Hi there, I was here a bit during the Houston vs. Portland series and came away from it a HUGE Battier fan. I've been floating alot of trade ideas to get him on a Blazers board and have been utterly lambasted for it. People claimed I was making a monumental error and massively undervaluing one of our players. So here is the trade. You can dress it up with filler and throw ins but here is the essence. Portland trades Joel Przybilla for Shane Battier. Now mind you the Portland fans called me numerous bad names and said I was an idiot. I have confidence you all will do the same in reverse. Gentlemen let 'er rip. Would you do this trade?

Poll

Would you trade Shane Battier to Portland for Joel Przybilla?

7%

Hell Yes I would!

15 votes

9%

Yes, I would with this alteration.

18 votes

30%

No, I would not

58 votes

52%

Hellz no I wouldn't do it!

102 votes

193 votes | Poll has closed

I think most people around here agree that Oden needs alot of coaching to become truly effective let alone fulfilling his pre-draft promise. Assuming for a minute that he regains most of his explosiveness and jumping ability and that he has the drive, who would you like to see coaching Greg Oden? I know that we all love coach Lucas but I think that his health issues might overshadow his coaching. I wish him the best but I would rather he be healthy then stressed out by the rigors of coaching NBA bigs.

As an aside I personally believe that Greg will regain most of his athleticism and also that he has the drive. I would prefer if we take both of these as certainties merely to advance my specific question of who his coach should be.

There are actually very few big man specialists in the form of former players out there that are available. To my knowledge Ewing is locked up in Orlando, Shaq is still playing, Hakeem lives part time in Africa and also coaches Yao, and Kareem currently coaches Bynum in LA. So I got to thinking what legendary big man is out there that might be a good coach? Of course Sabas leapt to mind but I felt he might have soured towards the Blazers and he also lives in Lithuania as far as I know. Thinking about people nearby it suddenly hit me. Who is the arguably the greatest former player big man of all time other then Wilt and Jabar?

Bill Russell.

Hear me out here. Bill took a shine to Oden and actually met with him prior to the draft along with other bigmen greats. I realize he is old (wooden still coaches in his 90's!) and that aspects of the game have changed. But blocking shots and playing defense and rebounding is the same as it was in Russell's era. Bill Russell lives on Mercer Island so he could fly down to Portland with Paul Allen or borrow his helicopter/jet. What's more Russel could help Oden to stop the greatest threat to someone exceeding his ring count ever. That of course is LeBron James. Indeed, if Portland is to stop "The King" then they will need a near to completely maxed out potential Oden along with Roy. Without Oden becoming the force we all hoped he would be I see an endless succession of LBJ rings. So then who would you bring in to coach Oden?

P.S. I know very little about college coaches and other potential big men coaches out there so please enlighten me O'fellow Edgers.


--EDIT-- I want to be clear I don't think Oden needs an Ex-player as a coach so I wrote that part badly. I am not knowledgeable about college coaches etc. so I took the path of least resistance and tried to think of players that could mentor him. I also chose Russell due to the fact that I believe greatness can rub off on players. Perhaps this only happens when one plays with them but I know for a fact Jordan and LBJ have had that effect on teammates.

Poll

Who should be Oden's big man coach?

14%

Bill Russel.

33 votes

16%

he should go to Africa and train with the Dream

36 votes

39%

Find out what David Robinson is up to.

88 votes

1%

Clone John Wooden and have him coach Oden.

4 votes

14%

Arvydas Sabonis

33 votes

12%

Other (Please explain below)

27 votes

221 votes | Poll has closed

I'm a Blazers fan and just wanted to say great series and glad it never got dirty like *cough* *cough* Boston and Orlando. Stay classy and know that you have a great team. I grew to really respect your team during this hard fought series. I hope you don't think the Blazers are pushovers but realize that you are a matchup nightmare for us. We learned a ton from your veterans from the tricks to the tenacity it takes to get to the next level. You guys deserved to advance and I hope you mop the floor with those awful L@kers and their horrible bandwagon fans. I loate the L@kers and will be rooting hard fo ya'll in the next round.

By the way Battier is a gem and I even like Artest and have great respect for Yao. Brooks is a Duck like me so I like him. The only player you have that I don't like is Scola due to flopping and for no real concrete reason. Scola is a workhorse though and you have to respect his fundamental based game. All in all a great learning experience for my Blazers.

p.s. Just wait until Oden gets healthy and more skilled and we acquire a starting PG. Then we're coming for ya ;)

In the meantime go beat LA and get a ring. :)

maybe we should go with Rudy and Roy for clutch game winners vs. Houston instead of Outlaw?

I'm just curious does anyone think it's a good idea to continue to show inordinate faith in Outlaw based largely on performances that occurred over a year ago? I mean really come on. This one is on Nate and Outlaw again and if I see Outlaw out there for the game winner again I will just absolutely flip out. So sick of the Nate love affair with outlaw it's Jarret Jack all over again!

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!

Poll

Should Nate have gotten the rock to Rudy or Roy instead of Outlaw?

87%

Yes

114 votes

12%

No

17 votes

131 votes | Poll has closed

I plan on bringing this to Game 5 as well but as I will be in the ULTRA nosebleeds by then I am sure I won't ever get on camera. My wife helped me to make it but I think it's fabulous.

Here is the T-Mobile commercial that inspired it:







Props to my wife for the nice Paint work to simulate an as yet unseen facial dunk of Oden on Yao. I know it's coming. Hopefully, in the future I won't need to make a mockup but can use an AP photo.Now everyone show us your best signs or the favorite ones you have seen so far!

I would say that all of the most effective teams in the league have two things in common:

Number One: Collapse on the paint and deploy the octopus arms of death defense in which multiple players all rake the arms of the penetrator and attempt to swipe at the ball also bodying the penetrator.

Number Two: After a super aggressive defensive set you also employ the dreaded flop. Mixing up the octopus in the paint with flops on screens and the perimeter is a deadly and aggravating combo.

Until the league gets serious about stopping flopping it will continue to be a huge part of the game. Really, to stop flopping you would need a $100,000 fine or more based on tape replays and technical fouls for when it is caught in real time. The way to solve flopping aside the Blazers have to deal with the reality of it. You can't just flop whenever you feel contact or else you run the risk of your player taking it to the hole. You have to first really bump the crap out of the other guy and when he responds then you flop mightily. Look at Luis Scola, he is a master of tough D and then when you get him in deep he flops like an Oscar winning method actor.

It's funny because the roundly considered best defensive player on the Blazers is the only guy who employs the flop. That is one Joel Przybilla. For every true charge he takes there are two flop-o-rama "charges" that he takes. Basically, if the Blazers want to be as good as they can be they will have to employ the Octopus and the Flop-o-matic 3,000 defenses. It sucks but that's what ALL the big NBA teams do: Celtics, L@kers, Utah, Houston just to name a few all do the Octopus and the Flop-o-rama. It's a sad state of affairs but it's part of the game until Sith-lord Stern does something about flopping.

On a side note I loved what I saw from Oden last night and think he will thrive in the playoffs. He really enjoys the physicality of the playoffs and just needs to not get too physical on the perimeter and save the heavy banging for a bit deeper in the post. Also, they need to get him the damn ball!

I find it simply stunning that once again Oden has outplayed Durant in head to head matchups and this isn't even noticed in either write up. I saw an explosive powerful looking Oden last night and he doesn't even warrant a bullet point. Oden looks to be gearing up for the play offs with a number of solid games in the past few weeks and the silence is deafening. Lets give this guy some credit. He has now, if memory serves, out played Durant in 2 out of their 3 head to head matchups in which they both played and yet the media (Even BE!!!!) is dead silent about this.

If you are going to overhype a matchup and KD for godsakes give Oden the credit he deserves. He almost doubled up on KD's points and quadrupled his boards with one great block and kept his fouling under control. He looked happy and had at least one rebound where he got WAY UP for it.

It was the best I've seen Oden look speed and agility wise and yet I hear nothing. Oden deserves some respect for staying on the floor and cleaning up alot of his foul prone behavior. If we would have just fed him the rock last night he would have scored 40+ on poor Nenad. Meanwhile KD was being D'd up by noted lockdown defender...Travis Outlaw. Where is the GO love?!?!?!

For the record I was about 4 rows into the 200 level and I saw it all quite clearly. Oden looked great and was frequently grinning from ear to ear.

I think everyone's wondering. Did KP make a huge mistake not trading RLEC today. I for one am absolutely convinced he did UNLESS he has a FA he has talked to who has signed a blood oath on skin parchment sealed by lucifer himself that they will come to Ptown this offseason. The only thing I can think of is KP is targetting Ramon Sessions (oh please let it be so) or Hedo Trukoglu. My other thought is that he might be dreaming of even more leverage this summer. I hate to say it but I think KP made a mistake. I don't want to get to into it but with the financial world crashing down around our ears our window might be this season and this season only. Darn it I wanted a banner before doomsday and KP didn't pull the trigger!

Poll

Did KP make a large size mistake not trading RLEC etc. today?

20%

Unequivocally, YES!

56 votes

25%

Yes, but he might have a good reason (explain below)

70 votes

23%

Unequivocally, NO!

65 votes

29%

No, but I do wonder about it.

83 votes

1%

Other (explain below)

3 votes

277 votes | Poll has closed

Here's my idea for a three team trade involving DET-POR-PHX

Portland

In:

Tayshaun Prince

Richard Hamilton

Out:

RLEC

Rudy Fernandez

Sergio Rodriguez

Travis Outlaw

Phoenix:

In:

RLEC

Rudy Fernandez

Sergio Rodriguez

Jason Maxiell

Out:

Amare Stoudamire

Leandro Barbosa

Detroit

In:

Amare Stoudamire

Leandro Barbosa

Travis Outlaw

Out:

Tayshaun Prince

Jason Maxiell

Richard Hamilton

Each team gets something from the trade.

Detroit gets younger and has a core of Stuckey, Amare, Barbosa and Outlaw to build around.

Phoenix gets tons of cap relief a positional replacement and lots of cheap young talent in Rodriguez, Fernandez and Maxiell.

Portland gets the final piece of the puzzle in Prince a replacement for Rudy off the bench in R. Hamilton. The veteran and playoff experience we need and consolidates the Point guard position. Well what do you think? Post your ideas for trades below!

If you're like me, you are sick of the Oden vs. Durant debate knowing it is not only crying over spilt milk but also a false dichotomy. I for one wish them both to have spectacular careers.

And so now without further ado a 4 team block buster that addresses the needs of 4 teams:

Phoenix:

Out:

Amare Stoudamire

Steve Nash

In:

Travis Outlaw

Sergio Rodriguez

RLEC

Marco Benelli

Ronnie Turiaf

Anthony Randolph

Ike Diogu

Let's face it all the reports say Phoenix is desperate. In the above trade PHX gets alot of young talent and some cap relief at the end of the season (15+ million). They basically blow up the team but have some nice young pieces to start building around.

Orlando:

Out:

Hedo Turkoglu

In:

M. Williams (pg)

Steve Blake (pg)

K. Azubiake (SF)

Orlando trades Turkoglu and gets a couple of Point Guards that they desperately need and a SF to replace Hedo. As a side note Blake is now near his family in Miami not a bad place to end up.

Golden State:

Out:

K. Azubiake

B. Wright

A. Randolph

Ronny Turiaf

M. Belinni

In:

Amare Stoudamire

Golden state gets Amare and gives up a bunch of minor pieces for it. They easily get the best of this deal and might need to throw more Phoenix's way such as cash draft picks and possibly even more players.

Portland:

Out:

RLEC

Steve Blake

Travis Outlaw

Sergio Rodriguez

In:

Steve Nash

Hedo Turkoglu

B. Wright

Portland gets the starting PG we need to open the window right now. We also get to test drive Hedo and resign him in the summer if he is a good fit. We also get B. Wright who has an excellent PER for a SF and could be the gem of this trade.



Thoughts? Show me your other trades this weekend and vote in the poll below!

Poll

Who is KP going after?

11%

No one.

35 votes

3%

Your exact trade.

10 votes

0%

B. Wright SF from the warriors

2 votes

3%

Amare Stoudamire

11 votes

3%

Steve Nash

10 votes

15%

Richard Jefferson

47 votes

0%

Ramon Sessions

2 votes

13%

Jefferson and Sessions

39 votes

3%

Kirk Hinrich

11 votes

5%

Luol Deng

15 votes

8%

Deng and Hinrich

24 votes

3%

John Salmons

10 votes

23%

Caron Butler

69 votes

3%

Other (explain below)

10 votes

295 votes | Poll has closed