We're 7-3, and could have won any of the three games we lost, so that's very, very good. It's probably the record most of us expected out of the first ten games. It's a pace for 57 wins. I think it's safe to say that Bill Simmons prediction of regression will not come true - the team will be as good or better than last year. The excellent posts last spring detailing how teams perform by age showed that we were basically off the charts good for a young team, and that the squad would get better simply by aging in place.

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Hey folks,

I know this is a family site, but I need some help. I am trying to purchase a jersey for my girlfriend to wear in situations such as, going to games, going to the bar, weddings, meeting my friends, etc. Anyhow, she is very curvy, of the 36-26-36 variety. Anyhow, i've seen many, many girls looking dead-sexy in jerseys, and I want to know which size will look the best [on my girlfriend]. If you're one of those girls [ed note: send a picture!] or your girlfriend is one of those girls, or your friend/associate/frienemy is one, let me know what size jersey you think fits best. I also want something that will compliment my Red Swingman #7 jersey, so a color/player combo suggest would be cool.

Thanks!

One of my favorite Seahawks from the past few years has been 3rd/4th receiver D.J. Hackett. If you don't remember him, he was kind of a poor-man's Terrell Owens, in that he was tall and could jump, and seemed to have a knack for big catches. Then he sprained his ankle and basically never played again for the Hawks - he signed with Carolina for 2 years $3.5 mil (which seems like a deal compared to say, Nate Burleson), but it seemed like the Seahawks had decided to move on and wouldn't sign him at any price. He got hurt again with Carolina, who simply waived him, and now's he's signed with Washington.

Does anyone with more info know what the story was with his original injury? A ankle sprain - even a bad one - doesn't seem that serious that two teams would pass.

One of my greatest laments about basketball these days (and all sports in general) is that guys no longer have really good, colorful nicknames. When Mark "The Bird" Fidrych died, it only highlighted this fact.

Face it, NBA nicknames suck right now - Dwayne Wade aka D-Wade; LeBron James aka LBJ; Jason Kidd aka J-Kidd, Kevin "KD" Durant and Greg "GO" Oden, even Brandon Roy as B-Roy. they all suck. They're formulaic, marketing-driven... they're not based on the players personalities or idiosyncracies.

Anyhow, I think we've found a new nickname for Brandon Roy: The Closer.

Everyone is saying it. Bill Simmons, Hollinger, Hubie Brooks, everyone. It speaks to his game, his attitude, everything.

Just for fun, i'll throw in a poll:

First off, let me state that, if the Blazers wanted to avoid these tiebreaker scenarios, perhaps they should have won just one more game over the course of the season. I'll also make the assumption that all divisions are roughly equal and that wins are the true measure of what team is best over the regular season.

But...

Why is "divison winner" the first tiebreaker for playoff seeding? San Antonio is the #3 and Portland is the #4 because San Antonio won their division, and therefore get a tiebreaker. Except that, the only reason that San Antonio wins the division is because their divisonal rival, the Rockets, are one game worse than our divisional rival, the Nuggets. That is, San Antonio is winning the tiebreaker because they have a worse team in their division than does Portland.

Think about this - it makes no sense. Portland hade a theoretically tougher schedule - playing additional games against Denver rather than Houston, still manages to post an equal record, and gets penalized by the rules.

A more sensical process would be, say, record against ther 3rd division in the conference, head-to-head, etc. But divison winner is so dependant on strength of divison that it's really unfair to use as the first tiebreaker.

I was goofing around today and came up with this:

Division A: "Mountain League"

Portland
Sacramento
Golden State
Utah
Denver

Division B: "Sun League"

LA Lakers
LA Clippers
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
That Other Team

Division C: "Gulf League"

Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Hornets
Orlando Magic
Miami Heat

Division D: "Mason-Dixon League"

Memphis Grizzlies
Indiana Pacers
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Bobcats
Washington Wizards

Division E: "Great Lakes League"

Minnesota Timberwolves
Milwaukee Bucks
Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons
Cleveland Cavaliers

Division F: "Northeast League"
Toronto Raptors
New Jersey Nets
Philadelphia 76ers
New York Knicks
Boston Celtics

If you had to break this up into East and West conferences, ABC would be west and DEF would be east; you could do North/South (AEF/BCD), or even revolving conferences each year.

You could also do THREE conferences of two divisions each. I imagine the top two teams from each divison would advance to groups of 4 teams and have a "group phase" playoff where each team in a pool plays each other twice; the winners of the group and one wild-card team advance to a 4-team playoff bracket or whatever.

Anyyyyywhoo. Just thought I would share that.

Let's imagine for the moment that Darius Miles plays one minute (or less) tonight and one minute on Friday before being cut. Let's also imagine that Miles's role is literally non-existant - he stands (or lies down) on the court while the rest of the team plays 4-on-5.

Issue #1: This would be a clear attempt to sign and play Miles only for the purposes of harming Portland's Cap/Tax situation. Given the response to Miller's Missive (As It Should Now Forever Be Known), does the NBA do anything about this situation? Do they simply waive Miles' tax/cap status in relationship to Portland? Do they punish Memphis? Do they do nothing and say 'tough cookies' to PDX? Do they defer the amount until Darius shows his comeback is real or not? Does Portland follow through and sue? (note, Stern did not say they would not support a lawsuit, just as Portland did not say that teams could not sign Miles)

Issue #2: Let's say I'm Hamad Haddadi, who has played 6 minutes all season (or, God forbid, Darko). Does my agent file a new grievance on my behalf, reasoning that the team would rather 'waste' minutes on Miles in order to outmaneouvre another franchise rather than play their own 'legitimate' player(s)? What do scrubeenies around the league think about this?

I'm in Seattle for the holidays... anyone have a recommend on a good bar in Seattle to watch Blazers game (note: Fox Sports Grill gets an automatic unrec)? I'm looking for something (in order of preference) in the U-District, Cap Hill, Downtown, or Uptown. Or possible Wallingford/Fremont. My criteria are a more or less laid-back/dive-bar type atmosphere, with inexpensive beers. I love hipster-spotting (no place beats the Goodfoot...) so a place with just enough hipsters to make it non-obnoxious is cool too.

Thanks.

There is a team that plays nominally in the Northwest Division that is looking to unload the following players, in exchange for a draft pick and/or an expiring contract.

Portland has 1 first round-pick and 4 (count 'em) 4 second round picks, along with LaFrentz's expiring contract.

Joe Smith: At this point in his career, a highly experienced version of Channing Frye. I'd consider him a rent-a-player/coach; he is due $4.5 this season and then expires. I've always liked Joe Smith, I think he is a good guy to have around the club. He won't demand alot of touches, he won't blow assignments on D, and he should be able to teach Aldridge and Outlaw a thing or two. Additionally, he'd provide the "veteran influence" that the media wants.

Chris Wilcox: A "true" power forward. He's due $6.75 for the rest of this season and then expires. His defense isn't great, but he is an athletic shot-blocker and effective interior scorer. He can rebound, in my opinion better than his numbers indicate. I would like him because he's a marked improvement over Diogu, and unlike LaFrentz, he can actually suit up.

Earl Watson: We don't need him, he can't help us, and he is horrible. Issue Closed.

Question: Is Joe Smith worth acquiring? We could technically do a LaFrentz for Wilcox + Smith deal; I don't know why the other team would want to do this... they would save about a mil in salary prorated over this season (so, about 1/2 a mil) for the pleasure of getting rid of two guys that they can non-tender the summer anyhow. We'd need to include probably a 1 and a 2 pick. Also, we'd have to waive Randolph or Diago to make this happen, because we couldn't put them in the deal.

The alternative is to do nothing, let LaFrentz, Diago, Randolph, and Frye(?) walk away and take 5 selections in the draft. Personally, I'd try to move into the lottery and then leverage that pick for a guy we really, really want (like Rodney Stuckey). I think it's time to renounce (or not renounce, who cares?) all our current overseas holdings except Kopponen, but honestly I don't ever see him contributing.