Dec 26th 2008 11:25AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Grizzlies, Knicks, Magic, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, NBA All-Star Game, ThunderThree-quarters of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest field has been set, and the confirmed are familiar faces: reigning champ Dwight Howard, former champ Nate Robinson and underwhelming 2008 competitor Rudy Gay. For the fourth slot, the league is holding a fan vote between three rookies: Joe Alexander, Russell Westbrook and Rudy Fernandez. There is no way Rudy loses this, between his rabid Portland base and the legions of devoted Spanish fans who will pump the vote. And while Joe was born with moon shoes on and Westbrook could be the best point guard dunker in a decade, I’m not mad at a Rudy candidacy. Howard, I suspect, might be.

It may be surprising that Gerald Green isn’t involved, given that he is a living champion and possibly deserved more consideration for last season’s Birthday Cake dunk. Like others before him, though, Green has separated himself from Dunk Contest immortality.”I don’t want to do it,” Green said. “They can keep it.”Sorry G. You can’t quit the dunk contest … the dunk contest quits you. (Unless you are Gerald Wallace.)

Dec 25th 2008 9:00AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Cavaliers, Celtics, Hornets, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Spurs, Suns, Trail Blazers, Wizards

Guess what will be dominating TVs all across America on Christmas Day? OK … guess what non-, non-Yule log programming will be dominating TVs across American on Christmas? Pro basketball. As you might have heard, the networks have five nationally televised games today.

Everyone’s been patiently awaiting this match-up since June, when the Celtics danced all over the Lakers’ hearts in a Game 6 pounding to win the championship. It also doesn’t hurt that Boston has run off to a remarkable 27-2 start — that’s a NCAA win-loss record, not an NBA one — and that the Lakers are clearly the class of the West.

It could be argued that the have been looking forward to this game a little too much: with two losses in Florida and a close class in Tennessee over the past week, L.A. has been limping a bit. Of course, the team still has the league’s No. 3 offense and No. 4 defense on paper. Twenty-seven teams would kill for L.A.’s record.
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Dec 23rd 2008 2:30PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Bobcats, Cavaliers, Celtics, Lakers, Suns, Trail Blazers, NBA Fans, NBA Gossip, NBA Media Watch
The NBA on Christmas Day is a tradition at my house. (Well, I like to watch it — the rest of my family either shoots guns or goes to the movies.) And as a result, I’m highly intrigued by the various storylines that emerge for each of the games that are set to go down.

And this year, there’s a spicy little twist to the storylines: tons and tons of new shoes. Well, five pairs to be exact, but they’re coming from the game’s biggest stars. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Brandon Roy and Steve Nash will all drop new kicks on the public come Christmas Day. And since the folks at Nike.com have been kind enough to share them with us (and a sick new Kobe commercial) we’re going to do the same with you.

LeBron’s, featured above, are the “Zoom LeBron VI (Chalk Edition)”:

“In keeping what has become a tradition in the Zoom LeBron series, the Cleveland Cavaliers star will unveil yet another special Zoom LeBron VI on Christmas Day. This year, LeBron will break out the “Chalk” edition of his signature sneaker when he takes the court on Christmas Day. The Zoom LeBronVI “Chalk” shoe takes its inspiration from LeBron’s pregame ritual of tossing talcum chalk in the air before each game. The tongue of the shoe features a silhouette of LeBron tossing chalk in the air. The shoes’ colors matches the Cavs alternate blue uniforms. A limited number of the Zoom LeBron VI “Chalk” shoe will be sold at the Quicken Loans Arena on Christmas Day.”

More kicks and information after the jump.Continue Reading

Dec 23rd 2008 1:50PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Cavaliers, Lakers, Trail Blazers, NBA Media Watch, NBA VideosWe got a sneak peek at some of the NBA’s new commercials a couple of weeks ago, but they’ve been leaked on YouTube in all their full-length, flash video glory:

There’s two more after the jump, including a Cyndi Lauper loving LeBron James and a sweaty Pau Gasol.Continue Reading

Dec 19th 2008 12:28PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Suns, Trail Blazers, NBA Last NightThere’s just something about the Suns this season that makes the other team’s best player go absolutely bonkers against them. Devin Harris did it, Dwyane Wade did it, and last night, it was Brandon Roy’s turn. You could chalk it up to pace or a lack of defense, but as you can see in this sampling of highlights from Roy’s 52-point performance, a lot of his shots were contested, and sometimes, a player just gets into that zone where they can’t be stopped.

Despite Roy going off like that, the Suns led most of the way, and even had their chances down the stretch. But an in-and-out three-pointer from Jason Richardson, and a crazy bank shot from LaMarcus Aldridge late — along with Roy shooting the lights out — were simply too much for the Suns to overcome.

Dec 17th 2008 2:52PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Trail BlazersCleveland and Portland boast the best offenses in the NBA as of today. Tell that to a doc two months ago and you’d get tested for diphtheria. The Cavaliers have seen a surge in execution around always wondrous LeBron James. But Portland has done it a bit different. Only 11th in the league in shooting, the Blazers have relied on second-chance opportunities to rack up points.

Portland leads the league in offensive rebounding percentage by a sizable margin. Joel Przybilla is a mammoth rebounder — he sits 10th in the league on the offensive end and first on the defensive glass. LaMarcus Aldridge is at 19th in offensive rebounding despite his perimeter game. But the story is Greg Oden, who would be No. 2 in the NBA if he had enough minutes to qualify. (He’ll get there soon enough.)

Portland’s getting an offensive rebound on 33% of its missed shots. The league average is a shade under 27%. Between missed shots and missed second free throws, the Blazers have roughly 41 opportunities for an offensive rebound per game. The average NBA team would capture 11. Portland nabs about 14. Those three extra chances make a huge difference. (Likewise, as the No. 4 defensive rebounding team in the league — thanks to Przybilla, Oden, Brandon Roy and Nicolas Batum — the Blazers give up few second chances.)

Dec 10th 2008 12:55PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Trail Blazers, NBA InjuriesBlazers small forward Martell Webster returned from his broken foot Sunday in Toronto. He played five minutes in the first half, but ended his stint at halftime with some soreness. Now reports Webster is back in a walking boot and will be out another four weeks.

By itself, this is not a serious problem for Portland, which ripped through a tough November with rookie Nicolas Batum filling Webster’s starting spot ably enough (especially on defense). More specifically, Portland’s offense has been better than anyone expected; Webster is a shooter foremost, but the team hasn’t really missed his jumper. It’s hard to imagine the team being a whole lot better if Webster had been healthy.

Where this hurts is in Kevin Pritchard’s private trade machine. Travis Outlaw remains to be one of the few Blazers mentioned in rumors. Portland does have a few other assets: Raef LaFrentz’s expiring, self-sustained contract, Sergio Rodriguez. But Outlaw’s the man teams seem to want. And through all Steve Blake’s success, the talk that the Blazers want a veteran point guard keeps up.

With Webster on the shelf, can Portland afford to lose Outlaw? Small forward is the one position in which Portland lacks remarkable depth. Rudy Fernandez and Brandon Roy prefer the two-guard, and Channing Frye really isn’t quick enough to go down a weight class. If Pritchard moves Outlaw before Webster’s ready, there’s the risk of putting way too much pressure on Batum and messing up the guard rotation.

Dec 8th 2008 9:48AM by Brett Edwards (author feed)
Filed under: Raptors, Trail Blazers, NBA VideosThe Raptors played their best game in over a week against the Blazers, after losing their last three by an average of 26 points per game. They had taken a two-point lead with under 10 seconds to play, but Steve Blake made sure this one would end with his team in the win column.

Blake may have pushed off a bit there, but I don’t know, to me it looked like he just extended his arm and that Jose Calderon was playing him for the drive instead of the three-pointer. Either way, it wasn’t called, so it ends up being a gritty win for Portland and a pretty tough loss for the Raps.

Dec 6th 2008 3:35PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Celtics, Trail BlazersGreg Oden’s first pro game in Boston passed by more like a liner note than a headline: the real story of Friday’s big game focused on the would-be heirs to the NBA throne as Portland takes its turn as vogue future dynasty of the moment. The Blazers didn’t give us a real student-master epic as we’d hoped, and Oden was part of the problem, really.

The kid all of Boston drooled over through most of the 2006-07 season heard more whistles than a crossing guard’s conjoined twin. After minimal impact (five points, six rebounds, one block), Oden fouled out in the fourth with only 18 minutes of action. Given that he was, for a time, (December 2006 to May 2007) Boston’s only salvation, you’d think Celtics fans would have been happy he didn’t blast off, but otherwise appreciative of his existence. Wrong, as Reds Army notes:
[W]hen Oden was introduced… he was booed. Then we he sat after fouling out… he got razzed with the “OOOO- DEN… OOOOO - DEN” chants.

But… why? I know he’s on the other team so it’s not like we’re gonna cheer the guy. But I am thoroughly confused by the booing.
Oden offered a familiar look most of the night: disappointed and dejected. It seems whenever Oden has had a rough night, he looks like he just lost his goldfish to a stroke or ate a bad burger … so it’s hard to blame the Banknorth crowd for setting Oden sour.

But if we like our stars with some expressed personality, Oden fits the bill. Too bad it’s melancholy and infinite sadness instead of glee and swag.

Dec 6th 2008 10:05AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Celtics, Trail Blazers, NBA Last NightThe final result isn’t indicative of how hotly contested Portland-Boston had been in the first half. The Blazers came out matching Boston shot for shot, and led by a possession most of the half. With three minutes left in the second quarter, Boston went into beast mode and turned it into a blowout (which would become somewhat close, but never really in danger).

One of the biggest threads from the first half to me was the verbal sparring between Brandon Roy and Paul Pierce. Pierce has always talked a good deal, and a) joining up with Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell, and b) winning a title … those have only made Pierce’s mouth motor stronger. Roy, though, isn’t considered much of a talker. Portland as a whole has taken on a bit of a “soft” reputation, earned or not.

But Roy did not let the war of the words become one-sided Friday.
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