SB Nation User Blog: blzrfan

Blazers blacked out in Seattle?

blzrfan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:08:14 -0000

Blazers blacked out in Seattle?

I was able to watch the Blazers on League Pass Broadband last night. The previous year, all games were blacked out in Seattle. Not sure if they changed black out policies or not. I tried to speak to an customer service on NBA.com. The best answer they could give me was "maybe" and "random" blackouts. I would purchase a TRUE season pass with Blazers.com if they offered all Comcast games. They managed to fumble their broadcast accessibility to the point where I'm forced to watch pirate streams. I'm willing buy the league pass broadband choice package. Does anyone know the black out situation in Seattle?

Event: Play Against Roy in Person

blzrfan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:43:34 -0000

Event: Play Against Roy in Person

With training camps starting up and the regular season only weeks away, the smell of basketball is in the air. To get you fired up for hoops on the (virtual) hardwood, our PSP exclusive NBA 10: THE INSIDE will be hitting stores tomorrow, October 6th. As part of the launch festivities, our cover athlete, Brandon Roy, will be stopping by the Game Crazy store in Tigard, OR (right outside Portland) this Saturday, October 10th, to sign copies of the new game and meet with fans. PlayStation will also give one lucky fan a chance to play NBA 10: THE INSIDE with the All-Star guard on-site, so make sure to get their early to test your PSP skills against B-Roy.

Here are the event details. Hope to see you there!

WHEN:
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

WHERE:
Game Crazy
15660 SW Pacific Hwy, Ste. 100
Tigard, OR 97224

RSVP via our Facebook event page!

*Only one lucky fan though.

Visual argument against guaranteed contracts.

blzrfan — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:52:20 -0000

Visual argument against guaranteed contracts.

NBA wants $15 for Live Summer League Coverage

blzrfan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:40:43 -0000

NBA wants $15 for Live Summer League Coverage

Stern.

Third Quarter Collapse takes a look at Hedo vs Pietrus

blzrfan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:05:29 -0000

Third Quarter Collapse takes a look at Hedo vs Pietrus

The numbers for Pietrus are average but let's talk about Turkoglu's stats, which - I'm certain - will surprise people who don't follow or do follow the Magic closely. The numbers indicate that Hedo was an excellent defender during the regular season. It's clear that Howard's presence (the reigning Defensive Player of the Year) bears an influence on the statistics, when looking back at Turk's defensive stats last season in comparison to this season. So how good is Turkoglu, defensively, when taking that into account? Above-average, safe to say. He's certainly not a liability on defense. An example, Hedo's defensive work on Kobe Bryant during the fourth quarter in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Need another example? Here's what David Thorpe had to say about Turk in an article posted on TrueHoop:

"He has length and feel. He's a coordinated athlete. He's also really tall and long. I don't think of him as winning the battle on grit, but it's not like there are a lot of times you watch a Magic game and think Turkoglu's getting killed! When he's engaged, I'd certainly say he's a net positive for your defense."

Hmm, Thorpe says he's is a net positive, which is what the statistics back up.

Luxury Tax and Draft Right Salaries Question

blzrfan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:27:20 -0000

Luxury Tax and Draft Right Salaries Question

I have 2 separate questions. 1. Does a draft rights cap hold count towards the luxury tax calculation? Seeing as how the cap hold disappears during the regular season, I'm assuming no. 2. In a scenario, say with Victor Claver, where he completely blows up and becomes a super megastar in Europe and says the rookie scale salary is not enough to bring him over. Can the Blazers renounce his draft rights, then have a wink, wink, handshake deal to sign him as a free agent to a bigger contract to bring him over? Is this a viable way of circumventing the rookie pay scale at the risk of him signing with another team? Purely hypothetical.

NBA returns to Seattle in the form of the Blazers

blzrfan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:18:31 -0000

NBA returns to Seattle in the form of the Blazers

It turns out the NBA is returning to Seattle next season after all. There's twist to this basketball story, however.

The Sonics, the city's former team, will remain in Oklahoma City as the Thunder and the league will stage an exhibition Oct. 14 at KeyArena between the Sonics' former Northwest rivals, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns.

New Advanced Player Tracking Camera System

blzrfan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:47:51 -0000

New Advanced Player Tracking Camera System

BIG BROTHER’S WATCHING: When a coach in a future NBA finals accuses his players of poor rebounding or defense, he’ll have a new way of proving he was right.

The NBA and STATS LLC are testing a new manner of statistical collection during the finals using six high-definition cameras placed around the arena. The cameras will track the 10 players on the court, the three officials and the ball. A dot placed over all of them can measure the heights and distances of their movements, allowing a coach to see, for example, how far a defender was from the player he was supposed to be covering.

"Player tracking is the heart of the new NBA stats collection," NBA executive vice president of operations and technology Steve Hellmuth said.

Hellmuth said teams are particularly interested in the program as a way to monitor defensive performances.

Hellmuth and STATS vice president of strategic planning Brian Kopp demonstrated how the system could also be used to evaluate the judgment of the officials by replaying a goaltending call against Orlando’s Dwight Howard in Game 3. It showed the height of the ball in meters, and the number was reducing by the time Howard swatted it away, meaning it was on its way down and the call was correct.

The league hopes the technology will be ready for use by next season’s playoffs, where it could be an asset to the teams involved and the broadcasts.

Emphasis mine.

Violet Palmer leaving NBA.....

blzrfan — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:01:21 -0000

Violet Palmer leaving NBA.....

....just kidding.

Violet Palmer will become coordinator of women's basketball officials for the West Coast Conference and continue to officiate in the NBA, where she has worked for 12 seasons.

Earlier, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Palmer would no longer officiate NBA games.

Ron Artest was telling the truth

blzrfan — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:24:50 -0000

Ron Artest was telling the truth

In Artest's post-game, he talked about playing in a pick up basketball game where a player died from a fatal stab in heart. The weapon was a broken off table leg. Now I thought this was Crazy Pills using his deadpan humor to dismiss the rough play in game 2, but it actually turned out to be true.

A 19-year-old basketball player from Queens was fatally stabbed with a broken-off table leg today after a fight broke out during a basketball tournament, the police said.

The player, Lloyd Newton, was stabbed in the back with a leg from the scorer's table at the championship game of a Y.M.C.A.-sponsored tournament at the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club, the police in Niagara Falls said.

"An argument ensued about the score," Capt. Louis Curcione said, adding that one of the teams "thought they were getting gypped."

"A fight broke out between the players and about 40 fans in the stands," he said. "In the course of the fight, one person was stabbed in the back."