http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12126

 

Growing up in Seattle, Washington, Brandon Roy was not your typical Seattle SuperSonics fan. Not even close. While he may have had pictures of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, posters of Shaquille O'Neal in his gold and purple adorned his bedroom wall. Plastered them.

Sorry Blazermanics. It's true.

Roy was a Laker lover.

 

 

"I was the biggest Laker dude there was," Roy said smiling, leaning against his locker with an autographed pair of O'Neal's size 23 shoes sitting beside him.

The good thing about this team (Portland) is they can grow together and it's possible they can do some damage," Shaq said, while repeatedly calling Roy a "fabulous player".

"It usually takes a team four, five, six years to get that (way). I'm not sure how long these guys have been together but if they can keep these guys together for a long time, they're going to make some noise."

When asked what Portland was missing, O'Neal didn't hesitate.

"Nothing. They've got it."

 

http://www.thememphisedge.com/2009/01/06/grizzlies-waive-miles/

The Grizzlies waived Darius Miles soon after their 94-87 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 6-9 forward was told of the team’s decision before the players and coaches boarded a plane for New Jersey where the Griz play tonight.

A decision whether to guarantee Miles for the rest of the season had to be reached by 5 p.m. today.

Griz general manager Chris Wallace said cutting Miles, who signed a nonguaranteed deal on Dec. 12, had more to do with the injury to center Darko Milicic than Miles’ ability.
Milicic will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken hand.

Miles, meanwhile, had a respectable showing in limited action on the court. He appeared to be in good condition and was active on both ends of the floor. Despite missing his two shot attempts and going scoreless, Miles blocked two shots and grabbed a couple of rebounds.

Miles can still sign a 10-day contract with the Griz or another NBA team. He said Wallace gave him no indication if the Griz planned to bring him back.

With the Griz, Miles was able to serve his 10-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. He appeared in two games. If he plays in eight more this season Miles’ $9 million salary goes back on Portland’s payroll for this season and 2009-10.

Portland waived Miles after they determined he hadn’t recovered from microfracture surgery on his right knee in November 2006. He hadn’t played an NBA regular-season game since April 15, 2006.

Aldridge, knowing he'd have a tough time going blow-for-blow and toe-to-toe with Oden in the block, took the rook out to the three-point line and started displaying some skills that I had never seen before, namely the cross-over dribble. You ever see Aldridge dance at the three-point line before shaking his man? Me neither, but I saw it yesterday.

Aldridge, with the clear advantage in foot speed, beat Oden in a variety of ways by showing off a handle that I didn't even know he possessed. He'd go between the legs over and over, just getting in that cross-over rhythm, before eventually throwing a jab step to get Oden off-balance. Once that was accomplished, Aldridge would either pull up for the long-range jumper (which he hit over and over again) or drive baseline. Think And1 mix-tape, but without the extreme ankle-breaking, and with 6-11 versus 7-0. It's not like Oden was getting embarrassed, but you could tell Aldridge was just feeling it.

The highlight of the run was Aldridge crossing over Oden near the baseline, driving to the hoop, avoiding Travis Outlaw's block attempt, then finishing with the reverse layup. So pretty.

Link

Nice hat he's been working on his handles.

"I’m ready," says Oden, who missed the entire 2007-08 season after undergoing microfracture knee surgery last September. "But the good thing about last year, it got me to calm down. I’m not crazy. 

"I’m excited, but I’m not like, ‘It’s coming up! It’s coming up!’ I’m like (and here he softens his voice), ‘It’s coming. Let’s get it on.’"

Oden is entertaining in a question-and-answer session with the kids. A very large 11-year-old, who says he is 6-feet tall, stands up and asks how tall Oden was at that age. "I was 6-6," Oden says, and the youngsters murmur in awe.  Asked how tall he is now, Oden reveals, "6-11 1/2.

So he's grown?

Link

Well, technically haha...

March Madness heroes Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were thrown out of the NBA's rookie transition program on Wednesday morning after being caught in their hotel room with marijuana and women, according to several sources.

ESPN

What idiots.  Glad we traded Arthur.  Michael Beasley was also apparently in the room, but they let him walk for some unknown reason.  Not surprised, the NBA is trying to cover up their stars nowadays.

I'm really scrapping for info here, but this is a nice read:

This week has been very good one for me. Last Monday was the first day that I could play 5 on 5. I felt really good out there. The first couple of games was really hard to get back in to the grove of things but after I settled down the game became alot better for me. They still havent just thrown me into playing every game, but I play every other game and every other day. The second day was so much better for me my wind was doing ok and I slowed myself down. Getting out there just got me really excited for when the season starts.

Other than me playing on me I moved into my new place. It really nice and just relaxing to have a view of the city of Portland. Also knowing that im in the place that I own feels good too.

Link

Glad to hear he's feeling well.

Here are a few highlights:

So he is content to wait another year, perhaps two, for his personal aspirations to take precedence. But he wants to make one thing clear: He is not content remaining with the status quo of his game.

"I don't want to be a sixth man forever," Outlaw says.  So he emphatically declares that Portland fans will see a different Outlaw this season. One who is confident. One who will hit the corner three-pointer. One who can create his own shot. And one who will rebound. In fact, his personal goal this season is to average 16 points and eight rebounds, marked increases from his career-high averages last season of 13.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Outlaw averaged 11.8 shots per game last season -- third highest on the Blazers behind Roy and Aldridge -- and he was given free rein to create his own shot, particularly in the fourth quarter. But he says he would like to average 15 shots this season -- the amount Roy and Aldridge averaged last season -- and disputes the notion that he had the green light with the Blazers.

Anyone else a tad concerned that he may not be the best fit here after these comments?  I hope there are enough shots to go around.

Here is the link

Here is a video

You know the routine with these Rip City revival pieces.  New article every day.

Wheels said yesterday on his show that the Blazers practiced 5-on-5 for the first time yesterday and that Oden looked superb, Aldridge has gained a lot of muscle, Sergio's jumper looks better (more arc).

Oden had a sequence where he blocked a shot on one end, then raced down the court and had a monsterous putback dunk on the other that impressed the entire gym. Also, he's so big that when he backs down a defender you practically can't see the defender at all, lol. He will practice every other day to ensure he doesn't overdo it.

The players that attended were:

Greg Oden
LaMarcus Aldridge
Steve Blake
Jerryd Bayless
Sergio Rodriguez
Nicolas Batum
Martell Webster
Luke Jackson
Steven Hill
Channing Frye
Jamaal Tatum

Brandon Roy was watching.

Joel, Raef, Travis, Ike and Rudy are not in Portland yet.

You can listen to it here.

http://955thegame.com/Portals/0/media/W ... -08Hr1.mp3

http://www.rumorpress.net/

The Portland Trail Blazers are in an intense search to find a point guard, and they’re interested in one on the Chicago Bulls. The Blazers have offered Forward Travis Outlaw and Center Joel Przybilla to Bulls in exchange for Kirk Hinrich and possibly a future draft pick. The Bulls are mildly interested in the deal, but are still reluctant to trade Hinrich. The Bulls are trying to see if the Blazers have any interest in Ben Gordon instead, that of course if Gordon is interested in accepting a deal to go to the Blazers. Outlaw, a five year veteran, averaged 13.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. Przybilla, an eight year veteran, averaged 4.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last season.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-bernie-mac-dies-080809-story,0,5074084.story

So, so sad.

 RIP

Taking up words.

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According to Quick today on the fan, Oden has been cleared to play and is practicing 1-on-1 with Channing (Poor Frye).

There are trying to light a fire under him apparently. 

He will do 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 this month as well.  I'm starting to get excited!

Thoughts?

Taking up words. 

Taking up words.

Taking up words.

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Taking up words.

Taking up words.

Trail Blazers lottery pick Jerryd Bayless has received a rare reward for his sensational NBA Summer League performance.

USA Basketball will announce Sunday morning that the Blazers' 6-foot-3 rookie guard will be added to the Men's Select Team, a group of up-and-coming NBA players who will scrimmage against the United States Olympic team as it prepares for Beijing.

Bayless will join two more summer league standouts -- including Minnesota Timberwolves and former Lake Oswego product Kevin Love -- on a team that also will feature the Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Atlanta's Al Horford, Sacramento's Kevin Martin and 2008 No. 1 draft pick Derrick Rose of Chicago, among others.

"I'm really excited for the opportunity," Bayless said, moments after hearing the news Saturday night in Las Vegas, where he's playing in the NBA Summer League. "I'll get to play a little, but more than that it's an opportunity for me to watch a little bit and learn. That's the main thing I'm taking away form this opportunity -- to learn from those great players and figure out the things they do to get better."

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/07/bayless_earns_team_usa_invite.html

Nice, but it looks like he will be missing our last SL game tomorrow.  Prepare to get blown out. 

I'm trying to think of a good Bayless nickname, one that rolls off the tongue. 

Care to share any of your ideas?  Hopefully it sticks and we can officially deem him by that nickname from now on.

J-Bay/Jay-Bay?

JLess?

JB?

JB4?

Whatcha got?

And to take up more words I've decided to add a funny Oden video:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5a831f2704

Boy he's a hoot.  He's gonna be special.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/news/story?id=3459658

I can't see us keeping this pick, It must be part of a bigger trade.  Don't see why we would need it otherwise.  We don't have room.

 But more importantly, Pritch is on the prowl!

Taking up words. 

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via slamonline.com

via slamonline.com

http://slamonline.com/online/2008/06/brandon-roy-goes-back-to-camp/

So he decided to hit the weights himself.

All I can say is WOW.  He is going to be a lot better next season with this added weight.  It will help him finish after contact and take bumps from defenders in the paint.  No offense to Roy, but he was thrown around like a rag doll last year.

I haven't been this excited about the Blazers in a long time.  This is going to be the longest off-season ever!

 It's also cool to note that he stepped in and took charge of Paul Pierce's camp, because obviously Pierce is busy.  Roy is starting to gain a lot of fame.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25322638/&GT1=43001

Wow, when I heard the news I just couldn't believe it.  He just did that comedy show for HBO, too.  His comedy was honest and brutal, but very funny and he actually had some great points.  I personally find comedy these days to be a dying breed, but he was one of the last purest ones in the business.  He will be missed.

All the great ones are passing.  It's getting depressing.

RIP

"Greg Oden was in Portland recently, for the Rose Festival Parade, but has now returned home to Indianapolis. After a week there, he'll return to Ohio State to take some summer courses, and, of course, will continue to workout. Greg worked out at the practice facility over the weekend, and looked phenominal. He's used this time to really improve his outside shot, and has surprised nearly everyone with how consistent he's become.

Greg's free-throw shooting is very, very solid, and he's developed a deadly jump hook, and can go with either hand. Greg is raring to go up and down, but probably won't be cleared for full-speed scrimmaging until August. He's in tremendous shape, and is absolutely ripped up. In one of his final workouts in Portland, in front of coaches, reportedly, jaws were hitting the floor, as he was repeatedly attempting to tear the rim off the backboard. He's developed an impressive touch from the perimeter, and anything in the paint will be a dunk."

 http://mikebarrettsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/taylor-highlights-tuesday.html

Oden will be a hybrid of Shaq, Garnett and Russell.  Shaq's dominance, Garnett's outside jumper and Russell's defense.  There's never been a player like that before.  ;)

I think just about everyone was saying before this series started that the Celtics had no chance and LA would win in 5 or 6.  Mostly the ESPN analysts, which sort of surprised me.

Well, through 2 games Boston is up 2-0.  Which they were supposed to do, granted, not many people expected them to. 

I think it's safe to say that Boston is now the favorite to win this series, but it is far from over.  L*kers haven't played particularly well so far in this series, I don't think they match-up  very well with the Celtics, and I figured that Gasol would struggle with the aggressive Celtics front line.  Odom has trouble being effective if he does not have an advantage over his defender, which he doesn't in this series, and is forced to rely on his streaky jumper and has been out of the offensive flow.  Four times this year (all Celtics wins) Boston has contained Kobe.  Until he or the L*kers as a whole can prove they can overcome Bostons defense I can't see them winning this series.  Especially considering that they have to take 4 of 5 games from Boston, which looks far-fetched from the way they're playing at this point.

I predict Celtics in 6, Celtics take one of the three games in LA, then finish it up at home.  But if the L*kers break out of their funk then it could be an entirely different story.  Like I said, series is far from over.  We'll have to see how the L*kers play in LA.

That said, your revised predictions?  Vote on the poll and let me know how you think it will go down with a comment.

Haven't posted a new fanpost in a while, but thought this was a pretty cool video.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/video?id=3431090

He looks great, and he will probably be the biggest player in the NBA next year (sans Shaq).  can't wait to see him in his debut.  It will be unreal.

McRoberts is there working out with him in the video.  Good to see he has some dedication t improve.

Also, how do you embed videos on here?  It won't let me do it.

I want to start off by saying that I'm not a Celtics fan, not in the least.  In fact the only guy on their team I even like is Ray Allen, but that's still one more than I like on the l*kers.

Right now I probably find myself hating the l*kers probably more than ever.  The last thing I want to do is watch them raise another banner.  All last Summer k*be was acting like a little girl, crying and demanding a trade, throwing his teammates and management under the bus.  His actions were dispicable.  So what do we see?  Spoiled k*be and the l*kers back in the finals, after they steal Gasol from Memphis and are on the verge from buying yet another championship.  Now k*be is acting fake in interviews again, and playing it off like he wants to be a l*ker for life.  It just goes against all things fair.  I'm disgusted.

The l*krs simply do not deserve to win another title.

So for the month of June I bleed green & white.

Who's with me?

What a joke.  All we got to hear is trades that fell through and that Travis is working out this Summer.  Ooooooohhhh, aaaaahhhhhhh.

Apparently we're not getting Calderon, which is not 'exciting'.  It's depressing.

I thought it was going to at least be something positive, like Rudy coming over, Comcast deal, New Jersey's, Jones opting out....ANYTHING!

Just a rant, but I was really excited to hear what this "exciting Blazers news" was.

Was that the biggest joke ever?

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I stumbled across this and it's a bit disturbing.

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/05/mavs-exec-talks-to-portland-star.html

We all know that Aldridge is from Dallas, and I'm sure he woudn't mind playing for his hometown team.  I don't think he's a big fan of the city of Portland, from what I've heard, but he doesn't hate it either.  I think he'll stay here for a while for sure, mostly because we will be an elite powerhouse, but this leads me to my follow-up question:  Which of the Blazers Big-3 is most likely to leave down the road?

I'd say Aldridge has the best chance, followed by Oden because he's already complained about Portland a few times, and Roy as a distant third, considering he's from the area. 

Will Aldridge get tired of playing 3rd fiddle?  Will Oden was to go to a bigger market to get more exposure?  Will Roy want out for some reason? 

It's something that has been in the back of my mind for a while now.  I just want to hear some of your thoughts.

Does anyone here have an account at RealGM?  If so, how the HECK do you create an account there?  I have literally tried for years and have not been accepted.  I now know you need a non-free e-mail address, which I just got, and I attempted to register again yesterday and recieved the usual e-mail stating that you need to contact the RealGM moderators and have them activate the account and they'll respond with a follow-up e-mail when it's done.  Well this morning, nothing in the inbox.  How long does it take for them to respond?  If at all?  I love reading their forums but this whole process is getting frustrating and I can't really contact them for further support because they aren't responding.  Should I wait it out a little longer to see if they respond or what?

Some help would be wonderful, thanks.

"Rudy Fernandez is apparently set to join the Portland Trailblazers according to word we got from well-placed local sources here in Spain."

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/

 What do you think Rudy's impact will be next year?  The future?  I'm excited and I hope he can gain weight and become a SF.  Does he have any PG skills?

I'm just glad he's getting here!  And I need to take up more words.  So oh yeah!

I'll admit it, I have my heart set on Greg becoming a superstar in this league and the best center in the NBA 5 years from now.  But the more and more I think about it, the more I feel like I'm just setting myself up for disappointment. 

Realistically, he had major surgery before even stepping out onto an NBA court, which is a huge white flag IMO.  And the general vibe I get from a lot of Blazer fans now is hoping that he will just be a servicable center down the line.  I'm still hoping he will be great, but I'm starting to doubt my feelings towards him.  He had a horrible Summer league against 3rd string centers which isn't exactly a huge deal, but I expected him to do better.  Watching videos of him playing, he just seems goofy and uncomfortable on offense.  He's a great defender, but he is a foul machine.  He needs a lot of work.  My best hope is for him to be a project and eventually grow into that star we want him to be.  Bottom line is I'm not completely sold on the Oden hype machine anymore and that whole "next great big man" and "Future HOFer" thing.   I was hoping he would be greater than Dwight Howard, now I just feel like he will be an injured Mutombo 2.0.  I really don't know what to think about him anymore.  All these scouts can't all be wrong about this guy, can they?

Who knows.  Maybe I'm clearly overreacting, but I'm starting to doubt him, as he's really done nothing that's made my jaw drop yet.  The closest thing that there is was his championship game, which was impressive.  But at this point I'm just hoping he can get back to that level after the surgery. 

He's got all the tools to be great, I just hope he can put them all together and stay healthy.

I'd just like to hear some or your thoughts.

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Scottstradamus/2008/4/18/SOS_Soon_to_be_Oklahomas_Sonics

This guy thinks that Allen is going to move the Blazers to Seattle after the Sonics leave.  I hope most Seattle fans don't feel the same way, because I doubt it's going to happen.  I don't see why Allen would move them, given the troubles the teams there have had lately, but do you think it's even a possiblity and maybe tempting to him considering it is his hometown?

What are the chances this happens?

Your MVP?

Your MIP?

6th Man?

LVP?

And thow in your favorite memory from this season too, for good measure.

Here are mine:

MVP=Roy

MIP=Aldridge (Outlaw 2nd)

6th=Travis

LVP=Raef, for his lack of production knowing what he's making this season.

My favorite memory was definetly the streak, I thought Roy making the ASG was fun too.

Overall this was definetly the most fun season I have been a part of.  Even though we may not have won as much than in the past, it was still awesome and I feel great about this team.