I'm asking you guys because for the past 12 months, the media has responded with your name as an answer to that very question.

Here's my deal.  I'm a bandwagon fan.  I make no qualms about it.  Back at the start of the 2007/2008 NBA season I jumped on the Portland Trailblazers bandwagon for obvious reasons.  Two weeks ago I jumped off for obvious reasons.  I still swear that if humans were not born with knees they would be the most promising franchise in all of sports but that is water under the bridge.

Anyway, if you jump off one bandwagon, you have to jump on another.  If you lacked a soul, what young up and coming team would you jump to?  Why?

Right now I think I'm jumping on the ride that is the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Good call?  Bad call?  Help a sister out.

Now that Minnesota has earned the attention of the worlds greatest bandwagon fan, I was hoping it's fanbase could answer a few spastic questions.  So if you can answer one, a few, or all of these questions for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

1) What is our biggest position of need at the moment?

2) Who are we going to draft?

3) Is this years draft considered strong or weak?

4) Judging by the talent on this team, we shouldn't be this bad.  Who's to blame?

5) Is Kurt Rambis up for the job?

6) If the TWolves start realizing their potential, will Glen Taylor cough up enough doung to keep the gang together?

7) Will there be an NBA season next year?

8) Who is the teams biggest whipping boy?  Who isn't living up to their expectations this season.

9) When does our "window" open?

10) If you didn't have a soul, and could jump from team to team like me, did I make the jump at the right time and to the correct ship? (Blazers to TWolves)

I'll make this real quick...

I am a bandwagon fan who has just jumped off of the TrailBlazers ride for obvious reasons.  I've done EXTENSIVE research and I've concluded that this is the best young team in the NBA, NAY, in all of pro sports.  

What do I need to know? 

Here is what my extensive research has led me to find...

Timberwolves Pros:

-Darko Millicic may turn out to be good.  Who can't root for a guy who was written off by critics YEARS ago.

-Michael Beasley - He was a dissapointment in Miami.  He has been reinvigorated here in Minnesota.  He is crazy funny (IPod interview).  Is he Ron Artest crazy?

-Johny Flynn - Hailes from the Western New York area.  Has the talent to become a killer back up point guard once the next Pete Marovich returns...

-...Ricky Rubio - Enough said.

- Youngest team in the NBA

- Playing horrible this year which should yield a top 5 pick in next years draft.

Timberwoves Cons:

-While the franchise has tons of upside.  It doesn't have nearly as much as the 2007/2008 Portland Trailblazers.

-Will this owner/fanbase be able to keep this collection of talent together?

-CBA negotiations take away a vital year of their development.

-Does Wesley Johnson have what it takes to be a Kevin Durant/Lebron James/Kobe Bryant type of player?

...I honestly had myself believing that this team was destined to win a string of championships.   Portland was on the precipice of joining a club that only one, maybe two, franchises can join every decade.  Their names were about to be entwinded with the likes of the late 90's Yankees, the early 00's Lakers/Patriots, and of course the early 90's Buffalo Bills.

Columnists, bloggers, and reporters were going to write stories of how Portland was ruining the NBA.  No collection of talent should ever be allowed to wear the same jersey on the same court on the same night.  Remember that talent?

Brandon Roy - Unarguably the 3rd best player in the NBA behind only Lebron and Kobe.  Mr. Clutch could do no wrong.

LaMarcus Aldridge - A super talented big man who was about to add agressivness and power to his jaw dropping finesse game.

Greg Oden - Was he going to take the crown from Dwight Howard as best big man in the NBA?  Who knows?  That was the question on everyones mind at this point though and boy was it fun pondering such thoughts.

Jerryd Bayless - PGotF?

Nic Batum - Do we have our Bruce Bowen?  Our Teyshawn Prince?  Possibly Brandon Roys Scottie Pippen?

Travis Outlaw - Wasn't it fun watching a few columnists pick this guy as 6th man of the year?

Martell Webster - One of the last high school lottery picks who had tons of upside?!  

Rudy Fernandez - Does anyone else remember how high we were on this guy?  Does anyone else remember how fun it was to root for him?

Kevin Pritchard - Was Kevin McHale, Bill Polian, Scott Piolli, Theo Epstine etc...worthy to even look this guy in the eyes?  When in the same room as KP, was it important to keep their head lower than that of KP's at all times?

Paul Allen - One of the richest owners in pro sports who also had the reputation for overspending on his franchise.

2008 seems like such a long time ago doesn't it?

I am typing this post as my last one on Blazers Edge.  It acts as a resignation of sorts.  Admittedly, I have been a bandwagon fan the entire time I've followed this franchise and it looks like this is my stop.  Unfortunately I thrive on jumping on bandwagons before the national media does and the temptation of Minnesota's ride looks too good to pass up.  Here's to a championship (or string of championships) in the next 5 years. My time spent here on Blazers Edge has been very enjoyable and I've grown to love the Portland fanbase for a variety of reasons.  I just can't love a team who's window is getting padlocked shut for the next five years.  It's too painful.  The benefits to being a bandwagon fan are fantastic so to that end I say join me, join me at Canishoopus.com  

I will be taking questions after the jump...

Can anyone tell me why this guy wasn't signed for close to league minimum this year?  Stuff like this makes me think Lindy Ruff is one of the most overrated coaches in the game. 

Buffalo has always needed VALUE out of their players due to the small nature of the market.  Max, who signed a one year, 800,000 dollar contract with the Thrashers, has 40 points in 45 games played.

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I don't know what this "intro" box is for.

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Artest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  He will leave the Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Ticked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Now that the postseason is over for us, we have seen a flood of "We need to acquire/trade/sign player X!" posts.  This makes some sense because anyone watching the Blazer v Houston series could tell, after six games, the Rockets just had our number. 

- I could be wrong, but does anyone else think this series would have turned out differently had we managed NOT to lay an egg in game 1?  Didn't the Rockets seem like a slightly better team who wasn't good enough to take away home court, after the first loss?

- The Rockets matched up the best/worst against the Blazers out of any team in the West.  Heck, we had much more success, in the regular season, against the Black Mamba gang.

- Lets say the Rockets can keep their roster together for the near future...They don't have an "old" team by any means but they are certainly not getting better.  We have 7 important players who are all going to improve to some degree each year.

Now I could be way out of line when I say this but dont even the best teams have kinks in the armor?  Ideally we would love to have 5 above average starters and 4 above average depth players but the NBA doesn't work that way.  Take a look at the worst top 8 players on the Cavs or Lakers or any championship team in the past...They all have liabilities who get significant play time. 

I just look at this roster, and with modest projections for next year, believe we could challenge the Lakers for the 1 seed, without Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, or Teyshawn Prince.  It's also exciting to think "What if one of our 7 young/improving players has a "break out" year next year."

PS: It's 10:25 PM, and way past my bed time.

I know if the Buffalo Bills were ousted in the first round of the playoffs it would have a serious impact on my mood for a few days.  With the Blazers though, I'm actually still pretty upbeat.  This no doubt has to do with the fact that I haven't invested too much time with the team this year, but I think part of it has to do with the fact that this team is super young and nasty talented.  I said a few weeks ago that out "window" officially opens next year.  Perhaps realizing a missed opportunity slipped away will have a greater impact on my psyche.  This year, I didn't expect much, and I liked what I saw.  What about you?

A win is a win right?  Going into Houston with split games is a lot better than going in down two but, believe it or not, that sinking feeling I picked up in Game 1 is still with me.

Home court is going to be huge for the Rockets.  They blow us out in Game 1 and they lose a close one in Game 2.  This combined with the fact that Portland has been a pretty mediocre road team all year doesn't bode well for my psyche.  Oh and is Yao Ming going to get 6 shots all night ever again in this series?

Here are a few random notes from an individual who has seen less than a handful of NBA games...

- B Roy is good.  He is a game changer.  Putting up 42 on the Artest/Battier combo is simply Kobe good.

- Is it Greg Odens MO to take dumb fouls?  Why is he playing Aaron Brooks like a PG and trying to get his feet set?  Why is he jumping for the block when the smallest player on the court is headed his way?  He knows he's in foul trouble.  He knows he's by far the biggest player on the court with Yao off, and he still takes stupid fouls. 

- Hopefully, and this sounds bad to say, we can exploit the Mutumboless Rockets for the rest of the series.  Game 2 didn't give me much hope but hopefully a little coaching and gameplanning will change that.

- I am officially off the "Play Jerryd Bayless" talk, for now.  Even though Brooks was their leading scorer again.

- I know next to nothing about the Rockets but there is no way they can keep up their shooting pace for the rest of the series right?  They only finished with 50% from the field but, at least in the first half and in Game 1, they were nailing some pretty difficult shots.

Hey, my Mom doesn't call me the "cerebral assassin" for nothing.  That is all.  Answer my question.

I just flipped on the radio today and heard Colin Cowherd garantee 10 wins by Notre Dame this year.  His key points were as follows...

- Their O-Line has 100 games of experience.  He believes this stat is huge in college football.

- They are returning all of last years star players.

- Weiss is comming off two of his best recruiting years at Notre Dame.

- They have a cup cake schedual.  He said that there wasn't a single unwinnable game on their schedual this year.

He made sure to point out that he doesn't think Notre Dame will be one of the best teams in the country but they should be a powerhouse as far a "W"s go.

I was just thinking about how there haven't been enough Jerryd Bayless threads considering the poor play of Steve Blake in Game 1.  I am here to fix that.

I say the only way we win this series is by slowing down break out super star Aaron Brooks (Game 1: 27 pts, 7 ast).  That could happen a few different ways, but one very viable option is by unleashing Mr. Rex (Bayless is Rex right?) on him.  Here is what we know so far...

- Steve Blake has been horrible against speedy PG's for his entire career.  This fact isn't going to change against the Rockets.

- Jerryd Bayless is a better defender than Steve Blake.

- Jerryd Bayless is a better slasher than Steve Blake.

- If Steve Blake plays a light out game he still gets embaressed by Aaron Brooks, just not as much.  If Jerryd Bayless plays a lights out game he single handedly saves the series.

Jerryd Bayless only got 8:46 seconds in what was mostly garbage on Saturday, and to mixed reviews. 

So if you were forced to guess the amount of play time Bayless gets tomorrow, what would it be?

What are the odds that Nate changes things up and gives Jerryd Bayless significant minutes in game two?

Aaron Brooks is a good young talent but the "defense" that Steve Blake put forth made it look like the Rockets got Chris Paul on steroids the night before.  Did any of that make sense?

Something needs to be done differently in this series and I say this is our best bet.  What do you think?  Is it possible?  Is it probable?  Is it smart?

What three positions are we weakest at right now?  You have probably guessed by now that I am asking this because I'm expecting our first three picks in this years draft to be day 1 starters for us. 

1) Defensive End

2) Linebacker

3) Left Tackle/Tight End (I couldn't choose)

It looks like all the poll options are weaknesses for us, which is shocking to me because I thought we had a chance of competing this year. 

Specifically in the Hamburg, Orchard Park, West Seneca, East Aurora region?

I was just wondering if there are any hardcore sports bars around.  I am planning on watching the Portland Trail Blazers vs. Houston Rockets game 3 somewhere but as you know, Buffalo isn't a big basketball city, let alone Western Conference NBA.

The game starts pretty late as well.  I think its a 10:00 Eastern Start time.

So lets have it.  Can you think of any places with a ton of TVs that play all sorts of sports?  Do you know where else I would look?  Thanks for any help you may give. 

Go Bills!

Go Blazers!

Throw away your fandom for a moment.  Put in your purely intellectual brain for a moment and tell me how you think this first round matchup with the Rockets is going to turn out.

I don't mean to sound like a downer but, outside of Los Angelos, I think this is the worst possible matchup for us.

- The only win we have against the Rockets this year was B Roys buzzer beater.

- Your 9'th and 10'th man on the roster matters even less once the regular season ends.  This obviously hurts the super deep Blazers and favors the super shallow Rockets.

- Someone please tell me how the Youth vs. Seasoned Veterans matchup usually turns out in the playoffs?

Those 3 reasons make me think Rockets in 6.  Tell me I'm wrong.  Make my next 3 days a little more hopeful.

I know the playoffs are just upon us.

I know that this topic has been beaten to death.

I know now isn't the best time to discuss such a matter.

...but please humor me.

If someone were forcing you to predict the "career path" of both Greg Oden and Andrew Bynum, where would they lead?  I am only asking this because I have an alarmist family member who feels that Greg Oden, 55 games into his pro career, can never be the player that Andrew Bynum is.  Said family member mentions something about "fluidity" that Oden simply doesn't have.

Here are Bynums stats according to Wikipidia...

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005–06	L.A. Lakers	46	0	7.3	.402	.000	.296	1.7	.2	.1	.5	1.6
2006–07	L.A. Lakers	82	53	21.9	.558	.000	.668	5.9	1.1	.2	1.6	7.8
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	35	25	28.8	.636	.000	.695	10.2	1.7	.3	2.1	13.1
2008–09	L.A. Lakers	47	46	28.9	.560	.000	.698	8.2	1.8	.4	1.4	14.2
Career		210	124	21.4	.567	.000	.667	6.2	1.1	.2	1.5	8.7

So to sum it all up, if you were not allowed to say "Its too early to tell", even though that is obvious, do you think Greg Oden can be as good as or better than Andrew Bynum?

Please.  Answer to the best of your ability.  Said family member may be shunned when it comes to NBA talk if the poll results come out unfavorably.  Thank you.

This isn't really Bills related but I was just wondering how I can learn more about this game.  My level of knowledge seems to be stuck around that of the WGR Radio squad.  I am planning on coaching little league football (assistant coach)next fall and, with no football backround, feel like I can't bring much to the table.  I figure picking up a copy of Madden and a few books on the topic is a good place to start.  Does anyone else have any suggestion?  I don't have a strong grasp of the following...

-Zone blocking

-Hot routes

-Routs of any kind (fade, button etc...)

-Zone blitzing

There is a whole bunch more but you get the idea.  This should also help me dissect Bills games a touch more.  If you have any information please help.

How many sacks will our "pro bowl" Defensive End get this year?  I am so sick of people thinking this guy is anything but on the same level as Denney and Kelsay.  He was a good, not great player 4 and 5 years ago.  Today, he is far too old to be effective.

Will Aaron Shobel get more or less than 4.5 sacks for his 2009 campaign?

I say under.  This guy is a joke.  We should have cut him two years ago.

Is it safe to assume that in week one next year, guys like Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley are going to be listing the TrailBlazers as one of the teams that are favorites to win the title?

Martell Webster - Comes back, competes for the starting SF spot

Greg Oden - Knee back near 100% + One year under his belt

Jarryd Bayless - Plays about 20 minutes a night (hopefully)

Rudy Fernandez - Improves a little bit

LaMarcus Aldridge - Plays an entire season in his newfound Tim Duncan mode

Nicolas Batum - Healthy and one year under his belt

Oh and everyone else on this roster stays in their prime.  I actually think 60 - 65 wins next year is not only possible, but probable.  What do you think?

Side Question: I recently had a very intellectual discussion, with another Blazer maniac, who tried to impose on me, the idea that Derek Fisher wasn't any better than Steve Blake.  I told him to keep his guppies in the fish take.  Who's right?  Is Fisher a better player than Blake this year or are they pretty comparable?

The main reason many, myself included, believed the Blazers were going to struggle in the playoffs was because our defense was simply horrible.  We could score points from week one and that hasn't really changed but am I wrong in seeing an entirely different defensive team out there now?  It seems like the last quarter of the season we turned into a top 15 defense.  Has Sabremania gotten to my head or are we on to something?

I don't get it.  Where does this attitude come from?  Seems like every time I listed to a new poll taken by a sports talk radio station it ends up bashing the Irish.  The last I heard, and this was a while ago, was on Colin Cowherds radio show.  He mentioned some big poll about asking who you felt had the worst fans in D1 sports.  Notre Dame landed the number 1 spot. 

I also find the same thing is applied to Duke basketball.  Notre Dame has a brilliant history.  They have some of the highest academic standards in football.  They are one of the last old school teams.  Same goes with Duke except you can add to that list, they have a coach that pretty much everyone and their grandma loves and respects in coach K. 

Can anyone help me with this?

It seems like every person here, regardless of football knowledge, knows the handfull of options the Bills have with their 11th overall pick.  It's pretty safe to assume that one of the following will be taken...

Brian Orakpo

Michael Johnson

B.J. Raji

Aaron Maybin

Everett Brown

Rey Maluaga

Tyson Jackson

Forgive me if I left anyone out but you get my point.  There really isn't too much to discuss right here.  The second round gives us football dorks more room to play with, so why not focus on that for a little while?

Who do you think the Bills should/will pick with their 42nd overall pick?

My guess: James Laurenitis.

Reason: His stock seems to have dropped ever so slightly so I believe he could/will be there in the second round.  I think we will be a little bit lucky to get him but if he's there then we will pull the trigger no doubt.  If my predictions are right our defense should be set for the time being, as I believe we should be drafting a DE with our number 1 and obviously a LB with our number 2.

I feel like I'm still picking up some stentiment that this season is already a success and anything hereafter is just gravy.  I just wanted to see what everyone thinks about this topic.  Where is the "benchmark" that this Portland team needs to get to in order to move from a dissapointing year to a successful year?

I don't have 75 words yet so I'm going to leave you with a bit of interesting Portland trivia...Oregon residents allegedly own 1/4th of the nations llama population. 

What is a "successful" season for T.O., on the Bills, numbers wise?  How many receptions, yards, and touchdowns are you planning on seeing him produce this year? 

Receptions - 60

Yards - 750

Touchdowns - 7

Was he a success? - No

Why so low?  Critics were bashing this guy last year for getting manhandled on the line of scrimmage.  Now he is a year older, is the number two option on a pretty bad offense, and lives in a city he is sure to hate.

Why so high?  Our defense stinks so we should be playing from behind a lot. 

I know this is way early, and there is likely to be countless more threads in the same vein down the road but I just wanted to get your prediction right now.  Oh and trust me, I know a LOT can still happen between now and september.

I just think I'm feeling way too strong a vibe around here.  People seem to be excited that a player "T.O" might get us to 6 - 10.  Yikes.

I am an outsider who knows very little about Notre Dame or even college football, for that matter.  Four years ago, when Charlie Weiss was brought in, it looked as if a new Golden Age was about to fall upon this program.  We all know what has happened since then.  So, to be real blunt, can someone tell me why this program is so average now?  There are a few things which I've "heard" but am not sure about the validity.  They are as follows...

- Charlie Weiss demanded that academic standards be lowered if he were to come and coach.  This would provide Notre Dame with the blue chip athletes necessary to compete with the best programs around the nation.

- Year in and year out Notre Dame seems to recieve high marks for their recruiting class.  I believe last year was one of their worst, and they were still ranked in many top 25 lists.  Whats the deal?

- I have also heard that no star athlete wants to go to school and play for Notre Dame when campuses like USC and Miami are so party oriented.  Why play football up north when you can watch girls in shorts, and go to the beach, at these other schools.

If anyone can explain anything to me I would much appreciate it.

Appearently, a NFL football player, who knows T.O. well, called up the Jim Rome show, off the air, and said that T.O. to Buffalo is a marriage destined to fail miserably.  He didn't comment on the football aspect of things but rather the off the field aspect.  This unknown player said that T.O. will hate Buffalo.  Buffalo is a boring city that has no chance of keeping a player like T.O. happy.  He also mentioned that Buffalo gets cold, which is news to me.

I can easily see this ending horribly wrong for the Bills and our fans. 

- People jumped on Willis McGahee for saying there is nothing to do other than to hit up an Applebees.  Willis McGahee doesn't have half the ego that T.O. has.

- People keep saying that T.O. has a record of behaving well in his first year with a new team.  To that I say this...What about his last year with a team?  T.O. knows that he doesn't have to spend more than 8 months in pergatory so what is to stop him from throwing everyone and everything under the bus? 

- I can picture it now...Halfway through the season, the Bills are 3-5.  T.O. in Buffalo is no longer a big story.  He isn't getting the numbers he wants for his next big contract.  This has the ingredients to become a disaster. 

I think the "worst case scenario" is much more likely to happen at this point. 

Do you have a list of players that your holding your breath for, for the Bills to get in the 1st round?  I'm looking for a handful of players that your holding your breath for, that could fill a need or potential need for the Bills.

LB - Aaron Curry

WR - Michael Crabtree

DE - Brian Orakpo

DT - B.J. Raji

DE - Everette Brown

TE - Brandon Pettigrew (Hopefully we trade down)

Thats it for me.  If we grab ANYONE else in the first round, I will be slightly upset.