We (the honorable TheTinfoil and myself)  were sitting right behind the Blazers bench so it was my first time observing how they "communicate" on the floor.

1. Don’t let Steve Blake’s numbers fool you, Andre Miller is in a league of his own as a point guard. Steve was fantastic and it looks like he has improved his shooting and left hand dribble. But Andre Miller is the kind of point guard we haven’t seen here in a LONG time. His vision, controlling the plays, awareness and how much he communicates with all the players is just insane for being part of the team for less than a month. He talked the most on defense and offense…The best part is when they do score or miss, he tells them what to do the next time they see that happening. One play that stuck out was that Oden had position on offense and Rudy reversed it to Andre instead of kicking it down low. Someone got their hands on the ball, and it was a turnover for a score. In the next inbounds, Andre said to Oden "get down there low again and I’ll give it to you myself." Oden gets down low to the block, and Dre feeds him for a drop step.

On defense, a missed pick and roll rotation caused an easy Batum back door. Before the inbounds, Andre tells Martell he needs only "rotate a quarter way" then back to his man so it doesn’t allow Batum to cut.

In terms of taking it to the hoop and finishing, no question he’s the strongest player we got…I might dare say better than Roy in terms of when and how he takes it to the hole.

A few passes were off the mark but once he gets use to his team mates and they with him, it’s gonna be gold Jerry, gold!

Steve plays well within the offense so Nate trusts him. But I hardly hear him talk that much on the court or leading where guys should be…It’s night and day. The difference between Steve and Dre is that Steve will run the plays, but Dre knows better in the middle of the plays which options to exploit and when to adjust to score. He gets EVERYONE involved.

If they did a +/- on the game, I bet with Dre in, he was like a +10 for his team.

2. Jerryd Bayless is MUCH improved. Not just his shot, but he’s way more comfortable on the court. I think comfortable is the key word. He knows the plays, and was in the right situations on defense and offense. He’s also a big dude when compared to other players that close. He looks taller than Blake and way more intimidating. I think his arms look short cuz his upper body and legs are just ripped. But being that close, I was impressed at his size for a PG.

3. Greg Oden looks a lot better conditioned. He has that drop step down that is almost impossible to defend. I think Bayno taught him how to use his strength without just bulldozing people over. Pryz had a hard time guarding the drop step because that little separation is all GO needs that close to the rim. One thing I’m a little disappointed is that it doesn’t seem like he has his vertical leap back. In reality, it’s not even close to where he was before micro. I don’t think they work on his fast twitch muscle. His vert and ability to explode quickly was his main strength at Ohio State. (someone needs to get to their training staff and talk to them about this). We should note that he finally started doing squats this summer so he might be a year off from working/getting his explosiveness back.  I have to remind myself that he is just 21 yrs old.  

His lateral movement is a lot better and like Rex, he’s just way more comfortable on offense/defense. Just knowing all the sets and plays makes a big difference for these guys. GO does talk A LOT more on defense, which is a good sign. He also called out a couple guys for not rotating so that’s good.

4. LMA. He’s gonna be an all-star.

5. BRoy. Better than last year. His 3pt stroke looks more fluid so I expect him to raise it about 3-4%

6. Batum. Starter for the next 10 years. Simply a baller on both ends. I don’t know how you can’t have Martell, Rudy, and Batum on the wings and not push the court with Andre. That kid exudes confidence and he seems like he wants to take it to the rim.

7. Martell. Looks like he’s our secret weapon off the bench. Dre will make Martell look awesome. He’s not completely back, but no one hustle as much as he does. His tenacity reminds me of Kersey.

8. Pryz must have been working out in the summer…Homeboy looks a lot more ripped. And he practiced shooting about 6 threes during warmups (missed them all). It was good seeing him be lighthearted out there.

9. Travis. Still loves the turnaround fadeaway. Seeing him up close, that kid is LONG…With Andre, he might not need to go one on one anymore to get a shot, so it will be interesting to see how they fit together.

10. Dante C. Man, this kid was impressive. I would say with his strength and athleticism, he will make Trout expendable. The only problem is that he’s really a SF and not a PF. He looks even shorter than Martell. He’s the reason I think Ime will lose out to J. Collins.

11. Juwuan Howard. He’ s old but crafty. I mean, he knows what to do, tell guys things they don’t see, but his body is too old to help out. He’s gonna help the team though just by sitting on the bench and getting into guy's face.

12. Rudy. Looks tired. He needs to rest the full training camp.

It was good seeing these players up close…different perspective.E asily most impressed by Dre and Batum.

Btw Prez decided to hangout with his gf instead of going to Fanfest….smh

Here's a pic of Pryz working on his 3.  I can see GO rotating to Pryz for a 3 in a game.  Amazing all the firepower we have!!!

Peace.  Stay Cool.  Forever.

- BRP