June 7th Quick Chat

1. Orlando pre-draft camp:  “Highlight of the week was getting to see Durant and Oden work out in drills.  Oden was very, very impressive.  Portland fans will notice right away his ballhandling skills...footwork...and explosion to the basket, are all exceptional for a big man.”
2. “Durant...just didn’t look all that interested...just kind of went through the motions and didn’t take it as seriously as Oden.”
3. “I would put all my money on the Blazers picking Greg Oden in this draft...99.99%.”
4. “It’s very interesting how many point guards the Blazers are bringing in.  14 or 15; by far the most of any position.  This makes me think that Portland is looking for help at the Point Guard position this offseason.  I don’t know that this seals the deal that Jarrett Jack will be traded...”
5. “While the Blazers like him (Jack) and were satisfied with the job he did, I think there are questions regarding whether Jarrett Jack is a starting point guard in the NBA for a playoff-caliber team.”
6. “I think you can take Rashard Lewis off of your wish list.”  (He has decided he wants to go to Orlando.)
7. “Two western conference teams have offered their superstars for the number 1 pick.  And they are hall of famers.  And the Blazers have turned them both down.”  (Note from moderator: speculation here...could it be Seattle (Ray Allen), Denver (Allan Iverson) or Minnesota (Kevin Garnett)?)
8. Any further Aaron Brooks thoughts?  “I think he’s probably going to be an early-to-mid second rounder.  He’s awfully small but awfully quick, and he’s got great leaps...I was impressed mostly with his defense in Orlando.”
9. “I don’t know what’s going on with Travis right now.”  How does he think the small forward situation shakes out?  “I think the team views travis as a power forward.”
10. “I really think Houston is looking to trade Shane Battier...and at one point was looking at a Jarrett Jack/Travis Outlaw deal....they were considering Travis and Jarrett for Shane Battier...their next option was Jarrett and Martell for Battier...I think those trade talks were quickly swept by but they were brought up by the Rockets when talking about Portland.”
11. They may have Greg Oden on the chat next Thursday.

Rumors, etc.

There is no truth to the rumor that I actually died of happiness when the Blazers won the Lottery. Now that I'm back in action and The Moderator doesn't have to do it all by himself anymore, let's get right to the long list of rumors floating around the Blazers.

• It's obvious at this point that they are taking Greg Oden. They'll still go through the process but after he was nothing short of amazing in the draft camp drills testing athleticism, it's over. Oden's our guy.
• So that leaves us with three "known" players going into next year, Roy, Aldridge, and Oden. Everyone else fits into different degrees of trade possibilities.
• We're going to find out over the next month how they feel about Jarrett Jack. I'm starting to wonder if they're going to make a play for Billups, but I don't have anything to really back that up. If the Pistons blow it up, he'd be a fairly ideal guy to be the veteran presence on the team. Could you win a title with Billups, Roy, Udoka, Aldridge, and Oden? I think so.
• Lots of rumors swirling about the Draft and the Blazers moving up into the first round with a collection of their 4 second rounders and various trade assets. If they could somehow manage to get high enough to get Brewer you could be looking at the greatest back to back drafts in NBA history. Roy, Aldridge, Sergio, Oden, and Brewer in a span of 365 days.
• Richard Jefferson, Antawn Jamison, Corey Maggette, Rashard Lewis, hell I've even heard a Ray Allen rumor out there. The crazy thing is they are all possible at this point, Z-bo is a great trade chip to be played, he could bring any of them in return. I'd probably prefer a younger 3 that can play with our young core for a number of years to come.

It's all about to go down over the next 3-4 weeks, on this blog we'll have our mock draft and our patented live blogging of the Draft from both of us. You'll remember it started to get a little out of hand last year around pick 20, too many beers, and you can pretty much guarantee it will be taking place again this year.

How Did I Not Know About This?

Greg Oden has a blog.

http://www.yardbarker.com/users/gregoden

Some great stuff there.  Enjoy.

Worst Uniforms in NBA History

The AOL Fanhouse has a great run-down of the worst uni’s in NBA history.

I get that things were different in the seventies. Collars were easier to pop, everyone was on acid, and you could still freak out The Man. That said, I still think that the Hawks' home unis from 1970-1972 are the worst thing ever made. The road ones are okay, in a newly-built subway system map kind of way. But that green on the home ones is absolutely putrid, like what the guts of radioactive lobster look like on a bad night. Not only is it ugly, it's goofy and not at all imposing. Imagine trying to get your competitive fire burning when you're looking like a kid's book character.

Read the entire thing here: http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/06/05/the-worst-uniforms-in-nba-history/

Whatever Happened to David Aldridge?

He used to be one of my favorite NBA writers; for a while there he was approaching “The Peter Gammons of Hoops” during his last few years with ESPN.  But since they canned him, he’s been relegated to sideline reporting duty for TNT and Peter Vesey-esque rumor columns for the Philadelphi Inquirer.  

I submit for you his latest proposal:

The trade: Bryant, center Andrew Bynum ($2.17 million) and the Lakers' 2007 first-round pick to the Blazers for forward Zach Randolph ($13.3 million), guard Martell Webster ($2.97 million), guard Fred Jones ($3.3 million), guard Sergio Rodriguez ($980,400), the Trail Blazers' 2007 first-round pick (first overall), and two of Portland's 2007 second-round picks (37th and 42d overall).

David, David, David...how about you stop talking for a while there champ?  Not a chance in hell that Portland A. trades the #1 pick, or B. acquires a star player at the same position as Brandon Roy.  It’s disappointing to see what’s happened to Aldridge because he used to be a great read.

Rumor Rundown: 2007 Offseason, Edition I

We’re introducing a new “feature” today called Rumor Rundown.  This includes a rundown of any non-Blazer NBA rumors floating around out there.

RUMOR: The Kings are going to trade Ron Artest and Mike Bibby this offseason.
RUNDOWN: I agree that the Kings need to blow up their team, but I only see them moving Artest.  Bibby could go at the upcoming season’s trade deadline, but as for this coming season, you’ve got to remove Artest from the offense and see what Bibby and Kevin Martin can do together.  

RUMOR: The Pistons will trade Rasheed Wallace.
RUNDOWN: Whatever happens with Rasheed, I don’t expect it to shake down until after the Chuancey Billups situation is resolved.  Frankly, Chauncey is more important to that team, and until Detroit knows whether he’s coming back, or what/if anything they’re getting in return for a sign-and-trade, that will dictate what happens with Rasheed.  I expect Chauncey to re-sign with Detroit, and then the Pistons will look at what they can get for Rasheed.  

RUMOR: The Kings want Stan Van Gundy as their coach.
RUNDOWN: It’s true, but Van Gundy wants to stay in the Eastern Conference and is waiting to see what happens with the Orlando Magic.  Don’t be surprised if the Kings get fed up with waiting around for him and move in a different direction.

RUMOR: The Lakers want Marcus Camby from Denver.
RUNDOWN: While the rumor is true, there’s nothing to the trade potential.  Any contract that LA could add to Andrew Bynum to get Camby wouldn’t help Denver because they want to get under the luxury-tax level.  Pay more attention to the Lakers-Pacers Jermaine O’Neal trade.  And I’ve got to tell you, if the Lakers are willing to give up both Odom and Bynum for O’Neal, I’m jumping on that.

And as a side-note, I’d say to the Nuggets: why mess around with this Camby idea?  The team was scorching hot at the end of the season once Iverson and Anthony were finally both healthy, both playing and acclimated to each other (16-5 to finish the year, and gave the Spurs a nice challenge in the playoffs).  I’d like to see what these guys can do with a full season together.

RUMOR: The Hawks have given Mike Conley Jr a guarantee at #3, like they did with Sheldon Williams at #5 last year.
RUNDOWN: Not true.  Everything I’m reading says they’re leaning towards Brendan Wright.

Jason Quick 5/31 Chat

Here’s what The Man had to say, live from the Orlando pre-draft camp.

• On Durant: “He’s a cool guy.  Humble, soft spoken...much more reserved than Greg Oden, who’s personality takes over the room.”
• He’s 6-9 1/2 without shoes, 6-10 with shoes, currently 220 pounds but wants to get a little bigger.  “Biggest hands I’ve ever seen.”
• Oden will be in Portland on June 19th-20th, Durant June 22nd.
• “Whoever they pick, whether it’s Oden or Durant, I think Portland will like both of these guys.  They’re good kids who won’t get in trouble.”
• “I think the Blazers will pick Oden.”
• In Oden’s workouts, he’s been working on his explosion and his dribbling.
• Greg Oden’s weight...nobody knows.
• “I think Nate McMillan is firmly in the Oden camp.  Even though Pritchard has firmly been in the Durant camp over the past year, he’s coming around on realizing what a special player Oden is.”
• Pritchard is spending a lot of time talking to Dallas, Chicago and Seattle.
• “Portland is going into this draft trying to get multiple picks in the first round.”
• Quick thinks the Blazers may look at acquiring Steve Blake.  (Note from moderator: why?  Jack and Sergio aren’t doing the trick?  I know a lot of people think Portland could acquire a veteran point guard, but I’m not sure why.)
• And then Quick promptly addressed this: “There are still some doubts in the front office regarding whether Jarrett Jack is a quality starting NBA point guard.”
• What is Jarrett Jack’s stock in the rest of the league?  “I think he’s well regarded...I don’t think anyone is willing to give up the farm to get him.  What the Blazers are thinking is ‘is he ready to take on what is becoming a winning team...and step up and take that next step of leading a winning team...if you look at the history of great NBA point guards, their biggest season of improvement is around the third or fourth year.  As a second year point guard, he did pretty well.  But the stakes have been raised because the Blazers are going to be a better team.”
• “Jarret is a little sensitive.  He never let on last year, but it bothered him a bit how ga-ga everyone was over Sergio.”
• A lot of people assume that it’s a foregone conclusion that Zbo is getting traded; what’s his reaction?  “Zach understands it.  He realizes the talent of LaMarcus Aldridge...but Zach still thinks it can work, and he’s pretty adament about not wanting to be traded.  But at the same time he says that, he’s very interested in trade rumors.  He’d love to be traded to Chicago, he talks about that all the time.  I don’t think Zach is as sensitive as Jarrett...what does bug Zach is he’s not included in this glowing talk of the team.  If you listen to Kevin and Nate, they rarely if ever mention Zach along with Brandon and LaMarcus and Jarrett and the #1 pick when talking about the direction of this team...but Zach is very aware of that.  He points out all the time that ‘this team has never given me a bobblehead’.  So he’s sensitive to how this team views him, but at the same time I don’t think he frets about his place or his standing because he’s confident in his abilities and he views himself as one of the premier players in the NBA.”  (note from moderator: as he should; he’s one of the best PF’s in the NBA.)
• Quick seems to think that Portland would be interested in a deal that had Zbo and Chicago’s #9 pick as the main parts.  Is there an urgency to find another team for Zach?  “Not right now.  Kevin has made it very clear that they are focusing on the draft, and after that they’ll figure out how everyone fits in and what moves need to be made...and I don’t think they’ve’ decided which of Oden or Durant they will select.”
• Has Quick heard any scuttlebut about Portland from other reporters at the camp?  “It’s unanimous everyone thinks they should pick Oden.”
• A brief note on Aaron Brooks: “He played alright, but has his shot blocked three times in the lane.  When you get in this type of environment, you really notice how small he is and wonder if he can compete in this league.”
• Final note on Oden: “This guy is a different player than he was in college because his wrist has healed...he has an array of shots he can get off with both hands.”
  

It was a nice, long 39-minute chat.  And I’d like to add that I think Jason Quick is great.  I grew up in Portland and have watched him turn from an assistant notebook-writer into Portland’s best full-blown beat writer. He always does a good job and is about as forthright as you could expect from someone as close to the team as he is.

Pritchard Talking

Jason Quick reported today that Kevin Pritchard has spent a bulk of his Orlando pre-draft camp:

• Talking to Seattle asst GM Rick Cho
• Talking to the Dallas front office
• Talking to Chicago
  

Like 99% of what we hear about, it’s probably nothing.  But you know that Zbo and Rashard Lewis would be very interested in hearing all of this.

Kobe

By now, you all know that he’s requested a trade.  I heard the full interview with STEPHEN A SMITH this morning, and I have to say: no matter what people say, I still think he implied to the Lakers that he wanted Shaq gone, even if he didn’t come out and say it.  Additionally, for him to use this LA Times report about a “Laker Insider” saying he wanted Shaq out as his excuse to ask for a trade is a joke.  How stupid does Kobe really think we are?  He’s tired of losing, doesn’t want to stick out his contract, and was looking for an excuse to ask for a trade.  

Bill Simmons said something like “I wish just once a team would tell it’s star player to F-off; they signed a contract and it’s up to them to live up to it and make the team better.”  Never has there been a better instance of this than today’s trade request.  I’d love to see some of these NBA players try and live with un-guaranteed contracts like they do in the NFL.  I hope the Lakers don’t trade Kobe.

Aldrdige, Zbo, and Oden: Enough Minutes to go Around?

Zach Randolph said something interesting today, when asked about the prospect of LaMarcus Aldridge being deserving of starters’ minutes:

"I have been thinking that, too," Randolph said. "Have LaMarcus play power forward, big (Greg) Oden at center, you know, develop the young players. But I also think that even though LaMarcus plays the same position, there is enough time for all of us. Because LaMarcus can play center, too. I think we can all play together."

Which got me thinking.  Are there enough minutes for all three?  And what about Pryzbilla?  We’re going to make an assumption for purposes of this post, which is that Portland will be drafting Greg Oden.  Bear with me.

The quick answer: yes, for now.  We’ve talked about this before.  Between power forward and center there are 96 minutes in an NBA basketball game.  Zbo deserves to play 35; there is no doubt about this.  That leaves 61 minutes for Aldridge, Oden, and Pryzbilla.  

It’s looking more and more like Pryzbilla is a backup center.  And likely a very serviceable one.  And for most of his rookie year, I think you can get away with — and it might even be beneficial in the long term — giving Greg Oden about 20 minutes per game.  A front court rotation like this would certainly work:

PF: Randolph 35, Aldridge 13
C: Pryzbilla 20, Oden 20, Aldridge 8.

That’s 35 minutes for Zbo, and 20 minutes each for Oden, Pryzbilla, and Aldridge.  For the first half of the season, I think this a rock-solid plan.  Should anyone either get hurt or prove they don’t deserve that many minutes, you’ve got more than ample space to gobble them up.  The counter-argument to this scenario would be that Aldridge already deserves more than 20 minutes per game, and that Oden probably will by about halfway through next season.  Well folks, that’s why they allow mid-season trades in the NBA.  

So I would say that for now, unless the team can address it’s one glaring weakness (a starting-caliber SF), they should hold on to Zbo.  He’s a known commodity and will certainly fetch a hefty price in return.  If you can get a Rashard Lewis, or a Richard Jefferson, or a Shawn Marion (sorry, had to go on a little fantasy run there), then you deal Zbo.  If not?  Be patient, let your young bigs develop, and trade him later from a position of strength.  Kevin Pritchard knows all of this, and I trust him to make the right decision.  


-Moderator

A Quick Rundown of the Zbo Trade Rumors

We’ll get into more details in the coming weeks, but her are the preliminary rumors floating around.

-To Seattle for Rashard Lewis

-To New Jersey for Richard Jefferson

-To another top-10 draft team for their pick (and obviously an expiring deal), and Portland uses the pick to select Mike Conley

-To Chicago for Luol Deng or Andres Nocioni

-To Philly for Andre Miller and Kyle Korver

-To Dallas for Josh Howard



Most of these you can immediately disgard; but there’s what is floating around the ‘Net.

Awesome

Here’s a video of the Blazer draft party.  A definite must-watch for any fellow out-of-town Blazer fans.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=thTIYCXcx90

Recap of 5/24 Kevin Pritchard Chat

Getting right to the meat and potatoes:

• Pritchard actually found out that they had gotten the number 1 pick prior to the announcement.  There’s a room in the back with a  bunch of NBA executives who witness the pulling of the numbers, so he saw it happen.
• “Don’t read into any inflection...don’t read anything into anything.  We’re going to keep an open mind about these two individuals; no decision has been made yet.”
• What attracted Pritchard to Brandon Roy last year?  That he spoke about always wanting to put his teammates first.  This was immensely important to Pritchard.
• He was asked about the “Portland acquiring another pick to select Mike Conley, Jr” rumor, and all Pritchard would cop to is that he’ll always be aggressive.  (Personally, I don’t see this happening — but whatever.)  “I don’t plan on picking up the phone to make the #1 pick and then going to sleep for the rest of the draft.”
• On Zach Randolph: “Will either of these players that we will pick, you can simulate in your mind how they fit in with Zach, and Brandon...” etc.  “If anyone isn’t on board with what we’re trying to build, I have no problem moving players, or finding players, or finding new places for players.”
• What about Portland’s issue of all of their young talent wanting huge contracts in a few years?  “As long as Paul Allen is our owner, money will not be an issue and we won’t be losing anyone.”
  

Dear Jerry West:

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

-Moderator

All Oden, All The Time

The dust hasn't even begin to settle on this historic day for our beloved franchise, but there are some things that need to be addressed. First off, look at that NW Division now, it has Oden and Roy in Portland, Durant and Allen in Seattle, Garnett in Minnesota, Carmelo and Iverson in Denver, and oh yeah the Utah Jazz are in the Western Conference Finals. That's going to be a slugfest going forward. On the surface, I like the Blazers, Nuggets, and Jazz to all be playoff teams next year but for the next decade it's hard to not like the chances of the Blazers and Sonics, although there could be some minor realignment issues if they move to Oklahoma City.

As I discussed in my catatonic state last night, the Blazers could go one of two ways with this. The first would be to add a scrappy veteran small forward with playoff experience and a sniper off the bench and look to build a playoff ready team, or they could go for a star SF. This is an interesting move, they clearly have 2 budding superstars already, potentially 3 depending on what you think of Aldridge. Would they be better off with a lineup that went Jack, Roy, Veteran Tough Guy, Z-bo, and Oden, or Jack, Roy, Rashard Lewis, Aldridge, and Oden?

Another thing to consider, Z-bo's below average defense in the post is much less of a factor when you've got Oden back there. Greg Oden is the best defensive center alive right now. He makes up for a lot of errors elsewhere on the floor. However, the Blazers can afford to be patient with this, Aldridge and Oden are clearly the future, but it might not be a bad idea to bring Aldridge off the bench for 25 minutes next year. They also still have Joel, who becomes and interesting trade piece if they're looking to add Veteran Tough Guy at the 3.

Oden is off to Vegas for the announcement that he's joining Team USA, which makes sense since he's probably their starting center right now. His mobility, defense, and rebounding will really help against teams like Greece and Argentina. The key element of this is Nate is the assistant coach on that team. I'm not concerned about any potential wearing out of our new franchise player, but it also fuels the "keep Joel and Z-bo for now" side of the debate. Having all 4 big men early in the season would allow them to keep Oden fresh, which is essential because I fully expect them to be playing basketball into May next year.

JACKPOT!

The Blazers have won the NBA Lottery.

I am truly stunned. That looks even better typed on my laptop screen that it did on ESPN.com.

I've been a die-hard Blazer fan for my entire 28-year existence on this planet, and tonight's lottery was one of the top-ten best Blazer moments of my life. The great news keeps on coming for Portland. As Greg Anthony pointed out, Portland already had one of the most impressive collection of young players in the league, and now it's about to go off the charts. Last year, Portland utilized the draft to fleece Boston of Brandon Roy, Chicago of LaMarcus Aldridge, and Phoenix of Sergio Rodriguez. This year, they got lucky with the lottery and will be selecting Greg Oden.

A few selections from around the 'net:

"Jackpot! The Blazers are a good fit for Oden. With Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy, the Blazers have an extraordinary young core and will be a playoff contender next year." -Chad Ford, ESPN.com

"It really is an amazing moment for the Portland Trail Blazers. Now Kevin
Pritchard gets to do all his gamesmanship magic and try to freak out the rest of
the league -- who know that he'll do some bold stuff because he did it last
year...for the record, I trust Pritchard with this decision." -Henry Abbot, TrueHoop

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the odds and won the right to settle the Greg Oden-Kevin Durant debate. With just a 5.3 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick, the Blazers won the NBA's draft lottery Tuesday night, earning the right to draft a potential franchise player from what's considered to be a deep class. Represented by Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, the Blazers got a head start on landing next year's top rookie. -Associated Press

"They're going to help us right away. They can come into the NBA right away and play. I'm just excited about sitting back and knowing our general manager has the choice of drafting either Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. Either one, you can't go wrong. So I'm excited we have the opportunity to choose between the two." -Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers

My favorite part of the lottery? The smile on Brandon Roy's face when the vice-commish announced Seattle as the #2 pick. He knows, we know, and the nation is soon to know, that there's something special brewing in Portland.

Go Blazers.


-Moderator

ODEN!!!!!!

"And that means the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft goes to the Portland Trail Blazers."

The words that just changed this franchise forever. I'll be back tomorrow with some more in depth analysis, and I'm sure the fearless Moderator of this blog will as well. Right now I'm on the verge of passing out, but there are a few things going on in my head that need to be thrown out there.

1. They are drafting Greg Oden. Let's just be clear about that right now. I love Kevin Durant, but they're not passing on the best center to enter the draft in decades.

2. Seattle getting Durant makes for a very interesting scenario. The Zach Randolph for Rashard Lewis deal makes a hell of a lot of sense right now.

3. However, the Blazers could make some side deals to acquire a league average small forward.

4. Make no mistake about it, the Blazers are a playoff team next year and a title contender for the next 10 years at least. Their window didn't just open, it was blown open with dynamite. They need to start to built for the playoffs. That small forward position might be best filled by a veteran player. Someone who's been in the playoffs and knows the battles that are fought in May and June. I don't really know who this player is right now, I have to do some research tonight, plus that's the Moderators usual territory.

5. With the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select Greg Oden, center, Ohio State University.

Open some bubbly everyone. It happened!!!

Lotto Day

The big day is here, where we get to find out if the Blazers are extremely lucky and can start measuring spots in the rafters for some more banners that aren't from guys that played 30 years ago. I think they're on the brink of something very special anyway, but obviously adding Durant or Oden would be beyond my wildest imagination. Some things to consider, using The Moderator's favorite bullety format:

• The Blazers are far better off than most of the teams in the Lottery, it wouldn't be a disaster if they didn't end up with the #1 or #2 pick. That's reserved for the Celtics, Hawks, Bobcats, Grizzlies, etc.
• Jeff Green, Corey Brewer, Wright, they're all good fits, would slide right in for the Blazers as the starting 3 and they'd be a borderline playoff team next year.
• Noah and Hibbert are interesting but the Blazers are probably picking a bit high to take either of them.
• I'm not buying the Chinese Guy hype. Chad Ford has gone batty before, and this is just screaming Asian Darko. Please, just for my sanity, don't take the Asian Darko.
• We've been over this before, but I'm firmly in the Oden camp. That's multiple titles. No elite center in the history of the league has ever gone title-less with the notable exception of Patrick Ewing who had to deal with Jordan and The Dream his whole career.
• Kevin Durant might make me pass out though. The thought of a starting 5 of Jack, Roy, Durant, Z-bo, and Aldridge is just...well I can't really talk about it rationally.

Finally, one note about the Blazers new deal with Comcast, it sounds like the way to go from a revenue standpoint. In baseball the teams that can muster up their own exclusive channel have made a boat load of cash from it (YES, NESN, etc.). However, I've sent out some e-mails, spent about an hour doing research, and I've still yet to find how this effects those of us that have DirecTV. I love the Blazers, but let's just say I will be seeing a lot fewer games if they're not made available in some way on my DirecTV.

That's it for now, I'll be back this evening for a wrap up of the Lottery.

Catching Up Around The League

Obviously, it’s a slow time in the NBA for Blazer fans.  And as if it weren’t enough that our team was not among the 16 out of 30 who qualified for the post-season, the four most-fun teams to watch...Phoenix, Golden State, Dallas, and Denver, have all been eliminated and we’re left with the boring Spurs, the smashmouth Pistons, the Jazz (whom I think we all still hate thanks to the Malone-Stockton years, or maybe I’m just a bitter bastard) and the “we’re here because there has to be a fourth team” Cavaliers.  

I guess it will be fun to see how LeBron does in the conference finals; or at least, it would be, if they weren’t playing Detroit which makes it nearly impossible to watch.  And the thing is, it’s not like Cleveland is a fightin’ underdog who overachieved to ge here; I think it’s fair to say that the #2 seed Chicago gift-wrapped for them on the last day of the regular season essentially put Cleveland where they are.  Not to take anything away from them...but I’m taking any sense of accomplishment away from them.  I think the over/under on Cleveland in this series is 5.5 games.  Anything more than 5 and they’re probably doing better than expected; 5 or less and it’s shrug-your-shoulders and move on.

But enough about the Eastern Conference, for crying out loud.  Let’s talk about a few things to keep our interest through the remaining playoffs.  The howitzer’s loaded up and the bullets are flying.

• If you’d have told me that neither of Phoenix or Dallas would make it to the conference finals, well then I’d have told you to ‘suck it’.  All season long we assumed that the Western finals would be a colossal battle between Phoenix and Dallas, the two most talented teams in the NBA.  But along came the Warriors – a perfectly bad matchup for Dallas – and the Spurs, with their thuggish cheating ways, to spoil the party.  And the net-net of all this is the Jazz get an easy road to the conference finals and the Spurs likely kick, elbow, beat, and cheat their way to another title. Last year’s tournament was the most exciting playoffs ever; and this year’s has been disappointing.  Except for Warrior fans.  And even then, the way Golden State folded in the second round was disheartening.
• The Memphis Grizzlies are in the process of discussing their head coach position with Suns assistant Marc Iavaroni, whom you may recall I advocated Portland give their job to two years ago.  And if they do hire Iavaroni...pairing him up with their young nucleus plus a likely top-two in this year’s draft...look out.  We could be in for some fantastic Portland-Memphis western finals in a few years’ time.  
• In case you’re wondering, Portland has a 5.3% chance to win the lottery tomorrow night.  Anything in the top-2 would be an absolute coup for the Blazers, so keep your fingers crossed.
• Finally, a reading recommendation.  Paul Shirley is back at it with ESPN.com, and I maintain he’s the most entertaining basketball writer on the planet.  You can find his most recent article here (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=shirley_paul&page=Journal-47) , and he’s recently released a book as well.  It’s sitting on my desk and I’ll keep you posted on whether the hardback lives up to the pixilated screen deliciousness.
  

Enjoy the week, folks.

Tick...Tick...Tick

No, we're not slacking, we're calmly waiting for the lottery to take place and then we can really get down to business with off season overviews. Well, at least I am, the Moderator of this blog is too busy cheering on the Golden State Warriors. The playoffs do look like fun, hopefully the Blazers will remember their fans used to enjoy playoff games and do whatever is possible to get back there next season.

Some housekeeping notes:

LaMarcus managed to get on the All Rookie Team along with Brandon Roy, congrats on that. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that the Blazers and Raptors could make up the entire starting 5 for the Sophs team in the Rookie-Soph game next year during All Star Weekend.

Freddy Jones and Ime Udoka are coaching AAU teams in the area this summer, good for them, that kind of stuff doesn't get talked about enough.

I don't know if it's possible, but if the Suns do lose and look to shake up the roster, I'd try to figure out some way to sneak into a 3-way trade that nets us The Matrix. I know Rashard Lewis seems like the logical off season move, but if The Matrix is out there you have to give it a shot.

Only a week to the Lottery, I hate being in it, but this one certainly has a bit more excitement than normal.