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    <title>SB Nation User Blog:  Balian</title>
    <link>http://www.sbnation.comhttp://www.sbnation.com/users/Balian</link>
    <description>Posts made by Balian on SB Nation</description>
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      <title>Millsap Officiallly Signed Offer Sheet</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/10/945604/millsap-officiallly-signed-offer</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:05:40 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/AgentAra&quot;&gt;Millsap Officiallly Signed Offer&amp;nbsp;Sheet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;It's official...Paul Millsap signed his offer sheet with the Portland Trailblazers.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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      <title>Jason Kidd</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/4/937871/jason-kidd</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:23:14 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You know the old saying: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. With the Hedo debacle behind us, there are only a handful of free agents available right now. One of them is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21554/Jason_Kidd&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jason Kidd&lt;/a&gt;. He is on his last leg but he can fill a void the Trailblazers need ...a veteran playmaker that can take pressure off &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21826/Brandon_Roy&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon Roy&lt;/a&gt;. Not only that, he can had for relatively cheap and for 2-3 years. That will give us ample team for Bayless or another option to develop. Who knows, we might entice Jason Kidd by dangling an assistance position with Nate in a few years. Judging from the interviews Monty Williams have been getting of late, he won't be around forever.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Jason Kidd is taking the holiday weekend to mull over offers from Dallas and NY &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/NYK&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Knicks&lt;/a&gt;. Dallas offered him $24 million over 3 years and Kidd is leaning towards this. We can offer him a little more for 2 years. This is a stopgap solution that might work out for the best.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The downside to this is if Jason Kidd plays for us, we would go from the 2nd youngest team to the 2nd oldest team in the league. We can't be young forever. :)&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Hedo Rejects Deal, Ends Talks</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/3/937391/hedo-rejects-deal-end-talks</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:09:27 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/&quot;&gt;Hedo Rejects Deal, Ends&amp;nbsp;Talks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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      <title>Lakers Just Got Tougher - Artest</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/2/936181/lakers-just-got-tougher-artest</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:44:38 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/KBerg_CBS&quot;&gt;Lakers Just Got Tougher -&amp;nbsp;Artest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Artest will sign with Fakers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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      <title>Rubio Will Stay in Spain For Two Years</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/2/935931/rubio-will-stay-in-spain-for-two</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:20:08 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/60284/20090702/rubio_will_stay_in_spain_for_two_seasons/&quot;&gt;Rubio Will Stay in Spain For Two&amp;nbsp;Years&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;This might be great for teams like the Trailblazers. At least, there is always an option of trading for Rubio if we want a change of pace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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      <title>Stop Sniffing The Turkey Glue KP!</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/1/933460/stop-sniffing-the-turkey-glue-kp</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:47:41 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;UPDATE&lt;/b&gt;: Another reason NOT to sign Hedo, Rudy is unhappy!!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4300407&quot;&gt;Rudy Unhappy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Does Kevin Pritchard really think &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21604/Hedo_Turkoglu&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Hedo Turkoglu&lt;/a&gt; is the missing piece to a championship? Really??&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I mean it's one thing to get him cheap for 3 years, but to tie up $50 million for 5 years??? With that kind of money and commitment, there is no flexibility.&amp;nbsp; Hedo is a good playmaker but other than being clutch, he is not that efficient on offense and a woeful defender to boot. We already have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21826/Brandon_Roy&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon Roy&lt;/a&gt; for at the end of game situations.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Look at these stats:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;24.08 PER &amp;ndash; Brandon Roy&lt;br /&gt; 19.13 PER &amp;ndash; LaMarcus Alridge&lt;br /&gt; 18.13 PER &amp;ndash; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/24277/Greg_Oden&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Greg Oden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; 15.50 PER &amp;ndash; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/35052/Rudy_Fernandez&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Rudy Fernandez&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; 15.15 PER &amp;ndash; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21823/Travis_Outlaw&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Travis Outlaw&lt;/a&gt; 45.3%FG, 37.7%3PT&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;14.82 PER &amp;ndash; Hedo Turkey 41.3%FG, 35.6%3PT&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; 12.92 PER &amp;ndash; Nic Batum 44.6%FG, 36.9%3PT&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I am also hearing the Trailblazers are going after &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21585/Andre_Miller&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Andre Miller&lt;/a&gt; too. Whatever happen to a defensive minded team KP and Nate?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Brandon Roy&lt;br /&gt;LaMarcus Alridge&lt;br /&gt; Greg Oden&lt;br /&gt; Andre Miller&lt;br /&gt;Hedo Turkey&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You think Oden had foul problems last year? With this lineup next year, I can't imagine Oden getting out the first quarter with less than 2 fouls.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I beseech you Kevin Pritchard, DO NOT SIGN HEDO TURKOGLU!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/195256/turkeyglue.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/195256/turkeyglue_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Turkeyglue_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/4986/turkeyglue.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>The good old days! Don Nelson looking on while Dell Curry is holding his son Stephen Curry. Don...</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/6/29/930201/the-good-old-days-don-nelson</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:58:55 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;img alt=&quot;81592224_1280&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/58045/81592224_1280.jpg&quot; /&gt;

&lt;div class=&quot;source source-img&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The good old days! Don Nelson looking on while Dell Curry is holding his son Stephen Curry. Don Nelson is the coach of Stepen Curry now. Also in the picture is Dale Davis I think and our old beloved friend, Drazen Petrovic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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      <title>Camp Rudy Fernandez</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/6/29/929993/camp-rudy-fernandez</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:55:42 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looks like Rudy is training like Rocky in Spain. Looking like Rocky ...not so much. At least he is taking the off season seriously. I hope he does more than push-ups, perhaps visiting the weight room here and there.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He will probably spend most of the summer playing basketball for the national team. It's too bad he doesn't spend most of his time working on his game and getting bigger.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/193799/9e794a2c-a9d7-463e-82ae-a97325dd988e.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/193799/9e794a2c-a9d7-463e-82ae-a97325dd988e_medium.png&quot; alt=&quot;9e794a2c-a9d7-463e-82ae-a97325dd988e_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn.iamatrailblazersfan.com/Gallery/9e794a2c-a9d7-463e-82ae-a97325dd988e.png&quot;&gt;cdn.iamatrailblazersfan.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/193808/a1890d8b-91ae-4140-919a-82c72beabd05.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/193808/a1890d8b-91ae-4140-919a-82c72beabd05_medium.png&quot; alt=&quot;A1890d8b-91ae-4140-919a-82c72beabd05_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn.iamatrailblazersfan.com/Gallery/a1890d8b-91ae-4140-919a-82c72beabd05.png&quot;&gt;cdn.iamatrailblazersfan.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/Home/Photos/OfficialGalleryAlbum/tabid/165/GalleryView/Album/AlbumID/4702/MediaID/2654/Default.aspx&quot;&gt;LINK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Possibly The Worst List of All Time</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/6/29/929638/possibly-the-worst-list-of-all-time</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:02:38 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is possibly the worst list of all time. NBC Sports created the Top NBA draft busts of all time list. Here are the top 10:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Sam Bowie&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Shawn Bradley&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/24277/Greg_Oden&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Greg Oden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21875/Kwame_Brown&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kwame Brown&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/4346/Michael_Olowokandi&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Michael Olowokandi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21537/Adam_Morrison&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Adam Morrison&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Todd Fuller&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Jay Williams&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21586/Joe_Smith&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joe Smith&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Bryant &quot;Big Country&quot; Reeves&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So let me get this straight, they picked Sam Bowie as the #1 bust because he was picked 2nd and had bad career because of injuries?? They picked Sam Bowie over Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi? Those two just plain suck and they don't have injury excuses. Jay Williams made it in the top 10 because his career was cut short by a motorcycle accident??&amp;nbsp; By the same criteria, Len Bias should be #1 bust because he died and did not play one single game!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They picked Greg Oden over Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi after just his FIRST SEASON???&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;WHAT ABOUT LARUE MARTIN???? He is not even on the list!!!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;UNBELIEVABLE.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31429067/ns/sports-nba/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1&amp;beginChapter=1&amp;beginTab=1&quot;&gt;LINK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>The PERFECT Free Agent For Us</title>
      <link>http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/6/28/928368/the-perfect-free-agent-for-us</link>
      <author>Balian</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:22:48 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everyone is giving suggestions on what free agent point guard/small forward we should sign. I have a different approach. Lets not sign a small forward or point guard free agent. With &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21910/Channing_Frye&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Channing Frye&lt;/a&gt; leaving, we should concentrate on getting an EXPERIENCED backup PF. Who is the perfect candidate for us?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Chris &quot;The Birdman&quot; Andersen&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;20.6 mins 6.4 pts, 6.2 rebs,&lt;b&gt; 2.46 blks&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;18.16 PER&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With the limited amount of minutes he got in Denver, he was AMAZINGLY PRODUCTIVE. He gets 2.46 blocks a game for just 20 minutes of playing time! He is a tough defender and likes to bang. He is happy to come off the bench playing either power forward or center.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Imagine a lineup of:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Hinrich/Bayless (I am 50:50 with Hinrich - he is a defensive upgrade to Blake)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Roy/Rudy&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Batum/Webster&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Aldridge/Anders2n&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Oden/Pryzbilla&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Reasons for getting The Birdman&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;We need a backup PF/C with some toughness&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;He is a very good defender and is happy off the bench&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Relatively cheap. Anderson won't demand $10 million per year(Unlike some unnamed &lt;b&gt;TURK&lt;/b&gt;ey free agent)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/DEN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Nuggets&lt;/a&gt; would be a magnitude weaker&lt;/b&gt;(our main division rival) without him and we will be stronger defensively&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know some of you are questioning his character and that he would not fit the &quot;culture&quot; of the Trailblazers. It is true that he has a colorful past. However, I think it also speaks a great deal of his character and perseverance to came back from being kicked out of the league to being a very productive member of a playoff team.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know some of you can't stand him. But make no mistake about it, Chris Andersen provided energy and toughness for the Nuggets. He was part of the reason why they were so successful last year. And I can't stand him for that. However, I will stand up for him if he is on our team. :)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In the least if KP makes an offer to Chris Andersen, it will make the Nuggets spend more money. And that is a good thing. Chris Andersen is an unrestricted free agent which mean we can offer him anything we want and Denver is over the salary cap.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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