Full Court Press
by Ben Golliver on Feb 2, 2009 12:04 PM PST
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PrintOne week from today is Free Darko Night at Powells! You are invited.
- Here's your information. The response, so far, has been great! You owe it to BE to be there.
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Late add: Bynum is out 8-12 weeks with an MCL tear....
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We lead off this week with Brother Wendell, who caught up with KP to discuss a number of topics, including whether Bayless to the D-league was ever considered.
Chances are had Jerryd been sent down, he'd be back in Portland before "Team Bayless" could utter "Idaho Stampede."
"It all depends on where his growth will come and we think his growth will come within us," Prichard said.
Absolute must-watch: check out JE Skeets rocking the karaoke mic.
Blogfather does an interview/preview with Hornets247.
But can you freak Portland out by making them go fast? I doubt it. You're not going to make their offense fast without giving them uncontested layups. And on defense, you have to beat some focused young athletes down the floor, or else you're not running either. So I don't think speed is their kryptonite.
Jason Quick looks at the Blazers' injury woes, investigating whether players are coming back too early.
The Blazers say they aren't second-guessing their decision to allow Blake to play because they have been consistent in keeping the three-pronged criteria for a player's return to action: The player must feel ready to play. Jensen must clear him to play after a series of stress-related tests. And coach Nate McMillan has to see the player participate full-speed in a practice before he plays.
Quick also looked at the Blazers' recent paint pounding.
For nearly every game in his three-plus seasons, Blazers coach Nate McMillan has insisted that the pregame scouting board feature some reference to the Blazers winning the inside game. "All the time. Over and over again. It's the first thing on the board in pregame: 'Take care of the Paint.' Or, 'Dominate the Paint,' " center Joel Przybilla said. "We always talk about that. It's non-stop."
Brian Hendrickson has a nice piece about the Blazers knowing where they stand in the playoff race.
The league standings posted in the Portland Trail Blazers' weight room have been updated every morning since Nate McMillan joined the team nearly four years ago. But for most of that time they were reduced to a mere decoration by the spring.
Joe Freeman talks no All Star nod with LaMarcus.
Aldridge learned about the discouraging news when his agent, Arn Tellem, left a voice mail for him Thursday morning. He responded by rolling over and taking another nap later in the day. Discouraging? Yes. Depressing? Hardly.
Mike Barrett has this cool nugget in his Jazz game recap.
By the way, the Blazers are 7-2 when they're the team playing in the second of a back to back. That's an impressive number.
Casey Holdahl talked Super Bowl with Nate.
"Anybody who played against the Cowboys and beat them, I'm a fan of that team," said McMillan. "So I've always been a Pittsburgh and Redskins fan."
Dwight Jaynes previews tonight's game.
New Orleans is about a year ahead of Portland on the growth chart, it seems to me. Tonight would be an opportunity for the Trail Blazers to prove they're catching up. With Chandler out of the lineup, Portland should have a much easier path to the basket.
Rip City Project has links to a few trade rumors.
Bart Blasengame from Portland Monthly introduces "Mt. Oden."
Right now, Greg Oden has got his big boy pants on. And they are on fire.
BustaBucket.com has an interesting question: which Blazer would make the best football player?
The Columbian's Sports Editor Greg Jayne, who was all about DraftKevinDurant back in the day, has a commentary on Oden vs. Durant that might get your blood going...
Oden has been an enigma for much of this season, and there was no reason to believe he wouldn't be. He is coming back from microfracture surgery on his knee, and history shows that it will take a year before he fully recovers.
Any assessment of Oden at this point is er, um, knee-jerk. So to speak.
Durant, meanwhile, is showing more than flashes of brilliance. Over the past 30 games, he is averaging 26.5 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting .483 from the field. And if he weren't stuck in the outpost that is Oklahoma City, he would be among the leading storylines for this NBA season.
Durant turned 20 in September, which makes him nine months younger than Oden and, for example, 11 months younger than rookie O.J. Mayo. He's young, even for somebody three years out of high school. By comparison, LeBron James averaged 27.2 points and shot .472 at the same age, meaning it's fair to say Durant is a basketball savant.
Funny line from LoadedOrygun's Jazz game recap...
There's limited space on the DVRs Comcast rents you, and for HD the space is even more at a premium. But this one's a keeper, and I'm going to go watch that third quarter again now. Mmmmmm....38.
Check out this very, very questionable barb from Mike Breen to Mark Jackson during Friday Night's game.
Power Rankings
- Hollinger: 5 (same)
- Hollinger's playoff odds: 99.3% to make the playoffs, 46.1% to win division
- Stein: 7 (up from 9)
- CNNSI: 7 (up from 8)
- Yahoo! / Sporting News: 8
-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)
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Comments
"uppity" was often used
in a derogatory way to refer to Blacks who were advancing out of the economic or social order that many White racists thought they should be forever contained to.
Since Breen is white, and Jackson is black, it could be taken as derogatory. Personally, I don’t believe that was Breen’s intention or even thought process at all, but no doubt the normal race-baiters will find a way to attack him over it.
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
I agree.
It comes off as just some off the top of the head kinda noise that announcers make. Obviously it is a heavy term to use, especially considering the venue, the man he was communicating with and all of the other factors attached to a term like “uppity” when referring to a black man but I’ll give him a pass.
Clumsy? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Intentional? I don’t think so. Worth getting worked up over? Probably not.
Uppity
I don’t know anybody who uses the word “uppity” as just a regular word. It’s almost exclusively used in the context of white people putting black people “in their place”. So if you want to call me “the normal race-baiter” go for it. If the words related to sexual intercourse and fecal matter are considered “bad words” around here then I think it’s reasonable to insist that words related to hundreds of years of racist oppression should be off limits as well. I never use the word ever. Mike Breen should follow my example.
"It all depends on where his growth will come and we think his growth will come within us" -- Kevin Pritchard on Jerryd Bayless
no doubt
it was a stupid and clumsy word to use. But I don’t pretend to know the man, where he’s from, or what kind of words he uses on a “normal” basis. I have heard the word used personally in other contexts, and possibly even used it myself in another context very similar to the one in which Breen did—where someone was all up in my grill about something I just said. It’s certainly rare that I’ve heard or used it in those contexts, but it has happened. I think I generally use “snippy” instead. It’s nowhere near on par with the N word, and you have to make a judgement on intent. I watched the clip several times, and I just don’t see any intent there myself.
If Jackson were white, no one would have likely batted an eye about the use of the word, and that’s the type of society I aspire us all to live in – a color blind one.
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
Color Blind Society
is a great aspiration. But Martin Luther King was assasinated just 40 years ago. We can’t just hit the reset button on history no matter how nice idea that might seem to be. And if we are going to hit that reset button, one of the ways of doing that is by just avoiding all the nasty linguistic baggage from the past. Black people’s skin comes in all different beautiful colors. But I’m not going to call black people “coloured”. No matter how innocuous Merriam Webster’s definition is, or how I’m just innocently making a reference to pigmentation. You might think it’s overly political correct, i just think it’s polite.
"It all depends on where his growth will come and we think his growth will come within us" -- Kevin Pritchard on Jerryd Bayless
Color Blind Society
is all well and good. But remember, MLKjr was assasinated just 40 years ago. One way of heading towards that color blind society is leaving all those loaded words from the past back there in the past. Uppity is not really worth preserving in my book. Besides the racial connotations, it’s kind of classist and generally a jerky thing to say to someone. I am totally fine with it becoming an archaic word like “coloured” or “negro” or “broad” or what have you. I don’t know why people get so excited and DEMAND that they MUST be allowed to say whatever they want whenever they want to whomever they want. Call it political correctness, but I just think it’s being polite.
"It all depends on where his growth will come and we think his growth will come within us" -- Kevin Pritchard on Jerryd Bayless
sorry, the first one didn't show up for some reason...
"It all depends on where his growth will come and we think his growth will come within us" -- Kevin Pritchard on Jerryd Bayless
I don't think anyone condoned using the word
No doubt Mike Breen should follow that example. The fact that he used it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a racist, though. It may just mean he has never really thought about the history of the word and the connotations it carries.
“Dumb” and “racist” are not necessarily the same thing. This could be an example of either (or both) of those.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Didn't intend to pile on
posted at the same time as douglast.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
I've call white people uppity, it's not a racial term
Though techinally I’m not black and therefore am not an expert on what black people find offensive, I agree with douglast
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 2, 2009 1:55 PM PST up reply actions
Says who?
Why is it that anytime someone uses a word that has even the slightest relation to some current or past racial connotation, somebody has to play the offended card.
First off, no one has any right to not be offended. We have the right to life, to liberty and to the pursuit of happiness. Nothing in there about going through life never getting offended by something.
Secondly, just because a word may have a certain meaning in one context, doesn’t automatically mean it can’t be used in another context. I’m reminded of the huge flap a DC councilwoman (or maybe she was on the school board) raised when the Mayor of Washington used the word niggerdly in a conversation he was having with her about the school budget. The woman, who was black, was offended by the word, raised a big fuss and demanded a public apology from the mayor (also black). I particularly liked how she waited to make the fuss to the press, after the conversation, and not immediately raise her point with the mayor during the conversation. (Skirts with moral cowardest in my opinion.) I can remember if the mayor did apologize, but I seem to recall enough people came to his defence. After all, it wasn’t his fault that the woman was too stupid to recognize a valid and totally appropriate use of the word.
Thirdly, if you check the dictionary link douglast provides, you will see that only one of the definitions has a racial connotation (and not the first one either), with it being one associated with original usage by blacks towards other blacks. When you get right down to it, their usage is pretty much in line with it’s original meaning.
There might be a small point on a white man calling a black man uppity in today’s age. But then again there may not. For one, a person, no matter what the color of his skin, can act like his poop don’t smell. Telling them you think they are putting on airs or acting uppity does not automatically indicate racist thought or behavior. For another, you have to take into account the relationship that the two individuals here have. Breen and Jackson have worked together for some time now. Who knows how they interact? And if Jackson truly found the exchange to be offensive or at least not in good taste, I’m betting he would later mention it to Breen and that would be the end of it. No need for anyone else to get involved.
hakkaa päälle !
by timg56 on Feb 2, 2009 2:49 PM PST up reply actions 5 recs
REK
this is nonsense.
if people have never heard of this racial connotation of uppity until today, then it obviously doesn’t mean the same thing it used to mean. remember when “gay” meant happy? the commonly understood meaning of words changes over time.
by Bust a Bucket on Feb 2, 2009 3:05 PM PST up reply actions
Rec x2
Also, try using the words faggot, queer, or bitch in their original forms and see how people take it.
I used to collect bundles of sticks for a living and that word put me out of business
nima told me to tell you to please stop using "Book it.", "FTW", "Epic" & "Fail".
Card
First of all, I can’t stand the “race card” or the “offended card” nonsense. Nobody’s playing poker or UNO or whatever other card game you think is going on. But I’m just saying, it’s a really a small concession to make. Niggardly and Uppity are not really worth defending in my book. I know what the dictionary says. I also know what the thesaurus says, and it has a whole bunch of other totally appropriate words that mean basically the same thing. So instead of lady getting pissed and you calling her stupid, how ‘bout we just don’t use the words and then nobody gets pissed and you don’t have to call anyone stupid? Your solution involves pretending society is a card game where people cheat and you get to call them out for stupidly playing the wrong card. My solution is we all learn how to communicate with each other without pissing each other off. I like to swear, but Dave says no. I’m not going to get all first ammendmenty and stand up for my Anglo Saxon heritage. I’m just gonna follow the rules so we can all talk to each other. So Mike Breen didn’t know the rules. Now he does. I don’t think it’s tragic that he won’t be able to call a black guy uppity again. It’s not a huge loss to me.
"It all depends on where his growth will come and we think his growth will come within us" -- Kevin Pritchard on Jerryd Bayless
That is interesting. I had no idea
My wife and I use that phrase with each other all the time. To us it just meant “snooty” or “up tight”. Most people don’t know the origin of every phrase or figure of speech.
I would have watched this and not given it a second thought.
I'm a little confused by your tactics
by oderiferous emanations 74 on Feb 2, 2009 1:19 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
you are both pretty much right
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/uppity
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
same here.
"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"
by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Feb 2, 2009 1:26 PM PST up reply actions
same here
I really try not to use derogatory terms… and I’ve never heard of that meaning of “uppity” … I thought it meant snobby or arrogant.
Wow. Good to know. Good learning experience. In the NW there isn’t much diversity so some of these things people know about in the South or NE are never learned.
by Bust a Bucket on Feb 2, 2009 1:56 PM PST up reply actions
Bynum
8 weeks is about April 1, or about 5-7 games before end of season.
12 weeks is more like May 1, which is the start of 2nd round. Of course you would assume coming back then that he is nowhere near 100% and in game shape.
Don’t think it hurts them much in getting the WCF, but if he’s not back in form by then, it definately hinders their WC and NBA championship hopes.
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
Ironic...
it was about this time a year ago he went down. He was due to come back last year just before the playoffs but never made it back. Then he was supposed to come back in the 1st or 2nd round, only never did.
"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"
by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Feb 2, 2009 1:28 PM PST up reply actions
yeah, was thinking the same thing
we’ll see how he comes back this year.
What was his injury last year (I know it wast he opposite knee) ?
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
In regards to the "barb"...
If we are ever going to grow up as a nation with regards to race relations and sensitivity, this is the kind of thing that has to be taken for what it was rather than what it would have been 20 years ago
by himynameisjoey on Feb 2, 2009 12:29 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
As if I needed any more reason to love Nate:
“So I’ve always been a Pittsburgh and Redskins fan.”
btw – Ben, what do you know about the tag line on Freedarko? The one about covering the Slovenian farm league. One of my fantasies involves winning the lottery, investing a few million in either a Slovenian team or a team just across the border in Italy (Goricia or Trieste maybe) and run it as the Blazer’s Euro league affliliate.
hakkaa päälle !
what do you know about the tag line on Freedarko?
that sounds like a perfect book reading question!!!!!!!!
by Ben Golliver on Feb 2, 2009 12:46 PM PST up reply actions
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it.
I work in Seattle and only get back home to Portland every other weekend.
Perhaps you could ask it for me.
hakkaa päälle !
The really important question
is whether or not the Blazers are just looking at the mere standings, or whether they are checking out the much more important “Sched Ahead” updates.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Forgot to say
Barrett is wrong. 7-2 is an impressive number, but it isn’t ours. We’re 6-3.
We lost at home to the Clips on a back to back, and two games at Phoenix on back to backs.
We won back to backs at home to Houston, Chicago, and Denver (but they were on the same back to back, so the back to back hurt them more because it was in Portland). We won on the road at Minnesota, Washington, and NJ (but they were on a back to back after losing at Boston, and we’d been at Philly the night before, so no travel for us).
The schedule has actually been fairly kind to us, as far as the quality of opposition on back to backs. They’ve mostly been pretty winnable games.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
I think my above comment
is evidence that I’ve spent too much time staring at my stupid spreadsheet and need to get a life.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
if staring at the spreadsheet = more sched ahead updates then sorry buddy im voting no life-getting for you
I hadn't actually
considered putting it up for a vote….
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Spreadsheet is smarter than that
I paste in the standings every day, it does the work.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Nice work, Ben.
Thank you.
"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"
by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Feb 2, 2009 1:29 PM PST reply actions
End of KP interview?
Has combined stats for Sergio/Bayless in our last 8 games and it says we’ve won 4 of them.
4 in a row, yes… 4 total? No.
thanks g
’preciate that.
Sophia
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. - William Shakespeare
Roses are red
violets in bloom
Sophia’s in love
with Nicholas Batum
-Bow4Meow
lol @ Bonzi and why would the Durant story bother anyone?
Kid’s having a great season.
Still, if Oden pans out as planned I’m fine with our pick.
Blazer Fan
Since I'm the writing tutor...
this from the HoopWorld article:
Jerryd Bayless has already accomplished a feat Martell Webster and two former Blazers – Josh McRoberts and Taruean Green last year – could not avoid their respective rookie seasons: a trip to the National Basketball Developmental League.
what Jerryd Bayless has accomplished is that he’s avoided a trip to the NBDL. Classic case of colon/clause ADD.
(Come on, I’m not the only one who cares about this kind of stuff. You guys just debated the definition and implication of “uppity.”)
here's another one for you....
from 247 Hornets:
The third best team so far in the West has been the Portland Trailblazers. It’s pretty bizarre seeing the team with the 20th worst defense in the league sitting that high on the charts, but their offense has, quite simply, been that good.
If being the third best team means there are two teams better than you, then doesn’t having the 20th worst defense mean that 19 teams are worse than you? Shouldn’t that read 20th best defense? (Or possibly 10th worst?)
Actually not sure about this one.
by LicketyBrindle on Feb 2, 2009 2:09 PM PST up reply actions
Yes
It should be 10th worst or 20th best. 20th worst is a bizarre way to say what the author was attempting to get across.
No
You guys are mathematically-challenged, obviously (that’s the politically correct way to say “daft”, which I would never say because of other discussions on this thread).
It should be the 20th best or the 11th worst.
Dafties.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
...
jscot 1
Cablinasian 0
well, crap. Your use of word daft makes me think of my Calc I course with an Irish professor… he used the word all the time. Sounds like a Celtic thing.
The English use it, too
They are specialists in “daft”, though.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Will I go to hell
if I consider Bynum’s injury instant karma for his hit on Gerald Wallace, then his jerky response to not being suspended?
if you do end up in hell
please say high to Phil Jackson, Kobe and Jerry Sloan for me… thanks.
by Bust a Bucket on Feb 2, 2009 3:03 PM PST up reply actions
Michael Jordan......
Yeah because those are the only choices, it could be like Olajuwon and Jordan, or Bowie and Jordan. I guess the lesson is Oden’s destiny is still murky while Durant is going to be as good as Jordan no matter what.
Also just because he is scoring at a level comparable to James at that age doesn’t mean HE’S AS GOOD AS JAMES. He’s not a good as passer as James, and once you get past the flashy dunks that’s what a huge part of what makes James a elite and complete player; the passing.
I think Oden/Durant is a natural debate topic, but some people just abandon solid reasoning and analysis for the most superficial reasoning…
by neutroticblazerfan on Feb 2, 2009 3:09 PM PST reply actions
Also
Durant isn’t scoring/shooting at that clip the entire season. It was the last _ games that they decided to cite. Leron meanwhile did it for an entire season and probably had a 20 game stretch somewhere where he went 30ppg on 50% from field.
Also, Lebron played defense, even at that age.
Hm, I don't really remember Bron really stepping up defensively until the last couple of years
and really mostly this year.
People talking Durant usually pick some time after they canned PJ as coach, since Brooks moved him to his much more natural SF (with some PF) position and Durant’s game post-Carlesimo is radically changed. I don’t think 30 or 40 or whatever number of games is really cherry-picking — that’s a good healthy set of data.
Durant’s defense isn’t exactly good yet but he’s making himself felt more on that end lately. That 4 block game against Memphis was a pretty good one, and he’s rebounding at a very healthy rate now.
by howlingfantods on Feb 2, 2009 3:49 PM PST up reply actions
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