Jan 5th 2009 8:38AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Clippers, Knicks, Trail Blazers, NBA Last Night

Rule: if you drop 30 points on Boston, you get special consideration for Doing Lines. Welcome to the club, Wilson Chandler. The spiritual guide to D’Antoni Ball in the Big Apple dropped 31 points on 19 FGAs, and added eight rebounds and no turnovers. The hardest things to do against Boston: shoot efficiently and protect the ball. You’re a man, Mr. Chandler. (Al Harrington also dropped 30.)

Nicolas Batum has been cold as a starter in Portland, but Sunday’s loss to the Lakers featured a break-out of sorts: matched up against clone Trevor Ariza, Batum had 17 points on perfect 6-6 shooting, along with five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. Batum’s starting because of his defense and his willingness to stand in the corner and hoist up open threes. It’s a boon when he can make those shots.

(20 rebounds, averaging 21/game over last four)Maybe soon they’ll replace Camby’s cousin as the rebound arbiter. Seems a little unfair.

Jan 4th 2009 4:45PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Knicks, Trail Blazers, NBA RumorsVia P&T, reputable Tommy Dee of The Knicks Blog cites sources reporting that Portland is after New York forward David Lee. This isn’t a particular surprise as every team in the league (including the Knicks) loves Lee. The last rumor had New York refusing Denver’s offer of Chucky Atkins (expiring contract, decent back-up PG on a trigger-happy team) and two first-round picks for Lee. Two picks, even in the 20s … that’s a big of a haul, no? Given that reported rejection, actual players would need to be involved from Portland’s side.

Dee mentions Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, either of which could fit in to New York’s program. Better, the trade of either secures the back-up point guard position for the other, and that can’t hurt in terms of confidence. (It’s like Harry Potter’s prophecy, or something.)

The concern with Lee for Portland would be this: isn’t he superfluous? The Blazers have little trouble on the glass and have a surprisingly efficient offense. Lee’s strengths are … rebounding and efficient scoring. Portland needs help on swing defense and bench shot creation. That’s not Lee. At all.

Further, doesn’t Portland have enough offseason salary issues piling up without the quixotic restricted free agency of Lee mucking things up? Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are eligible for extensions; Ike Diogu and Channing Frye will be restricted free agents and the Blazers have some cap space available, depending on the Darius Miles situation. Since the Blazers must give up something to get Lee, the team won’t want to let him slip for nothing. I don’t mean to question Kevin Pritchard’s ability to get things done, but it seems like an added trouble with little real benefit for this particular team.

Jan 3rd 2009 7:55PM by Matt Moore (author feed)
Filed under: Trail Blazers, NBA InjuriesOkay, good news, bad news, Blazers fans.

Good news: An MRI showed “no significant changes” to the knee of Brandon Roy which has sidelined him recently. So you can go ahead and exhale into the bag.

Bad news: He’s out 7-10 days, according to an official team release via Blazer’s Edge. That would of course include Sunday’s game versus the Lakers.

The upside is that after L.A. and Detroit, the schedule isn’t brutal for the Blazers during that time. They’ve got a series of middle-of-the-pack easter teams on a four game road trip with a game against struggling Golden State next Saturday. They also only have five games max in that time.

It’s possible this could end up being a good thing for the Blazers. They desperately need someone on their team, perhaps Rudy Fernandez as BE suggested, to step up and provide some support. More and more close games have become the Roy Show and the Blazers will need more come April.

Yeah, that’s just me trying to put a positive spin on the fact that the Blazers have lost their best player for a week with a wonky knee, and they haven’t exactly shined without him, especially after getting blistered by the Hornets post-Tyson-Chandler ejection the other night.

Buck up, little Blazers!

Jan 2nd 2009 12:30PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Hornets, Jazz, Lakers, Trail Blazers

Every team in the league plays tonight after the NBA took New Year’s Day off. But it’s a League Pass party with ESPN ditching its typical Friday double-header for more college football.

HEADLINERS
New Orleans at Portland, 10PM EST

The Blazers feel feisty after knocking off the Champs earlier this week, while the Hornets need to make up some ground on the Lakers to contend with L.A. for the Western top seed. It doesn’t hurt that this is a nice little match-up between teams with similar offensive goals.
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