Sep 30th 2008 11:00AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Thunder

It’s time to get our Miss Cleo on. On the surface, the Northwest seems to offer one real championship contender (Utah) and two more potential playoff teams (Denver, Portland). Those playoff teams are a source of intrigue, as expectations for the budding Blazers have gotten completely out of control, while a lot of folks are seeming to forget that Denver was an 8th seed in the toughest West ever last season.Continue Reading

Sep 29th 2008 11:00AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, ThunderThe opening locale for our NBA Preview tour hosts a championship contender … unless you believe in Vegas, where two teams have odds of at least 18-to-1 to win the title. Bettors have Utah at 18-to-1 and Portland, ahem at 12-to-1. Clearly, folks expect big things from the newborn Trail Blazers.

That brings us to our first topic: The Blazers caught much of the nation off-guard last year, with a long winning streak through the early winter keeping the team alive in the rough Western playoff race. Clearly, Portland overperformed based on common expectation. Is that even possible this year? Win or lose, the Blazers will likely get more attention than any other Northwest team this season. The burgeoning tomorrow promises excitement, and no one wants to miss out the introduction of greatness. No pressure, kids.Continue Reading

Sep 26th 2008 1:30PM by Brett Edwards (author feed)
Filed under: Pistons, Trail BlazersRasheed Wallace has been a member of the Pistons for the last five seasons, but he gained his fame and All-Star form by spending eight years with the Blazers. As such, ‘Sheed has a nice (but not over the top) place in the Portland area that he no longer has a need for. And it can be yours for the low, low price of $4.875 million.

The home comes with over two acres of property, and all the basics: a built-in salt water fish tank, movie theatre, guest house, basketball and tennis court, and much more. A couple more pictures after the jump, including the home office where ‘Sheed undoubtedly spent hours pondering life’s toughest questions. Like maybe, which jersey number he should wear each season.Continue Reading

Sep 25th 2008 8:55AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Heat, Kings, Trail Blazers, Wizards, Euroleague, NBA Referees

Spending a day with NBA referees. Tons of great notes in here.
Michael Beasley comes … err, clean: “‘ I’m not sure our young protagonist understands what that word means.
Highlights from Josh Childress’ first preseason game in Greece.
Nate McMillan wants to dampen the high expectations facing the Blazers. Good luck.

The Brendan Haywood-Etan Thomas war is over!

(Self-link alert!) Investigating the causes of Sacramento’s bloated salary.

Sep 24th 2008 6:47PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Heat, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, NBA Rumors
HOOPSWORLD reports the Blazers will announce the addition of Shaun Livingston to the roster later this evening (4PM EST). To be honest, Carl Landry’s Charlotte offer sheet is the bigger news in real basketball terms (as in, Houston would lose a lot by shrugging Landry off), but Livingston’s a big name ’til he retires, so a lot of ink will spill on this move.

Portland’s point guard set fascinates me. Steve Blake is the incumbent, a crafty but restricted shooter who defends better than the others. Clearly, the Blazers aren’t satisfied starting him. Sergio Rodriguez had planned to be the flower of the Northwest, but he and Nate McMillan have some sort of disconnect (likely to be defense-related). In successive years, the Blazers have drafted 19-year-old PG prospects: Finland’s Petteri Koponen — a kid the franchise almost brought over the sea for this coming season, someone both McMillan and Kevin Pritchard appear to be very high on — and Jerryd Bayless out of Arizona. Pritchard moved up in the lottery to get Bayless at #11.

Blake’s got to be trade bait if Bayless develops or McMillan gets Livingston minutes at the point. There is, of course, the possibililty Livingston has been acquired to add depth at the swing positions. As Livingston has made his recovery, murmurs that a loss in quickness from his gruesome injury would force Shaun to small forward or two-guard made the rounds. Without Koponen and with Rodriguez in flux, the Blazers would surely like an able point guard should Blake be jettisoned — Bayless has a learning curve ahead of him. But this could also be a move for the next couple years, where — should Portland move Travis Outlaw — depth behind Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez and Martell Webster becomes a concern. Roy, Fernandez and Livingston, in particular, are flexible players who can run the offense or play off the ball. There’s a lot McMillan can do here, and it’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out (assuming HOOPSWORLD’s report is accurate).

disagrees with HOOPSWORLD’s report, and says Pritchard has told the media Livingston won’t be signed. Timberwolves, Heat: you’re back on the clock.

Sep 23rd 2008 8:30AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Trail Blazers, D-LeagueRudy Fernandez has made landfall. Cheer appropriately, you lucky Blazers fans you.
A great Jazz blog interviews a Jazz great: Mark Eaton (Part II is here.)
Salim Stoudamire’s open, man.

Who will think of Boris Diaw? (Put your hand down, Miss G.)

Carnival of the NBA #60.

Yep, even the D-League has an expansion draft!

Sep 13th 2008 12:36PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Heat, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, NBA RumorsTwo of the names on the list of squads considering Shaun Livingston as a dice roll won’t suprise you: Miami, a team light of point guards, and Minnesota, a team absent of acceptable point guards. But the third, according to a Yahoo! Sports report from Adrian Wojnarowski, might knock you off-center for a second: Portland.

The Blazers, of course, have 74 players on payroll. If Woj has this one right (no reason not to think so, a bloated roster has never stopped Kevin Pritchard before), those jokes about Paul Allen’s buying a European club to stash his junior team don’t seem out-of-hand.

Minny seems to be putting on the press, though, which is no brainer for a team rolling with Sebastian Telfair (one of the worst players in the league last season) and Randy Foye (as two-guard as they come) at the point. (That Kevin McHale couldn’t pry Kyle Lowry or Javaris Crittenton from Memphis in the big Mayo-Love deal remains astounding.) Miami, despite landing one of the steals of the draft in Mario Chalmers and re-signing, uh, Chris Quinn, has a serious need for stardom there, as well.

Of course, the last reports about Livingston’s future indicated he might be forced by lost athleticism to move to the wing instead of the point. Miami has huge needs there, as well. Minnesota? Not so much. I think the opportunity for playing time would serve to push Shaun away from PDX, but Pritchard has a way of angering the rest of the league with daft moves. We’ll see.

Sep 10th 2008 6:06PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Grizzlies, Knicks, Trail Blazers, NBA Media Watch, NBA RumorsLast summer, when Zach Randolph got pitched over to the Knicks for the rotting carcass of Steve Francis and keepin’ it weird forward Channing Frye, there was a rumor so sumptuous it couldn’t be ignored: Brandon Roy, the young rookie star of Portland, got Z-Bo traded. Of course, that wasn’t the quote from the horse’s mouth — reporter Jason Quick threw it out there that a prominent Blazer asked for Randolph’s exile based on locker room problems. Roy was the only cat who could do such a thing.

Months later, Roy’s friend Jamal Crawford disputed the rumor, and said Roy and Randolph got along fine in PDX, and that Randolph had gotten a bum rap. Today, Geoff Calkins of the published a rather perfect hit piece on Randolph, which includes this passage:
Two years ago, late in Brandon Roy’s rookie year, the Portland Trail Blazers lost yet another game. Zach Randolph went on a rant in the locker room afterward, calling out teammates, pointing fingers, telling other players they weren’t pulling their weight. Roy told Randolph to sit down and shut up.

The next day, he went to see Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard and told him to get rid of Randolph.
That’s the same conclusion we constructed from Quick’s initial rumor, only with a remarkable level of detail for an out-of-town columnist. Clearly, this story is well-known in press row circles. And it tells us two things we already know: Randolph’s not a good dude, and Roy has amazing pull in Portland.

Sep 9th 2008 4:45PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Trail Blazers

I have already offered Monta Ellis as a Wadeian figure for your future. Those connections were made mostly in terms of offensive execution. If there’s a youngster who really captures the mythos, the id of Dwyane Wade, though, it’s Brandon Roy.Continue Reading

Sep 9th 2008 8:59AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Cavaliers, Knicks, Trail Blazers

A journalist discusses atheism with Stephon Marbury in a South Carolina hotel room. Key point of debate from Starbury: “… Why does green mean that’s the color green? Why can’t you say another word for green being green? Know what I’m saying?”
Good reviews for the LeBron doc.
Every team needs a snarky, pessimistic blog to offer dystopic viewpoints about … well, everything. The Thunder can fill in this bubble now.
Not all sneaker commercials are good.

Not all Greg Oden karaoke videos are good.

Your favorite D-League mascot has a terrifying (fake) Twitter feed.