Thrilled and Chilled

He proved Eric right.
lol

I thought Roy’s defense was above average last year, certainly he wasn’t a “lockdown” guy, but quite good considering he makes his money on the offensive end. I thought he was our best perimeter defender by a good margin, I guess that doesn’t mean it wasn’t one of his weakness’s though. mumble mumble mumble, ramble ramble ramble….

Statistically Trout is the worst defender on the team and maybe even one of the worst in the league. He was playing out of position much of last year, but didn’t do any better against SFs. Opposing players at both positions had a PER over 19 – that’s absolutely RIDICULOUS. And actually, it pretty much cancels out his great scoring punch off the bench and makes him, at this point in his career, basically a net liability when he’s on the court. (Don’t get me wrong, I like Trout, but there’s NO WAY he doesn’t have it in him to play better D. He just needs to commit.)

Channing Frye is making a run at Travis Outlaw for my new favorite Blazer. Travis has had it for 4 years, but he’s a little “played out” or over-exposed now if you catch my drift. I’m into the dark horse. I think Channing is going to be a regular contributor this year that will have plenty of opportunity to shine . . . or fail, but I don’t see that happening. You could see that by the end of last year he was just starting to get comfortable with the team and with his own game. Take a look at his stats for the last 6 games of the season last year. He won’t be playing 30+ minutes this year (though I’m sure there will be more than one game where he does) but I expect his high level of play to continue right in to this season. My vote for most underrated Blazer (not by everyone, I know there are others like me) coming into the season, and the biggest surprise of the Blazer’s by the end of the season. #44.

I think he’s the most underrated guy on the roster, and should get as many minutes at backup C as possible (Pryz should be solidly behind him on the depth chart). And, of course, he’s hilarious. The story about farting on the airplane was priceless. And I absolutely LOVED this quote (to paraphrase) about Oden’s first workout:

Interviewer: Was Oden favoring his knee a little bit?

Frye: He favors dunking on your head.

Frye will definitely earn his minutes. I don’t think he’ll push Joel out of the rotation by any measure, but I do think he’ll steal minutes from LMA, Outlaw and Webster and be one of the first options off the bench.

and disagree with aldridge being soft this year.
disagree with webster being soft and I do think he won’t be happy in portland.
Frye is soft… okay… i agree on that.
Rudy… soft… yeah… i don’t think so even if he is a euro player. He’s like bayless in taking it to the hole at times. He’s got guts and he attacks.

Man, that’s soft. … moist?

I mean, sheesh. He takes it at the rack with reckless abandon, crashes the boards on every play, and he is soft? Maybe he is a little skinny, but euro soft? We aren’t talking about Andrei Bargnani here, and skinny doesn’t equal soft. When will people stop labeling every player that doesn’t go through the ncaa system soft Will it ever happen????? AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS I am just playin Ben, I know you were being “less even handed”.

“Soft” is Dawson’s gig, not mine. Any of those guys could wrap me up with one arm and send me cryin’ home to mama, so I don’t call them soft.

—Dave

Can’t you use a softer word for these wonderful assets?

Just a few things to add:

Brandon Roy: Take a deep breath Sophia, but cycling is the first sport he will take up after his meniscus surgery. Maybe on a stationary bike. You can do that after about two weeks, whereas running and stop-and-go movements take four to six weeks. And strengthen those knees please, Brandon.

Travis: Why do you still have to learn to dribble with your off hand for crying out loud? I expect you to dribble (preferably with two bballs) from your house to the gym now every day during summer! Scratch that: All year until you have better skills than Steve Nash.

Channing: Two words: Airplane toilet.

Paul Allen: Has anyone ever wondered why a multi-billionaire can’t afford to have his fugly teeth fixed? Is he afraid of dentists? That seriously gives me chills. First step: Make them something that remotely resembles white.

so wait… you want blake to tan because he’s so white he looks like he has cancer… except tanning is a cause of cancer.

I’ll never read your posts the same again. Mean – eeeee.

That’s all that’s important – just ask Spreewell.

He is down a road next year,no hard feelings,and the recent Euro signings cant have escaped his notice

I did forget about Raef! Shame on me.

Thrilled: He’s Raef Freakin’ LaFrentz, man. How can you get cooler than that?
Chilled: His expiring contract smells a little bit like old cabbage. It makes the locker room extra-funky.

—Dave

By now he is making more money from his investments than from his salary.

Raef was a two-time All-American. He stayed all four years at KU. He has earned a ton of money in basketball (and earned much of it). He is going to be doing fine.

He’s never had that sort of problem.

Injuries, of course, I’ll give you. How could I not. But conditionin’? He even rinses and repeats.

Mortimer

This season, and next. I’d suspect he’ll be resigned, but a lot can happen (good n’ bad) within two seasons.

Two seasons ago going into the summer, we had a core of Z-Bo, Miles, Ratliff, and Telfair. A lot happened since.

Just wanted to add that bit of info in case you were worried about Nate’s situation!

I don’t get no Blazers merchandise down here in LA either, so just go to Blazers.com and do your best if you’re itching to wear red n’ black. The only Blazers themed thing I wear is a headband and I already got two so I am set. When I start pumping out babies I’ll order a few Blazer onesies, but I haven’t boughten anything from there yet. I’m sure it works good though, KP designed the website himself.

Mortimer

I am now older than any other self I’ve been before.

—Dave

Of course I cannot speak for anyone else. I believe it is moot because KP will give both opportunity to continue their growth. I agree with Dave that it is more likely their desire to leave that will determine it (at least for Channing). Are they happy coming off the bench. And that will get resolved after this year. But I agree that Sergio and Martell should leap forward this year. Controlled aggression.

Call your mother, she’s been fretting about you.