BS Report

by ssa400 on Nov 15, 2007 3:03 PM PST

I was listening to the BS Report, Bill Simmons' podcast, and he was talking with Marc Stein. Simmons asked Stein for some the early surprises this season.

Stein's first surprise was the Blazers. He essentially said that he didn't think the Blazers were going to be able to do anything this year. And it wasn't only because of not having Oden, but that we were just too young and not enough productive pieces just yet. Simmons agreed, and said he thought the Blazers were a 20 win team, but they both agreed we're far better than either of them gave us credit for.

My favorite part of the discussion was when Stein brought up Aldridge. He said when he saw him in the first summer league, he hated him, Simmons agreed. Simmons thought he would be a bust, and that they both thought the Thomas/Aldridge deal was a slam dunk for the Bulls. Now, both agree, that Aldridge looks like a younger, non-crazy Wallace. It was just so refreshing to hear some love for the Blazers.

I don't have the link to the podcast, but find it and give it a listen. Great hoops talk on the most recent BS report.

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Blazers fans should hear this, at:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index

Simmons and Stein are my two favorite national NBA writers, and I was disappointed that they obviously hadn't paid attention to the Blazers over the summer and in traing camp this year.

It's nice to hear them come around on the Blazers now. For good reason, they are liking what they're seeing out of our squad. No one outside of Blazers nation had a clue about LMA's maturation, and most folks didn't realize what a veteran-type player and game finisher we have in B-Roy.

Simmons also made a comment about how the rose garden has a college type crowd. I was thinking the same thing at the Pistons game, when we were awfully loud, plus leading D fense chants without AV prompting. If we could somehow get a little pre-game crowd coordination going on (like the best college crowds), that'd be pretty cool.

by royalridge on Nov 15, 2007 3:36 PM PST reply actions

yep

I was just about to make a post about this ... just listened and it made me smile to hear those two raving about us. Simmons is someone whose insight I generally appreciate but he's been consistently down on the Blazers.
Best part of the segment is his referring to the crowd at the home games as a "college game atmosphere."

by kickbrass on Nov 15, 2007 3:38 PM PST reply actions

simmons' man-crush clouded judgement

yeah, i've always like Simmons too, and don't mind at all that he's such a Boston homer. his subjectivity (and humor) is refreshing.

but, all the blazer-bashing was getting to me (particularly the response to GO's surgery).

My theory:
his admitted man-crush on durant had clouded his judgement. he so wanted to be right that picking GO over KD would forever doom the Blazers, that he couldn't see what kind of squad we have.
Not to mention that he went from a Z-bo hater for years (due in part to the big and hasty contract doled out by the old regime), to suddenly buying into the mainstream thought that we couldn't replace Zach's offense.

Like Simmons, I LOVED (to man-crush levels) durant in college too, and if Memphis or Boston had gotten the # 1 pick, and I was more casually following the draft with no vested interest, I likely would have thought Durant the better pick.

On the flip side, had the Celts gotten the # 1 pick, I can't help but think Simmons (with higher and more personal stakes) would have come around to Oden, as most of us at BE did.

Anyway, it's nice that our fast start has cleared some cobwebs on the national scene.

by royalridge on Nov 15, 2007 4:10 PM PST up reply actions

Oy...

Imagine if the Bulls would've kept LaMarcus Aldridge...

There's no doubt that Tyrus Thomas is an exciting player, but the Bulls need a steady inside scorer, which LaMarcus has been all season long. They'd be down right scary with him roaming the paint.

So far, it's Blazers 1 - Bulls 0 on that trade.

by Champs2009 on Nov 15, 2007 3:43 PM PST reply actions

Check this quote from him

"Then Detroit chose to single him on opening night with Rasheed Wallace -- like he was Joel Przybilla or something -- and even worse, he couldn't make them pay for it."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/071114&sportCat=nba

Fatty, Big Daddy on the BE, Man o' international renown, Postin' from his own thrown, Tellin' us what we couldn't see

by tominhawaii on Nov 15, 2007 5:56 PM PST reply actions

Wrong link

I read a good 1/3rd of this article, mainly to find out why he placed the heat and Cavs where he did, and the whole part about the pistons, but these are eastern conference team predictions. Nothing to do with LMA or the Blazers unless you could point out where that is.

by einman77 on Nov 15, 2007 7:04 PM PST up reply actions

#8, Miami Heat

Basically saying that Shaq is playing like Joel, which given what Shaq has done this year is an insult to Joel (although based on last year's performance, could be an accurate comparison).

by DonkeyShins on Nov 15, 2007 11:26 PM PST up reply actions