As free agency talks heat up, Atlanta's Jamal Crawford keeps coming up as a potential soon-to-be Blazer. Don't count on it.

There are finally some Blazer games to pencil into your desktop 2011 calendar, and as I can’t say enough, it’s about time. This afternoon, the team officially confirmed that 2011-12 preseason lite will consist of Portland hosting the Utah Jazz on December 19th at the Rose Garden, then traveling to SLC to play the Jazz a second time on December 21st at Energy Solutions Arena.

The union cards are in, NBA.com has returned current player photos to its front page, and NBATV has cancelled most of its gimmicky movie night programming. The deal hasn’t been completed, and the regular season schedule hasn’t been finalized, but it’s safe to say that this is really happening.

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I’ll be the first to admit that ever since the Blazers were eliminated, I’ve been in a bit of a malaise when it comes to writing about the playoffs. I’ve sat and watched every game but I for the life of me haven’t been able to spit out a word about it. Nothing like a pair of Game 7′s to change that. David Stern faces a dream scenario/slight nightmare as the Lakers and Celtics are on the verge of elimination.

• Lakers/Rockets

I can’t remember a series that has bothered me as much as this one. I can’t stand the Lakers (and never will) yet can’t quite bring myself to “cheer” for the Rockets. Don’t get me wrong, I respect the hell out of this Rocket bunch for perservering without Yao and T-Mac…but I can’t quite cheer for them. Everytime Scola misses a mid-range jumper I think of the 8023 he made against Portland and get mad. Or when Ron Artest gets T’s or starts acting crazy, things he conveniently forgot to do last series. I’m ranting, so I’ll stop because I sound like a baby. To win this game, Houston needs something resembling some offense to show up. The defense and the effort are going to be there, but will the scoring? Everyone is going to have to chip in, Houston doesn’t have that one guy who can carry the team. Brooks, Scola, Landry, Wafer, Battier, Lowry are all going to have to do their part. The Lakers are in more trouble than I think anyone really knows. That being said they are still in the driver’s seat. Their main focus should be presenting something that resembles championship defense, a piece of the pie they’ve lost in translation over the past year. All they have to do is defend Houston and they’ll win easy. Seriously, I’m not trying to be Captain Obvious but if the Lakers focus everything on defending the Rockets they will win. Houston doesn’t have a ton of firepower. You get Brooks, Artest or Scola struggling and the Rockets are toast. You know what Pau, Odom and co. can do offensively, but if they don’t defend and put some doubt in Houston’s minds it won’t matter. Because Chuck Hayes and guard Pau, Artest can guard Odom and Battier can guard Kobe. LA only needs is one break and it’s over. If Battier or Chuck Hayes gets in foul trouble early….whole new ballgame.

Let’s not forget this though people…Kobe Bryant does not have a sterling record in elimination games. I got this idea from JA Adande’s piece on Kobe and Phil’s legacy and it is pretty true. Kobe needs a big game here to shake that label off. Sidenote….Anyone else remember last time the Lakers were “destined” to go to the Finals and faced the Rockets?

I would love to see Sasha Vujacic playing the Michael Cooper role in this video. Make it happen.

• Boston/Orlando:

For the C’s they are going as far as Rondo, Pierce and Allen take them. If Ray Allen’s knees had made the trip to Orlando for Game 6 this series would have been over. I’d almost guarantee he doesn’t go 0-for-7 from behind the arc. What intrigues me is what Rondo does in this game. In Game 6, Orlando decided to stop guarding Rondo. Seriously SVG basically said ‘Whatever, dog’ and his man just went and doubled Pierce repeatedly. How he handles that in Game 7 is key. Also key for Boston…attacking the basket. Orlando is a jump-shooting team and you’re really doing them favors by settling and shooting jumpers with them. When Boston has attacked the basket, good things have generally gone their way. Orlando has got to hope that Rashard Lewis becomes the $17-milllion dollar man and not the Virgil to Stan Van Gundy’s Ted DiBiase. They also need Hedo Turkoglu to show up early and often. I’m not trying to jump on the bash Dwight Howard express, but it’s not like they can pencil him in for 20-20. He could do anything today. And even with his 20-20 performance, the Magic still should have lost that game. What concerns me about Orlando is how they will handle this situation. I remember watching Game 6 and during a timeout Stan Van Gundy was saying “EVERY SHOT FROM HERE ON OUT HAS TO BE A GOOD SHOT, NO WASTED POSSESSIONS” or something like that and in the back of my head I was like….way to put more pressure on your team. He gets tight and this team could very likely get tight. Or have to depend on Rafer Alston to make good decisions in a Game 7. Ask Houston fans how well that tends to go.

Gotta go with the C’s here.

Ok, people…there’s an elephant in the room and no one’s really talking about it. But I think it’s time to talk about the impact that the loss of Dikembe Mutombo will have on this series. Despite the sadness surrounding Mutombo going down, there’s no way around stating that it is going to have an impact on the rest of this series. Houston fans may point to the fact that Mutombo only played in 9 games this season or that he wasn’t counted on for production or some other excuse I can’t think of. And while all of these may be true statements, I’m not sure I buy it. Without Mutombo in to give Yao a breather, Houston has a couple issues. For one, Yao absolutely, positively can not get in foul trouble. With Mutombo out their big-man depth chart off the bench smells a little something like this:

• Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry, Brian Cook, Joey Dorsey.

Yeah. There is a difference between putting Hayes and Landry out there and having to put Hayes and Landry out there. If Yao gets in foul trouble, Adelman will have no choice but to turn to them. There…are no other alternatives. If you’re a Blazer fan you want to see Brian Cook out there. He’s like their version of Channing Frye, and that’s going to sound like the ultimate diss to Channing but I imagine you get what I’m saying. Also, Oden will demolish Dorsey on sight for not keeping GO’s name out of his mouth in college. Hayes and Landry can provide quality minutes, but not the same kind of quality minutes Mutombo could put out. Why? They are completely undersized for their position. Yes they are physical, yes they are talented, yes they will battle….but there is no getting around the fact they are undersized. The difference between driving at the basket with Mount Mutombo in the lane against seeing Hayes, Landry or even Scola is pretty huge. Double that when you consider the fact that no Blazer will catch Mutombo’s ELBOW OF DOOM. (Someone was going to bleed this series, you and I both know it). I’d obviously expect some adjustments from Houston but regardless it’s a frontline that the Blazers can attack the basket against. And attacking the basket is exactly what the Blazers will have tdo. Having to play Hayes and Landry is going to cost the Rockets on the offensive end. Not saying that they can’t score, just that they aren’t exactly scary on the offensive end. I feel confident in Portland’s ability to keep them in check. I just feel like if your opponent is depending on scoring from Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry at this point in the season, you shouldn’t be shaking in your boots. Let’s be honest….if Houston trots out a lineup like ‘Lowry-Wafer-Battier-Hayes-Landry’ I feel it is a unit that Portland should be able to take advantage against. Of course that requires stopping Von Wafer which is a different story.

Adelman could opt to just play Yao more minutes than usual but I’m not sure I have too much beef with that. I’ll take a tired Yao in the 4th quarter or the next game. Or him picking up a foul because of a slow rotation.

So quick summary…Houston without Mutombo means Yao can’t get in foul trouble, Yao may play more minutes and get tired, Hayes and Landry are not rim protectors and Brian Cook might step on the court. Small chance but still. Not to mention that whole ‘heart and soul of the team’ thing.

On the other hand…the loss of Mutombo could spark the Rockets emotionally. Game 3, in their home building, I’m sure some sort of tribute will be coming. It could help them on Friday night. But that would only last one game in my eyes.