SB Nation User Blog: blazerbeliever97504

My own personal reality check

blazerbeliever97504 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:49:39 -0000

I have been very critical personally of the early start. From a fan post i did http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/10/20/1093755/the-sky-is-falling-fire-nate-oden to several comments i have made most noteabley in http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/11/4/1115303/the-official-stop-playing-steve

Most of my points were centered around a lose of faith with Nate Mac and a lack of understanding what exactly he has to this point been thinking with some things. (Miller, Blake, the half crack head way he subbed the last 6 mins of the hawks game, etc) I still have these reservations, then i read http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/sarah_mensah_shares_lessons_fr.html its a good read. It also got me thinking, what happened to us? Only two seasons before this one we were 41-41 and stoked because we had a good group of guys that were young, talented, and had no where to go but up. Fast forward to now and guess what? We should still be stoked we have a good, young, talented group of guys to root for.

Yes, the fan says "go, fight win!!" and thats the way it should be. We all, myself especially should still take solice in the fact we have alot to be proud of in rooting for this team. This by no means makes anything easier but it is something i personally had kind of lost touch with. I got caught up in the issues we currently have, disappointed were not crushing people, or even winning for that matter. I lost sight of the fact, we are 2-3 (yes, that sux imo) Deep, young, talented, and now EXPERIENCED, and most importantly they are all still awsome dudes to root for.

I will, from now on try to look at things through that type of window and not the way i had been. I am not sure if i am a minority in regards to this or in a group that makes up the majority of us, but regardless of how many or few people had looked at things in a similar light i hope this helps to see things differently.

Uncharted territory

blazerbeliever97504 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:30:54 -0000

So, we have LMA and Roy locked up. They are our core, and frankly.....Thank freaking god!!!!!

If anyone (im sure they do) remembers our last highly paid duo (Z-bo and D-miles) they will understand that we are worlds away from where we once were. It has been said many, many times these guys are something to be proud of and it goes right to our core. Roy, what can anyone say. In his short time in the league he has become a top flight SG and one of the best Blazers ever, Allready. LMA......well he is easily on my(opinion) top five all time blazer PF list, somewhere behind Buck Williams, Mo Lucas, and Brian Grant.

We have official navagated into uncharted waters. Maybe not since Clyde, Terry, Kersey, and Duck were assembled have we had such young, and talented players that were locked up and you knew.....those were your Blazers. This team is younger than those Drexler teams if memory serves. That means, in theory, we should have a longer run than Clyde had. And as tough as this is to say, to me this team has more talent than the best Drexler teams. Please disagree with me on that, i know i probly would but it just seems that way to me.

We can now say this: "no matter who may be playing here, LMA and Roy will lead the way!" This is something that we have not had ever in our history.....Two, young, Greatly skilled, High character guys to call our own for the next 6+ years. This mean that by the time these extensions run out LMA and Roy will have played out the majority of there careers. There legacy will be built in a blazer uni.

This is truely a great day for Blazer fans all over. When you think that a mere 5 years ago this was out of the realm of possability is astounding. Now lock up Oden next year and we are set, fill in with role players, machine wash warm, tumble dry, pull it out of the dryer and what do you have? A very, very good team for the next 5-6 years. This is a good day and we have entered territory we have not seen in a long time, maybe never. Good to see the LMA saga is over, please dear god let the season start!!!!

The sky is falling, Fire Nate!, Oden is a bust!, Etc.

blazerbeliever97504 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:38:07 -0000

Ya ok, so obviously i was joking........what heck kind of intro is this? Well, let me get to the point. Checking out an article on Bedge or oregonlive.....i cant seem to find it now.......i read a quote from Nate Mac says to the effect "tonight will be treated as a regular season game." This is normally a good thing. Let me just say right now that there has probably not been a bigger Nate Mac supporter than myself, i love the guy as our coach and from my limited perspective he has been nothing short of awsome for us.

BUUUUUT, i can not seem to help but ask myself the question: Why arent Oden and Miller sure fire, lock freaking solid, starters. I read the article about Nate V. Payton in G.P.s rookies year, i get that, i understood that......at first. My thought was(again, limited) that Miller and Oden would have to outplay Blake and Pryzzy, again rightfully so. But here we are the preseason is about over and Oden has outplayed Joel, Miller has killed Blake(i hurt when i typed that, blake rocks) but who is starting the last preseaon game? Blake and Joel.

Joel i could certainly omit, Oden was , at the last minute called to start against the nuggets last game. He sat the Jazz(tonight) game out to rest a thigh bruise to my understanding. So, that you could say......Oden would have started tonight if it were a regular season game. Miller? please, seriously, help me understand?!?!? What the flippin heck is going on with that one? In my humble opinion, Nate dropped the freaking ball on Miller and Roy's developing chemistry. Using the first part of the preseason to feel out performance is the norm, and i suppose this was in part my thought and understanding of competition but if someone plays better than you, THEY START!!! So, why Nate didnt use the last half of the preseason to develop Roy and Millers Chemistry, i will never know.

Had Blake came out and made Dre Miller look old and out of place and just not a good player i would be yelling from the roof tops for Blake to start. I love Blake as a player, scrappy, tough, great shooter, but this does not a star point guard make.Please understand, i dont mean to say Miller made blake look old, out of place, and bad, just that Miller is ALOT better player than Blake. Thats not Blakes fualt, i would love to see him retire a Blazer but he will never be a top 10 PG. Miller on the other hand, well......guess what? He allready, right now, is a top 10 PG. Why the freaking heck is he not our starter!!!!

Please guys, talk some sense into me, tell me where i am missing things, because god i hate sounding like a Nate hater. I just dont get it is all. Please Bedge, i need your help to understand what Nate Mac is thinking.

Who has the best backcourt in the NBA this year?

blazerbeliever97504 — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:32:52 -0000

So, obviously i cant wait for the start of the year and we have talked about allmost everything one could think of to talk about. But i was thinking about the new backcourt combo's this year and i wonder who will have the best backcourt this year.

This is MY criteria for this.....to qualify a team MUST have TWO players that are more than above average in skill. This eliminates the Kobe/ Fisher, Wade/ Chalmers type backcourts. This, to me is a tough call, all the top backcourts have there share of question marks but here is my try. Im curious to see how the poll will shake out.

1: Celtics, if Allen can still play his assassin style of stellar play and Rondo continues his outstanding play this to me would be the best backcourt in the nba, Ray-ray's age will be the big factor here.

2: Spurs, Parker and Ginobili? come on, Ginobilis health is a concern though and Parker has played alot this summer and it seems to have a negative effect on most players(Hedo, im looking at you) If they both stay healthy though they will be just as good as boston.

3: Magic, Nelson and Carter.....man. Carter does seem to have lost just a little bit of his insane game. I dont see him jumping over 7+ft bigmen anymore but he is still pretty dang good. If those two mesh well, lookout!

4: Blazers, Miller and Roy could be the best passing backcourt in recent memory. Its rare to have two players who can handle the ball, pass the ball, and play off the ball like Miller and Roy can. The question will be chemistry.

5: Hawks, Johnson and Bibby......this is a very tough duo also. Bibby's age is becoming a factor. Its seems like, from the outside looking in.....that Bibby is very much on the decline allthough i do not follow the Hawks closely at all.

This was a tough call to rank these teams, i allmost wanted to rank them 1, 1a, 1b, 4, 5, but that was my best effort. There are certainly a few backcourts out there that one could argue should be in the top 5......Golden State, Dallas, Phoenix, even OKC and Memphis could end up being top 5 type back courts but i think those teams are a step down from the five listed. Thats just my opinion though, lets see what you guys think and how the poll shakes out.

Poll

Best backcourt?

Celtics

25 votes

Spurs

53 votes

Magic

15 votes

Blazers

121 votes

Hawks

2 votes

Other

20 votes

236 votes | Poll has closed

What Andre Miller team is better?

blazerbeliever97504 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:06:01 -0000

Disclaimer: this should totally be a fan shot.....apologies.

After reading some articles on this site and oregonlive i got to thinking......which Miller team would be better? Please, go with me here......totally hypothetical.....Take the team he ran with today: Miller, Fernandez, Webster, Outlaw, Oden....or....Last years Philly team: (listed by most starts that year) Miller, Green, Iggy, Young, Dalembert.

Which team do you think Andre would pick, which team would you guys pick? Me, i would go with the team that has the dominant big guy, two three point bombers, and an undersized pf. Thats just my bias im sure.

Poll

Todays scrimmage team or last years philly starters?

Todays blazers

245 votes

Last years Philly

60 votes

305 votes | Poll has closed

Were all lucky to have Bedge

blazerbeliever97504 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:05:58 -0000

I am sure everyone is familliar with oregon live(the oregonian)blogs and i am a member of "field gulls" the Seattle Seahawks Blog site. For the Record, Field gulls? really? ugh. Stupidest name ever. The thing i notice the most about these sites are the mindless idiotic garbage that is posted in the comments of these sites.

Now let me say the Hawks Blog is pretty cool, but there is no moderation by anyone like we have here. Which to be honest when YET another Seahawks player goes down, it is a bit of a stress relief to post something where you sound like Yosemity Sam ranting "rack-a-fracka-ris-a-frackin" Seahawks!!! But it also gets tiresome when it is all the time. Here is a very good example of a bit of distastefullness. Link: http://www.fieldgulls.com/2009/9/20/1045759/seahawks-anonymus-post-game Pay attention to the list of things the poster hates and note the dislike for female pubic hair.......no one cares nor needs to know that info......prime TMI example.

Oregonlive? Wow, that blog site i allmost refuse to read the comments section. The paid authors do a very good job with the stories they write but there is a sharp drop off in quality once you start to read the comments below them. There are a few trolls on there that are just ridiculous..<cough>..Odenisgod35..<cough>..These comments and troll types would never be welcome here and rightfully so. I mean do these people think that if they post 3 times a day that "KP NEEDS TO SIGN LMA!!!" or "FIRE NATE NOW!!" that somehow K.P. will read that and think "wow, i should sign LMA and i should fire nate.?" I wish i lived in that fantasy land.

I love the fact that here we are all considerate of others not matter how much(or how little:) thought was put into a post so long as it isnt offensive or trollish. Cursing is not exactly encouraged and it shouldnt be, we are all adults and capeable of expressing our feelings in classier ways than that. Most people are not abrasive or condisending in the comments they post, saved for the few AK1984 types. (kidding) It is just a very very good atmosphere and no one should feel scared to post there thoughts.

A very good example of this would be the "thank you posts" i started at the end of the year and before the playoffs started. From my point of view it was important to me to express my gratitude and thought is was the best time to do so with the down time between the reg seasn and playoffs. Some really liked the posts, some really hated them after a while. I have to admit some of the comments did make me say "wow, really" but there was also alot of support. My overall point is that if this had been one of the sites i mentioned previously, i shudder to think of the comments and responses.

I feel very lucky and we all should feel very lucky to have a place to go such as Bedge to talk open and honestly about our team. I truely thank Dave and Ben from the bottom of my heart for the work they put in to create such an atmosphere and also our moderators for there diligence.(SP?) So again, as the title suggests, we are all lucky to have Bedge.

P.S. for the record: i could not be more restless for the NBA season to start since im in for yet another LONG NFL season, ugh.

Referee issue per the NBA, your thoughts?

blazerbeliever97504 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:05:37 -0000

I just read an article on the Ref issue currently happening,Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4482584t it got me thinking........is this good or bad? I know its bad based on the fact that the NBA has some of the most professional and gifted refs in the biz.

I wonder however, could this be a posative thing in relation to G.O.? Hear me out, disagree if you wish, but it seemed last year and allways seems that with rookies there is a vendeta(maybe to strong of a word) to "show" rookies that they are rookies and no matter what they will be rookies the whole year by the Refs. I agree that Oden was out of position more times than not but there was also a fair amount of judgement calls that did not go Odens way simply(IMO) because he was a rook.

NBA refs have the most power over a game, more than any player could ever hope for. Whats the saying? Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Let me just say i am not thinking there is a conspirecy(sp?) but i do think that the referee's in the NBA have an agenda(again, not sure thats the right word) towards the way they "think" games should be called. As for the players themselves, its not a stretch to think that specific players also have a "way that the refs" call them.

Oden may be a prime example of this, time will tell but my hope is that Oden benefits from the "non-status quo" in relation to any new/inexperienced refs who may replace the current ones.Link:http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nba/referees/referees.html&t=0 This link includes several names we "dont think so highly of" to say the least. From my P.O.V. its not the ref's fualt its just the nature of the beast. My overall point is that Oden IMO seemed to be subject to the "NBA Refs" view on how he, as a player should be called on fouls. I could be nuts but there seemed to be ALOT of judgement calls made last year that could have changed the course of Oden's personal game.

What are your thought Bedgers? Am i a crazy person seeing things where they aren't? Do you agree? Or am i restless because the season is around the corner? Lets hear your thoughts on this.

Big Mo is back!!

blazerbeliever97504 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:29:22 -0000

I got home from work, checked the normal sites, ESPN, O-live, Bedge, to name a few. Saw on O-live that Mo was coming back!

For me, we may have never had a better PF in our history. My top 3 all time blazer PFs are Mo #1, Buck #1a, and Brian Grant #3. Mo as a player he was tough as nails, underrated, and allways dependable. His health was a concern normally, but when on the court, especially in his ABA and Blazer years he was a beast. There is this center, i forget his name.....he is considered a bit of a beast himself......its very early for that guy but allready his health is in question.....i bet that center, man i forget his name....but i bet that center and Big Mo could totally relate on a few levels when it comes to those types of things. If i had my way.......Oden!! i remebered! Oden and Luke would hang out so that Oden could soke up some of that experience plus also maybe, in a perfect world Mo could teach Oden some of those fundamental type things. Whats that you say? Mo Lucas is coming back to be the Blazers big man coach? My will, be done!!!! My next "in a perfect world" is Hugh Hefner dieing and leaving everything to me in his will.

I am stoked to have Luke back, IMO he may be the best big man coach in the league for his situation. His record is solid, In his 14 year career (2 in the ABA, 12 in the NBA), Lucas scored 14,857 points, 9,306 rebounds, and was a 5 time All-Star (1 ABA, 4 NBA). He was named to the 1978 All-NBA-Defense First team, the 1978 All-NBA Second team, and the 1979 All-NBA-Defense Second team. Check this link out: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lucasma01.html and note the first 10 years in the league and imagine Oden with stats around those. Please understand i dont think Oden would mirror these but i think we could trade a few points for a few blocks and be pretty close.

Lucas's roots in oregon run deep, The Portland Trail Blazers retired his jersey number, 20, in a ceremony on November 4, 1988. Lucas was hired by the team as an assistant coach under Mike Schuler and Rick Adelman during the 1988-89 season. In 2005, Lucas rejoined the Trail Blazers as an assistant coach under Nate McMillan. Current Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton, son of Lucas' Portland teammate Bill Walton, is named after him. I personally think its great to have Mo back where he belongs and Oden will only prosper from him being back. Welcome back Big Mo!

Our "informed" national media

blazerbeliever97504 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:57:23 -0000

Daves article on the media in general was very insightful and got me thinking. I, and im sure most of you have been looking for any kind of news that has "Blazers" somewhere in the article. I have read alot of things about our Blazers, they are actually getting pretty hyped. Talks of deep playoffs runs and 60 win seasons, etc. There are a few things that stick out in my mind.

First, while its nice to have high expectations its also concerning. Even with the addition of Andre Miller we will still be one of, if not the youngest team. This inherantly(sp?) means the outcome of the new season is somewhat iffy. I know alot of you will point to the fact we won 54 games which put us with the second best overall record with out 'dre but that honestly means nothing going into the new season execpt for the confidence it will provide. I mean really, would we be happy and look at it is a posative if we won say 50 games and got a 5th or 6th seed and bounced from the first round next year? My guess is no. Now take that same scenario and apply it to this year. If we won 50 games last year and had a 5th or 6th seed but still got bounced we would have been just as happy with that as the real outcome. My piont being, it allmost seems unrealistic to expect a 60 win year and a deep playoff run. Do we have a chance? Absolutely. Realistic? Probly not.

Second: It allmost seems assumed that we will start our run at several titles next year, again 60 wins, deep playoff runs etc. I enjoy this on the surface but when you delve deeper(which by the way national media seems to not do for the most part) you see there are alot of question marks. If a team is set to make multiple runs at a title it should not have the questions marks we have. Among them, Will Oden pan out? Will Andre Miller mesh well with this team? Bayless? Outlaw? Webster? Back up PF? I think you see what i mean. Its great to get the hype we are getting but untill our guys prove 60 wins is attainable and deep playoff runs are attainable its just that, Hype.

While our national media trys its best to be informed and insightful they IMO fall entirely too short. This is not there fualt, they are not lazy, they are not stupid, its just too much info for any one man or woman to retain. Reading this back to check for spelling errors i noticed that this is a somewhat random rant but my overall point is........dont get caught up in the hype and if our guys dont live up to the hype dont be mad, disappointed sure but dont be mad. Take solice in the fact that we still have a great bunch of guys that we can be proud of for off the court actions as much as on the court actions.

P.S. I do think the national media does a good job for the most part but our local coverage is much more insightful. This is why i prefer O-live(though the bloggers on there leave alot to be desired), Bedge, etc.

Contest Entry: The only blazer game i have ever seen

blazerbeliever97504 — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:26:19 -0000

I live and grew up in Medford Oregon and have never had the combination of time, money, and ability to watch a blazer game at the Rose Garden. I have never seen a blazer game in person except one, when i was 8 years old and to this day it is one of the fondest memories of my childhood.

The preseason tour of the 88-89 Blazers included a stop at North Medford H.S. for a preseason game with the L.A. Clippers. I remeber thinking, "the clippers? thats all we get is the clippers" but such is living in a small town. This thought past through my head for all of .5 seconds then i was instantly excited. "They are coming to medford!!." Now let me point out i lived within walking distance of North Medford H.S. so if my Dad did not take me to this game i fully intended to do whatever i needed to get into that gym and watch my blazers. Luckily for me my Dad may have been more exicted than i was. Before i could tell him i heard about it he told me he had allready gotten us tickets. Tears guys, honest to god tears......my dad is not the most loving man in the world to say the least and when, before i could say anything he told me we allready had tickets to go, wow! Awsome! Clyde, Duck, Buck, Kersey, and TP for three baby!

This was so long ago that the minute details elude me(though my dad helped a bit)but to me it seemed it was a LONG time between when we got the tickets and the day the game actually happened, of course this being the recolection of an 8 year old kid it was probly two days, but to me it seems it was 6 months. So the day finally arrives and we go to the high school and its packed and i mean PACKED with people, at this point i would like to point out that my dad is a 280lb logger.....lets just say, he is a big boy. So here my dad is pushing us through all the crows of people to get me in postion to get an autograph.

Let me just set the sceen, its a moderate sized gym but for the amount of people it was nuts. There was not tables or anything set up before the game for autographs and we were told that the players were only going to be signing for a limited time. My dad said that meant we would be able to get one maybe two players autographs due to line length and proposed time the players would be signing autographs, my dads a sharp guy. So his plan was to get as many before the game when the players would walk through the lobby and sign on there way to the lockerooms. His plan was nail one, maybe two players before the game and one maybe two after....coming away with hopefully four players, told ya, sharp guy. So before we even start trying he asks me, "what four woud you most want in order?" I say "Drexler #1 Buck#2 Kersey#3 Porter#4" only problem was porter did not join the team for that game. So we decide Duck #4.

So here we were before the game in the lobby, waiting for the players. Freaking shoulder to shoulder allmost. My dad and i both cant remeber the order the players filed into the lobby headed to the lockerooms but my dad bulled his way to a spot where we could get Jerome Kersey's autograph. I remember looking up at this tower of a man in awe, he signed a program i have to this day and i was SO excited. The next person we turned our attention to was none other than Clyde freaking Drexler, my hero, my favorite person ever at that point in my life. The crowd around him was HUGE, my dad bulled his way yet again to a very good autograph spot. I was so in awe of Clyde the Glyde i froze. Remember the sceen from Saving Pvt. Ryan where Tom Hanks is blown off his feet and the guy is shouting at him but he cant hear him? Thats what it was like at that moment, my dad is yelling at me to hand Clyde my program and im frozen, i dont hear anything, all i see is my hero in person! By the time i came too cylde had moved on, i missed it! But ohh well, on to the game.

We sat on the right side of the gym as you enter from the lobby. Last row on the first set of bleachers, all in all a decent spot. Next to us was this die hard, nut job, of a fan that would not stop screeming for the entire game. She was an older woman, id say in her late to mid 60s. Her and i had such fun, i am a bit of a nut job fan also as it turned out. We screemed and yelled and basically went nuts for the entire game, best time ever! I honestly dont remember much from the game just that i was actually watching a real life Blazer game. I didnt care that it was a preseason game, i didnt care that it was in a highschool gym, I didnt even mind that it was against the Clippers, i just loved every second of it.

After the game they set up the tables and based on the lines we put ourselves in the Kevin duckworth line because it was the shortest, my dad and i were surpised and got Ducks authograph relatively fast. Then it was down to the Buck Williams line or the Drexler line which was around the corner long. So we went with buck, we came down to being one of the closest one people to get an autograph and the line closed. I remember being at the table, my dad says we were abut 6-8 people back, he is a dirty rotten liar though, we were at the table! No he is allways right so were were probly that far back im sure.

So the night ends with a Duckworth auto, a Kersey Auto, a Blazer game watched, another crazy fan met, and one of, if not the fondest childhood memory i have thanks to the Portland Trailblazers. Thank you to the organization for that memory. Thats my best Blazer moment i hope you enjoyed.

P.S.I still have that program sealed in plastic, it will stay with me forever.