Lamarcus Aldridge

The Rockets shredded the Blazers with Yao Ming and Luis Scola playing a simple high/low game.  Lamarcus Aldridge is the perfect high, but Oden is still a year or two away from being a dominant low.  Which takes me to the second part of why Portland absolutely has to make this trade if given the chance, Greg Oden showed some extreme potential this season but he's not quite ready to make the leap yet.  Joel taught him quite a bit about how to play NBA defense.  He looked markedly better as the season went on, at least in the few games he wasn't in foul trouble.  Now Greg needs someone to show him how to score around the basket.  He needs to see a fellow big demonstrate how to hold the ball with his back to the basket or when to release that baby-hook or where to go when there are two or three gremlins hanging off his arms.  The kind of thing that Shaq's been dealing with for 17 years.  Oden is coming along and the best thing that the Blazers can do for him is keep as much pressure off of him.  Shaq could relieve quite a bit of that pressure just by coming in and being Shaq.  Greg isn't ready to play the savior, but I know Shaq is. 

Continue reading "Shaq in Red and Black?"

Congratulations Portland Trail Blazers on a great season. You overachieved, brought the city to hysteria not seen since the early 90s and created a solid foundation on which to work on. Now get over it.

Continue reading "Congrats Blazers...Now Get Over It"

Many fans will discuss the heartbreak of Tuesday night's game between the Orlando Magic and Portland Trailblazers.  The eight point lead with a minute and a half left, the offensive rebounds given up in crunch time and the Blazers inability to put the hammer down and prevent their first home loss.  But the biggest concern is the fact that no one felt comfortable with the ball in their hands at the end of the game. 

Continue reading "Crunch Time"

First, check out this, it's super hilarious and well written.  Now, on to the good stuff... 

We're less than four hours away from the Blazers and Celtics tipping off in Boston (catch it on ESPN if you don't want to listen to Mike Rice gush over Channing Frye and you love Van Gundy/Jackson as much as I do), so I figured I'd provide a few nuggets of wisdom about what might be the keys to the game for both sides.  Now before you all collectively groan in disgust, let me reassure you that what follows may actually prove insightful, unlike most other "key to tonight's match-up" pieces that simply say score, defend and rebound better than your opponent.  There are a few things that I'm looking for as indicators of successful play by both sides which go much deeper than the usual mundane crap, so bear with me.

Continue reading "Celtics v. Blazers Preview Extravaganza"

Ok, well the Blazers are 1-2 on this young season and look like a team trying to find their identity.  To be fair, they have run into three teams most likely to make the playoffs this season.  The schedule doesn't get any easier as they face the Jazz in Utah on Wednesday and come home to host the Rockets on Thursday.

Continue reading "Time for more PT for rookies"

Well, well, the day is finally here.  Tonight, I (along with many other rabid basketball fans) will have my eyes and ears glued to my TV set to find out who will go number 1 overall what crazy-ass (Benny, you were an English major, do I need to hyphenate "crazy-ass"?) deal Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard will swing during this year's NBA Draft.

Continue reading "First Draft"

It's only been two days of blogging here at Boston Celtics News, but already I'm going to stray away from the Celtics in order to address a pressing question about my other hometown team, the Portland Trail Blazers.  The question, posed to me last night at the bar by none other than Wizard Whitebread, was "what do you think the Blazers should draft this year?"  It's something that I've been thinking about for a while now, but I haven't really been able to come up with an answer that completely satisfies me.

Continue reading "The Oden Dilemma"