Notes from Practice

Channing Frye trade? What are you even talking about?

It was the Marcus Camby trade. I don’t know why I had Channing on the brain. Sorry.

—Dave

Phew.

Is it just me, or does Bayless have a Allen Iverson quality about him? He gets to the line alot, check. He gets to any spot on the floor that he wants to, check. His handles are solid, but he’s only 20 years old, check. He’s better creating for himself than others, but once again, who is he going to pass to?

p.s. Please ask Mr. Allen what his favorite Star Trek episode is. My guess “The super Computer”.

Thanks for that wake-up call… I guess I am merely mortal. But I’m still going to imagine myself on the Blazer’s roster whenever I’m shooting around on the blacktop.

“Time’s winding down… 3… he pump-fakes… 2… dripples into the key…. pulls up for the floater in the lane 1…. 0… BLAZERS WIN!!!”

that the margin between making it in a pro sport and “almost” is pretty thin. Which is why one of the best pieces of advice is to work hard.

is purely a function of how terrible (by NBA standards) most of his teammates are. I’ve heard a lot of commentary about how his performance demonstrates that he can only create his own shot – but he’s created a number of shots for other guys, many of which were wide open; it’s just that nobody’s knocking them down. My take on him so far: he’s a stronger version of Monta Ellis with a (potentially) better outside shot. Other than the TRex arms (they barely reach his waist!), he’s a physical specimen. Lightning fast, extra gear, nasty crossover, and he can sky. That play early in yesterday’s game when he split the double team, picked up his dribble at the college three-point line, and took two huge steps to the rim for an easy layup was not something many guys in the league are physically capable of doing. If he can knock shots down consistently from the outside, I think he’s a potential all-star in a few years.

Batum, on the other hand, has done nothing to indicate he would be a good D2 college player, much less a pro. But he looks like he’s about 15 years old (and very “French” – not that there’s anything wrong with that), so maybe once he hits puberty, his game will pick up. The positive spin would be he’s not comfortable in the chaos that is the summer league, but he would look much, much better in a more organized setting. Apparently his D has been solid, but it’s been hard to tell on tv.

PK (or as the announcers call him, “the Finn”) is somewhere in the middle. Decent (if a little wild) stroke from outside. Doesn’t appear to have a ton of upside, but he’s probably flashed enough potential to get a contract. If he matures, he could be a bigger, (possibly) more athletic version of Steve Blake. As with Bayless, though, it’s hard to judge his playmaking ability because most of his teammates are incapable of finishing a play that’s gift-wrapped for them and served up on a platter.

Occasionally I’ll shoot with the perfect stroke and it will swish in perfectly. Then I imagine how NBA players can do what I just did only they do it off the dribble with a guys hand in there face. They also can zip by defenders, jump higher, move their feet quicker, and have more stamina than me. The typical NBA scrub is probably 10 times the player I am and that’s discouraging.

I can tell you what though. If I was 6-5 I would be at the gym every day, doing cardio, sprints, practicing dribbling with both hands, shooting thousands of jump shots a day. These guys get payed a lot to do what they love to do. I do think a lot of people don’t realize how good these scrub players are.

Whenever I manage to get a perfect shot I always imagine myself playing with the pros. But you are right the sheer skill it take to play at that level is amazing. Good Job.