Trailblazers.com Podcast

by Dave on Oct 30, 2009 1:55 PM PDT in News Comment 21 comments

They're talking about you. Don't let it make you go crazy...er.

Welcome to your weekly dish of the Trailblazers.com podcast! This week we cover the opening two games, Oden's early effect on both ends, refs, Webster and Fernandez shining, the point guards not, what's up with LaMarcus, the Blazers streaming video, windows, Stephen Jackson, and a bunch of other stuff.

You can download the .mp3 here or head over to the Center Court Blog to stream it.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

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I'm not sure the Blazers would want SJAX

Too much off-court stuff. His antics remind me of Ruben Patterson, Zach Randolph, etc.

"I always believe there's a reason why you go through everything." -John Elway

by LACK on Oct 30, 2009 3:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Zack I can see.

Or a Darius Miles type. But Ruben had some pretty significant off-the-court issues.

πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς, οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν.

Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?

by T Darkstar on Oct 30, 2009 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ruben Patterson's repugnant, outright reprehensible behavior put him in a category all his own.

Dear Paul Allen:

Waive Patty Mills & sign Ime Udoka.

Sincerely,
AK1984

by AK1984 on Oct 31, 2009 12:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think this team could handle ONE head case on the roster

as long as his problem doesn’t interfere with his game (and when I say game I mean GAME— as well as the right kind of game) or the team’s chemistry.

Our old team had too many head cases at the same time.
Rasheed, Damon and Darius had the game, but there heads/and or of-court problems interfered with it. Bonzi was just too inconsistent to be in that group.
Zack and Ruben had game, but the wrong kind of game. Aside from Ruben being ubercompetitive and wanting more playing time, their drama didn’t seem to interfere enough to matter. Zack just wasn’t a team player and Ruben was too out of control.

I think SJax could work on a team like Portland’s because the attitude here seems so solid. He’s hungry and needs to be on a team that has a serious chance at a ring. Maybe the change to a team with potential will be enough to change his attitude. Too bad for his current team, but potentially extremely lucrative for a team like the Trailblazers.

Wouldn’t a mid-season trade on a one-year deal where we didn’t lose an absolutely necessary piece to the puzzle (Roy/Aldridge/Oden) be worth a shot? This year isn’t our only hope- we just signed TWO of the best players in the league (that both just happen to still be getting better) for 5 more amazing years.

I want a ring, but as much a I really LIKE the guys on my team for both their play and for who they are, I don’t think they’ll ever have a tea party with my daughter (however cool that would be) so they don’t ALL have to be saints.

by rpresto2 on Oct 30, 2009 9:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pass on Jackson

Keep Martell.

Good overall summary, definitely need to find an offensive rhythm.

Enjoy the Ride

by DigitalDaggers on Oct 30, 2009 3:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I totally agree about running the early Shaq offense for Greg right now

Just have Greg set up right in front of the rim and if the refs call three seconds so be it

"We didn't start the fire. It was always burning. Since the world's been turning." - E. E. Cummings

by Sexual Tyrannosaurus on Oct 30, 2009 3:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

true that

why not feed greg after he sets up low a few times early.

not worried about it, i know greg is coming around. couldn’t hurt to speed it up a little with 1st quarter feedings.

Enjoy the Ride

by DigitalDaggers on Oct 30, 2009 3:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stephen Jackson please.

The Blazers are top to bottom filled with good guys. Jackson can’t poison the culture even if he wanted to, which I’m not really worried about anyway. 31 isn’t that old and his contract will probably still be movable at 33.

At some point the Blazers are going to have to take some risks, otherwise they’ll always just be a likable team that never wins anything. Remember, Stephen Jackson was a starter on a championship team, and the Spurs are rumored to want him back.

Jackson would fix everything. Opens up a whole world of line-up options. Bayless is suddenly an option. Rudy and Roy can play as many minutes together as they want. The perimeter defense is basically fixed and ridiculously potent once Batum comes back.

by Nick Van Excellent on Oct 30, 2009 3:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

can Jackson defend 'Melo, or Artest?

That’s what I’d be looking for, if I was KP. Find out which player gives Anthony the most trouble around the league, and see if you can put a “lopsided” package together to extract him from his current roster

41 points is a bunch. I’d like to think that Nic could’ve slowed him down, but I already know that Batum was no help against Ron-Ron, last April. These are kind of guys (along with LBJ, K*be, Ginobli, etc) that the Blazers will have to learn how to control if they have any illusions of reaching the finals and winning a championship in the years ahead

A 10-deep roster isn’t such a luxury if you can’t stop 1 player from going off. Some of that is coaching and defensive strategy, but a big part of it is (besides drafting Oden and Nic, and signing Przy) KP hasn’t concentrated on adding defenders and toughness to his roster. That needs to change

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 30, 2009 3:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he can.

Better than Webster certainly and he’s probably a tad stronger than Batum. Not as long, but I’m not sure that’s what we need anyway. He’s got 15-20 pounds on Batum.

by Nick Van Excellent on Oct 30, 2009 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lot stronger than Batum

He can guard 1 through 4 and he matched up against 4’s quite a bit last couple years at GS. Also, he is a point forward type so you can legitimately pair him with Roy and throw Rudy or Bayless in there without much worry. Basically, a better version of Hedo.

Martell has been playing well. He’s probably the surprise player for me at this point because it’s the Martell that I always wanted to see: the one that attacks the basket and not settle for 3s. Still, no question Capt. Jack is an upgrade. Jackson + Brandan Wright for Blake + Outlaw?

by xedubx on Oct 30, 2009 5:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Casey made a great point

about Hedo. Thinking through the ramifications, he might have been more valuable because of who he could play with than he was just on his own merits.

—Dave

by Dave on Oct 30, 2009 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

arf arf

"We didn't start the fire. It was always burning. Since the world's been turning." - E. E. Cummings

by Sexual Tyrannosaurus on Oct 30, 2009 3:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

for all of the anti-Hedo talk that came out, after he spurned the Blazer's offer

Turk was the #1 one FA that KP and the front office targeted, after having a couple of months to think about it. They were willing to grossly overpay for his services

There has to be something they saw about his game that they really liked (PnR with Oden is my suspicion) for Portland to go through all that trouble. Conspiracy theories that suppose that KP made the offer just to force Toronto to overpay for HT do not satisfy the credulity test

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 30, 2009 4:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did someone really say that?

Not only does that not satisfy the credulity test, it flunks it so hard it’s going to get kicked back a couple grades. How could Kevin be sure that the Raptors would match? Can you imagine that explanation in the staff meeting? "Um…Mr. Allen? Remember that clever little plan we hatched about making Toronto pay too much for this guy? Well, it worked! Yeah, boy did it work. Hoo boy…best practical joke ever. But, uh, it didn’t exactly…I mean…they didn’t…uhhhhh…let me tell you a story. When I was a kid we had a mean neighbor named Mr. Philburt. We all hated Mr. Philburt because when our football flew into his yard he didn’t let us come get it. He just kept it. Anyway one day I decided to get back at him for all the footballs. So I scooped some dog poop in a bag and went to stick it on his porch and light it on fire so when he came out he’d stomp out the bag on fire and get dog poop all over his foot. But you see when I went to light the bag I held it the wrong way up so the dog poop fell out on my shoe. I shook it off and ran home and my mom said, ‘Kevin! Why do you smell like dog poop?’ Do you get what I’m saying here Mr. Allen? Yes, that’s right, you owe $55,000,000. Yes…stuck with him for five years. No sir, it’s not April 1st."

Besides…to screw Toronto??? Why in the name of Pete would you want to harm an Eastern Conference team that has never been attractive to free agents and isn’t exactly threatening to ascend to league elite status?

—Dave

by Dave on Oct 30, 2009 10:57 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

That's why we traded Jarrett Jack to the Pacers.

KP knew the Pacers would eventually let Jack walk, thus insuring that the Raptors would overpay for Jack in free agency. He knew that Jack was good friends with Bosh. His long term goal is to slowly ruin Canada’s economy by having the Raptors overpay for its role players.

KP is so smart, he’s playing chess three moves ahead.

by Nick Van Excellent on Oct 30, 2009 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

3-dimensional chess

and kicking Spock’s backside, while using the other half of his brain to negotiate a peacy treaty with the Romulans

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 31, 2009 9:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And then he turned around, and screwed the Bobcat out of Juwan Howard and made the Jazz overpay for Millsap

And he just signed Andre Miller so Philly would be left with Lou Williams and Royal Ivey as their point guards, and of course to prevent New York from signing him. They are a tricky bunch up there in 1 Central Square.

But slowly things happen that they cannot help and the Blazers Fellowship of the Ring begins to break apart

by Norsktroll on Oct 31, 2009 5:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As Dave Barry is fond of saying

Did someone really say that?

I swear I’m not making this stuff up. Some folks will stretch credulity to unseen limits to keep KP lodged safely up there on his pedestal

KP is a good GM, but he’s not without blindspots. The Blazers wanted Hedo. Really bad. To rewrite history and say “it was all a ruse” to get the Raptors to overpay is…amusing (but not in a haha kind of way, right Mr. Philburt?)

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 31, 2009 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh, and Dave

You’re already contemplating a Roy-Rudy backcourt with a new point forward—2 games into the season? And I get accused of being reactionary and cooking up knee-jerk trade proposals?

Stephen Jackson, FTW! I heard Dave’s on board, let’s do it!

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 31, 2009 9:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good podcast.

It can’t be summed up just from what seem like the talking points. It’s too bad that someone jumped on the throwaway Stephen Jackson exchange so that those who just read this commentary will think that was significant. Much more interesting and germane was the discussion of Oden, Aldridge, Webster, and the PGs.

ignacio

by ignacio on Oct 31, 2009 2:11 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs