First off, I think this was a great article and read. 

Below I've taking quotes and made comments.  In part I'm commenting because Travis feels fans hate him.  I won't back down from statements I've made, but I do want Travis to know that I don't believe fans hate him at all.   Anyway, it was a cool article and one people should check out. 

 

And people have long assumed that Outlaw wasn’t very smart, perhaps because of his country drawl, perhaps because of his anxiety around large groups of media, or because he never attended college. He would admit that books and school were never his forte, but at the same time, Outlaw is one of the wisest guys on the team. He has an incredible ability to assess a situation and break it down to the simplest and most logical of terms.

I keep hearing that people don't think Travis is smart.  (Which is different than the BBIQ)  I was hoping someone could link me to that because I have yet to read that myself.     I just keep reading this and it irks me because... well... I haven't read that anywhere of anyone actually saying it but I hear people talking about this rumor of it being said.  I think it's more rumor than actual fact.  I really don't think it's been said anywhere, but if it has, please link it so I can mentally whip the person who said it.

Frankly I think he's a cool and wise guy.  I have no idea about his intelligence because I just don't know him, but I do see signs that he has some good wisdom about him and every article I ever read, when he comes down from being brash, seems to show this as well.  (not that brash is bad, sometimes you need that and it can be used.  I honestly like that at times when it's the player representing the team and showcasing that they have confidence and pride in what they're doing.)

I loved that Travis said this:

This is the last year in his contract, and after his earlier tweet, I expected him to be statistically motivated. But when I asked him if he felt he needed to have a big year to get a good contract, he surprised me with his answer.

“I feel like everybody wants somebody off a winning team, that’s the way I look at it,’’ Outlaw said.

He talked about putting his work in this summer, an area that has been lacking in his previous six seasons. I asked where he felt he improved.

“I would have to say and I hate to use the word, because I don’t believe in it, but basketball IQ. But just my whole aspect of looking at the game. I used to look at it as scoring mentality. But now it’s like I look at it as, what's my advantage? I mean, I know I can get my shot off against anyone, but now it’s kind of like, we know you can get your shot off, but can you get in the lane, create for others, or can you score when the team needs it?’’

I think a lot of what he says gets blown up(referring to Quick's interview last year about scoring and then the twitter).  They're stars playing at an elite level and yet they're also young guys having fun.  Who HASNT bragged about something in regards to sports.  You're talking smack and letting it out because you feel proud in what you do.   We all do it, but when a star does it, people go stupid nuts. 

Part of that is people may also feel nervous.  The team we have is incredible, so what's going to go wrong?  I think some of us, and i"m likely guilty too, are looking for something bad because we can't believe how good things are going.

Either way, I love what Travis said here.  He still seems focused on offense and I think he could be a defensive juggernaut if he put his mind to it, but it shows an overall desire to do what it takes to win for and with the team.  I admit I'm a person that was a little concerned that he'd be more focused on himself (although I think I mostly brushed it off, just raised the eyebrow), and this puts me completely at ease and tells me  that he's having fun talking smack, but in the end, he totally gets it.  Frankly, it makes me like him more and I don't think I'll be worrying about brash comments in the future.

 

Travis also talked about the lack of fan love.

“I read the blog, and I saw some of it,’’ he said almost sheepishly. “I wanted to write back on it, but I said some things don’t deserve a response. Everybody has their opinion, and me sitting and arguing about it ain’t gonna solve it.’’

It’s one of the reasons why Outlaw contends that he is one of the most hated Blazers and likely to be traded. He says he is “fine” with Portland (“heck, been here six years, it’s like a second home”) but at the same time he claims he has never been embraced.

 

I don't think ANY blazer fan hates Travis.  I could be wrong, but I really don't think this is the case.   I suspect that of all the guys on the blazers, he's probably the one who's coolest to hang out with.

I think what this is about is that fans see someone who can be absolutely amazing in Travis.  He can score almost at will, his length and athleticism make him a potential match up nightmare.   What I see is someone who can be a star.  I also see someone that isn't always in the right spot or isn't always doing what I believe is the best decision.  I do NOT hate Travis.  I love the guy, but as a basketball player I also feel frustrated because I believe he can be so much more.   If Udoka came in and did what Outlaw does, I think people would be excited because it all comes down to expectations.   We don't expect Udoka to do anything at this point, but a lot of us expect the world of Outlaw.  It's stupid, but it's what people do at times.

My end conclusion on Travis is that we, as fans, never know the whole story.  Maybe Nate sends him out there with a "don't worry about anything except scoring."   The players are asked to fill roles and I trust this coaching staff and management to make the smart decisions with roles and position.  They know what they want from the players and what the players can do and Travis's minutes showcase the fact that he gave the team what they wanted.   The fact we won 54 games showcases the fact that the team was right about what they wanted.  The fact he hit game winner after game winner showed that he gets the job done.

If Travis is reading this, just remember that Fan's are idiots (yes that includes me).   We love being being backseat coaches because we love our team and we love the game.   There was a time where I believe the fan base was smarter than management, but that time has long passed.  Now the fans are idiots and the only people Travis should be concerned about is the coaching staff and what THEY tell him he should be doing.  54 wins say they know better than the fans.

We do have a log Jam at SF.  I don't know who'll win out and who'll be traded, but honestly, if outlaw is about winning and team and wants to be here, I will happy to have him.   If he does leave, you better believe I'll be clapping for him when he's introduced.

On a side note... holy crud this seems to have become more complicated to post since last i did it!!!

 

So, I've now received my play-off tickets.

Information for those who may not know, because I didn't.

online sales

Season ticket holder's tickets on sale online at the blazer website for playoff games:  (was able to post on 4/08/09)

https://www.ticketmrktplace.com/ex/loginFrame.action?team=Blazers

***UPDATE***

Online sales have a 15% additional charge and a $6 ticket charge per Timmay! 

The 15% service charge and $6 order charge are processed AFTER you have selected your tickets so those costs are added to the price of whatever the tickets are.

Online sales from the blazer site can be picked up at will call and are not sent out electronically.

Thanks for the info Timmay!

***END UPDATE****

additional tickets for season ticket holders

Additional (up to four) tickets for season ticket holders go on sale:  4.13.09 noon

If you know a season ticket holder I'd suggest you ping them for the tickets to guarantee your spot and not pay extremely high prices.

Sale to general public:

Sale to general public:  4.16.09 noon (per blazers website.  Let me know if the info is wrong because I was searching for it and finally just went to purchase single tickets and found the information there)

So, a poll because i'm curious.

 

 

 

Poll

How many people are going to the game or want to go?

20%

I have season tickets and I'm set!

31 votes

1%

I have season tickets but live out of town or can't go for other reasons :(

2 votes

2%

I will pay any price for those tickets (say 3x ticket face value or $100 a seat in the 300 level) because I'll be darned if I'm not going!

4 votes

2%

I'll pay any price for those tickets, but the seating has to have a good view

4 votes

21%

I'll pay a reasonable price (say 2x ticket face value or $50ish a seat in the 300 level) but I really can't afford to splurge

32 votes

23%

I'll be in line on Thursday at noon and if i can't get a ticket then, then I'll just watch on tv.

35 votes

24%

I'd love to go, but thanks to being a broke college student (or otherwise broke) there's really no way I could seriously contemplate this.

36 votes

2%

I have a kid, and I'm willing to auction him off. Blazer tickets AND save some money for future play-off games. Can't lose.

4 votes

148 votes | Poll has closed

I started out with the thought I'd take a look at the team record in March and April and find an amazing hot streak taking place.   You know, a couple of nice wins in a row interrupted by a fluke loss.  Instead I made a different observation.

The blazers would lose a five games a month except for December when the blazers lost six games.  This did not change in March and April is obviously too small of a sample.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/por/schedule?v=list&m=10&y=2008

The blazers lost at least two in a row five times and three in a row only once.    None of those two game losses were in March.

The blazers played 16 games in 31 days during March.  That's a lot of basketball.   Eyeballing the other months it looked like it was all about the same.  I know they play a lot of games, but that brought it a little into perspective for me.

Something else that stood out is the bet Outlaw had with Mike Rice.  Didn't Outlaw have a bet with Mike Rice about snagging down ten rebounds?  According to the stats, Outlaw snagged 10 on March 13th.  Possibly the bet wasn't on then?  Outlaw has only snagged 10 rebounds two other times this year.  Pretty safe bet if you're not betting every game but pick a game here or there.

So, I wasn't able to point out any amazing winning streak that was obvious to my naked eye.  This bummed me a little because I need justification for my irrational hope that the blazers make the finals.  The eyeballing does emphasis the consistency that the blazers have played with.  So, i guess yay there.  *grumble*

I looked at the score to see if all the wins were crushing and the losses close.  It varied, but some losses were crushing losses and of course we had a few crushing wins, but others were within a few points.  Nothing there that shouts dominance that's out of the ordinary.

Obviously I want to believe that the blazers are hot and taking it to another level.  So if they are, then the next obvious spot to check would be the win percentage.

The blazers currently have a .641 winning percentage for the year but from March-April they're at .700.  If we were to lose the next game we'd be at .666 (I was curious to see how much a loss would change our win percentage.  Clearly losing the next game would be evil and thus it should not happen.  I'm amused that one number is 7 and the other 666).   That would translate into 54 wins so far instead of the current 50 so far.  So, while a huge hot streak isn't really showing up, the win percentage is slightly better at the moment and i'll take that.

That is my bit of hope that we'll smash other teams to dust and take it all.  Experience be darned.  Yes... I realize i live in a fantasy world, but it's nice here.

 

 

 

 

!@#$&(&!(@)#^$)!@#^$!@)#$^!@#$^&

and

@#$%

Okay, now that that's out of my system.   Boy did those Blazers make the Jazz look good.  I think my gf said it best when she said "the blazers must be really tired, Greg Oden looks energetic!"

Monday I will be baking 300 cookies, wearing PINK fluffy slippers, an apron with the jazz logo, and I will be serving it to each and everyone of the 70-100 employees we have.  BAH

The Cheerleaders:

I've got to admit, their skill level is low but their outfits weren't bad.   They had this colorful sparkly one that if they added wings, they'd be looking like faeries.  Another black outfit with a white undershirt was rather cute.  I wasn't completely into the shorts as I'm definitely a skirt man, but not bad.

The Pregame:

Watched Sergio take about 100 shots.   Watched him miss 50-60% of them.  His shots looked flat and some with arcs would hit the rim.  He signed autographs before he headed into the tunnel.   A lot of YOUNG blazer fans at the games.  Many were in full on jersey mode.  I may need to break down and get a jersey so I can fly my teams colors.

The warmup involved the blazers making about 20% of their shots.   Possibly not a good sign, but I had a good vibe.  Determined to win because, you know... my blazers wouldn't let me down... right?  I refused to let any negativity into it my thinking.

Oden:

I watched Oden a lot tonight so I'll drop it all here.  During warm ups he looked like he belonged. I say this not in how he practiced, but how he stood and walked and his body language.   He didn't look like some drooped over kid that was wondering what he was doing there, but like a guy that was supposed to be on the court.   I find that to be a good thing... but...

During warm-up he'd grab the ball and hand it off to someone else instead of shooting multiple times.  MULTIPLE times.   He probably had half as many shots as everyone else.   His shots also had the feel of "I'm not going to invest in this so that if I miss it's because I didn't really try".   I've played like that before and it NEVER ends well.   If you know what I'm talking about, that's what I saw from his shots in practice.   He never dunked.  He banked a few, and he had some flat hook shots that would make those Zamboni drivers proud.  I winced.   This guy looks like he has ZERO offense.  He also had zero energy.

During the game, this ugliness continued.   Seriously, I think I have better form and feel than Greg Oden does and I suck.  He doesn't seem to have the feel for where the basket it.  At ALL.  I can hook shots in because I KNOW where the basket is.  No I couldn't shoot blind folded all the time and make them, but I could make a few after I play on a basket a little bit.  Greg doesn't have this feel at all.   He has like -10 to that skill.  Really, when I see greg I imagine a character in WOW with resurection sickness.   -75% to all stats.

Greg helps out the team in a lot of ways.  He also hurts the team in a lot of ways.  My gf was screaming for Pryz to be in.  Normally I feel that greg helps out in ways that don't show up in the stats other than a win, but this game, I saw something maybe twice.

Overall I don't like Greg's body language.  It's improved, but he looks like he's just afraid to invest himself because he's afraid he'll fail.  I don't like how he feels, to me, isolated from his team out there.  I have a strong feeling that someone needs to kick his freaking asphalt and tell him to suck it up.  I felt for the guy earlier, but I'm sorry... at some point you need to freaking deal and someone should tell him that.  Have fun, act like you want to be there, act like you care about the shots instead of not committing to them.  He's practicing how NOT to do it, and that's not good.

Obviously there are coaches who know more than I do.  This is simply what I saw and the "vibe" I got from watching him.

Game Time:

The blazers came out with some energy.  It didn't last longer than the 1st quarter and maybe not even that long.  They also came out with holes in their defense large enough to drive the titanic through without hitting a berg.  Last time they came to town I complained about the lack of help defense and directing players into others.  this game the jazz would just pass to wide open spots so that defense wouldn't have helped because the blazers couldn't find their man with GPS attached to their hineys and big flashing arrows pointing to them.

The crowd was decently loud AND it didn't sound canned or amplified.  Quieter than the last game, but the cheers sounded real.  Very much like a blazer crowd in that they want their team to win.   Fans would jump up shouting "YES!!!"   on the good plays and were very involved.

Their mascot, as much as I don't like him, is there, not for the kiddies, but to AMP up that crowd.  The blazer mascot should take some notes.   I swear that Blaze is only there for the kids and thus he is a buzz kill of mine.

I laughed at Sergio and Rudy jumping around like mexican jumping beans at the top of the key and then "ZIP" the pass goes between them right under the basket for a dunk.   At that point I suspected that the blazers would not be making a come back.

The blazers hold the ball too long and miss WIDE open opportunities for nice passes.   I don't know if you can see it on tv, but many times the blazers would be running down and a man would be open or semi open.  A quick pass and you have an easy bucket.  Instead the blazers let the defense settle in and pass the ball 20 times and suddenly it was ten times harder to score.

Additionally, with 2 minutes left and down by nine you TAKE that quick 3pt shot or inside shot when you're open.  Instead the blazers would keep passing.  You just do NOT have the clock time to do that.   In that situation it's time to gamble a little because if you play it safe, you're going to lose.  

A thought crossed my mind that the "7 seconds or less" Sun shooting rules might need to be applied to this team.  This team needs to know when to gamble and when to get the ball moving QUICKLY and when to recognize you're open for a good shot.    rudy passed up a wide open three to pass to sergio who was a little more covered and NOT as good shooting the three.  Passing for the sake of passing is dumb.

A guy commented behind me:  "The blazers only have one good player, and that's Roy."   Watching this game only, I really can't argue.  Aldridge got his points, had nice finesse shots, but he does not dominate.  I suspect that bumping him around a bit would really mess with his game.

Sergio and Greg kept getting balls stripped from their hands.  When you're tired you react slower and when you're not (jazz) things can seem like they're in slow motion and thus the game becomes easy because you can be insanely precise.

The Fouls:

I'm not going to get too down on the refs here.  That said, there were some major phantom fouls at the beginning of the game against the blazers.   The blazers were being aggressive, it was just flat out bad calls.

The Flagrant on Frye looked like he simply stuck his hand up and got ball and the guy collapsed under it.   You would probably see better than I would with the 20 replays I'm sure you got.

The mascot shined the refs shoes, played with them, high fived them and fisted fived them (what is that called anyway?).   Home cooking?  Possibly, but the blazers didn't come to play either.  Yeah, we got bad calls, but the blazers could have played to reverse that and they didn't.

The blazer fans:

Saw quite a few of them.   One across the aisle 4 up front.  The cam flashing around snagged blazer jerseys jumping into the picture at least twice and probably more as I wasn't paying attention to the cam all the times.   Highlight of the game was when a girl groped her gf and attempted to flash the crowd but couldn't get her shirt up because it was too tight.

Place wasn't swarming with blazer fans, but you could hear clapping and cheers and I'm sure each section had at least five to ten.   I think that's pretty good.  also, lots of empty seats.

The Summary:

Cheerleaders still suck at stunts but looked good with their outfits.  Definite upgrades.

Blaze should take serious notes and learn how to pump up the crowd.

Blazers played like a  team that's been in 7 different cities in the past 12 days.  If you don't travel a lot, you have no idea what that's like.  I've done enough traveling to know I'd be hating life.

I'm going to be ribbed about this bet for a long long long time.  My team let me down and I'm a bit ticked despite reasons that I can understand it happening.   I did NOT want to lose this bet.

I'm bummed.  I was hoping my blazers would step up.  They've had a harsh schedule, but I was still hoping for some love and I feel like they let me down.  Obviously they don't know me from that brown stain in my neighbors yard, but seriously that's how I feel.

Hopefully the blazers can wake up for the clipper game because right now they look like they need a week off and they can't have it.   That clipper game will be 8 games in 13 days and 7 different cities and 8 different flights to cities.  Just so you all know.  I'm not super hopeful they'll do well that game either.  I should say, that I won't be surprised if they lose.   That team is TIRED.

 

 

Pre Game

This was a game I went to conditioning myself for a possible loss.   I felt that we had a good chance of winning and it was a game I was determined to lose my voice at because I would be DARNED if the blazers lost because I didn't scream, shout, and cheer loud enough.

Watching the Hornets shoot around I noticed a couple of things.  First off the Hornets had a little swagger to their walk.  They seemed confident.   They were joking around with each other and seemed actively involved and interested in each other while practicing.  In short, they were doing what I would like the blazers to do a little more of and I saw what I'd like to see a little more of from the blazers.  They were doing this more than I've seen from the blazers.  This had me a little concerned.

One thing I liked... the Hornets seemed unable to hit the broad side of a barn that was mooning them in grandma's panties.   They missed shot after shot.  It took about a minuted before a hornet made an outside shot.  This I liked.

The Cheerleaders

Nice school girl outfits.   One of the cheerleaders was even so kind as to lose her skirt during the dance!  YAY!!!!   She never lost her smile or composure and actually seemed to laugh along with the crowd.  Seriously, the cheerleaders for our team just seem to be really cool people.  Also... holy abdomen batman!   I swear their stomach muscles grew over thanksgiving!!!  They also tossed in some duck vs beaver outfits.

The timeout entertainment

Okay, I haven't said anything about this for a while, because I've been happy, for the most part relative to last year.   The timeouts have been somewhat aligned with the crowd and has helped enhance in past games.   sure there have been a couple of crowd momentum killers, but it has been soooo much better than last year.  That is until tonight.

First off, I like that the the crowd ignored some of the stupid canned chants.  This crowd seems to be about doing real chants that matter and IT seems to be deciding when and how it'll cheer.  I love it.   The only dumb canned cheer the crowd did was "let's go blazers, let's go" in teh fourth quarter.  Frankly it was terrible, but the crowd ignored other stupid chants and I love that.  I think they were too busy actually cheering.

The crowd was taken out of it EVERY time-out with poor enhancement or stupid contests that KILLED crowd excitement.   The fourth quarter is NOT the time for that crap.   Luckily the audience decided to heck with the stupid crowd momentum killer and they'd cheer regardless.  You'd here a few people leading it and then everyone would join in.   When a play was made the crowd would ERUPT!  They were waiting for a reason, ANY reason to cheer.

Seriously though... when the crowd is as vocal and loud as tonight was... DONT FREAKING MESS THAT UP!!!  I can not TELL you how upset I get about that.  I get that there are sponserships and other activities, but keep it out of the fourth folks.  Also, get some people and/or a system that lets the person in control REACT to the crowd instead of trying to control it.  Help the crowd get to where they want to go.  That was a loud volatile crowd that loved it some blazers!!!  Quit buzz killing!!!

Okay, that's out of my system.   Now on to the actual important stuff!!!  (but if blazer staff read this... PLEASE find a freaking balance.   Tonight SUCKED.  Miami and San Antonio game was decent.   React with the crowd and help the crowd and quit killing the excitement!!!)

The, you know... actual point of the post.   The Game

The Blazers looked good.  I noticed that they had some break downs on defense, but honestly, good offenses do that and you can't be perfect 100% of the time.  We broke the hornets down more often and more completely.   Even when the hornets managed to shake free, a lot of shots seemed to be with a hand in the face.

Fouls.  The blazers got away with a lot of fouls in the first half.   The second half seemed like New Orleans got quite a few of the calls.   We booed loudly about it, but in all honesty I could see why the refs would miss some of those calls.   We also got away with a lot of fouls in the first so I think it evened out.  

A cool moment in the game was when the guy did a soccer slide into Rudy.   Rudy was limping around and the entire Rose Garden started Cheering "RUDY! RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!!!" for thirty seconds or so.   It was pretty awesome.  Why were we cheering him?  Who cares, we love the hustle he brings and it's an easy name to chant!

Oden is looking a little faster now.   He still seems off balance and he's still taking too long on his shots.  It's like he needs to bend down to explode as hard as he can and I'm goign "NO!  JUST TAKE IT and put it in!!!"   Not worried about it.  He just seems a little off with balance, a little slow on speed and I think that'll come.   He bobbled down some rebounds and he passed pretty dang well.   I'm actually VERY happy with his passing.   I don't know that I'm going to go with a shaq comparison anymore.  I honestly think he'll be better but in a different way.  The guy looks to pass and I love that.  I'll take a healthy Walton over shaq any day.   I think Oden is going to be a cross between those two guys.  LIke I said, I was impressed.

Blake on Paul.   Dude, seriously... I'm impressed.   I don't know what the TV or stats will tell you because I haven't looked but he was hustling like CRAZY out there.  Paul is small and quick but Blake stayed in front of him a LOT!   I'm crazy impressed.   I mean, you're talking about the best freaking point guard in the league and it looked to me like Blake and the blazers shut that kid down.  Again, I don't have stats, but watching live from 12 seats away (finally counted them) I was amazed.  Blake looked just as fast as paul at times.  I currently don't feel the need for a Bayless because the blake sergio combo are doing so awesome... which brings me to Sergio.

Sergio, I love you man, really I do.   But... Frye was in the corner TWICE wide open TWICE and you didn't see him!!!  This was when New Orleans was making a push and took the lead by a point.   Sergio kept looking left to Rudy and didn't see Frye to the corner in the right.  Sergio needs to remember there are other players on the court besides his buddy because it felt like he was looking for Rudy a little too much.   I guarantee Frye would have made one of those threes or passed back out and opened up the middle a little.   I brushed it off the first time, but the second play in a row that he did it I started yelling at him that Frye was open.  Not that he could hear me of course.

I really don't have much more to say.  Pryz, Batum, Roy, you guys are freaking studs.  Aldridge attacked inside and I loved it!  He seemed VERY confident and I loved the attack.

Summary

Blazers got away with a lot of fouls, but so did New Orleans in the second half.  Some Jersey holding when people weren't looking but not NEARLY as bad as the Miami game.  The Blazers look good and are passing and communicating and their team defense is looking incredible right now.   It wasn't as good as the miami game but New Orleans is a much better team and good teams will break it down now and then.

I'm so impressed with this team.  I'm so proud of how they hustle.   I love that they got into New Orleans face when Roy was fouled and I love that I see Joel mouthing off with other Centers during games.  Guys, I don't think this team is soft.  They walk tough, they look tough, they're taking hard fouls, they're communicating, moving, playhing smart, and hustling.   Frankly, I think other teams up their level of play with the blazers because the blazers look like they're leaving it all on the floor.

I've been to two more blazer games and even if we'd lost, I'd have been proud of this team.   I'm thankful that I didn't have to fell that pain.  They've won both games I've been here and opening night.  It feels good.

My next game report will be against the Jazz in Utah.

Good night ya'll!

Personal Note:

Driving in from Utah and catching a couple of hours of sleep before these games leaves me with little energy.  I came to this game tired.  You know what though, that doesn't stop me from cheering and yelling my heart out.  Superstitious of me, but I believe if I let my section be silent with my absence that the Blazers may deflate and be flat.   I came out cheering hard no matter how tired I was. 

I also forget how good my seats are.  I'm about 15 seats away from the floor.  I'm amazed I wasn't able to give these tickets away one game when they didn't sell.  Nothing like watching some of those sweet sweet alleyoops RIGHT in your face!  I found it amusing that I wanted a live replay on some of those.

Cheerleaders:

Cheerleaders.  Okay Zebra girls.  If I'm going to brag about your outfits and how much better you are over the Utah cheerleaders, you can't come out looking like you're ready to get it on with some Zebras.  I know we want to keep portland strange, but seriously... add a black miniskirt or something to that so you look like hot ref's instead of zebras.  After that horrible outfit the blazer dancers came back with much more flattering and better looking outfits.   My girlfriend loved the socks though.  I'd have agreed if my eyes hadn't gone cross-eyed at the skirting stripe selection.   Again I appreciate that the cheerleaders have curves and I can't use all of them to clean my teeth with.  Some of the guys were holding these girls up in the air and it looked like an off night.  Their arms were shaking something fierce.  No injuries or deaths which is too bad.  I had this wonderful fantasy of running to the cheerleaders bed and consolling her or her friends and... anyway.

 

Pregame warm ups:

I've been complaining about communication and team work.   The other team warms up right in front of me so I watched these guys.  Wade seemed to be in a world of his own.  He'd half heartedly do a little spin move or something but it felt like "yawn, this practice is really not needed can we get onto the game?"   He rarely interacted with his team mates.   Beasely and another heat guy used warm-up to shoot a high arching shot and see who could make it the highest and make it the most.  Beasely made quite a few actually.  Pretty cool to watch but the only real interaction with team mates I saw.   Actually, He was interacting with an usher more than his team mates.

 

The game:

:::drools:::

People moved.  People defended.  We don't have those blind no look passes that Wade has for his team mates.  Actually, if Wade's team mates could have hit the broad side of a barn those would have been highlight passes for sure.  Wade is simply amazing.   Before the game I said there was no way we'd shut Wade down.  Wouldn't happen, couldn't happen, keep dreaming.   Somehow the blazers shut him down.   Part of it was defense and part of it was flat out luck or confidence that his fellow players ate two bowls of suck this morning.  Maybe the blazers slipped in these bowls of suck secretly?

I'm going to skip around a bit at little things that I saw that I liked.   First off, Aldridge came out with clean shots and made them.  They were jump shots that were wide open, but I'll take it.

Oden is looking AMAZINGLY better between now and the first/second game he played.  He's still not here yet though.  You watch the other blazer starters and they move with purpose.  They're strong, smooth, confident.  Oden is... there.  His posture is a little goofy too.  He doesn't carry himself like a beast but sort of slumps to his right (or left) side.  It was weird watching him stand there.

That said, he's going to be a beast.  I loved some of his fouls because he was starting to force things down below.  Sure he was called, but I don't care.  I want him to butt bump the opponent onto their butts!  I WANT him to be aggressive and smack players down.   Frankly, I wish he'd done some of those fouls HARDER.   He's going to make mistakes and I want him confidently making them.

Batum... I couldn't help but notice him because my girlfriend kept screaming about him with every little thing that he did that was magic.  Which in this game was a lot.  I love the energy he brings.

Rudy came into the game.  First thing that happened?  One of my major issues?  Rudy and Roy TALKED!  It was a quick couple of seconds but they touched base and got on the same same page.  I've been complaining about team work and communication and low and behold I saw something!   I got excited.

Another moment I liked is that the blazers needed to inbound the ball.  Sergio was there and said "i'm not freaking inbounding that, I'm the freaking point guard!"  He looks around "YO!  BAYLESS!!!  GET OVER HERE!!!"  Bayless ran from the other side, looked like he wanted to put up a fight, and it didn't matter.  Sergio was boss and that there floor.  I LOVED that.  Sergio was 100% the floor general telling people what to do and where to go.

Half time Frye and Blake were talking and joking around more than they were practicing.  Cool to see, but then i started thinking, "hey, couldn't you guys meet up for tea and crumpets afterwards!!??  We're only up by 19!  Get intense and finish these guys!!!"  I saw other quick conversations going on away from the ball.

Players were pointing or waving where they wanted the ball or screens or whatever.  Again, communication.  Team work... loved it.

Everything I've been complaining about wasn't there tonight.  Or rather it was.  It was with the heat.

Bayless!!!   Almost forgot!   He drove in for, I thought a dunk, and as he looked like he was going up he PASSED!   It was a SWEET pass!  Frankly, I'd rather see moves like that over just about anything!   Kudos Bayless, that rocked man.

Pryz.   The man, the beast, the vanilla Pryzilla!  His last block of the night that was preceeded by another one sent the crowd to their feet ROARING!   Joel was immediatly out and the crowd cheered like crazy for about 30 seconds.  Seemed to take a while to inbound the ball there possibly because it was so noisy.

 

Summary

That game was TOTALLY worth driving 900 miles for.  Here's hoping they can beat NO too!   I'll be there and I don't plan on leaving with a voice.  This is my mission.  I was very happy from what I saw with the blazers on the team level.  Personal level, I just want to see Greg keep grinding away and get some mean.  It'll come, but if I have to dig for SOMETHING, it's for Greg to come out of that shell a little more.   I love what he's doing and the rate he's improving.  The kid is definitely special!

The crowd was quieter than opening night and people were EATING during the game around me!  Don't they know they're supposed to cheer too???  Luckily I had some strong blazer fans a couple of seats back and they helped me carry the load.

Awesome awesome dunks and shots and mmm curvy cheerleaders.  It was  good game and good night.

***EDIT***

Oh yeah, awesome help defense!!!   Greg was out on the perimeter because he was pulled out during a screen.  Know what, that was fine!  The guard ran to the basket and Oden guided him right into... another blazer player.   I saw that CONSTANTLY!!!

Travis guarded Wade.   He was able to do it thanks to... HELP DEFENSE!!!

The blazers did incredible on defense tonight.   VERY few times did Miami get a shot up without a hand in their face or a blazer player around them.   I think I only saw two or three wide open shots and two of those were because wade drew the defense and did INCREDIBLE passes... and yet those players still missed.

The blazers passed like crazy and broke down the miami defense, but our defense last night was drool worthy.

I think that's everything now.  It better be.  I have perogies to make and turkeys to cook!

***AGAIN***

LOTS of Jersey grabbing by Miami against the blazers.  Refs weren't calling it, but blazers were being held all over the place.   You'd see Jersey's snapping back into place a LOT.

Miami coach has the eyes of Jim Carrey when he makes those faces.  It was freaky.

 

So I've had some time to cool off and I'm still not cool, but I'm in a better mood.  I'll give you the break down of my night.  it wasn't just the Blazers that got me hot, in the bad "I don't really need a shower unfortunately" meaning of the word.  Naw, there were a few other things.

The Fans

Blazer fans that is.  There were a number at the game and quite a few in one section.  You could hear them cheering every once and a while, but I couldn't see them.  I'm guessing they were on the level right above me to my right.

Saw KP.  He was watching the game from the kitty corner to the Blazers.  Thought about saying hi to him again, but decided not to bug him.

There was a blazer fan with his daughter next to me, so we chatted a little.  We were 10 seats away so yelling became problematic.  when more people arrived. 

Jazz fans were quiet for most of the game until the mascot incident that I talk about below.  The seats were half full until after halftime.  this is, apparently, a strange Utah thing.   The fans aren't any louder than the blazer fans, but the building conducts that noise like crazy!  I also believe that some canned sound is used because when I look around at people clapping, i don't see enough to justify the noise.   Possibly there are microphones to enhance it?   Blazer fans were FAR noiser on opening night, but that noise isn't amplified like the jazz fans are in their building.

 

The Cheerleaders

First off, I know you're all waiting for reports on these horrible cheerleaders.   You'll be happy to know that they've improved.  The god awful sparkly outfit short dress thing with white coyboy boots was only used once and then they went to these sexier ref shirts and short black mini-skirts.  Their dancing was still out of sync, but they managed a few backflips and two of the girls actually managed to stay in sync together while back flipping!!!   I'll definitely take the beauty of portland cheerleaders though and their actual skill.  Also, the cheerleaders were more diversified so this leads me to believe that maybe the preseason girls were also a little bit in the tryout stage as they were ALL blonde?  Still 95% ugly though. 

 

The Mascot

This subject has me hot.  I'll just run down what I saw, but I seriously hope the guy sues and wins.  The wookie/teenwolf (or bear as my girlfriend finally realized last night despite the fact I'd already told her) was going down the aisle and shooting people with silly string.  All was fine and dandy until he found a blazer fan and shot it all over him and in his beer cup.   This beer is about $8-$9 a cup.  It's also weak beer 2% or so beer.  ( I don't drink, so I don't actually know the strength, but I know people complain like crazy about the beer water.)

The fan didn't take too kindly to the ruinage of his lovely weak beverage.  He was irate and acted out of helpless anger... because really the only other option is to chalk up that $8 as a loss or drinkng with all the silly string.  The blazer fan took his cup and DUMPED it over the Mascot.   This of course got the Jazz fans MAJORLY worked up.  The security guards came along and escorted him out.   I was torn between it being freaking funny, the unjustness of this out of control mascot doing something that would OBVIOUSLY tick off someone, and the realization that the fan did not act appropriatly.

The guards let the guy back in and the crowd booed.  I think the guy realized that he hadn't been cool and just waved.  Fine and dandy... except that the Mascot goes out and grabs a bucket of... I assume water.  He runs up the stairs and the security guards stop him.  I figure this is funny and this is where it should end.  Except it isn't.  He leaps around the security guard and dumps the entire bucket over him and knocks him back against the seat and then runs off.  The Jazz fans roar in approval.  The fan is then booted from the Arena by the security guards.

While the blazer fan obviously lost his cool, it's up to the representatives of the organization to maintain their cool and be professional.  I am beyond ticked at the unprofessionalism shown last night.  This is also not an abnormal thing.  Talking to a jazz fan who was appologizing to me, she said that the string has been used to incite other non-jazz fans as well, so the actions were purposeful.  Being told this just [s] made me love utah all the more [/s].

I seriously hope the guy can sue or something.  I'm sure there's assault or battery in there somewhere... of course that opens him up to a counter suit unless the Jazz handle it quietly for PR reasons.  Damn i hate the Jazz.  I haven't felt such raw emotion towards a team or organization or FANS since karl Malone took out Brian Grants teeth with his wild purposeful elbows.

 

The Blazers

Watching this game, the blazers NEVER felt like they were in control.   Even with a ten point lead, I was positive the blazers would lose this, and here's why.

The Blazers couldn't run the fast break.  There were a few opportunities which ended with Aldridge not being prepared and bobbling the ball, or the person with the ball running up court, but NO ONE following.  This wasn't a "we need to rebound to run".  The Blazers WERE running it, and failing miserably.  No one was sprinting or TRYING as a team to score.  People would get the ball and go "oh shoot!  what do i do???"

I saw multiple breakdowns of the players not knowing where to move or what to do when in position.   I started watching the game a lot AWAY from the ball and I started to realize something.  Nate runs basic plays because these guys don't seem to know how to even do that!  Players weren't moving without the ball, or when they did, they simply rotated sides.   I watched the Jazz move into the post and then around to the three point line.  The Blazers were being run ragged attempting to catchup and it seriously freed some guys up with that ragged player was finally hit by a screen.

I saw a team that attacked the post in the first quarter and then settled for jump shots the entire rest of the game... except for Roy.

Also... the blazers NEED TO DUNK!!!  What's with all the freaking layins?   If our players went up with more power, the ball would go in!  I saw a pass to aldridge and he did this little lady like layin... except he missed.  If he'd gone harder he could have dunked and it WOULD have gone in.  Watching these blazers, I can understand why Nate wants Bayless to work.  We need that dunking and athleticsm because the other blazers don't display it.

Now, some things I saw that I did like is that the Blazers and Jazz were both physical and the blazers did some hard fouls with intent.  they were SLOPPY about it, but they were trying.

Okur seriously looks like a lady out there.  man... watching that guy and his hand gestures away from the ball is a complete gas!  I started imitating him in the stands and cracking my girlfriend up.  when the Jazz come to town, seriously... check this guy out.  he's so danty!

The Players

I can't watch all the players all the time, so I'll report on the ones I noticed.

Batum did some nice things.  He also did some dumb things.  Mostly I thought he did a great job.  His mistakes were rookie mistakes and with a few games, I'm sure he'd shake them off.  His defence was nice and his hustle was above everyone but Rudy.

Rudy needs to be fed the ball more.  I still think he's watching and waiting, but this guy is better than how he's being used.  This is a man that can take over games, and for some reason, calls aren't being made for him.  He needs the ball in his hands more, like roy.  He can create for others as well as himself.  His experience with Spain is something this team should be harvesting and utilizing.

Aldridge reverted back to jump shots.  Chicago stated they needed a strong post presence and that Aldridge didn't have it.  They're right.  Aldridge doesn't have it.  Last year he was shown stats of how much better he does in the post, and yet he's still settling for jump shots.  Carlos Boozer isn't the greatest person for Aldridge to play against, but if he moves and warps his body, he could take the guy!  Aldridge needs to be in the post and figure out HOW to use his finesse to dominate down there.  Frankly, he should be slapped everytime he takes a jumper until he figures out the post.  I'll take losses in the short term, because that means we'll dominate in the long term.

Roy... wow... he made some nice moves to the basket, but he also had a LOT of turnovers.  I almost get the feeling that Roy felt he'd arrived and so he thought it would be easy and now he's waking up and realizing that he needs to work just as hard as he did last year.   That is the "vibe" I have.  Obviously I'm not in his head, so I don't know if it's true or not.

Blake was left open a lot, and he made the Jazz pay by hitting a ton of three pointers.  I liked what he was doing out there.

I didn't notice Sergio.  Pryz was Pryz.  Frye hit a couple of shots AND attacked the post a few times.  I liked it.  I didn't notice Outlaw other than he looks very atheltic with his JUMPERS.  (another man that needs to attack the basket.   I also like a hard foul I saw him take that the blazers actually got away with.

 

The Refs

I noticed, when skimming the posts, that a lot of frustration was directed towards the Refs.   While I was AMAZED a kickball wasn't called, the other calls looked good from where I was sitting and the ones that weren't seemed about equal to the miscalls against the Jazz.  While the calls may not have been good, in person they looked good, for the most part and I can't fault the Refs with them at all.  Actually, the Jazz fans were ticked that roy wasn't called for travels on his moves to the basket and they were upset at a few other non-calls.   I believe the game was pretty even. 

 

Overall impression

I attended the Spurs game and was pretty happy.   Looking back, I realize that the win blinded me to some flaws.   Those flaws were not as bad as tonight against the Jazz, but they were still there. 

The Blazer players need to be given playbooks and start learning how to run them.  They ALL seem to need a basic education on what the heck to do and where the heck to be out there on the floor.   i recall an article by Quick (I think) that someone commented how they'd never been on a team that spent so much time working on the basics/fundamentals.  There's a reason.  This team is beyond belief behind that learning curve.

I generally preach patience.  I generally don't become upset watching games.  I'm upset though.  I'm upset because I'm watching some ugly basketball.  It's only the raw talent that keeps us in ball games.  In the fourth when teams turn it up a notch and LOCK down on defense (like the Jazz did... they do deserve the win and even if they lost I'd be calling them the best team on the floor), the blazers fall apart.   They don't have that extra notch.  heck, they barely have a basic NBA notch.  So I'm very frustrated.  I'm frustrated that I feel like this team has stepped backwards in fundamental play more than I am at losing.  I feel like thse players should be further ahead in the basic understanding of basketball.

There's a talk about a high basketball IQ, but frankly I don't see it out there.  After watching this game, I believe James Jones leaving hurt us a LOT more than I would have imagined.  His addition to the game allowed him to direct the Blazers with the spacing and basic movement.  It allowed us to utilize our talent.  Looking at this team, I see us needing another player like Jones.  someone with play-off and/or championship experience.  someone who's been around.   Nate can only do so much.  When the players fail to do basic things on the floor, then Nate can only shake his head.  He CANT come up with a master plan and show off his coaching because the players couldn't freaking execute it!

Also, I thought this would be the year for the blazers to really break out, and I don't believe it is now.   I don't say this because they're losing.  I say this because this team is fundamentally wrong on the fundamentals.   I'm hopeful they can figure it out this year, but worried that they won't because they're SO far behind.   The definitely won't make it past the first round of the play-offs.

All that said, I'm hopeful that the blazers can learn and recover.   I recognize that we have new players.  I recognize that we're playing without two starters.  I recognize that we have a harsh schedule.   Still, that doesn't excuse the breakdown of the fundamentals that this team shows. 

I'm hopeful that these new players with YEARS of experience (Batum and Rudy) will start directing people out on the floor, because the Blazers NEED that.   I know Rudy knows what to do out there, and he REALLY needs to assert himself.  Nate needs to allow Rudy to assert himself.   Nate also needs to play Batum more.  The kid has talent, we're not going anywhere quickly, and so you develop the talent.  Batum is behind Webster, but could easily overtake him in a year (I believe).

We have a good team, but unless they suddenly figure out floor spacing, movement away from the ball, and so on, this team is going no where.  Unless they figure out how to rotate on defense instead of scrambling from guy to guy leaving THREE Jazz players open... we don't have a prayer of making the finals.

I'm disappointed in this team.  They're in good shape but they really needed to work on the matter between their ears and educate themselves better on how the game is played.  They also need to play more like a team.  Right now, i just see a bunch of individuals out there.

 

How can this be turned around?

The addition of Greg will plug ONE hole in the dike.

The addition of Webster will provide experience.

Nate needs to assign these guys homework.  Take the plays he wants to run and let them read it.  Give them tapes and make them watch it.  Run the practices and make them do it.   whatever they are doing obviously isn't sticking out there.

Nate needs to give Rudy more rope and more leadership.  he needs to tell Rudy to speak up and direct the team.  I believe Rudy CAN do this and SHOULD do this before he forgets how to move!

Nate needs to play Batum more.  This guy IS our future SF.  He's 19 and able to handle the pressures of starting.  If he was on seattle's team, he'd be dominating with inflated stats and people would be in amazement.  Instead, he's even better and able to fit in on a team with already VERY good players.  We need to develop that.

 

In closing

So there you go.   Not a positive viewing of the team, and even if we won, this wouldn't have been positive.  Watching the play away from the ball was painful.  This team has a long ways to go.

How about those trolls eh?  About ready for a serious D&D campaign to clear out that darn horde infestation...

Responding to a comment in a post, I readdressed a thought I've had before.  There have been comments that Oden is injury prone and/or fears.  Others have come back that the injuries are not the same or reoccuring and sometimes you're just freaking unlucky.   That said, watching Greg play I do have a concern that I think is legitimate.

I've gone through phases where I've been in really good shape and really bad shape.  When I'm in bad shape and attempt to push myself to do things I can't do, I've often become hurt.  My reflexes aren't as fast, my foot placement isn't exactly great, and I end up tripping or spraining myself and then... i'm out again a few weeks.  it was frustrating as these instances usually happened as I was getting into that great shape again.   Sometimes I'd push myself too hard and then tweak something for a few days.

Watching Oden on the floor, I saw a guy who didn't have his feet exactly where they needed to go.  I saw a guy that wasn't able to make smooth clean moves, and I saw a guy that was honestly a bit clumsy in what he was doing.   My concern here is something along the lines of what happened last night.   I'm concerned that he's being pushed too fast when he's really just not in shape for this.  He looked like that gangly teenager that hasn't found his new balance or rhythm.  My fear is that the result will be continued injuries.

Even though Oden greatly helps our offense, should nate put Pryz in so that Oden can find his balance and comfort level and NOT face the freaking elite centers right now when he's not ready?  Will this help keep Oden healthy?  Are my concerns unfounded or have others found this to be true as well in a personal or sports related setting?

Oden is clearly raw and clearly needs time to develop.  How best should he be developed?  Trial by fire or slowly ease him into it?

Thoughts?

I'm going to start of with the disclaimer that I'm a Nate fan.  That said, as umbiased as I can be, I think this guy is our coach.

I've been reading through the various articles out there on the team and Nate at the beginning of the season. I've attached the links below for your own enjoyment.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/10/lakersblazers_preview_we_are_t.html

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/10/blazers_banking_on_a_highyield.html

I've noticed a couple of things.  First off is that nate has changed from year to year as his players have changed.  He earned the knick name Sarge because he was tough on his team.  He was demanding.    He ran tests at the beginning of the preseason to figure out where players were at and to FORCE players to come into camp in shape.  This is the last year they'll be held because players are doing what they need to do, without Nate forcing it.

Nate has also focused on building leadership within the team.  The article about dinner at Nate's house, showcases this.  Roy, Aldridge, and Oden are the anchors of this team.  They're going to be the guys that carry us through thick and thin and they'll be setting the emotional tone and psychological tone of this team.  Nate gathered them together to get them to communicate, get on the same page, and then he set the tone for what he wanted over the year and gave them a chance to speak up as well.   This shows a HUGE understanding of how to lead.   Additionally Nate recognizes the need for motivation.   Coaching isn't just about X's and O's.  It's about getting your team motivated to go out there and play your best.  Motivation comes from within, but it's also inspired by other factors and Coach recognizes this.

I believe that Nate is a good X and O guy, but the fact that he's so concerned with building the chemistry and leadership, that speaks volumes for me.  Frankly, i think Phil's success is based almost exclusively on his motivation and leading as opposed to the X's and O's which i think he delegated more to his assistants.

Another point that I've made through the year is that Nate learns.  Yes, he's slower than some; but haven't we, as fans, been upset with past coaches who throw people in and out and so you never see what we have and no chemistry can build?  Sure Nate may not sub right away, but he's showing trust in players and giving them that chance to sink or swim.  When they're pulled out, they KNOW it's because they need to be pulled out.  Do you yank Roy or Kobe on a bad day?   I don't think so.  Nate gives that bad day.  I also believe part of it was because this is the first year in a while that ISN'T about building and seeing what we have.  We know what we have and everything else needs to fit in or get out.  I believe Nate was also coaching with that mentality.   Either way, I didn't disagree with him not pulling out players right away all the time.  He sees them more, he knows what they can do, and frankly... that guy wants to win as much as we do.

It's the start of the season.  We're still a young team.  As in every year in the past we've made some significant changes to our line up.  We have two starters that are rookies.  We have the sixth man as a rookie.  We have a player 10 down that is a rookie.  On most other teams you'd call that a revamping of the team.  Unfortunately, this means we're going to be up and down.   Unfortunately, this also means that Nate's head will be called for when we go on our first losing streak.

I actually become angry over this because I don't believe it's remotely fair or even based on the realm of reality.   This guy has adapted and changed over the years to FIT what our team needs.  He's shown great thought, great insight, and consistently manages to get teams to over achieve.  Evidence shows that his teams do the best out of a time out.   He has the respect of ALL the players.   who in the world else do you want?

This Blazer franchise is no longer taking the year view.  They're taking the long view over the next 10-15 years, and I believe Nate fits that.

So if you disagree, if you become frustrated, if you jump on that lovely emotional bandwagon and call for Nate's head after a bad loss, I want you to think about two things.  

Look at the tools Nate has.  Look at how he manages to get the most out of them.  Let's look at cooking, as It's something I love to do and Nate apparently doesn't do when he can order from Claim Jumper.  When looking at tools in teh kitchen, you NEED that knife to be the $400 knife when you're racing to chop that carrot against other cooks.  If you're also racing to sharpen it, then the cook with the sharper knife is going to generally going to beat you out when all things are equal.   Nate has some of the nicest tools around.  We all agree on that, but he's also racing to sharpen them.   He's gaining ground, but that race is still going on and we're not as sharp as we can be yet.  Patience sucks, but we still need to have it.

Secondly, take a look around the league.   What other coach do you want?   What coach could do as well as Nate does?  What coach was chosen to coach the Olympic team?  What coach has as much POTENTIAL as nate does.  He's still a young coach and that's something to consider too.  When I look around the league, two names call to me.  Byron Scott (also unproven, but manages to get a lot out of his teams) and Phil jackson.  I think we're still too young for Phil and I really don't want him anyway, and Scott is not leaving New Orleans anytime soon.  So if you hate Nate so much, who's better and who would fit our team and culture better?

I realize that  in the heat of the moment people are goign to lash out.  We've almost arrived and people want us to "FREAKING ARRIVE ALREADY".  Still, I wanted to make one last call and one last statement about Nate to the loud minority of passionate emotional fans, and also to the bandwagon fans that may have hopes higher than this team can jump just yet.   you're definitely welcome fans, but try to keep these things in mind before you go screaming for a new coach.

That is all, I hope you enjoy the articles.  I thought they rocked.

 

 

I'm sure you're all looking for a first hand account.  What could be seen onsite that wasn't seen from the TV, so let me give you my report!

The cheerleader outfits this year are much improved but still incredibly ugly.   They seem to be in love with the one piece look which just looks... ugly.   They're also inlove with these white cowboy boots with heals which are... ugly.   The plus side is they had some tops that were cute, and their one piece miniskirt outfits are interesting.   color patterns should really be used to apply some accentuation though in order to...

Oh, the game.

I'm fairly certain a number of you watched it so I'll give my initial impressions.  Realize that I'm no expert and it's just a feel and my thoughts.

"What... we're not playing our starters???  WTF!!!  NOOOOOOOOOOO.   Hmmm, wait, this means the Jazz won't know our team.  Sweet.   Trying to work advantages now to eek out those early wins!  I like it Nate, but you screwed me on watching Greg play... AGAIN!!!"  (I missed seeing Oden play in summer league because I came down at the end instead of the beginning).

The lack of playing the starters tells me we've arrived.  last year we played to win.  We had to learn to win.   This year, it's really been about seeing what we have.  That means Nate expects us to win and it's all about the little fine tunings that need to happen to do the most winning.  Preseason finally doesn't matter for this team.  Sucked for me watching the game, but an awesome sign for this year.

My gf called the Jazz mascott a "Wookie"  Personally I think he looks like teenwolf.  He rode in on a motorcycle and reved it up high.  No one was clapping but you couldn't tell because it was too noisy.  Canned noise came in and it sounded like the place was full.   People trickled in at half time and by the end of the game, the noise was real and the place WAS almost full.

There were misc. blazer fans in the crowd and at one point a kid cried out "where's oden??? I want oden!!!"

I had some kids razzing me about the blazers and how they sucked.  I just laughed.  The Blazer's ten plus point lead grew and they quieted down.  Can't call a team that clearly isn't sucking a sucky team.   At the end of the game they were noisy again, and i still laughed.   After they again told me the blazers sucked, I just looked at them smiling and said "yeah, but those weren't our starters!"   They shut up again.  While they processed that, we left.

Blake:  Looked good.  Looked REALLY good.   He hit shots he needed to make.  he made some NICE passes through traffic and to a guy under the basket who would sometimes finish and sometimes not.  Blake is, without a doubt, our starter.  He deserves to be a starter on just about every team in the league.   He was calm, focused, collected, and deadly.

Randolph:  We kept him instead of hill???  Seriously?   the guy is slow.  Molasses slow.  We're talking heinz ketchup on top of the building, running down and sticking out your dog so that ketchup drop can land on your bun slow.  His stat sheet was impressive, but every time he got the ball it was a bobble fest until the ball miraculously dropped into the basket.  He seemed to pause for a second going "what do I, what do i do, what do i do george?  OH!  Ball!  Score!"   His scoring had more to do with some excellent passing than it did with randolph.   He'd have a steal at one end and turn it over at the other end.   I was ticked whenever he got the ball.   When he fouled out I said "YES!!!"  then diogu ran in and i said " NOOOOOO!!!  NOT BETTER!!!"  If Randolph were a 19 year old rookie, I'd have more patience, but he has a few years, and he's SLOW!

Diogu:  I don't have much to say on this guy, but he's a 15th player on the bench and we already have one in randolph.  Actually we have three.  This far down should be reserved for projects, not scrubs.  I expect Randolph and diogu to be cleared out by year end to make way for second round high reward low risk talents that can simmer.

Bayless looked good out there the first half.  I yelled at him for his showboat move.  Don't showboat if you can't finish!  He was clearly off balance.  He made some nice three's.  The second half he attacked the basket and just ran into a wall of guys.  He didn't have a plan B to pass out and he didn't have a prayer of making the shot.  Also, as a rookie, he didn't have a prayer for that foul call.  The kid will be all right because I saw glimmers of tools that he'll be able to use, but he's not ready.   He needs to simmer on the bench and make use of the scrap minutes he'll get during blow-outs.  Side note:  I saw him talking to Batum at one point who looked upset.  I believe it was on a blown play.  Batum walked away and Bayless must have recognized that he ticked Batum off or something and he talked to Batum again either to encourage or to try to make nice.  Obviously I don't know the conversation that took place, but Bayless was either encouraging Batum, or Bayless was too blunt and was trying to fix that.  Either way it means he's paying attention to the mood of his team mates, and i think that's a good thing.  he'll learn.

Rudy:  Love this guy!  he's all over the place getting steals, disrupting.   Watching him in practice, he's VERY deliberate in his shot.  He's generally practicing a short step/serious of moves before each shot.  He's checking to make sure his form is perfect before he shot.  It was cool to watch.  His shot didn't feel on tonight and I as disappointed that he didn't take over the game at the end.  He seemed to be watching the team and the other team.  he's moving, but it also seems like he's observing and learning.   I have a feeling that once he feels like he pretty much gets it, he'll explode.  I think he's holding back some right now.

Sergio:  He didn't take many shots, and I didn't need him too.  He made efforts on defense, made some good passes, and was constantly communicating and direction.  Blake also did this and it's good to see.  He looked comfortable and confident.  his shot still needs work, but I think he's going to get there and maybe he will be able to make it on our team.

Overall:  I feel there should have been more movement in this game.   more cutters.  The ball would be passed along the outside but it didn't seem to go down low a whole lot.   In the first half I noticed that the jazz had a tougher time scoring and the blazers scored at will.  We couldn't miss and we always managed to get open.  In the second half they clamped down on defense and Blake wasn't in it.  We had a number of shot clock violations.   The Jazz moved the ball well, and we left nice gaps for them to find the man.  The crowd was LOUD and the building was pretty full.  Much more impressive than the regular season game I went to last year where most of the sound was canned sound.   The echo of the place really exaggerates the sound. 

I'm happy with what I saw.  Diogu and Randolph should never play and we have a nice team.  I'm still bitter about hill.

Cheerleaders:  As for the cheerleaders... get rid of that white trash green god awful eye shadow.  Seriously!  They had a contest to give a date away with a cheerleader.  It was either that or signed basketball shoes by Deron Williams.   I'm not a jazz fan, but I'd definitely take the freaking shoes!!!  Yuck.  Blazer dancers are a cut above.   They're still toothpicks, but at least they're attractive toothpicks and look like they have class.  Ironically, one of the most attractive Jazz dancers couldn't do the splits.  What's up with that?

***EDIT***

Apparently people didn't see the game?

Frye:  My impression of Frye is that he did well.   I would guess he was about 50% from the field by watching him.  He made some nice open shots, to the point if he was open it almost felt automatic.  He hurt his shooting a little on a rebound, put back miss, rebound again.   I thought he should have kicked it back out, but I know that feeling when you're down there.  "the basket is just... right... there..."  He had aquired a quiet scoring that was pretty impressive by half.  He looks good but I think he can play a little bit better and be more explosive.  My guess is he's shaking off a little rust again and also... it's just preaseason.

Overall redone to take into account people didn't see:

Blake was pushing hard.  Is was quick up and down the court and had some nice passes around the defense that pretty much put it in the hands of the people in the post.  Randolph capitalized on this in the first half.  He really seemed to hurt with Blake out.

The feel of the game was that the blazers were in complete control during the first half.  As I stated above the jazz had a difficult time scoring.  The blazers, even when they missed, seemed to have much easier shots. 

The shot that bayless made that frustrated me was he received an allyhoop type pass and did some fancy moves with the legs and didn't have as much control as he should have had, so he missed the dunk as he flew past the basket.  Showman ship is awesome, but he didn't have enough control to show off.

The second half and fourth quarter the Jazz really seemed to tighten down.  There was more energy and cutting, as noted above, but the difference was on the defensive end.   The Blazers didn't make passes fast enough to open up the defense, and it felt like the majority of players (randolph, diogu, outlaw, bayless) didn't know what to do with the ball out there.  Offense stalled and it breathed life into the crowd and into the jazz team.  The passing was also mostly on the perimeter.  You'd go around the outside of the three point line and then someone might attempt to drive.   The lack of a good post player really hurt the offense.  That may also have been part of players not knowing what to do.

Even rudy seemed more passive than active in this game.  Again though, i felt he was reading the players and the game.  It feels like he'll continue to do that because the games don't matter yet, they matter when you start to make the push and THAT's when we'll see him explode.  His inaction feels VERY active, if that makes sense.  Also, he had a few turnovers.  One he was about to attack the basket and did a fake right, left, then right... the problem is he lifted his right, left, right foot up and was then called for the travel.   He also made a pass STRAIGHT to the Jazz player who was in front of travis.  It wasn't a no look pass, so I'm not sure what was up with that.  Rudy also seemed very serious.   I left wondering if he's feeling the pressure too.

Outlaw had a play where he was open on the fast break.  He had the right side and was dribbling in.   The thing was, you could tell he wasn't comfortable with that dribble and wanted to pass off, but there wasn't an open passer.  He had a deffender in front and so he lifted off a little to early to dunk it.  Probably to avoid the charge, but he was completely off balance and ended up missing it.  I think outlaw needs to work a little more all ball handling and being comfortable on the fast break like that.

The team was communicating a lot and it's mostly coming from the guards.   Blake was constantly directing traffic and signaling for people to move.  I feel this is a large part of why the team worked so well with Blake in it.  Sergio was doing that to some extent too.   I didn't see Bayless signalling at all.

Bayless brought the ball up a few times, but would then give to Blake or sergio, which was a much better call.  Sergio, despite his stats looked good.

Okay, I think I blahed out everything in my head right now.  I should have written this last night, but hopefully it added a little something.

First is the link to the last post to catch any smack you might have missed that has links to other past posts:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/8/21/598320/ot-court-rivals-2008-08-21

 

Next up the other important links:

Google Player Attribute spreadsheet 

Google League Standing Spreadsheet

http://www.courtrivals.com/

 

The Main Juice of the post:

Court Rivals, where BE teams beat up other BE teams.  Currently teams are looking for new players, and currently JB is looking for other teams to talk smack too as they've gone off on a large series of wins.

Look for the smack talk to continue if they beat a team with 300 attribute points higher than them tonight.

If you're looking to join, simply post here and teams will be more than happy to take you on.

Playoffs:

I suggest we get our position placement this year, and 15 games into next year we start our play-offs.  This lets us build up the attributes and works around the one challenge rule.  Bring it BE teams!

Also... i changed the ranking system to be BE wins, and then attribute points, and then record against tied teams. 

Games still waiting to be played for play off rankings:

• BlazersEdgers: B-Edge Odenizers, Blazing the Edge
• BEdgers:  Blazing the Edge
• Bedgers2:  DONE!!!
• Red Unit: DONE!!!
• Just Blaze:  DONE!!!
• B-Edge Odenizers:  BlazersEdgers  BEdgers
• vERYkERRPLEX:   DONE!!!
• Blazing the EDge:  BEdgers,  BlazersEdgers

Current Standings (need spreadsheet updated):

1. Bedgers—————————I (6-0) I (6325) | (21-11)
2. Bedgers2————————-I (5-2) I (6600) | (21-12)
3. Just Blaze————————-I (5-2) I (5972) | (24-8)
   
4. vERRYkERRPLEX————- I (5-2) I (5882) | (23-9)
5. Bedge Odenizers—————I (2-3) I (4096) | (19-11)
   
6.  Blazers Edgers—————--I (1-4) I (5857) | (12-20)
   
7. Red Unit—————————I (1-6) I (5519) | (22-10)
   
8. Blazing the Edge—————-I (0-5) I (3755) | (9-17)
   

Top Five Trained Player recognition award for duration of this post (meaning I won't be updating until the next post):

1. 729 -- Jay Acer --------------- Red Unit
2. 723 -- High Flyer ------------ Bedgers2
3. 702 -- Point Guard ---------- Bedgers2
4. 701 -- Jerryd Oden ---------- Bedgers2
5. 700 -- LaMarcus Royden -- Bedgers2
   

Congrats on your excellence in training.

Note:  If there are issues with the spreadsheet, feel free to volunteer to update and I'll catch you on the next court rivals post.

TEAMS NEEDING PLAYERS:

Currently no team is clambering for players, but if you're interested, post your name in this thread and I'm sure a team will find you.  Hard workers are the most appreciated.  After all, a new season of Court Rivals is beginning and there is some dead weight on a few of the teams that may be removed by next season if a hungry rookie is ready to come in and play.

Finally the disclaimer:

We're attempting to keep this to the minimal posts and only renew posting when the thread drops.  We know this doesn't interest everyone, so if you're one of them, in the words of officer Barbrady  "move along folks, nothing to see here".

First is the link to the last post to catch any smack you might have missed that has links to other past posts:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/8/15/594295/court-rivals-fantasy-game

 

Next up the other important links:

Google Player Attribute spreadsheet 

Google League Standing Spreadsheet

http://www.courtrivals.com/

 

The Main Juice of the post:

Court Rivals, where BE teams beat up other BE teams.  Currently teams are looking for new players, and currently JB is looking for other teams to talk smack too as they've gone off on a large series of wins.

Look for the smack talk to continue if they beat a team with 300 attribute points higher than them tonight.

If you're looking to join, simply post here and teams will be more than happy to take you on.

Playoffs:

I suggest we get our position placement this year, and 15 games into next year we start our play-offs.  This lets us build up the attributes and works around the one challenge rule.  Bring it BE teams!

Also... i changed the ranking system to be BE wins, and then attribute points, and then record against tied teams. 

Games still waiting to be played for play off rankings:

• BlazersEdgers: B-Edge Odenizers, Blazing the Edge
• BEdgers:  Blazing the Edge
• Bedgers2:  Blazing the Edge
• Red Unit: DONE!!!
• Just Blaze:  DONE!!!
• B-Edge Odenizers:  BlazersEdgers  BEdgers
• vERYkERRPLEX:   DONE!!!
• Blazing the EDge:  BEdgers,  Bedgers2,  BlazersEdgers

Current Standings (need spreadsheet updated):

1. Bedgers—————————I (6-0) I (6325) | (21-11)
   
2. Just Blaze————————-I (5-2) I (5972) | (24-8)
   
3. vERRYkERRPLEX————- I (5-2) I (5882) | (23-9)
4. Bedgers2————————-I (4-2) I (6600) | (20-12)
5. Bedge Odenizers—————I (2-3) I (4096) | (19-11)
   
6.  Blazers Edgers—————--I (1-4) I (5857) | (12-20)
   
7. Red Unit—————————I (1-6) I (5519) | (22-10)
   
8. Blazing the Edge—————-I (0-4) I (3755) | (9-16)
   

Top Five Trained Player recognition award for duration of this post (meaning I won't be updating until the next post):

1. 729 -- Jay Acer --------------- Red Unit
2. 723 -- High Flyer ------------ Bedgers2
3. 702 -- Point Guard ---------- Bedgers2
4. 701 -- Jerryd Oden ---------- Bedgers2
5. 700 -- LaMarcus Royden -- Bedgers2
   

Congrats on your excellence in training.

Note:  If there are issues with the spreadsheet, feel free to volunteer to update and I'll catch you on the next court rivals post.

TEAMS NEEDING PLAYERS:

Currently no team is clambering for players, but if you're interested, post your name in this thread and I'm sure a team will find you.  Hard workers are the most appreciated.  After all, a new season of Court Rivals is beginning and there is some dead weight on a few of the teams that may be removed by next season if a hungry rookie is ready to come in and play.

Finally the disclaimer:

We're attempting to keep this to the minimal posts and only renew posting when the thread drops.  We know this doesn't interest everyone, so if you're one of them, in the words of officer Barbrady  "move along folks, nothing to see here".

First is the link to the last post to catch any smack you might have missed that has links to other past posts:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/8/15/594295/court-rivals-fantasy-game

 

Next up the other important links:

Google Player Attribute spreadsheet 

Google League Standing Spreadsheet

http://www.courtrivals.com/

 

The Main Juice of the post:

Court Rivals, where BE teams beat up other BE teams.  Currently teams are looking for new players, and currently JB is looking for other teams to talk smack too as they've gone off on a large series of wins.

Look for the smack talk to continue if they beat a team with 300 attribute points higher than them tonight.

If you're looking to join, simply post here and teams will be more than happy to take you on.

Playoffs:

I suggest we get our position placement this year, and 15 games into next year we start our play-offs.  This lets us build up the attributes and works around the one challenge rule.  Bring it BE teams!

Also... i changed the ranking system to be BE wins, and then attribute points, and then record against tied teams. 

Games still waiting to be played for play off rankings:

• BlazersEdgers: B-Edge Odenizers, Blazing the Edge
• BEdgers:  Blazing the Edge
• Bedgers2:  Blazing the Edge
• Red Unit:  Just Blaze
• Just Blaze:  Red Unit
• B-Edge Odenizers:  BlazersEdgers  BEdgers
• vERYkERRPLEX:   DONE!!!
• Blazing the EDge:  BEdgers,  Bedgers2,  BlazersEdgers

Current Standings (need spreadsheet updated):

1. Bedgers—————————I (6-0) I (5874)
   
2. vERRYkERRPLEX————- I (5-2) I (5373)
   
3. Bedgers2————————-I (4-2) I (6154)
   
4. Just Blaze————————-I (4-2) I (5526)
   
5. Blazers Edgers——————I (1-4) I (5473)
   
6. Red Unit—————————I (1-5) I (5114)
   
7. Bedge Odenizers—————I (2-3) I (3829)
   
8. Blazing the Edge—————-I (0-4) I (3495)

Top Five Trained Player recognition award for duration of this post (meaning I won't be updating until the next post):

1. 688 -- Jay Acer -------- Red Unit
2. 679 -- High Flyer ------ Bedgers2
3. 660 -- Point Guard ---- Bedgers2
4. 657 -- Jerryd Oden ---- Bedgers2
5. 628 -- Monty Everest --BlazersEdgers

Congrats on your excellence in training.

TEAMS NEEDING PLAYERS:

Currently no team is clambering for players, but if you're interested, post your name in this thread and I'm sure a team will find you.  Hard workers are the most appreciated.  After all, a new season of Court Rivals is beginning and there is some dead weight on a few of the teams that may be removed by next season if a hungry rookie is ready to come in and play.

Finally the disclaimer:

We're attempting to keep this to the minimal posts and only renew posting when the thread drops.  We know this doesn't interest everyone, so if you're one of them, in the words of officer Barbrady  "move along folks, nothing to see here".

 

 

New post to stay up top.   Keeping at a minimum... blah blah blah... playoffs.

See notes and then play-off suggestions:

It is that time Court Rival fans, time for a new Court Rivals thread!  I apologize to everyone that doesn't play court rivals and has no interest in this thread.  We are doing our best to cut down on the amount of these that are created and try to maintain all the info in as few threads as possible.  Thanks for your patience and understanding, oh and for being TomInHawaii.

Carrying on!  Here is the latest Google Player Attribute spreadsheet which was updated on 8/6/08 by the kind and wonderful Jerryd Oden.  If you have access and can update your team regularly it would be a great help, and reduce the work of one person.

In the latest BlazersEdge faux-league standings we have a Google League Standing Spreadsheet brought to us by the great Lamarcus Royden.  Thanks guys!

OK full disclosure: I copied the first three paragraphs from the last court rivals thread.  Continue discussion of all things Court Rivals here as the last one slipped way down the fanposts.

Also, if you want access to the Player Attribute spreadsheet, just tell me your email and I'll add you.

Here is my suggestion:  

by myemic23

I say we just use the 8 teams we originally planned on. I wouldn’t mind my team getting a bye, but if we got 7 of the 8, might as well make it 8. Here is the condition though, any team who doesn’t accept or issue a challenge within a allotted amount of time, gets DQ’d. That means everyteam has to have 3 people prepared to accept the challenge if need be. However, since we didn’t complete interleague play, it seems unfair to award seeds based on solely our league record. Its really not an accurate indicator since it is incomplete, who knows how things might have shaked out for some of those teams that only played 3 or 4 games. So, I propose we award 1 one point for each of the three categories we decided to judge by, which were: 1)BE league record 2)rating 3)team attribute points. Here is what I think the seeding should be:

1)Bedgers—————————I (6-0) I (251) I (5430)
2)Bedgers2————————-I (4-2) I (235) I (5590)
3)vERRYkERRPLEX————- I (4-2) I (218) I (4758)
4)Just Blaze————————-I (2-2) I (194) I (5092)
5)Blazers Edgers——————I (1-2) I (134) I (5102)
6)Red Unit—————————I (0-5) I (184) I (4902)
7)Bedge Odenizers—————I (2-3) I (140) I (3533)
8)Blazing the Edge—————-I (0-3) I- (60) I (3203)

You can see that Bedgers beat every team below them in at least 2 categories, Bedgers2 beats everyone below them in 2 categories, kERplex beats everyone below them in two categories and just Blaze is no different. I think those top four seeds are locked, I don’t see how any of those teams could make a case to move up. I also think Blazing the Edge is pretty much a lock for the 8th seed, they don’t beat any of the teams in 2 categories. The 5,6 and 7 seeds required a bit more thinking for me. With my proposed scoring system, there is a snag. Of the 3 remaining teams, each team beats and loses to one team in 2 categories. I noticed that B-edge odenizers were the only team not to represent themselves here, so I figured they should just live with the 7 seed(they also have a major gap in training credits). Of the two teams remaining, Blazers edgers beats out Red Unit in two categories.

If nobody cries foul about their teams seeding or what I am proposing, I say we give each team until the 16th at 9:00pm (48hours from the time of this post) to attempt to issue the challenge. The other team that needs to accept will have until the 17th at 9:00 to get 3 teammates to accept the challenge. Every team needs to have someone say whether they issued the challenge, or tried to issue it but weren’t allowed to. Place those comments somewhere in this thread. If there are any teams after 48 hours that haven’t made a post here commenting that they challenged or attempted to, they are DQ’d That should help us see who is on the ball and who is slacking, and don’t forget to say what team you are representing. The only way to make this work is to have deadlines and DQ teams that don’t follow up on their end of the deal. If you snooze, you lose. In order to make sure you don’t get DQ’d, make sure you are checking in here and commenting as a record so everyone can see that you are attempting to challenge or attempting to accept. Remember, if you can’t get three teammates to accept a challenge after 72 hours, you will get DQ’d. If everyone is OK with this first stage, we can discuss how long to wait for the challenges to happen for each round. I suspect even if challenges are accepted, there will be instances where the game doesn’t play in time. We should develop a way to determine these outcomes if the game doesn’t play in X amount of time, and also what X amount of time should be for each round.

Let me know what you think, I would suggest recing this if you agree, and leaving a comment and suggestions if you don’t….

ROY > MJ

by myemic23 on Aug 14, 2008 10:17 PM MDT up reply actions   1 recs

I've resisted the come back of the red uniform.  I love the black and red and I think we're one of the few teams in the league that does NOT have an ugly uniform.  Even if I were out of state, I have a feeling I'd like this team just because I like the uniform.

However... there may be a very real reason to bring back the red.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080811/sc_nm/olympics_red_dc_1

Basically an article talking about how red makes the ref's biased.

Slow news day, and I thought it was interesting.  

So, what do you think?

 

Poll

Would this sway you to pick the red?

27%

I LOVE the black. We don't need no stinking edge! Have you SEEN the team we're fielding?

34 votes

3%

I was for the black, but now I'm leaning towards red. If the refs are going to make bad calls, we might as well help them lean towards us!

4 votes

58%

Red... I LOVE me some power red! It's the color of WINNERS!!! Need proof? 77 all the way baby! I was already there BEFORE the article

73 votes

11%

Dude... seriously... I couldn't care less. Couldn't you at least have posted something interesting like about those invisible suits?

14 votes

125 votes | Poll has closed

I was calling about group tickets because I wasn't sure i'd be able to get in on the BE opening night group, and ended up emailing a sales guy there.

Awesome rep... Paul Rothchild is his name.  Very responsive with the email and friendly guy to chat with.

Anyway, I'd been waiting for NEXT year to buy season tickets because I thought I might have one more year.   Paul is saying there's a high likely hood that won't be the case.

Season Tickets are almost completely sold out.  All that is left is white, and club.  I just purchased the last three fuschia (had to because they came as a set... darn it).  Some may drop those season tickets next year, but WHY if the blazers continue to improve?  Everyone here from drexler and before knows a little about real blazer mania (not this silly "blazer mania is back" stuff), and thus you can imagine just how hard it will be to get tickets in the future.  Particularly the season tickets to ensure PLAYOFF seating.

14000 seats are reserved for season ticket holders.  The rest go to the groups and single ticket purchasers get what's left.

Next up for purchasing will be the groups who will likely buy out all the exciting games.  The prediction by Paul was that the blazers will only have 300 level tickets left as singles for the best games and possibly even then there won't be a lot of single tickets.

If you're pondering or waiting, I'd suggest you give them a call and talk it over.   Next year you might have a chance at them, but after that, they'll be gone and you may not even have a chance at next year.  If you don't want club or the white section, you'll have to wait until next year to find out though.

Also, the blazers have a nice website that apparently lets you sell tickets for NO LESS than your purchase price. (not single ticket price).   Frankly, that's how i hope to float the season tickets while i'm living in SLC.

Side note... yes I AM still interested in the blazer edge group for opening night.  I'll just be selling my tickets to friends or online for large amounts of money to help fund this insanely expensive purchase i just did.  (bolded as this was apparently missed before.  I'll be selling my SEASON tickets to this game, not the BE.  I want to be with a loud rowdy bunch of blazer lovers.)

Oh yeah, they do have single seats for single tickets AND you can space it out over 8 months which helps make it affordable.

Sorry if this has been posted before, but wanted to give people a heads up.  If I hadn't called about forming my own group, i would have waited a year and I may have been out of luck.

I am now going to be one broke individual... hopefully those tickets sell or i'll be enjoying top ramen for quite a while.

I watched a video link on the Oregonian where a guy mentioned greg winning the Rookie and MVP award.  It started me wondering... To start off, I know this is pretty much a pipe dream... but... what if and what would it take?

Without any new blazer news out there, I'm going to follow this thought.  I'm not debating whether it can happen (too much), as it's highly unlikely, but lets talk and dream a little about what needs to happen.  Frankly, I suspect that will throw a dose of reality on it, but anything is possible.

So, who's done this in the past?  I think that's the first question:

Wes Unseld in 1969 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1960.

Wilt Chamberlain lead the league in both points and rebounds that year.  Wiki link here.

Wes Unseld did it by joining a team with just 36-46 a year earlier.  The Bullets rallied around 6' 7 250-pound rookie Wes Unseld and won a league-high 57 of 82 NBA games. Unseld was fifth in the league in rebounds and showed remarkable strength under the boards. Unseld also thrilled with his tremendous outlet passes, which drew comparisons to Russell and Chamberlain. 

wiki link here

So it appears that the two ways to do this will be to dominate the stat categories or to greatly turn the team around.  Even then there seems to be some hesitation to award rookies (see lebron james not winning yet despite getting his team to the NBA Finals)

Competition:

1. Lebron James
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Chris Paul
4. Steve Nash
5. Kevin Garnet
6. Paul Pierce

These seem like likely prospects assuming people are healthy.  Also possible is Yao Ming, but I won't hold my breath on his health.

Winning with Stats:

Greg's most likely stats will be points, rebounds, and blocks.   So, scoring leader top fives from last year:

Scoring

1. Lebron James          30.0
2. Kobe Bryant               28.3
3. Allen Iverson              26.4
4. Carmelo Anthony      25.7
5. Amare Stoudemire   25.2

Rebounding

1. Dwight Howard          14.2
2. Marcus Camby           13.1
3. Tyson Chandler         11.8
4. Tim Duncan                11.3
5. Al Jefferson                 11.1

Blocks

1. Marcus Camby            3.6
2. Chris Kaman               2.8
3. Josh Smith                   2.8
4. Samuel Dalembert     2.3
5. Dwight Howard            2.2

These are the guys that Greg would need to beat out in at least two categories if not three.   Does Greg have 30 pts, 15 rbds, and 3 block averages in him?   I don't see this happening in his rookie year and so I believe we'll need to take a look at the wins.   I do think that Greg will need to be on the lower end of these stats, with the wins, to grab rookie and MVP.

Winning with wins:

If you take a look at  Wes Unseld's team, they had a 21 point difference in wins.   For us, that would mean we'd need to go from 41 wins to 62 wins this year.   Unfortunately we'll also be adding Rudy and Bayless, and so I'd add another five wins... 67 wins.

Daunting, but frankly, I think it's more doable than Oden dominating every stat category in his first year.

So my grand conclusion, what will it take?:

I think that if Greg has 22+pts, 11+rbds, and 2+blocks and is the difference maker in five close games and takes the team from 41 to 67... then... I do believe we have a shot at being the third team and have the third player to win both rookie and MVP award within the same year.

Is that possible?   ummmmmmm... anything is possible.   Do not make me doubt my blazers for I shall not!

So what do you guys think?   What will it take, and how likely do you think it is to happen?

Also... can we get some more news out here!!!  I do not like the lack of blazer information!   I hate it when I run out of things to read!

 

This is for those who are watching online and thus forced to be delayed from commenting by a good thirty minutes.

words words words

I have a monkey and you're all jealous

Oden is great.

My pants... they mock you.

HAHAHAHA

Words, thy numbers be done darn it!!!!

49, you suck!!!

okay... so...

 

WORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDS

 

neat... it blends for swords.

 

60... are you serious?   That's only 60?   LIsten you meat headed computing nimpapooper!   I will use you for a toilet if you do not let me post... NOWWW

Vegas Summer League

Where can I stay?

I recommend this location:

Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas , Nevada
89119-1206,United States
Phone: 7027985530
Fax : 7027987627

It's right by the Cox center and close to the strip.  It's also fairly cheap for a hotel by the strip.  I believe Hooters, NY,NY and the Mirage are also on the same street as the Cox center.

If you're looking for cheap and don't care how close you are:

http://www.hotels.com/ has been recommended by Clevelander among roses

When is it?

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/schedule_08.html

July 17

10:00 PM ET

Portland vs. Minnesota*

COX Pavilion - Thursday

July 19

10:00 PM ET

Portland vs. Phoenix*

COX Pavilion - Friday

I will be there on the two days listed above. The idea is to have Dinner with Blazer Edge folks on Friday 7.18.08 at 7pm.

What is the cost?

http://www.unlvtickets.com/eventInfo/spe/34/nba-summer-league-presented-by-ea-sports/

The cost is $20 per person for the full day at either center.  Link above gives you more information.

What about the awesome blazers edge dinner which is the only reason I'm going?

Star Trek: The Experience

http://www.startrekexp.com/

We'll be eating at Quark's.

When is this awesome dinner?

Date:  July18th (FRIDAY) 2008

Time:  7pm

RSVP

See above.  Still don't know and will be based on availability of people coming into vegas.

Is anyone famous going to be there?

Dave has confirmed.  Can you GET more famous?

Additional information?

Tips will be 19% automatic to the meals.

Food goes from $10-$30 depending on what you get.  (salads are about 6 or seven and the menu is online if you go to the link)

Drinks are $8 ea but apparently look cool.  Also, Ferengi's may try to buy your girlfriends.   I'm going to see how much I can get

All ages

closes at 11pm

How about that cool museum and ride???

Rides start at Noon and run every 20 minutes.  Stop at 8:30pm

Museum open from Noon-8:30pm.

Rides are little simulation shuttles that bump you up and down and provide a story.

I've been told the Klingon is the better and so see that last.  I have no idea if that's actually factual.

You can go as often as you like as the tickets are day tickets not ride tickets.

Price:  37.99 online or $42.99 in person.

More questions?:  1.888.GOBOLDLY

So what information do you need from us?

I'm so glad you asked!!!

1. How many of you are a hankering to go to the dinner?  (need to reserve)
   
2. Dave, would other press members be able to attend and should the time be revised if that's the case?
3. Are any of you interested in doing the rides as a group before dinner?
4. Need this linked or posted on the main page because it didn't stay up for more than two hours yesterday.

Who do we contact?
Email:  jayson262001 at  yahoo.com
I need reservations in by 7.10.08 (not this coming friday but next friday) to guarantee a table.  I'll go two over just in case there's a local last minute, but please RSVP.

Vegas Summer League

Where can I stay?

I recommend this location:

Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas , Nevada
89119-1206,United States
Phone: 7027985530
Fax : 7027987627

It's right by the Cox center and close to the strip.  It's also fairly cheap for a hotel by the strip.  I believe Hooters, NY,NY and the Mirage are also on the same street as the Cox center.

When is it?

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/schedule_08.html

July 17

10:00 PM ET

Portland vs. Minnesota*

COX Pavilion

July 19

10:00 PM ET

Portland vs. Phoenix*

COX Pavilion

I will be there on the two days listed above. The idea is to have Dinner with Blazer Edge folks on Friday 7.18.08 at 7pm.

What is the cost?

http://www.unlvtickets.com/eventInfo/spe/34/nba-summer-league-presented-by-ea-sports/

The cost is $20 per person for the full day at either center.  Link above gives you more information.

What about the awesome blazers edge dinner which is the only reason I'm going?

I haven't heard back on places to eat, and so I suggest this:

Star Trek: The Experience

http://www.startrekexp.com/

Let me know what you think!

You can take the monorail from the Best Western hotel.  I plan on eating there one of the nights, so might as well make it friday.

Give me thoughts and feed back about eating at Quarks!  I also plan on doing the rides and if you're all interested maybe we could do that together too.

Tentative time is 7pm, but I'll be looking for feedback as to the place and time.  Most importantly, Dave, does that work with your schedule or does it need to be later?

When is this awesome dinner?

Date:  July18th (FRIDAY) 2008

Time:  TBD

See above.  Still don't know and will be based on availability of people coming into vegas.

Is anyone famous going to be there?

ummm... dave?  He has to be there as I'll be paying for his dinner.  That was my contribution to his trip.

So what information do you need from us?

I'm so glad you asked!!!

1. How many of you are a hankering to go to the dinner?
2. Is Quarks a place that works for you?
3. Is 7pm a good time?
4. Dave, would other press members be able to attend and should the time be revised if that's the case?
5. If Quarks doesn't work, do you have another preference?
6. Are any of you interested in doing the rides as a group before dinner?

To sum it up

That's about all I have.  Please be sure to respond back to me. The last few posts didn't have a lot of feedback apart from a few locals and one or two driving/flying in.

I'd like to go over a few items. There have been a few blogs that have vanished or gone off to lala land, and so I wanted to go over a few key items important to me.

1. Draft night moves and did we really get an awesome deal
2. KP and ethics
3. Firing Nate
4. The myth of the golden gut
   

Draft Night Moves and KP

One of the radio personalities brought up the point that he (don't remember which one on 95.5 the game) had higher expectations of draft day and asked if getting excited just because KP told them it was good.

I wanted to add my two cents here and question others as to what they thought.

Do people like trades just because KP tells them it's a good trade?

I think this is definitely possible. KP has earned our trust as a fan base and I think we could snag almost any player, and if KP tells us that the player is good, then a large majority of us will be come excited.

That said, Bayless has always been listed as a very good player and a top three or four talent. With the draft pick we had, it's INCREDIBLE we snagged him, but will he pan out?

I had also expected more activity and MAJOR moves.

Was this move as good as the hype or were expectations for more?

To be honest, I was expecting more. The move itself was EXCELLENT from two stand points:

1.  We gave up NOTHING that we didn't need to give up anyway.
2.  We got the most we could get from the draft without giving up any major pieces.

However, I have now dropped my win expectation down to 46-48 from 50-52. The reason being is that we... got... YOUNGER!!!

My initial response was "DANG IT!!! ANOTHER YEAR WE'RE BUILDING AND POSSIBLY NOT MAKING THE PLAY-OFFS!!!

I was upset. I really expected a move for Harris. He's young and would have provided experience. He was perfect for us. I'm ready for the blazers to make their move this year and that trade would have greatly helped us.

Instead we have another young guy who needs to learn the game and learn his place and who may not work out. It's always possible because rookies are unknowns.

So, that said, is Bayless worth keeping or should we trade again for Harris?

If you're only goal is to win this year and have a reasonable chance of winning in the years to come, then I say yes. If your goal is to create a dynasty over the next 10-15 years, then I say probably not.  You take the higher risk/higher return to ensure that no team can tweak their team and beat the blazers.  Consider it an insurance policy against injury to other stars.

Bayless is supposed to have a HIGH ceiling. If he reaches his potential (and likely will with the blazers), then he's worth it. There IS risk that he doesn't and then the blazers look pretty dumb for not going after Harris.

KP and ethics

Did KP break a gentleman's promise with other teams and did he tell Charlotte to draft DJ for him?

We can't really answer this because we were not there.

Is it okay to do break your word?

I'm going with a definite no here.  It's not ethical and it strongly showcases that you're not a trust worthy person.  I would actually turn in my blazer fan card if this were the case.  There are SO many people in business that do what it takes to win in the short term and don't care who lose just so they win.  I could and would never support a company or team like that.  In my opinion it's a bad cultural trait to take on.

There were people in various threads brushing it off, but it's not a little thing.  That is major and I don't care how much I like someone, I'm not going to excuse behavior like that.  In all honesty, it's really making me ponder the election this year as well and which direction (if any) I'll be going.

Now, KP didn't have a deal in place, but mislead... still a little dirty, but if a GM is going to be stupid enough to do something like that, then it's their own fault.

Firing Nate

If the Blazers do not improve next year, should Nate be fired?

I looked around for this post but could not find it.   My response is WHAT???

We've just taken on a young point guard  WHY in the WORLD would we fire Nate?  Why do we even need a scape goat if something doesn't go well?

Our team is still young and we'll still be inconsistent at times.  We're STILL in the learning phase guys!  I'll be disappointed if we don't continue improving and win 46-48 games, but I won't be calling for anyones head.  I won't even be concerned if we come out at 41 again.  I don't think that's entirely unexpected when you have a young team and get rid of some of the leadership (jack, jones).  Management is tempering expectations and does not believe that we'll make the play-offs.  With that in mind, they may make decisions to see what they have instead of flat out trying to win.

I see soooo many teams have knee jerk reactions like firing coach after a bad season and it doesn't work for me.  Some teams have major injuries to key players, the team has a losing season, and the answer?  Fire the coach?  What good does that do you?  You can only do so much with what you have.

Additionally... Nate is constantly learning and improving!  He is sometimes slow to change, but I suspect this is because he wants to see if something is a fluke or if it really works.  It's possible he's doing this because he knows he's learning as is the team and he has the luxury right now to experiment.   Or maybe he's just slow to learn.  Either way he constantly gets better.

Additionally, no team improves MORE after a timeout.  That shows good coaching.

In my mind Nate should be fired if:

1. He loses the team so they don't follow him.
2. If he shows that he's reached the limits of his ability and can't continue to learn, improve, and get the team over the championship hump.  (This takes a few years and includes a team that is healthy AND has experience).
   
3. He does something completely immoral
4. He is destroying the culture
   

The myth of the golden gut

Okay, this drives me NUT!!!

Paul Allen stated, in an interview, that KP has the golden gut.  This drives me nuts because he DOESNT have a golden gut.  That's like saying that basketball players succeed just because they have natural talent.

The fact is that KP AND basketball players put in hours and HOURS of hard work.  KP's success comes from planning, developing a system to evaluate talent, and sticking to that system.

Calling it the golden gut is false, misleading, and worships KP without recognizing the hard work he AND his team are putting into it.

The End

That's really all i have on this one.  I just wanted to point it out.  The man works hard, works smart, and makes decisions that are generally good ones with his team.

Hope you enjoyed the reading, it wasn't too much of a rehash, and you didn't mind that I clumped everything up into one post because I couldn't find all the posts and because I'm sure you wouldn't want four more posts to bump the old ones off.

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/

Thanks to Jason T, we have the schedule:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/6/9/548744/i-have-the-summerleague-sc

Here's Portland's schedule:

7/14 5pm vs. Washington

7/15 7pm vs. Sacramento

7/17 7pm vs. Minnesota

7/19 7pm vs. Phoenix

7/20 5pm vs. New Orleans

 

My thoughts are that I'll be there the 17th and the 19th. So I asked before but I'll be asking again: Who plans on going? When do you plan on going? How do you feeling about an 18th Dinner together (friday)? My thoughts are that we meet somewhere close to the strip and the COX. I imagine that's where most the out of towners will be staying. Wow... this new format is weird. this is my first fan post since the changes.

So last year we had a dinner during the Vegas summer league and we were able to walk out on the court and enjoy the various raw talent.

I've posted in misc posts asking, but I either never got an answer, or lost track of that particular post.

So:

1.)  Are people going to the summer league?

2.)  Are we doing a dinner?  Ken?

3.)  Dave, will you be there?

4.) ... I don't have anything else right now.

I'm curious, as an outsider, what value you place on your players.

Specifically I noticed that you're a team that may have a decent change at the number one pick and I wondered what you'd be willing to give up for it.  Specifically, what you'd be willing to trade the blazers for it?

On the table:

Outlaw, Frye, Sergio, Jack, Rudy, McRoberts, Konponen, Freeland, la Frentz for dumping a player you don't want and balancing the dollars, and the 13th pick (assuming the blazers don't luck out by some miracle again).

So who would you want with that first pick and who would you be willing to trade the first pick to us for and what else would you want included in the trade to balance it out?

What do you want to see happen this summer?

We’ve seen about 200 posts like this before the summer even ended, but I’m going to add my two cents.

We need to make a move for Rose.  I feel this strongly.  We are weak at the PG position and while I don’t think we need an all star, we need a HUGE improvement.  A rookie season of 16 points and 6 assists would be a huge improvement as well as an upgrade in speed.

We have Travis, Rudy, the finland kid, Freeland, Sergio, Jack, Jones, Webster, McRoberts the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 13th or 14th pick to work with to get Rose.   What we have to give up to get Rose will depend on the ping pong balls.  Personally I believe we’ll need to dump either Outlaw or Rudy.  Both those guys are going to be bench players/sixth men, and I believe giving them both playing time will be tough.   I’m leading towards Outlaw as I believe Rudy, despite the frail body, will provide a lot.  I also believe we shouldn’t dump both as we want to retain one as our sixth man/power scorer off the bench.

My ideal trade:   Outlaw, Sergio, Jack, Freeland, McRoberts, number 13th pick for Rose a future 1st round pick whatever scrubs that will fall off our cap in a year or two.

My reason? 

Webster has the potential to be our starting SF.   Jones makes an EXCELLENT back-up/specialty guy along the lines of a Steve Kerr.   We have a year of development with Rose and Oden but the level of Rose’s development should be much higher than our current PG’s are now.   The finland kid can fill in behind blake and Rose and have time to develop and eventually take over for blake after a few years.

Rudy will have a clear role off the bench to lead the second unit and to be the dominate player that rips up the other second unit players.

Frye won’t be buried behind Outlaw and can back up Aldridge as an Aldridge light.  Pryz backs up Oden and our teams have little drop off from first to second unit.

Now… I’m assuming that Webster is the fit at SF for us.  I still believe he is, but we’ll see.

The next question is will teams be willing to get more bodies with potential instead of one killer player?   Will it take Rudy to make this deal because he’ll also be a killer player?   CAN we have Rudy signed by then so that we can make that deal if it takes Rudy?   What pieces do we have to take on as garbage to make this work?  Who will we be making the trade with?

Miami, Memphis, Seattle, New York, and Clippers seem our most likely dealers.

Miami with Shawn Marion, Wade, Jack/Sergio, and Outlaw plus a 13th pick can help transform that team from seniors with canes to teens with growth and potential that Wade can help bring out in his team mates.  A move like this could help Marion stay too.

Memphis:  I honestly see them needing a good point guard.  They have Marc Gasol coming over and he’s also one of the best Euro players.  I’m not sure what the blazers could give me that I’d want over Rose.  Rudy is a possibility, but how will he play with the other Rudy?   Many mock the blowing up that Memphis did, but really… this team realized it didn’t have what it would take for a championship and it needed more.  Rudy or Rose could give it the more and Rose might be the best bet.  Here’s hoping Memphis is dumb or that they don’t get the first pick.

Seattle:  Rose is nice but Outlaw, Jack, Sergio, expiring pieces for a key free agent run… I think we could swing this trade with Seattle.  They only really have Durant and they need more quality players.  Making a deal with the blazers can fill the spots faster, keep the team young, and position for a major move in the future.  Plus they’ll have a few more years in the lottery considering the fact that they’re growing up in the west.

New York:  No one player is going to help the cancer that is New York right now.  They need to do serious house cleaning and the blazers are the only team that can help do this thanks to Paul Allen’s money.  We can take and buy out the large contracts so they never infect our team, provide youth, and speed the recovery of the new york team dramatically.  Also… as a flavor and the cost of our letting New York cleanse the contract hell with us… we should also be able to snag a first round or two off them.

Clippers:  They freaking need a good point guard and Livingston is broken.  Frankly, unless Brand vanishes from the team, I don’t see us having a shot at Rose.  We’d definitely have to give up Rudy for it to be considered.  I suppose there may be interest in Jack and Sergio as well as McRoberts or Frye as a possible back up (but I think McRoberts sucks based on his lack of ownership in the D-league… so he really may just be scrap)  If we don’t scrap Outlaw and keep him for our SF/PF sub, then we can lose Frye which might help the clippers out in addition to Rudy, Jack, Sergio, and a partridge in a pear tree.

 So, would the above teams be willing to make a deal?  What do you think it would cost us?  Do you agree with me as to what our team needs and what we could let go to get it?  I want answers from those who have smarts in basketball!

Really… the slow blazer news is driving me nuts!

 Also… any word on the summer league party yet?   I haven’t seen anything.  Ken, are you setting this up again?

It's been a slow blazer week.  Life has calmed down and I'm ready to start reading again... and the season is ending and posts have lessened.  My craving for all things blazers are no longer being satisfied!!!

*sigh*

So I ask you, why do stars make things go bold?

I also ask, will the large one be returning?  I'm amused at how he has become a thing of legend.  Maybe I should say person of legend?  Every time he's brought up you'll see a few posters go "who's fatty?".  Now, I wasn't always his greatest fan as I couldn't read a dang thing he wrote due to the excessive use of periods.  he made my eyes spin in circles and the room start rocking sideways.  he did however provide flavor.  Sometimes it was that putrid flavor of napalm in the morning and sometimes it was like the taste of mushed chocolate... at least we can hope that's what it tasted like.

So, will he return or has his departure gone from temporary to permanent?  Did he say one year or until the end of the season and then at what time period can we look forward to or dread the second coming of he who is NOT Oden?

These are the thoughts that enter my mind when we have a slow blazer week.  Pick up the pace of events and debate or suffer the agony that is the thoughts from my brains!!!

Also... are we getting together again for summer league?  I'm starting to plan such things now and i'm looking for the rough date.  I could be out there the entire week, but I think I'll spend the beginning portion or the end portion visiting yellowstone park.

Discuss, cuss (no wait... don't... you'll be banned), or ignore at your pleasure.

Poll

This poll is bad yes?

28%

Because that's where his girlfriend lived

10 votes

31%

spaghetti monster

11 votes

17%

The Rooster

6 votes

5%

Orange

2 votes

5%

Ravi

2 votes

5%

Blue

2 votes

0%

Tangerine

0 votes

0%

Red

0 votes

2%

The woodchuck could chuck as much wood as a wood chuck could chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.

1 votes

2%

Black

1 votes

35 votes | Poll has closed

So I received tickets to go to this game and had an awesome experience.  This was the closest I've ever been at a game and I noticed that the empty seats are much less noticable when you're so low as well as the fact the volume is GREATLY enhanced.   Thinking about it, this makes a lot of sense.

So, I'm going to write a little about my in game thoughts and observations and then a little post game because I had tickets to go "back stage" and let me tell you, that was a let down.  Keep in mind that my observations will be more a "feel" for the game as opposed to hard this's or thats.

The game started off with us in the lead and playing incredibly sloppy.  It felt like we needed to pull ahead and we just never did.  We never put that foot on their throat.  As sloppy as we were, they were worse and if we could have just made smart intelligent plays and not turned the ball over, we could have dominated this game.

I saw three incorrect blocking fouls called on the blazers where the feet were planted a good second before they took the charge.  That frustrated me, but honestly I feel that we should win games despite the refs, not because they're giving or taking away calls.  I also saw a non-call on a goaltending.  I saw some non-calls go our way too, but I can definitely understand why some people would be upset at the refs.

The croud was LOUD, but I suspect this was based on my location.  I did what I could to get my section into it and we did some standing and cheering, but it obvsiously wasn't enough.

I looked up around the third quarter and notice that we were shooting 38% to 50% and we were losing at ALL the stats on the game board except that we made two three pointers more.

My comment to my girlfriend is that we were lucky to be tied.

I also noticed that the crowd was really into it and NATE CALLED TIME!!!  I think that was a huge mistake because it felt like all momentum died in that moment.  We were ahead by two and we lost the lead and never got it back after that time out.  (or we may have been tied, but I think we were ahead).  I thought that was a poor call.

I read that Pryz had 18 rebounds?  I never noticed.  I noticed him working to get inside and I cheered loudly everytime he grabbed the ball.

This is the first game I've gone to this season where the blazers lost, and I disappointed.  I think they were trying but it was the difference between working hard and working smart and they were just making DUMB mistakes.

Shots were passed up that were wide open and that SHOULD have been taken, because you DONT pass up on wide open shots.

I saw hesitation with the ball.  That second where you could make a play and a quick score or pause and let the defense get into position.  I can see why we never get fast breaks because the guys don't even LOOK for the open man on the run.  That has seriously got to change.

Still, I was UP CLOSE and could see Nate with his game board talking with the players, and that made for an awesome experience.

After the game we went over to the visitors entrance/exit and waited in this pen like thing.  Kinda like sheep or cattle.  Luckily we had a bathroom.  In theory this is so we could meet the players as the exited.

Webster left, never made eye contact and never smiled.

Sergio left with two friends and he also ignored the kids calling out to him.

Frye was the the phone and complete unfocused on the people waiting for the blazers.

Okafur came out and talked.
Gerald Wallace came out and chatted for a while and posed for pictures.
Their point guard, who i can't remember, came outand signed a few autographs.

Aldridge also ignored the kids calling out for his autograph and exited.

I either missed the other blazers or the left via different routes.

Now, I was really looking forward to seeing some of them.  I don't care about an autograph, I just wanted to express appreciation to Joel for working so hard to come back this year.  I wanted to tell Oden I was looking forward to his return next year.   I wanted to say thank you to one of the blazer staff for the tickets.  So, i was a bit disappointed.

I expected more from these blazers.  I expected at least ONE blazer to act as a spokesperson and show some love to their fans.

Being the guy I am, when something is broken, I always have ideas on how to fix it.

The blazers should enlist at least ONE player to care about the fans.  They should care about the fans in a timely manner so you're not standing there waiting an hour for a blazer to give a darn, if they ever do.  They can come out and say hi and then go back in and workout if they like.

The smallest gesture to those kids can make a HUGE impact on their life.  A huge impression because a player simply came up and said hi.  Can you imagine that experience as a kid?  You'd be a life long fan.

So I grrrd about that.  REally, that would have made up for the loss if I could have talked to even one of the blazers.

Oh, last observation is the bling of the charlotte players was HUGE.  The blazers had no bling, and that was nice.  I find bling to be tacky and obnoxious.

So that was my experience.  Really, I loved the game but winning, and a simple handshake would have turned an awesome memory into a once in a lifetime memory.  It's not just the kids who got a little gyped, although I'd have traded that handshake so they could have had their experience.