SB Nation User Blog: zenbowl

B-Roy, Oden as Olympians?

zenbowl — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:07:08 -0000

Slam Online has an early, early projection for 2012 that includes TWO Blazers:

Greg Oden – The main question mark in the 2008 Olympics was the lack of big men. That won’t be an issue in London where the best center prospect since Shaq will bring unstoppable shot swatting and rebounding potential. Oden will also bring a fresh personality that Team USA had been lacking for quite some time.

and

Brandon Roy – A born leader, B-Roy will be the quintessential play-maker as well as one of the best all-around players by the time 2012 rolls around. Roy won’t flinch at any defense thrown in his way, nor will he hesitate to get in a teammate’s face. Like his Blazers teammate Greg Oden, Roy will serve as a positive influence and an ambassador to the game.

I find it interesting that they listed Oden first, seeing how proven Brandon is at this point.

That two Blazers would be projected as not just Olympians, but true ambassadors and leaders, well, that should say something about coming years.

FWIW, the projection lists five "keepers" from the current team: LeBron, Paul, Williams, Wade, and Bosh. Not sure about Wade lasting four more years at this level, but you never know.

The "ten to consider", other than Oden (who was listed at the top) include Horford, Amare Stoudemire (injuries?), Al Jefferson, Mayo, Kevin Martin, Durant, Rudy Gay, and Joe Johnson.

(no) Jersey contest for the losers

zenbowl — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:59:15 -0000

I'm not giving away anything, except for juju, mojo, jinx-proofing, and other good-luck-related non-physical stuff.

I've picked the Blazers to lose in each of their victories--as a matter of good luck, of course. And I don't plan on not picking them to lose tonight, just because I'm a big loser in the jersey contest.

So all the Blazer's Edge folks out there who can't enter the real contest, make your picks below, for bragging rights, for good luck mojo, and all other good stuff.

I'm not going to tally points up, either. This is strictly for the hyper-superstitious and uber-competitve folks who MUST make a pick for the game.

Game 11 Form
Final Score: Blazers Jazz
Question 1: Who will be the Blazers' SECOND-leading rebounder?
Question 2: Which team will make more three-pointers?
Question 3: Who scores more, BRANDON ROY or DERON WILLIAMS?
Question 4: Who will score the final Blazer points of the game?
BONUS QUESTION 5: Why are you making a meaningless pick?

For Blazer newbies, from a Blazer newbie

zenbowl — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:45:13 -0000

Hello there, Blazer newbie! Welcome to the Blazer's Edge. I'm sure you heard the big news about the one pick. Maybe you're a Buckeye fan who loves Greg Oden and wants to keep an eye on him? Or maybe you just haven't watched the NBA that closely lately, and now you feel like you might be able to get back into it, thanks to the dynamic duo of Durant and Oden?

So you're thinking about potentially becoming a Blazer fan.

I was in your shoes a year ago. As a kid, I grew up rooting for the Bad Boy Pistons. Yes, ok, you can hate me for that. But I grew up close to Detroit, so what can I say? Eventually, I grew disenchanted, primarily because I discovered that, yes, Bill Lambier was an evil sonuvabitch. And Dennis Rodman went from being the worm to being, well, whatever that was. And the college game had much less of that crap, so I started watching college ball. When the Pistons got good again, I shrugged. It seemed artificial, almost contrived. So I didn't go back.

I went to a rinkadink little school to get my bachelor's degree, and, while I kept up an affinity for Big Ten basketball, I was far removed from it. Then I had the good fortune of attending the University of Washington just as Lorenzo Romar began turning that team around, thanks in part to Brandon Roy.

I became a big fan of the UW team, and of BRoy in particular. I was disappointed when Nate Robinson left early and abandoned a team that could've had a shot at the title. And I remained a big supporter of Roy. When the Blazers bent heaven and earth to pick him up, my interest was piqued.

Oh, the Blazers! That team that took on the Bad Boy mantle after the Pistons went soft. Rip City, right? Small market team, good town. Terrible record, true, but now they've got Brandon Roy. And, hell, I was used to rooting for crappy teams. Tiger baseball, anyone? I was moving back to the East Coast, but, what the hell, maybe I'll watch them this year.

Let me tell you, Blazer Newbie, it was a helluva ride. For a while, there, I thought we'd actually make the playoffs! I haven't felt this good about a team that finished this badly since, well, never. And, the icing on the cake, Roy was R.O.Y., and now they're going to grab (fingers in ears to Durant-supporters) Greg Oden. What a great core of solid young players!

So, if you're thinking about becoming a Blazer fan, let me say welcome aboard. Next year you'll probably be able to see them on TV more often, thanks to Oden. And, the people on this site, good folks. Plus, I actually won a contest for picking games and got a little prize sent, totally free. That was awesome.

Poll

How long have you been a Blazer fan?

College

6 votes

Just recently

4 votes

I'm not a fan...yet...

2 votes

Since before I was born

7 votes

After I was born, but before I can remember

20 votes

Middle school

9 votes

High school

5 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

On changing the system

zenbowl — Wed, 23 May 2007 12:57:38 -0000

Let me play Devil's Advocate here and say that I like the lotto system just fine. You can look from a numbers point and say "Memphis deserved that top pick" and you'd be right. Memphis is lousy. They need help. You can also say "Boston deserves one of the top choices, the Celtics have been in the doldrums for too long." And that might correct, too.

But, thanks to the lotto, a team that worked its ass off after "losing" the first overall pick in 2006, picked up Aldridge and BRoy, will now be a legitimate playoff contender with Greg Oden guarding the bucket.

Similarly, a team with a a good base of fans and a greedy owner will be forced to remain as Kevin Durant draws the fans and keeps the Sonics in Seattle.

Flukey? Sure. And it could have been different. We could have ended up sending the two best players in the draft to Memphis and Boston, where they would have languished thanks to terrible coaching and awful front-offices.

You can look at this draft as punishing two teams (I'm not even going to talk about the Bucks who tanked so terribly, they deserve their six seed, which, btw, is where BRoy was selected last year). Or you can look at this system and decide that it saved two teams (potentially three with the Hawks getting two lotto picks).

Why would we want to condemn the best players in the draft to go to teams like Memphis and, yes, Boston? If anything, that might be an incentive for a good college baller to tank a game in March and drop his stock down a few spots so that he doesn't end up with the Grizz.

Why reward teams who tank, who are the worst of the worst? One player will not make a difference to these teams. If Memphis or Boston is smart they'll take a page straight out of the Blazer draftbook, put twelve irons in the fire on draft day, and really shake things up. Because that's what's going to make a difference.

Something tells me the folks in Boston are going to hang their heads, bemoan their fate, curse the stars, shake their fist at the heavens, and have a very uninspired draft day. And why should we want to reward a team like that?

So yeah, the lotto system isn't fair, it's flukey and it screws some teams over. But it beats the tar out of frogmarching Greg Oden to Memphis.