Recap of 12/21 Quick & Patterson Chat

You can get a cheeseburger anywhere; why do you come to Blazersblog? You come to Blazersblog for the attitude, and the atmosphere. And so we can cut through the bullshit. We'll save you the pain of listening to Casey Holdahl's chat with Quick and Patterson (the latter two are great; its the host is unbearable) by getting straight to the good stuff.

Notes from Quick:

1. Raef LaFrentz will be getting game action this week; he's ready and he's earned it.
2. Why hasn't LaMarcus been playing? According to McMillan, he hasn't earned it. He's making mistakes on the floor.
   
3. Brandon Roy: his heel responded well to playing 23 minutes on Wednesday night (including all of crunch-time, by the way) and he played almost the entire practice on Thursday at the PG position because Jarrett Jack was under the weather. Quick also mentioned that he thinks PG could be Roy's permanent position long-term. We won't go too far into that right now, but file it away.
4. "What's the deal between you and Bonzi?" -- Every time Bonzi sees Quick, he calls him a female dog, and did it again on Wednesday. "What up, you bitch" is apparently how it's phrased. I wish Quick would respond with something like "hey how'd that contract negotiation go this summer?" but he's too classy.
5. Why is Magloire playing better? (Note: Holdahl asked this exact same question last week, not sure why we needed to cover it again) Quick essentially repeated his answer, that is has more to do with understanding of role and playing with the second unit.
   
6. Pryzbilla played his best game of the season on Wednesday night. He was "awesome" defensively, and he's starting to look to shoot a little. It may only be a few shots per game, but it loosens up the defense a bit.
7. Quick's take on the AI trade: "I think it makes Denver a better team ... Denver is a formidable team now". Thanks for that.
8. Blazer MVP so far, aside from Zach? Quick selected Jarrett Jack. He's been solid, he's answered the call, and been better than the team imagined.
9. How long until Roy is back in the starting lineup? Just a few more games; perhas the NOOCH game.
10. Will Portland try and keep Ime Udoka beyond this season? Yes, most likely. It's a good fit for both sides.
11. Preview of the Portland-Toronto game: Curious to see Brandon Roy. Was a little rusty on Wednesday, will be interesting to see what kind of a step forward he takes. Bargnani is fun to watch; he can be good at times and can look lost at times. It's a game Portland should win.
12. With Roy back, Martell will move to the bench. And speaking of Martell, he's lost that fun, child-like aura, and is quite moody. Oh and by the way, Jason Quick apparently hosts crazy parties every christmas eve. (?)
    

Notes from Patterson:

1. Thoughts on AI: Denver will be putting a lot of points on the board, and they've created a window in the next few years where they coudl make a serious run.
   
2. What was the first thing that went through your mind when you saw the fight last week? Not the image that the league wants to portray. Felt that the penalties that were handed out were appropriate.
3. Regarding Zach's foot, what's his status? He's fine, played well on Wednesday night.
4. What does Brandon Roy bring to the team? Enthusiasm, the fans love him, makes the players around him better, savvy, wants the ball, etc.
   
5. Does he keep in touch with players who have moved on past the team? Sometimes yes, sometimes know. Guys he was a part of drafting (sam cassell, jon barry, etc) he keeps in touch with a little bit. Bonzi is not one of those guys.
6. What's the situatoin with the team's second round picks? The club picked up four additional second round picks over the next couple of years. They've had some calls about the extra pick this upcoming draft because it's expected to be a deep draft.
   
7. Tomorrow's game versus Toronto: Roy will play, probably not start, that'll be up to Nate. Toronto has a good young team, looking forward to seeing Bargnani,
   

Notes From Quick/Patterson Chat

Another session (moderated by Casey Holdahl, who is just brutal) held by O-Live yesterday.

Quick:

• Sounds like Portland isn’t involved in the Denver/Philly three-way. The 76ers really want Magloire, but Portland wants nothing to do with Nene (rightfully so).
• Quick think Magloire’s improved play of late is more a result of becoming accustomed and comfortable with his role than effort.
• This has cut into LaMarcus Aldridge’s minutes, primarily because he’s having trouble with fouls and struggles a bit versus some of the “bigger” big men on defense.
• Why is the team playing better lately? Quick mentioned two things: 1. The team coming together more (both off the court and on), and Joel Pryzbilla’s interior defense has played a huge role.
• Regarding the canning of assistant coach Darnell Valentine: it sent ripples through the team and the players were shocked. He was a guy that a lot of the players could relate to (Martell Webster apparently goes with him to see movies - ?) but the players weren’t happy about it.

Patterson:

• "Was really pleased with the record" on the road trip (which was 4-2).
  
• The Darnell Valentine situation: Didn't want to get into specifics; "any company as economically stressed as we are is going to go through turnarounds ... we'll need to continue to monitor our costs and our levels of employment." He indicated that it was more economic than performance, but wouldn't come right out and say it.
• Holdahl asked a really stupid question about all-star voting, mentioning the number of forwards who were ahead of Zach in the fan balloting. Patterson rightly pointed out that only the starters are selected by the voting, and the coaches can add him in, which he expects to happen. (Memo to Casey: try and ask intelligent questions to the team's president if you wouldn't mind.)
• Allen Iverson: are the Blazers involved in any connected deals? "The phones are busy the last few days ... we'll continue to have conversations with folks around the league, as will everyone else."
• Patterson added a funny note when asked if he had ever been asked by a player to be traded, "You probably remember Ruben Patterson who said it after every single game for about 2 1/2 years here, the problem was that nobody in the league was interested in him. A lot of times, that's what you have to tell these guys."
• A question asked: "Is it your experience that players over-value their place in the league?". I swear to god, if O-Live doesn't replace this hack then they're in big trouble. Patterson's response was great, though: "Don't we all? That's just human nature."

Also, one other note from today – Brandon Roy will not be making his reappearance tonight after all. Looks like next Wednesday against Houston.