SB Nation User Blog: Samuelson

Miles returns to practice (O-Live)

Samuelson — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:37:26 -0000

I never thought it would happen. Color me skeptical.

Put me in the group that feels that if he can't return to the point where he can play a whole game without causing me to think 'he's dogging it' or 'taking games off' (be it due to his injury or his attitude), he shouldn't be playing at all.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2007/12/wednesday_surprise_miles_is_ba/print.html

Roy Tweaks Ankle; Results of MRI available at 6pm

Samuelson — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:12:59 -0000

From Oregonlive.com

"Brandon should be okay,'' McMillan said. "He tweaked his ankle a little bit in the warmup drill, so just for precautionary measures we took him out. I didn't see what happened. He said he came down and didn't feel right. So we decided to take him out and see what was going on.''

The injury doesn't appear to be related to the left heel injury that caused Roy to miss 20 of the first 25 games last season. In fact, McMillan said Roy wanted to continue practicing."

Derrick Rose, anyone?

Open Run: Day 3 (Video)

Samuelson — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:40:12 -0000

http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/index.html

Can anyone find James Jones in the video? I still haven't spotted the guy in any of the scrimmages. Also, it looks like the portion they video'd today lacked Channing Frye as well.

All in all, this early arrival business, though probably inconsequential in terms of wins and losses, will go a long way in building the chemistry of this group. They're all quite young and inexperienced around each other, so every moment counts.

Blazers Schedule Released

Samuelson — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:37:30 -0000

http://www.nba.com/blazers/schedule/results_2007.html

11 nationally televised games.

Opening night match at San Antonio (ring ceremony).

Home opener on November 7 against the Hornets.

Christmas game at home vs. Seattle.

Both Oden/Shaq matches are nationally televised.

My Prediction
First 16 games (through November)

Tue 30 @ San Antonio, L
Fri 2 @ New Orleans, L
Sat 3 @ Houston, L

Wed 7 New Orleans, W
Fri 9 Memphis, W
Sat 10 Dallas, L
Tue 13 Detroit, W

Wed 14 @ Denver, L
Fri 16 @ Philadelphia, W
Sat 17 @ Washington, L
Mon 19 @ Charlotte, W

Wed 21 New Jersey, L
Fri 23 Sacramento, W
Mon 26 Orlando, W
Wed 28 Indiana, W

Fri 30 @ Dallas, L

Total: 8-8

In the first 8 games, I think we'll really get a sense of where this team is at. Games against Detroit, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas and Denver... After that, though, we have an opportunity on that Eastern conference road trip to pile up a few wins. Then the home stand to close out the month consists entirely of what should be winnable games.

Considering how difficult December could be, I think we should feel good about hanging around .500 at that point.

Dan Patrick's take on the NBA Lottery Proceedings

Samuelson — Thu, 24 May 2007 03:44:47 -0000

"So now you have the lottery and you're saying to yourself, you GOTTA have Greg Oden go to a big market, right? It's already designed. Maybe we put that envelope in the freezer and that way when Adam Silver reaches in and grabs it... he pulls out the Boston Celtics... the Celtics are BACK! Overcome the Len Bias death, the Reggie Lewis death, the 'let's tank games and keep Rick Pitino in Boston'... now they end up on the outside looking in.

Not great for the NBA.

Not great at all.

But great for Portland.

And you know what? Portland's gone through an awful lot. I mean, Portland is trying to get past taking Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan. But you didn't hear Portland whine and moan and complain... they had the Jail Blazers there! Still a great great market. Great place to see a basketball game. Love their basketball team. You could make the argument that the Portland Trail Blazers have been as important to Portland as the Spurs have been to San Antonio.

Small markets: they surround their teams.

They love their teams.

It's always half full, not half empty.

So Portland is gonna take Greg Oden (or at least they should). And then, Seattle (or the artist formerly known as Seattle) they get Kevin Durant.

And keep in mind, Seattle tried to recover from trading Scottie Pippen for Olden Polynice! Now, did they rebound from that because they ended up with Gary Payton? Yes.

It's good for those markets, it's good for those cities, it's good for those teams.

It's not good for the NBA.

But you can't sit there and accuse the commissioner of being part of a conspiracy theory.

It's going to get interesting here. It's a deep draft, lot of players that can help you right away.

Also keep this in mind: when you look at drafts in any other sport, which draft has a player who can help you right away? It's the NBA.

JaMarcus Russell may not even play for the Raiders this year.

I mean, Reggie Bush as great as he was in college, wasn't that big of an impact player for the New Orleans Saints. Now you do have certain players who come in and play right away and play well.

Greg Oden changes an entire franchise.

Kevin Durant may change an entire franchise.

The importance of the lottery: is it fair? If you're one of the worst teams should you get a chance at the top? Why don't you just have: "Hey, you get the worst record, you get the #1 pick. Anyone accuse the Raiders of tanking this year? We accused NBA teams of tanking.

And i believe for the Celtics, rightfully so.

But for the Celtics to sit around there and say: "Welp! We hope we win the lottery!

No, why don't you have front office executives who make right decisions, good trades, good drafts instead of saying "Welp! gonna have a leprechaun here, we'll send Tommy Heinsohn in there, that should do it! That should make up for all of the ineptitude we have here. Losing breeds losing, make some smart decisions, bring in the correct people, that would go a long way.

I like the odds of Portland winning the lottery:

Less likely than Shaq making 11 consecutive free throws.

Rolling snake eyes on consecutive rolls of the dice.

Flipping a coin and getting heads 10 consecutive times.

Good for Portland! If you get Greg Gden, I believe you're getting a great kid. A kid who wasn't afraid to embarrass himself shooting free throws left handed. Good team player. runs the floor, got a good sense of humor. And hopefully they've gotten rid of all of those knuckleheads that they had up there in Portland.

Got Brandon Roy. Hopefully you fight the urge to make a trade. You don't have to win now.

Don't cave into that urge, it's not winning now.

And as David Robinson said last night, "Greg Oden in 5 years: that's gonna be the right pick."

Durant's ready to play right now. And Seattle? They're going to get a very good player in Kevin Durant.

I believe there are a lot of players that are similar to Kevin Durant that have come out or will continue to come out. That hybrid: 6-7, 6-8, 6-9, 6-10... plays a couple of different positions.

Greg Oden doesn't come along very often. There aren't very many true big men.

Not great for the nba. But you know what?

That's not the way to look at it, if you're a Portland fan or a Seattle fan.

Is there a way to fix the lottery?
It's made for TV. I mean, you have to admit: This is more drama than you ever saw in the conference finals so far. There's no drama in the Spurs so far. The only drama was LeBron: Pass it or shoot it.

That was damn good drama last night (or as we like to say in the Midwest "that was drah-mah!")

And I love that the whispering that goes on...

Also you have grown men there with good luck charms...

"Oh and I brought this, uh, it's a lucky foot that I brought, and this was a hole in one that was scored..."

These are grown men, with their franchises at stake. And the whispering happens on when someone drops out of the top three.

"What? Who dropped out? Boston? Boston's out!"

And the reactions of the Boston fans: unnnnhhhhh.

Didn't you react that way when you saw the Celtics play this year? unnhhhhh.

Memphis: unnnhhh

And a word to the wise: don't tank.

Portland had a 5% chance.

Good for them.

It's not fair. It used to be that you flipped a coin, Phoenix and Milwaukee FLIPPED A COIN to decide who got Lew Alicindor. And you know what the consolation prize was that year for Phoenix? Neal Walk. Yep.

You flipped a coin.

That's what it comes down to. You flipped a coin. heads, I mean tails, I mean heads. let's bring in Jerome Bettis to call. Heads. Hails, I take hails! Teds!"

What did you do when we won?

Samuelson — Wed, 23 May 2007 01:22:21 -0000

I punched the ceiling and now my hand is pretty bloody.
I called 5 people on my cellular.
I watched the proceedings 3 times.

What did you do?

Randolph spotted at strip club in Portland on Tuesday

Samuelson — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:48:23 -0000

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=117466803757695600

Same night that Portland beat the Wizards. If he was planning to leave Wednesday, why didn't he show up to the Wizards game?

It'll be really interesting to see how the team reacts to this, how Nate McMillan reacts to this, and how interim guy Tod reacts to this.

Is a suspension warranted? Hard to say at this point.

Quick Rumor: Portland offered Dixon for Pietrus, GSW says no

Samuelson — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:50:59 -0000

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2007/02/the_french_are_coming.html http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2173~1707&teams=22~9

One of the more plausible trade scenarios I've seen.

Golden State has a glut of SFs and needs to thin the rotation there, while Dixon has fallen out of favor and Portland could give Pietrus a tryout before he expires after this season.

Thumbs up.

Quick will be on The Fan at 6 PM to talk about it.

What would this mean for Travis Outlaw?

Sergio Doubtful for tonight's game

Samuelson — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:25:50 -0000

From the Columbian

Rookie point guard Sergio Rodriguez dressed for the Utah game for the first time since spraining his left ankle on Jan. 31, but Blazers coach Nate McMillan said he wants Rodriguez to practice more before playing again.

McMillan said Rodriguez looked "gimpy" during Monday's practice and needed extra time to loosen up.

So he wants to bring Rodriguez back slowly.

"He could go, but he's not 100 percent," McMillan said. "We'll probably hold him for another game or so, another practice."

He might look okay shooting around at Staples today, but I bet we won't see him until the home fixture versus Memphis on Friday. Dickau's strong showing last night solidifies this notion for me.

Seattle PI: Spencer Hawes' stock takes a hit

Samuelson — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 06:39:20 -0000

An NBA Scout weighs in on the 7-foot freshman from Washington/Seattle Prep, and it sounds like his best bet may be sticking around for next year...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/303979_nban16.html

"He has very good hands, plays well in the open floor for a guy that's 6-11," the scout said. "He's very comfortable with the ball, has a great touch around the basket, nice form with his shot. He is not going to be the quickest or most athletic guy.

"Some guys like Hawes and (Pitt's) Aaron Gray, those guys were immediately looked at as lottery picks 15 years ago. (But) just because you're big doesn't give you that advantage. There are plenty of NBA teams who have won titles without a big center, and if this 6-9 guy is more athletic, they may take him."

""He struggles against the more athletic, quicker big (men), and his rebounding skills are good but not great," the scout said. "He's gotta get stronger on his lower body. He's not that imposing force defensively."

The scout had a suggestion for any freshman on the bubble.

"If you're going to put your name into this year's draft, you'd better come with very little flaws," he said. "(Hawes) could definitely benefit his draft status by going back to school. In no way is he a lock for the lottery. (The 2008 draft) is not going to have the amount of big men (as this year's draft)."

Personally, I think Portland could use a passing big man with range out to 20. The problem is, if Hawes' stock rises enough where he'd come out this year, he'd be unavailable where Portland is picking at. If his stock stays where it is now, he won't come out at all.

Pity.