This is an email I just sent to my cousin. We have 1/3 of a season in section 319. My analysis of the trade.

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We have received a Media Advisory where I work from the Trail Blazers Communications Department.

Here's what it says:

WHAT: NBA Special Announcement

WHEN: Monday, January 19 at 12:30 p.m. PT

WHERE: Portland Trail Blazers Practice Facility Tualatin, OR

CONTACT: Mark Broussard, NBA

This could be one of several things (such as a Miles announcement, an NBA award for a Blazer, or an announcement about the team in general), but my prediction:

RUDY MADE THE DUNK CONTEST!

If that's true, then I ask you:

The most recent issue of Sports Illustrated (Nov. 24th) has an interesting phrase while talking about the way 2008 #1 draft pick Derrick Rose operates on the basketball floor for the Chicago Bulls (6-7).

The Bulls' starting point guard, he is already their best player. His style is vintage Chicago, solid and low-key. Rose does not pump his fists or pound his chest. He does not talk on the court, other than an occasional mumble... "Nobody knows what I'm thinking," says Rose.

That got me wondering, what is "vintage Portland Trail Blazer" basketball?

I'm deep, deep into them now, but I first really got into the Blazers in 1990. Really, I can only go as far back as like 1986, when Steve Johnson was starting at center, when I was 10. But even then, there were some definite "traits" those teams had: hustle, smarts, drive, presence, brass huevos. And the same terms used to describe Rose: solid and low-key.

I think Roy is very vintage, with a new twist. He may be better at forcing his teammates to be involved than any Blazer I've ever seen. He'll INSIST that you get into the offense with incredible passes and drive-dishes. But he's still a scoring threat at all times. Lamarcus is very low-key. Rudy has the flair. Greg is young, but stoic and firm. Blake is heady. Outlaw has brass. And Nate's patrolling the sidelines in a way that I feel he's acknowledging that he has a group of dudes, on the floor and on the bench, that have a good idea what they're doing out there, and that instills just a little bit more confidence in fans like me.

So for the requisite poll, I ask you: are the Blazers you're watching now, Roy and Rudy and Greg and Aldridge and Outlaw and Blake and Sergio and Nick and Nate, are they vintage Portland Trail Blazer?

www.katu.com/sports

KATU's sports department has posted a teriffic 2-minute video of Greg Oden's workout on their website today.

The video includes sound clips with Greg Oden, Kevin Pritchard, and Channing Frye... and includes a great two-on-two workout with Frye, Steve Blake and the Arkansas Ozarker, Steven Hill.

The video features several examples of GO's skillset, including: the power dunk, the touch dunk, the two-handed hammer, the statue-of-liberty, the spin dunk, the crossover dunk, the alley-oop slam, the pick-and-pound, the reverse dunk, the thunder slam, the tip dunk, the rim-rattler, the backboard warper, the buckeye flush and the grecian formula (no play for mr. hill). He also blocked a couple of shots.

Please enjoy it.