SB Nation - Jerryd Bayless

Monday Practice Report

Ben. — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:05:20 -0000

Thanks to his recent Achilles surgery, Nate McMillan rides on this wheelie cart when he's not on crutches.

McMillan spoke today about the "slippage" he has seen from the team's effort and execution. "My leg is in this cast because of slippage," McMillan said, prompting some light chuckles from reporters. "No, seriously," McMillan continued, "It was slippage then... communicating on defense and setting screens and talking and sprinting out and all of those things we're talking about now, we've got to do."

McMillan has recalibrated his goals for the season: he wants to make the playoffs. He also seems to have come to terms with the fact that Greg Oden is out for the season. I suppose a week watching your team struggle through a road trip on TV will do that. For the latest on GO, click on this morning's update.

Jerryd Bayless

After practice today, Jerryd Bayless was adamant in repeating his earlier statements on twitter, steadfast in saying that he was not referring to his teammates after the game in Milwaukee. Jason Quick tracked him down after practice and they spoke briefly. After that conversation, Bayless told Brian T. Smith that the incident had been a "miscommunication."

Much more, including the quote below, from Brian T. Smith here...

A miscommunication between both of us. He's not trying to start anything. It was nothing like that. It was just a miscommunication on both our parts. And I apologize. I'll take the blame for it. That's not what I was trying to say; maybe he took it the wrong way. Maybe I insinuated that. But that's by far something I was not trying to say. I would never put down Steve or Andre, because both of them are great. Especially Steve and Andre - they both do different things that help this team. It's just a miscommunication and things like that happen.

Soon after the media session was complete, Bayless showed some real class in tweeting...

J. Quick didn't do anything wrong.. It was an accident and bad communication between both of us

Drama aside, Bayless saw his playing time ramp up a little bit on the road trip and Nate McMillan spoke at practice today about the team's need to attack defenses more aggressively. Clearly, that's good news for Bayless.

Here's a quick question and answer I did with Jerryd Bayless at practice today.

Blazersedge: Have you talked to Nate about your role in the last few weeks?

No, I haven't really talked to him about my role. When he puts me out there I'm going to try to do the best I can to help this team. Any given circumstance. If he plays me at the one, two, three, four or five. I'm just going to do my best to try to help this team win games.

Blazersedge: Some people believe you'll have more success if you continue to play at the 2 spot instead of the 1. Would you agree?

No, I don't think so. The thing is, it's whoever gets it, really goes, with me and Andre or me and Steve or whatever. Last year when Steve was out I think I had a lot of success there too. Whatever this team needs like I said, right now I can't really be picky about where I play. I'm not in that position. Hopefully we can get better, try to win some more games.

Blazersedge: Back during training camp we talked about how you saw the point guard position as a competition between you, Steve and Andre. How has that competition shaken out? How do you feel you're doing compared to those guys?

I think I'm doing well. Everytime I get an opportunity I'm trying to do my best to contribute to this team. That's kind of the coach's decision when it comes down to it. What he wants and what he sees fit. I don't know I think I'm doing well. They're also doing well. Andre has had some really big games, Steve has had some big games.

Blazersedge: You seem like a different player from last year. Your shooting percentage is way up. Your turnovers are down. Nate really hasn't talked to you about that during the last month?

Nah, we haven't really talked about that. He told me 'good game' after the Houston game. Today is the first day I've seen him. The Houston game was the first game that Rudy was out. So it was the first game I really played besides that stretch I was playing one. I think I did well when I was playing one for a little bit, when they went to the three guard lineup and I was coming off the bench being the backup point. We haven't really talked.

Blazersedge: How do you feel about playing in a three guard lineup compared to a traditional two guard lineup?

I just like to play, man. I love basketball. Right now I can't really be choosy about my situation. Whenever I get on the court, whether it's one, two, three, four or five, I'm going to try to contribute to this team.

Blazersedge: Last week there were rumors that you had approached Kevin Pritchard for a trade. Did you?

No.

Blazersedge: Did your agent or anyone else approach Kevin Pritchard on your behalf?

Not that I know of.

Blazersedge: How do you think something like that gets started?

Probably because I wasn't playing. Someone wanted to write it.

Blazersedge: What's your reaction when you read people writing about your facial expressions during games?

I think it's just me being competitive. I don't think it's really 'grumpy.' It's just an intense look. When I get in there, I'm trying to win at any cost possible. It's just me. I can't really change that.

Starting Lineup

Nate McMillan indicated at practice that he is re-evaluating the starting lineup.

I gotta look at everything. Certainly we're looking at that. I want to talk to the coaches more about it but we're a different team now. We're a different team without the two guys early -- Travis and Nicolas -- and we're certainly a different group without Big Greg and now without Rudy. We gotta find a way to get a group out there, maintain and win games and try and stay in this thing until we can get some guys healthy. So yes I'm looking at that.

McMIllan claimed to be looking at all positions aside from Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Nate McMillan is finally bringing himself to reconsider the starting point guard position.

Jason Quick first reported on 95.5FM last week that McMillan was looking at starting Andre Miller in place of Steve Blake. He repeated that claim today, stating on Wheels at Work that he is receiving "strong indications that Andre Miller will move into the starting lineup tomorrow night." Quick also stated that he expects Jerryd Bayless to receive "very much more" playing time.

Rudy Fernandez

Rudy joined Nicolas Batum in attendance at practice today while Greg Oden and Travis Outlaw were not present. Rudy reported feeling much better after his surgery and said all the right things about getting back as soon as possible to help the team.

Shavlik Randolph

Ira Winderman is reporting that the Miami Heat have released Shavlik Randolph. Best of luck to Shavlik.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Game 25 Recap: Blazers 101, Bucks 108

Dave — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:08:09 -0000

Arrgh. It stinks to have to write about another loss. But you kind of knew when the game went into overtime, let alone double-overtime, that this would be a hard one for the Blazers to pull out. Shorthanded and on the tail end of a road swing against a team that's been waiting isn't a good recipe for extra-period success. Nevertheless the Blazers had their chances but couldn't overcome their mistakes and in the end couldn't pull out the win.

The game started with both teams looking to their big men to provide scoring. LaMarcus Aldridge tore up the Bucks most of the night. Andrew Bogut returned the favor. Both were mobile enough and had enough range to their game that their counterparts couldn't stop them. Centers and power forwards were the order of the day early and the Blazers were fine with that. But when the various guards stepped up to the plate Portland got outplayed. Luke Ridnour did damage in the first half, carrying the torch for Brandon Jennings who didn't attempt a single shot in the opening 24 minutes of the game. Michael Redd chipped in a little bit. On the other side Brandon Roy was quiet and Steve Blake and Andre Miller were noisy in all the wrong ways...and in the clanging of loud rims. Nobody but Martell Webster could hit a three. By now you know what happens to the Blazer offense when nobody hits threes. Portland exited the first period down 5 and it looked like it could be a long night.

In the second period Roy went on a run, which in turn developed some shots for Martell and for Jerryd Bayless. Bayless didn't get many opportunities but he did well with what he had. Martell was still doing well in the first half, so it actually made a decent lineup. It's important to realize that many of these shots were coming off of movement and screens, which seems to be a consistent factor when Portland's offense is going well. The Bucks, meanwhile, suffered from a lack of backcourt scoring. Also Andrew Bogut sat out half the period. That was a bad combination for the Bucks. Portland made an enormous comeback behind their rejuvenated backcourt and turned the 5-point deficit into a 5-point lead at the half.

Apparently Brandon Jennings looked at the stat sheet at the half and realized it is really hard to win Rookie of the Year without attempting any shots whatsoever. Perhaps he looked at LeBron tape from last night's game as well. Whatever the cause, he came out in the third quarter firing. The Blazers had to know it was coming but they're a little shy on point guard defense at the moment. Once Jennings hit a couple of threes the court opened up for anything Milwaukee liked. It was like going through a pound box of See's soft-center candies for them. No matter what they picked, everything was good. Portland started the period by driving inside but after they were rejected at the rim they apparently decided that three-point shooting was the better part of valor. They got a couple of close shots but mostly it was Brick City. Only some well-timed free throws saved the period from total disaster. (You'll recall that giving up copious amounts of charity tosses is in Milwaukee's M.O.) The game's wobble increased again as the Bucks outscored the Blazers by 15. For those counting that means the first quarter one team outscored the other by 5, the second quarter it was by 10, the third quarter was by 15, and the superior team alternated each quarter.

Obviously all of the people who believe in an orderly universe are assuming that Portland outscored the Bucks by 20 in the final period and walked out victorious. You're half right. They outscored the Bucks by 10. Both Roy and Aldridge came alive at the same time to spur the comeback. They even helped each other out a time or two, which is something you don't see often. Milwaukee shared the ball but maybe they should have considered going with Jennings, Bogut, or Ridnour alone as the Blazers couldn't seem to stop any of them. In the process of sharing the ball with each other they also shared it plenty of times with Portland, aiding the comeback's progress. Andre Miller was the third scorer for the Blazers in the period but he was a mixed blessing. It's easy to love the 5 points and especially the 4 assists he posted in the period. It's difficult to forgive two critical turnovers down the stretch when Portland had a chance to score crucial buckets. They were nearly identical, featuring Miller trying to force the tempo by driving against superior numbers on the break when his teammates weren't with him. He got stripped both times, once by Redd and once by Jennings. Both of these occurred in the last two minutes of a then-tight game. The first one the Blazers got right back. Not so the second. But either one could have made the difference and you don't expect that kind of thing from a 14-year veteran point guard. That's not to pin the loss on Miller...it was a group effort. But it's indicative that every time the Blazers felt the win in their sails in this game they hit a rock.

The final 38 seconds of regulation featured a medley of nice offensive plays. Andrew Bogut hit a hook shot to put the Bucks up three then Brandon Roy pulled the defense to him and threaded a sweeeeeet pass to LaMarcus Aldridge for a dunk plus the foul to tie it. After the big man had their curtain call Brandon Jennings made a teardrop runner in the lane to recapture the lead by 2 followed by Brandon Roy hitting a turn-around with 12 seconds left that was so bad that we would have barbequed anyone but Brandon who took it. We maybe would have barbequed him too but we'll never know because it went in. You could almost hear the Bucks' fans (who were quite vocal and sounded amazing all game, by the way) lose their beer and pretzels. The Bucks almost got a tip-in off of a missed Jennings jumper at the buzzer but it was a nanosecond or two too late. Overtime.

The overtime started out well. After Andrew Bogut made a layup followed by a short Roy jumper the Blazers fed a running Aldridge thrice. It was like three punches to Milwaukee's ribs. It looked like they could be headed for the exit. Unfortunately the Blazers never scored again after the third conversion. Perhaps they relaxed. Perhaps they were fatigued. Certainly we began to see signs of the perimeter defense breaking down as the Milwaukee smalls scored repeatedly, often times after a screen left them either free or mismatched.

There was a semi-controversial play near the end of the overtime wherein the officials invoked instant replay review for a second time in the game, the first having been the shot at the end of regulation. Milwaukee missed a shot and there was a scrum for the rebound. LaMarcus Aldridge was touching the ball but hadn't fully controlled it yet when two Bucks tried to tip it away from behind. They succeed and the ball went out of bounds along the baseline. The officials initially awarded the ball to the Blazers but the video review would show that LaMarcus' hand was the last to touch it (by about the same nanosecond as before) so they reversed their call. Technically they were correct in their determination. Full marks there. But this does highlight that even instant replay isn't foolproof because technical correctness sometimes breaks precedent. Every other call in the game is made in real-time. And made in real time that call always goes against the team whose players come from behind to tip. Had this been any time but the last, critical moments of the game that would have been Portland's ball. As it was, the call was made differently because it was reviewed. This begs the question: is technical correctness really correct or is it consistency?

Anyway, Brandon Jennings made a final shot to end the overtime and we were knotted again.

There's not much to say about the second OT except that the Blazers looked even more tired. Jumpers fell well short. Brandon Roy drove expecting to get fouled and threw up the shot as an afterthought. In overtime games you have to get the shot in and expect the foul to be called as an afterthought. Needless to say, he came away with neither. Meanwhile the perimeter defense got even worse as switches on screens became comical. Jennings, Ridnour, and guard Carlos Delfino scored repeatedly. Portland did not. End of game.

The Blazers didn't hit enough jumpers and didn't throw a wide enough defensive net to win in this game and that's pretty much the story. They're tired. They're banged up. They need to go home and hope to recover with a little rest and a friendly crowd.

Click through for the rest...

Individual Observations

These are going to be quite brief tonight.

Brandon Roy scored copiously but less than efficiently again, shooting only 8-24 to get his 23 points. Part of it is him, part of it is that his backcourt mates are playing like doo-doo right now. He was streaky, pouring on the points when needed and hitting the critical shot. But the confidence just isn't there. 8 rebounds and 6 assists but also 4 turnovers.

Blake and Miller combined for 5-22 shooting, 8 assists, and 6 turnovers. That was ouchy.

LaMarcus Aldridge had a whale of a game with 31 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks had a hard time handling him.

Poor Joel Przybilla gets used so badly by his backcourt on defense. He never gets to worry about just his own guy. Not that being able to worry about Bogut would have allowed him to stop Bogut, but I do feel bad that Joel has to do everyone else's laundry as well as his own. He managed 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Both Martell Webster and Steve Blake seemed to take some advice we offered last night and stepped in for a few shots instead of just bombing. It worked OK for Steve. He was 1-7 on his threes but 2-3 on the shorter shots. Martell hit 3-6 threes, 3-8 of the remainder. Keep at it.

Jerryd Bayless played 18 minutes and scored 9 points. His best moment came when he was set up on the left sideline while Roy drove the lane, Brandon pitched him the ball, and Jerryd drained the three. That's something Blazer guards playing with Roy need to do. Jerryd nodded like he knew it and Roy high-fived him afterwards. 18 minutes is better than the 8 he got last night. We're going to talk more about Jerryd's court situation tomorrow so I'll leave it at that.

Final Thoughts

This was a rough stretch. You have pretty much GOT to get these two upcoming home games now. Remember though that we're trying to get through December without totally getting ruined. It may not be pretty but it doesn't have to be. It just can't be fatal. And things are seldom fatal in December anyway.

Boxscore

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See your Jersey Contest scores here and enter Tuesday's game form here.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Game 24 Recap: Blazers 99, Cavaliers 104

Dave — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Garrett Ellwood - NBAE/Getty Images

This is not going to end well.

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Well, if you're going to lose that's not a horrible way to lose. The Blazers played an inspired first half in this one. Gone was the listless play we've become semi-accustomed to lately. This team had more list than Santa. One of the things I sometimes forget is that the current incarnation of the Blazers has a little "Big Time" in it. They seemed to know they were on national TV. They knew who they were playing. They played with energy from the tip, taking a lead on the shocked Cavaliers (perhaps feeling a little entitlement to a home win themselves) and protecting it through the first half.

How did the Blazers do it? The supporting cast had a fantastic half. Martell Webster started the game on fire, hitting everything he threw up. It's not like he was taking it one-on-one. The Blazers attacked with Roy early, he drew attention, Martell and LaMarcus were the beneficiaries. In fact nobody but those three scored in the first quarter. When the stars didn't have a shot, Martell stepped up. But the Blazers also threw a few more screens in the offense, with both Roy and Webster curling off of them and hitting briefly-open jumpers as a result.

As the second quarter and the second unit (such as it is) rolled around we saw a ton of off-ball movement. The four players without the rock made it easy for the dribbler to find an outlet. Unsurprisingly the two players who benefitted the most were the two players who know how to function in that kind of offense: Juwan Howard and Andre Miller. Both of those guys have a sense of spacing that their younger counterparts lack. Howard all but killed the Cavaliers all by himself at the start of the second quarter doing nothing but raining down open mid-range jumpers. Miller ramped it up at the end of the second quarter, hitting all kinds of shots including a couple threes. Except for one Roy jumper, one Cunningham jumper, and a couple of Bayless free throws nobody but the geezer twins scored in that second period.

As you can imagine, Cleveland was a little flummoxed. Worse, the Blazers' energy on offense evoked similar play on defense. Joel Przybilla keyed the early momentum with a couple of MONSTER blocks. He was way into this game. Cleveland helped by steadfastly refusing to utilize LeBron James. He destroyed the Blazers every time he touched the ball but he was getting fewer touches than a broke guy at Déjà Vu. It was as if Cleveland had a fully gassed and insured Ferrari in the garage but elected to take the old Taurus instead. Add in that the Blazers weren't turning the ball over much and weren't allowing the Cavs offensive rebounds and you can see why Portland took a 9-point lead into the third quarter. They had outscored Cleveland 31-19 in that second period. Things were looking good.

Except you didn't need Paul Harvey to know what the rest of the story would be.

The Cavaliers announced their presence in the second half by throwing on a full-court press. The intention wasn't so much to stop Portland as rattle them. Perhaps it was also designed to light a fire under their own players. It worked on both counts. Wherever Portland threw the ball a defender seemed to beat it there. Where the Blazers had been playing free and easy, maybe even with a spritely tempo, in the first half now shots started coming later and later in the clock. The same jumpers that were golden early started missing late.

When LeBron hit a three-pointer on Cleveland's first offensive possession, approximately 37 seconds into the half, it was clear that Elvis had arrived at the clam bake. He proceeded to score 9 points in 3 minutes, hitting jumpers over shorter guys. The Blazers threw a zone which worked for a possession or so. Then it was the old "put out the fire" drill which saw Portland defenders running at him from everywhere. All of a sudden here come Anderson Varejao and Shaquille O'Neal.

Pause for interlude.

Shaq was huge in this game. Like around four bills huge. Seriously, you can now see the fat roll underneath the armpits of his jersey. The Cavs wear an "XL" patch on their uniforms. In his case it's missing about six "X's". I'm thinking the plan is to improve his free throw shooting by eventually being able to roll the ball down his stomach and into the hoop. Some guys become broadcasters after their career is done. I guess he's angling to be a blogger.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

Varejao and Shaq took advantage of Portland's inability to contain LeBron by scoring repeatedly at the cup. Portland eventually tried a smaller, quicker lineup both to protect Przybilla from foul trouble and to move men over to LBJ in a more timely fashion. That made it worse. Przybilla eventually put an end to the Shaq run with a classic heel move: poking him in the eye. Shaq went to the locker room and never came back. Unfortunately the same could not be said of Varejao, who proceeded to kill us with his energy on both ends. He bottled up LaMarcus Aldridge, rebounded all over the place, created turnovers, finished easy plays...he basically gave the Cavs all of the opportunity points they had lacked in the first half.

Meanwhile the Blazers' offense was in confusion. As jumpers missed we became more Roy-centric which had the dual effect of creating points and telegraphing to the Cavaliers where their defense should concentrate and exactly when the ball was coming up. It's not like Roy was hogging it. His teammates couldn't finish what they started early in the game. Martell Webster made like one of those drag racers starting with a huge boom but then blowing out his engine and coasting down the track. Steve Blake never hit anything in this game. LaMarcus got Varejaoed. The only guy who was any help was Andre Miller and that was at the cost of his offense running the same way Roy's did. It wasn't quite enough. Cleveland played sharper. The Blazers turned it over more and got fewer offensive rebounds in the second half. Oh...and LeBron was still cooking.

Portland made it really close, cutting it to 4 with 13 seconds left on a LaMarcus Aldridge three and then scoring again 1 second later off of a Roy steal of the inbounds pass. But Cleveland hit their free throws and Roy couldn't hit the contested, off-balance three that would have kept hope alive. It was as good of a performance as you could have expected but it wasn't good enough for the miracle win.

Here's hoping the Blazers build on tonight. They showed themselves and their opponent that they can be dangerous when they play right. The early offense was something to behold...everything you'd hoped for out of a perimeter game. The total lack of paint points rendered it unsustainable but if the Blazers can pair that movement and unselfishness with even a marginal inside presence they're going to be just fine. And by just fine I mean great. In the meantime while they're waiting for the post presence and more people who can actually hit outside shots to heal they should continue to work that hard. Good things will happen.

Click through for Individual Observations, the Boxscore, Links, Jersey Contest Results, and Final Thoughts.

Individual Observations

Brandon Roy had 23 points but never got steady offensive production until he blitzed the fourth quarter. Even then his run was short-lived. Cleveland figured out what the plan was and that made life too difficult. He was no better than anyone else on the team when matched up against LeBron James. In fact the three-guard lineup in the second half was a defensive disaster, especially when Przybilla wasn't in with them. But he looked more active on defense than he has in some outings. He had 6 assists as well.

LaMarcus Aldridge had three-quarters of a great offensive game tonight. He couldn't get anything going in the fourth. They just shut him down whenever he tried, which in any case probably wasn't often enough as the offense became guard-dominated. He drew 5 free throws and hit them all, which is good. He had 2 rebounds on the night...this on a night when he was one of two guys above 6'9" who saw significant minutes. That's not so good.

Andre Miller played tough out there on offense. He drove, dished, and hit his shots. I have a vague impression that he looks more confident against Eastern Conference teams but that's just an impression. He sure knew how to bake Cleveland's cookies. 8-13 shooting, 20 points, 6 rebounds. He had only 3 assists, taking a more shooting-guard-ish approach to the evening.

Steve Blake had 8 assists. Unfortunately that was about the only obvious good thing that came out of his night. He had 4 turnovers. Although he put himself in decent position many times he also got burned for being too slow or too short on defense. He also missed all 4 shots he took, including 3 three-point attempts. First of all, with the roster the way it is we can't afford to have a guy playing 36 minutes and only attempting 4 shots unless that guy's name starts with "P" and ends with "rzybilla". Discretion is good but you have to be a threat. Second of all...you goose-egged the evening. I hate to presume too much but have a handy piece of advice for both Blake and Webster. If the three-pointer isn't falling your choices are not limited to keep bricking or stop shooting altogether. Specifically there are shots available from 2-4 feet further in which are more comfortable. Obviously you can't step in if defenders are closing out on you but in many cases they're leaving you all alone. Take an easier shot, get it to fall, then try the hard stuff.

Speaking of Martell, 13 points in the first quarter, 0 for the rest of the game. 4 rebounds and 4 fouls otherwise. Obviously defending LeBron can be a discouraging experience. But you've got to keep involved and you've got to work for better shots instead of relying on the ones that the defense gives you most easily. On fire or cold as a witch's bras-trap won't do it.

Joel Przybilla...you made this game for us. 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, including a SPECTACULAR rejection of a Shaq alley-oop dunk. The guy had 2 assists when the offense was flowing freely too. He set the tone.

Hey Juwan...15 points in 16 minutes? Who are you, Jerryd Bayless? I guess this is the one situation where you're glad that the old-guy power forward you got also used to score with some proficiency instead of just rebounding and defending. With half the roster blown away you need the points.

Hey Jerryd...8 minutes? Who are you, Juwan Howard? No, seriously, I thought Jerryd looked pretty good out there tonight. He made a couple of nice assists and stayed turnover-free. More importantly the Blazers intentionally called the last play of the first half for him, giving him the ball to finish the period. He penetrated even when everybody knew that would be coming. He drew two foul shots and converted them. The fact that they set the play for him is a sign of respect. Of course more than 8 minutes would also be a sign of respect. I am not huge on bandwagons as I think we tend to jump the gun and/or not see some subtle things that keep our favorite guys from playing as much as we think they should. However in this case I tend to agree with my colleague Ben. I'm seeing Jerryd hit the few jumpers he takes. I'm seeing him drive with effect. I'm seeing him in the nascent stages of passing the ball and getting the offense. I do understand his effectiveness will be greatest with certain combinations. I understand that those combinations probably won't include Roy or Miller--let alone both--and that you have to give the nod to Brandon and Andre both over Jerryd right now. (In other words it's not just a matter of subbing in Jerryd in Blake's spot.) However no matter what the combinations may be I think you have to find the guy some more playing time, particularly if the other team has no choice but to send a weaker defender against him. Maybe not 30 minutes. Maybe he doesn't even move up in the rotation officially. But if Blake's not hitting his shots anyway, if Miller or Roy can handle the passing, and if Jerryd can do a few other things that Steve can't you have to sneak him in there for a few more minutes.

Final Thoughts

Pretty much said it all above, but I'll reiterate that I appreciated the effort. If the Blazers played every game this way, even with the evening not being perfect, there wouldn't be much cause to complain.

Boxscore

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--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

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Ready Or Not, Rush Thrown Back Into The Fray For Pacers

Tom Lewis — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:33:51 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

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The basketball gods must really love Brandon Rush. He's frustrated coaches and fans alike in college and the pros. Yet, there he is, playing with that half smile, wide eyes and freakish bounce in his game that leaves everyone he crosses paths with begging for more. He can't seem to seize a game or exploit his physical talent, but basketball continues to shine on him.

Rush could never carry his talented Kansas team, but he showed up big when the Jayhawks won the national championship. Now in the NBA, injuries have created far more minutes than his play has deserved. His rookie season was erratic but ended with great promise. That promise quickly evaporated in this his second year, when once again Rush started floating through a golden opportunity to establish himself as a key player for the Pacers.

In the first 18 games of the season, Rush has had what I would call five good games and three decent games, the remaining ten games saw little impact from Rush. Four of those five "good" games were in wins which shows the impact he can have producing as a third or fourth option on the floor. These weren't great games, mind you, but good games pitching in on the glass as well as on offense.

But simply offering the Pacers "good" 28% of the time rates Rush somewhere below unreliable along with highly frustrating. Ironically, Rush gets another chance to start when Jerryd Bayless and the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. I've watched Bayless and the Blazers quite a bit lately and couldn't help but notice how Bayless and Rush seem like polar opposites.

Bayless has struggled to get any playing time and only after a few injuries depleted the Blazers' rotation has he earned some steady minutes. And even now with a spot in the rotation, Bayless appears to be on a short leash no matter how well he's playing.

Meanwhile, Rush can't seem to play himself out of extended minutes no matter how hard he tries. After starting the first 15 games, Jim O'Brien had seen enough and decided to move Rush out of the regular rotation only giving the second-year guard the scrap minutes left over from Mike Dunleavy's playing limitations.

Just when it appeared Rush wouldn't be heard from for awhile, Danny Granger goes down and Rush is suddenly back in the starting lineup. Jim O'Brien needs to use Rush extensively now because he doesn't want to eat up Dunleavy's minutes too early by starting him. So once again, everyone is pumping up Rush's game hoping the good Rush shows up to help fill the void left by Granger's absence.

The contrast between the two guards extends past their playing time and to how they play. Rush is a hoops specimen with all of the physical tools. He is like a greyhound, with quicks, hops and size at the guard spot. Unfortunately he struggles to sync up all three of those characteristics consistently, instead floating at times and just blending into the action.

Bayless is plenty athletic, as well, although undersized for his guard skills which translate more to a two guard than point guard. But the guy is in full attack mode on both ends of the floor, pedal to the metal trying to make an impact. At times, he's like a wild man on the floor, trying to squeeze a week's worth of production into his 10-15 minutes of time he desperately craves.

Bayless needs to harness all of that energy to become a more productive and complete player, but I'd certainly prefer to slow down a player like Bayless then to have to amp up a guy like Rush. If only the basketball gods could meld these two guys together and create a pair of perfect wings for both teams, everyone would be happy. Actually I think they already did, his name is Brandon Roy.

From Man to Dog: The Kevin Garnett Story

aramnath — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:10:18 -0000

Kevin Garnett showed some signs in Minnesota of the transformation into man's four legged best friend that has happened during his time in Boston.

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Ever since winning the 2007-2008 NBA Championship Kevin Garnett has become a dirty, insane jackass mimicking as a canine. It's gotten to the point where everybody has forgotten how sympathetic a figure he was in Minnesota just three years ago. As soon as he came to the Celtics though he seems to have really embraced the aura of what it means to be an arrogant, pompous douchebag.

There was his unforgettable game against the Blazers where he managed to do things that will never be seen on a basketball court again. He started by making aptly named teammate, Glen "Big Baby" Davis cry during a timeout and followed that up by coming out of the timeout, crawling on all fours and barking at guard Jerryd Bayless.

He had previously started his decline into the realm of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when in a game against Toronto he felt the need to begin clapping, pointing at Jose Calderon and probably barking in the middle of a play while guarding him the length of the floor.

KG found a way to top both of these in a matchup against the Warriors later in the season when he hit Marco Belinelli with this dirty elbow to his chest.

I only bring this up because late in the fourth quarter against the Knicks, Garnett committed a blatant tripping foul on Wilson Chandler late in the fourth quarter. The similarity between all these plays is that he wasn't whistled for a technical, flagrant or even a personal foul on any of them.

Ok NBA referees it's time to reach down in your pants and check if you're man enough to actually control a game rather than be intimidated by a lunatic that is clearly a gigantic wuss. You doubt that? Look at the tale of the tape. Garnett's targets have all been players on the smaller side of things. Belinelli, Calderon, Bayless and Chandler wouldn't stand a chance. I also doubt whether his own teammate, "Big Baby", would be able to considering that he actually started crying on the bench.

I know we aren't going to sign anybody who's crazy enough to imitate man's best friend during a game and picks on guys half his size. Congratulations, you've transformed yourself from being a player most of the NBA viewing public liked to joining the Celtic tradition and being loathed by all. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and you proved it.

Full Court Press

Ben. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:40:12 -0000

The big story this morning: Golden State's Stephen Jackson and Acie Law were traded to Charlotte for Vladimir Radmanovich and Raja Bell. The timing is ideal for the Blazers, who beat Charlotte on Saturday (Dave's game recap here) and are set to play the Warriors on Friday. In his last four games against the Blazers, Jackson put up 20/8/8, 20/4/6, 24/5/2 & 29/9/1. The Warriors went 4-0 in those games.

If you spent the weekend taking off-balance jumpers and missed the news, Travis Outlaw suffered a stress fracture in his left foot and is expected out for a lengthy period of time. Full details here.

A Blazers-themed art show from artist Anna Fidler is running on weekends for the next month or so here in Portland. Too cool. I'll be there. Full details here. A short snippet...

The Game, a new series of vibrant basketball scenes inspired by the Portland Trail Blazers, highlights artist Anna Fidler at her creative peak. Driven by her passion for basketball, she has assembled large-scale, labor-intensive works rendered in glittery mica-enriched acrylic washes and deftly applied pastels, colored pencils and airbrush.

Click through for the rest!

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Some quick hitters...

An awesome new Blazers/Cooking hybrid blog from Corvid that provides an opponent-specific culinary complement to each Blazers game.
The Blazers are doing a tweet up. (Not nearly as sketch as that term implies.) You should go.
A YouTube channel dedicated entirely to protesting foul calls against Greg Oden.
Good news and bad news: the Blazers have surged to #4 on NBA.com's Power Rankings, but they face #1 Atlanta tomorrow night.
Timbo put together his own comprehensive power rankings.
A really nice photo-heavy Blazers tumblr page with a PG-13 URL from Tim Brown.
Update: An important follow-up to this item: Fox 12 News reports that Portland AAU Coach Kumbeno Memory's criminal charges (sex charge and burglary charge) do not stem from his work as a youth basketball coach and do not involve any of his players.

And around the internet we go...

In case you missed this last week, the Blazers topped ESPN's "Future Power Rankings."

On paper, no other team possesses as bright a future as the Portland Trail Blazers. It all starts with the players. Nobody, not even Oklahoma City, can match the stable of young talent the Blazers have built.Brandon Roy is already a superstar, and joining him are potential stars like LaMarcus Aldridge (24), Greg Oden (21, even if he looks more like 51), Nicolas Batum (20) and Martell Webster (22). That doesn't even count the other assets the Blazers have that could eventually pan out, such as talented second-year benchwarmer Jerryd Bayless and a veritable farm team in Europe that includes Joel Freeland, Petteri Koponen and Victor Claver.

Mike Barrett blogs from the road...

Watching this team warm up before this game, you could tell this team was dragging. This was the fourth game in five nights, which is always worse than just a simple back-to-back scenario. Joel Przybilla told me his legs felt like they were filled with lead, and that he was fighting a cold. Jerryd Bayless, who twisted his ankle walking off the court before the game, told me he didn't think he'd play. Nothing felt very good

....

As for the void left by the loss of Outlaw, I would think what we saw at the end of this game is what we'll see more of- Rudy Fernandez. It'll take a combination of players to step up, but my guess is that we'll see Rudy get more minutes, and a much larger role late in games, where Outlaw usually plays. We'll also see more of Juwan Howard, and will probably even see some time given to rookie Dante Cunningham.

Jason Quick on Brandon Roy and Joe Johnson...

But what makes this matchup even more special is the striking similarities between the two, on and off the court. Both players discovered those parallels during a bus ride in Phoenix last February after the All-Star Game when, fittingly, they were the only participants who didn't leave with an entourage or head to an after-party.

"After the game, everyone leaves with their entourage," Roy recalled. "And I'm the only dude leaving the game on the bus. Literally. Like, there's some assistants and some kids, and then me in the back.

"And then he walks on," Roy said of Johnson.

Bill Simmons did a promotional Q and A with Ian Ruder in advance of his Thursday book tour (more on this tomorrow).

The Blazer fans are crazy. They're like the crazy dude at the bar who's just so irrational you don't want to get into a full argument with them because you might get a beer bottle smashed into your head. It's because they're on the team, so it's like they're arguing about their kids almost.

I picked the Blazers to go 41-41 this year and it wasn't like I had an axe to grind against them. It was just every year there's one team that there are high expectations for and then they start slow and (have a) big spiral. They just seemed like a logical pick for that spot.

Blazer fans went ballistic. They became really, really super, super crazy upset about it. (Saying stuff like,) "You're crazy! You're the biggest idiot! Don't come here for your book tour!"
It's like whoa settle down! I just picked you to go 41-41, it's not like I built a Brandon Roy voodoo doll or something.

That's the passion that makes it great.

An interesting observation from Coup over at Rip City Project regarding the Bobcats game...

It was a little more concerning that Portland only scored 26 points in the paint, most of which could be credited to Roy and Oden. Oden being in foul trouble most of the night didn't help, but from 5:48 in the third, when Portland was up 12, until the end of the period, the Blazers attempted seven jumpers, one layup (a Miller attempt blocked) and one Aldridge hook shot. At the end of that stretch, the Blazers were only up four. Coincidence?

Dwight Jaynes on Travis Outlaw...

I don't think this one has a huge impact on the Trail Blazers' wins and losses this season. Yes, Outlaw is a proven off-the-bench scorer who has made big shots. But he's not improved much on the defensive end and isn't a particularly energetic rebounder. In the long run, this should mean more minutes for Webster, Rudy Fernandez and even Juwan Howard - which is a good thing.

Sheed from BustaBucket.com on Travis Outlaw...

It's not an attack, it's just the truth. Whenever Outlaw plays within himself, he's a great contributor. But shooting 1 for 9 or 2 for 13 from the field is devastating against good teams. Bad missed shots are like turnovers. I hope Travis heals quickly, but my internal jury is still out on whether it's good or bad losing him in the rotation.

I may end up being totally wrong about this, and in some ways I hope I am. It could be, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

Stu Holdren of Oregon Sports Live on Travis Outlaw...

This loss stings for the Blazers, but ultimately I think they will be able to compensate for Outlaw's (and Batum's) injury. This is precisely why teams should stockpile talent and ignore potential logjams and the conflicts that these could provide. Since the core of Roy, Aldridge and Greg Oden is still in tact, I'm confident that they'll still be able to take care of business as usual.

Kevin Pelton breaks down Brandon Jennings' 55 point night.

If we define 50 percent as replacement-level True Shooting Percentage, we can see which player contributed the most points above the expectation of a replacement-level player using the same number of possessions. A replacement player would be expected to score about 38 points on Jennings' possessions, so he contributed a little more than 17 points (17.5, to be exact). That ranks 44th out of those 160 modern 50-point games, which is pretty impressive.

The best of these games by this measure, by the way? Naturally, it's Kobe Bryant's 81-point outing against Toronto in January 2006 (+26.2), but four other players are close; Dana Barros, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Glen Rice were all +23 or better.

El Blog Ilusorio de Rudy Fernandez writes...

But sadly, in our recent Charlotte match, two of my bench-mates fell victim to the injury. Travis Outlaw suffered a broken foot bone while busting a routine move. And in a manner most bizarre, Jerryd Bayless tripped over a hump in a hallway carpet and nearly killed himself!

His bello ws of pain filled the coliseum, and I had to assist him to assistance. (This was no easy matter; Jerryd is a most dense 200 pounds (195 without his cologne). How to explain such a sad conjunction of misfortunes in Charlotte?

An entertaining new feature from Joe Freeman, a video mailbag where he takes questions. Hilarious that the first question is, "Fire Nate?"

runyon from Trail Post wasn't exactly impressed by the Charlotte game...

It's scary how bad we're playing right now and winning. I almost want the Blazers to lose just in order to wake up and come back to their senses. They are cruising against these bad teams. On the flip side, the criticism "they are cruising" is something that you can only say about good teams. The only story from this game was Travis' injury, and you can see those thoughts in the last post. (Basic gist: Travis has improved, and our lack of depth from Batum's injury makes this sting.) When the only highlight of the game is LaMarcus Aldridge getting elbowed in the back of the head, you're not really playing a gem.

jetcity at Blazerstrail.com is happy...

I don't mean to sound like the growing pains are already over. They aren't. There's still going to be duds from Oden, and there's still going to be stretches where Miller and Roy grind the gears trying to play the same role. Still, we've seen that Portland can be a better team this year when they click. We've seen more than flashes of potential from Greg Oden, who is one contested game away from a true monster statistical performance if he can continue his improvement at avoiding stupid fouls. And, we're seeing this in week 3. It stands to reason that Portland can have this honed by April. Go ahead and smile.

Drop anything I missed in the comments. And be sure to Frequent the FanShots.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Thursday Practice Report

Ben. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:45:58 -0000

If Nate McMillan's message Tuesday night was his team's lack of effort, his message Thursday was something like: we're going to practice and run until you're doubled-over with exhaustion.

By the time the media was let in -- more than two hours after practice began -- the guys were still lined up shooting free throws and running sprints. Almost the entire team was doubled over, hands on knees, sucking wind. More than one Blazer yelled out an audible profanity after missing a free throw during the session, as that meant more running.

Gone were the laughs, giggles and most of the smiles that we saw through much of training camp; both players and coaching staff were quite serious and straightforward during their interactions with the media.

I'm not sure the feeling in the gym was a sense of urgency and it definitely didn't feel like panic. But it did feel like hatches had been buttoned down. One characteristic that I've long admired about this group is their disdain for losing. Nate McMillan obviously hates to lose, Roy takes losses to heart and most everyone falls in line behind that. Good to see that hasn't changed this season.

Post-Practice Drills

We saw a few interesting post-practice drills that I can't remember seeing so far this year.

First, we saw Roy, Miller and Blake working on lob passes to both Aldridge and Oden under McMillan's personal instruction. The big men were being fronted and were instructed to spin and seal their defender away from the basket. The pass was then thrown right next to the rim, designed to be caught for an alley oop or quick catch and power-up move. I can't say these passes found their mark with much regularity. But at least the focus is on developing that wing/post relationship and it was good to see Roy included in this group.

Who wasn't included in the group? Jerryd Bayless. Rex was getting a ton of shots up with assistant coach Caleb Canales, working on pull up jumpers from various spots and also his catch-and-shoot jumpers. Bayless was in full scowl mode. His five straight DNP-CDs have certainly not affected his work ethic, which remains exceptional.

The Blazers wings -- Webster, Outlaw and Fernandez -- worked on rotating the ball around the perimeter and sticking their shots off the swing pass. All three shot the ball quite well and Fernandez drew particular praise from assistant coach Monty Williams for his quick, accurate passing. At one point, Outlaw attempted to swing the ball with left-handed bounce passes which drew raised eyebrows and a "what was that?" look from Martell Webster, the pass's recipient. The ball was travelling at roughly 1/3 the speed it would need to travel during a game and Williams stepped in to ask Outlaw to throw a simple chest pass.

The wings also worked on receiving kick-out passes from the post with Williams' emphasis being on sliding into space to get the best shot possible. For instance, if Greg Oden was on the left block and double-teamed and Outlaw was on the top of the key, Williams instructed the wings to take full advantage of the space around the top of the key rather than setting up outside the three point line. In practice, this involved Outlaw shuffling towards the ball side for a few steps, receiving the kick-out pass on the move towards the hoop rather than with his feet still. The end result: a 17-18 foot rhythm jumper with some momentum (or, alternatively, the potential to put the ball on the deck and go to the rim if the defense was slow to rotate) rather than a stand still 3 pointer. Loved watching the potential for this to play out with all three wings. Both Webster and Fernandez especially need to add that attacking, aggressive element to their game.

Roy's Thoughts on 4th Quarter Execution

A quick follow-up on some recent discussion. As I wrote Tuesday, Brandon Roy was a little bit confused down the stretch about why he struggled offensively during the fourth quarter. As I charted yesterday, it was clear that Roy definitely had the ball in his hands and that Atlanta did a good job of playing team defense. The Hawks didn't foul him yet still managed to prevent him from scoring in close to the basket.

On Tuesday, Roy had promised to look at the tape to see what happened and we talked today about what he saw on tape.

Blazersedge: What did you see on the tape and what adjustments do you think are needed?

The biggest thing is I just gotta be more of a playmaker down the stretch of games.

Me and Coach talked about maybe to look to get guys to knock down shots and that will open up the floor for me. Don't feel the pressure that you have to try to take every shot. You've got to get back to getting my teammates involved. I thought that was right.

My biggest thing is to continue to make plays, get that floor spread out, so that way I'm able to make some shots and get some easier baskets.

Blazersedge: It seems like you were able to get by Joe Johnson without too much trouble but the rest of the Atlanta defense was helping and paying you a lot of attention.

Yeah, I feel like I've matured enough to where I can get around that first guy. Now the biggest thing is making good reads when I get to the paint. I made some but there were others that maybe I forced it.

The biggest thing is to take the play they give you every time.

Blazersedge: When you made passes in the paint, were guys ready for those passes?

Um... a couple of them I think there were some loose balls. That's going to happen. If I keep passing, they'll be ready.

Roy's line that McMillan instructed him not to force shots or feel the pressure is interesting given that Roy attempted only 3 field goals in nearly 11 minutes of fourth quarter action. Despite the lack of shots, Roy was definitely pressing and turnovers/wasted possessions (blocked shots, carrying, some deflected passes) were the result.

A fundamental question that arises: are the high screens helping Roy or complicating things for him? Given how often the Blazers go to those high screen and rolls, and Roy's tendency to eschew the picks or not pass to the player that's rolling, are they accomplishing what they are supposed to? Do you lose anything if you turn some of those possessions into isolations for Aldridge or simply allow Roy to work his man one-on-one with no screen?

Or, perhaps, do you find ways to increase Miller's involvement in the late-game offense, turning over more of the ball-handling to him and perhaps running Roy off more screens off the ball to get him looks that way?

Living and dying by Roy's reads, in the end, isn't a bad strategy at all. He has delivered consistently enough in the past -- and he is adept at drawing enough contact and getting calls -- that it is a great default strategy, especially if things are bogging down. But that doesn't mean slightly more variety is a bad thing. More Aldridge, More Miller, More Oden when he's comfortable, would all accomplish what Brandon identified as the problem -- getting the floor spread out.

-- Ben Golliver | (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com) | Twitter

Award Time

Stop-n-Pop — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:15:31 -0000

I thought it would be a fun idea to put up a list of awards at the beginning of the year, guess on them, and then see how everybody does at the end of the season. I'll put my guesses up top and you can put your picks in the comments. The winner gets 1.3 million Hoopus Points, which can be used on the good feeling of your choice.

MVP: Dwight Howard
6th Man: Manu Ginobili
Most Improved: Chris Douglas-Roberts
Defensive POY: Dwight Howard
ROY: Blake Griffin
WC Finalist: Dallas
EC Finalist: Orlando
Champion: Orlando

What would a prediction segment be without a few made-up categories?

Best Player on a New Team: Vince Carter
Most Overrated: LMA
Most Overrated (runner up): Danny Granger
Most Underrated: Mike Miller (Yep, this one is going to sting a bit when he's finally placed on a team where his attempts to blend in actually work.)
Best Coaching Performance: Rick Adelman
Worst Coaching Performance: Brad Childress (It transcends league boundaries)
Best Rookie PG: Jonny Flynn
Rookie PG with most wins: Ty Lawson
Most Frustrating Rookie PG: Brandon Jennings
Number of Wolves Trades: 2
Where Rudy Gay Ends Up: San Antonio
Will the Wolves keep the Clipper pick? Yes
Where will the Wolves draft in 2010? #1 (Come on folks, it's an inevitability; they finally get the #1 pick with the 2 best players likely being a PG and a PF.)
Biggest 2nd Year Jump: CDR
Biggest Rookie Flop: Hasheem Thabeet/Jrue Holiday/Jordan Hill/Gerald Henderson (4 way tie)
Biggest 2nd Year Flop: Joe Alexander/Jerryd Bayless (tie)
Championship window closes for: Boston, Dallas, and San Antonio
First team to flinch in the face of 2010 free agency: Miami
Will Corey Brewer become a legitimate starting NBA 2/3? No.
Which T-Wolf gets traded first (bonus points for picking the right team)? Brian Cardinal + Ramon Sessions in a combo deal to either Philly, Memphis, or Portland. (BTW: Does it still boggle your mind that Portland didn't go after Sessions instead of Miller?)

Well folks, that about does it. What say you?

Jerryd Bayless's "New Jumper"

Ben. — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:34:17 -0000

People keep asking about Jerryd Bayless's progress. It's almost as if he's a lottery talent that hasn't played much and no one has any idea what he's capable of or where he's at. Oh, right.

Like I wrote yesterday, during the open sessions of camp Bayless is going 110% at his fellow point guards. Not always with perfect results. But he's taking no prisoners. After one play today, he walked to the sideline, picked up the garbage bucket that collects the extra basketball balls and then slammed it down forcefully while shouting. For no particular reason. Intensity. Frustration? Is there a difference between intensity and frustration when you're in his position?

One of the more interesting quotes to come out of the coaches and management Media Day was from John Townsend, Blazers shooting coach, to Andrew Theen of OregonSportsLive.com. Townsend said...

I think Jerryd Bayless is shooting the ball a lot better. He was working with [former Phoenix Suns head coach] Frank Johnson. Frank got him to do some of the things I couldn't get him to do in regard to jumping, which transferred into a higher lift and a better, more consistent jump shot. So, he shot the ball really well in some of the scrimmages that we saw this fall.

Consulting Synergy Sports's player breakdown of Bayless, we find that he was "Below Average" on 3 point shots compared to the rest of the league and "Poor" from midrange as well. I don't think those ratings are particularly surprising to anyone that watched him play last year. Outside of 5 feet, you started to get a little bit worried when he released the ball during game situations.

According to Synergy, Bayless's numbers when catching and shooting and unguarded during last season: 6 for 28 for a rating of poor. Arguably the weakest part of his game. This was particularly frustrating for observers who were able to watch him regularly succeed during post-practice shooting. In a practice setting, Bayless regularly gets hot and in a rhythm, knocking down jumpers at a percentage that rivals just about anyone on the team.

Bayless hung around after practice today -- as he often does -- to get in some extra jumpers. I shot this video so that we might collectively analyze his new stroke. To put these jumpers in context, the video was shot roughly 20 minutes after a 2.5 hour practice that included some 5 on 5 up and down action on the Friday of a week that featured two-a-day practices for 3 straight days. Here's what his shot looked like.

For comparison purposes, here's a video I shot earlier this summer (July) as Bayless was preparing for Las Vegas Summer League.

To be sure, this is something of a flawed comparison because he's elevating, shooting on the move, and closer to the basket in the second video.

With that said, to my eye he seems to be displaying a slightly softer touch on the end of his release. You can also see the mechanics while he receives the ball are pretty tight, tighter than I remember from last season. His stroke also seems a little bit quieter overall: less effort and less forced. Is there still room for improvement? Well, yeah, near the end of the video the ball shaggers are running all over the court.

Let's open this up though for a group discussion. What do you see? How does his shot look? Improved? The same? Other thoughts or observations?

Bayless's New Jumper

Looks better

763 votes

Same as the old one

227 votes

Don't let him shoot

242 votes

1232 votes | Poll has closed

(Cap) Space, The Final Frontier

Dave — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:56:41 -0000

As Ben foreshadowed in his piece below, in response to a training camp conversation we're going to update the Blazers' salary cap status and possibilities today. This is not to infer that a trade is any more or less likely than it was yesterday. But trading remains a possibility as the season starts so we want to cover it. As always in these matters we are indebted to our friend Storyteller and his excellent site.

As of this moment the Blazers have no salary cap space to speak of. Summer hasn't officially ended yet and during the summer months Portland's three Euro-prospects (Klaver, Koponen, and Freeland) create holds on the salary cap. With everybody else in place and Darius Miles a $9,000,000 albatross shadowing the Blazers' ship Portland's well is dry. Any trade made before the start of the season will have to conform to normal standards with no wiggle room.

However when the clock strikes twelve our European Cinderellas will flee the ball, leaving behind glass slippers and a cap space footprint of about $1.9 million. Theoretically the Blazers can preserve that much cap space to facilitate trades going into the season.

The only hitch in the giddy-up is the infamous 15^th roster spot. Right now the Blazers haven't committed to anybody filling that space so there's no cap imprint associated with it. As soon as Portland decides to carry that 15^th player his salary goes on the cap. The Blazers are looking at several players but the most likely two seem to be Ime Udoka and Jarron Collins. As BlazerFanSince1970 kindly pointed out in the comments below, veteran minimum contracts weigh against the cap at slightly above $800,000. That would put the Blazers down to $1.1 million in cap space. However any trade that potentially brings a team over the cap functions as an over-the-cap trade, invoking the 125%+100K rule we're all familiar with. Therefore if Portland ends up signing a 15th man the cap space will become superfluous in many situations. The 125%+100K will give more than $1.1 million in leeway unless Portland trades just a single player straight up and that player makes less than $4 million per year.

But leaving aside that bit of confusion, the Blazers will basically have between $1.1 million and $1.9 million in cap space to trade with when the season begins. This amount can be added to a player's salary to facilitate a (slightly) lopsided deal.

It would be impossible to detail all of the trade possibilities that would fit under these parameters so we'll contain ourselves to the most likely. Without prejudice against them as players or people, it seems clear that Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and Jerryd Bayless are the most obvious candidates to move. Blake and Outlaw have expiring contracts. Bayless is talented, jammed up, and probably unhappy. Here are the salaries in question:

Blake $4.0 million
Outlaw $3.6 million
Bayless $2.1 million

From this we can derive a range of possibilities. The minimum--just trading Bayless plus using the minimum cap space available--yields a figure of $3.2 million. (Though obviously figures below $2 million are also a possibility utilizing just the Bayless contract. The Blazers aren't required to use the extra space.) The maximum practical figure--combining Blake and Outlaw with the most potential space available--gives us $9.5 million. As you can see, that's quite a gap. And the $9.5 million isn't far-fetched either. A team taking Blake, Outlaw, and the cap space would see the entire amount come off of its cap at the end of the season.

Several of the players rumored to be available at last year's trade deadline fall within these parameters. Note that we're strictly talking salary here, not equitable talent exchange or desirability for the Blazers. Charlotte's Gerald Wallace makes $9.5 million as does Chicago's Kirk Hinrich. Golden State's Stephen Jackson makes $7.7 million. Only Al Jefferson on Minnesota lies outside this range. We could get Hedo Turkoglu back, as he makes $9 million. Utah's Carlos Boozer lies outside the range unless you throw in significant extra players. Obviously far less famous (and probably more suitable) names are also possibilities. This list just reinforces the impression that not all was lost with the expiring of Raef LaFrentz's Expiring Contract.

So what will the Blazers be doing with this money? Likely nothing at first. The smart move here is to watch for teams that hoped to excel but instead fall flat. At least one or two teams around the league will see their fortunes change in the first months of the season and will begin to think about rebuilding instead of playing expensive, losing hands. That's where Portland can come in with the offer of a little bit of young talent (more than a little if you want to consider some other players on the roster as available) or a lot of salary relief. Those deals don't always go through but the possibility is there.

The Blazers' roster is closer than ever to its settled form but it's not quite there yet. We're not through the trade window and the Blazers have reasonably strong cards left to play. We'll see what happens.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)