Happy New Year, BEdgers! Good luck to you in all your endeavors in 2009. And, may we see the Blazers not only get into the postseason, but prosper!

What resolutions, if any, are you all making? I've already started on one of mine recently, trying to be more positive in my comments on BE. 

Well, I DID mean to post at 12:00:01, but ... there were tactical problems. My wife and I were at a small party with our friends, and about 11:00 pm, I realized they had wireless internet and a laptop that I could use. My wife was none too keen on the idea, but I thought wow, how cool would it be to have the 1st post of the new year. So I typed in the first part of this post, and just when our clock struck 12:00, I clicked to publish it, the rushed over to kiss my jilted-feeling wife. Never thought to check online whether our clock was accurate. Doh!

Anyhow, Happy New Year to all!

Okay, this is my first, probably last, junk drawer. I don't anticipate that I'll spend much, if any, time responding to anybody who posts here, and I've only really got one thing to tell you that may interest a few BEdgers out there.

The Blazers flew out of Eugene today on account of the crappy conditions up north. They had a bus ride to Eugene's airport, then a charter flight to Denver. I just heard about this on the late news here in Eugene. The sports guy said the Blazers will come back through Eugene after the game in Denver.

Because hardly anything exciting happens here in Eugene, and because we're all kind of frazzled by the holiday rushing around and weird weather phenomena (flaky whitish matter falling from the sky), my wife and I are considering going to the airport to greet them when they return.

I don't know when, exactly, that would be. And I'm not really trying to organize anything. I'm just putting this out there in case anybody in the area thinks that might be a fun, random thing to do either late Monday night or possibly sometime early on Tuesday.

Discuss amongst yourselves. Or not.

Here's a bit of fluff I came up with based on about 30 minutes of intense "research". My sources were http://en.wikipedia.org/ ,  http://www.babyhold.com/ and http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/

Ever wonder about the meanings of the Blazer players' names? Me neither. However, the following may entertain some of you. Rankings are for American boy's names.

• Greg (50th most popular boy's name in 1988) = "Watcher". How about that staring off into space?
• Brandon = "Prince" or  "Brave" (15th in 1984) Any questions?
• LaMarcus (not in the top 1000 in 1985) is one of two Blazers with names that could be said to derive from Mars, the Roman war god. Martell (812th in 1986) is the other.  May they live up to their names!
• Travis (42nd in 1984) = "Toll collector". Maybe as in "It's gonna cost you to drive this lane, buddy!"
• Steve (201st in 1980) = "Crown". Blake has already won an NCAA championship and is now bent on winning it all in the NBA.
• Joel (71st in 1979) = "The Lord is God". If Joel says so, I ain't gonna argue.
• Rudy (359th in 1985) = "Famous wolf". Hide the womenfolk!
• Channing (not in top 1000 in 1983) = "Knowing". How fitting is this for a guy who just radiates intelligence?
• Sergio (196th in 1986) = "Servant". That's a great name for a pass-first point guard!
• Nicolas (218th in 1988) = "Victory of the people". Just what you'd expect in a great team player.
• Jerryd (b. 1988). Hmmm. Could he be Jerry with added "d"? Jerry = "Spear ruler". Right.
• Ikechukwu, aka Ike (b. 1983). For some reason, Ike wasn't in my main source, so I cheated and assumed "Dwight", and that means "Mountain of Zeus".
• Raef (b. 1976) = "Forgiving". That's a relief.
• Shavlik (b. 1983) remains an enigma.
• Nate (187th in 196) = "God has given". Hmmm.
• Kevin (17th in 1967) = "Beautiful at birth"!
• Paul (17th in 1953) = "Small" or "Humble"!

By the way, somebody has played a juvenile prank on Joel's Wikipedia page. Check out the first sentence. I have yet to edit a single word on that site, but maybe one of you readers might want to fix it?

Craig Robinson, the men's basketball coach at Oregon State has an in-law who has had some recent success on the political stage.The story has been picked up nationally; e.g., see http://www.nytimes.com/

Details are sketchy so I don't really have 75 words at this time :(

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My original fanpost

"First, hello again to all of you! I'm back from my self-imposed exile to see if anybody wants to go to the opener with group tickets. I asked about this on the center column in Dave's thread about BE Night, but I think it got too confusing over there. So, listen up: for those of you who, like me, do NOT have full or partial season tickets ...

Group tickets can be purchased now, whereas individual ones will not go on sale until next fall, when the Spurs game will surely be sold out. Therefore, I am willing to buy a group of tickets if we can get at least 10 people to commit to going. The $25 range seems most attractive to those who've so far responded.

I would buy the tickets and then meet you before the game at some designated spot outside the Rose Garden. You'd give me your $25 and I'd give you your ticket. And then ... !!!

So come on, BEdgers, don't you want to be there when Greg Oden is introduced to his home crowd at his first ever regular season NBA game? Do you think there has ever been a sound as loud as what that audience is going to make? It's gonna be something to tell your kids and their kids.

Please let me know if you're seriously interested in going. I'd like to order the tickets real soon."

Clarifications and corrections

* The tickets for $25 would be in the purple sections, not yellow as I think I mentioned somewhere.

* The seats will not be reserved until Aug. 18. However, it is important to be on their list of interested groups as soon as possible. I have put done $100 in order to be on that list.

* There is a (slim, I think) possibility that the $25 tickets may be sold out when they get to our group during the reservation process. I have to tell them what to do If that happens. My Plan B is to go for the $19 tickets. I don't have a Plan C.

Progress or the lack of it

Thusfar, I have only received email from tominhawaii, MT Suit, 12sharks, ratbastird, somebody whose screen name I don't know, and Corvid, who is still up in the air. With these people, I will have at least my minum 10 covered.

I'm still waiting to get email from shteveo, rippedcity, resurrect_ha28, ptwnblzr, and twiggs. If you really want to go with us, please send me email by midnight tonight, Blazers time.

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

After the draft I started searching for mentions of "Jerryd Bayless" on BE, and found a prescient post by Mr. Stumptown (or is it Mr. Doug?) in which he called Bayless as the guy the Blazers were targeting. Here is the URL:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/6/3/545383/who-is-1-on-the-blazers-dr

When next I looked for other epistles from the prophet, I found this reply to a fanpost question  about who the Blazers wanted with the #27 pick.  Lo and behold, he rightly said it was Batum. Here again is the URL:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/6/24/558235/blazers-buy-27th-pick-from#6966420

Ladies and gentlemen, may we have a round of e-applause for Stumptown Doug!

#52 #12 #8 #7 #2
#10 #44 #25 (#5) #11
#9 #4 #33 #1 (#8)

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So I go away for a few days to an undisclosed location and upon returning find that, once again, many of us are calling for trades to remedy one or more imagined weaknesses. According to the conventional wisdom:

(1) We need to upgrade the starting PG

(2) We need to upgrade the starting SF

(3) We need more experienced players

(4) We need tougher players

(5) We need better perimeter defense

(6) There won't be enough minutes to go around next year

I'm not going to exhaustively dissect each of these points. You can make good arguments for all of them. However, I believe we could see reasonable improvement in all cases with, at most, some minor roster fiddling. Here's why:

To (1) and (2), I say you don't have to dominate at every position to win. In particular, you don't have to have an all-star at PG if you play good team basketball and have other players who can shoot, pass, and penetrate effectively. Surely we have people already on the team, previously drafted, or obtainable at #13 this year who are good enough.

To (3), I say experience may be over-rated. Stockton and Malone had lots of experience, for what good it did them. We just need talented guys that work hard to win. Regardless, the Blazers are not getting younger -- they're maturing and they're hungry to get into the post-season.

As for (4), I am not worried that the team is too nice or too soft. These Blazers are competitors, and they want to win. I was proud of how our guys reacted to physical play and bullying tactics this year. Outlaw and Webster, for example, both showed a tendency to get even instead of getting mad. Our team is coming back with confidence and bigger, stronger bodies. And really, can you imagine anyone intimidating Greg Oden?

Point (5) is often stated in terms of the need to prevent easy penetration for layups or dunks. With Oden in the middle, opposing teams will find it more difficult to finish around the hoop. I don't recall a lot of teams beating us by bombing away from the 3-pt line, so I'd guess that our overall defense will be at least decent next year. Besides, this is an area that Nate really stresses, and if the team is willing to work hard at it, they will see good results.

The final point, (6), is definitely true, but it shouldn't concern us greatly. If players have talent, work hard, and are willing to accept narrower roles, fewer minutes, and possibly less money than they might get elsewhere in order to be part of a great team and win a championship, then it's a no-brainer to keep them. If, on the other hand, they'd rather start or play more or make more money, then more power to them, and we can certainly accommodate them through trades or letting them go as free agents. Meanwhile, I trust KP to keep the pipeline filled with new young talent and quality veterans.

Here, then, are my predictions for the team through draft day. They are based on the hope that the Blazers management demonstrates some unconventional wisdom and does not tamper overly much with the team:

* Wafer will not be re-signed. He seems like a good guy and is not untalented, but we have better options. Along with Miles' slot, that gives us at least two positions to fill.

* Rudy joins the team. Ole!

* Koponen is signed, and will play in the D-League with McRoberts. Both these guys could be important to us in a year or two. Petteri seems to have the talent and work ethic to succeed in the NBA, but needs to face better competition than he did in Finland. If we don't sign him now he may be lost to a long-term Euro contract. Josh is an intriguing prospect. He has an uncommon skill set, but so far hasn't demonstrated the seriousness you would hope for. We can certainly give him one more year to develop. If Frye finds the buffet is tastier elsewhere, McRoberts might be our guy behind Aldridge.

* If James Jones re-signs, the #13 pick will be used for a Euro-player, that African prodigy, or somebody else we can keep on ice. Alternatively, KP might be able to trade #13 for a good future first-rounder. I'd like James to stay with the team if he wants to be here. I do worry about his unpredictable knee injury status. Ultimately, I trust that KP can evaluate the risks and benefits and offer him what makes sense for the Blazers.

* If Jones does not re-sign, we use the #13 pick for a forward who would join the roster this year, maybe Rush.

* If any other player is to be traded, then it is Jack, along with the #13, in order to get somebody they really like this year, either a guard or a forward. I think Jack will improve his game, and I'm not averse to keeping him. However, I was struck by some of his comments this year, indicating to me that he is not exactly the team-first kind of guy we say we want.

I don't have any idea what KP will do with the second-round picks we have, but I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

Next season, barring serious injuries to the principal cast, I predict Greg stomps, Rudy romps, and the young and talented but year-older and considerably hungrier Blazers wreak havoc in the west and ascend to the NBA throne.

Sorry to go over 75 words.

Anybody have any Blazer haiku they want to share? My first stab:

He dribbles and shoots

Echoes of our beating hearts

And there go the game

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