We'll be doing live video chats with the players throughout the day, in a simalar fashion to what we did prior to the start of the season. You can follow along here. Bayless already rolled through (sorry ben!) but we'll have most of the players throughout the day.

Send in your questions, comments, ect. I'll be in there chatting for most of the day so if for some reason you actually have a question for me, go ahead and ask. Name dropping Blazer's Edge is not only permitted, but encouraged.

In the wake of Chad Ford's assertion re: deals offered to the Trail Blazers at the trade deadline, i submit to you Kevin Pritchard's comments during last night's edition of Courtside, which you can listen to here. I also trancribes a quote that would seem to address why trades, imagined or otherwise, didn't get done. So sayeth Pritchard:

"I think I have a good feel for this team. Being around all these guys for as long as I have, I think I know what they can handle in terms of another player. I like I've got a good grasp on that. Nate McMillan and I talk about that all the time; what kind of personality that is. And I don't want to get into all the details of that, but if we don't bring in the right guys then we could destroy what we have. Maybe destroy is too strong of a word because you feel like with this culture, maybe people will assimilated, sort of, to them. But I still worry that ... we're not grown enough and it still need time to grow."

Also a kind of non-update update on Oden. The full two hours of Courtside should be available shortly.

Some good, non-alarmist reaction from John Hollinger re: KP's standing pat on the trade deadline. The finer points:

Melvin (Pittsburgh, PA) [via mobile]: Why do you think Portland didn't make an effort to get Richard Jefferson? He would have definetly been a good compliment at the 3.

 John Hollinger: I don't think he's much better than Outlaw at this point in their careers, so why pay four times as much money and kill your future cap flexibility? I suspect Portland only wanted to do that deal if they could steal Sessions in return for taking Jefferson.

Me: Exactly.

Rob (portland): Early grumblings out in Portland is that KP has lost his "golden boy" image today, amongst the fan base. Not a good day for Portland and their fans. Do you agree? Letting Raef walk for nothing is not what the fans wanted. People are mad.

 John Hollinger: I think the Blazers might have oversold expectations as far as what the LaFrentz contract could reap, but that's about all they're guilty of. They wanted either a difference maker on the wing or at the point, and the deals weren't there to be done once Washington and Charlotte wouldn't play ball. So I commend them for not forcing it.

Me: Early "grumblngs" are that Rob is an idiot. Raef isn't walking for nothing.

I've been running around here in Phoenix trying to get some interesting stuff from Roy, Rudy and Oden. Most of it can be found here on the All-Star Central page. If you want to see Oden go through the media junket or Rudy speak to a gang of Spanish media, we got you covered.

By the way, there are more cops in downtown Phoenix than in a Police Academy movie. Starbucks too. Cops and Starbucks.

Travis Outlaw talks about the differences between playing small and power forward and his sweet spot. None of this will probably come as a surprise to you hardcores, but maybe you'll learn something.

I don't know about you, but I hate shooting from the baseline. Granted, I'm a terrible basketball player (and athlete in general), but I simply can't hit that shot. I'd much rather have a chance of getting a kind bounce from the backboard.

Travis Outlaw cares what you think, and according to Trav (or more appropriately, his cousin) you hate him. I find it hard to believe, but maybe he's right.

I didn't do a very good job of getting it accross in the post, but more than any other player I've been around, Travis is desperate to know the opinions people have of him.

"You think I'm going to get traded?"

"Which dunk did I get the highest on?"

"What you think of my defense?"

On and on.

More on Travis trying to improve his passing here. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Brandon Roy went through shootaround today, but he's still a 50/50 decision when it comes to whether he'll play tonight against the Hornets. Roy said he's going to play a game of one-on-one versus Monty Wiliams pregame after which he'll make his decision.

Here's a quote from Brandon that I didn't get into my post:

"I’d rather know before the game so the guys know they’re going to play without me or their going to play with me for the full game instead of 'aw, I’m going to try to play' and after the first quarter they look and it's like 'is Brandon going to play or not? I’d rather them know going into the game If I’m going to play or not. I’m going to try to go early enough to where they’ll know if I’m going to play or not. I’ll play one-on-one. I’m going to try and play hard. Hopefully it feels good because this is a big game for us. New Orleans is right there. Utah plays the Lakers. Everybody plays everybody right now.  So we’re trying to do a good job of making a run."