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NBA Pre-Draft Combine In Chicago: Day 2 News & Notes

2013-05-18T19:45:55Z

Here's a round-up of stories from day two of the 2013 Chicago pre-draft combine. Day one news and notes were posted here.

Jason Quick of The Oregonian runs down some of the guards that the Portland Trail Blazers interviewed this week.

In the Blazers' case, [GM Neil] Olshey said the majority of the interviews were handled by team performance psychologist Dana Sinclair because he expects most of the 18 players to visit Portland. Olshey and his staff did, however, interview UCLA wing Shabazz Muhammad and Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams, perhaps because it would be their only chance to interview them before the draft.

...

[Carter-Williams] also said the Blazers were one of two teams that asked him about his on-the-court body language, which teetered between pouting and surly during stretches of this season at Syracuse.

"They were one of the teams to ask me about it," Carter-Williams said of the Blazers. "I told them my body language didn't have anything to do with my coaches or my teammates. I hold myself accountable, and to a high standard, and when I'm disappointed in myself that frustration comes out a little bit. I don't let it affect my game, but it's definitely something I can work on. I think it's something that I can fix, something that is easy to change, so I don't think it's a problem."

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com offers some news and notes from day two.

"I'm not sure I want the No. 1 pick," said one NBA general manager.

Another looked frightened at the thought of having to draft someone first this year.

"There's really no one worthy of the top pick," he said. "But someone has to go number one."

...

• No one was hurt more in the measurements and testing than Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk. He is 6-foot-10 and 3/4 without shoes, but he has a wingspan of just 6-9 3/4. For a comparison, Nerlens Noel was actually shorter at 6-foot-10, but has a 7-3 3/4 wingspan.

...

• Don't read much into which teams interviewed which players out in Chicago. Many teams lined up guys they know won't come in for actual workouts over the next few weeks. For instance, Boston -- picking No. 16 -- interviewed Victor Oladipo, who is expected to go before the Celtics pick. Danny Ainge and his staff also brought in Noel, who is expected to go either first or second overall.

All That Amar of SLC Dunk did some great work from the combine.

Full player list with statistics and draft board rankings.
Who has the worst wingspan-to-height ratio? The T-Rex/Alligator rankings.
Digging into the heights of various prospects. Who cheated the most on their list height compared to their real height?

Chad Ford of ESPN.com breaks down the results of the athletic testing portions of the combine.

We typically don't make a big deal out of the standing vertical jump, but in the case of Indiana's Cody Zeller, we'll make an exception. Zeller's score (35.5) was the highest ever recorded by a player taller than 6-foot-9. Standing vertical jumps matter for big men, who typically don't get a running start before jumping in the paint.

...

Of the players projected in the lottery, Zeller was the most impressive. He got a reputation this season as someone who struggled to play against long, athletic players. However, he excelled in every category Friday. He was explosive, quick and fast. He clearly showed some of that at Indiana with the way he ran the floor and at times showed explosion around the basket, but this result could only help him.

"It was a big day for Cody, I thought," one GM said. "I think we soured on him just a little too much. I still have questions and want to see him shooting the ball more. But this really helped us get intrigued again."

A look at winners and losers from Ford.

France's Rudy Gobert also wowed with sheer size. His 7-foot-8.5 wingspan and 9-foot-7 standing reach both were record measurements by the NBA. While Gobert didn't look particularly explosive, nor was he particularly skilled offensively, he was a handful around the basket and could, with another 20 pounds of muscle, be a nightmare around the basket. Scouts weren't ready to declare him a lottery pick, but they did love the effort.

...

North Carolina's Reggie Bullock also drew praise for his shooting (see percentage above). Miami's Shane Larkin and Murray State's Isaiah Canaan both impressed out of the point guard group. Ricardo Ledo also stood out for a number of NBA GMs who were getting their first look at him.

...

It's pretty hard to hurt your stock in a camp like this. But there was some negativity around the poor shooting performances by Archie Goodwin, B.J. Young and Vander Blue. All three players really struggled to look the part of "shooting" guards in the drills Thursday.

The Sporting News on Miami guard Shane Larkin's impressive testing results.

Shane Larkin is wowing scouts at the NBA Draft combine, showing off a 44-inch vertical leap that is eye-popping for a 5-11 guard. That's not all: Larkin, from Miami (Fla.), also has turned out a combine-best sprint time and did 34.5-inch leap from a dead standstill.

Are the Blazers eyeing a trade up for Indiana Hoosiers guard Victor Oladipo?

J. Michel of CSNBaltimore.com checks in on the draft prospects of Maryland center Alex Len after an ankle injury took him out of all pre-draft workouts.

"It would be nice to see him in these types of workouts," said Ryan Blake, senior director of NBA scouting operations. "If someone's done their homework well, gone to practices, gone to see those games and crunched those numbers and you like him, that's good. But he's got his ankle issues. I don't think that helps him. It would've been good to have all the teams see him. He can't help that. He's going to get drafted. It may be high lottery or it may be low first round. You just don't know.

"It's early. Its a draft where you go, 'There's a lot of good players here.'"

Go here for all of DraftExpress.com's video interviews with prospects one after another.

CSNNW.com has its video vault here.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Haynes: Blazers Eye Trade Up For Indiana G Victor Oladipo?

2013-05-18T18:51:32Z

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports that the Portland Trail Blazers are considering a trade up in the 2013 NBA Draft to select Indiana guard Victor Oladipo.

Sources close to the prospect say the Trail Blazers, among a few others teams, "really like him" and are "considering moving up to get him."

When Oladipo was reached for comment, he acknowledged being aware of the interested teams that weren't in position to take him. If Portland did pull off the move, Oladipo is all for it.

"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."

Oladipo, 21, averaged 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season, shooting 59.9 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from three-point range. He earned first-team All-Big 10 and first-team AP All-America honors.

Oladipo currently ranks No. 6 on Chad Ford of ESPN.com's top 100 and No. 4 on DraftExpress.com's top 100.

Some thoughts from Ford.

Positives
Crazy athletic swingman
Explosive leaper
Tough, physical player
Excellent rebounder
Tenacious defender
Best motor in college basketball
Improving jump shot

Negatives
A bit undersized for his position
Can be turnover prone

....

May 2 Update: Oladipo continues to be one of the more debated prospects at the top of the draft. I recently spoke with a number of NBA GMs and the question about his ceiling is the same: "Can he develop the skills and attitude of an NBA scorer?" If the answer is yes, then it's not out of the question that he could be a Dwyane Wade-type player. If the answer is no, someone like Tony Allen might be his best comparison.

...

Apr 9 Update: Oladipo announced that he's declaring for the 2013 NBA Draft. Oladipo is the best perimeter defender in the country and an elite athlete who plays at a relentless pace. He's still a work in progress offensively, but he can guard three positions on the floor and is an elite finisher at the rim. His shooting has dramatically improved, as have his ballhandling skills, but they'll need to continue to improve for Oladipo to be a scorer at the next level. Look for him to go somewhere between No. 3 and No. 8 in the draft.

Here's a DraftExpress.com scouting video.

Some notes from Walker Beeken of DraftExpress.com.

As we've mentioned before, Oladipo's intrigue as an NBA prospect starts with his abilities as a perimeter defender. An elite athlete with a chiseled frame and solid size and length for an NBA shooting guard, Oladipo combines his outstanding physical tools with a relentless motor, often overwhelming players at the college level as an on-ball defender and causing havoc off the ball.

Oladipo makes his presence felt all over the floor defensively, playing with tremendous intensity and always finding ways to get his hands on the ball for deflections and steals, or flying in from out of his area to block a shot or come up with a rebound, thanks to his seemingly endless energy and outstanding speed, quickness, and leaping ability.

...

With the ability to guard up to four positions at the college level, Oladipo projects to be able to defend all three perimeter positions at the NBA level, depending on matchups. He has the speed and quickness to cover point guards, and his athleticism, strength, and toughness should enable him to guard most small forwards as well. Coaches will likely value the flexibility Oladipo gives them on the defensive end, as they can cross-match and hide weaker defenders while putting Oladipo on the opposing team's top perimeter threat, regardless of position.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post on Oladipo from the pre-Draft combine in Chicago.

Noted for his notorious drive, Oladipo famously used his key card at the gym at Indiana so much for workouts that it stopped working and forced him to get a replacement. He would go to the gym for late-night training sessions - after watching West Coast NBA games conclude after midnight.

"I'm just abnormal," said Oladipo, who also took 19 credit hours his final semester in order to graduate in three years. "I'm a weird dude. I'm not going to lie to you."

...

"I feel like I have another level every year that I start a new season of basketball. If I continue to keep growing, and make everything consistent, I'm going to get better and better each year. That's what I feel like I'll be able to do," Oladipo said. "Whoever picks me, I'm going to bring a high level impact. I feel like I'm going to be one of the best players I can be. A really solid player in the league, if not better."

Thanks to golfballer333 for getting to it in the FanShots first.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

SBNation Network Reset Friday Night at 11:00 p.m. Pacific

2013-05-18T04:42:18Z

This is a brief announcement that SBNation, including Blazer's Edge, will be down for repairs on Friday night, May 17th, around 11:00 p.m.

If you're reading this before that time, get your comments posted before the clock strikes 11. If you're reading it afterwards, we're back and hopefully the intermittent glitches of the last few days have been banished!

Either way, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)

Adidas To Release Rookie Of The Year Sneakers For Blazers G Damian Lillard

2013-05-17T18:31:15Z

Adidas is set to release a special edition set of sneakers to honor Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard's 2013 Rookie of the Year award.

Here are some details.

The Damian Lillard Rookie of the Year edition Real Deal basketball shoe adidas was created to commemorate Damian's award and historic debut season.

The shoe's sockliners feature Damian's Twitter handle, an Oakland satellite print and "9800s" to represent his neighborhood blocks. The colors of the shoe pay homage to his career; red for high school, purple for college and black for the Portland Trail Blazers. The animal print on the upper and sockliner represent the Wildcat mascot he had in both high school and college. The shoe features "Townbiz" on the upper as another nod to Oakland and clasped hands to represent the "Fly Guyz" - Damian's name for his close circle of friends.

Only 510 pairs of this limited edition will available on May 23 for $120 at Compound (Portland, Ore), Shoe Palace (Oakland, Calif.) and adidas.com. Damian fans can pre-order a pair today at adidas.com or join Damian at Compound on May 23 between 6:00pm and 7:00pm for the official launch and a chance to meet the Rookie of the Year and get an autograph.

Here are some photos of the shoes courtesy of Adidas. Click to enlarge them.

Lillard was recently named "Sneaker Rookie of the Year" by a shoe website. He appeared in his first Adidas ad earlier this year and starred alongside Washington Wizards guard John Wall and Philadelphia 76ers guard Jrue Holiday in a nationally-televised ad that has run during the playoffs. Lillard recently offered a behind-the-scenes look at that video shoot.

Adidas also unveiled this shirt honoring Lillard at his Rookie of the Year press conference.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

How Important Is LaMarcus Aldridge to the Blazers Future?

2013-05-17T08:17:46Z

Introductory Note: You've probably noticed that the network has been having intermittent hang-ups over the last couple days. Tech support has been working to get everything back to normal and continues to do so. We seem fairly stable right now and most functionality is restored. Bear with us and hopefully the glitches will be over soon.

Now...I spent the evening with a bunch of youth-type folks seeing the new Star Trek movie on opening day. It was quite the experience but it also left little time for writing. That makes this the perfect opportunity to introduce one of our early-summer discussion themes. Over the next few weeks I'm going to bring up various Blazer players. I'm interesting in knowing how key to Portland's future you think they are. We're not talking just this fall, but somewhat of an extended future...the next 3 years at least. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "won't matter or won't be here" and 10 being "the absolute nexus point of Portland's destiny" how would you rate these players and why?

Today's subject is LaMarcus Aldridge. Will he be a key to Portland's future or not? Leave a rating and your explanation for it in the comment section below.

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)

Blazers' Mascot Blaze The Trail Cat Joins Twitter

2013-05-17T02:25:38Z

The Portland Trail Blazers mascot -- Blaze The Trail Cat -- has officially joined Twitter.

Follow him/it at @BlazeRipCity.

His profile...

Signed to a lifetime contract by the Portland Trail Blazers. Inventor of miracles. 80 vertical. Previously very wild, but have since been domesticated.

The Blazers recently surveyed fans about all aspects of the in-game experience at the Rose Garden, including Blaze.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

NBA Pre-Draft Combine In Chicago: Thursday News & Notes

2013-05-17T02:00:23Z

Some collected Portland Trail Blazers news and notes from the first day of the 2013 pre-Draft combine in Chicago.

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports that UCLA freshman guard Shabazz Muhammad interviewed with the Blazers...

He met with with Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey and his contingent, among others teams on Wednesday, and says so far, the interview with Portland was his best outing.

"It lasted for about 30 minutes," he said. "I think it went really smooth. It was one of the smoothest ones I had. I felt really comfortable with them and it went good."

...

"That's a great situation for me," Muhammad said. "With LaMarcus getting doubled all the time and Damian, who's coming off of Rookie of the Year, I think I can step in and do some things for them....That's why I say I want to come in and learn from those guys. I want to learn and at the end of the day, if you learn, you''l become better as a player."

Casey Holdahl transcribed some additional quotes from Muhammad at Blazers.com...

"Really like the situation in Portland with Damian (Lillard) and LaMarcus (Aldridge), who's an All-Star big, and (Nicolas) Batum. I mean, that's a great situation for me. I think LaMarcus is going to get doubled all the time and Damian is coming off of (winning) Rookie of the Year. I think I can step in and do somethings for them."

...

"I really want to help them out in that position. And not even come in and try to score a lot. I want to come in and learn and if it comes in a slow start pace at first, it's a greater situation for me. I think I could do a really good job there."

You can join the Muhammad discussion in this FanShot from Roy Wonder.

Jason Quick of The Oregonian offers some details on the interview process...

Dana Sinclair, a Toronto-based psychologist employed by the Blazers, is conducting the majority of the 18 interviews with draft prospects the team is allowed to contact at this week's NBA draft combine at the University of Illinois-Chicago. General manager Neil Olshey said he and his five-person basketball operations staff are participating only in the interviews with players who may not come to Portland for a workout before the June 27 draft.

On Wednesday, the first day teams were allowed to contact prospects, the Blazers met with UCLA wing Shabazz Muhammad, Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse wing James Southerland, Indiana big man Cody Zeller and San Diego State guard Jamaal Franklin.

...

If the Blazers keep their lottery pick -- and that's a big if as it appears Olshey will look for willing trade partners -- it is likely the team pursues a shooting guard.

Quick has posted a notes column too.

Former Ohio State forward DeShaun Thomas said part of his predraft workouts have included sessions with former Trail Blazers center Greg Oden at the St. Vincents Performance Center in Indianapolis. Oden, who played in 82 games in four seasons after being the No. 1 overall pick with the Blazers in 2007, hasn't played since December of 2009 because of knee problems, but is working toward a comeback.

"Man, he looks unbelievable," Thomas said. "He's running, he's lifting weights. You might be seeing a comeback. He looks like he is ready to go. He's running, getting in shape. I'll tell you one thing: For a big 7-footer, that's all he does -- running and getting in shape. He's looking right."

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com offers some thoughts on Muhammad and French center Rudy Gobert.

The former UCLA wing was one of the few expected lottery guys to actually get on the court on Thursday and go up against less heralded players. I have been critical in the past of Muhammad as an elite player, but he does play hard. The issue on Thursday was he didn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter -- and much of Thursday's work on the court in front of a packed house of NBA personnel focused on shooting.

Muhammad shot nearly 38 percent from beyond the arc this past season, but he's not a reliable long-range shooter. My concerns about Muhammad are that he's not an explosive athlete, he's a mediocre shooter and a sub-par defender. A wing with those characteristics is a role player at the next level.

-- I was excited to get an up-close look at Rudy Gobert, the supposed cream of a fairly deep international crop. He's exceptionally long, looking every bit of 7-foot-1, and can be a presence on the defensive end. However, he possesses virtually no offensive skills at this stage, and will be tossed around in the NBA. He's a "potential guy" who would be better-served staying in Europe for another couple years, but the word is he wants to come to the US this coming season. The problem is he wouldn't be able to handle the physical aspect and is a major liability on the offensive end.

Some measurements from Chad Ford of ESPN.com on Twitter.

Otto Porter was big with a 6'7.5" in socks and 6' 8.5" in shoes measurement . He has a very big 7'1.5" wing.

Shabazz Muhammad was much smaller Measuring 6'4.75" in socks and 6'6.25" in shoes He does have a 6'11" wingspan.

Victor Oladipo was even smaller at 6'3.25" in socks and 6'4.25" in shoes. His wingspan was a very long 6'9.25" however.

Cody Zeller 6'10.75" in socks and 7'0.25" in shoes. His 6-10.75 wing and 8'10" standing reach is on the small side however.

Rudy Gobert 7'0.5" in socks and 7'2" in shoes with a crazy 7'8.5" wingspan and insane 9'7" standing reach.

CSNNW.com has some additional quotes from interviews of Indiana center Cody Zeller, Gonzaga Kelly Olynyk and Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams.

Think you'll be a good fit in Portland?

Zeller: "Obviously they need a big guy that can rebound. I've drawn some comparisons to LaMarcus Aldridge, so I think I'll be good in Portland. We'll see what happens."

"Have you checked out the Trail Blazers' roster to see if you would make a good addition?

Olynyk: "I haven't looked at it too deep in that sense. Obviously I know who plays for their team. Damian Lillard is a great player, LaMarcus Aldridge and then they drafted Meyers Leonard who we played against at Illinois who is a good athlete and good player, as well. They have a bunch of guys and they are really on the rise. They just missed the playoffs this year. They're going to be a good team down the road."

Think you can play alongside Damian Lillard?

Carter-Williams: "I think I can play with Damian Lillard. He's a smart player and I believe I'm a smart player myself. I can feed off him and he can feed off me and make each other better. The point guard, he does make plays and brings up the ball, but I think a lot of of it has to do with if I get the rebound, just go. If he gets the rebound then he can go and I run the floor. I think I can make it work."

A Shabazz Muhammad interview from DraftExpress.com.

A Cody Zeller interview from DraftExpress.com.

More combine links from Sean Meagher at OregonLive.com.

Thanks for your patience over the last few days with our site slowness and loading issues. Hopefully the issues have been resolved.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Tripathi: Blazers Finish Fourth In Ranking Of Best NBA Fans

2013-05-17T01:40:04Z

Mike Lewis and Manish Tripathi of Emory University are attempting to use sports marketing analytics to rank the best fan bases in the NBA. The Portland Trail Blazers finished fourth in their study, trailing only the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics.

Basically, what we do is estimate a statistical model of team box office revenues as a function of the team's winning percentage, team payroll, market population, arena capacity, number of all-stars, and other factors that capture the quality of the team's product and revenue potential in a given year.

Home Revenue = f(win%, Payroll, Market Population, etc...)

We then compare team's actual home revenue with predictions from our model to discern teams that out- or under-perform.* We call this quantity "Fan Equity."

Fan Equity = Reported Home Revenue - Predicted Home Revenue

...

Portland is probably the most interesting case. A quick look at attendance data from ESPN shows that the Trail Blazers regularly exceed capacity for entire seasons. Portland is a small market, but a market with passionate and supportive fans. Portland also likely does well because they are the only "pro" game in town.

Thanks to occassia who got there first in the FanShots.

Fingers crossed, but the site should be back functioning properly after some up-and-down over the last few days. Posting will commence as normal. Apologies for any delays.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter