SB Nation User Blog: prezofdeath

Season Preview: Jerry Sloan

prezofdeath — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:07:05 -0000

[Note by Basketball John, 11/06/09 6:38 AM MST - Thanks to prezofdeath for doing this. If you didn't know, he's a Blazers fan ]

What's new in Utah? Nothin' at all.

As the 2009 season kicks off, what is Jerry Sloan thinking about?

Defense. As usual.

The man who earned four NBA All-Defensive First Team selections and two Second Team selections during his playing career described his Jazz a couple weeks ago as "an offensive-thinking team," who need to buckle down and play some D.

"Nobody wants to hear about defense," Sloan said. "But you need it to win."

As a Portland Trail Blazers fan, it seems I find Coach Nate McMillan saying the same thing every year. Know the feeling? Look no further than this headline that ran last October in the Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah Jazz: For coach Jerry Sloan it is - always - about defense

Posted: 12:57 PM- BOISE, Idaho -- From the very first meeting on the very first morning of training camp, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, a charter member of the NBA's all-defensive team during his playing days, started the season by talking about a subject close to his heart.

Can they deliver this year?

Though it may be the cliché answer pertaining to what the team needs to work on, as the 2009-2010 season kicks off, I see the Jazz, a team that yielded 108.9 points per 100 possessions last year (good enough for 10th in the league), honestly looking to improve.

The question is, can they actually do it?

A rocky start has left the Jazz 24th in the league in defensive efficiency, though I think it's safe to say that if the team keeps playing like it did tonight, a game in which they held a decent Spurs offense (11th in PPG, 4th in Offensive Efficiency so far this year) to 22 points in the first quarter and never looked back, the Jazz just might develop into the team that Sloan wants them to be.

Speaking of defense, how about Jerry Sloan playing defense for Carlos Boozer? Even though I'm not a huge Carlos Boozer fan, it's great to see a coach sticking up for his guy on Tuesday and then Thursday have that guy come out and drop 27 points and grab 14 rebounds.

Can Sloan can keep this group playing together as a team, rather than a group of individuals stuck with each other on a 4700 sq. ft. rectangle? Can rotations be an invisible non-issue this year?

I sure hope so; words can't describe how great it would be to see the Northwest Division spit out three solid playoff teams that present a threat to the pundits' Lakers and Spurs.

Martell with the number two play...get used to seeing him on this list :-)

prezofdeath — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:09:26 -0000

Martell with the number two play...get used to seeing him on this list :-)

Webster = DOTN. Shannon Brown gets my vote for failed dunk of the night.

prezofdeath — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:50:18 -0000

Webster = DOTN. Shannon Brown gets my vote for failed dunk of the night.

keeping your heads up

prezofdeath — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:34:36 -0000

i said about 24.hrs ago that if d.socks beat me by 100 in bowling i would retire prezofdeath from blazersedge.well blazersfans the worst case scenerio surfaced.d.socks beat me last nite. now on a very serious note,this is not the end of the world.I still will be back next time,while I'm gone I'll learn how to get in much much better conditioning.the days of eating cupcakes and start eating real healthy foods which will definately help me become more of a monster bowler down the road. the way i look at it is I've been redshirted and while I'm gone,guys like Tinfoil*Xman has to grow up as simple as that.tinfoil must give us at least a 65-70 point game this season.instead of the usual 25-40.philthy start earning your pay when see you have a single pin left drill the damn shot.we will have to show patience,and let the young bowlers grow up together.like the future champions some of them will be down the road.but this next*final statement is for the fans and all the people of the city of portland.the state of oregon and bowling fans all around the world.for the guys who hung around during the bedgeless era.my heart definately go out to you guys.the day came and went and now the dream of seeing 100% socks ownage is delayed for 1 more bowling trip.guys just"keep your head up". everything is going to be alright hell if we waited for some of us a lifetime or just a generation for others.great days are ahead for all of you.just stay the course8god will shine on us. keep smiling and enjoy the new guys develop into bowling contenders in 09-10.the courage and confidence was shown yesterday.is the reason why BRP bought drinks for this young dynamo.to me myself who really believed he let the franchise down.i just cant worry that's what philthyanimal*x.man is for.the 2 building blocks of greatness.x.man will still be a monster this season.and philthyanimal is philthyanimal a real leader of young men.what better 2 young men you want in a foxhole with you in a time of crisis. to Dougall well you heard it from our leader brp he's going to start playing you too.kid just play and grow,and everything else will workout for itself.and last but not least to the new bowlingfans.yes we know what they're called. listen this franchise is going to need you now more than ever.please please don't "jump the shark"now. "just keep your heads up"and be very patient.the guys who've stuck around will lead you through the pain trust me.don't go crazy i told you guys 2 weeks ago.you guys jumped in the pool and are now officially drowning.hey brp throw these people a life preserver will you please.and to the great bloggers at blazersedge.i know we have not had the best of relationships.a matter of fact none at all because of points of view beyond my control.i just want to say that i will own up to my pledge and will never be back and hopefully d.socks will be joining me someday.i just want to say goodbye and goodluck. enjoy the journey people everything is going to be alright.this is not a self pity good*bye far from it.i just wnat to tell the great people like jorga,kelsoballa,damir,ken,austinpwnz,geoff, idog 1976, honkaplayboy, leafhawk, staylost, appel,dheepan,claire,ak1984,rudiculousblazermaniacandy,mjm6783,ltrainftw,blazersorbust,cafecivet, renoblazersfan,usmc3049,jsnake99,hurrakane212,jpaulson,twiggs, haildablazer, arkitect,,idog1976,polisam,jscot,medmelon, fanfaraway,FreeForAll,pxilpoosher,evilkarmazov,broyalty,goblaze22,medmelon,almart1tominhawaii,donkeyshins, tssboro,jamon51, jtduck22,92wastheyear,glove,thefinfoil,ash, iverigma bow4meow,y5k,corvid,annthefan,2deep, may your loss heal your soul my friend.and if i ever comeback you will be at peace with yourself and find much happiness my friend.dougall,roybot i really personally feel for you my friend.fatswansaboni,sabonis4ever,elginbayler22,bfan,blazerfan1,mortimer,timmay!,matthewc,timg56,ratbastird,quality pie,ignacio, tyger1147, the lovely fanfaraway we must hook up sometimes,mattd, pdx1979, sexuatrex, outlawisrejector, iDea, sarbonis,cloudydays,idoltime,norsktroll, thepenguin, bowdown, zaron5551, blazer1343 i love your avatar,drivethelane,sergio ftw rest in peace, bothteamsplayed hard, falcao, lizzylowblow,blubooyay, captain sexy jacob, faith, hotstuff, hisblzrgrll remember your epic first post, OCblazerfan1, blazerfanandbeaverbeliever, hossticles, broyinthefourth, lamarvelous, ryanmcdougall, cloudydays, gunit,phillyduck23,nickvanexcellent,roodiephirnandizz,rockingharder, b-roy i know you never post but it was good to meet u at blazers edge nite, magnum,corrupt,sheed on the loading dock,gor,cablinasian,storyteller,tingeyga,jonestr,dyshooter,in walks rudy, einman77, rudiculous, killersquid,bretski,cornrows,jason t,,delinqeunt crustacean, skywalker, jp oregon, clevelander among roses, marie, timbo, enigineer montogomery scott 12sharks,pokeyguru, southern oregon,rudyftw,steve the hedge,t darkstar, leeroyjenkins, mark twain,and to all my guys at tiny chat i'll see you guys over there.and 2 france and the bedgers out there.also i would like to apologize to the people who i did'nt mentioned.these individuals blame me for being prideful i did not wnat this to happen.unfortunately i was laughing at my luck and d.socks just for laugh's.i wish you all luck someday i may be back with a fiance by my side.now that's a gonna be a trip.and to thank dave for having a site like this 1.for letting me conversate with some of the greatest fans in the world.nobody does it better than the crew at blazersedge.dave i know we don't see eye2eye but at least i did enjoy myself while i was here thank-you.i'll see you soon and i promise you,me and ben will be back together.good bye*good luck.and i love everyone at blazersege good*nite everybody see yall soon.and remember "keep your heads up" bye*bye.

9/2 Junk Drawer

prezofdeath — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:35:15 -0000

This is the junk drawer. Use it.

So what's new with everyone? I have had nine thousand two hundred different things going this week, so I been pretty busy, but things are settling down a bit. My love life has gone crazy*, but BRP is gone so I don't know what to do. I think he's on vacation staying in some ritzy hotel that's probably $920 bucks a night or something.

A question I posed on Facebook this week: When is it ok to start playing Christmas music? It has to be at least 92 days till Christmas, but nevertheless, I started this week with this song.

And if you've spent more than 9.2 seconds reading this post, you should know why I'm linking to these comments:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And just for fun, the profile of the day.

*Note: I will be missing BEdge bowling tomorrow. I had something pop up at the school I need to be at until 6pm, and after that I'll be doing other stuff. My bad peeps!

Episode 007 -- Blazers Edge Community Podcast

prezofdeath — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:44:44 -0000

A Bedgecast Boo-Ya to Ya

The podcast strikes again. It's summer, so we've been slackin', but with things starting to heat up as we move towards training camp, we've got more and more to start talkin' about.

Today, podcast veteran Philthyanimal (Phil) and newcomer The Tinfoil (Ryan) light it up as we hit relevant Blazer topics, including Brandon Roy's offseason, Travis Outlaw working out this summer, Andre Miller's fit into the lineup, LaMarcus Aldridge's contract status, the role of announcers in today's game, and NBA Memorabilia.

Beware of Tinfailage during LMA talks; I do believe he compared LMA to RLEC somewhere in there. Wah wah.

Direct Stream

Direct stream of the show can be found by clicking here. 30 Megabytes || 55:53 minutes

Subscribe via Podcast (iTunes, etc.)

As always, you can head over to iTunes and subscribe to our podcast by searching for "Blazer Laser" or "Blazers Edge." If you use some other podcast catcher, use our direct RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/becommunity

Discuss

So, jump in! I know we've had a few fanposts on some of these issues (namely LMA's contract, Andre Miller's role, the broadcasting stuff), but on some of the other topics, like memorbilia, I'm curious as to what everyone's take is. Do you collect it? Do you envy Philthy to no end or do you laugh at him for "wasting" time and money collecting that stuff? And most importantly, who would win the Tom vs. Mortimer fight?

PS--Props to Phil for another great show and to Tinfoil for sounding like an old pro. You guys both did great.

Bedgeball live blog/evening junk drawer 7 28

prezofdeath — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:44:28 -0000

Bedgeball has begun! We here at b e. Arena and a solid turnout of twenty people or so. 10 minute quarters and white is killing 28-8.

Philthy, TonyStratam, Tinfoil, Appel, cafe civet, arkitect, dougle, broyposse, brp's bro anh, kelsoballa, and about 10 others whose screen name I either don't know or have forgotten. S4E is runnin clock and I'm trying to keep up on iPhone. Stay tuned for more media updates from courtside blogging with your host, el prezzo!

7/25 Junk Drawer

prezofdeath — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:13:39 -0000

Wadduppp junk drawer amigos/amigas? How's life treatin' ya? Well it's the weekend and even child slave laborers get breaks on the weekend, so here I am.

So things pretty quiet around here? I see Dave is trying to artificially inflate fanpost numbers with a contest....what a guy, what a guy (kidding Dave...I luv ya). Can't wait for whatever other summer announcements we got....

Aight, well, the subject for today's JD is TBD at a later time...so for now, random junk prevaileth.

Love to all,

Prez

July 09, 2k9 Evening Junk

prezofdeath — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:02:00 -0000

What up? It's the Junk D. Here's some stuff before we get red hot and rollin'...

Sprite Slam Dunk Tour...you guys been followin' this thing? Some pretty cool dunks...nothing groundbreaking, but not bad for average Joes. This week they were in Philly. I think I saw ~~BRP makin' out with some random chick in the background.~~ Just kidding, we all know that would never happen.

Also, who on Bedge would you consider your biggest frenemy?

Last random thought: Sunday I'm movin' to town, so my BEER might temporarily take a dip (Blazers Edge Efficiency Rating).

Junking will commence in 3...2...1...

Poll

Roybot informs me we need a poll. I was going to ask her what it should be about, but I decided I'd open it up and let everyone decide. What should the poll be about?

Croquet

1 votes

Albacore

3 votes

Bromancing

11 votes

Igloos

4 votes

Sledgehammers

4 votes

Hedgefunds

3 votes

Oregon's best scenic view (only get to choose one)

10 votes

Triscuits

5 votes

!

15 votes

56 votes | Poll has closed

Think he'd sign for veteran's minimum?

prezofdeath — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:49:35 -0000

Think he'd sign for veteran's minimum?