Blazers Front Page on ESPN.com

by Dave on Sep 30, 2009 12:52 PM PDT

I'm sure many of you have seen this by now but since much of John Hollinger's work is insider-only (including the link in our Full Court Press yesterday) and this isn't, I thought I'd post it just in case. It's a couple thousand words on Hollinger's initial impressions from Training Camp. See it here.

--Dave

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David197pdx has this in the fanshots.

Thought I’d give credit to him for finding it before this. :)

μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε.

Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?

by T Darkstar on Sep 30, 2009 12:57 PM PDT reply actions

Er, David1978pdx.

I gave him 1781 years too many. :p

μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε.

Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?

by T Darkstar on Sep 30, 2009 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for the post, Dave.

Hadn’t gotten a chance to check around for Blazer stuff yet today, so this gets me started on the right foot.

by Jeremiah S on Sep 30, 2009 1:09 PM PDT reply actions

One point

Weren’t the Blazers co-division winners? I thought the tie-breaker was only for playoff positioning, not for the division title.

by DonkeyShins on Sep 30, 2009 1:14 PM PDT reply actions

Yes, we even got a lame banner for it

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 30, 2009 1:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Great Article .But beware

Beware of the comments. The L*ker trolls are in full effect. Much hater-ade being consumed.

by SloppyJoe on Sep 30, 2009 1:22 PM PDT reply actions

Take a tip from Chef and tell them:

You're saying that they look like they're giving it their all. And you know why they look that way? Because they're bad, and it literally takes them the maximum physical effort to accomplish basic baseball tasks like throwing the ball from short to first. When David Eckstein throws the ball to first base, he has to wind up like a shot-putter, spin around forty-three times, and launch it at an angle 89 degrees from the horizontal. Afterwards, he undergoes an IV drip for a fortnight and he's so out of breath that he requires several months of acupuncture to regain the power of speech. For this we laud him. -Junior of Deadspin on 'scrappy' players

by TheOdenator on Sep 30, 2009 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions

I had to go check it after that

I can’t even bring myself to get riled up by those comments anymore. They’re not interesting in any way.

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Sep 30, 2009 1:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Good news: They care, so the Blazers have achieved some rivalry status

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 30, 2009 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions

yay! rivalry! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayy

"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.

But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html

by ratbastird on Sep 30, 2009 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Ironically, I don't seem to care anymore. :D

We’ll see how long that lasts into a WCF match up…

by zaruga on Sep 30, 2009 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions

i look forward to that day.

But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html

by ratbastird on Sep 30, 2009 2:49 PM PDT up reply actions

just don't try and tell L*ker fan

that there’s a rivalry

The Blazers have to steal their lunch money, first. That hasn’t happened in the post-season since 1992 (Las Vegas game, IIRC)

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 30, 2009 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions

Some.

Imagine how much worse they would be if this article were about the Celtics.

I wonder how many of us would embrace Satan like those Lakertrolls do if we were in the power position?

*Unless KP has a secret plan that makes this statement incorrect.
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by staylost on Sep 30, 2009 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions

Do we have to be in the power position first?

My team went to the playoffs in my first year.

by pxilpooshr on Sep 30, 2009 6:29 PM PDT up reply actions

It's official

Hollinger is a full fledged Blazer fan this year. It’s time to stop not loving him back

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Sep 30, 2009 1:45 PM PDT reply actions

I would hope that he's objective

and his compliments aren’t because he’s a fan, but because the blazers are good.

But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html

by ratbastird on Sep 30, 2009 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions

I hope so too

but at the same time I don’t care that much. Sports aren’t serious for me. I use it to joke with friends and get excited about, but in the end, the truth in sports is not something I’m really interested in.

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 1, 2009 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions

I love John Hollinger because he isn't a mindless fan, but rather an objective analyst.

Stupid people have stupid ideas.

by AK1984 on Sep 30, 2009 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions

I love John Hollinger because he's isn't a mindless analyst, but rather an objective fan.

"I never give in to the temptation to be difficult just for the sake of being difficult. That would be too ridiculous"

Jacques Derrida

by Rudyciudad on Sep 30, 2009 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Why does he cover the Blazers so much?

I know he worked for Oregonlive, but Wiki told me he lives in Atlanta now.

by tominhawaii on Sep 30, 2009 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions

We are like Moneyball for basketball, so stat heads love the Blazers as a case study?

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 30, 2009 4:23 PM PDT up reply actions

John Hollinger

A bit about him:

http://www.dwightjaynes.com/inside-john-hollinger

"I never give in to the temptation to be difficult just for the sake of being difficult. That would be too ridiculous"

Jacques Derrida

by Rudyciudad on Sep 30, 2009 5:26 PM PDT up reply actions

I love the photo

The guys seem to be struggling to keep straight faces—especially LMA.

"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla

by hurryup09 on Sep 30, 2009 2:00 PM PDT reply actions

I noticed that too. Brandon looks comical.

Love.

by L-TrainFTW! on Sep 30, 2009 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions

That's cuz Brandon farted

Blazers win!

by The X-man on Sep 30, 2009 3:48 PM PDT up reply actions

That was selfish.

by MiledAnimal on Sep 30, 2009 5:00 PM PDT up reply actions

All this talk about defense gets me wondering

doesn’t emphasizing defense also improve the offense??? After all – the defense has to practice against someone…..

Or do they run practices like we did in football – the 2nd teamers run a “scout offense” while the first teamers practice the defensive scheme??

by blacknoiseNW on Sep 30, 2009 2:16 PM PDT reply actions

I'm thinking the Blazer "scout offense"

is probably better than some of the other first teams around the league (I’m looking at you, Timberwolves)….

"I'm a man, but I can change.....if I have to......I guess." - Red Green

by antediluvian on Sep 30, 2009 2:21 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Damn...

I had a nice little response to toss out onto those comment boards, pointing out some flaws of Laker fans and their aggressiveness towards teams which they deem to be threats. Then, when I hit enter I got an error, and I don’t think it took… : (

Ah well, its relatively common knowledge that the majority of them are informed solely about the Lakers, and don’t take the time to look into other teams. I can live with Timbo talking a little smack, because he’s shown that he is willing to research. But, the majority of the hate posts are never researched, and it just makes me sad.

I think somewhere in that post I made, I mentioned that it would be in their best interest to be hostile to everyone, and go talk smack to some Bobcats fans… Man, I would love to see that…

by Jeremiah S on Sep 30, 2009 2:27 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Can anybody post the 5 camp observations from Hollinger?

"Sometimes I catch myself watching him and he's shooting floaters all-net. And just to watch how he's talking trash. I loved it. I loved every minute of it. Rudy's a competitor." - Brandon Roy

by Trail Ducker on Sep 30, 2009 2:27 PM PDT reply actions

Mostly it's about Blake/Miller and the LMA contract situation

I feel embarassed for Miller. We bring him in to upgrade the offense and Portlanders can’t get over their love of the underdog enough to make him the starter. For five years we’ve stated that Blake is a back-up and now that we have an upgrade at PG suddenly he is a starter. Sometimes I wonder about us.

Blazer Fan

by leeroyjenkins on Sep 30, 2009 3:22 PM PDT up reply actions