Archive for May, 2010

No, this will not be me talking about how referees need to relax or how much I miss the TNT guys already, or how much Magic Johnson and Stuart Scott make my ears bleed. We’ll be talking about things that went both wrong and right in both of those series, that the  the Blazers can possibly learn from in future playoff runs. The Regular Season Doesn’t Matter That Much: One of the things you have to love about Blazer fans is their unbridled passion for the team. It’s a reason why, deserved or not, Blazer fans are called some of [...]

Let’s take a break from draft talk and move ahead a couple weeks to the start of Free Agency 2010 on July 1. Clearly, the best course of action is for Portland to sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh… Just kidding, this isn’t one of those pieces. Outside of some courtesy phone calls, the Blazers aren’t going anywhere near any of the many free agents expected to get max or near-max contracts. Beyond that, those guys aren’t worth your time discussing. What is worth discussing is what Portland can do with the Mid Level Exception. Since the Blazers will be [...]

Courtesy of the Blazers official twitter page is the list of Portland’s first workout group. “Blazers first wave of draft workouts: Tory Jackson, Andy Rautins, Ryan Thompson, Marqus Blakely. Landry Fields, Tyren Johnson” Everyone coming into this workout is a perimeter player. As Ben Golliver of Blazer’s Edge pointed out, none of these names are on Draft Express’s 2010 Mock Draft. However, four of the six do appear on Chad Ford’s list of prospects. Tyren Johnson (#42), Andy Rautins (#62) and Marqus Blakely (#72). Landry Fields is #117 on Ford’s list, but had a stellar career at Stanford.  Ryan Thompson, [...]

This is part of an offseason series on various things of certain natures that each Blazer can work on during the summer to prepare for the 2010-2011 title push. This is strictly about on-court performance, so topics like trades and contracts are not discussed at length. Remember to click “Continue Reading” at the jump. It’s easy to forget just how unique of a situation Nicolas Batum is in. He’s a unique player, sure, as we’ll get to later, but how many success stories come out of the late first round? How many of those are international players? How many still [...]

Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune reporting that the Blazers will indeed look to move up in the 2010 NBA Draft. In his article, Eggers cited Portland’s director of NBA scouting Mike Born saying the following: “We’re looking at trying to move up with our first pick,” says Mike Born, Portland’s director of NBA scouting. “We’re trying to have an early second-round pick, maybe even have another late second-round pick. “If we find a guy we like, we’ll try to put ourselves in position to get him.” The ‘big news’ is all in that first quote, as now it is [...]

Ben Golliver over at Blazer’s Edge dropping goodies by reporting on a translation provided by HoopsHype of a Rudy Fernandez interview by Diario De Mallorca. That’s one hell of a sentence. Here is what the interview said: “Disappointed and deceived. I’ve always asked for more responsibility on the team but this season they didn’t give any chance. Something like that makes you lose all focus, because you don’t know what is going to happen next year.” Regarding a possible trade, Fernandez states, “I’m comfortable in Portland but I’m sure I could provide experience and talent to another team.” Fernandez also [...]

This is part of an offseason series on various things of certain natures that each Blazer can work on during the summer to prepare for the 2010-2011 title push. This is strictly about on-court performance, so topics like trades and contracts are not discussed at length. Remember to click “Continue Reading” at the jump. As Coup stated with his post on Andre Miller we have entered the veteran portion of the Summer Reading series. Or as I like to think of it, the super-veteran portion of the series. Unlike rookies, second year guys or players entering the ‘make-or-break’ time of [...]

Via Chad Ford on Twitter: Blazers had private workout with Paul George and Dominique Jones. Word out of Blazers had George winning the match-up. We’ve talked about Jones plenty lately, but here’s the best scouting information on George, via DraftExpress.com. Jones losing a workout isn’t enough to knock him out of Portland’s spot in our mock draft, but we’re going to be keeping a close eye on George now, as the team has some interest in him.

This is part of an offseason series on various things of certain natures that each Blazer can work on during the summer to prepare for the 2010-2011 title push. This is strictly about on-court performance, so topics like trades and contracts are not discussed at length. Remember to click “Continue Reading” at the jump. Moving into veteran territory now, there’s not a whole lot of mystery left with a 34 year old point guard now on his fifth team in the league. For Andre Miller’s career, he has a flat PER of 18, an assist rate of 35 percent and [...]

No. 14: Houston Rockets — Gordon Hayward, SF, Butler Nothing scientific about this pick. With Yao coming back, this is a team for the now, and unless they want future insurance by going after one of the project bigs, they could use a high-efficiency shooting prospect. But knowing Houston, they are value hunting, and who like they here is extremely subject to change, as is where they ultimately pick in the first round. No. 15: Milwaukee Bucks — James Anderson, SG/SF, Oklahoma St. Whether John Salmons opts out or not, with a number of players locking down the defensive portion [...]