SB Nation User Blog: MiledAnimal

Chad Ford grades the Blazers' draft

MiledAnimal — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:19:54 -0000

Chad Ford grades the Blazers' draft

Grade: B-

Bottom line: "The Blazers had a solid draft, but Pritchard's rep has made "solid" seem disappointing."

The Top 32 NBA draft busts of all time.

MiledAnimal — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:54:21 -0000

The Top 32 NBA draft busts of all time.

[I could not get a direct link to the slide show to work, so this goes to the MSNBC.com NBA page. Look for the Special feature box at the right and click the Draft do-overs? link to see the slide show.]

No Blazer fan will be surprised to see Sam Bowie's dental-braced likeness at #1. Number 3 may surprise and will offend you, especially since, with Bowie at #1, the list appears to be ordered from worst-bust to least. Numbers 12 and 13 are no-brainers.

EA Sports' Mike Fratello & Ryan Blake on Blazers draft

MiledAnimal — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:22:59 -0000

EA Sports' Mike Fratello & Ryan Blake on Blazers draft

They have us drafting Sam Young or Nick Calathes.

Bill Simmons on nanny officiating

MiledAnimal — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:19:00 -0000

Bill Simmons on nanny officiating

Today's games should be easier to call because they're more predictable. Teams run the same play five or six straight times down the stretch. For Cleveland, it's the high screen with Ilguaskas and James. For Boston, it's the high post play with Pierce. For the Lakers, it's the "Let's run the triangle for 42 minutes, then we'll just clear out for Kobe for the last six" offense. For Denver, it's either a high screen for Chauncey or a clear-out for Carmelo. Only the Magic (God bless them) seem interested in playing a style that doesn't revolve around the same guy hoisting 3s or barrelling toward the basket again and again.

You would think that seeing the same types of plays run again and again and again and again would be an advantage for referees. It's not. The question is why.

B-Roy interview at Nike Summit

MiledAnimal — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:47:40 -0000

B-Roy interview at Nike Summit

FoxSports.com's Mike Webber interviews Brandon Roy at the Nike Summit. Some good stuff in there.

The What Would It Take To Get CP3 Contest

MiledAnimal — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:27:01 -0000

I like Steve Blake, but he's not the best point guard in the world, and Blazer fans expect the best. There's lots of talk about Kirk Hinrich, but the problem is that he isn't the best PG either. If he becomes a Blazer, sooner or later he will get torched for 40 by Tony Parker, or commit a turnover, or fail to get the ball into an open Blazer's hands, and when that happens the honeymoon will be over and poor Kirk will receive the type of opprobrium typically reserved for the Lakers, serial murderers, and underperforming Blazer players.

I propose therefore that we cut to the chase and do whatever it takes to get the best point guard in the game, Chris Paul, on our team. Blazer fans will hate him too soon enough, but because he is the best point guard available there will be fewer trade suggestions. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to come up with a trade proposal KP could make to New Orleans that would pry CP3 away from their greedy, hive-stained fingers. And unlike other, less-special fanposts, this one is a contest and it will have a winner, and the winner will receive bragging rights but I'm not providing a Blazer t-shirt or anything so don't get too excited.

Paul begins the first year of his four-year, $63.6 million contract extension on July 9. You can find Blazer salaries here. Open the teams combo box on that page and select New Orleans to see Hornets salary info.

A few factoids

New Orleans is in a world of luxury tax hurt the next two seasons if they don't unload some salaries. Tyson Chandler has a chronic turf toe that aborted his trade to Oklahoma City in February. Peja Stojakovic has a chronic bad back, and James Posey has been a disappointment. Morris Petersen and Antonio Daniels create no buzz in the Hive. The Hornets need help on the wings and depth. Even if they keep Chandler, they could use another big man, too.

A few ground rules

Propose a serious trade that works for both sides. Blake plus Travis and our first-round pick is a nice little homer fantasy but Hornets owner George Shinn wouldn't do that deal or anything like it even if his mother was being held hostage by terrorists and that was the ransom demand. CP3 is The Franchise in New Orleans. They need a deal that will clearly make them better. At the same time, we need to have enough players left after the deal that we can justify it on our end.
All Blazer players are trade bait, including B-Roy. We'd love to see him and Paul together in the Blazer backcourt, but is such an outcome even possible?
Make sure a trade for Paul works under the CBA. The ESPN trade machine should help: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine

Choosing the winner

The winner will be the most realistic, most doable proposal that gets the most recs. There's no deadline, but you might want to hold-off reccing anyone until a few proposals come in.

KP will be watching the results closely and pitching the winner to Hornets management, so give him a deal he can sell to both teams and let the chips fall where they may.

Good luck!

My odds concerning which BEdgers will be back

MiledAnimal — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:22:57 -0000

I began this as a short spoof on EngineerScotty's latest fanpost, titled My odds concerning who will be back, but it rapidly escalated into a full-blown fanpost of its own.

Dave: 99%

It's been an up-and-down year for Dave. The Blazers made the playoffs as he predicted, but he was way short on the number of games they'd win this season. Traffic at BE increased tremendously, but he still isn't getting rich off it. Ben is picking up more slack than ever, yet Dave has less time than ever. And Dave enjoys the kind of adoration usually reserved for pop star pedophiles, yet he's constantly having to ban, suspend, smack-down, or warn unruly BEdgers who break the site rules. Still, Dave bleeds Blazers Edge red and black, he loves his status as Le Gran Frommage Blazer Fan, and what else is there to do in Boise? He'll be back. Book it.

Ben: 98%

Ben puts the Edge in Blazers Edge. He's the Bad Cop to Dave's Good Cop, and he takes no prisoners, as Steve Blake will tell you. He lives in Portland, which enables him to be Dave's eyes and ears as well as his fists. Ben loves writing for Blazers Edge because it gets him an In to the team and lots of chicks. He's not going anywhere soon. The only reason I put him at 98% instead of 99% is because we all know he's gunning for Sean's job and there's always a chance he might decide to take matters into his own hands one of these days. Sean, I wouldn't wait too long to start a family, if you know what I mean.

Jscot: 90%

Jscot, along with Dave, is the Voice of Reason on Blazers Edge. He's smart, educated, is a citizen of a country that is part of the British Empire, and probably lives in a castle, which would explain why he's always talking about ruling the world. He's one of the original BE homers and a Microsoft Excel ninja. Talk about your bona fides...! I expect jscot to be around as long as BE is, but I put him only at 90% because he's been gone for a couple of weeks on business (cough) instead of fulfilling his normal duties of graphing and analyzing data, skewering BE trolls, and making grandiose yet thinly veiled threats about what he'll do when he rules the world. Is Blazers Edge that easy for him to step away from? Makes me wonder what he's hiding in that Burger King crown of his. Meanwhile, Norsktroll has quietly assumed the throne in jscot's absence. The plucky Scot could be in for a power struggle. Blood may spill.

TominHawaii: 80%

The clever, exceedingly witty, and urbane Man About Oahu-town enlivens Blazers Edge with his offbeat sense of humor, which I liken to a tasty mix of Jay Leno, Redd Foxx, and Mother Teresa. He is easily the most popular BEdger, because who doesn't love a guy who can make you blush, guffaw, and soil yourself all at once? Despite his popularity, I'm detecting lately a sort of world-weariness in Tom, as he faces yet another generation of BEdgers hell-bent on firing Nate and trading half the team whenever they lose a game. His quips aren't quite as quick lately, his barbs sharper. Could this be the right time to trade him for pookeyguru?

Annthefan: 60%

Ann's status with Blazers Edge is not at question here. It's how many times she can type #25 before she pounds a hole in her keyboard. Her loyalty to Travis is admirable, considering his performance in the playoffs, but the nonstop ad hominem attacks on Outlaw's BBIQ is taking a toll on our Little Orphan Annie. Plus Travis is no lock to remain a Blazer this season. If he goes, does Ann go with him? And how long can she put up with Tom's evil twin before she decides to march off into the hills to the tune of a different drummer?

Norsktroll: 50%

The star of this young, dashing wunderkind is rising fast, but will he consolidate his power enough by the time jscot returns to usurp the throne? Or will he suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune at the blood-stained hands of a vengeful returning king? Kobe vs LeBron will be nothing more than a cockfight in the background.

Timbo: 20%

Timbo's been on a roll lately -- but at Silver Screen and Roll, not at Blazers Edge. A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy. Timbo is a loyal Blazer fan, but the Blazers are out of the playoffs now, the Lakers are fighting the team that ended our run, and lo and behold, Silver Screen and Roll has emerged within the SBN universe to provide Timbo the unspoiled canvas that the Laker fan inside him has longed for all these years. Timbo's leering avatar is everywhere at SS&R: on the main page, in the sidebar, in the comments. He even replies to himself, and there is no one to stop him. Unless a brave and caring group of BEdgers makes it their duty to perform a combination intervention/exorcism/macarena, Timbo may be lost to his inner demon, and to us, forever.

Amlmart: 10%

Donde esta nos amigo? Once a much-loved regular poster on BE, this caballero appears to have fallen off his horse and is lying in a ditch by the side of the road. Have you decided, O Blazer Fan de la Mancha, to tilt at another team's windmills? When will your caricatures once again grace our virtual pages? Perhaps it is too soon to declare amlmart MIA, but he is definitely AWOL.

Fatty: 2%

Fatty's return this year from his self-imposed exile was one of the most anticipated events ever at Blazers Edge. We all wondered: what marvelous and amazing things would he say upon his return, with an entire year of pent-up rants to unleash? Would he dazzle us with his insights? Would his scorn still peel the paint off an Oden fanboy's face? Would he have learned how to punctuate a sentence? Surprisingly, fatty's return has been anticlimactic at best. He returned not with a bang but a whimper, choosing not to trumpet his arrival in a fanpost like a triumphant prodigal son but simply by commenting briefly in a couple of threads, showing us nothing new or different. He received an exceedingly high honor when Dave invited him to post on the main page, and he did well enough in that appearance. Yet a new generation of BEdgers, perhaps overstimulated by fatty's legend and by sugary energy drinks, found fatty to be a taste not to their liking. Fatty's already shown he can live without Blazers Edge. I fear he may decide to return to Patmos, where he can write his memoirs in peace.

Is Brandon Roy the NBA's best offensive wing?

MiledAnimal — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:43:20 -0000

Is Brandon Roy the NBA's best offensive wing?

Christopher Reina at RealGM.com takes a serious look at Ron-Ron's comment about Roy.

Big guys, little guys treated differently in the NBA

MiledAnimal — Sat, 02 May 2009 04:06:16 -0000

Big guys, little guys treated differently in the NBA

Sean Deveney shows how bigs get called for fouls on guards but guards often don't get called for fouls on bigs.

Blake among unheralded impact guys

MiledAnimal — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:33:36 -0000

Blake among unheralded impact guys

"He looks more like the kid who used to wear a stocking cap to high school on warm days than a vital piece of an NBA playoff team, but the lightweight Blazers’ point guard has quietly had a career year. Granted, as career seasons go, this one hasn’t been anything mind-altering (he averaged 11.0 points and 5.1 assists per game), but Blake’s value lies in his 3-point accuracy (12th in the NBA at 42.8 percent) and efficiency. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.28 ranks fifth in the league.

"With his ability to effectively get the Blazers into their offense and spot up for timely threes — not to mention that he’s one of the few veterans on a team with an average age of 24.8 years — the 29-year-old Blake has value well beyond his limited recognition."