SB Nation User Blog: timbo

27. Rack 'Em: The View from Phoenix

timbo — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:17:49 -0000

It's kind of funny how NBA games ebb and flow.

I suppose that the backwards and forwards waves of scoring have something to do with the fact that points are accumulated by 2s and 3s. If a team manages to put a couple of makes together, the first thing ya know it's a 7-0 run and momentum is completely altered.

I reckon that the old adage that "basketball is a game of runs" is probably just another way of saying that in the course of a 48 point evening, teams are apt to score several times in a row now and again. The key is keeping your opponents' scoring runs minimized and getting hot down the stretch, when games are actually decided.

When one is playing the Phoenix Suns, the ebb and flow of scoring runs is even more pronounced. If Portland is down 9 to a healthy Houston Rockets team late in the 3rd Quarter, they're probably toast. Down the same 9 to Phoenix or the New York Knicks or Orlando any one of those ultra-offensive 3-point raining teams — less of an issue, for sure.

The gunning teams might drop 3 or 4 treys on your skull in quick succession, or they might just as easily clank 5 in a row and let ya back in it. A little luck, a little defense, who knows? Just get those rebounds, that's key.

I figure you look at the lead in a Suns game and divide by 2 and that's the approximate situation in real terms. The Blazers were down FIFTEEN POINTS pretty late in the 3rd Quarter on Thursday night and it looked grim. The raw magnitude of the lead was clearly something that clearly could be surmounted (7.5 "real" points), but I was convinced the Blazers had stopped hustling and given it up. This perception was short-lived, thankfully. Then the long jumpers stopped falling for Phoenix and Portland unleashed a new secret weapon...

All hail Jerrydus Rex! Sixteen points, 3 rebounds, and an assist in the 4th Quarter!

Phoenix has been snakebit during their appearances on TNT. Their 105-102 loss to Portland marked the 17th straight time they earned the big L in the bright lights — a Nets-like clip for a team that is anything but Nets-like. It is pretty weird, if you think about it, that a team that good can lose that many in a row. Bad luck? No. There has to be a reason, does there not?

Well, allow me to advance a theory. I think that Phoenix's abysmal performance on TNT probably relates to the fact that pressure intensifies for marquee television games. Teams close on open perimeter shooters a half second quicker, they rebound just a little bit harder, they hustle just a little bit more — and jumpshooters get just a little bit tighter. They think more and flow less.

Something else happened in the second half of the Blazers-Suns game, however. Portland started taking and making a bunch more 3s themselves. I believe Portland opened the game 2-for-4 behind the arc in the first half; Phoenix made a bunch, like 8 or something like that. By the time the game was over, Portland was 10-for-20 and Phoenix was 10-for-21 from downtown. In short: the Blazers gave the Suns a taste of their own medicine.

There were mismatches, to be sure. Portland had no answer for Amar'e Stoudamire in the paint, true, but by the same token, Phoenix had no way to keep Roy or Bayless from driving and finishing. Portland wound up shooting 35 foul shots, making 25. Phoenix shot 22 and made 16. Easy money. Winning basketball involves getting to the rack.

It's good to have another guy other than Brandon who can do it.

Here's an interview with The Rex and his brother just before the NBA draft...

Now a little local love for the Chan Man...

We can all agree that squeezably soft Charmin Frye is a swell guy and it's great for him to be home playing for a team that loves him and appreciates him and uses him in an appropriate manner — floating around the 3-point circle and hoisting away on offense, playing a few minutes of fairly fluffy D in the key once in a while on the other end of the floor..

Of course, my own view is that Centers who don't bang in the paint on both ends are temperamentally unsuited for employment in the National Basketball Association. Jumpshooting "Centers" don't like the contact, they don't want to take the chance of feeling pain, they don't want to get hurt — which is logical and fine for a wrecking yard operator or a butcher or a librarian — but not so good for an NBA Big.

Here's why. By taking the path of least resistance, fluttering around the perimeter instead of mashing in the pit, jumpshooting "Centers" (not just Channing Frye, but also the others of his ilk, of which there are a few) thereby put themselves out of position for rebounds and out of position for high-percentage putback shots and out of position to take passes and work the offense down low, where the shots are close and the chances of success good.

Furthermore weak Center play reduces a team's chances in the gritty post-season — when defense tightens up and high percentage scoring chances determine everything — to zip, zilch, ZERO. And this all because when it comes right down to it these perimeter-oriented bigs (for all the bogus rationalizations made on their behalf about "pulling out the defense") are........................... CHICKENS!!!

Yes, CHICKENS!!!

Welcome to the Festival of Corny Eldrick Woods Jokes!

Time to steal some Eldrick Woods jokes from the internets... Here are some of the not-too-naughty ones...

A recent survey shows that 43% of Americans disapprove of Tiger Woods' behavior. The other 57% are still dating him.
What's the difference between a golf ball and a caddy? Tiger Woods can drive a golf ball 400 yards.
Elin Woods has a twin sister named Josephine. Know how to tell them apart? Elin is the one holding the bent 5-iron.
Congratulations to Tiger Woods, named Player of the Decade by the Associated Press. He's not bad at golf either...
Word is that Eldrick is gonna change his nickname as part of a major makeover. His wife is encouraging him to start calling himself "Cheetah" but the Florida traffic cops who now know him just as intimately are officially advocating "Lion."
He may have lost his endorsement deal with Accenture™®, but it sounds like Tiger has something in the works with Hostess.™®
How is Tiger like a baby seal? They both are in constant danger of being clubbed to death by Scandinavians.
Why is Steve Williams so upset? He heard that Tiger is in the market for a new Caddy.
What does Tiger Woods have in common with a duffer? Neither one can drive straight.
What is Tiger Woods' handicap? Cocktail waitresses.
One from England: "What a waste... I just spent £25 on Tiger Woods' 18 Favourite Holes. Turns out it was about golf!"
Why did Phil Mickelson call Elin Woods yesterday? He wanted to pick up some tips on how to beat Tiger.
Contrary to media reports, GM is looking forward to continuing its sponsorship agreement with Tiger. They're even unveiling a new car for him to promote, the Buick Rendezvous.™®
Tiger and Elin couldn't agree what to do the other night. He wanted to go for a drive and she wanted to go clubbing.
Tiger said the other day that fixing his marriage will be a lot like improving his golf game... He just needs to have better control of his putz.
Elin Woods is going to tell her story in a magazine article next month in hopes that teenage girls will learn from her experience. It's gonna appear in the January issue of Tiger Beat.
Tiger's other women aren't mistresses — they're provisionals.
Good thing Tiger can putt, because he sure can't drive worth a damn.
The cops asked Elin how many times she hit her husband. Elin replied, "Sheesh, I don't know, just put me down for 5."

Channel Surfing.

Wednesday, Dec. 16.

Los Angeles Lakers (19-4) at Milwaukee Bucks (11-11).

Are you a Lakers fan or a Bucks fan? Depending on which way you swing, this overtime spectacular may either headlined as "The Shot" or "The Call." With the home Bucks in control by 6 points in the last minute of overtime, a missed charge call turned into a 3 point play, starting a decisive Laker run — made possible when the Turkish dude with the Slavic chicks' name (Ilyasova) bricked a pair. Kobe's buzzer-beater intentionally replicated the EXACT shot he had missed at the end of regulation. He's funny that way. The Milwaukee faithful were in no mood for irony, however, and they departed feeling swindled.

Fun fact: the Lakers have played exactly 7 road games thus far this season. Of these they have lost one in Utah, won 3 in regulation, and won 3 in overtime. In other words, the line between outstanding road success and mediocrity in the NBA is a thin one.

When the Blazers played Milwaukee a week ago, I was ready to come unglued when they lost in double overtime. "Bottom feeders," I called the Bucks — and it's true that in the Western Conference they'd probably be something like the 11 seed or some such. Still, they're not a bad home team at all, with the crazed, horn-honking drunken loonies of "Section 6" raising a ruckus. I still don't like the fact that Portland flushed a winnable game in Buckville, but at least a feel a little less bad about the Blazers when the back-to-backing Lakers had the same exact trouble there.

One correct call by the officials at the end and this game would have went the other way. It sucks to lose like that, but the Bucks did. Lakers 107, Bucks 106 (OT).

Washington Wizards (7-15) at Sacramento Kings (10-13).

I really enjoy watching the Sacramento Kings. They're very young and they play very, very hard. No attitudes. They're scrappy. They work together. Tyreke Evans is gonna be a superstar. Fun team.

The Kings also kind of funny to watch. They suit up gobs of Caucasians — and I'm not just talking about unathletic big doofs at the end of the bench, but players who are actually integral to the success of the team. Don't be offended, haole friends, I would have used the P.C. term "European-Americans," but that's not really accurate either... At one point towards the end of the 3rd Quarter of this game the Kings had on the floor: PG Sergio Rodriguez (Spain), SG Beno Udrih (Germany), SF Omri Casspi (Israel), PF Andres Nocioni (Italy), C Spencer Hawes (USA). This was essentially the squad who put Sacramento on a 12-2 run that won this game for their team, incidentally...

Gilbert Arenas did his best, god knows... He got to the rack again and again in crunch time as the 12 point lead of the Kings shrank and shrank and shrank. Gil put 13 of his game-high 33 points up in the 4th Quarter, but they needed a few more. Kings 112, Wizards 109.

Thursday, Dec. 17.

Phoenix Suns (17-8) at Portland Trail Blazers (15-11).

Well, I sort of spent the first part of this thang blathering about playing the Suns, so let's just get to brass tacks, shall we? Blazers came from 15 back and won by the skin of their teeth when a Phoenix 3-ball by Nash clangs off at the horn. Yaay. Blazers 105, Suns 102.

Let's take a peak at the Popcorn machine GAME FLOW SUMMARY, shall we? Please give that link a little clicky-wicky, if you would...

Observation 1: Don't be so harsh about single game +/-, just use it correctly to point you towards hidden truths. Game high for the Blazers? Martell Webster at Plus-18. Why? He's the one healthy SF on the Blazers' roster and he was able to step up the intensity, pretty clearly. He scored 15 points, too, by the way.

Observation 2: Phoenix really had this game until the Blazers went on a 16-2 run in the 4th Quarter. Superheroes on the court: Roy carrying the ball as the de facto PG, Rex as the de facto SG, Blake playing the Portland, Marty as the de facto Power Forward, and LMA as so-called "Center." Score one for Nate pulling the goalie and playing small ball.

Observation 3: Blazers turned in a 35 point quarter to finish the game, which is what they needed to do.

Observation 4: Jerryd Bayless: 29 points in 29 minutes. Steve Blake: 12 points in 38 minutes, all 3-point shots. Hmmmm. The economist in me sees a disoptimum utilization of resources...

Observation 5: Brandon Roy had 19 points in the second half. That's what superstars do...

Observation 6: LMA had ZERO points in the 4th Quarter. That's what superstars do not do...

Now, break out your pink Snuggie™® and make yourself a warm mug of cocoa (with marshmellows) and join me in watching the latest installment of

And just in case you missed it, here's Thursday's episode...

Time to take a spin around the desert and see what the Phoenix fold are reading and writing about the good ol' Blazer game...

(1)

Suns Can't Hold Lead Against Trail Blazers

by Paul Coro, The Arizona Republic

* * *
...The Suns are encountering all sorts of firsts.

They blew a double-digit lead for the first time Saturday at Denver. They were going without both of their regular shooting guards, Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa, for the first time Thursday at Portland. It was then and there that they lost for the first time this season when entering the fourth quarter with a lead too.

They can get every first but for their first win on TNT since the 2007-08 regular season and their first road win in December. The TNT curse lives on, growing to 17 on Thursday night when the Suns blew a 15-point second-half lead and an 81-70 one entering the fourth in a 105-102 loss at Portland. It was the Suns' sixth consecutive road loss.

Phoenix was beat by its town's own, second-year guard Jerryd Bayless, who stepped into the opportunity to score a career-high 29 points that went well with 27 points from Brandon Roy, who got his 11 biggest points during the fourth-quarter comeback. * * *

(2)

Welcome to Prime Time, Jerryd Bayless

by Paul Coro, The Arizona Republic

* * *

If it was not for Portland's rash of injuries, Bayless' playing time would be as inconsistent as ever. But Portland leaned on him against his hometown's team, the Suns, and he answered the call with a career-high 29 points (previous high was 23) on 9-for-15 shooting. He made two 3-pointers in a game for the first time in his career. He had 16 points in the decisive fourth quarter, often taking over the ballhandling from Brandon Roy so that Roy could rest instead of coming out of the game. Roy played the entire second half.

"It felt great," Bayless said. "I can't even like. You know, this last year and a half has been tough for me. Coach (Nate McMillan) has given me an opportunity now and I'm just trying to make the best of it so I don't have to go through that again." * * *

"Me and Brandon talked about it a lot," said Bayless, still only 21 after spending one year at University of Arizona. "We feel kind of like he's the LeBron (James) and I can be the Mo Williams off of him because Mo's not really just a pure point. He's kind of just a guy that can make plays. That's what I was trying to do tonight and just make plays for myself and everybody else." * * *

(3)

Blazers 105, Suns 102 - Bayless, TNT down Suns

by Mike Schmitz, Valley of the Suns (TrueHoop)

After three quarters at the Rose Garden in Portland tonight, a Suns win was almost a guarantee. Coming into tonight's game against the Trail Blazers the Suns were 11-0 when Steve Nash handed out 11 or more helpers — he had 11 at the end of three. The Suns were 11-0 when leading after three quarters - they led by nine after through 36 minutes.

But despite Phoenix's prospects after three quarters of play, the TNT curse went into effect and former Arizona Wildcat and St. Mary's High School standout Jerryd Bayless went to work, propelling the Trail Blazers past the Suns, 105-102.

"We can't play good for 36 minutes," Suns coach Alvin Gentry told the Associated Press. "We have to play well for 48 minutes. That's the only way you win on the road." * * *

(4)

Blazers Down Suns: TNT Curse Continues

by Phoenix Stan, Bright Side of the Sun (SBN)

* * *
The Suns played a fantastic game for the 1st three quarters. The offense moved well and the team was making quick decisions reacting to the Blazers switching defense. On the other end the Suns were winning the battle of the boards and were active and aggressive on D holding the Blazers below 41% shooting before two things happened...

The tank ran dry and the starters couldn't sustain the effort and Jerryd Bayless went nuts. Perhaps more importantly, the Blazers coaching staff benched Andre Miller in favor of Bayless and they finally turned the kid loose.

Throw in Brandon Roy's normal fourth quarter big time play and there was simply no way the Suns were able to stop those two guards from getting deep penetration. When they stayed home on the shooters Roy and Bayless scored at the rim or got to the line. When the Suns collapsed in the paint the Blazers hit their shots. Frustrating, but also a case of great players making great plays at home. * * *

(5)

Those Crazy Bedgers

posted to the Bright Side of the Sun open thread

phew
just hoped over to the BE thread...that place is jumping. Almost too much to keep up with.

by Phoenix Stan on Dec 17, 2009 8:11 PM PST

those crazy bedgers
i love the enthusiasm they have, but its too hard to do that and watch the game at the same time, the comments are always overflowing haha. BSoTS is manageable :P

by azmanian_devil on Dec 17, 2009 8:15 PM PST

watch three seconds of the game, miss 20 comments
It's unreal.

by Steve Weinman on Dec 17, 2009 8:16 PM PST

(6)

Calm Down!

posted by "Yanyanman2" to Bright Side of the Sun open thread

calm down

it was a bad, bad loss. i am dissapointed. third road game in a row we should have won. but please, everybody, calm down.

jerryd bayless had a huge game. so we learn from that, ok? gratned, we should have learned from that about 2 quarters ago. but we will learn.

suns D was great for 3 quarters. but portland found its 3-ball in the fourth and we didnt cover it. they started getting hot and the home crowd got into it.

so many people here get absolutely ridiculous after every loss. its fine to be upset, but you have to be reasonable as well. seems like whenever we lose everybody has the same reaction:

   1) BLAME AMARE
   2) DESPAIR
   3) START COMING UP WITH CRAZY TRADE SCENARIOS (i don't think we've gotten to this yet tonight, but it will probably come)

let's all calm down and look at what actually went wrong: OUR BENCH. clark was bad and alando was bad. i dont think our bench is ready to cover the offensive load placed on them tonight without LB and JRich. blazers, on the other hand, were ready and prepared to dig deep into their bench to find offense because of the injuries. thats the way it rolled. priorities should be finding Earl's potential. and covering the damn 3 point line.

(7)

Suns Look Great Early, But Fall Late to Injury-Ravaged Blazers

by Jim Neveau, Suns Spot (Fanball)

* * *
Unfortunately, as has been the case recently, the fourth quarter spelled their doom. The Suns couldn't buy a bucket, and the Blazers completed a great comeback to win the game. Jerryd Bayless was a driving force behind the Portland win, with a career high 29 points in 29 minutes off of the bench to send the Suns to their 17th straight defeat on TNT.

Portland outscored Phoenix 41-23 over the last 14 minutes of the contest to take it.

In the closing seconds, the Blazers were clinging to a three point lead, and the Suns were inbounding the ball with four seconds left, and they were unable to get a good shot off as Nash bricked a fall-away three. * * *

(8)

Worst Play Ever

posted by "12-21-2012" to Real GM Suns message board

Gentry with the worst inbound play of all time. Nash had to work like a maniac for the ball. Frye getting the ball from Amare was worthless and cost us a couple seconds to at least get off a better shot.

Bayless looked like D-Wade when oviously he is a bench warming scrub. Won't have another game like this the rest of his life.

(9)

Tough Way to Lose

posted by "ChrisCringle95" to Real GM Suns message board

Tough way to lose as the Suns were killing Portland the whole game. I think the Suns need to send in Collins to take a cheap shot on Bayless and let him know no more layups.

You can't just let the dude come down the lane time and again. Then he has the nerve to smirk at the bench like he does this all the time. He would have been on his face hurting if I were the coach no question.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda sums up this game...

(10)

Our Achilles Heel

posted by "Garrick" to Real GM Suns message board

Fast guards that can penetrate have been killing us for a number of years now so it's not surprising to hear that Bayless had a really good game tonight.

That is our achilles heel.

The Bottom Line:

1. We had that game — HAD IT!!!

2. The TNT Curse is a very real thing. Next time we aren't watching...

3. If somebody's gonna beat us, it's good that at least it was a Phoenix kid.

More classic chicken dancing...

Poll

The wife of Blazer Assistant Coach Joe Prunty had a baby boy on Thursday. What do you think the Pruntys will name their new son?

26. Lifeboats Averted: The View from Sacramento

timbo — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:08:34 -0000

26. Lifeboats Averted: The View from Sacramento

A little bit of Lakers content here, including a name-check of the great Dexter Fishmore.

Today's installment includes:

* Essay on Offensive Efficiency comparing the stats of the 4 functional Guards of the Portland Trail Blazers to 4 roughly equivalent players around the league, including Derek Fisher.

* Steve Blake's massive playing time explained.

* Eldrick Woods smartassery.

* NFL update.

* Video of the Ariza flagrant against Toronto.

* Game reviews: Thunder at Nuggs, Lakers at Bulls, Kings at Blazers.

* Basketball Jones links.

* Commentary on the Kings v. Blazers game from the Sacramento orbit.

* Sing along with Jeffrey Tambor.

26. Lifeboats Averted: The View from Sacramento

timbo — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:07:56 -0000

I still had the services of the 11 hardworking immigrants from Central America for one more day, so I asked 'em really nice to pretty please produce some "Points Per Possession" stats for 4 other NBA guards as sort of a baseline for the 4 Blazer guards...

We know how the 4 functional Blazer guards stack up against each other, but what I wanted to know: how do the Blazer guards stack up against their comparable NBA peers?

The guys I've chosen as baseline players for the Portlanders: 1. Deron Williams (my favorite PG in the NBA and the dude whose game is most similar to that of Brandon Roy); 2. Jason Kidd (a veteran peer of Andre Miller, a bit long in the tooth but still highly desirable and playing for a playoff-caliber Western Conference team); 3. Derek Fisher (the classic example of the "steady stable veteran" in the Blake mold, World Championship level vet mediocrity); and 4. my buddy Sergio Rodriguez (head-to-head competitor with The Rex here in Portland last season who has been proclaimed by some to be succeeding marvelously now that he's getting a little bit of run as a backup PG for the good old Sacramento Kings).

The numbers which appear in this post were run on Sunday night and make use of the statistics on each player's page at NBA.com.

My previous post, which includes the whole spread of numbers for Messrs. Roy, Miller, Blake, and Bayless through 24 games, may be viewed by CLICKING THIS LINK.

To review:

For purposes of this analysis...

I make the assumption that 9 out of 10 free throws taken are neither technicals nor AND ONE situations, so:

Points Per Possession = TOTAL POINTS / {FIELD SHOTS TAKEN + (.9 * FTs TAKEN / 2) + TURNOVERS}

Relevant disclaimers and rationales appear in the previous article.

Per 36 Minutes and Points Per Possession averages for our mighty Blazers were:

Brandon Roy: 20.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 RPG. Turnovers = 2.24. PPP = 0.983
Andre Miller: 15.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 5.8 APG. Turnovers = 2.83. PPP = 0.894
Steve Blake: 8.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 5.0 APG. Turnovers = 1.85. PPP = 0.804
Jerryd Bayless: 19.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.9 APG. Turnovers = 1.87. PPP = 1.092

Okay, hardworking friends, let's get number crunching.

An additional disclaimer here: I am making no effort to adjust these next figures for pace. So the Per 36 figures for everyone else will be slightly inflated vis-a-vis the Blazer guys since NOBODY plays as ploddingly as PDX.

DERON WILLIAMS — Royesque All-Star caliber PG of the Utah Jazz.

21 games played, 39.1 minutes per game. 19.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 10.1 APG. Turnovers per game = 3.33.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 18.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 9.3 APG. Turnovers = 3.07.
Two Point Shooting: 130-for-251 = 51.8%
Three Point Shooting: 25-for-71 = 35.2%, effectively 52.8%
Free Throw Shooting: 76-for-102 = 79.4%
Points Per Possession: 411 / (322+32+70) = 0.969

JASON KIDD — venerable veteran PG of the Dallas Mavericks a la Andre Miller.

24 games played, 35.4 minutes per game. 8.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 9.0 APG. Turnovers = 2.67.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 8.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 9.2 APG. Turnovers = 2.72.
Two Point Shooting: 22-for-62 = 35.5%
Three Point Shooting: 47-for-110 = 42.7%, effectively 64.1%
Free Throw Shooting: 14-for-18 = 77.8%
Points Per Possession: 199 / (172+8+64) = 0.816

DEREK FISHER — Blake's hero, winning another ring while doing nothing particularly well as a steady old vet.

22 games played, 26.5 minutes per game. 7.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.1 APG. Turnovers = 1.18.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 9.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.2 APG. Turnovers = 1.60.
Two Point Shooting: 41-for-92 = 44.6%
Three Point Shooting: 17-for-55 = 30.9%, effectively 46.4%
Free Throw Shooting: 20-for-22 = 90.9%
Points Per Possession: 153 / (147+10+26) = 0.836

SERGIO RODRIGUEZ — former Blazer that rookie Rex couldn't quite get around.

18 games played, 14.5 minutes per game. 6.6 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 3.3 APG. Turnovers = 1.39.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 16.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 8.2 APG. Turnovers = 3.45.
Two Point Shooting: 32-for-66 = 48.5%
Three Point Shooting: 11-for-25 = 44.0%, effectively 66.0%
Free Throw Shooting: 25-for-28 = 75.0%
Points Per Possession: 118 / (91+13+25) = 0.915

What Have We Learned?

1. Roy v. Williams. We perceive Roy as having a rather bad year, but so must be Deron Williams. Roy has shown a marginally better efficiency with the ball in Points Per Possession terms and is outscoring his counterpart in Points Per 36 minutes of play. Now admittedly, Deron's role calls for more passing and setting up of teammates than does Roy, so the two are not fully comparable... But still... Advantage: Roy.

2. Miller v. Kidd. The games of these two oldies are exposed as diametrically opposite, with Miller unable to hit a 3-pointer while Kidd slays as a long ball shooter. Conversely, Andre's midrange game is proficient and Kidd's non-existent. Miller's turnover number is not obscene and his Points Per Possession is significantly more efficient than Kidd's. In Per 36 terms, Kidd has shown himself to be a better assist man, while Miller has demonstrated himself a far better scorer. Kidd's game is actually very Blakelike, I observe. Advantage: Miller.

3. Blake v. Fisher. Blake's stat line in Per 36 terms is very comparable to Fisher's, with Fisher demonstrating very slight superiority is scoring per game and Points Per Possession used. The difference is not decisive, but it can be discerned. Advantage: Fisher.

4. Bayless v. Rodriguez. The biggest eye-opener for me has been Sergio Rodriguez's new found ability to hit the 3-point shot. This year he is hitting them at a percentage which even exceeds that of Jason Kidd, who is off to the best start in his career in that department. Sergio's scoring is surprisingly efficient, particularly when one allows that he is a pass-first player, not adverse to the risky pass. His Per 36 scoring is simply unbelievable to me, exceeding that of Andre Miller, who has been solid if unspectacular. Sergio remains something of a turnover machine, but that's not such a big deal if he scores efficiently. His stats are not quite up to the levels of The Rex this year, but Sergio does seem to be showing that he's gonna stick in the NBA — much to my surprise, bordering on shock and amazement. Advantage: Bayless.

I guess the bottom line is this: would you rather have a guard lineup of Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Derek Fisher, and Sergio Rodriguez, instead of Brandon Roy, Andre Miller, Steve Blake, and Jerryd Bayless? If so, you'd be taking a set of guards with inferior stats...

Now that we have benchmarks inserted: the Points Per Possession numbers show Rex as amazingly efficient and Blake as disturbingly challenged.

Here's how the 8 shake out in terms of scoring efficiency:

Jerryd Bayless — 1.092 Points scored Per Possession used
Brandon Roy — 0.983 Points scored Per Possession used
Deron Williams — 0.969 Points scored Per Possession used
Sergio Rodriguez — 0.915 Points scored Per Possession used
Andre Miller — 0.894 Points scored Per Possession used
Derek Fisher — 0.836 Points scored Per Possession used
Jason Kidd — 0.816 Points scored Per Possession used
Steve Blake — 0.804 Points scored Per Possession used

Interesting, no?

Okay, I've figured out why Steve Blake is playing max minutes this year for the Portland Trail Blazers.......... Seriously! I know!!!

We all know that Kevin Pritchard is a powerful and forward-thinking GM (not to be confused with a GM that thinks about Power Forwards). KP is always looking for new tools to help him analyze and interpret reality, giving him a pivotal lead in the race to the finish line with the Daryl Moreys and R.C. Bufords and Donnie Walshes of the NBA.

KP has discovered, I do believe, that NBA 2K10™® has a level of statistically-based authenticity which makes it an excellent tool for game simulations. He's an addict, I'm sure — maybe he has even stopped showing up in the Rose Garden to watch actual Blazer games (too much noise, expensive beer, dumb mascot) so as to allow himself more time whupping Casey Holdahl's poxy posterior playing, errrrrrrrr, that is running dozens and hundreds of game simulations on the XBox 360 in his office.

A virtual world has replaced physical reality for Kevin Pritchard, perhaps.

And we all know that KP is nothing if not thorough. Running NBA 2K10™® KP has tried Bayless and he's tried Blake with every possible permutation of a Blazer lineup and come up with the same result again and again and again... BLAKE RULES AND BAYLESS SUCKS!!!

KP has no doubt passed his carefully chronicled findings on to Coach Nate and Nate's little brother Dean with a sternly worded memo from the front office: "PLAY BLAKE MAX MINUTES OR ELSE!!!" You see, KP has discovered that the more minutes Blake gets, the more amazingly awesome he is and the more the Virtual Blazers WIN WIN WIN!!!

The video which follows documents the source of KP's error... Praise be to basketball jesus that I have discovered it!!! I am almost Blakean in my amazing awesomeness for having done that... PLEASE watch this video!

IT IS IMPORTANT!!!

IT IS REVELATORY!!!

IT MIGHT BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF PTB INFORMATION THAT YOU WILL ABSORB THIS WEEK, THIS MONTH, THIS YEAR!!!

PLEASE WATCH THIS 1 MINUTE VIDEO — IT WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING!!!

Ha ha, pretty funny stuff, huh?

Of related note — ripped from a BE Junk Drawer...

Blazer fan mood improving idea
Load up NBA 2k10 or another NBA video game, load up 1 on 1:

Play Bayless vs. Blake as Bayless. Jam in Blake’s face about ten times. I feel much better now and I think you will too.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!" -Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 13, 2009 9:58 PM PST

Then there is the ongoing Eldrick Woods saga — losing one of his corporate sponsors, targeted in Doonesbury with a pretty hilarious strip about 13 lawyered up mistresses wanting to unionize, naughty "Tiger"™® jokes sweeping Twitter™®, linked up in the press to a doctor under investigation for possessing illicit Performance Enhancing Drugs...

Yes, these are serious times for Nike's Golden Child...

As usual, the BE Junk Drawer comes through!

Still, as they say
When it rains, it pours. Tiger Inc. is in full implosion mode.

by skywaker9 on Dec 15, 2009 11:03 AM PST

Which is why he shoulda been on Oprah's couch confessing as soon as possible after the initial news broke.

by Name's Ash on Dec 15, 2009 11:05 AM PST

Now he's relegated to Maury Povich

by The Arkitect on Dec 15, 2009 11:06 AM PST

Tiger
.
.
.
.
.
.
You ARE the father!

by Name's Ash on Dec 15, 2009 11:07 AM PST

oh, and she's really a he.

by The Arkitect on Dec 15, 2009 11:09 AM PST

Oh, well, on with the games.

I spent Sunday with the NFL. All 3 teams that I care about this year are progressing nicely, thank you very much: Colts, Chargers, Saints.

Colts are 13-and-0. Indy has all but admitted that they're going to be losing the next few games by playing scrubs and resting starters for a month... That's a dumb strategy, last time they did that they got torched in their first playoff game because they were rusty. But they can do what they want to do, I reckon. They think a rusty Peyton is better than a Peyton with a blown ACL... But I think they lose either way.

Saints want to finish the year 16-and-0 and are going all out for that goal. You go, Drew Brees! Saints have had two escapes by the skin of their teeth in the last fortnight and I'll be a little surprised if they don't crash and burn. But I think their concept is better than the Colts' for going into the postseason on a roll.

Chargers are finishing strong again, as they always do. They remind me of the OSU Beavers, who start slow and finish well almost every year. Hmmmm, OSU boss Mike Riley used to coach for the Chargers, I wonder if that's a lingering impact of his upon team culture... Nobody talks about Philip Rivers much, but he's probably a Top 5 QB, when you get right down to it. Just think that the Chargers had him AND Brees... And LT AND Michael "The Burner" Turner. Sheeeeesh, how did they NOT win it all?!?!

Here's one for the Trevor Ariza haters...

I was flipping it back and forth on the Bedge with a couple people over my Don't Trust Then Verify approach towards Drama Queen Jason Quick's initial report on the Rudy Fernandez surgery. DQJQ stated in The Oregonian that the Rudy surgery was necessitated by the Trevor Ariza foul of March 9, 2009 — a hit which was said to have caused a nagging injury which was then aggravated when Rudy inadvertently caught an elbow in the back coming off a screen in practice.

Quick's attribution of the origin of the injury to the Ariza play was based on the say-so of Rudy's Spanish agent rather than Rudy himself. This seemed to me to be insufficient for the floating of a provocative implication about the causation of a key injury during a superheated moment for Blazer fans.

At last we have Rudy's own words in a Dec. 14 interview with Sean Meagher of The Oregonian:

Meagher: Your back and leg pain had been bothering you for a while ... This is the best you've felt in how long?

Rudy: "Maybe in one year. After the Trevor Ariza (foul) I not feel good with my back. And this summer I played with the national team, too, and not rest a lot. Right now I feel very good, I feel better. I think this is the best opportunity for me to play hard and feel great."

The undersourced initial report is now verified.

That is all.

Channel Surfing.

Monday, Dec. 14.

Oklahoma City Thunder (12-10) at Denver Nuggets (17-7).

Denver is off to their best start in franchise history while OKC was coming off of a loss to LBJ and the Cavs and looking to sneak past Portland into the 8th spot on the Western Conference.

Denver came out colder than Frosty's icy nuggets, putting on a 1-for-11 exhibition of chronic touchlessness over the first 5 minutes. For a time Anthony the Beast was the only Nugget that seemed to understand the concept of putting the round thing through the ring, scoring the first 9 points for the home team while his buddies continued to clank and clank and clank. But as Phil Jackson once pronounced upon the earthly host, NBA games are not lost in the 1st Quarter — and the Nuggets didn't.

The Thunder are more or less the 2007/08 Portland Trail Blazers of today — young and hungry and hustling, loaded with future stars like Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green and Kevin Durant. Still missing a couple parts, the main thing OKC needs to do is figure out how to win on the road. On that they are a work in progress, for sure.

In the 2nd Quarter the Nuggs started getting the ball low to Nene and Birdbrain, which opened up the perimeter looks for everyone else and Denver opened up a nice little lead. Nuggs had 15 up on 'em at the half — and it felt like it was over. And it was. Nuggets 102, Thunder 93.

Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Los Angeles Lakers (18-4) at Chicago Bulls (8-14).

Let's open the recap of this one with a pre-game zinger from our friend Dexter Fishmore of Silver Screen & Roll:

The United States has an unemployment rate of 10%, yet Vinny Del Negro still receives a paycheck for coaching the Chicago Bulls. This is called market failure.

Love those economics jokes! And ya know what? There's probably not a single Bulls fan in America that is ready to differ on Dex's tongue-in-cheek assessment.

Coming into this matchup with "The Best Team in the Universe," VDN probably had the following "Keys to the Game" written on the whiteboard in the home locker room:

Hope that Kobe still can't hit a jumper with a splint on the index finger of his shooting hand.
Pray that Pau Gasol goes down with some sort of foot, ankle, or leg injury.
Exit the court expeditiously after you lose and keep one eye on the crowd for flying batteries and bottles.

Yes, friends, with the Lakers coming off of a rare loss, this one promised to be ugly...

Over the next 2 and a half hours, the Bulls played their hearts out, with Derek Rose particularly distinguishing himself getting to the rack. Joakim Noah was a beast on the boards, accumulating 20 rebounds, while Luol Deng matched Rose's 21 points with 21 of his own. The game played very evenly well into the 4th Quarter.

Laker Big Pau Gasol had a bad night, staggering around at times like a drugged moose. He finished the night with 10 points and 16 boards on 3-for-8 shooting, but he looked really bad doing it. Kobe Bryant, he of the fractured index finger, was the man with the big jock for the Lakers, lacing the Bullies for 20 points the 1st Quarter alone and finishing the night with a hefty 42.

It was a tough win on the road for the Lakeshow. They're gonna have a lot of tough road games like this one coming up pretty quickly here. Don't think for a minute that all the home games Team Purple had to open the season come free. Lakers 96, Bulls 87.

Sacramento Kings (10-12) at Portland Trail Blazers (14-11).

It's like this: if the Portland Trailblazers can't beat the Sacramento Kings in the Rose Garden, it's fanciful and silly to think they are a playoff team in 2009/10. A loss here, a loss there — that stuff happens. But when the last 8 games are L - L - L- W- L - W - L - L, and you are playing a young team that's just 1-and-9 on the road, you know it's time to sail the damned ship or man the lifeboats...

This game was not a convincing win, by any stretch of the imagination — the Blazers were down by 11 at the half, for goodness sake — but a win it was. "The bottom line is the bottom line," I always say...

In this, the 26th game of the season, Nate McMillan for the very first time all year started the Logical Starting Lineup: Andre Miller at PG, with Roy, Marty, LMA, and Pryzzy. Steve Blake was relegated to the bench and every indication was given in the run up that he was there in a position of parity with Jerrydus Rex.

Nate was true to his word, surprisingly putting Miller on the pine in the 4th Quarter to allow Rex and Roy to take turns knocking orange paint off the rim with their knuckles. Bayless repaid Coach Nate's trust in full putting 10 much-needed points on the board and finishing the game with 14, matching his season high. Roy and LMA were both excellent (a rare alignment of the planets these days), both finishing with 25 points and shooting at an efficient rate.

Joel Pryzbilla finished the night with a mind-blowing +27 showing in the +/- category, and don't think for a moment that wasn't indicative of something important... Every time he left the floor, future superstar Tyreke Evans and his mates drove the lane at will. Life sucks on the 1 Center court. Tough nuts, though, that's just the way it has to be for Portand until favorite son Gregory Wayne's triumphant return 10 months hence. Stay healthy, Joel!!!

The Blazers were clutch when they needed to be clutch and pulled out a narrow win over the young and exciting Kings. Blazers 95, Sacramento 88.

P.S. Third string Sacramento PG Sergio Rodriguez saw the court for a few ticks over 8 minutes, finishing with 2 points (courtesy D. Bavetta) on 0-for-3 shooting. He had 2 assists and committed 2 costly turnovers, the last of which brought a massive McMillanesque hook around his neck at the 11:00 mark of the 4th Quarter... ¡Bienvenidos, compadre! Come visit us again soon!

Okay, let's whip out our handy dandy Popcorn Machine GAME FLOW SUMMARY and we'll see if we can actually learn something... Just give that link a quick click, if you would...

Observation 1: The 1st Quarter belonged to Portland before they gave it away, the 2nd belonged to the Kings until they flushed it coming out of the locker room from halftime. A 19-6 Portland run flipped the game again.

Observation 2: Pryz was +27 playing Center and Juwon Howard was -16 trying to play Center. This is a perfect example of how single game +/- CAN be meaningful. Joel's defensive presence was decisive tonight. Pryz wound up playing over 30 minutes, which is getting up there for him.

Observation 3: Blazers finished on a 12-3 run and won going away. The clutch-time lineup was Rex, Blake, Roy, LMA, and Pryzzy.

Now pull on your comfortable slippers and please join me in watching the latest installment of

Skeets was sick so there was no show Tuesday but here is Monday's episode, just in case you missed it...

Okay, let's take a spin around the Sacramento neighborhood to see what poncy scribes and basement-dwelling dweebs alike are saying about the Kings' visit to Portlandia...

(1)

Kings: Udrih Shines in First Half

By Sam Amick, Sacramento Bee

PORTLAND, Ore. - Kenny Thomas had no interest in being his team's fortune teller.

Just two days before the Kings looked to get the road monkey off their back at the Rose Garden, the veteran forward said the youngsters all around him lacked the composure for this kind of challenge. They needed patience and poise in these settings, to make the right plays at the right times and finish one of the many strong efforts when away from Arco Arena.

But the Kings did none of that Tuesday night, wasting three quarters worth of mostly stellar play with an awful fourth in their 95-88 loss to Portland.

They hit just 6 of 19 shots and scored 15 points in the final period, with just two attempts coming from rookie guard Tyreke Evans after his dynamic third quarter had kept the surging Trail Blazers away. * * *

(2)

Maloofs Hope to Re-sign Kings Executive Petrie Soon

By Sam Amick, Sacramento Bee

PORTLAND, Ore. - Even after the Kings' franchise-low, 17-win season caused their owners much misery, the Maloofs' mantra of "In Geoff we trust" had remained as it pertained to basketball president Geoff Petrie.

Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof said as much Sept. 30, when he deemed Petrie "a King for life" entering the 2009-10 campaign despite the fact that Petrie has no contract beyond this season. But he also said they didn't need any such paperwork and there was no timetable set by which to draft such an unnecessary document.

Until now.

"We want to look at (negotiating an extension) within the next couple weeks," Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said. "We'll sit down with Geoff and discuss the state of the franchise, talk to him about his feelings on the team, how he feels about the situation and go from there and try to work a nice agreement for both parties." * * *

(3)

In-Game Blog (Portland 95, Kings 88)

by Sam Amick, Sacramento Bee

PORTLAND, Ore. - The road woes continue for the Kings, who failed to adjust to Brandon Roy's lockdown defense on Evans in the final quarter and are now 1-10 away from Arco Arena. The Portland guard focused on his defense after sparking the offense, as he scored four points to start the period during Portland's 9-2 run to start it.

Evans had just three of his 19 points in a fourth quarter in which he took just two shots, and the Kings scored just 15 points in the final period while hitting just 6 of 18 shots. Roy finished with 25 points and 10 assists. * * *

(4)

Game 23 Recap: Blazers 95, Kings 88

by Zach Harper, Cowbell Kingdom (TrueHoop)

The loss to the Blazers dropped the Kings to 10-13 on the season and 1-10 on the road.

And it's seemingly the same old story on the road: certain guys show up, other guys don't and the Kings can't get a full effort out of their regular rotation guys. * * *

And of course, there is Tyreke Evans. How do you keep finding ways to describing him on the court? You saw in this game two things: 1) how scary efficient he can be scoring the ball as he gets more comfortable finishing his attempts inside and 2) his composure on the court is kind of intimidating. He never looks rattled. When the Kings had Donté Greene in the backcourt with ‘Reke, he was able to use his everything to get past Blazers point guards. But in the second half and more importantly the fourth quarter, the Blazers slowed him down and pretty much neutralized him by giving Brandon Roy the Tyreke defensive assignment. * * *

(5)

Blazers Mount Comeback, Edge Kings 95-88

by Ziller, Sactown Royalty (SBN)

As Paul Westphal told the media and the cameras, the Kings did not play smart basketball in the fourth quarter, particularly on offense. But there's an asterisk: the Blazers threw something at the Kings that the players on the floor were unable to adjust to. Portland so wanted to stop Tyreke Evans (who was murder in sneakers all night) they pulled Joel Przybilla all the way across the lane to provide help on just about every Evans touch. The Kings tried to clear a side to allow Evans to go one-on-one against Brandon Roy or Andre Miller, but the help came anyways. Evans was unable to get the ball efficiently to the other side of the floor, and the Kings offense went blank.

The Kings ran a couple picks-and-rolls to create space, and it worked a bit. But not enough. It wasn't the only problem for the Kings, that fourth quarter offense, but it was the one most directly tied to Sacramento's defeat. Defensive rebounding was (surprise!) the problem. Portland had 12 offensive rebounds in 37 opportunities, and every last one came from a Blazer starter. You can't blame Jason Thompson (eight defensive rebounds in 40 minutes) or Evans (seven in 33 minutes). You can, however, blame Spencer Hawes (one defensive rebound in 28 minutes), who had perhaps his worst performance of the season on both ends. * * *

(6)

Those Blazer Announcers Again

posted to the Post-Game Thread at Sactown Royalty (SBN)

How awful are the Blazers TV announcers?

by Phil Perspective on Dec 15, 2009 9:32 PM PST

Indefensibly bad.

by iashwash on Dec 15, 2009 9:33 PM PST

I had to call my therapist
5 times to calm me down.

by Slaaam on Dec 15, 2009 9:33 PM PST

In Oregon, these guys are considered experts on basketball
Oregonians can be easily impressed.

by Kevin.S on Dec 15, 2009 9:41 PM PST

(7)

Strange Matchup

posted by "Coolcatreportdotcom" to Sactown Royalty postgame thread

Bayless hung Casspi out to dry

Strange matchup, but I guess you don't expect Jerryd Bayless to be the guy that beats you in crunch time. With the Blazers playing a lot of three guard, it was really a spot for Sergio, but Westphal obviously had no confidence in him.

(8)

Tough Loss

posted by "EDM7" to Sactown Royalty postgame thread

Tough loss

Another close one that the Kings let slip. They will breakthrough, it's just a matter of when. Once they do, it will feel good and it'll serve as a good example for how to approach future road games.

The effort is still there, and the good play is still there, the execution at the end of games is not there. Too many mistakes and too many missd FTs hurt us again. Luckily, there's no reason to believe this will not improve with experience and the development of the young guys.

We're only a little over 20 games into our first season with what looks to be a bright group of players that are still without one of the two best players of the team. We are far from a complete product and a couple more important pieces will be added sometime in the future.

I've already seen more than I expected from these young guys and they can only get better. Yes, this hurts like hell, but I'm still smiling because of what's still to come.

I love this team

(9)

Costs and Benefits

posted by "Mdme" to Kings Fans message board

NBA tickets..........50$

Popcorn and drinks for the game...........20$

Running an NBA franchise..............millions$$

Seeing Hawes pulled out of the game...........PRICELESS!

(10)

Kings Bigs Suck

posted by "SacKings7" to Kings Fans message board

* * *
I am VERY impressed with Beno Udrih. After a bad year last year, he's really surprised me this year with the way he's playing. I'm impressed with a lot of Kings, but I feel that I have to make my point about Udrih stand out, seeing as how I took him out of my rotation altogether in NBA 2K9.

After a year of being hopeful about our young bigs, this year I am NOT impressed with them. Either of them. Hawes just plain sucks at this point (I know, he's young) and Thompson seems to have a pretty low basketball IQ. I actually like Thompson but he could be much more effective if he made smarter decisions.

Also got to give props to Tyreke (my new favorite player), Casspi, Greene (big fan of his too, although he could work on his shot selection), Rodriguez and Udoka. I don't know about you guys, but I don't think we need Garcia when he comes back. I like our wing players, and I think we should look to trade Garcia, Nocioni and/or Martin, but only for the right deal in Martin's case.

(11)

3rd Quarter Collapse

posted by "Rainmaker" to Kings Fans message board

We lost the game in the 3rd, when Spencer got eaten alive over the first 4 minutes. We will never win on the road when we get 2 rebs from our center position, including zero in the 2nd half.

Most troubling thing about Spencer: I don't think his teammates have any confidence in him. Every time he doesn't get a reb or lays up some soft piece of crap that rolls off the rim, everyone else just kind of shakes their head. We haven't seen any improvement from him since game 1.

(12)

Postgame Recap: Kings @ Blazers

by Darryl Arata, Kings Full Court Press blog

December 15, 2009 - At the Rose Garden, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy each scored 25 points as the Trail Blazers came from behind to hand the Kings a 95-88 loss. Sacramento led, 73-66, entering the fourth quarter, but the Trail Blazers tied the score at 81-81 with 5:57 remaining.

With Portland trailing, 85-84, Aldridge scored five straight points to give the Trail Blazers the lead for good, 89-85. * * *

This was only the third time this season the Kings were held under 90 points - 87, November 17 vs. Chicago and 89, October 28 at Oklahoma City. * * *

(13)

Defensive Centers are Useful

posted by "Wizenheimer" to Real GM Kings message board

* * *
Even though the NBA has changed rules and officiating emphasis to favor perimeter players, the value of a post presence is still huge. Przybilla isn't much of a presence on the offensive end other then offensive rebounding, but he's crucial for the Blazers on defense. They just aren't the same team without him. And when portland had the luxury of rotating Przybilla in for Oden, they were a completely different team.

I'm not sure where the Kings will find a defensive anchor like Przybilla, but if they could, the Kings would be a different team. If they can find a way for Evans and Martin to work well with each other, that will be a really dangerous team.

(14)

Przybilla was the Key

posted by "ICMTM" to Real GM Kings message board

Well, I hate to say I was right. Przybilla was far and away the MVP of this game — stats be damned.

Agreed with others — incredibly frustrating loss. The game was just so winnable.

Personally, I'm up for benching Spencer again — maybe give him another chance to get his head out of his ass. Stats don't even do justice to how bad he was tonight. But he also needs to be put in a situation where he can be the center of things more often. He scored on a couple of straight possessions in the second when given the ball. We just never give him the ball because he's currently a horrendous "incidental scorer". * * *

Back to Przybilla though — I hope this game is a reminder to those out there that consistently underrate the importance of an interior presence defensively. I'll say it again — the guy was absolutely huge tonight, and players of his type shouldn't be viewed as just off-the-bench role players. There aren't many defensive anchors in this league, and we need one. Having said that, a lot of it isn't really Spencer and Jason's fault. The other rotations now are pretty bad, and Jason and Spencer can both improve in their rotations a lot too--which they presumably will over time.

The Bottom Line:

1. Oh, we had this one in our paws and let it slip away... That sucks.

2. Our Kings are a great young team and we're still missing K-Mart. Coming off last year's suckabration, this team is a breath of fresh air on a warm tropical island with a cooler full of cold beer at our sides...

3. Pryzbilla and Bayless and Roy and Aldridge got us tonight, but we're on the right track.

4. We need a real Center instead of a marshmellow jumpshooter.

All you need is smiles...

Poll

What kind of gaming platform does KP play all day in his office?

"Talking to Chicks Who Love Hoops"

timbo — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:01:57 -0000

"Talking to Chicks Who Love Hoops"

An interview with Sophia, Queen of the Scene at Blazers Edge, in which she waxes philosophical on the Blazers-Lakers rivalry.

Produced by the Lakersish blog, "The No Look Pass."

25. I Need More Beer: The View from Milwaukee

timbo — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:54:27 -0000

GRRRRRRRR...

No jokes today, other than the decision of Nate McMillan and his surrogate Dean Demopoulos to sit The Rex in clutch time, overtime, and double overtime...

It irks me watching Bayless on the bench while Andre "Larry" Miller, Steve "Curly" Blake, and Brandon "Moe" Roy flush YET ANOTHER game, this time to the bottomfeeding Milwaukee Bucks..

Let it be said once again: Milwaukee is a crappy team. Bad. Losing to that team is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

My eyes say Bayless is the best of the 3 Blazer PGs, do the numbers verify this?

I'm actually not adverse to number-crunching, believe it or not.

Season stats, let's do it. All these numbers derive from the player pages at NBA.com, run through my old school calculator by hard-working immigrant laborers from Central America...

For purposes of this analysis...

I make the assumption that 9 out of 10 free throws taken are neither technicals nor AND ONE situations, so:

Points Per Possession = TOTAL POINTS / {FIELD SHOTS TAKEN + (.9 * FTs TAKEN / 2) + TURNOVERS}

I realize that TECHNICALLY the formula which I use here is not the definition of a "possession." Some shots are offensively rebounded and the possession kept alive. I argue that these offensive rebounds are random events independent of the action of the shooting player — that every shooter is the beneficiary of a more or less equal percentage of offensive rebounds and that none deserve credit for their fortuitous incompetence.

What I seek to demonstrate statistically is this: the level of efficiency of each of the four guards with the ball, in terms of themselves putting points on the board.

These figures are based on statistics accumulated through 24 games played...

Go!!!

BRANDON ROY — our Max Deal Super Star.

37.4 minutes per game. 21.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG. Turnovers per game = 2.33.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 20.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 RPG. Turnovers = 2.24.
Two Point Shooting: 145-for-297 = 48.8%
Three Point Shooting: 30-for-92 = 32.6%, effectively 48.9%
Free Throw Shooting: 127-for-157 = 80.9%
Points Per Possession: 507 / (389+71+56) = 0.983

ANDRE MILLER — our Highly Touted Free Agent Acquisition.

27.1 minutes per game. 11.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 4.4 APG. Turnovers per game = 2.13.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 15.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 5.8 APG. Turnovers = 2.83.
Two Point Shooting: 82-for-179 = 45.8%
Three Point Shooting: 8-for-31 = 25.8%, effectively 38.7%
Free Throw Shooting: 89-for-108 = 82.4%
Points Per Possession: 277 / (210+49+51) = 0.894

STEVE BLAKE — our Safe, Steady, Secure, Reliable Veteran.

30.0 minutes per game. 7.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 4.2 APG. Turnovers per game = 1.54.
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 8.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 5.0 APG. Turnovers = 1.85.
Two Point Shooting: 24-for-62 = 38.7%
Three Point Shooting: 36-for-101 = 35.6%, effectively 53.5%
Free Throw Shooting: 16-for-23 = 69.6%
Points Per Possession: 172 / (163+14+37) = 0.804

JERRYD BAYLESS — Nate's Towel Boy.

10.2 minutes per game (17 games played, 7 DNP-CD). 5.6 PPG, 0.8 RPG, 1.1 APG. TO per game = 0.53
In Per 36 Minutes terms: 19.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.9 APG. Turnovers = 1.87.
Two Point Shooting: 28-for-50 = 56.0%
Three Point Shooting: 1-for-6 = 16.7%, effectively 25.0%
Free Throw Shooting: 36-for-48 = 75.0%
Points Per Possession: 95 / (56+22+9) = 1.092

What Have We Learned???

1. A Jerryd Bayless possession is more efficient than a Brandon Roy possession, much more efficient than an Andre Miller possession, and comically more efficient than a Steve Blake possession.

2. Jerryd Bayless has about the same turnover rate as the "reliable veteran" Steve Blake, a superior turnover rate than that of Superstar Brandon Roy, and a much superior turnover rate to that of Fancy Passer Andre Miller.

3. Steve Blake is the worst Free Throw shooter of the four and thus the one LEAST reliable to put on the line during crunch time to hit two key FTs. Blake's FT shooting this season is more closely comparable to that of Joel Przybilla (66.7%) than it is to that of the other guards.

4. Steve Blake's one marketable NBA level offensive skill is that of a 3 point specialist. It makes best sense to use him situationally in that capacity.

A is for Andre — Start him!

B is for Blake — Bench him!

C is for Coaching Change Needed if Nate can't figure it out...

D is for Duh.

D is also for defense.

I will say this anecdotally, based upon what I see as a basketball fan — Jerryd Bayless plays better perimeter defense than either Steve Blake or Andre Miller. So using the most effective of these three OFFENSIVE players also will net the team superior DEFENSE as a by-product.

I dare you to prove me wrong, stat geeks... Or, better yet, provide us all with some numbers to confirm what I am saying and wow us... Either way, have at it...

Why is the decision to play Rex in lieu of a less efficient and defensively less competent teammate so hard?

And now, a word from our sponsor. Yes, it is an Arrested Development Fan Tribute...

Channel Surfing.

Saturday, Dec. 12.

Los Angeles Lakers (18-3) at Utah Jazz (14-9).

The Utah Jazz are back — have you noticed?

The Lakers were perfectly set up to see their NBA-best winning streak end at 11 — and it did. LAL was on the tail end of back-to-back on the road, leader Kobe Bryant was forced to play with a splint to protect a fracture of the guide finger of his shooting hand and was under the weather with a stomach virus, having to receive an IV before the game. The Lakers additionally came in cockier than usual (imagine!), having just dismantled the Jazz in Staples Center earlier in the week as a result of a 6 point 4th Quarter mailed in by Jerry's Kids.

The Jazz were in front of their rowdy home crowd and anxious to show that it was the second half of the previous confrontation with the Lakers rather than the solid first half which was anomalous.

The 1st Quarter played completely even and thereafter the Jazz took control, fueled by the 15-point first half performance of rookie Wesley Matthews, together with rookie Eric Maynor and C.J. Miles. Lakers shot 59% in the first half but still trailed by 6 in this, just their FIFTH road game of the 2009/10 season.

In the second half the usual characters took over. Jazz went on a 8-2 run to start the 3rd Quarter to open up distance from the Lakers, who didn't have enough gas in the tank to follow. Kobe's Krew played catchup the rest of the night, unsuccessfully.

"Kobe Bryant doesn't want to guard anyone right now, he's not even trying to guard Ronnie Brewer, he's trying to rest, you can tell he's tired right now," noted Jazz color commentator Matt Harpring.

"He's almost a decoy," agreed play-by-play man Craig Bolerjak.

All-Star Deron Williams finished with 21 points and 11 assists, Carlos Boozer was just 12 points and 8 rebounds, also adding 7 assists. A most impressive win for Utah, a deep and well-coached team. Jazz 102, Lakers 94.

Portland Trail Blazers (14-10) at Milwaukee Bucks (10-11).

I'm pissed and it's late and I've spent a lot of time already this evening supervising my 11 hardworking Central American data-entry specialsts. So I'm gonna take the night off and will let you all administer the sage and cynical observations to yourselves about this most painful and most needless Blazer loss. These are all distilled from the postgame rant thread here at BE... Go, cats, go...

I wonder if Bayless will do like Cuban baseball players
and just defect on a road trip at some point.

by DrivetheLane on Dec 12, 2009 8:30 PM PST

Blake - 42 minutes, 7 points, 1 assist
Bayless - 18 minutes, 9 points, 0 assist

by fajunga on Dec 12, 2009 8:31 PM PST

Our guards not named Bayless shot 13-46 tonight

by blazermaniac32 on Dec 12, 2009 9:00 PM PST

33%

B-Roy was 8 of 24. It isn't that he wasn't on, it was poor shot selection. It's time to quit calling it B-Roy's team. Brandon can't carry the team. When he tries, he forces too many shots. Worse, the only reason Blake is playing is because Brandon wants him in. Time for the coaching staff to do their job and bag this B-Roy's team stuff.

by Tim Tim on Dec 12, 2009 9:00 PM PST

I'm pretty upset

not with how the team played but how the refs robbed the PTB of a win. It really makes being a fan difficult. I know human error is a part of the reffing business, but there is no excuse for blatant bias and wrong-doing. What the refs did tonight was no different then what Tim Donaghy did on any night.

by bow4meow on Dec 12, 2009 9:14 PM PST

Roy is playing like the borderline allstar of 2 years ago

(who made it but probably didn't deserve to over eg. Baron, DWill and Manu)
not the 2nd team all NBA player of last year. The stats reflect that.

by jksnake99 on Dec 12, 2009 9:30 PM PST

It's coaching

The system is wrong. It's the stand and watch spread the floor system. It doesn't encourage movement. You can see the guys go to their spots, which is how the system is designed. They run the ball, up the court only to slow it down. They catch and stop and think. They wait for double teams. Seems like they think that double teams are good so they can pass out, but they never cut. If the players are not moving on their own, then the coaches need to coach them. It's coaching.

by davebball on Dec 12, 2009 9:28 PM PST

Phil Jackson and Popovich might be geniuses, but they wouldn't be without Jordan, Duncan, Shaq, etc.

The triangle doesn't work without the perfect players; Popovich's ability to see the big picture and focus on the playoffs doesn't work without the right players.

I definitely think coach's affect things greatly, but simply not nearly as much as the players... and the right players will make any coach a good coach, and the wrong players will make any legendary coach look bad.

We could have Jesus out there coaching us (his basketball mind is very underrated); doesn't make a difference unless Oden is healthy and Roy playing at least 3/4s as good as before.

Roy making the wrong reads a lot more than he used to, makes our offense look bad. * * *

I do not know if Nate is the right choice at all, but I do see many things the players are doing wrong that they know not to do.

by Mortimer on Dec 12, 2009 10:19 PM PST

Yeah, that stuff about sums it up... Blazers now sit as the 8 seed in the Western Conference, with the San Antonio Spurs sizing them up in their gun sights... Bucks 108, Blazers 101 (2OT).

Well, let's whip out the good old Popcorn Machine GAME FLOW SUMMARY and see if we can decipher anything from the pretty pictures... Click that link, por favor.

Observation 1: The game turned on a 16-2 Milwaukee run starting around the midway point of the 3rd Quarter. The Blazers on the floor responsible for the catastrophe? Blake, Roy, Webster, LMA, Przybilla — the starters.

Observation 2: Rookie of the Year candidate Brandon Jennings took no shots in the first half but racked up 12 points in the 3rd Quarter.

Observation 3: The most effective Blazer in terms of +/- wasn't Jerryd Bayles — it was Juwon Howard.

Observation 4: Demopolous used the same lineup throughout crunchtime, the first overtime, and the second overtime, pulling Webster for Andre Miller. Andre scored exactly one point during that one nearly 15 minute interval, in which he played all but the last 27 seconds.

Observation 5: LMA finished with 31 points, which is season-high for him, I think.

Well, the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD is also Friday's installment, which I've already linked up yesterday, so as a quick space-filler, here's a 30 second snippet of Rex Propaganda from the days when the Beast was a baby...

Well, let's take our taunting from the journalists and bloggers of Bucksville...

(1)

Thrills, Spills & Then Some: Bogut's 27 points lead way

By Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It nearly took all night, and it did take two tension-packed overtimes.

But the Milwaukee Bucks survived plenty of chills and spills to outlast the Portland Trail Blazers, 108-101, at the Bradley Center before 15,973 fans Saturday night.

Andrew Bogut led the way with 27 points and nine rebounds, and the Bucks center nearly won the game in regulation until his tip-in was ruled too late by a video review. * * *

"We just had to fight," [Bucks Guard Luke] Ridnour said. "We knew they had to wear out eventually. We feel we've given up a couple leads already this season, and this was one we had to find a way to win."

(2)

Recap: Bucks 108 Blazers 101

by Alex Boeder, Brew Hoop (SBN)

* * *
Three Numbers

6. The Bucks totaled just six, count 'em, six fast break points in the game. The Blazers had seven. Another six for ya: Milwaukee scored just six second-chance points, compared to 23 for Portland. And this worked?

49.5 %. Milwaukee shot 45-91 (.495) from the field as Portland made 37-92 (.402).

52. Lamarcus Aldridge played a lot of minutes (52) tonight. Pretty useful (31 points, 11 rebounds) out there too. * * *

(3)

Bucks Win A Thriller: Bucks 108 - Blazers 101

by Jeremy, Bucksketball (TrueHoop)

* * *

Memorable Moments

Beyond the shots that we'll remember for the rest of the season, we were treated to a few tense instant replay ref calls.

Was Bogut's tip shot at the end of regulation good? It wasn't, but it was fun waiting for the refs to tell us whether or not he touched it before the buzzer went off.

Did Luc Richard Mbah a Moute tip the ball out of bounds in the first overtime with the Bucks down two, or did Aldridge hit it last? The tape wasn't super clear, but it did appear Aldridge's fingers were the last thing the ball touched in play.

Squad Six had the building rocking by starting a "this way" chant while pointing in the Bucks direction. Soon everyone else joined in on the fun and the arena filled with electricity. * * *

(4)

Lock Down Defense and the Will to Win

by TCM1, Bucks Diary (MVN)

* * *

When Brandon Roy, who was completely dominated by the defense of Luc Moute, hit that fade away UTTER [BARNYARD EPITHET] SHOT the Bucks could have gone away (that was not a "big time shot" either though it was described that way by the announcers. No way! It was a guy who was completely checked down, had nowhere to go, who barely even had a handle on the ball, spinning in desperation and then hoisting a low percentage barnyard epithet shot that was pure garbage and wouldn't have counted in HORSE or pool because it was such pure slop).

When Andrew Bogut's tip in at the buzzer was overturned, the Bucks could have gone away. When they were down two at the end of the first overtime, the Bucks could have gone away. They never did and that's why this was an absolutely huge win for the team. * * *

The Bottom Line:

1. Bucks fought and fought and fought and came up big.

2. Nice game by Aldridge, but our guys earned the win.

24. King Incorporated: The View from Cleveland

timbo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:10:23 -0000

Well, I had my Tracy McGrady jokes all written and then the whole story got smashed flat as a pancake by 540 basketball writers all riding the news cycle... Now I'm forced to scramble to find something else funny.

So let's go with a sight gag...

How's this authentic (!!!) police diagram of a whoopsie which took place in front of the headquarters building of The Eldrick Woods School of Driving ?

That should at least raise the corners of your mouth a little, eh?

No alcohol involved, of course!

"Tiger"™® says he is gonna take an "indefinite leave" from professional golf. I'm sure there is more sentiment among his neighbors that he take "indefinite leave" from driving his Escalade.™®

Now, here are those controversial Western Conference All-Star results-to-date in an easily digestable form...

Western Conference

Forwards:

Carmelo Anthony (Den) 588,958;

Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 366,300;

Pau Gasol (LAL) 280,758;

Tim Duncan (SA) 271,321;

Kevin Durant (OKC) 177,205;

Trevor Ariza (Hou) 168,167;

Shawn Marion (Dal) 161,653;

Luis Scola (Hou) 134,321;

Ron Artest (LAL) 99,209;

Lamar Odom (LAL) 85,817;

LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 70,588.

Guards:

Kobe Bryant (LAL) 692,518;

Tracy McGrady (Hou) 281,545;

Steve Nash (Pho) 272,135;

Chris Paul (NO) 248,049;

Jason Kidd (Dal) 207,247;

Jason Terry (Dal) 131,422;

Aaron Brooks (Hou) 131,167;

Chauncey Billups (Den) 112,509;

Brandon Roy (Por) 106,416;

Deron Williams (Utah) 94,715;

Manu Ginobili (SA) 75,392.

Centers:

Amar'e Stoudemire (Pho) 447,776;

Andrew Bynum (LAL) 299,484;

Nene (Den) 90,439;

Marc Gasol (Mem) 75,765;

Greg Oden (Por) 73,874;

Al Jefferson (Min) 48,676;

Antonio McDyess (SA) 46,323;

Mehmet Okur (Utah) 35,606;

Marcus Camby (LAC) 35,471;

Andris Biedrins (GS) 28,287;

Emeka Okafor (NO) 19,827;

Spencer Hawes (Sac) 10,733.

As you can see above, and as you you've no doubt heard by now from 17 different sources: unless things change in the balloting, the starting Western Conference All-Star Guard tandem will be Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady.

Well, I don't know about you, but mark me down on the short list of people who think that would be awesome!

Let's review those 2009/10 seasonal stats of this Western Conference All-Star Starter, shall we?

Tracy McGrady

Houston Rockets.

6-foot-8 [or so they claim], 203 pounds, G/F.

Salary: $22,483,124.

Games Played in 2009/10: Zero.

Average Minutes Per Game: Zero.

Points Per Game: Zero.

Field Goal Percentage: .000

3 Point Shot Percentage: .000

Free Throw Percentage: .000

Rebounds Per Game: Zero.

Assists Per Game: Zero.

My sincere apologies to those of you who feel that it's not a real conversation about basketball unless one trots out some so-called "advanced" stats like Effective Field Goal Percentage or Rebounds per 36, but you get the point...

Look, serious Houston Rocket fans are not cynical or delusional. They wouldn't vote for an injured T-Mac on a bet, even as a tribute to their highly compensated Unrestricted Free Agent-to-be... This embarrassing tally for a guy who hasn't even been functional this year is attributable to one and only one thing — internet voting from China.

I now suspect that video of Yao Ming's old games are the Chinese equivalent of reruns of "Gilligan's Island" and "I Love Lucy" from Shanghai to Beijing to the village of Hwang Chung in Xinhui County. And since this season the average Chinese fan doesn't have the option of stuffing the NBA All-Star ballot box for 国家英雄光荣与脆性陶瓷脚 [Glorious National Hero with Feet of Brittle Porcelain], the next best thing a proud Chinese basketball fan can do is to vote for those old familiar names who play alongside him.

Hell, 布鲁克斯先生 [Mr. Aaron Brooks] is running ahead of Deron Williams in the balloting. That alone should tell you that something is seriously screwed up. It's not that Aaron is awful — it's just that Deron is deserving.

These bizarre little early voting idiotosyncrasies™® emerge almost every year when fan balloting opens up. Not to worry... There will no doubt be a big push in the near future on behalf of Steve Nash and Chris Paul, both of whom will end up on the team, barring the crash of a gigantic meteor into the earth which causes cancellation of the NBA season.

Still, you have to admit the concept of 0-for-2009 Rocket Tracy McGrady being voted a starter in the All-Star Game is pretty damned funny... And the truly crazy madness would probably come during the run-up to the game, when it would be discovered, I'm just guessing here, that McGrady's participation would void out about $20 Million of insurance coverage that the Rockets are no doubt banking on. (You don't really think they're going to play him again this year, do you?)

One final aside: Kudos to the NBA for listing Amar'e Stoudamire as the Center of the Phoenix Suns — at least they got that much right, nearly two dozen box scores listing squeezably soft Charmin Frye as their starting C notwithstanding. But what does poor LA Clippers Center Chris Kaman have to do to get the love?

And now, a word from our sponsor...

Advertising changes over time — generally for the better, it would seem...

Last year we League Pass Broad Band subscriber-suckers had to watch 23,132 showings of the loathsome Kevin Garnett pretending to be humble in a "The NBA: Where Amazing Happens" commercial, complete with its pensive piano music. Like a hammer tap-tap-tapping on my brain, that was... This year it is a great relief to get to watch 23,132 showings of the Wisconsin Mullethead Taxi Driver — a character who definitely needs to become famous.

"Hey, DERON WILLIAMS!!! You're from Utah — great state! I got the crap beat out of me in Provo once..."

Now that's funny.

Congratulations to the 2009 Nobel Prize Winners!

Medicine: Carol W. Greider, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, and Jack W. Szostak — for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres.

Chemistry: Ada E. Yonath, Thomas A. Steitz, and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan — for their work mapping the human ribosome.

Physics: Charles K. Kao — for his work in the field of fiber-optic light; Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith — for their invention of the CCD, an imaging semiconductor circuit.

Literature: Herta Müller — German author of The Passport.

Economics: Elinor Ostrom — for her work analyzing economic governance; and Oliver E. Williamson — for his work analyzing the ways in which non-market institutions are managed by the firm.

Peace: Barack H. Obama — for his escalation of the Afghanistan War while not being named George W. Bush.

Channel Surfing.

Thursday, Dec. 10.

Denver Nuggets (16-6) at Detroit Pistons (9-12).

This game may have being "available in crystal clear high definition," but one question was begged: WHY?

Never mind that at the moment Detroit and their mighty 9 & 12 record stood as a playoff team in the sucktastic Eastern Conference. The Pistons' 6 game winning streak against the Nuggs meant less than nothing given the fact that stars Rip Hamilton, Will Bynum, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Gordon were all out with various injuries.

If you think this starting lineup sounds compelling, Detroit will compel you: Chucky Atkins, Rodney Stuckey, The Ghost of Ben Wallace, Jason Maxiell, and rookie Jonas Jerebko. Let's not even talk about the bench, or I will be compelled to commence projectile vomiting... Charlie Villanueva and, who exactly? Yikes.

And the Pistons were on the tail end of a back-to-back... Did I mention that?

Nuggets were short Kenyon Martin (jammed finger), but still...

A few observations here in an effort to demonstrate to myself that my wasting over two hours on this pig of a game had at least some socially redeeming value:

1. Denver really knows how to run out on misses. We all know about D'Antoni's Knicks, and D'AntoniDisciple's Suns, but the Nuggets know how to run, run, run. Ya gotta get back on long rebounds if you're playing those guys or you'll be paying the 2 point toll. And they'll collect it in multiples if you're lazy.

1A. The Detroit Pistons run better than the Blazers, too. So does everybody.

2. I'm not quite sure what the principle is that allows an inferior team to play even with a superior team in the early going of an NBA game. It seems like bad teams can dodge the wolves for 2 quarters or so before nature starts to take its course and the low-flyers become a protein source for the predators...

3. The Pistons still have the most entertaining public address announcer in the NBA: "DEEEEEEEE-TROIT" (crowd:) "BASKET-BALLLLLLL!!!"

4. Ben Wallace is the worst Free Throw shooter in the league. No question, not close. He airballed one about a foot to the left of the hoop. I've never seen that before, ever.

5. Carmelo Anthony is a beast. You knew that already. If he goes down this year, Denver is screwed.

6. Chucky Atkins sprained his ankle during the game. He scraggled back in, but still... Blazers aren't alone with the injury issues...

Hey, here's the punch line: in this one, the protein source fought back and ate the coyote... Charlie Villanueva, freakish looking animal that he is (Mr. Clean with a plastic facemask), was a super stud. Melo's 40 point night went for naught. "DEEEEEEE-TROIT BASKET-BALLLLLLLL!!!" Pistons 101, Nuggets 99.

Orlando Magic (17-4) at Utah Jazz (12-9).

Charles Barkley is widely recognized as a smartass, rarely called a sage. But he has given the world one extremely accurate aphorism: "If you live by the jumpshot, you die by the jumpshot."

Sometimes during the same game, it turns out.

For the better part of two quarters, the Eastern Conference co-leaders from Orlando beat the hell out of Jerry "Grinch" Sloan's Utah Jazz. They whipped the ball around the perimeter unimpeded and drilled three after three after three, opening up a seemingly insurmountable 18 point lead. Everything was falling and Utah was on the ropes.

Then suddenly the worm turned. The Jazz began to ratchet up the defensive intensity, staying closer to the arc and closing on shooters. Offensively, they continued to mix it up, with Deron Williams, C.J. Miles, and Carlos Boozer alternately driving the ball and hitting their mid-range open looks. By halftime the Jazz had closed to single digits. In the second half, they won going away, Utah running up a season high 38 points the 3rd Quarter. Orlando was befuddled, baffled, and befouled by their inability to hit much of anything at all.

Moral of the story: the Magic will kill ya if you give them open looks from distance. But that's their whole game, their full game, a-men. Jazz 120, Magic 111. All-Star Deron Williams finished with 32 points and 15 assists. Let's see you do that against top competition, Mr. Aaron Brooks!

Friday, Dec. 11.

Portland Trail Blazers (14-9) at Cleveland Cavaliers (15-7).

The flipside of those games you just KNOW the Blazers are going to win, as was the case with their visit to Indiana on Wednesday, are those games you just KNOW the Blazers are going to lose — like this one.

Acting Head Coach Dean McMillan took one good look at the 9 healthy players on his bench and then decided that he'd rather play 7, limiting Jerryd Bayless to 8 minutes and Dante Cunningham to just over 4. Both scored 2 points during this time and finished +6 and +9, respectively.

Each of these players produced 2 more points than did Steve "Binky" Blake in his 36 minutes. Blake finished 0-for-4 from the field, although he did manage to lead Portland with his 4 turnovers.

Blazers can live with Przy scoring 2 points, because he rebounds and plays defense, guarding the paint from the likes of Shaquille O'Neal. But you put a PG on the floor with him who scores ZERO points?!?!

Maaaaan..............

Why is the Portland coaching staff so intent upon turning this promising season into a 41-41 Lottery Year Spectacular?

A is for Andre — Start him!

B is for Blake — Bench him!

C is for Coaching Change Needed if Nate doesn't catch on...

D is for Duh.

I'm starting to feel like a Chicago Bulls fan, understanding full well that many, many painful losses are going to have to come before something changes at the top. Nate McMillan and his Acting Surrogate Wannabe Clone Dean Demopoulos are simply not capable of averting catastrophe. So get ready for it.

Portland's 54-45 halftime lead was clearly not enough when one was paying a visit to the castle of The King. You just KNEW the Cavs were going to come back. Sure enough, the Cavs went on a run in the 3rd Quarter, powered by the Blazers' piss-poor inability to stop the mighty Anderson Varejao.</s> Thereafter the Blazers entertained the Cleveland faithful by maintaining a non-threatening but sporting proximity to the Cavs on the scoreboard for the rest of the night. God, I hate losing games like this that could have been won... Cavs 104, Blazers 99.

Now more bitterness and cynicism via the Popcorn Machine GAME FLOW SUMMARY. Go ahead and click that little link now, if you would.

Observation 1: The game turned in the 3rd Quarter when Cleveland went on a 15-2 run. The beginning of the run corresponded with the pulling of Martell Webster. The end of the run corresponded with the reinsertion of Martell Webster. I state this for what it is worth, without offering opinion as to causation.

Observation 2: The Cavs' 3rd Quarter was powered by LBJ's 14 points, Shaq's 9, and Varejao's 6. For the Blazers in the same period, LMA had 11 and Brandon had 7. They didn't get a lot of help.

Observation 3: Cleveland sealed the game with a late 6-0 run. They did what they had to do to pull out the win at home, helped along by a missed goaltending call. The Blazers did not.

Observation 4: Varejao had 22 points. LMA had 22 points. The Blazers have got to be about +10 in that matchup to have a chance with the non-offensive Pryz and the pathetic Blake on the floor. That means LMA needs to play better defense and get low scoring the ball at a higher clip — both.

Okay, I've got myself worked up enough... Next comes a MUST WIN in Milwaukee.

Moving right along, please grab yourself a frosty cold beverage and join me in watching Friday's installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD... (A little bit of NSW language today, be forewarned...)

Which brings us to the real point of this meandering mess, the snips of wisdom and dunderheadedness from the bloggers and journalists of the Cavaliers' kingdom...

(1)

LeBron James, Anderson Varejao lead Cavaliers past Portland, 104-99

By Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer

It is hard to attach the word underrated to any sentence that includes the name LeBron James, but that may indeed be the case when in comes to the Cavalier star's rivalry with his counterpart from Portland.

Even before Friday night, James and Trail Blazers' franchise player Brandon Roy already had some good matchups, including a game in 2008 when James scored over Roy in the final seconds for a one-point win.

This edition wasn't quite as exciting, but the young stars did stage a quality fourth-quarter battle that should have satisfied the national television audience. Both were controlling the ball and everything the offense did while coming up with some clutch defensive plays.

In the end, James was able to do just a bit more and again get his Cavs the victory, 104-99, their fifth straight over the Blazers (14-10). * * *

(2)

Recap: Cavs 104, Blazers 99 (Or, The Time Andy Saved The Week)

by John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog (TrueHoop)

* * *
If there was any doubt coming into this game that Anderson Varejao is the Cavs' best big man by a fairly wide margin, it should be erased after this game.

The Cavs allowed the Blazers to stay in the game in the first quarter by turning the ball over a few too many times, and in the second quarter got burned by the unlikely duo of Juwan Howard and Andre Miller, who accounted for 25 of the Blazers' 31 points in the second quarter. Some of the Miller points were thanks to Miller performing his signature weaving drives into the lane and finishing from weird angles, but the 3 jumpers, including two threes, are definitely something you live with.

And as for Howard turning back the clock and scoring 11 straight Blazer points to start the second quarter, I mean, what is there to say? Tip your hat to the guy. * * *

(3)

Who Cares?

posted by "Ryan in Myrtle Beach" to Waiting For Next Year open thread

Ahh who cares about the cavs? THE BROWNS WON!!!

OK im watchin the cavs on the 67″ but c'mon im still celebrating the Browns win.

(4)

Back from the Game

posted by "JJ Smooth" to Real Cavs Fans message board

Back from the game, and here's a few observations and notes:

(1) The Q was pretty pathetic that opening half in my opinion. Until the Cavs actually came out with some intensity in the 3rd did the crowd actually get into the game. Fans know the expectations and talent level, and their somber reaction for that first half was a message on that sad display. Get the hint Cavs?

(2) Speaking of, great to see that full court press and the defensive pressure turned up. Listening to the Coach Brown comments on the drive home I have to agree 100% that our second half play is our identity and needs to be so for as close to 48 minutes as possible. As discussed plenty of times on the forum, it starts with Lebron, and I was glad he acted like a DPOY candidate to set the tone in the 3rd. Cheers to the home team for making the Blazers play to them, not the other way around (one of my tips to victory in that beautiful original post).

(3) You can't stop Roy or Alridge, but Parker did a nice job and should be applauded (even if the stats aren't there). I was also pleased with the hustle of Andy and Delonte as well. J.J., you hurt me so and my crystal ball says bench warmer real soon if this play continues. I even called the JJ pull after that first fumble, hopefully it sinks in. * * *

(5) Sucks not having access to commentators or RCF when an injury goes down, as it did with Shaq. I hate texting like a fiend trying to get updates from anybody who happens to be watching the game at home. Glad to hear the initial prognosis is it's not serious (fingers crossed). * * *

(5)

Won It In the Third

posted by "Doug Heil" to Real Cavs Fans message board

I can't remember thinking we won a game in a third quarter before.

We won the game in the third quarter.

Nice energy and passion. Nice second half. Everyone stepped up and showed desire.

(6)

Cleveland Sacks Blazers in Second Half

by Cody Norman, King James Gospel (Fansided)

After a disappointing road trip, the Cavaliers returned to the shores of Lake Erie in time to see their Brownies tear apart the hated Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. * * *

With LeBron on the bench and the Wild Thing holding down the fort to start the final period, Cleveland took a page out of Rob Ryan's playbook and sacked their opponents. Varejao went 6 of 7 in the period to pour in 12 of his season-high 22 poits. They outscored Portland 28 - 23 in the period and picked up a 104 - 99 victory. * * *

Cleveland outscored the Trail Blazers 52 - 18 in the paint and 18 - 7 on fast breaks to pick up their sixteenth win of the season. They will be back in action in Oklahoma City on Sunday night to take on Kevin Durant and the OKC Thunder.

(7)

Adjustment Time As Cavaliers Return Home

by Ward Peterson, Cavmen (FanBall)

We were reminded of a few things after the recent road trip.

First of all, it put an exclamation point on exactly how impressive last season's regular season run was, as the Cavaliers had a 66-16 record and were the top seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2009 playoffs.

With the season a little over 25% complete, the Cavaliers have already lost 7 games. Project this record out for the rest of the season and the Cavs will finish 54-28. As the investment ads state, "past results are not an indication of future performance", and 54-28 would be a welcome record in most cities, but here in the recently Shaq-ified land of Witnesses....not so much. * * *

The Bottom Line:

1. We have LeBron James and you don't...

2. Anderson Varejao saves the day! You go, Andy!!!

3. How 'bout them Browns?!?!? Hey you Pittsburgh skanks, Shaq has a little freestyle rap he wants to drop on ya...

ESPN TrueHoop Rips Tim Donaghy a New Belly Button

timbo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:40:37 -0000

ESPN TrueHoop Rips Tim Donaghy a New Belly Button

Bottom line: the "sure fire" betting strategies touted by Donaghy don't hold up for the period that Donaghy claimed to be betting on games...

Very interesting video, check it out!

Need something boring to skim? Here's a couple more View columns...

timbo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:35:39 -0000

Need something boring to skim? Here's a couple more View columns...

Here are the 2 latest editions of The View, featuring enhanced Blazerization. Since the POS FanShots interface doesn't allow multiple links, the actual column links will be posted in the comments section below.

22. Them's Breaks: The View from New York. [Dec. 8] Essay on the Greg Oden injury using the methaphor of the former Mister Garrison's exploding testicles; another round of Whack-a-Mole with our old favorite, Allen Iverson; recap of the Suns v. Lakers game (among others); Basketball Jones links; and snips and clips from the New York press and blogosphere following the Knicks victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

23. Plodding On: The View from Indianapolis. [Dec. 10] Lead essay likening the Blazers' ongoing injury woes to a bad reality show; video of Mark Cuban being put through a folding table; birthday congratulations to Dick Bavetta, age 70; recap of the Jazz collapse at Staples Center (among other game reviews); Basketball Jones links; Pacers journalism; and video of Steve Blake crashing on the rim back when he was a high-flying collegian (ha fucking ha!).

NBA Attendance Down 3.7%, Ticket Revenue Off 7.4% This Season

timbo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:21:58 -0000

NBA Attendance Down 3.7%, Ticket Revenue Off 7.4% This Season

In this report for CBS Sports.com, Ken Berger notes that both attendance and ticket revenue have taken a dive around the NBA — a fact that has salary cap and luxury tax implications for one and all.

Berger notes: "Net gate receipts, the money teams make from ticket sales, fell to an average of $828,985 per game, down from $894,823 at the same point last season. Only nine teams were up or flat in average net gate receipts through Nov. 29, while 21 teams saw a decline."

In case you were wondering which buildings are running on empty, here is your list of the lowest 5 average attendances this season:

Memphis: 6,879, up 6.8 percent

Sacramento: 7,606, down 21.1 percent

Milwaukee: 8,331, down 26.7 percent

Philadelphia: 8,701, down 16.4 percent

Charlotte: 8,969, up 4.7 percent

23. Plodding On: The View from Indianapolis

timbo — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:30:58 -0000

You may have missed this if you have been averting your eyes, plugging your ears, and humming: now it's Rudolfo Fernandez who has been stopped and chopped...

Yes, Our Rudy is now officially sidelined for "4 to 6 weeks" following surgery to alleviate an impingement of a nerve in his back that has been causing him chronic pain in his right leg.

Drama Queen Jason Quick cites one of those ever-reliable Spanish agents in attributing the origins of this injury to the attempted block by LA Laker Trevor Ariza that put Rudy in the hospital on March 9, 2009. This lingering hurt was said to have been "aggravated" last week in practice when Rudy was elbowed in the back coming off a pick, according to Quick. Quick quotes Acting Head Coach Dean Demopoulos as saying that Rudy would miss at least 17 games during his recuperation period.

Everything that monkey writes from here on out gets at least a 40% discount from me, but still...

Yikes.

The Portland Trail Blazers have come to resemble a really bad reality TV show — let's call it LAST MAN STANDING... It has everything a viewer could want: action, drama, catty squabbling among the participants. All to answer the big question: Who will be the last functional player of the 15 contestants who started the season? And who will be the next to fall? "Tune in next week and find out who's next to leave the locker room..."

The injury situation has become so bad that overnight there has been an almost metaphysical transformation of quantity into quality. This last surgery has moved the Blazers and all their disabled veterans from the realm of catastrophe to that of black comedy. Gallows humor is now en vogue... So let's just have some fun with it, shall we? Tell me: Who's next? There's a poll at the very bottom of this column. Vote now!

Get this: Portland is 28% of the way through the NBA season and already 40% of the Blazers' 15-man roster has had surgery resulting in the loss of the player for a month or more. This means it is time for me to whip out the calculator to generate some numbers for my mathophilic pals, part of my new regular feature, the Silly Surgery Schedule.

Hmmmmm, lessee here, you multiply this by that and divide by the other thing to generate an Average Surgery Rate (ASR) and................. it appears that each and every member of the PTB can be expected to have 1.43 surgeries requiring a recovery of more than a month by the end of the season, if current trends continue.

Of course, that's sort of defective math, the truly ADVANCED stats would factor out the players lost for the year (the Seasonal Player Loss Rate stands at 33.3% of those injured) and make use of the ongoing Average Surgery Rate against a declining pool of players to generate an Adjusted Average Surgery Rate (AASR).

Bear in mind, this figure is exclusive of coaches and owners. Sarge's blown achilles is an official practice wound and needs to be factored in as well. So the Adjusted Average Surgery Rate actually needs to be further modified to include coaching injuries, thus producing a metric known as the Universal Adjusted Average Surgery Rate (UAASR).

I think that outlines the equation correctly, does it not? Feel free to have at the math problem, stat geeks... It's more thought than I want to invest in a dark joke this evening...

I think it's safe to say that the UAASR being experienced by the Blazers this year would be devastating for an NFL team, let alone for a franchise in the rather less violent NBA. With just a little research we might be able to cement the Blazers' place in the record books for achieving the highest UAASR in the entire history of the NBA...

All joking aside, please join me in drinking a toast sometime today to the continued health and safety of our 9 brave Blazer survivors... In fact, if you drink one toast to each functional survivor, you might end up forgetting how crappy this team's situation actually is...

Original recipe creation by jstbeachy, recalled by the factory for reasons of karma...

While we're on the subject of back injuries...

And before I forget: Happy Birthday, Dick Bavetta — 70 years old today.

Don't believe me? Check out his Wikipedia biography...

It boggles the mind how a man old enough to be Brandon Roy's grandfather (DB born 1939, Brandon born 1984) can make it up and down the court without substitution night after night. And this at a time when most of his peers are more concerned with saving 15% at Porky's All-You-Can-Eat Buffet and living in fear of falling down and breaking a hip.

Whether you like Bavetta as a ref or not, it's an amazing accomplishment.

Channel Surfing.

Tuesday, Dec. 8.

Phoenix Suns (15-6) at Dallas Mavericks (14-7).

One thing bears mention again: the purported sellout string for the Dallas Mavericks is a pile of puppy poop. Mass numbers of empty seats. If Cuban and the Mavs say they're selling the building out, they're lying.

And another thing: what's with all the Phoenix Suns TV feeds on League Pass Broadband? Home or away, we're stuck with those guys. Ugh.

This game played even through the better part of 3 Quarters, before the Suns went cold and Dallas kicked it into gear, closing the 3rd frame on a 13-4 run and a 7 point lead.

Josh Howard made his first appearance after missing 13 games with an ankle injury. His return was welcomed. Howard went crazy in the 4th Quarter, scoring 9 points in a row for the Mavs and finishing with 20 off the bench.

The Mavs fell in love with jumpshots, predictably, and started to miss, predictably. Nash hit a big 3 with less than a minute remaining to pull Phoenix within 3 points. But Dallas ran clock and the other superannuated PG, Jason Kidd, answered with a wide-open long 2 at the other end of the court at the 26 second mark. Bye-bye, Phoenix! The Suns played Foul Ball as well as it could be played, but not enough time.

Dirk was game-high with 33 points for Dallas, Steve Nash had 27 for the Suns in the losing effort.

Finally, let's hear it once again for squeezably soft Charmin Frye, who once again started at "Center" for the Suns. He logged over 30 minutes of playing time and finished with 2 points on 1-for-7 shooting. He is who we thought he was, I reiterate. Mavericks 102, Suns 101.

New Jersey Nets (1-19) at Chicago Bulls (7-11).

I don't ordinarily concern myself with Eastern Conference games, but this outstandingly hilarious result forced me to pay another visit to (-1) x Disneyland = Blog-a-Bull (corporate motto: The Angriest Place on Earth™®). Take it away, Blog-a-Bullies!!!

Open Game Thread #19: Bulls vs New Jersey Nets

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Dec 8, 2009 5:00 PM PST

Can't lose this, right?

Oh Jesus Brad Miller in the starting lineup

by Khalid El-Amin on Dec 8, 2009 5:09 PM PST

I hate this game already

by Khalid El-Amin on Dec 8, 2009 5:09 PM PST

I like Brad as a starter

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM PST

never mind

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM PST

ehhhh

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM PST

he sucks

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:17 PM PST

I have concluded, this team as it is now is one of the worst in the league

by Mr Rhythm on Dec 8, 2009 5:31 PM PST

You know I don't think "thin" and "weak bench" capture what a horrible team Bulls management put together

Other teams have some young guys on the bench that might turn into something. The Bulls apparently prefer veterans that can't play. Letting Gordon go, a bad draft, and no decent FAs have eviscerated the talent level on the team.

by hitlesswonder on Dec 8, 2009 5:39 PM PST

Bulls losing by 7 to the worst team in the league on their home court. Fire VDN.

by fundamentallysound on Dec 8, 2009 5:41 PM PST

Watching Deng and Salmons play the same role horribly
is painful...Rose and Noah really need to play with better players. Deng is good but ugh, he just irks me sometimes. The Bulls really need a true SG because Salmons is lit up every night by the opposing 2 guard. * * *

by Playboy_Bull on Dec 8, 2009 5:58 PM PST

They are the two least dynamic wing players in the league
no 3 pt shooting, no athleticism, no passing — bleh

by Basketball Smurf on Dec 8, 2009 5:59 PM PST

9 min into the third and they only have 10 points, pathetic

by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 8, 2009 6:44 PM PST

3rd quarter of last 2 games:
Tor 23, Chi 14. Cle 29, Chi 14.

by mike085 on Dec 8, 2009 6:46 PM PST

i dont know why, but a part of me wants them to lose, maybe my wish is to see a coaching change

by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 8, 2009 6:50 PM PST

Bulls can't get a defensive stop to save their life!

by RogersPark Kris on Dec 8, 2009 7:17 PM PST

If Rose has to play like this every night in order for us to have a chance of winning...
Then he's gonna be WORN OUT midseason

by D-WadeChicago on Dec 8, 2009 7:29 PM PST

THE BALL ENTERED THE GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF JOHN SALMONS
AND TRY AS IT MIGHT IT COULD NOT ESCAPE

by Prevenge on Dec 8, 2009 7:31 PM PST

Salmons.... even if that goes in, WTF are you doing?
best-case scenario they have 7 seconds to run a play for the tie or win

by Daniel Satan on Dec 8, 2009 7:31 PM PST

A rushed 3 with 7 seconds left on the clock?
You're [obscene emphatic] kidding me!

by RogersPark Kris on Dec 8, 2009 7:32 PM PST

We just lost to the Nets..........We suck!

by Mr Rhythm on Dec 8, 2009 7:35 PM PST

Thanks, guys! Nets 103, Bulls 101.

Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Utah Jazz (12-8) at Los Angeles Lakers (16-3).

Wednesday's main feature pitted the rollin' Utah Jazz paying a visit to La-La Land to take on "The Best Team in the Universe," Your Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe & Ko. were going for their 10th win in a row, season-high for the NBA this year. It promised to be a closely fought and exciting affair.

Jazz feel behind — ha ha, FELL behind — early but fought back, finishing the 1st Quarter tied. They pulled out to a lead in the 2nd Quarter, heading to the locker room up by 4. In the 3rd Quarter, they gave every indication that they were for real, hustling for loose balls, stepping up the defense and grabbing consecutive Laker misses, and picking the Lakers' pockets... The Jazz still lead by half a dozen points midway through the period and the delicious aroma of a savory upset on the road against the best team in the NBA began to fill the nostrils of Deron Williams and his mates.

Then in the 4th Quarter, the bottom dropped out of Utah's speculative bubble — a 27-2 Laker run. By way of contrast, the Blazers' 2000 WCF 4th Quarter Collapse That Will Live in Infamy™® was fueled by a run of just 25-4. That gives ya some idea how bad this evening was was for poor old grouch Jerry Sloan's ticker...

"You know, you could almost write this script... every time we come to town," lamented the Jazz play-by-play man midway through the 4th Quarter meltdown. The Lakers cranked up the defense, the Jazz "lost the rhythm" (hey, don't blame me, it was their pun!) and couldn't score a bucket — clean look jumper, drive, or bunny. Jazz were 0-for-12 from the field until D-Will finally rattled one down at the 4:34 mark.

From what had been a tightly-fought game emerged yet another Laker blowout of prestigious proportions. Kobe finished with 27, Pau with 19, Ron Ron 16, Drew 14, Ear Jordan 11 off the bench. Derek Fisher, the only starting Point Guard in the NBA less talented than Steve Blake, ended the night with 0 points and 1 assist in over 18 minutes of action. No worries, no matter. Lakers 101, Jazz 77. Ouch.

By the way, this is how you run a 4-on-2 break...

Portland Trail Blazers (13-9) at Indiana Pacers (6-12).

This game represented the closest thing to a "must win" imaginable for the injury-racked Blazers, their confidence shaken as they teetered on the precipice. The Indiana Pacers are the second-worst team in the worst conference in basketball, after all, losers of 5 straight games and 9 of their last 10. To top it off, the Pacers were missing their All-Star and leading scorer, Danny Granger, out until January with a foot injury.

Getting beat by a team featuring Raptors castoff T.J. Ford, Nuggets castoff Dahntay Jones, a dinged Mike Dunleavy, and the non-entities Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster? That's not what you want to be doing heading into a Friday matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers...

This game never felt like it was in doubt despite the Pacers' gritty effort to keep it close. There are some games like that — you just get that feel from the opening minutes that Portland is NOT going to lose. And they didn't.

Most important moment for me was in the 4th Quarter, with Brandon carrying the ball up the floor and clearly feeling it. As he crossed the time line, Andre Miller came over to take the ball from Roy — as pass-oriented PGs want to do. Brandon continued his dribble and without missing a beat gave Dre a momentary glare that had him scurrying for the corner to "Play the Portland," as Nic Batum memorably calls it. Roy drove the lane and scored it, as you KNEW he was gonna do before he ever did it.

A couple plays later, Roy took a little breather and Andre did his thing, scoring himself. All was right with the world. These two will eventually figure out how to play together — sooner if the binkie gets put away.

Speaking of which:

Blake: Nearly 39 minutes, 6 points.

Miller: Just 25 minutes, 15 points.

Just sayin'..........

Well, that's about all I've got regarding this one.

Now let's fire up the good old Popcorn Machine GAME FLOW SUMMARY, shall we? (Give that link a quick click if you'd be so kind...)

Observation 1: After a 13-2 Portland run in the 1st Quarter, this game was more or less in control of the Blazers. Sure, they've blown leads before, and sure, the Pacers did get it back to even in the 4th Quarter — but still, this was the Blazers' night all the way.

Observation 2: Rex played the entire 2nd Quarter, scoring 5 points. I don't recall him ever having played a full quarter before. Maybe I'm forgetting... He looked okay tonight. Not good, just okay.

Observation 3: Acting Head Coach Demopoulos pulled Marty for the entire 4th Quarter, running Andre, Blake, and Roy. It seemed like an effective lineup, with Portland going +9 for the period.

Well, that's enough of all that stuff and nonsense. Now let's get serious. Please put on your most comfortable pair of pants and join me in watching the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD:

This being a full-service blab-a-thon, here's Wednesday's edition from Skeets & Melas, just in case you missed it...

Which brings us to the real point of this exercise, a little taste of the news and ranting from the journalists and internet-types of the Indiana blogoverse...

(1)

Pacers See What's Missing: Go-to Guy: Blazers' Roy takes over late; no Pacer steps up

by Mike Wells, Indianapolis Star

The difference in yet another loss for the Indiana Pacers was in personnel.

As the Pacers' second unit outplayed the starters to help them hang around, the lone All-Star on the court ended up being the difference-maker.

Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Brandon Roy scored 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help his team hold off the pesky Pacers 102-91 on Wednesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

"When we tied up the basketball game, Brandon Roy really took over the game," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "That's his usual performance down the stretch. We had difficulty stopping him late in the game and (LaMarcus) Aldridge had it going early in the game." * * *

(2)

Starters Continue To Get Outplayed, Outscored During Losing Streak

by S.P. Stevenson, Indy Cornrows (SBN)

hey are the players that set the tone. From start to finish, the players who get their names called under the bright lights and rip off their warm-ups first are there for a reason. To compete and get the team off to a good start.

For the Indiana Pacers, the starting lineup is not getting the job done.

In the six-game losing streak, which increased last night after a 102-91 loss to the Blazers, the starters have been outscored 443-314, an average deficit of 21.5 per game.... * * *

(3)

Blazers 102, Pacers 91: Pacers Can't Answer Brandon Roy At Winning Time

by Tom Lewis, Indy Cornrows (SBN)

The future for the Indiana Pacers looked bright on Wednesday night. The present? Not so much.

LaMarcus Aldridge opened the game with 10-straight points, putting the Portland Trail Blazers up 10-6 early. The Pacers fought from behind the rest of the way, even tied the score at 83-83 midway through the fourth quarter, before Brandon Roy took control, allowing the Blazers to cruise home to a win, 102-91.

Maybe it was the low expectations heading into the game, but I can't get too exercised over the Pacers letting this game go down the stretch in their first outing without Danny Granger. Part of that is the play of A.J. Price and Tyler Hansbrough, but more on that later.

I just can't complain about the effort from the Pacers. Yes, they shot poorly (41.3%) but they scrapped for extra possessions grabbing 15 offensive rebounds. The ball and player movement was far more consistent than it has been and resulted in a number of easy buckets around the rim which was a pleasure to watch. * * *

(4)

Game #19 Preview: Answering Some Questions

by Jared Wade, 8 Points 9 Seconds (TrueHoop)

[Dec. 9] We now know that Danny Granger is going to miss up to 6 weeks with his foot issue and perhaps be well below 100% for even longer. The season is, in short, not looking good.

Still, regardless of whether or not the Granger/MDJ-led Pacers were able to eek out an 8th seed just to lose to the Celtics, Cavs or Magic in the playoffs, the main purpose of this season is — and has been — to evaluate the players who may be still be with the franchise two years from now when, you know, the squad will hopefully once again be a relevant NBA team. The Larry Bird brain trust needs to figure out what exactly they have here. Is there some real talent here or not?

So, in some ways (watch as I desperately grasp at this straw) this injury will help speed up the talent evaluation process. The young guys will have to play more simply out of necessity and this trial by fire will theoretically help the front office see what the young players are capable of. Will anyone step up to handle some of the scoring load? Will anyone do anything of note with these extra minutes? * * *

(5)

Passive Aggression

posted by "Miller4Ever" to Real GM Pacers message board

I want to slap TJ Ford on one possession and then pat his back on another. Too bad I want to slap him more.

Dahntay? Not so good in the 4th quarter, and he seems to always have 4 or 5 fouls by that time.

Rush is the answer. Dunleavy. Just let them shoot it, and get Hansbrough in there for the boards.

(6)

Another Coach Hater

posted by Reginald Wayne to Real GM Pacers message board

Good effort. But in the 4th we didn't hit the shots that they were hitting. Example: Head missing wide open 3, then Blake hit a wide open 3 on ensuing possession. That, and we don't have an explosive player like Roy to takeover a game.

I want to see AJ Price a bit more. Bench Ford and play the rook. O'brien you suck.

The Bottom Line:

1. Injuries, smingeries. You guys really didn't think this bunch were going to beat you without Danny Granger, did you?

2. We've got hope for the future. For the present? Not so much...

Now time for one more really comical video (showing you how NOT to run a 1-on-0 fast break!) and a dumb poll...

SB Nation User Blog: timbo

27. Rack 'Em: The View from Phoenix

Welcome to the Festival of Corny Eldrick Woods Jokes!

Channel Surfing.

The wife of Blazer Assistant Coach Joe Prunty had a baby boy on Thursday. What do you think the Pruntys will name their new son?

26. Lifeboats Averted: The View from Sacramento

26. Lifeboats Averted: The View from Sacramento

26. Lifeboats Averted: The View from Sacramento

What Have We Learned?

PLEASE WATCH THIS 1 MINUTE VIDEO — IT WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING!!!

Here's one for the Trevor Ariza haters...

Channel Surfing.

What kind of gaming platform does KP play all day in his office?

"Talking to Chicks Who Love Hoops"

"Talking to Chicks Who Love Hoops"

25. I Need More Beer: The View from Milwaukee

What Have We Learned???

A is for Andre — Start him!

B is for Blake — Bench him!

C is for Coaching Change Needed if Nate can't figure it out...

D is for Duh.

D is also for defense.

Channel Surfing.

24. King Incorporated: The View from Cleveland

Western Conference

Forwards:

Guards:

Centers:

Tracy McGrady

Congratulations to the 2009 Nobel Prize Winners!

Channel Surfing.

A is for Andre — Start him!

B is for Blake — Bench him!

C is for Coaching Change Needed if Nate doesn't catch on...

D is for Duh.

ESPN TrueHoop Rips Tim Donaghy a New Belly Button

ESPN TrueHoop Rips Tim Donaghy a New Belly Button

Need something boring to skim? Here's a couple more View columns...

Need something boring to skim? Here's a couple more View columns...

NBA Attendance Down 3.7%, Ticket Revenue Off 7.4% This Season

NBA Attendance Down 3.7%, Ticket Revenue Off 7.4% This Season

23. Plodding On: The View from Indianapolis

Channel Surfing.

Who will be the next member of the Portland Trail Blazers to undergo surgery in 2009/10?