this is a poem i wrote:

Brandon Roy.

Oden, the Wanderer!

O! Hark! It's

Buster Posey, Savior of the

San Francisco Giants

/fin.

pretty good, no?

Continue reading this post »

I'm not sure who the hell I was listening to yesterday on SIRIUS, but they were discussing their favorite "summertime jams".

This seems like a naturally good topic for a JUNK DRAWER, so:

What are your favorite songs for the summertime?

Here are a few I could think of off the top of my head:

Nuthin' But a G Thang : maybe my favorite beat of all time.

Doo doo do. Doo do doo doo

Fantastic Voyage : this one is for tinfoil

Steal my Sunshine : did LEN ever do anything other than release this song?

Summertime : Welcome to Earf

Big Pimpin' : I like this caribbean style beat

Hypnotize

Jessica : the allman bros. are rad

Hot Fun in the summertime : sly and the family stone are great too

I'm of the belief that any true fan of sport can learn the rules of any sport and eventually  enjoy watching the games, no matter how boring it seems *cough*bowling*cough*. To prove my point: this is probably the most soccer I've watched in a 2 week span in my life.

The United States better win.

As I started writing this junk, the best name in soccer AKA Herculez Gomez just blew the equivalent of a breakaway in hockey. Ooph.

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

As I watched the Blazers get grilled last night, I realized that the greatest season of the year is coming up soon: BBQ Season! Once the weather gets nice, everybody will move their grills out into the yard and start grilling up all sorts of awesome food: Barbeque Chicken Wings, Grilled Salmon, Ribs, Steak, Burgers, Hot Dogs etc. etc. etc.

My question to you BEdgers is: What are all of your best Barbeque recipes? Specifically Barbeque Chicken recipes?

There are literally minutes left until the epic brp (boston) vs mortimer (atlanta) faceoff begins. Vegas originally had the line at this one at mortimer -14.5, but there was far too much action on mortimer's side, so it was taken off the board.

Cue epic music/montage

Cue Roundball Rock

PREDICTION:

Mortimer wins 96-65. Joe Johnson leads the way with 35 points for Atlanta. 

Keys to the game:

1) Score more points than the other team

2) Make baskets

3) Control the Boards

4) Scrap

So three days ago, what I'd argue to be the funniest story I've ever heard of about a Blazer, pics of Greg Oden's junk were released to the world wide web. I'm sure the situation was extremely embarrassing to him, but let's be honest, the story (and subsequent jokes about him and his anatomy) has been hilarious. However, it is nice that something like this is bad news, versus some of our team getting caught driving a yellow hummer and smoking the ganja. (there were far worse things done in the JailBlazer era, I know).

In other news, Federer-Tsonga is about to start, to determine who plays Andy Murray in the Australian Open Final. Tsonga might be the most fascinating mens tennis player right now, because he seemingly has limitless potential, but tends to make lapses of judgement, if you will, during a match. Also he looks just like a young Muhammad Ali. He's like the Anthony Randolph of tennis except he doesn't ever look like he's going to cry.

[add your own "tennis sucks!" comments below]

Finally, my roommate let me know about this cool 'new' music website. I'd argue that it's better than Pandora, and I've been using Pandora for some time now.  GrooveShark It's pretty sweet because it allows you to create playlists of songs you want, vs. Pandora where it randomly picks songs for you and sometimes you get some weird music that you don't wanna hear (Bedrock in a Lupe Fiasco playlist?). It also allows you to look at other playlists people have made and listen to their music.

Ugh, I'm still kinda mad over the result of the game tonight, so I'm trying think of topics that will make me feel better. This column by Ken Goe, as well as listening to Joe G call the game on CSN have done the trick so far.

[I love watching the CSN replays, as Giansante is just pure hilarity with some of the things he says. He had a few gems in tonight's game as well.]

As I'm sure we all know, USC has been "the" team in the Pac-10 since 2003. Their run atop the  conference has been simply historic, and Pete Carroll & Co. should be commended for it. Unfortunately, due to the time difference, bad TV deals, the lack of one team consistently challenging SC, and other factors; the conference has been regarded over this time period as "USC and the Pac-9" Frankly, this generalization is extremely ignorant, as the Pac-10 has produced some of the most entertaining football over this time period. 

Anyways, Goe's main question is whether or not UO and OSU are ready to "make that next step" and challenge USC every single year. I, for one, believe both programs are. For the past 3 years now, a State of Oregon team has held the lead in the Pac-10 due to beating USC, only to lose it towards the end of the season. The Civil War this year was the pinnacle of this "almost success" for both teams. 

To me, as much as I hate to admit it, there is no question that Oregon is on that level. Since Kelly has been at Oregon, whether it be as the offensive coordinator or the head coach, Oregon is 29-9 (including 2 straight 10 win seasons). IMO, as long as Kelly stays, they will consistently challenge for the Pac-10 Title. 

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Exciting game last night, eh? I like it when the team that I root for scores more than the team that they are playing against.

Today's Junk Drawer "topic", although JDs really don't need topics, is about ironic book titles/seminars/classes.

FOR INSTANCE:

Shot Blocking 101 -- Taught by LaMarcus Aldridge

Free Throws: An Art Form by Chuck Hayes

Dribbling 221 -- Martell Webster

Beating the Odds: How Michael Jordan Helped Me Kick My Gambling Addiction by Charles Barkley

Continue reading this post »

Here we are on the night of the 24th, just 3(!) days away from the start of the NBA season. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to sleep on Monday night, in anticipation of the season opener. Everyone seems to be so tense at the start of this season, and I'm not sure why. Let's not forget that we still have one of the youngest rosters in the league (Dre obv. doesn't help this stat), and this is basically the same team that won 54 games last year. Also, Oden looks greatly improved. Yet every seems to be so down. I don't get it. 

In any case, I am considering making the trip up from Corvallis on either Tuesday or Thursday night to go watch the game... Which game should I go to?

PS: The Roybot AKA Dirty Socks AKA Starvin' Marvin: now THIS is how you make a jd

I'm trying to convince myself that Oregon State has a good chance to beat USC on Saturday. Here is what I have so far:

1) Oregon State is damn good coming off of Bye Weeks.

2) The Beavs always seem to have that one game against a high ranked team where everything just "clicks" and they win. This also is usually the time where the team turns it on and stays hot until the end of the year. Examples I am thinking of are 2006 vs. USC; 2007 at Cal; 2008 vs. USC.

3) We still have Quizz and James, and they are both healthy off the bye week.

4) USC just came off a close win against one of their biggest rivals, then they get to play in what is being billed as the "Pac-10 Game of the Year" next week. The chances of a USC emotional letdown seem pretty good.

You guys have any other reasons to be optimistic? 

Everybody loves (to hate) a good villain. Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Ivan Drago, Dr. Evil, Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, Kobe Bryant, the Wicked Witch of the West, Ernst Stavo Blofeld, the Alien in the Alien movies, Hans Gruber, this Blonde girl, tominrehab, the list goes on and on.

But as for the list of sports villains, there really aren't too many any more. Sure there is Kobe, but aside from him; who else in the NBA is hateable (sp?). Part of the reason for lost interest in mens tennis is because there isn't anyone to hate anymore. Who would you list as your "favorite" sports villains (both current and in the past)?

let's get to junking!

[oh and by the way, prezofdeath, LTrain, and Starvin Marvin have all had their blazers fancards revoked for various reason.... just an fyi for y'all]]

What up BEDGE!?!?!?? How's everyone doing tonight? I'm doing swell, as I just saw my first ever no hitter by a Giants pitcher [insert baseball sucks here yadda yadda yadda]. 

The topic for this JD: Post a Pic or You Don't Exist.

It's as simple as it sounds, either you post a pic, or you don't exist/are a robot sent back from the future to kill John Connor. The only rule I have is no [bare] moobs allowed (sorry Tom). Bare boobs on the other hand... :)

Ah, sports. We all love em (and even if you claim you don't, you do). And, when "rooting" for our teams in these sports, we all have our rituals to guarantee victory for our team. For instance, some people wear the same outfit every time their team plays (until they lose). Back in the Blazers' season, I wore my B Roy shoes on every gameday, until the Blazers lost. Then I switched and wore my B Roy Jersey every gameday until they lost. My eating habits also changed depending on if they won or lost.

There was this really weird kid in high school who played football and didn't wash his jock for the whole year until we lost (thank god we sucked at football), needless to say, it was the worst thing ever. But we had other rituals on games or during games: in baseball, you NEVER EVER EVER EVER hit the baseline when you are running out onto the field. 

Superstitions are insane even in professional sports. Baseball pitchers and hockey goalies are left alone and given the "silent treatment" if they are pitching/goaltending a gem. The Cubs have been haunted by the "Curse of the Billy Goat" for 64 years now. The fans got so desperate, they have hung goat carcasses off of the Harry Caray Statue.

WARNING EAR MUFFS AND EYE PATCHES: GOAT CARCASS PICTURES AHEAD

via cdn-www.cracked.com (by the way, check out Cracked if you don't mind NSFW language, it's an awesome site)

These are just a few examples among many: Bill Simmons walks his dog after every loss, Roy and Blake and others grew "playoff beards" Tiger always wears red on Sunday, etc.

Soooooooo BEdgers, what are your crazy sports superstitions? Do you do anything in particular before Blazers' games to ensure victory?

Kicks, Kicks, Kicks! I like Kicks. As a male HUMAN BEING, Kicks and Lids are about the only things I like shopping for. I love Nike, Lids for Less, and Foot Locker; but I hate every other store in the mall (except for the obvious Best Buy, Fry's, etc.). Honestly I'd rather get lectured by Sophia about using nonsexist language in my writing than spend more than 15 minutes at The Gap, H&M, Aeropostale, Eddie Bauer, etc.

My favorite Kicks I have right now are these LeBron 6s that I got as a present from one of my buddies:

via www.sneakerobsession.com

FWIW, I have the B Roy Nike Blue Chip shoes, and those are extremely comfortable, but they can't top the look of these LeBrons.

My favorite kicks of all time have to be these though:

via www.hijordan.com

I love the Jordan XIs, especially with Blazer colors.

Recently, I also got the opportunity to get pretty much any Nike shoes I want for 50-75 percent off (no this isn't because S4E was awesome). What shoes would you recommend getting?

In conclusion, what kind of kicks do you have? What are your favorite kicks? Nike or Adidas?

(Bonus points for the person who can name the movie where that quote is from, and no google or IMDB cheating)

Back in Nov. 2008, one of my buddies (can you have "internet buddies"? What's the jargon here for someone you converse with over an anonymous internet forum and generally agree with most of the time?), who happens to be a real salary/stat cruncher (I have insisted many a time that he join the ranks of BEdge because he would fit right alongside the other stat guys in here), posted a plan without having to do anything drastic to the roster for having enough cap space to offer LeBron a max contract in 2010. Since the content here at BEdge lately has been pretty "junky", I figured I might as well post the plan since the Blazers' roster moves has gone "according to plan".

 

 

Late-night LeBron Musings

 

by TowelBoy12 on Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:24 am

I was just bored in the middle of the night and fiddling around with fantasy "get LeBron" scenarios in light of his latest comments.

I have various tabs open with Coon's FAQ, wikipedia's "NBA Salary Cap", storytellerscontracts, and Google as well as an excel spreadsheet that I'm putting to work on this, and I just want to make sure I have a few things right.

LeBron's salary for the 2009-2010 season is $15,779,913. The maximum starting salary of his free agent contract is 105% of this, which is $16,568,909. While the Cavs can sign him for six years with 10.5% raises, it looks to me like other teams can sign him for five years with 8.0% raises (I had not realized the incumbent team's advantage was quite so substantial). Without blinding you with five years of numbers, I'll summarize by saying the the fifth year of a LeBron max extension with another team would be $21,870,959, and the extension would work out to be "5 years, $96.1M" (the Cavs could offer him six years at $125.5M). The preceding is the paragraph I'd like feedback on if not correct. What follows is conjecture on my part.

I'd like to correct myself. I went back to the FAQ and crunched a few more numbers and it turns out LeBron's maximum contract simply by virtue of having seven years of service in the NBA is slightly greater than the value you get by taking 105% of the last year of his contract.

It's complicated, using a "salary cap" slightly different from the "actual" salary cap, and the only purpose of the first "salary cap" is for taking 30% of it to get these max figures. The former cap is 48.04% of BRI while the "actual" salary cap is 51%.

Anyway, his max salary, based on the $62M cap, is $17.52M. If the cap is a big greater than this, so is the starting salary, but our room under the cap actually increases faster, so this is a nice conservative estimate. Over a five-year deal it works out to something very slightly greater than $100M.

(the above is quoted from my amendment posted below; I wanted the content of the original post to reflect accurate information, thus the edit.) 

For Blazer fans, the big variables to consider that makes this situation hard to pin down are 1) what will be the starting values of Roy's and Aldridge's extensions? and 2) what ex actly will the salary cap be? I've somewhat conservatively projected a salary cap of around $62M, two years after the current cap of nearly $59M. 

For both extensions, I looked around the league. For Aldridge, Josh Smith's deal jumped out at me. They seem comparable in terms of position, numbers, star status, and team value, and both teams are young and on the upswing of rebuilding. Smith's extension was for 5 years, $58M with a starting value of $10M (maximum raises were not used). By starting at $9M in the interest of preserving cap space, but using maximum raises, I created a 5 year, $54.45M extension. For Roy, I bit the bullet and went with approximately a maximum deal; I think Roy is every bit as talented and as valuable as Deron Williams. The starting salary for max extensions changes every year and was frankly too complicated for me to figure out, but Deron's started $13.758M, so I inserted a round figure of $14M for Roy one year later. Over five years, Roy's extension is worth $84.7M.

The other Blazers under contract for the 2010-2011 season are Przybilla at around $7.4M, Webster at $4.8M, and this year's crop of four rookies for a total of $11.5M. If we're talking about pursuing LeBron James, I think we'll put our other free agents on the back burner, so I'm letting Blake and Outlaw walk and not worrying about a Sergio extension at this point. Assume also the Channing and Ike are long gone. I wasn't quite sure what to do with Koponen and Freeland, but even if they both sign next year, storyteller provides us with figures suggesting their salaries would add to about $1.8M. Even if we leave them overseas, this might be a prudent figure to include due to the two drafts between now and the 2010 UFA signing period. 

Using all of those cap hits and a salary cap of $62M, the Blazers could be under the cap by $13.55M, almost exactly $4M short of what it would take to offer LeBron the maximum allowable. Accepting a five-year deal at that number would net him $81M rather than $96.1M; that's asking a lot. However, just by leaving our euros overseas and trading out of the next two drafts (deferred for future picks), we could increase our max offer by nearly $2M starting, and now we're getting close. We could fail to pick up Batum's first option to make it the rest of the way. If the salary cap is closer to $65M, this all actually becomes pretty easy.

Of course, as much as I hate to say it, the obvious solution is to move Przybilla for an expiring deal or trade exception before the time comes. Dropping that $7.4M, combined with some of the prudent measures detailed above, would allow us to make a max offer and still have $4-$8M to play with in the meantime for rookies and role players. 

At the end of the day, we are left with the following skeleton of a roster, eight players making $56.8M for the 2010-2011 campaign. 

PG - Jerryd Bayless
SG - Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez
SF - LeBron James, Martell Webster, Nicolas Batum
PF - LaMarcus Aldridge
C - Greg Oden 

Somewhat humorously, we could probably fill out the roster with cheap role players and not even pay luxury tax in Year 1 of this uber team. After that, it would be time to start ponying up as Oden begins to get paid. 

Perhaps the coolest part about all of this is that our team doesn't have to do anything extreme to plan for it. The way I see it, Frye and Diogu will walk anyway, Blake and Outlaw will play out their team options, and no one looks particularly tempting in next summer's free agent market. Furthermore, none of it depends on Darius Miles. 

I'll leave you with this: "...I go out and I play hard and that's loyalty," James added. "It's hard because it's a business. (The) franchise is going to do what is best for the player, it always comes back on us. I am going to look bad. If a franchise decides to give up on a player, it's OK. So we have to do what is best for us." --LeBron James

 

So far so good. Portland did not trade for a huge contract at the deadline, so this plan remains intact. Next up would be either stashing a Euro overseas (also Calathes, possibly) or just trading the pick and getting out of this year's draft completely; which is entirely plausible considering the relative weakness of this draft and the fact that Dejuan Blair (the best fit for Portland IMO) seems to be skyrocketing up everyone's draft boards. 

Also, it might be worth checking out this article about Nike's role in 2010.

What say you fellow BEdgers? Is this plan at least somewhat possible? Would LeBron sign here, if the Big 3 were still intact, at the promise of a greater dynasty than the MJ Bulls? Would you rather discuss Oden leaving?

Over the past week or so, I have been touting Maynor as the PG that Portland should target this offseason (unless KP can get Rubio or Jennings...). I honestly think he is the 7th or 8th best player in the draft, depending on what you think of Curry. NBADraft.net says his NBA-Comparison is Sergio Rodriguez, which is sort of true because Maynor is great at throwing up floaters/alley oops. However, I think Maynor also compares favorably to like a PG version of "Roy-lite".

Clutchness

First of all, the guy is absolutely money in crunch time, unlike our current PG (sorry Blake...).

Some of you may remember this shot  that beat Duke in 2007. That same year, Maynor took over in his conference championship game and led VCU to the NCAA Tourney link.  

NBA Ready

Out of all the PGs in this year's draft, Maynor is probably the most NBA Ready. Rubio, as most people already know, is an unbelievable talent, however there are many questions as to how "NBA Ready" he is. Even Rudy came out and said Ricky wasn't ready for the NBA yet. Jennings is the same way, he is a young guy who was barely able to break the rotation of a European team. Out of all the other PGs projected to go in the top 20, Maynor is the one with the most experience in college. He is ready to step in and contribute to a team immediately, similar to Roy in 06.

He Knows His Role

DX: At the college level you were a big time scorer from the point guard position. In the NBA, do you see yourself continuing to be a scorer or will you develop as more of a pass first guard?

EM: I think I’m going to establish myself as a pass first guy. You’ve got guys that are all-stars who are putting up 28, 29 points per game. That’s what those guys are paid to do, score. These teams want someone who can get those guys the ball and run a team. They want someone who can get those guys their shots and find them in their sweet spot.

DraftExpress

Eric Maynor falls somewhere in between Stephen Curry and Darren Collison in terms of his numbers, as he was a very high usage point guard, but still was able to remain fairly efficient—which is a very good sign. His 21.2 possessions per game place him 3rd in that category, but his overall PPP of .99 ranks a very respectable 6th. Maynor’s best quality appears to be his short range game, he got to the rim 8 times per game and posted a PPP of 1.12 as a finisher. That’s slightly above average, but few players on this list utilize the same mix of floaters and scoops that Maynor does, and those types of shots have a much greater degree of difficulty than the average layup. Maynor didn’t fall below the average in nearly any category, usually hovering around the middle of the pack, and his isolation PPP of 1.01 stood out amongst this group. The team that drafts Maynor will be getting a player that obviously knows his limitations and can play a number of roles well, but might not stand out in any one area immediately. 

On the other end of the spectrum we find Eric Maynor, who went out with a real bang in what unfortunately turned out being the last game of his outstanding college career. As good of a senior season as Maynor has had, the conference he plays in made it important for him to have a strong showing against a team featuring excellent guard play and a couple of future pros in order to quell any doubts scouts might have. He did that and then some, proving that he can get his shot off even with an entire defense keyed in on him, and again displaying the type of clutch play that has become his trademark over the last few years. 

Maynor was responsible for 32 offensive possessions, illustrating his incredible importance to VCU. With that said, he only turned the ball over twice (one of which was a very dubious palming violation), while dishing out 7 assists, showing a great understanding of when to force the issue and when not to. As he always does, Maynor looked to get his teammates going early by setting them up for easy looks, while being cognizant of situations (very early or especially late in the shot-clock) where he’d be able to help his team by going and hunting out his own shot. UCLA really did a great job preparing for him, always being ready to send plenty of help defense over in his direction once he got into the lane, and constantly mixing things up by sending a fresh defender at him. Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Jerime Anderson and a very hard pick and roll hedging Alfred Aboya all got a shot at him in a futile attempt to rattle his poise. 

The most impressive aspect of Maynor’s performance was probably the way he constantly kept UCLA’s defense off-balance with the different speeds he played at. When it looked like he was walking the ball up the floor to get VCU into their half-court offense, he wouldn’t hesitate to break off the play if he saw a gap in the lane that could potentially be exploited –shifting into his top gear instantaneously, and looking to draw contact in the paint to get to the line. When UCLA got too aggressive with their pressure on the ball, Maynor showed a phenomenal ability to spin off his defender from a stand-still position to break free and open up the floor –going left or right equally well and being highly unpredictable with his moves at all times. Maynor quickly caught onto UCLA’s strategy of packing in the paint when he was looking to drive, and had no problem finding open teammates with clean looks on the perimeter, many of which they knocked down to keep the game within striking distance. Simply put, there isn’t a point guard in college basketball who plays the game at a better pace than he does, and this is probably the biggest thing he brings to the table as a prospect. 

In terms of shooting/scoring, this wasn’t the most impressive performance we’ve seen from Maynor this year, as his floater wasn’t falling consistently and he missed a few shots that he normally would make. We’ve talked about his lack of strength and explosiveness finishing around the basket on a couple of occasions in the past, and clearly he’ll need to continue to hone his already solid mid-range game to be effective in the NBA. He did have a couple of very nice plays where he showed his potential as a scorer, utilizing strong hesitation moves to get into the lane, and knocking down some tough pull-up jumpers, particularly in the second half when his team really needed his offense. He probably would like to have another stab at the final possession in the game, where Darren Collison cut him off beautifully and forced him into a very difficult contested fade-away jumper from 18 feet, but in all fairness, that’s a shot we’ve seen him make quite a bit. 

Maynor struggled on the defensive end in this game, gambling excessively as he tends to do, which is something his future NBA coaches will need to work on. All in all, though, it was hard not to come away extremely impressed with his performance in this game, and there is no question that this will end up helping his draft stock when NBA decision makers review the way he competed against this tough UCLA team. 

Chad Ford

The good: One of the purest point guards in the country, Maynor has excellent court vision and creativity. And throughout most of his career, he has posted an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio. On top of that, he has turned himself into an impressive scorer with deep range on his jump shot.

The bad: Maynor plays in a weak conference. With the exception of a few excellent performances in the NCAA tournament as a sophomore, he rarely has gotten to show off his talent against the best competition. He struggled in VCU's one big nonconference game this season versus Oklahoma, going just 5-for-19 from the field and turning the ball over eight times.

He also needs to add strength, isn't a super athlete and sometimes tries to do too much with the ball.

The upside: To me, Maynor would be the biggest draft sleeper. He has all the tools to be an excellent NBA point guard. If he were playing for Duke or Kansas, he'd be in the lottery conversation right now. If he can have a big game in the opening round against UCLA, one of the top defensive teams in the country, I believe he could crack the lottery in June.

I love TV Land for forever and ever after today. I couldn't sleep and felt like crap, so I ended up waking up at 7:30 in the AM. Flipped through the TV Channels and found The Fugitive playing on TV Land. 

Some questions for today:

Whatever happened to Tommy Lee Jones?

How in the eff is Soulja Boy famous?

Harrison Ford's jump out of the sewer, best stunt ever?

Any good homemade remedies to cure nausea/hangovers?

Does this JD have a chance to break the unbreakable?

The easiest mistake for General Manager Kevin Pritchard to make this offseason would be to talk himself into another year with Joel Przybilla as the Portland Trail Blazers’ starting Center. Given Przybilla’s dollar store salary, lunch pail dependability, solid character and the fact that he's coming off what team officials love to call a "career year," the temptation to stick with Przybilla is overwhelming. Indeed, last Friday afternoon Pritchard told the media he did not foresee "wholesale changes" to the roster and name-checked Przybilla specifically as a player who has taken on increased responsibility as a veteran on a young, developing team. The temptation to ride this "career year" 6 points and 9 rebounds per game center must be resisted at all costs if the Blazers are serious about taking their next step on the way to an NBA championship.

Deconstructing the Przybilla Myth

Przybilla’s defenders can often be heard repeating an outright lie: "Przybilla is the perfect center for this team." Their reasoning generally centers on three points ...

• 1. Brandon Roy's supposed preference for dominating the ball in the offensive sets
• 2. Przybilla’s rebounding rate
• 3. Przybilla’s ability to score in the low post

Let's address each point in turn.

1. It would be helpful to have a ball-handling center

As much fun as it is to watch Brandon Roy hit impossible 3 pointers with 4 hands in his face, B. Roy's life would be easier, his career would last longer and the offense would run more smoothly if he was paired with a center that could command defensive attention and get into the lane every once in awhile. I am not saying this to be snarky but because an honest evaluation is important: Przybilla struggles to take assistant coaches off the dribble (and in the post) during practice and warm-ups. The good news: Przybilla knows this and therefore doesn't risk needless forays into the key. The bad news: a center that rarely enters the paint is one of the least-valuable commodities in an evolving NBA that increasingly favors small, quick, aggressive centers that apply consistent pressure to a defense, particularly in the playoffs.

This past season, the Blazers adapted to Przybilla’s speed deficiency well, removing the ball from his hands in most of their half-court sets and relying on Brandon to orchestrate things and carry the team to the league's 2nd best offensive efficiency. It was a Dwyane Wade-esque approach, one that was spectacular in producing 54 wins and then immediately mediocre once the playoffs started and the bump foul calls dried up. If Wade, one of the top 3 players in the world, can't get out of the first round in the Eastern Conference against a team that hasn't won a playoff series in a decade, what makes Portland so confident that Brandon Roy (a top 10 player in the league, but no Dwyane Wade) should or could carry the Blazers to the second round in the Western Conference playoffs using a similar approach next year? Fool me once. Then get better personnel.

2. Don't believe the rebounding rate lie

This season, Przybilla’s rebounding rate stood at 22.8, which was the best in the league. Looks nice on the surface. However, we must keep in mind that it's difficult to not rebound when your starting power forward hangs out around the perimeter. Przybilla’s stats suffer from classic over-inflation. When praising Przybilla’s high rebounding rate, we must also acknowledge the deficiencies in Aldridge’s game that produce it: his inability to defend bigger players, his discomfort battling in the paint, his unwillingness to hang out in the key, his limited ability boxing out, his total incapacity for boxing out and his total fear of trying to outrebound Yao Ming or Shaq.

Additionally, Przybilla only put up 9 rebounds in nearly 24 minutes per game. Przybilla’s above average rebound rate is the result of his limited skill set: he can't drive and finish, lacks any post moves, and struggles defending perimeter players. So what's left? Stand in the key and rebound. Are we really that thrilled he managed to tally 9 of those boards a game?

3. Przybilla’s post moves do a disservice to the young bigs

269 possessions this season concluded with a Joel Przybilla shot attempt. He converted 168 of those for a sparkling 62.5%, the best field goal percentage of his career. None of those shots were quite memorable.

I would give back each and every one of those possessions (including any and all game winners and makes that led to simultaneous Mike and Mike orgasms, which never actually happened I just thought this sounds cool) without a second thought if it meant that Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge could split those 269 shot attempts.

Those guys are developing stars. Those guys are the future. More importantly, those guys will have the choice whether they want to stay here in Portland or if they want to go somewhere else where they will get more looks. While LaMarcus's beast-like performance after the all star break and in the playoffs showed that he can thrive in spite of Przybilla’s gunning, Oden remains the same clumsy, confused offensive player that he was in September.

Certainly, offseason work and conditioning are important for Oden. But while Greg has endured taunts this season and both Nate McMillan and Brandon Roy have caught some collateral criticism for Oden's slow offensive development, it's been a basketball truism at every level going back to the peach basket days: young bigs go as far as their veteran teammates take them. Oden cannot learn post moves on his own; he cannot develop go-to moves without consistent touches; he cannot subsist off of offensive rebounds alone. If next year's scheme again calls for Brandon Roy to initiate and Joel Przybilla to watch, it's reasonable to expect continued stunted development from Greg Oden.

Because, really, is Joel Przybilla the man who will shepherd Greg Oden into his dominating future? Robinson to Duncan? Is Joel Przybilla the man who will find easy hoops for LaMarcus Aldridge? Shaq to Amare? Is Joel Przybilla going to have the credibility to get in his teammates' faces late in playoff games, demanding smarter, harder play? Bill Russell to the Celtics?

I don't think we can honestly answer any those questions in the affirmative, except for maybe that last one.

And it's not entirely his fault. Przybilla spent a good amount of time this year looking over his shoulder with a young, eager center breathing down his neck. It's hard to help Brandon shoulder the load, it's hard to make calculated risks on offense, and it's hard to set aside extra time to develop a camaraderie with your young post players when you entered training camp primarily concerned with holding on to your job.

That's a problem.

And one that needs to be, and can be, fixed.

Appraising the Competition

Przybilla would probably dismiss all of this as nothing new, criticism that he has heard and overcome his entire life. Indeed, he did nothing in college, and left the team due to differences with his coach and is an NBA All-Star when it comes to being an enforcer. He deserves all the credit in the world for his thick skin and the chip-on-the-shoulder approach that has drawn repeated praise from his teammates and coaching staff.

To put it simply: we should prefer a center with a low post game to a center with a chip on his shoulder. Better still, we should prefer a center that can put up a meaningful fight on the defensive end. Despite Przybilla’s own denials, Yao Ming - 28 years old, standing 7 feet and 6 inches tall, and with a lot of previous playoff experience (but had never got past the 1st Round) -- dictated the terms of their matchup, exploding for 24 points (on 9 of 9 shooting) and 9 rebounds in only 24 minutes in the series-determining Game 1 and averaging 15.8 points and 10.7 rebounds to Przybilla’s 3.8 points and 7.3 rebounds. What's worse, Yao felt absolutely no defensive pressure from Przybilla, committing just 9 turnovers in 216 minutes in the series and finding his way to the basket at will.

Do you really believe Przybilla could lead a team past Yao, then the Lakers, then Nene and then the Eastern Conference champions?

I would hope not.

We should be able to agree that Przybilla is not an adequate starting center for a championship contender.

Fashioning a Post-Przybilla Reality

If Przybilla is not a championship quality starter, the next question becomes: should Przybilla stay as a backup?

The situation behind Przybilla this season has been a mess. It took nearly the entire season for Oden to become comfortable as an NBA Player. Not only that, but he suffered from constant abuse from NBA Referees. It was a gift if Oden could stay on the floor for more than 30 minutes.

And thank God for those games.

That leaves three possible scenarios:

• Bring in a new backup center, keep Przybilla and Oden 
• Bring in a new center, trade Przybilla, and use Oden as the backup 
• Bring in a new center, trade Oden, and use Przybilla as the backup

Holding on to Pryzbilla would hinder Oden's development by preventing nature from running its course. There's only so many times Oden can break off assistant coach Bill Bayno and explode in displays of aggression before you give in to the “once in a decade” center prospect unshackle his potential. Given his skill set – great rebounder already, aggressive defensive intensity, ability to finish at the rim, excellent physique – Oden should be able to succeed as a backup center next season.

Therefore, as founding president and sole remaining board member of Team Oden, my first instinct would be to repeat the long-standing mantra "Oden leaves over my dead body" and simply start soliciting offers for Przybilla + draft picks + Webster/Outlaw immediately. Make no mistake, Przybilla, despite his deficiencies, has value as a center on the open market.

But Oden has trade value too: he was labled as a “once in a decade” prospect coming out of Ohio State. And the need for a playoff-ready center is so dire that Oden must go on the trade table. If it takes sacrificing Oden and watching him blossom in a greener pasture to ensure that Brandon Roy isn't dragged down on a nightly basis by his frontcourt mate, that's a sacrifice we should be willing to make.

But putting Oden on the table for a center might not even be necessary given Pritchard's stack of chips. Backed by the richest owner in sports, KP has five draft picks this year, multiple cheap assets (Outlaw, Batum, Webster, Blake, Rodriguez, even Frye in a sign-and-trade), some salary cap flexibility, and - if he wants to go all in -- the best backup center in the league to throw at the other 29 teams during the worst economic crisis in recent memory. It is patently absurd to suggest in this climate and with those pieces that a serious upgrade at point is not available. They are out there. Teams are struggling to fill arenas, taking out loans from the league office to cover costs, contemplating relocation, the list goes on. This is a dream buyer's market.

No excuses.

Freeing Oden and keeping Przybilla as a backup would not be a horrible look. Keeping both players and burying Oden on the bench again would be an ideal situation (perhaps too ideal) for all parties, except Oden. Parting ways with Przybilla completely would be my personal preference but at this point it's less important which of those three paths Pritchard takes... as long as he acknowledges that the Przybilla-as-starter philosophy is fundamentally flawed.

In the end, dealing with a center problem will always be of lesser concern than dealing with a starting point guard problem.

The game plan should be:

1) target the starter 
2) obtain the starter
3) celebrate
4) worry about the backup situation

A Plea to KP: Do Not Leave it Short

As we come to the end of this diatribe and you prepare to vote "stay" or "go" for Joel Przybilla, we should think back to the single biggest moment of this year's playoff run, a sequence Blazer fans will not soon forget. Once the first round matchup between Houston and Portland was announced, Joel decided to go all macho and declare that he wanted to guard Yao 1-on-1.

“Actually, Przybilla has already put some thought into the matchup. In the last meeting, April 5 in Houston, the Blazers employed a new tactic in guarding Yao, which included having LaMarcus Aldridge front Yao."This time, I want him,'' Przybilla said. "I want to guard him straight up. I want that on my shoulders.'' (http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/04/behind_the_blazers_locker_room_14.html)

Przybilla’s defense came up short. Very short. Like Yao going 9/9 in that game and dominating from the opening tip short. Like Steve Blake airballing a key three pointer in Game 3 short.

He came up short. And, in turn, the Blazers came up short.

One must meditate upon that moment.

And Kevin Pritchard must do this offseason what Przybilla failed to do prior to the game. Find a better option.

So I have become pretty bored with my current collection of songs on my iPod, and now I want some new songs. However, I am too lazy to look up songs that I might like, so I'm leaving up to you, the BEdge community, to make me a "playlist" of sorts and recommend songs that I should (or must) add to my library. Basically I like all music except the new Country music stuff and Miley Cyrus, but other than that, I am up for listening to basically anything else.

Another question I have is do BEdgers have playlists for certain activities? For instance, do you have a "workout" playlist? Maybe a playlist for hosting a party or a social gathering, etc.? Suggestions for playlists like these would also be welcome.

(FYI, this is my first JD, so I hope I did it right...)

Basically they said that there will be 3 challengers to USC in the Pac-10 this year; OSU, UO, and Cal. They went over the schedule issues (at USC, at Cal, at Oregon) but Brock Huard picked them to win at least 9 games again next year. Interestingly he picked USC under 10 wins.

2 things:

1) I can't remember OSU getting this much love from the national media in a long time (thank you Quizz!).

2) Next year for the Pac-10 and College Football in general is going to be one of the most intriguing in recent memory. 4 legit contenders for the Pac-10 Title, the three best QBs last year all come back for their senior years (McCoy, Bradford, Tebow), but because they all lost alot of talent the race for the National Title will be wide open.

From Freeman's Postgame article:

In a happy-go-lucky Blazers locker room after the game, Roy and Outlaw went back and forth in a friendly debate wondering who was more clutch. Both made cases Tuesday night as Roy scored 13 of his team-high 24 points in a dominant fourth quarter, and Outlaw had eight of his 11 in the decisive fourth.

 

So, BEdge, who is more clutch (clutcher? clutchier? clutchest?), B Roy or Outlaw??