This fanpost has been bumped to the front page because this is a must-read.  Many thanks to iverigma2 for the hours spent on this post. -- Ben

Click through for a great breakdown of various aspects of the Blazers offense last season, including video clips, analysis and more.

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from the news of KP intending to keep Outlaw/Blake, It really sounds like they have team options instead of unguranteed contracts.

Another possibility is Oregonian didn't understand their contract terms and just assumed it's team option. Because from KP's quote: "We'll keep them, I can't see a scenario where we don't. They've been terrific for us this year. They were major parts of 54 wins. We'll pick them up." He didn't use the specific words - "team option".

But he did seem to predicate that he will keep them no matter what. I don't know, if he can potentially trade them before July 1st, he shouldn't deprive himself of that flexibility and the great benefit comes with that. It's just not KP-style. He usually like to be vague and keep all the options open.

I think it's likely they have team options instead of unguaranteed. In this case keeping them is indeed the no-brainer (I know they can still be traded after July 1st though)

DX's salaries page also lists their final year as partially unguaranteed. Hoopshype doesn't but they don't seem to know unguaranteed contracts exist. Patricia's site also doesn't have it but again there's no "unguaranteed contracts" on any players on her site.

So Storyteller, douglast, or any other CBA gurus, what's your take on what KP said? Please educate me!!! Thanks.

Watching the games recently I've had a feeling that our defense is getting better, also saw some other fans on the internet and even a reporter (I forgot who) mentioning this trend. I'd like some statistical proof so here's what I've done.

I grabbed the game log data from the basketball-reference.com and calculated the possession, offensive/defensive efficiency and team/opponent effective FG% for each game. It's very easy because B-R.com provide the data in csv format so all calculation is done in Excel.

I put the result together in this google spreadsheet, feel free to download, modify and publish any way you'd like.

Now let me get to the bottom line first:

During the first 67 games, Defensive efficiency: 110.0, opponent's effective FG%: 50.6%

During the final 15 games, Defensive efficiency: 102.5, opponent's effective FG%: 46.6%

For the entire season, Defensive efficiency: 108.9, opponent's effective FG%: 49.9%

Now I've got to admit my efficiency numbers can't quite match the ones on B-R.com. ( eFG% has no such problem) But the discrepancy is less than 1% plus my number is higher (which means worse defense) than B-R.com. So my analysis should still be very accurate and even slightly pessimistic.

To give you an idea about these numbers:

First 67 games -

110.0 D efficiency ranks 22nd

50.6% opp efg% ranks 20th in the league.

Final 15 games -

102.5 D efficiency ranks 4th (behind only Orlando, Cleveland and Boston)

46.6% opp efg% ranks 2nd in the league (behind only Orlando)

Now why do I pick the final 15 games, which start from the road game in Indiana at March 18th? Am I cherry-picking numbers just to support my argument?

1. That was the game where Greg Oden came back. Although I don't want to call this a "Greg Oden saves our team defense single-handedly" post because I've seen marked improvement in defense from a lot of players. Still his presence and better condition/judgement is one of the key differences.

2. That was during the 5-games-in-7-days road trip, which most people (including me) think is the starting point of our late-season surge. Except for the forgettable first game in Atlanta, all other games are either easy win or an almost upset in Cleveland. Defense definitely played an very important role in it.

3. I think it should be fair to consider 15 games in 29 days as a large enough sample to define a trend. This stretch also includes some of the best & worst teams in the league.

You can point out that we take advantage of some weak opponents but I'd say, come on, we're just doing the exact same thing as other defensive powerhouse have been doing. Teams like Orlando, Cleveland and Boston have been blowing out bad teams all year long and numbers from those games definitely helped their brilliant season-average defensive efficiency. Taking away those kinds of games would hurt Blazers' number a lot, just as much as Orlando's, Cleveland's and Boston's.

Besides numbers, I have some observation on how our defense has been improved on the court:

1. First and foremost, we handled the pick-and-roll a lot better. Especially Oden, he is much better in backpedaling and controlling the space against the guard coming off the screen. Przybilla is already a master in this area and Oden should be able to do even better in the future thanks to his superior athleticism.

2. Our weakside help is also better in picking up the roller (opposing big man), which allowed Joel or LMA to occasionally use more aggressive strategies like "hedge" or "trap" against the opposing guard.

3. All these factors enabled us to switch slightly less (although not as few as I'd like to see) and thus created less mismatch against us.

4. In the non-pick-and-roll situation, our help defense in the paint has also been improved . I'd like to point out one player especially - Roy. He was already a very good 1-on-1 defender but recently his help D has been spectacular. I've seen him roaming in the paint more often to double-team, pick up the penetrator or disrupt the passing lane. Aldridge is another guy who's been better in this area.

5. Generally our defensive rotation have been much more crisper. Transition D is better as well. I've seen less defensive lapse, less wide-open under the basket and less coast-to-coast one-man fastbreak.

Of course, 15 game is only 15 game. This Blazers team haven't proven they can sustain this kind of intensity for all 82 games. But I can safely say the improvement in D compared to earlier this season has truly been leaps and bounds.

This is what I just found out: since 1986-87 season, Brandon Roy is the 3rd player to have

50 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists with ZERO turnover in a game.

The other two? Reggie Miller & Michael Jordan:

Miller: 1992-11-28, 57-5-8 (16-29 FG, 4-11 3PG, 21-23 FT)

Jordan: 1989-11-03, 54-14-6 (19-31 FG, 1-2 3PG, 15-17 FT)

from basketball-reference.com

Rockets agree to send Jackson, pick, player to Kings for Artest

link

Rocket would send Bobby Jackson, probably Donte Greene and a No. 1 draft pick in 2009 to Kings.

quote from the ESPN:

"The Houston Chronicle reported that the Kings would receive Bobby Jackson, a No. 1 draft pick in 2009 and another player that the newspaper's source could not identify. The Associated Press, citing anonymous league sources, said that the other player would be rookie forward Donte Greene.

That means the deal can't be announced yet because Greene, acquired by the Rockets on draft night last month, signed a contract with Houston on July 14. A player can't be traded within 30 days of signing a contract, according to league rules.

KRIV television in Houston reported that the Kings will also receive cash."

http://mikebarrettsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/blazers-get-their-man-again.html

don't know if it's true. If it is then KP just flat out owned the whole draft and every GM in the league, it's not even fair to let him participate.

Maybe we can have more inside information tomorrow.... Hope we can get some more juicy stuff.

Go Bayless!! Go Blazers!!!

Go Bayless!! Go Blazers!!

Go Bayless!! Go Blazers!!

Go Bayless!! Go Blazers!!

If that wasn't the game of the year, it should be one of the most inspiring game this season. I don't know about you but I am still feeling the thrill of it right now. Please allow me to post some video highlights I edited here:

play of the day: Roy manhandled Walton

(high quality version): http://blazersclips.blogspot.com/2008/03/brandon-roy-manhandled-walton-with-his.html

and more...

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Jason Quick has an encouraging article about Greg Oden. Check it out.

quick summary: Oden has gained 30 pounds but still maintains the same (7.8 percent) bodyfat percentage!! That means it's 30 pounds of pure muscles!! Amazing!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2007/11/big_bad_oden.html

I used my digital camera to capture some replays from the big screen. They are short but do show something we never seen on LMA before!

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This will go down as one of the most lopsided deal ever in the history. No kidding! First, don't underestimate that 2010 first round pick from Suns:

They will have the option to decide to keep Nash or not before 2009-10 season. If they don't Suns will pretty much be a lottery team, even if they do, Nash will be 35 and they will still probably fall into the lottery. I would think the pick might has some kind of protection. But if not it'd be really scary to think what happened if it end up in the Top-10 pick or even higher...

Remember the notorious Eddie Curry deal between Bulls & Knicks? Bulls have obtained Tyrus Thomas & Joakim Noah from the Knicks' 1st round picks - one of the main reasons why Isiah Thomas has been the laughingstock of the league for past several years.

However at least that trade became semi-justifiable for the Knicks side as Eddy Curry finally turned into a decent big man last season and probably still have some room to grow. Suns' trade is even worse - what do they get in this trade? Well, a second round pick... No, I am sorry... it's a CONDITIONAL second round pick!!!

Not to mention Suns also send out the 2008 first round pick AND Thomas' contract will EXPIRE after 2007-08 season.

Of course there's a trade exception but given how cheap their owner is I doubt it will ever be used. Oh do

I feel sorry for the Suns, they just got fleeced by Sam Presti in the Sonics, which will be a very scary force to contend with in 3-5 years. The revival of I-5 rivalry looks unavoidable...if, of couse, they still stay in Seattle when the time comes.

We have to use Mid-level exception to sign Blake because we are above the cap. Also we have to use the same exception to sign Udoka if we want. (we can use non-bird exception but the MAX we can offer is the greater of 120% of previous salary or 120% of minimum salary. Either case it's around $1 mil - no way Udoka can agree this kind of offer)

This year's mid-level is $5.356mil. Given the reported $12mil/3yr Blake deal, I think the first year salary should be around $3.7mil to $4mil. That means we have only $1.3mil to 1.7mil left in the exception to sign Udoka. That's why Quick reported last week that KP was willing to offer him only less than $2mil.

If it's true that Spurs offered $9mil/3yr to Udoka, it'd be really suprising to see Udoka even considers signing with us no matter how much he loves Portland and the Blazers organization. Even if Spurs doesn't sign him, I believe $3mil is a fair value that some teams will definitely be willing to offer.

I think it's a done deal that Udoka will not wear a Blazer uniform next season. Basically the Blazers chose Blake over Udoka. While it's sad to see Udoka go, I'd probably made the same choice if I were KP.

Please let me know if there's any misintepretation of the salary rules.

Blazers announce summer league schedule

http://www.columbian.com/sports/blazerbanter/

The Blazers just released their lineup for summer league, and it's as follows:

Friday, July 6 - Portland vs. Boston* (Cox Pavilion, 7 p.m.)
Sunday, July 8 - Portland vs. Dallas (Cox Pavilion, 1 p.m.)
Wednesday, July 11 - Portland vs. L.A. Lakers (Thomas & Mack Center, 7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, July 14 - Portland vs. Phoenix (Thomas & Mack Center, 7:30 p.m.)
Sunday, July 15 - Portland vs. Seattle* (Cox Pavilion, 7 p.m.)

*Games broadcast on NBA TV

It's been my vacation plan for a while and now I am looking forward to it even more after the lottery.

Lots of players I want to watch: Oden/Durant, Roy, Aldridge and don't forget Freeland. It would be perfect if Sergio can join but last time I heard it wasn't optimistic due to schedule conflict with his Spanish national team.

I put together a website for TrailBlazers highlights. I tried my best to put in a bunch of this season's great moements like Roy's clutch plays, Sergio's nice passes, Outlaw's dunks, Aldridge's dominance..,etc.

http://www.blazersclips.com

Enjoy it. Season's over but I'll keep posting the clips from season's earlier games so please remember to check back often.

thanks ssa400. In fact putfile.com has the higher resolution version. I would recommend that site. Here's the links:

Q1 http://media.putfile.com/Trail-Blazers-0301-1st-quarter

Q2 http://media.putfile.com/0301q2highlight

Q3 http://media.putfile.com/Bobcats-vs-Trailblazers-0301-Q3

Q4 http://media.putfile.com/Bobcats--Trail-Blazers-0301-Q4

I heard this in Jason Quick's radio show. About two weeks ago in one of the interview, Steve Patterson said that the situation in Roy's heel (large talus bone rubbing against soft tissue) is NOT due to overuse, it's due to "a particular injury at a particular point of time".

He also said that it's a misunderstanding that Roy suffered this because he's played too much basketball during the last few months. It's not true. He even interrupted and corrected Jason about it.

That was the first time I heard this and I was quite suprised. But since then I never heard anyone in the forum or blog mention this. Did anyone know that interview?

If what he said is true, which probably is, then we don't have to worry too much about Roy's PT as long as Roy doesn't get hurt again.