offensive season from him.
· Staying with the T-Wolves I would love to see some of the battles in Timberwolves practice between Rafael Araujo and David Harrison. Talk about unintentional comedy.
· By the way, Nene is definitely in shape.
· Mike Miller played sparingly, but he looked a little beefy.
· One play that caught my eye was the Timberwolves threw the ball away as the shot clock was winding down. The ball was rolling towards the sideline down on the other end of the court. The Nuggets could have let it just roll out of bounds, but AI busted his hump down the floor to try to save the ball and trigger a fast break. Unfortunately, the shot clock expired a fraction of a second before AI picked the ball up and passed it ahead, but I appreciated the effort nonetheless.
· Patterson was definitely watching the Nugget Dancers more than anyone else. Note to Nugget dancers: Do not accept any child care positions in the Patterson household. It does not matter how much he offers to pay you.

One more thing. The Nuggets scored 118 points. Melo obviously had zero points and AI only had five. Sure it was preseason and it may say more about the Wolves defense than anything else, but that is not something you would expect to see.