I don't know if this is diary worthy but it shocked me when I looked this stuff up (I know, not enough to do).  There are lots of good articles lately about wages of wins and wins per dollar spent (one from Ian Thomsen at SI) and it got me to thinking about how the PTB spent money in past years, specifically on Dr. Darius.  Now that it looks like Mr. Miles is done in a Blazer uniform, what did Mr. Allen get for his money?

Continue reading this post »

I don't know about everybody else but the roster turnover, player A versus player B comparisons, and possible trades are giving me a brain cramp.  Here's something light for the weekend.

I know this has been done to death but nicknames are always fun, we've got some new guys, and I came up with some I haven't noticed before.  Give the proper name, nickname, and thinking behind it.

Greg Oden - Godsend because that's what I consider him.  It's just using his first initial and all of his last name with an extra S and D thrown in for fun.
Channing Frye - BOG or buffet of goodness because that one just makes me laugh (note my signature line).
Sergio Rodriguez - Senior Skillz cause of the obvious Spanish hook up and that boy does have a unique talent for dishin' the dimes.

We use all kinds of shorthand here, maybe we can get Dave to give us a link for BE (see, there's one now) terms in case you don't recognize something.  I'll plug in a couple, please add as many as you can think of even if they are obvious to you:

GOLAROY - this is our core 3 and just combining Greg, LaMarcus, and Brandon into one quick and easy word.
BE - Blazers Edge
SQ - starter quality
RFA - restricted free agent
UFA - unrestricted free agent
FA - free agent

You get the idea.  It might seem obvious to you but I'm sure there are neophytes who are just scratching their heads.  I notice them fairly often but I've been lurking for a while so I'm supposed to know the lingo and I'm just too embarassed to admit it when I don't.

Have fun!

Nice breakdown of Jones' shooting ability by Columbian beat writer Brian Hendrickson: http://www.columbian.com/sports/blazerBanter/

I knew his defense was pretty good and he had that nice run in the playoffs but maybe we Pritch-slapped somebody again?  Is it possible we traded 1 very good player and 2 fringe players for 3 good rotation guys (top 9)?  If this guy pans out, you are talking about some serious depth being added in Jones, Fernandez, and Frye in what was widely panned as a bad trade for the Blazers.

Am I the only one feeling like it's the night before Christmas?  They said a week to ten days to sort out the backend of whatever it is they did on draft night, so of course in my mind that's today.  

Anybody heard anything new or is it still just Jones? (Canzano doesn't count)  Has anybody gotten any clarification on the "prominent" portion of the comments?  Was that really what was said or was it a slip of the tongue and it's just Jones?

If we get incredibly lucky, what do we do?  Dust off your crystal ball and tells us what happens if we get pick 1-3.  

Here's mine:
1st - We trade down to 2nd, get Durant, and pick up another top 10 pick or a young player.

2nd - We stand pat and take Durant (Oden in the unlikely event).

3rd - We trade down and get 2 picks in the 7-15 range or one and a young player.

Obviously not scientific or necessarily based in reality but it's a hunch.  Again, notoriety and the title of draft genius or some such to be bestowed upon the winner.

I'm absolutely dying to find out where we pick, does anybody know for sure exactly what time the lottery will be?  I'm stuck at work so I'll have to listen online and be discreet.  Go Blazers!

Before we know what the draft order is, what two rookies are on our opening night roster next year?  I'd say one, but you need a tie-breaker so list your 1st and 2nd most likely.  

Use your own judgement deciding how trades and draft position factor in, there are so many variables it will be a crap shoot.

Dave can come up with an appropriate title like Most Bestest Draft Prognosticator or something (how does he come up with this stuff?).

Here's your chance for fame and notoriety amongst the Blazer faithful.

Here's mine: Durant & Yi

This isn't sexy or earth shattering but it's fairly reasonable and likely helps both teams.  I was a little surprised with Zach getting the boot in the YBGM voting but I guess perception is reality.  Against that backdrop, here's the trade:

Atlanta gets:
-Zach
-a second rounder or DD if necessary to even things out (if DD is included, it has to be Williams to fit under the cap)

Portland gets:
-Josh Smith or Josh Childress or Marvin Williams
-Lorenzen Wright
-Anthony Johnson
-Atlanta's 2007 first round pick, preferrably the 3rd if they get it; the 11th if not.  (very unlikely they give up the 1st or 2nd on this deal)
-a future first round pick with varying levels of protection to even things out

Why Atlanta does it:
A strong inside presence to compliment Joe and the kids; two all stars in the east ain't bad.  They've needed inside help forever and would still have plenty of youth on the wings so the loss of the picks is easier to swallow.

Why Portland does it:
Somewhat appease the masses by moving Z, open things up to be more team oriented, improved defense, and free up time for LA.  We add some veteran presence in the form of role players at two of our need positions (1 & 5) with only one year left on the contracts for Wright & Johnson so if they don't work out you've rented mentors for a season and free up cap space.  I'd probably take Smith, Childress, or Williams in that order.  None of these guys necessarily blow my socks off, but you'd have to consider them an upgrade at the 3.  The 2007 pick gives us two shots at a keeper in a deep draft or the chance to trade the picks together and move up and get one guy we really like.  Either way you add to the core this year and have another chip next year.

This works according to RealGM Trade Checker: http://www.realgm.com/src_tradechecker/1/  (don't forget DD = Williams)

I'd like to think we could get more for Zach but the reality is there is no way we can deal with Chicago without a 3rd team and that makes it highly unlikely.  I know a lot of people like Lewis but it's just incredibly unlikely Seattle trades with us or vice versa given the rivalry, within division, and any lingering hard feelings regarding Nate.  That leaves us with limited options if we want to move Zach but this one might work.

A few points:
-If I hear the organization blather one more time about how the team is growing, I'm going to throw up.  I absolutely believe they are, but not nearly as fast as they make it sound and I'm tired of having it rammed down my throat that evey miniscule play is evidence every time down the floor.  Marketing is fine, but save it for the unbelievable number of adds during stoppages of play.

-What is with JJ?  I had very high hopes for him coming into the season and he's done a good job of improving in my area of biggest concern, assist to turnover, but that's about the only significant progress I can point to other than occasional great games that are far too infrequent.  All I caught was the news highlights and I could tell what kind of game he had before I ever looked at the box score.  He throws the ball right to a Sonic, who passes to a guy who's five feet from JJ, and he barely makes it across half court before the guy makes the layup.  All I hear is how JJ is solid, tough, and a defensive presence.  I'm sorry; he's just slightly above horrible on the defensive end.  He seems to be a steadying influence at times, but I'm just not seeing the effort, leadership, and he's not "solid" nearing the end of his second season as the STARTING PG - he's wildly inconsistent.

-Look, I love Ime but he's no Bruce Bowen so give it a rest.  To have the gall to say he played good defense against Kobe is just disingenuous.  They've done that all year so I dare you to take the position that they don't say "he scored 25+ points tonight, but Ime did a great job on him".  If a guy gets 25 or more, that's not "great" defense.  This continual tripe about him "making him work for it" is fine to a point, but when the guy's in the 30's that's just not worthy of mentioning as a standout performance.  My hunch is that Ime is a good defender but only looks fantastic when you see him next to every other perimeter guy out there.  Face it; we're just a very poor perimeter defensive team.

-I have serious concerns about how this team regards Nate, has the Sarge act already worn thin?  It has nothing to do with what anyone says or does off the court, purely impirical evidence.  They have layed down twice in a row against the Sonics.  That's not exactly a team willing to run through a wall for you when you know Nate absolutely burns to beat the Sonics and the players have to know this as well.

Watching the game last night something occurred to me: our conditioning played a role in last nights win.  Granted, Kobe turned on the jets but it looked to me like the rest of the Fakers ran out of gas and Kobe was fresh only because Phil held him out so long.  On the other hand, we continued to hustle and beat them to lose balls even though we were making mental mistakes and turning the ball over.

During the summer, Nate talked about coming into the season in shape and stealing a few games early because other teams tend to play their way into shape.  This seemed to be exactly what he described; anybody else see it this way?

I can't believe I'm writing this, but I think I saw what I saw.

Right at the end of the game Nate pulled Zbo for Joel on an offense - defense switch.  Zbo didn't appear to complain but he stood right next to Nate literally bouncing up and down shouting instructions to the guys because you could just tell he was so into the game.  Nate put him back in and then left him in for the rest of the game even when he had opportunities to sub him out for defensive purposes.

Now, I don't want to read too much into this but to me, this is Nate rewarding Zbo for acting like a leader.  Star players and leaders are in the game at the end even if they aren't the best defender because they need to be to support their teammates and that's how I see this little mini-episode.

OK, now come tell me how wrong I am!

I like to think I'm an optimistic Blazer fan but something has me more than a little concerned.

Through 6 preseason games, JJ is averaging 29 minutes but only 4.0 assists and 3.17 turnovers per game for a ratio of 1.26  

Last year he ranked 66th in the league at 2.15 assists to turnovers.  That's not progress folks and this is probably our single biggest problem so far this year.  It seems to me your starting point guard sets the tone for the team and this just isn't good enough.  

He played 20 minutes per game last year so this isn't that dramatic a jump in minutes, so what gives?  Who's been to the games this year and has an idea of why he's struggling so much versus last year?

Don't get me wrong, I've got high hopes for JJ but we all know veterans lick their chops when a rookie steps on the floor so I find it hard to believe people are going at him harder this year than they did last year.

We're stuck with Zach for the time being, so how's about we play coach and figure out how to push those buttons, shall we?

Here's how it goes, make a suggestion for what Nate could say to Zach right before tipoff that would motivate him to do what he wants.  Here's a couple to get it started:

Nate: Listen Z, these guys are a jelly roll; all soft and squishy in the middle.  If you give me 20 boards tonight, we win and you get us some face time on Sportscenter.

Nate: These guys love to run but their bigs ain't so big down low if you hear what I'm sayin'.  If you shoot 65% in the paint, they get no long rebounds, they can't run because they're taking the ball out of the net, and their coach tells everybody what a monster you are down low in his postgame because we just clocked them in their own gym.