Written after the Big East Championship where Dieng had 9 points, 9 rebs, 8 assists, 2 steals and a block.

"I hear it's a great place for players. I've been there and I love it. I'm all about working hard and getting better everyday. I think playing in Portland will be good for me if I ended up there." "I would really love to go to Portland, and I'm not just saying that," he said convincingly to CSNNW.com. "I hope, and I don't think I'm dropping that far, but if they decided to move up somehow, I think that would be a great situation for me. It's a place where you can just concentrate on basketball."

Ok, this says it's from bleacher report, but actually from Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo Sports...but could he be the answer? Dare we try again? A healthy Oden would be that much-needed big man in the middle...

Well its about to become official, The Maloofs were forced to sell their 65% of the team to the Ranadive group and the Kings will be staying in Sac... Now that this is over we get to look forward to the kings new owners being awarded a bright and shiny #1 overall draft pick courtesy of the beloved commissioner just like he awarded the Wizards and Hornets afterthey were purchased by new owners. So it looks like the best we can hope for is #2 lol

A few weeks ago, I was engaged in a nice debate with some fellow BEdgers about the Thunder, and if they are a flawed team, despite their success. This article is a very interesting read and sums up my thoughts nicely, and though it is slightly off topic, it applies here because a lot of folks have been pointing to the Thunder as the prime example of how to build a contender, and this article serves as a discussion starter on just how effective the Thunder model of team construction truly is.

Damian Lillard ‏@Dame_Lillard "@TheChocoThunder: Almost bought a @Dame_Lillard jersey today... I'll just wait til it says @Lakers on the front..." Gone be waitin forever

The pilot said, "Well, we're going to fly, but we're kind of flying in the teeth of this blizzard coming in, so for navigation, we're going to follow the Mass Turnpike. We won't be flying too high." So Connie's groaning, saying, "Oh my God." It was very bumpy and Johnny Kerr, who was a jokester, he kept things light. He said, "Connie, what are you worried about? More people die in automobile accidents and crossing the street. Planes are very, very safe, the safest of all transportation. In fact, the other day, there was a train crash in France where 90 people died." Connie said, "Really, what happened?" Johnny said, "Oh, a plane fell on the train."

Applying "brand equity" analysis to fan bases. Thanks, @blazermb

Video from the Draft Combine of Shabazz speaking to reporters following the drills. He discusses his meeting with Portland representatives along with goals for his rookie season.