At the start of this season, I think that KP and Nate made it very clear that this year was about evaluation. The fact that we can even mutter the word "playoffs" with a straight face is a testament to the growth of this whole organization. AS much as our youngs progressed this year I think the one who may have grown the most might be Nate McMillon.
This year he started with a fantastic relationship with the GM and that has led to him "letting go" of the reigns. I cant remember one player calling him Sarge this year.
Anyways, My original point is that as much as we have lived and loved the effort and development of these young players, i cant shake the feeling that we may see numerous players gone.
Here are the list I wouldnt be surprised to see go:

Travis - He is NOT a Nate guy. Nate and KP value basketball IQ WAY over physical ability......but I know a few Gm's that dont.

Martell - see above description

Channing - lacking in IQ AND physical ability.

Jack - sure It's nice to have a guy who knows how to attack the rim, but wouldnt you like one who can play well in all facets of the game?

Sergio - Man, I personally love him as a player and cant wait to see him on a non Nate coached team. Throw him to the free and easy Don Nelson.

Alright, I know that Im gonna catch a ton of flack for this but....
LaMarcus Aldridge - I love this guy but at the end of the day If KP thinks he can lure an proven NBA vet-leader, who has a few miles left on the odometer, to this up and coming team.......he'll pull the trigger. I think that nate would loke to have a big man who can really pass out of the double team. One that see's the floor like a point guard. There are so may teams that may need to change directions and if this year is any indication of the testicular fortitude of GM's then you have to be ready at any time.

So, I write this with the feeling that as much as I truly love these players and the hard work they've put in as Blazers.........I trust KP and I believe that he has a 2-4 year goal of winning it all.

do you really think it's gonna be with the guys we have and through the draft?

non-attachment here we come.

That Brandon Roy phenomenal highlight that Ive been replaying all morning............well..........he traveled.
I know it doesnt really matter, but Ive always held a little contempt for Dwyane Wade and his "go to" travel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WI0VZcapto&feature=related


Watch closely to the moment Brandon stops dribbling and count the steps.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvLneb_iBIA


Look, I love Brandon as much as anyone and that was one of the most beautiful plays Ive seen from a Blazer player in decades.
It just would have been a little sweeter if it was leagal.


jans

That The Heat are winning consistently without D-Wade but there seems to be no discussion on whether the Heat are better without him. Here, we win three scrapping games against some of the worst D in the league and we have multiple conversations about how the Blazers are better without Randolph.
Hmm.....
Im not saying that Zach is anywhere near D-Wade's league but he is the center of our offense, just like Dwyane.
Is it Shaq? well the guy has been averaging about 14 pts and 5 reb. a game since Wade has been out. That doesnt sound like franchise to me?

Why is Zach under the bus? Hasnt LaMarcus thrived playing WITH him? If you look at all the offensive rebounds that LaMarcus is getting you can usually trace those down to LaMarcus's man leaving him on a double, not boxing out.

what do you think?

Damn was it fun to be there. I sat four rows behind the blazer bench and could hear Nate during the huddles.
I have heard most of the analysis of the actual game and Its really funny how different you see the game when your right there on the court. I just wanted to let you guy know all the little juicy tidbits I noticed.

1. Jamaal Magloire is already on vacation. He never listened to one word from the coaches on the timeouts. He told monty williams that he was going to the bathroom during the start of the second quarter and didnt come back for 10 min.
   
   
2. Zach may have struggled with his shot but he played hard out there. Lamarcus was outstanding last night but there is a reason he had 10 offensive rebounds. its because they left him every time Zach took a shot. Zachs shots were rolling around the rim for easy putbacks. Zach did have a bunch of turnovers but many of them really came from the lack of movement of our guards, double would come and guards were standing around the three line completely covered. Also Iverson was shooting the passing lanes all night.
   
   
3. Everything that Nate said during timeouts were completely obvious. during the first timoute I heard him say "dont settle, dont settle, weve had four jumpshots on four straight possesions"
   

next timeout he says "I need you guys to get back and hit the boards".
Now these things were all true and I would have probably said the same thing, but I was hoping for some great insight into the game from a basketball legend.

4. Travis has confidence in his jumpshot. when he takes it, he believes its going in. I cant say the same thing for Martell.
I watched Martell come out from halftime and take six warmup jumpers from about 18 feet.............he missed ALL of them.
He just looks like such a kid out there. The only thing he does well out there is rebound.

5. I understand now why Ime is not a long term solution. I like him, I really do, but he is just not big or athletic enough to play the NBA 3 postion. He is a thick guy who is tough as nails but when dealing with long athletic 3's like Melo he just looks like a scrub. I would say he would be a great 11th or 12th man on the bench, but starting? ouch. If he's is starting for the first game next season then something is terribly wrong.
   
   
6. Jarrett Jack got absolutely CLOWNED by Allen Iverson. Not many people can stay in front of A.I. but Jack really wanted to and Allen would blow by him only to slow down a little bit and go up for his patented " And 1, off the glass layin with the right hand". Jack really tries but he gets down on himself when he doesnt perform or Nate takes him out.
   

After one timeout Freddie jones came over to Jack and tried to coach him on how to deal with allen Iverson. Jack is the anti fast break. The only fast break points I remember were scored by Jack when Roy took the ball up court. Nate is not giving Sergio chance. Nate does not like freewheeling. My guess is that he'd probably have a coronary having a Steve Nash at the helm. Nash is the man but you have to deal with the overdribbling and 3-5 turnovers a game.

7.Nate looks uptight. He is intimidating and intense. Every time he took a player out of the game, they would walk by him with their eyes down and neither would exchange words. The only one who would say something to him was Mags, I didnt get a good feeling about it.

8. Most Blazer media has been saying that this team is tight in the locker room and has great camaraderie. If you compared the two teams it was night and day. The Nuggets were having a great time warming up, joking with each other, making up games in the warmup. The Blazer players hardly talked to each other. No joking, no energy, no nothin.....exept for Zach talking nonstop.
   
   
9. LaMarcus is GREAT for this team. he has such a spring in his step. He had a great game doing what he does, being in the right place at the right time. He scored what, 24 points and NOT ONE of them was a long jumper. he must have had 16 just on puttbacks and offensive rebounds. He had 6-8 on dumpoffs right under the basket. He didnt need any sets. but...........he got so burned in the first half in transition. He seems to be a pretty good man defender, but as soon as he leaves his man, its layup city for the other team. His craftiness doesn not shine on the defensive end. He got 4 blocks which is great, but he also was responsible for many Nuggets points. He needs help being a great help defender.
   
   
10. The guys on this team trust Zach and Roy. It is obvious that they are the teams leaders. I think they should be co-captains next year.
    
    

alright, well its a little wordy but I hope you enjoy the report.
jans

Hmmmm..... sound suspicious.  Missing practice on a Nate McMillon team? Trading deadline days away?
Everyone says this guy is a class act, responsible vet.
Nate says "No, he has not been traded."

Im curious. that all. Thoughts?

Read Mike Tokito's post :http://behindblazersbeat.blogs.oregonlive.com/

Please, please KP deliver us some good news by thurs.

I like Jason Quick. I think he is honestly trying to do a good job covering this team. Now for him to get all full of steam because there have been mentions of him being "part of the problem", seems uncalled for.

First, he has been part of the problem of the division and lack of trust between the local media and the organization. He HAS to admit that.
Then when he went off on his tirade, he kept on talking about all the "bad" things that Blazers players have done during his tenure. All of the things he mentioned are true.....but, with all of these things come judgement. My criticism is that these deeds are looked upon as "horrendous". Smoking weed? are you kidding me?
this is Oregon, 70% people smoke weed here (some of the best in the world). Darius getting dressed at half-time was the result bad communication and feelings getting hurt. Thats an internal struggle. How come its not as big of news when they patch things up?
 Some are more sensitive (volitile) than others, but it doesnt mean that their wrong or bad.
Zach leaving the Arena has to do with the frustrations boiling over between people, is that bad, how do we know that if he would have stayed he might have punched someone out, or whatever. Why cant we just trust them?  Why are they untrustworthy?
havent they worked it out? LET IT GO!!!

My complaint here is that it just seems so fatalistic. Why pass this kind of judgement on people about their worth. A bunch of Knuckleheads? Thats demeaning. that sucks.

Ive met Damon Stoudamire, he's a great guy. Im sure he's one of the knucklheads. Rasheed, is not your average personality, but he lives with integrity under his view of the world, plus the guy is a champion. He was my favorite player here for most of the nineties.
I have kids, two girls, I love them all the time....even when she goes and hits another kid on the playground. I try to talk to her and help her understand. I forgive. Why is it that these beat writers remember every little thing that these guys have done "wrong". How many teams have there been that have NEVER had a fight is practice? This is competitive basketball.
I hate the argument that because they're making tons of money somehow they should be better than they are. Look, they dont set the salaries, they were born into this crazy NBA industry. These players dont really have a say in what they get. Its run by the agents. and if a player settled for a reasonable contract (below their market value) then other players (and agents) blast them for taking money out of their pockets.

All I ask for is a little understanding.....is that too much to ask?

I found this through Truehoop "my favorite all NBA site"
Its written by "The wages of wins" author David Berri.
very interesting read.
http://dberri.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/roy-is-roy

enjoy.

300 characters, 300 characters, 300 characters, 300 characters, 300 characters, 300 characters, 300 characters, 300 characters.

Wow, I didnt really think this was going to happen but ESPN just reported it.
http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2007/news/story?id=2764133&na me=FPT-2764133-021313&srvc=sz

I figure that it looks pretty damn good for Zach Randolph.
My guess is that it will be Deron Wiliams and Zach.
It could be Stern's turn to give back to the little people. (small markets)
I dont think he'll have any problem generating hype for this game for the sole reason that its in Vegas (baby!)

Matt Kamalsky wrote a blog posting about the Blazers on draftexpress.com.
Its nothing earth shattering but it shows a national media source giving validation to what we talk about every day here.
Nice stat comparisons (if your into that kind of thing).

http://draftexpress.com/blogs.php?blogid=8

I was talking to my father today, who watched all 48 min of the debacle at the Rose Garden last night. After I finished ranting about the lack of energy and cohesion from this young team he pointed out what no one else had even eluded to...THEY WERE HUNG OVER!!
They were home for New Years Eve, young, loaded and ready to throw down. Zach Randolph 9 points? Huh, wonder why that is?
How about three bottles of Crystal.
All Nate could say was that the team looked "lethargic".
Yeah, real lethergic. If they were feeling anything like I was feeling then this loss is completely forgivable, because I had a severe case of assoncouchitis.
Lethargic.....funny stuff.