These bits from the article hit home for me when thinking about Nate and why I think he's a great coach despite some deficiencies in the Xs and Os department.

"Still, Young Phil and Old Phil had one thing in common: They kept their cool at all times.

That trait defined Jackson as a coach. He couldn't be rattled. He never overreacted. He measured every response, thought out every media barb, dealt with every player with the same steady hand."

"Coaching isn't just about calling plays, riding the officials and figuring out strategies. Really, it's management more than anything else. You manage people. Jackson managed people better than anyone."

"His own career is harder to assess. You can't deny Jackson's timing (first Jordan, then Shaq and a young Kobe, then Kobe), and if we learned anything about NBA coaching over the years, it's that you're only as good as your players. But that belittles what Jackson accomplished, because clearly, eleven titles mean something."

"Jackson dealt with Kobe the same way parents deal with raising young kids: You know you'll have good days and bad days, so you can't dwell on the bad ones."

"Steve Kerr told me once that what made Jackson special -- and Popovich too -- was that he cared about his twelfth guy as much as his best guy. He spent time with his players, bought them gifts, thought about what made them tick. He connected with them, sold them on the concept of a team, stuck up for them when they needed him. His actual coaching -- calling plays, working refs, figuring out lineups and everything else that we see -- was a smaller piece of a much bigger picture. His players competed for him for many reasons, but mainly because they truly believed Jackson cared about them. Which he definitely did."

Anyway, its a good read either way. Enjoy.

An interesting concept indeed. Maybe the prevailing thought that Roy/Rudy/etc can't play D doesn't matter so much as our lacking interior defense. Also, one of the commentors makes another great point about how Nash's offensive contributions far outweigh his defensive limitations, resulting in a net positive, by far...but I think we already knew that.

Abbott weighs in on active players, and why Roy no longer fits with this Portland team.

I'm not entirely sure I agree personally, but he does make a compelling case.

A major thank you to Hollinger for backing up what a lot of us thought was going on

Hoopism just keeps bringing it!

Glad to hear Martel is feeling great and ready to get back to action

Just thought this was pretty cool. The Grizzlies one is pretty good.

A great article over at Hoopspeak on 'dre. As if you needed a Blazer related reason to read Hoopspeak, it's easily one of the best written basketball blogs. Check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know we're only 3-5 games in at this point, but it's still nice to see us in the upper rankings of any statistics :) Since this is updated constantly I won't repost it a bunch but it's worth keeping an eye on as the season goes along. I wonder where we'll be after our first game vs Utah...

Also worth noting if you resort the same statistics:
-We're 29th in the league in pace...but...
-10th/5th in Assits/Least Turnovers
-7th in rebound rate
-7th in offensive efficiency

Just sharing the link for those that have ESPN Insider access. Hollinger is probably my fav ESPN analyst, these projections are pretty good.

Here's his piece on 'dre to give you an idea of what you can expect:

Projection: 17.0 pts, 4.0 reb, 6.4 ast per 40 min; 16.08

Miller does not appear to be the most well-conditioned athlete in the league, yet he played the entire schedule for a seventh consecutive season. And while he's not overly athletic, Miller is a great rebounder and destroys small guards around the basket with his craftiness. We keep waiting for age to knock him off his stride, but it hasn't happened yet.

Patty Mills and Nic Batum lead their teams to victories! Also, AUS vs. FRA in exhibition today (can't find link, but Patty tweeted about it here: http://twitter.com/Patty_Mills/status/21896195504)

Was up in the air a few days ago, Twitter shows verified now and is also linked and posted to GO's Facebook. If you're neurotic and into such things as I am...

This was just too awesome not to post...well except for the music.

Also - Batum may have been in foul trouble: National Post

And comments by ours truly: tsn.ca

Batum tops the list. Guess we aren't the only ones keeping an eye on our precious Nic!

Scott Carefoot of The Score takes a great look at the overlooked Greg Oden.

Hopefully I didn't miss this already being posted