A lot of recent chatter in Blazer Nation surrounds whether or not Nic Batum should be (re)inserted into the starting lineup. Ever since returning to the lineup, Batum has looked aggressive, sharp and better than the Frenchie we fell in love with last year. In addition, Batum had won the job prior to injuring his shoulder before the season started, many believe he should slide back in. There are various to get to this point. Does he replace Martell Webster? Should Nate start him at the 4 and slide LaMarcus Aldridge at the 5?  Nate has been reported as saying that [...]

Ladies and gentlemen, your early candidate for Game of the Year. Now pause for a moment with the most obvious lyrics in the world:
You tryin to check my homey, you better check yo self
Cause when you diss Dre you diss yourself…
Relativity is a funny thing. If the Blazers had a losing season this year, we are all shocked and disappointed. If they have a losing season in 2005, we shrug and move on. Likewise, if Brandon Roy drops 52 in a win at Dallas, it gets the Michael Jordan memorial (and Kobe Bryant rip off) fist pump and scowl. You [...]

It’s tough to be too displeased with this loss. The Blazers marched into one of “those” buildings they tend to struggle in, fought for a lead, fell way behind and still managed to make it a game decided on a handful of possessions. I know I’m getting repetitive from past posts, but given the roster, you now just have another reason to admire this team for going Col. Custer rather than…20th Century France (with apologies to all our French readers). It might not be a moral victory, but at least it’s a mild success.
You have to hand it to the [...]

It’s rare when a game is decided in the first 6 minutes of a ball game, but last night was definitely the case. Utah jumped on Portland like this was a grudge match, opening up the game in dominant fashion and never looked back. In his Pre-Thoughts, Coup talked about how there may not be a team that matches up better with this current Blazer team than the Jazz. They are physical, love to score in the paint, have a dominant PG and can shoot the ball. It was dangerous going in and it all exploded in the first quarter. [...]

Roy will make his third appearance on the All-Star team, health provided, per Adrian Wojnarowski & Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports:
The West includes the New Orleans’ Chris Paul(notes), the Lakers’ Paul Gasol, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant(notes), Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki(notes), Memphis’ Zach Randolph(notes) and Portland’s Brandon Roy(notes).
You know, when a guy keeps making the team like this, it’s easy to start taking it for granted. I remember being absolutely ecstatic when Roy garnered enough love to make it the first time and I’m almost as happy about it three years later. When you count your hoops blessings, don’t forget Roy.

The last couple weeks I’ve been just as impressed with the Blazers as the rest of you. Big wins, on the road and at home and over good teams while missing any number of players have all deserved just applause. But we’ve also discussed how Portland has come across a number of those teams at just the right point in the season — teams with injuries of their own, on long road trips, in January slumps and amidst unusual shooting woes. Nothing to discount the wins given the circumstances, but there aren’t many teams that Portland has beat or almost [...]

…wait, what?
Are you serious, basketball gods? You’re going to bestow all these wins on a team you’ve stripped so much away from, then when Blazersedge brings hundreds of kids to a game for a charity event, you **** them over with a 12-1 New Orleans run in the final 3:26 for a Blazers loss? Eff you, basketball gods, eff you. (I’m sure the kids still had a fantastic time and were very thankful to Dave and Ben for an awesome event, but still).
I’m going to throw a little expert analysis at you here: the Blazers really missed Brandon Roy in [...]

BA-TUM, shake shake shake the room. VIVE LA FRANCE!!!!!!
Per Joe Freeman’s tweets, Nic Batum is listed as ‘probable’ and is a gametime decision for sure, for sure going to make his season debut against the Hornets. To me this is the news du jour (get it because he’s French) as the return of Batum will help the Blazers in ways we all are not quite ready to understand yet. I’m just interested in seeing him play, because to tell the truth…I almost forgot what he can do. Remember all that talk about how much he improved in the off-season, we [...]

With the Blazers in town to play the Celtics last Friday I got the chance to chat with Jeff Pendergraph for a couple minutes as well as field a couple questions from coach Nate McMillan.
I went into the evening with a primary goal of simply getting a better grasp on Pendergraph as a player and a person, especially after we were trumpeting his draft selection back in June. With LaMarcus Aldridge entrenched as the starting power forward for the foreseeable future, one of the larger lineup questions (with a healthy roster) has been the backup four spot. Travis Outlaw has [...]

There might be a few too many award shows making their way across my television screen lately, because after every player the Blazers lose and every win that follows that loss it feels like the team needs to go up on some stage, in front of fans of any team, be applauded and then handed little golden men. It doesn’t have to take long, it just seems to fit.
I’m going to keep analysis very brief for this one because it doesn’t seem fair to overanalyze a group of that are just gutting out tough wins — and losses — with [...]