With tonight's loss I figured some good news was in order

This has been unheard of until as of late:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

As of this moment 99% to get into the playoffs, 67.7% chance to win division, 11.3% chance to get into the finals, 6.1% chance of winning it all.  I don't expect these odds to hold, too green still, but my smile is huge all the same.

 

I've almost brought this up a time or two as Seattle's departure has come closer and closer to reality.  I, like most here hope it doesn't happen... but if it does there's something I'd love to see happen:  
Adopt Squatch as our mascot.

I almost brought this idea up in Dave's recent diary on the main page about if we could consider changing the name to something other that the Portland Trailblazers (I always liked the idea of the Oregon Trailblazers BTW, more inclusive, and still state specific... making the name itself make more sense to the nation... but that's a whole other discussion).  Unfortunately I would have posted at the end of the diary and thought this idea was worth consideration and discussion.

There are several reasons I like this plan.  First and foremost: I think Blaze is one of the sillier mascots out there... and this is coming from a guy who's Alma Mater is Syracuse University and was involved in the protests that ultimately saved Otto the Orange.  One of the most unidentifiable authentic mascots ever.  Blaze isn't far behind.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to tell people that blaze is a cat, or try to answer the inevitable question "Just what is a trail-cat?  A cat that likes trails?"  I don't know... if you google trail cat you don't come up with a definition other than Blaze.  Now, I'm all for abstract thought, I just... well I just don't like Blaze.

Flip-side:  I think Squatch is one of the best mascots ever.  I've been jealous of him for years... realizing that Oregonians should have equal dibs on such a mascot if only we had thought of it first.  Squatch may remain with the Sonics in Oklahoma City, but what kind of sense does that make?  None, only people in the NW can see a sasquatch, real or imagined.  Sasquatches are kind of magical that way.  It could be the water.  It could be the recreational habits, legal and / or otherwise.  Regardless I've decided that nobody can ever see a sasquatch outside of the northwest, and I don't need any evidence to back up that statement, we all know it's true.  I can't see that gesture of keeping Squatch the Sonics mascot anything that will keep former fans cheering for the team if they've already stopped cheering.  For those that are still die-hard Sonics fans, they'll probably remain so they'll just be Oklahoma City Sonics fans until the team fails to the point where even the current ownership group won't take part in it any longer, and I don't think they'll bail on the team if Squatch is replaced, cause hey, it makes sense.

Finally:  This would be a gesture that (although not my primary intent) could be an olive branch so to former our city to the north.  If I were a Sonics fan who were contemplating cheering for the Blazers post Sonics departure and I loved Squatch it wouldn't hurt my chances of jumping on the Trailblazer Express.

So, what do you all think of this idea.  I know there are complications, serious ones... will the Sonics forsake their mascot?  Will we be able to pick Squatch up if they do forsake?  Will this be embraced by the Blazer fan base?  Will there be a transitional period where we have 2 mascots?  Will there be kids crying from the Pacific as far as Boise and from the Columbia down to just south of the Oregon Caves?  I do not know... what I do know is I'd love to have us some Squatch!

Poll

Would you like to see Squatch become a mascot for the Trailblazers assuming the Sonics leave Seattle?

3%

No, but only because the Sonics will take Squatch, crazy as that is in OK City.

2 votes

16%

Yes, but only if we keep Blaze too permanently, it's about history.

9 votes

12%

No, I hate Squatch, I may not like Blaze, but I hate Squatch.

7 votes

1%

Yes, but we need a transitional period which should be easy enough to work out .

1 votes

7%

No, I loves me some Blaze.

4 votes

17%

Yes, this may be the most brilliant idea I've ever heard.

10 votes

14%

No, I'm not crazy about Blaze, but it's all about history, Blaze stays forever, solo.

8 votes

26%

Yes, but it's not that brilliant Jeremy.

15 votes

56 votes | Poll has closed

So, tonight is the last home game for another 8 games, what that means to me is that I'm going to be watching a lot of TV broadcasts as opposed to sitting in my seats at the Garden.  

We've joked a few times about Tony & Mike's incredible television presence.  To me they connect as well with the people as say, the female wrestling Andy Kauffman.  

So I have a challenge for all the BEers out there.  Let's write as many awful one liners that they can use as possible.  The more involved players names are the better.  

Unfortunately none of us coined "Martell me it ain't so."  my favorite so far, it's just so bad, but kind of cute.  I think we can get a list of 100+ in no time at all, from here on out when they "write" a new one we can all smile in thinking _____ wrote that.  Plus we are raising the bar here, if they do indeed read this post, they have a decision to steal... I mean borrow, or write new better one liners that make the half time reports more "fun" to watch.

Trust me I know these are awful, but that's the point of this little journey.  We'll have a few down days in several hours from now and we can give Mike and Tony hundreds of new lines to share with the people for this whole road game stretch, I love it.  So, I'll get the ball rolling:

1. After (or during) tonight's game:
   "The Baron thought he was coming to Portland for a W, but the Blazers told him that they are Brandon with Golden State."
   OR "Davis thought he'd roll into Portland and Baron down on the Blazers but our guys told him they're Brandon with the Warriors."
2. This next one can be used in so many ways, it could become like their commonly used: "Block Party, checking invitations at the door, and you're not invited.":
   "We out rebounded you tonight? Oden, we win."
   OR "We out scored you in the paint did we?  Oden... you lose."  
   OR "We had more shot attempts than you tonight?  Oden, it would be tough to beat us."
   Oden, I think you all get the picture.  Oden, I'll put this one to rest.
3. After LaFrentz blocks a Pierce shot in Boston:
   "Despite Raef's history with the Celtics he shows Pierce that they aren't the best of LaFrentz anymore."
4. Darius is daring us to play him, but the coaches say he's still got Miles to go.
5. LaMarcus shows Chicago just what a LaMarvelous idea it would have been to keep him with his play in that game Tony, tough luck Chicago.

So, have at it, I'm hoping for some gems.  We can see if they break out any new ones not on our list during the lengthy road trip.  Don't get annoyed either, they are our announcers, let's bask in cheese people!

With our upcoming road trip it seems rather unlikely that this would last too long, but we have a non-Blazer game to look forward to tonight.  First place in the NW Division?  We shall see.

This seems an appropriate place to link: jksnake99's timely diary Scoreboard Watching For Dummies:

http://www.blazersedge.com/story/2008/1/6/234113/0936

Poll

Assuming we are in 1st tonight, how long do we hold the division lead?

0%

8 games (last game on road trip)

0 votes

12%

4 games

7 votes

6%

9+ games

4 votes

1%

5 games

1 votes

39%

We'll hold the spot all the way until the playoffs if we are put there tonight.

23 votes

1%

1 game

1 votes

0%

6 games

0 votes

27%

2 games (start of road trip)

16 votes

0%

7 games

0 votes

10%

3 games

6 votes

58 votes | Poll has closed

I'll start by saying that I sincerely wish Zach the best in New York (and wherever he may land after that time is over).  There are few people as gifted as he is offensively under the basket.  That said, I don't miss this sort of turmoil at all.

In regards to minute distribution and who starts after a 14 point loss to Orlando last night Zach had some tasty quotes.  In favor of starting Curry Zach came off of the bench for the first time, and as the author put it was fuming before the game - Curry was fuming after the game (got two quick fouls and ended up only playing 4:41 total).

My favorite Zach quote was:

"I don't plan on coming off no bench the rest of the season."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12272007/sports/knicks/magic_kingdumb_734931.htm

I do take particular pleasure in this because that is the role he would have had to have ultimately accepted had we decided to keep him a Trailblazer.  I always thought that if Zach were a little more garbage man (kind of Boozer style) that he'd become a real asset to a team, especially if he's PF option #2, coming off the bench and backing up.  I never believed he'd accept that role in Portland, but thought perhaps if he were somewhere else he would consider it... maybe the Knicks are the wrong team for that, and maybe he needs to begin his tenure somewhere coming off the bench to embrace the role... regardless, not our problem!

Go team!

I stumbled into this poll on the Nuggets' main page today:

With a third of the season over, which Northwest team looks like the Nuggets stiffest competition?

Results (after 799 votes):

Portland 56%
Utah 31%
None 10%
Seattle 2%
Minnesota 1%

I can't link you straight to the poll, but here's a link to Denver's home page, the poll is towards the lower right hand corner of the page

http://www.nba.com/nuggets/

Poll

Are Denver Fans Onto Something?

5%

With McHale at the helm how can Minnesota not be threat?

5 votes

50%

Yes, they should be afraid of us, very afraid.

50 votes

20%

Magic Eight Ball says: Ask again later.

20 votes

22%

They are confused, need to be very afraid of Utah, not us.

22 votes

2%

Denver fans have no serious competition in the division, "none" should be much higher.

2 votes

0%

That mile high air is affecting their brains, Seattle is the toughest competitor

0 votes

99 votes | Poll has closed

we may just be tied with Denver for 1st in the division.  There's still a lot of game to go, but right now it's half time and Sacramento is clearly in control of the game out scoring the Nuggets in both of the first two quarters (31 to 23 in the first and 34 to 28 in the second), having a halftime lead of 15 (66-51).  Camby is playing, KMart is not.  Iverson is having a really flat night 2-10 from the field with just 2 assists.  Melo is having a good night spare 5 turnovers.  Artest is having another really great outing (17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals at the half).  Denver has not been smaller than 10 points since roughly the 9 minute mark of the 2nd quarter.  There was a time towards the close of the quarter that Denver did bring it back to just 10 down, but then Sacramento went on a 6-0 run to finish off the half, so the momentum was with Sacramento going into the break.

Still lots of time left, but Denver will have to really change the momentum of the game if they want to dig out of the 15 point hole they are in.  I'm honestly not too hung up on grabbing that first place spot at this point in the season, but if we do it will feel good... another accomplishment on the road to building a dynasty... being in 1st place in our division about 1/3 of the way into a season is no small accomplishment.  Denver's upcoming games are against the Bucks at home (12/26), the Warriors away (12/28), and the Warriors at home (12/30), and San Antonio at home (1/3).

The surprise of the West so they say...

http://www.nba.com/nba_news/blazers_streak_071220.html

300 character add on: I certainly know they are currently surprising me.  It's great to see that the areas we are often weak in (rebounds in particular) are areas that Oden should have a major impact on once he has developed to the point where he can not get into foul trouble.  His very presence will make teams change how they deal with us... we will become very, very dangerous.

Go Blazers!

I've read so much negative talk lately and rarely have the time or energy to lay out how I've been perceiving things this so far this season with regards to expectations.  I have been a season ticket holder for years, still am, and I've got to say though I'd love to see more I am happy with the progress I am seeing.  I just replied to a post in a diary with a very similar text, but realized it was so long that it may be worth a diary of it's own.  So, here's a list of very basic questions about the team play this year and my takes on what we are seeing in the grand scheme of things;

Would I like to see a couple of adjustments with regards to player rotation?  Yes.  

Would the adjustments I wish to see made to player rotation result in an immediate increase in wins?  Almost definitely not... the adjustments I'd consider making would be in service of (hopefully) improving underplayed players and although we could luck into another couple of wins this season it is more likely that we'd lose more games this year with the minor adjustments I'd make than win more, though I think the difference in W/L record would be minor.

Despite that preference and the choice to bow to the expertise of the coaches on this decision (who do a much better job than I could) are we improving?  Yes.  On the whole definitely, the biggest things I can point to are the obvious improvements of Lamarcus (in the face of seeing double teams to boot) and the very fact that we now expect Outlaw and Webster as actual contributors on a nightly basis.  Did we have those expectations last year... not future expectations, but daily expectations, I'd say the answer would be a resounding no.  

Will we end up within or very close to the 30-35 win category that I thought we would be in prior to the season beginning?  Yes.  

Are we currently on track to win that number of games or is something going to change? We are almost on track (on track to win 27).  In truth I'd be thrilled if we could win 35 this season, low 30s is where I adjusted to when Oden went down.  When considering the schedule thus far I'd say that we are definitely on track to win 30, likely slightly more which is just what I expected.

Are our players consistent night in and night out?  No.  

Can that be attributed to youth at all?  Absolutely, we see times of poise and times of confusion.  That is normal with a young inexperienced team, especially when it has changed so drastically over the last couple of seasons.  Just playing together for longer periods of time will net more wins via increased knowledge of your teammates abilities and tendencies coupled with everyone more clearly understanding their expectations.  Add in Nate settling into roles as he learns what is and is not working and the natural increase in talent and it's hard not to say that youth plays a factor.

And what of the suggestion that younger players don't repeat mistakes, and that's an excuse?  I understand the point, we don't want to be making excuses, we expect the same mistakes to not be continually repeated, but they will be from time to time, this is why it takes years to become a veteran role player.

Does that mean we are giving our guys free passes?  No, Nate definitely doesn't give our guys free passes, if anything he's at the opposite end of that spectrum.  As for fans, I really don't think people are, but I think it may seem that way because there has been a certain amount of alarmist behavior that warrants some sort of defense because it's not appropriately placed.  If fatty weren't on his BE hiatus right now he'd certainly be calling a lot of people GOOFs in a lot of posts.  This is not to say that these people are truly Greg Oden Only Fans, but the expectations that most of us had even post getting the #1 draft pick seem to not be grounded with the behavior I would point to as being alarmist.  

Does that mean that we expect to see improvement?  Yes.

Overtime what improvements are most important to see?  Consistency, this is lacking right now, and it makes sense that it is.  Raw talent is visible almost right out of the gate, veteran talent establishes consistency.  Some of this is nerves (mental).  Some of it is increased experience and presumably basketball IQ.  Some of it relates more to the refs extending the benefit of doubt that veterans regularly see (and learning how to flop better.  It all adds up to more consistent results when looking at a game on a quarter by quarter basis.

Here's a poll for you all, please discuss, poke holes in my statements, prop me up as a voice of reason in negative-land, but whatever you do have fun!  BTW I do wish I could preview the poll... I guess that's not an option though, hopefully it's clear.

Poll

I can only assume my statement of consistency being the most important thing to see improvements on will be shared by all, so let's look at what we want to see become more consistent this season with via poll. What particular aspect of consistency do you

8%

I sometimes go to games and I just want to see our fans consistently cheering the team on... I'm upset at the regular booing our own team in the Rose Garden, that's the most important thing to get consistent because when we do it will help their confidenc

2 votes

8%

We are perpetually in a mediocre talent pool at the point especially defensively, but offensively we aren't running things all that well either. We need to figure this out immediately, and do so with the intent to package other players be they on the ros

2 votes

4%

The real issues are coaching related. Nate and staff need to figure out what they are doing, they seem to either have no direction, or they aren't exerting their will on the players effectively. If that consistency is established things will fall in pla

1 votes

8%

We need to establish what will happen when Oden joins the team, in particular with the PF and C back-up spots where we are currently very thin. Oden will have plenty of foul trouble next year, Joel often does as well. Can Frye become a contributor, and

2 votes

12%

Improvement of Roy and Aldridge, they still have a long ways to go.

3 votes

0%

We still have a small foward issue, it won't be Martell or Travis, and though Jones just had a good game it was a fluke, we need to figure out this postion pronto to compete in the future. I'd like to see us make a move to get this spot to be something w

0 votes

58%

Roy and Aldridge are right on track, but I'm concerned about Webster and Outlaw, sometimes it seems like they getting it, but then... well things change, if we can figure out if they have long-term roles this year will be a success.

14 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed

I debated writing a diary on this, but figured I've seen more pointless... I know I'll be repeating things that we've all talked about before, but it's off season, isn't that what it's all about?

So, I'll get on with it, I work out at Club Sport in Tualatin.  A number of years ago it was very common to see the team working out there.  Those days are mostly gone, they have a facility right across the street from the club where they now work out.  

Today was different, about half an hour into my cardio I saw KP presumably some of his family working out nearby.  I finished my workout and though I tend to try to leave people alone I decided to approach him (hadn't seen anyone else do so) to just give him a quick compliment, let him know that I have been a season ticket holder for a number of years and that I'm really thrilled with the moves he's been making in the last couple of years.  As I expected he was appreciative, said "we've got the best group of kids I've ever seen and I am very excited about the future, but it will take some time".  I agreed, said I'm looking forward to 3-5 years out, but it'll be a fun ride on the way, then told him that I know he's heard this before, but I want to say it anyhow, I and many others think that he is really the center point to all of the positive changes that have been happening.  He of course was too humble to accept that praise, saying that he's only one person and that many people are involved.  (We know that's true, but someone is the centerpiece in making these decisions and it's become clear that right now a lot of the direction of the Blazers is the result of KP's influence.)

We parted ways.  A little while later I was out at the pool and coincidentally he pulled up right behind me, his family, possibly his mother had been there for a couple of hours apparently.  I did get to overhear a lengthy call, but it was one sided so there are only pieces that I got.  One is that there is something that he is trying to organize that will send as many people as possible to play with some big time NBA players, presumably this summer, he did specifically mention Duncan.  He said "I don't care how much it costs, I'll pay for it, I want as many of our guys there as possible."  Then went on to specifically talk about Lamarcus and how he needs to go up against Duncan to know that he's ready - thinks it will do wonders for his confidence and game.  He also mentioned Martell but wasn't as specific, just that he wants him there, wherever there may be.  Perhaps it's just a multi-team event, we know he has ties to San Antonio, if anyone hears anything please post, I think something will come of it.  

There were more things discussed that I got less of, I was already hesitant on mentioning whatever this our guys with big time NBA stars thing was all about.  The only other things I clearly picked up are:

1. That he is very high on Gordon right now as far as future pick considerations, to be clear he did not say that he wants him, just talked about how impressed he is with his game:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/news/story?id=2624000

2. He repeatedly mentioned a Josh ???????, and was asking whoever was on the other line about how his attitude is (I don't know if this is a future NBA player or a current player, but there was definite interest)

and

3. I am fairly sure that he wants to bring in a new person into the coaching staff this September to help out, he said something like "unless he seriously screws up between now and then I think we should bring him here in September"

That was it with regards to KP, but then I saw Steve Blake in the locker room afterwards... but that's not as uncommon he's a member there and does spend a fair amount of time there when in town.  I did ask the front desk (since both were there) if there was any sort of an event today, but there wasn't, it was just chance that both were there at once.

In closing I'll just say how much I liked KP's style, he was humble, appreciative, engaging (if anything I was backing off to not seem like an annoyance), and was clearly extremely excited about where the future is headed, but at the same time not at all overzealous.  It's one thing for the fans to be excited about the possibilities, but you could see it in Kevin's eyes he's deeply very, very excited.  He tried to make sure I understood that we have an uphill battle ahead and we are not there yet (which I of course did understand and am not afraid of) which I appreciated.  We are lucky to have him as a GM, I can not have imagined Nash carrying himself that way, and I'm not a Nash basher, he came in at a bad time with a tough job of cutting the fat, but he's no KP!