Today's (brief) Practice Report

by Ben. on Oct 15, 2008 1:52 PM PDT Comment 33 comments

All we were able to see today was shooting drills and conditioning drills.

So, unfortunately, all you get are these brief random notes:

Martell

-- Martell showed up! First time I've seen him since the injury. Marty was wearing a protective boot that went up about 3/4 of the way to his knee, and which was secured with 4 big straps. He was on crutches, obviously.

-- I was very impressed with how upbeat Martell was. As we've talked about, this was a tough injury for him at a tough point in his career. He was taking it in stride and saying the right things. He did not appear to be too down about it. He said that he "wasn't surprised at all" when he received the diagnosis because he knew he had injured it right when it happened. He played through the pain and told Jay Jensen after the game.

-- He says the injury feels like "wearing shoes too tight."

-- Martell's current goal is to be ready to play in January, and ready to practice in mid-December.

-- After practice was over, he was taking shots while sitting in a chair about 8 feet from the hoop. Silly Marty.

-- He said he is concerned about putting on weight so he will be sticking to salads.

Lamarcus

-- I never noticed this before but Lamarcus has "TXBOY12" stitched on the back of his sneakers, sort of like a personalized license plate. I can't think of a better thing to have stitched on his shoes, as: he hails from Texas, he is a male, and his jersey number is 12. Just a winning combination. Bravo.

Greg

-- Twisted his ankle. Radio reports said he slipped on a wet spot. Nate said that he stepped on someone's foot. He came back at the end of practice and nailed 2 free throws to close out a conditioning drill. He should be fine.

Coach Lucas

-- Nate texted Coach Lucas because, according to Nate, "he responds to emails and texts, he doesn't respond to phone calls." LOL Apparently Coach Lucas is resting and "he should be ok."

Nate

-- Had Nic working with the first team again.

-- His main concern with Nic is that Nic learns to "pick up the sets" on both offense and defense. "Getting to the right spot" is also a high priority for Nic in Nate's eyes.

-- Nate said today's practice (the closed portion) was spent working on the team's sets, which had been introduced on Monday. Nate said he thought his sets were "pretty effective last year" and was looking to build off that.

-- I'll leave you with this final thought from Nate. He wouldn't bite when asked whether he would use Brandon at the 3. He said he sees Brandon and Rudy as "wings, not as a 2 or a 3." This seems to imply that he might use them at the same time and/or interchangably. He supported this idea by saying that "the best defensive player will always guard Brandon" so it doesn't matter too much what spot Brandon plays because he will be the focus of attention no matter where he is. Did Nate tip his hand here regarding his thoughts for the starting line-up? Speculate away.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

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Thanks Ben. Nic working with the first team again...

…might or might not be significant. The context we need is how often he’s working with the first team and how much time does he spend doing that compared to Rudy and Travis. The fact that he’s getting more time there tells me that Nate at least is keeping an open mind about using him with the first team in real games. Can’t wait for Monday!

"Personally, I'd rather give an elephant a prostate exam on Chili Day." --Dave on rooting for the Lakers or Celtics

by MiledAnimal on Oct 15, 2008 2:02 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

as far as i can tell, the black team plays together for a whole practice, but the black team can change from day to day.

so far this week nic has been on the black team yesterday and today. prior to that he was never on the black team.

honor terry porter

by Ben. on Oct 15, 2008 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fascinating.

BTW, google-image “spock fascinating” and check-out some of those images. I’m still laughing.

"Personally, I'd rather give an elephant a prostate exam on Chili Day." --Dave on rooting for the Lakers or Celtics

by MiledAnimal on Oct 15, 2008 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fascinating...

I didn’t get anything good when I google searched, what am I missing?

by everett on Oct 15, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Go to Google.

Click the Images link at the upper left.

Type spock fascinating in the text box and click Search Images. The good stuff is mostly on page one.

I would have just included the link but sometimes when I try that the Preview box shows the entire link instead of the image, and this was one of those times.

"Personally, I'd rather give an elephant a prostate exam on Chili Day." --Dave on rooting for the Lakers or Celtics

by MiledAnimal on Oct 15, 2008 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Travis working with the white team

Could be Nate wants #25 working with the 2nd team because he’s anticipating a return to the 6th man role?

Best option: start Rudy-Roy at the 2-3 against teams with “small” small forwards, start Roy-Frye at the 2-3 against teams with “large” small forwards

by two4larue on Oct 15, 2008 3:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

is anyone else sick of hearing about Gregs weak ankles?

I mean come on here, I heard the same report on the radio at lunch and it’s still NOT NEWS WORTHY! Unless of course you want me thinking my “Big Man in the Middle” is nothing more then a “Tall Girly Boy with Lady Like Ankles, on the Side”. Are we going to get a daily update? Greg twisted his ankle again, this time he sat out 2 hours. This time he sat out 3 1/2 seconds. I hear of these things called ankle braces, or maybe doing some calf lifts to help strengthen those muscles, by come on big boi, no more reports of this type of Tomfoolery.

# 10 Top Charles Barkley Quote: On the Portland Trail Blazers (back when they were known as the Jail Blazers) serving Thanksgiving meals: "In between arrests they do community service."

by BlazermaniacAndy on Oct 15, 2008 3:02 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Perhaps he should stick to flats.

Those size 19 Jimmy Choos aren’t doing him any favors.

by DonkeyShins on Oct 15, 2008 4:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Mop Boy clearly screwed up.

If we only had “So You Want to Be a Mop Boy,” we would know what kind of pressure they face day in and day out.

Jerryd Bayless has two emotions: Kill and Win.

"I think it’s going to be very beautiful game next year."
-Nicolas Batum

NorrisHopper30: "someone injure pubert jones"

by rockingharder on Oct 15, 2008 4:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

GO

….needs to take a clue from Channing Frye and drink more milk!

And He really should wear braces, still blows my mind that more NBA players aren’t forced to wear braces to prevent injury

Rooo-D!

by truls on Oct 15, 2008 3:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Plastic bubbles would work too.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 15, 2008 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't see how drinking more milk

would avoid a sprained ankle.

by Section323 on Oct 15, 2008 5:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

My grandpa insists that Bill Walton would be the greatest center ever, if he wasn't a vegetarian.

by everett on Oct 15, 2008 5:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

My dad says that, too

Are you my kid?

The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.

by jscot on Oct 16, 2008 1:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

...akward.

by everett on Oct 16, 2008 6:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've heard that before

from many people. I think it’s a somewhat common theory,,,,,,

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on Oct 16, 2008 7:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't care what those many people say

They aren’t all my kids.

by jscot on Oct 17, 2008 1:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Knock this crap off Greg

Just stop it. Stop it now.

Bring back headbands!

by Sabonis4Ever on Oct 15, 2008 3:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Is that official Bob Newhart

Mad TV Stop It Therapy??

by LetsBlaze on Oct 15, 2008 8:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well I honestly think they are frontin about the GO injury

maybe something like the Pats and Mr. Butt Chin on the list every Sunday. Anyway, Nic w/ the starting unit huh? Hmmm Intersting, verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyy interesting.

Sophia

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson

by BlazerFan1 on Oct 15, 2008 3:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

take a deep breath...

exhale slowly.. :)

"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan

by GreatOden'sRaven on Oct 15, 2008 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Im happy really I am

this is super exciting! :)

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson

by BlazerFan1 on Oct 15, 2008 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why doesnt Greg just play in an ankle brace for awhile

as a PRECAUTIONARY measure.. what bad can come if it..

maybe its like working out with weight belts.. once you can do all the things you did before and take it off you feel like your superspeed

"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan

by GreatOden'sRaven on Oct 15, 2008 3:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

didn't we get some sort of "date and time" for the signing of our 15th player a while back?

n hasn’t it done passed by now? so we’re not signing another player?

The faith (and I'm a guy) perverts. :)

by faith on Oct 15, 2008 4:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It is possible that they don't sign anyone,

but KP told Mike and Mike that he thought they would almost certainly sign somebody prior to opening day, during one of the games

by everett on Oct 15, 2008 5:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nate and KP at work

Makes perfect sense to run Batum.

KP gets to evaluate the new kid and see how close / ready to run with the big boys. Planning. Added curiosity by circumstance?

Nate gets to see if he can fill the slot while Martell is out. Hasn’t Nate said he really wants a lock-down defensive guy? His strength, right? Wasn’t there some recent comment about Batum being NBA-ready on D? He’d have to be. Imagine the W. Division list…

Question: How does he perform when he is the weak link in the starting lineup and is forced to become a shooter or creator due to all those doubles? Pressure?

Does 16 a game get him ROY buzz? 4 potential ROY candidates? Nice silver lining…

Nate has a plan too; don’t fall for the (reasonable) urge to start Rudy and keep the second unit practicing and playing together. Allows for continuity later when Martell returns; if it works Really well, MW may go second unit with Spanish Connection, TO & Pzy. OK second unit?

VERY smart move if they can pull it off. Interested to see if they try it realtime.

Who would have ever guessed that Batum might be the rookie to start alongside Oden?

Jazz fans enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9hD34bB62A

by Sashland on Oct 15, 2008 10:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought you meant

Utah Jazz

Sergio has a knack for making passes that lead to layups and dunks, for both teams. - Ben G.

by jamon51 on Oct 15, 2008 11:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Batum stuff is crazy, sexy, cool

I still don’t think Coach Nate is pro-starting two rookies. I guess it’s Batum’s job to prove he can start. I’m just reluctant to believe it since we’re not talking about a rookie starting at some point in the season, but actually starting at the beginning of the season.

Whatever the case, I’m pretty sure the Blazers will be deeper than an amlmart1 comment. That deepness will be great for the playoffs.

Regarding Mr. Oden, I have been harping on the importance of competent sweat-wiper-uppers for quite some time. I am still appalled at the amateur, towel using, sweat-wiper-uppers from the Olympics.

Thanks again Ben. You rock more than Ben Q. Rock.

Blazers Edge has an alarmist vision and a poet's heart.

by tominhawaii on Oct 16, 2008 6:52 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Get off amlmart1's case

We know who shovels the deep stuff around here, and it isn’t him.

by jscot on Oct 17, 2008 1:07 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's You.

Dear jscot.

Blazers Edge has an alarmist vision and a poet's heart.

by tominhawaii on Oct 17, 2008 3:26 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not being evasive.

My take is that Mac is not being evasive. He is simply looking at the options he has to play SF, now that Martel is clearly out until January. As a result, we’re likely to see a mix of these options, not necessarily only 1.

His first option in Travis, who is now slated at SF, not PF, his second is Batum, and his third is putting Rudy and Roy on the floor with Blake at times. It will have to be a mix. Travis’s defense, after all, has been spotty, Batum is very young and needs time to learn, and Roy/Rudy are too small to handle some of the SF’s. Mac, in my view, will not have a “starter” until Martel gets back and into game shape. Instead, we’ll see situational starting based on who the other team has on the floor.

This could change if Travis actually steps his defense up a notch, but after 5 years, you wonder if he won’t always be a “sixth” man. Batum has the size and length to play SF, but he’s got a lot to learn, and I suspect that Mac would prefer to pick his spots with Batum, rather than start him. And, as far as small ball, as it were, I think we’ll see this scenerio at times, even when Martel gets back. Which Mac has already commented on several times. But this is a strategic ploy, not an everyday game plan.

by Eben Calder on Oct 16, 2008 7:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs