SB Nation User Blog: JasonT

Orlando's take on the Hedo to Toronto signing

JasonT — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:47:25 -0000

Orlando's take on the Hedo to Toronto signing

Here's a taste:

On Friday, Turkoglu agreed to terms with the Toronto Raptors, a move he will surely regret at some point over the next five years. Trading away the chance to play alongside four potential All-Stars and contend for the rest of his career, Turkoglu took Toronto's offer of $53 million over five years and ran with it.

But was the extra $8 million dollars really worth it?

If Bosh does indeed leave next summer as reports indicate, Turkoglu will be forced to spend the next five years of his career, and prime, with a perennial cellar dweller.

At least Portland made sense.

Like Orlando a year or two ago, they are an up-and-coming team that can contend in the near future. But Toronto? Clearly money is Turkoglu's priority, and it's a shame because many never expected it out of him.

About that second playmaker....how does Rondo sound?

JasonT — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:37:49 -0000

Rondo is unhappy with Boston. He is entering the final year of his contract. So, Boston risks losing him for nothing next season unless they can extend him this offseason. However, they may be willing to part with him, if they think they are getting all star talent in return. This is where the Blazers could make a play for Rondo, but it will cost them all star talent like I said.

Aldridge for Rondo in a sign and trade for both players. Both Aldridge and Rondo will be playing the final year of their rookie contracts this coming season. I'm not sure about this, but Portland might have to take another small contract back from Boston to push the trade through, since Aldridge currently makes $3 million more than Rondo.

The second move would be to go out and pick up Milsap or Lee as a free agent. Don't underestimate the opportunity for one of these guys to be a starter on a contending team. That would play huge in our favor...and the money of course.

This makes a lot of sense for both sides. The Celtics will have an all star caliber player to replace an aging Garnett if he gets hurts or retires. The Blazers get the second playmaker they covet and replace Aldridge with a slightly less talented but more physical forward. Even though we lose Aldridge, we are better team next season and especially when the playoffs roll around. And the best part all of our core guys are young enough to keep this rolling for awhile.

Lastly, KP would then probably have to ship Blake off to make room at pg.

This would give us a possible starting lineup of:

PG: Rondo

SG: Roy

SF: Batum/Webster

PF: Milsap or Lee

C: Oden/Pryz

We'd have essentially the same bench as last season with the addition of the rookies.

That's a pretty good lineup there and one that would challenge in the west, especially if Oden were to continue to improve.

Poll

How does this plan sound to you?

Ranking the Point Guards Using BE Metrics

JasonT — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:35:29 -0000

I thought since John Hollinger can come up with his own metrics well then so can we. Here's how this works: Rank your top 10 point guards (best to worst), then rank them by cost, meaning what it's going to take to get them (cheapest to highest). Add all the numbers up for each player. The player or players with the lowest number is first on your priority list. Of course, as with Hollinger's PER you have to take common sense into account. But try it and see what you get.

Here's mine:

Top 10:

1. Chris Paul

2. Deron Williams

3. Tony Parker

4. Rajon Rondo

5. Devin Harris

6. Chauncey Billups

7. Derrick Rose

8. Rodney Stuckey

9. Steve Nash

10. Andre Miller

Cost (what it would cost the Blazers to get the player):

1. Andre Miller

2. Steve Nash

3. Rodney Stuckey

4. Rajon Rondo

5. Devin Harris

6. Chauncey Billups

7. Tony Parker

8. Derrick Rose

9. Deron Williams

10. Chris Paul

Rajon Rondo (8), Devin Harris (10), Tony Parker (10), Chris Paul (11), Deron Williams (11), Rodney Stuckey (11), Steve Nash (11), Andre Miller (11), Chauncey Billups (12), Derrick Rose (15)

Right away I would eliminate Tony Parker, CP3, DWill, Billups and Rose...as those guys are pretty much unattainable. Which leaves us with a pretty good prioritzed list:

1. Rondo

2. Harris

3. Stuckey

4. Nash

5. Miller

Go and get it done Pritchard!

I'm sure you all will come up with your own numbers. Give it try and see what you get.

And yes, I know this feels a little like coming up with your porn name...by the way mine is Sam 21. But hopefully it's moderately more insightful.

Post Draft Thread

JasonT — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:29:45 -0000

So this draft ended with a whimper. We ended up shipping out Sergio and acquiring Claver, Pendergraph, Cunningham, and Mills...not too splashy. However, I do think it is a sign that KP and the Blazers want to add some veterans through free agency or trade. In the end, if KP thought that a rookie in this draft wouldn't significantly contribute this season, the best move was to save our cap space and trade assets. I would look for the Blazers to make some moves in July.

So what did you guys think of the draft?

Introducing Your New Backup Power Forward

JasonT — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:04:30 -0000

With all this talk about the Blazers needing a backup power forward it got me thinking about what type of player would best fill that role. With the team as it is currently constructed, the backup power forward needs to not only be a tough interior defender, but also needs to be an offensive threat b/c with Joel on the floor, putting one more anemic offensive player with him would allow 5 defenders to focus on our other 3 players, thus making it tough to find the space to score. Also, the ability to shift over to the center position once in awhile in case Joel or Greg get into foul trouble would be an essential trait. Preferably, this player would be a veteran and have playoff experience.

Now I know this may be controversial with some people, but Rasheed Wallace fits the bill perfectly. He's a free agent this summer. If he would accept coming back to Portland and the fans would accept him, he could be just what the doctor ordered. He could play 20 minutes or so, and not ever have to worry about being the man. He is an excellent interior defender, in fact, one of the best at defending Dwight Howard. He would provide a huge scoring threat on the 2nd unit and could even mix in with the starters from time-to-time. And if any injuries happened to either of our centers or LaMarcus, he could easily take over and the talent level wouldn't drop off much. And lastly, he doesn't just have playoff experience, he was a key component on a championship winning team.

The drawbacks? We all saw those the first time around in Portland. Though, I am willing to bet that if his role is lesser with the team and less pressure is put upon him, he will keep himself under control...as he was for the most part in Detroit.

Would he come back to Portland if they offered him a contract? Doubtful. Would fans accept him back? My guess is, most would.

Poll

Would you like to see Rasheed Wallace as Portland's backup power forward next season?

Yes

81 votes

No

176 votes

257 votes | Poll has closed

Houston Fans Yelling the "N" Word at Martell Webster

JasonT — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:50:22 -0000

Houston Fans Yelling the "N" Word at Martell Webster

Houston fans yelling the "N" word at Martell Webster

JasonT — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:42:37 -0000

Houston fans yelling the "N" word at Martell Webster

Listen to the podcast at the 32 minute mark. Barrett talks about Houston fans yelling the "N" word at Martell Webster. Maybe I'm pollyannish or naive, but that doesn't seem like typical fan behavior. There's always a few jerks at games, but why didn't security or other fans around do something about shutting those guys up who were yelling racial epithets?

If you listen to this one at about the 10 1/2 minute mark, KP talks about being cursed at and having drinks thrown at him while he was courtside in Houston.

I'm not saying Portland's fans are always classy, and by and large I am sure Houston fans are great...but they sure do seem to have a few screw balls who really crossed the line without meeting much resistance.

Blazers Got Psyched Out [UPDATED]

JasonT — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:37:08 -0000

Or more accurately, they psyched themselves out before the game even started. Before I go into this explanation, let me first say that the Rockets played extremely well and had much to do with the Blazer's loss.

That being said, this was definitely not the same the Blazer's team that we watched during the last month of the season. So, what happened? Like I said the Rockets had something to do with it. But let's be honest, the Blazers had a lot to do with it. It's not like the talent on the Blazers all of sudden got worse. And they won must win games all the way down the stretch of the season against playoff opponents who were also in the same boat.

One of the main culprits to the Blazer's poor play in game one is simply they psyched themselves out. They put the playoffs up on a pedestal. And it's not like it was hard to do. While all of us fans and the media were getting psyched up about the PLAYOFFS, and having rallies downtown where the players are giving speeches and playing musical instruments, the team was getting psyched out.

Brandon said it perfectly after the game, "We can't think about the playoffs or anything like that. We just need to play basketball for 48 minutes."

I think this is exacly right. It doesn't matter if you are playing a preseason, regular season or playoff game, you still need to put the ball in the hoop and stop the other team from putting the ball in the hoop. The game doesn't change. Maybe the refs let a little more contact go, but still the game doesn't change. THE PLAYOFFS ARE NOT A NEW SEASON. They are a CONTINUATION of the season...one in which you won 2 out of 3 over the course of 82 games. And just like any game, you take them one at a time, put the ball in the hoop and stop your opponent from the putting the ball in the hoop.

So, Blazers stop overthinking things. You are already good enough and you do belong here. You have shown that time and time again. The playoffs aren't Rocket science. Just go out and play basketball.

Your biggest nemesis isn't the Houston Rockets...it's your mentality. Get it back to where you were at the end of the regular season, and you will win this series.

UPDATE: Jason Quick just posted his Behind the Blazer's Locker Room Door, which cites examples of the Blazers psyching themselves out:

Aldridge's suprise pregame meeting with McMillan
The team wearing different shoes than they normally wear at home
Players showing up to the game in suits rather than the casual clothes they usually wear when arriving to games
Batum, ""We tried to play playoff basketball - we tried to change our game to be more physical. But we have to just play our game."
Sergio, "I don't think we were nervous, but tense, yes,"

LeBron James on 60 Minutes. Even though he says Kobe is better, you know he's lying. I wonder...

JasonT — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:29:39 -0000

Watch CBS Videos Online

LeBron James on 60 Minutes.

Even though he says Kobe is better, you know he's lying. I wonder what it would feel like to be that confident in anything?

Cleveland fans are not going to like this.

End of 1st and 3rd quarters

JasonT — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:14:43 -0000

Who is the Blazers most effective and dangerous offensive weapon at the end of quarters? I think most of would agree that is Brandon Roy. However, typically at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters, Roy is watching Sergio dribble out the clock from the bench. Almost invariably, the Blazers walk away with no points in that situation. Potentially, the Blazers are missing out on 4-6 points per game, because Roy is not on the floor for those last possessions of the 1st and 3rd quarters. At the end of the 1st quarter against the Wolves was a perfect example of this. The Blazers had the last possession of the quarter, but Roy was out. Sergio dribbles the ball and passes to Frye for a contested 3 pointer that misses. Why not call a timeout in that situation and substitute Roy in? It's not likely he is going to pick up a foul in that situation and the liklihood of coming away with points is increased. While the end of the game situations are very important....getting those extra points at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters can make the difference in the game.

Poll

Should Nate sub in Roy for the last possession of quarters if he is not already in the game?

Yes

24 votes

No

28 votes

52 votes | Poll has closed