SB Nation User Blog: Ben.

Gameday Open Thread -- Second Half

Ben. — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:22:30 -0000

We're up. Let's keep it that way.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Today's Poll -- Spencer Hawes' Destiny Edition

Ben. — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:09:53 -0000

Aside from allowing that girl that wasn't wearing pants to grind on him, is there a more indelible image (here's video) of Greg Oden than when he stuffed the bejesus out of Spencer Hawes in the preseason?

Great players, Jordan caliber, form their own paths in the NBA. Other players, even good players (Ehlo, Uncle Cliffy, Bryon Russell, etc.), get their destinies imposed upon them. That can either really suck or be fun to watch, depending upon which side you're on.

I have an inkling that that might be happening here with Oden and Hawes. Spencer just fits (embraces) so many of the stereotypes of an ideal Oden punching bag.

Let's talk out the fate of Spencer Hawes in the comments.

UPDATE: Tom Ziller over at SacTown Royalty responded with a poll and picture of his own. [Warning: if you're still feeling touchy about Greg Oden criticism, you might want to avoid this one. Yes, we've come to the point where a disclaimer gets attached to anything Greg-related that is not effusive praise. And this is definitely not effusive praise.]

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Poll

Is Spencer Hawes' destiny in life to be dunked on and swatted by Greg Oden from now through eternity?

Today's Poll

Ben. — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:45:22 -0000

Sorry there was no game report last night. I was in Seattle supporting the cause.

What a win though. How sweet was it? Compare and contrast in the comments.

And, if you would, fill me in on your favorite underappreciated moments from last night. I didn't get to watch as closely as I usually do and I haven't gone back to the TiVo tape yet. Drop some knowledge bombs on my head this afternoon. Please?

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Poll

Which win was most satisfying?

Today's Poll

Ben. — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:51:48 -0000

Poll

With some time to cool after last night, how are you feeling?

Oden

Ben. — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:58:14 -0000

Read Henry's post first.

I just emailed in the following response and then realized, "Dude, what are you doing, you should just post it on BlazersEdge." I guess messing with Adobe Premier into the wee hours has me thrown off my game this morning.

----------------

Blogfather,

On draft night, a wise man, when asked whether Oden might be a flight risk out of Portland after his rookie deal, told me, "Out of here with your pessimism! It's party time! This is as good as it gets for Portland fans of the last decade." After reading your Oden piece this morning I am inclined to return the favor today, the morning after Greg's first 20/10.

I love to nitpick Oden as much as anyone. The ball gets knocked out his hands far too often by much smaller players. He shuffles his feet like crazy. He relies too much on his arms to rebound. He generally looks at all times like whatever he is doing is the first time he's done it. I get all of that and cede those points.

But in the context of last night, in which the Warriors played four guards and Biedrins, a lineup in which you could add up the weights of 2 (sometimes 3?) of the GSWs and they would still weigh less than Oden, I thought Oden actually moved well. And if not "well," then definitely better than we've seen to this point. Better than last week. Certainly better than a few weeks ago. Better than at any point during training camp that was open to the media. At the least we saw progress (when for so long we saw nothing); at the most we saw Greg keeping up (mostly) with the pace of a fast NBA game for the first time.

In particular, I liked Greg's mobility coming out to set very high picks (all the way out to the three point line) and then rolling to the basket efficiently, finishing with authority multiple times. In contrast to Przybilla, a pick from Oden is an authentic pick -- giving the dribbler room to work and time to carve a path. Sure, Joel can lay the wood to someone but he doesn't pose any offensive threat himself so his picks are far less effective. The Blazers need more easy buckets -- they have for more than a year. Barkley called us out cold on that front last year and it was never resolved. Until now.

Tall, agile and active, Biedrins is Greg's nightmare matchup. Never in his life has Greg played against someone like Biedrins. Who else is even like Biedrins? On the defensive end Greg has a ways to go, particularly rotating as you mentioned, and Biedrins was the perfect player to expose these weaknesses. These flaws weren't nearly as glaring against the Hornets or Timberwolves-- more conventional teams with more conventional bigs. And Greg wasn't the only person flummoxed last night by Nellieball. Nate was too. Also not to be overlooked: Greg did everything he did last night with zero help from LaMarcus Aldridge.

Also, at halftime, after the stretch of ugliness you mentioned, both Greg and Sergio had a -11 plus/minus. In general, I'm inclined to attribute large negative runs like that to point guards more than to post men. Sergio came in frenetic, almost manic, which discombobulated everyone. I thought SR settled down nicely in the second half and Greg's plus/minus in the second half, with the game on the line, was even.

Your point about having our shooters standing around cooling is one the coaching staff will address. In the first half, we saw Oden and Rudy pass the ball in and out of the post 3 times on one possession, which led to a picture-perfect 3 from Rudy. On that possession, Oden showed he can do the quick passing game -- I'm sure the coaching staff will drill that into him here in the near future. For a team loaded with catch-and-shooters, the ball in Oden's hands attracting attention is exactly what we need. Blake, Rudy, Sergio, Martell and even Outlaw all benefit from having a clean look at the basket. The only person I'm really worried about is Brandon, who likes to have the ball in his hands at all times. Should we prefer Brandon making miracles off the dribble against double-teams every night or working in space with less touches but an easier road to the basket?

One last thought: not to encourage gratuitous rubbernecking but you did see the entire basket shake after one of his dunks, right? I don't need to remind you that we've never, ever, in the history of the franchise, had someone that can make the 24 second shot clock shimmy back and forth like it's doing the Soulja Boy. This is unchartered waters. Try to enjoy it, Blogfather. Despite the loss, this is as good as it gets for Portland fans in the last decade. This was better than draft night. Crystallizing talent beats raw promise every time.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Greg Oden Was Beasting

Ben. — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:05:10 -0000

Hey guys, I understand everyone is upset about the calls. But if you're worried about the calls in one November game against the Warriors in Oakland (we never win in Oakland) when Anthony Tom Morrow is 76 for 79 from the field, you are thinking short.

I suggest you start thinking long. This video should help. Go here and select "watch in high quality" for optimal viewing.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Gameday Open Thread -- Warriors

Ben. — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:05:27 -0000

Game on!! Gaaaame onnnn! This should be a win. But it's Oakland. So it might not be. But it should be. So let's see what happens. Or, you could tell me what will happen. Start talking now.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Sherman Alexie and Marc Acito Talk Rose Garden

Ben. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:44:27 -0000

Great question in the fanposts from Yawnie: What's the Rose Garden like? A number of you stepped up to the plate to knock out solid "insider" answers to his query. To complement these, I present the following "outsider" accounts from two very talented writers. It's our chance to feel like microscopic third world natives in an anthropologist's snowglobe.

Recently, in the comments, Sherman Alexie dropped some thoughts about his first Rose Garden experience, including:

6. I never thought it would happen, but yes, there is an NBA arena that is even paler than Key Arena. Wow, there is a distinct absence of melanin in Rose Garden.

9. HARDLY ANYBODY LEFT THE GAME EARLY! At the Key, those first five rows usually started emptying at the four minute mark, which led me to dream of an NBA rule wherein you had to take a basketball knowledge quiz in order to sit in the first five rows.

19. The curvy bathrooms with the artsty exits are a little bit Dungeons & Dragons. I didn't know whether to pee or roll a twenty-sided die.

Sidenote: regarding point #6, I'd like to enter Salt Lake City into evidence. [Thanks to Sean at O Live for that.]

Today, novelist and Opera fan Marc Acito described his first Blazers game -- which just so happened to be Brandon's miracle shot against the Rockets.

Perhaps it was the teenage trauma of trying not to jiggle gelatinously while playing shirts-and-skins in gym class, or simply my natural aversion to having projectile objects hurtle through space at me. But I'd pretty much written off basketball as a bunch of overpaid pituitary cases running around gratuitously.

Then I saw the Jumbotron.

"That's what opera needs," I told Whitey (Ryan White) as I gazed at the high-def screen like it was a god. Likewise for the radio-controlled blimp, which periodically torpedoed coupons like cow pies onto the crowd.

Funny stuff. He also takes shots at the Blazers Dancers. Don't miss that.

Here's background on Marc and here's his official site. Here's Sherman Alexie's official site as well.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Today's Poll

Ben. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:04:32 -0000

Quickly: Following up on yesterday's "B Roy for MVP Candidate" talk, you can read the first results of the blogger ballots at Hoops Addict. A few of you had Brandon listed at or around #13 on your list. Congrats to you -- that's where he ended up.

Before we get to today's poll -- let's talk about the game notes that are available on the team's official site. Don't know what I'm talking about? See the same information that's available to media members before games by clicking here. In fact, the URL is...

http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/notes.pdf

If you simply change the team name in the URL, you can transport around the league to get the latest information about whatever team you desire. Cool trick. That's old hat to some of you, I'm sure. For others... now you know. Most of the info packet stays pretty much the same throughout the year, but Page 2 will always have good background on the upcoming opponent.

On to today's poll.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Poll

30 year old Stephen Jackson just signed a 3 year, 28 million dollar extension for the Warriors. What do you make of it?

Practice Report

Ben. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:19:42 -0000

I don't have much of anything for you from practice today. There was some confusion about scheduling and by the time I got there, practice had already been called and the gym was pretty much empty. What I gathered from asking around is the following:

1. No one asked Nate about Anthony "Tom" Morrow. That makes me a teeny bit uneasy but that's why we've got scouts. Let's put his over/under at 11.5 points tomorrow. What say you?

2. Brandon was rocking a hoodie by LRG. Not the first time I've seen him in LRG. For those of you looking for the latest in "urban wear," I suggest stocking up this holiday season.

3. Nate is staying with the same lineup for the game tomorrow. Nic starting. Greg not. Dwight has more.

4. Martell was in gym shoes, shorts and a workout top. He was doing a leg strengthening exercise where he stood on two balance balls. He had a long bar that he held with both hands behind his head and he would do sets of squats (I think they are called squats? I've been in a gym like seven times total in my life) while balancing on the balls. It looked hard. Even from 20 feet away you could see his leg muscles straining. I will reiterate for the 97th time how excited I am for Martell's return in December.

Also I shook Kerry Eggers' hand. It was cathartic. In honor of that, I will link to Mr. Eggers' thoughts on Terry Porter's jersey retirement.

This didn't make it in this morning's links post but you might check out Sean's collection of Greg Oden links. Good stuff.

Anyway, I feel bad about not delivering a full practice report, so enjoy these leftover photos from the Minnesota game last week.

CLICK THROUGH FOR PICTURES...

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

It's only a matter of time before Bayless is the face of some company's marketing program.

Brandon: most accessible star in the league?

PLEASE STOP BOOING KTHX

Bayless Face.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)