Archive for August, 2010

Finally, something resembling an updated in the developing telenovela known as the Rudy Fernandez saga (I still don’t have a catchy Spanish name for it) as HoopsHype has a link to an interview Fernandez did with Spanish newspaper El Periodico. The entire interview, in Spanish, can be found here (I really wish I had paid more attention to Spanish class in 8th grade, *groan*). Anyways, HoopsHype has a translation of a key part and here’s what they got from it: The new Blazers GM Rich Cho has confirmed there’s no chance for you to return to Europe. What do you [...]

And now to the final position in his off-season rankings over at Ball Don’t Lie of the top 30 players at each position, Kelly Dwyer ranks the centers. Blazer Greg Oden appears #11 on this list–same position as last year– and here is what Dwyer had to say about Oden: These are quite a few injuries, for someone who has been playing on the NCAA or NBA level since 2006. But they’re different injuries. Freak injuries. Not like Yao Ming or Zydrunas Ilgauskas or Bill Walton turning their feet into dust with repeated stress fractures. These are just things that have gone incredibly wrong. [...]

Some classes in college, are easy and some are difficult and you generally figure that out within the first couple weeks are so (hell sometimes Syllabus day tells you all you need to know). There are those classes where you can do the homework and get points, do the quizzes, get the attendance, and you might have an A but you never truly know what your grade is until that first test. Today was Team USA’s first test, and they passed. I used that college analogy because it fits here: had Team USA lost this one, it wouldn’t have been [...]

In case you missed Spain’s 101-84 beating of New Zealand this afternoon on NBATV, here’s a quick highlight of Rudy Fernandez going backdoor from the baseline, catching and jamming it home with a reverse dunk. Yes, Blazer fans, this actually happened today and is not old footage. The pass came from Ricky Rubio and was actually one of two times the players connected on this play during the game. Shades of the old Rudy/Sergio connection, eh? Fernandez had 12 points (4-5 shooting, 2-2 from deep), 12 rebounds (wow), 4 assists and 2 steals. Not too shabby if you ask this [...]

In case you missed France’s 72-66 upset of Spain today, check out Blazer forward Nic Batum’s monster dunk from late in the second quarter. Batum finished with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks (including an amazing but vintage Batum chasedown that I’m still looking for), 1 assists and 1 steal in Les Bleus victorious effort. Click below to appreciate Batum Nutella’ing all over Spain.

Team USA passed their first test in the 2010 FIBA World Championships, running away from Croatia on route to a 106-76 victory. The story of the game was simple: Team USA came out hot (7-0 run in first 2 minutes), Croatia answered and made it a tight first quarter, Team USA made the right adjustments in the second quarter and pulled away from there. Not much else to it if you ask me, but Team USA did look flat-out dominant in the final 30 minutes of this game. They out-scored Croatia 84-58 over the last three periods and shot 54% [...]

We’re just a few hours away from the start of the 2010 FIBA World Championships, and I may be in the minority on this, but I’m pretty excited. As crazy as this NBA off-season has been, there hasn’t been that much excitement surrounding the event….at least in this country. It’s been stated time after time, but some European countries actually find the World Championships to be more prestigious than the Olympics, which actually makes sense considering the way other countries compare the World Cup and the Olympics. For one, it’s competitive basketball back on my TV screen. No offense to [...]

From Ben Golliver of Blazersedge comes a money transcript of Blazer GM Rich Cho’s appearance on 1080AM The Fan yesterday. Cho touched on a number of topics including Rudy Fernandez, Greg Oden and even Joel Przybilla (or as I like to call him: the forgotten man). It’s a must-read if you’re a Blazer fan, so go over there and check it out (which I’m sure you have by now). Just wanted to pass along a couple of the more interesting quotes that caught my eye and share a couple opinions associated with them. Where does Greg Oden stand? “He’s continuing [...]

Ok, ok, heating up may be a stretch but bear with me. Found this gem late last night courtesy of Beyond the Beat‘s Wendell Maxey. It comes from Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe who has the following to say about the Celtics looking to fill their final roster spot: One roster spot is still available, and everyone from Danny Ainge to Doc Rivers to back-seat general manager Paul Pierce has said that the Celtics need another piece — specifically, a shooter. With reports circling about interest in fiery if disgruntled Portland guard Rudy Fernandez, Ainge acknowledged that he was [...]

With around six weeks left until training camp and one of the wildest off-seasons I can remember is coming to a close, I pause to think about something. The Blazers have an odd off-season of their own, however this is one of the rare times I can remember an off-season where Blazer fans weren’t really throwing around the word ‘breakout’ like it was their job. A little context for those who don’t know. Over the past few years of Portland’s recent ‘run at glory’ if you will, the Blazers have been known for their young talent and the potential they [...]