I am aware of the fact that this topic has been discussed a bit before, but I think I have enough new subject matter to warrant a Fanpost, and apologize if I am mistaken and this has been gone over. So we all know Darius supposedly impressed in Boston. Well, Reports have it that Phoenix has also inquired about him. This is according to Hoopsworld, who did not specify as to whether or not Miles worked out. I may be mistaken, but I'm under the impression Darius served a five game suspension while he was sitting out injured last year. Do you remember hearing about him being suspended five games? No. Exactly. Maybe they didn't want the bad press and couldn't dump him yet, maybe he wasn't doing pot. Do you think he impressed Boston with how high he could get (couldn't help it) smoking, or do you think he is trying to recover from this thing by doing some sort of steroids. A lot of baseball players do it, but I don't know how effective it would be for a knee injury since microfractures are induced to grow new cartilage. Then again I'm not a doctor. Same old Darius? If they had one more bad seed left who made the same mistake he always makes, why not say so and publicly penalize him, at least give him an imaginary suspension publicly? Next time he is tested it's gonna be 15 games. Then 20. Soon we won't need to worry whether or not he is gonna play in ten games. My opinion? Not surprised if it was both, but I honestly think he is trying to get back in by doping. If he ends up being a champion on the Boston Celtics next year, take solace in the fact that might be the first player in the NBA with breasts...as in girl breasts.

I just read it again today:  Michael Beasley, 6'10".... Bogus.  How badly does the sports media want to enhance certain players measurements?  Obviously bad enough, because he is listed nearly 2" taller than his actual in shoes measurements. 

Let's be fair, rounding up is going to happen.  Any of these players can be round up ONE FULL INCH over thier "In-Shoes" Height, but anything more than that is Bogus Hype.  It is interesting to see how many players are not rounded up, as opposed to the players are given the benefit-of-the-doubt everytime.  What about our Blazers?  Well, they all measure out very favorably compared to other top players at thier positions.... with out any bogus rounding.

What strikes you as interesting about these measurements?

Here is a compiled list of 70 current NBA players with their pre-draft measurements from www.draftexpress.com:

Andrew Perna at RealGM has released his list of Top Ten Careers of Players Picked Sixth--and our boy Roy is at #10.

The entire list:

10. Roy

9. Shane Battier

8. Downtown Freddie Brown

7. Hersey Hawkins

6. Antoine Walker

5. Kenny Smith

4. Orlando Woolridge

3. Adrian Dantley

2. Lenny Wilkens

1. Larry Bird

Now, this is a *career* achievement award, so the three active players on the list (Roy, Battier, and to lesser etent, 'Toine) probably have room to move up.   Roy is better than Battier today overall (though Battier's a far better defender); and I see Roy vaulting up to #4 rather swiftly.  The top 3 are all HOFers, and Bird is of course the best at his position.  (LeBron may challenge him one day as best-ever SF, but not yet).

I can see Roy eventually being considered a better player than Dantley--who was a bit of a one trick pony, but damn he did that one think (score) well.  Wilkens playing career occurred mostly before I was born--I know him far better as a coach than as a player.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8324086/How-the-Blazers-got-back-on-track

Mike Kahn, over at Fox sports writes a nice piece about KP stratagies, the Blazers promise, and a break down of some impact moves.

"Blake, center Joel Przybilla (28) and forward/center Raef LaFrentz (33) are the only players on the roster older than 24, and the 6-11 LaFrentz is crucial because his contract of nearly $13 million is expiring after this season -- opening the door for either a trade or free-agent acquisition down the road. They off-loaded problematic Darius Miles with a bum knee and more than $27 million on the salary cap with what was ruled a career-ending injury. (And even if he does make a comeback, it won't count on the cap -- although Allen would have to pay the salary as opposed to insurance coverage.)

Clearly, it's all part of the master plan of eradicating the losing culture."

Can this be for real? Can we really have a good to great upcoming core of players and then we've just added an awesome rookie class?

According to David Thorpe of ESPN.com we have 4 of the top 20 rookies of 2009.

Oden #2

Rudy #3

Bayless #12

Batum #19

Though I agree with the rankings of our top 3, more or less, I've got to admit I'm pretty surprised that Batum was ranked so high after hearing mixed reports on and after the draft. It's going to take some pretty impressive play in the summer league to get me believing that Batum slipped past half of the GM's in the league. Batum is playing in Vegas isn't he?

Now I realize that rookies rarely make as big of a splash as the media would like us to believe, but this list is pretty impressive, if it's to be believed. Personally, I think the impact  that each of these guys will have has been a bit over-hyped. To hear some people, Oden and Rudy are going to step in and be perennial all-stars from Day 1. I think they're going to suffer through the normal rookie mistakes, but slowly mature into good or very good NBA players.  

Here's the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings?season=2009&playerRankingType=1&period=1&set=1

For someone who doesn't live in Portland (anymore), what's the best way to get the most games on TV?

I'm in NJ. Listened to last year's games via Internet radio, but would like to get them on TV this year, whether by cable, satellite or Internet. I'm wondering what other people do.

The system requires me to make this post longer, so this sentence is just to make it longer.

Check out this story:

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=121549497932308900

About Sergio, it says:

'Portland has sent shooting coach John Townsend to the Canary Islands to work with point guard Sergio Rodriguez. Rodriguez was cut last month from the Spanish Olympic team. “Sergio is doing a lot better (emotionally) now,” says Pritchard, who has spoken with Rodriguez. “He feels good about his spot on the (Blazers), sees that maybe there might be more minutes for him.”'

As somebody who does appreciate the occasional glimpses of talent we have seen from him, this is nice to hear. I'd like to see Sergio succeed in the NBA, if not here, then someplace else.

Interestingly, there is also word today that Nate has been approached regarding extending his contract. He is going to be keeping his options open. Does anybody think that there may be some tension between Nate and KP centered around personnel decisions? Hmmm...

Here's the link for that last bit:

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1215483969201330.xml&coll=7&thispage=2

Jason Quick is reporting that Nate has turned down contract extension talks this summer. 

McMillan said he turned down an offer this summer to negotiate a contract extension with the Blazers. McMillan, who has two years remaining on a five-year, $30 million deal, said he wants to finish his five years before thinking about an extension. "I want to earn it," McMillan said. "We haven't done anything here yet, and when my five years is done, I want to make sure they want me and make sure I want to be here."

This was an add on to a post about Bayless playing at the point.  For the full article click here.

I was a bit surprised by this tidbit in Jason Quick's article this morning about Bayless:

"In Las Vegas, McMillan said the Blazers will begin games with point guard Petteri Koponen -- a first-round pick in 2007 who will remain overseas next season -- and Bayless at shooting guard, but that Bayless will eventually get large chunks of playing time at the point."

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1215483969201330.xml&coll=7

I had expected Koponen to have a decent shot at making the roster based on summer league play and the fact that all reports are that he is looking much better than he was in previous years.

This new strategy of drafting players and stashing them overseas is something I need to become more familiar with. Does anyone know how long San Antonio usually lets their players season overseas before bringing them over?

Well, some of you already know my work. I just enjoy making videos in my spare time ^_^

If you're not familiar with me in particular, I did the following videos:

It's Not About The Shoes

Let Your Game Speak

What Makes A Hero

Year of Trials, Year of Memories 

People have been asking me non-stop to make a new video, and you know what, I finally did.

But this video is not about the Blazers, it's about the Sonics.

That's right, I'm sure everyone here is getting tired about hearing stuff abotu the Sonics... I see that a post was just made ont he main BEdge... but you know what, this isn't something small going on, this is important, and I feel that I've proven my Blazer creds with my previous videos.

So for your viewing, here is my latest video:

A Tribute to the Seattle SuperSonics