Archive for December, 2009

Happy Andre Miller Day! For some reason ever since I read the news about today being Andre Miller Day around NBA watercoolers I can’t help but think of the beginning of Still D.R.E. Or how much lamer NBA watercoolers are in real life compared to my imagination, but I disgress. Word on the street has been that tonight is the night that Andre Miller returns to the starting lineup, Jerryd Bayless gets more PT and the majority of Blazer fans hope Steve Blake gets locked in the bowels of the Rose Garden with all of the old Portland Fire merchandise. [...]

Yesterday I said be patient, to lets Portland’s problems breathe, and today the Blazers started addressing those issues. All indications are that Andre Miller will start tomorrow and that Jerryd Bayless could be looking at more playing time. Here’s Ben Golliver, relaying a radio report from the Oregonian’s Jason Quick, in his practice report: Jason Quick first reported on 95.5FM last week that McMillan was looking at starting Andre Miller in place of Steve Blake.  He repeated that claim today, stating on Wheels at Work that he is receiving “strong indications that Andre Miller will move into the starting lineup tomorrow [...]

Sounds like all indications point toward Andre Miller starting tomorrow night (more on this later), but for now here is what Chris Sheridan had to say on Miller in his ESPN Chat. Not exactly a new tune, but as I said before, the speculation train isn’t going to stop gaining steam until the trade deadline passes, so get used to it. Michael (PDX): Do you see the Blazers making a move soon? If so, who do you think they’ll go after? Chris Sheridan: Well, they’re calling Tuesday Andre Miller Day aty water coolers around the NBA, because lots of people [...]

Not really. Ben Golliver breaks down a dispute between whether Jerryd Bayless, in an interview with the Oregonian’s Jason Quick, indicated fellow point guards Steve Blake and Andre Miller in a disparaging manner, or if Bayless was simply referring to the playing time of other young guards throughout the league. Maybe we’ll find out, maybe we won’t. Either way, nobody can really be surprised that Bayless is a little frustrated given the situation. Like I said in my Re-Thoughts of the Milwaukee loss, there are a number of issues Portland is dealing with, and rather than speculating and analyzing what [...]

And so ends one of the more forgettable weeks in recent Blazers history. Call it the post-Oden hangover week, or anything else to do with not having a head coach or half the perimeter stable, but the steps backward of losses to New York and Milwaukee out-weighed a sloppy win at Indiana and a pat-on-the-back effort in Cleveland. I think the last week has taken a fair bit out of both the team and its fans. Not having Nate around wasn’t going to help any with the transition to undermanned play and you get the sense that this was more [...]

I don’t know about you all, but this loss was the most discouraging/encouraging loss I can remember. Encouraging in the fact that Portland–as short-handed and undermanned as we are– went in on the road against one of the top teams in the NBA and not only competed, but nearly won. Encouraging in that there is still a lot of hope for this season, no matter how many bumps and bruises this team may take over the next couple weeks. Encouraging in the fact that there is enough talent there for me to still care. If this season was over I [...]

First things first, John Hollinger has a pair of Insider-only links regarding Portland up on ESPN. He ranks Greg Oden 10th out of the 12 best young big men in the league, basically saying that Oden is much better than some of the guys he put ahead of him but had to discount Greg due to injuries, foul trouble and turnovers. I don’t think anyone can really argue with that. Second, because the Blazers are on ESPN tonight, Hollinger tackled their disappointing season in his stat-heavy PER Diem, complete with a headline on the NBA page that reads “Pretenders”. He [...]

The NBA released the first returns of the 2010 NBA All-Star Game fan balloting today. The big news is China continuing to do what they do best…and that’s scare the daylights out of NBA fans for a few months with their voting. Even with no Yao or Yi on the ballot, they are still finding a way to wreak havoc on the balloting. Case in point: your starting guard for the Western Conference…Tracy McGrady. Yep, the same Tracy McGrady who has not played a minute and the same McGrady who the Rockets won’t…let…play. It has caused quite the uproar today. [...]

Lots of good stuff from today’s ESPN chat with sections bolded by me for emphasis: Matt (Portland): Do you think Roy and Aldridge have become complacent after signing long-term contracts? John Hollinger: I actually think they’ve become impatient. They want to badly for all the good stuff to start happening that everyone’s told them is coming that even minor doses of adversity have been really frustrating for them. Roy needs to re-learn how to play off the ball — he’s actually really good catch-and-shooting off screens but rarely does it, and that type of thing could make Miller-Roy a lot [...]

Nothing about this was particularly memorable. The Blazers have more guys on the pine than a gang of squirrels, but relative to overall team talent, the Pacers were missing just as much in Danny Granger. And somehow the Pacers were a threat for 45 minutes until Brandon Roy realized nobody could stop him and busted out his P-Wing to fly over the final level. Indiana was a threat despite shooting 41 percent from the field, 3-for-17 on threes while fielding no true scorers. Rather, Portland one despite losing points in the paint, 40-28. Let me remind you that while Portland is [...]