The draft and a side of turkey for free agency

So the draft came and went on the 25th of June, and it was relatively quiet i know. As any Blazers fan whose been with the team at least the last 3 years knows, this is a bit of a shocker. The Blazers have been pretty active on draft days as of late. Very active. As in the MOST active. but it was relatively calm on this draft day. the Blazers only made a few moves, one was the move up to the 22nd pick. The other was trading Sergio (yay!) and the 38th overall pick with cash considerations and our worst pick next year to the Kings for the number 31 pick. its a bit of a head scratcher but it all seems to make sense after a while. So with the 22nd pick KP surprised a lot of people and drafted Victor Claver from Spain, a 6'9'' power forward who received high praises from KP. Now the moves are starting to make sense. The Blazers can moved up just enough to land the guy they wanted for sure and drafted a Spanish player that they can stash over seas and not have to pay him, and they don't have to pay the other 2nd rounders if they don't want to plus they got out from Sergio's contract. They were clearing cap room, presumably to take a run at a high profile free agent, which was absolutely right. So they chose Jeff Pendegraph and Dante Cunningham at the 31 and 33 picks. Two forwards that can duke it out for the back up power forward spot, but i would be shocked if both made the team and even one of them could be a stretch. given the opportunity however both should be solid backups. The really interesting pick for me came at pick 55. As i watched the draft unfold, i noticed that at pick 50, Patrick 'patty' Mills was still available. Patty Mills is an undersized point guard at about 6'0'' but he's lightning quick and he intrigues the hell outta me. We all saw how well Aaron Brooks did for the Rockets did as an undersized lightning quick point guard. So imagine my delight when Peppermint Patty Mills (i saw that on Blazers edge and am now going to steal it lol) was still on the board at 55 and KP scooped him up, what a steal that late in the draft. and He's Australian so he could go play overseas somewhere if we don't want him right now. So today, July 1st is the first day teams are allowed to talk to free agents, and the Blazers wasted no time, they were the first to contact Hedo Turkoglu. We're taking a run at him and by all indications running pretty hard.So what do i think of this? well, I'm skeptical because the report is Hedo wants 5 years 50 million dollars, which is a lot to pay someone whose 30. As i rethought it tho, Turk is a 6'10 forward who can play 3 to 4 positions and is a WHIZ at the side pick and roll, which will really open things up for GO and if Lma can get his 3 pointer down, he could kill behind the arc because the double team on Greg will come most likely from the 4, leaving Lma open from distance. i started to get more and more sold on Turk, the stat that really did it for me was that he's got more playoff experience than all the current Blazers combined, which is something to be desired. i then heard that Rudy is unhappy about this pursuit of Hedo, actually the exact word Chris Sheridan from espn.com used was 'infuriated'. Now i haven't heard anything from Rudy directly yet, but i have some issues with this. the article says he's worried about playing time, and even if hedo wasn't coming over, Rudy will still be playing behind Roy, so he's not gonna make a killer amount of minutes, and it has very little to do with Turk. i heard that Rudy may go as far as to request a trade. and as much as I LOVE Rudy, if he wants a trade because of minutes, we may have to move him, because he cant play ahead of Brandon Roy, so his minutes will always be limited. so my thought is this; If we get Hedo, one of the small forwards is gone, Travis Outlaw more likely than the others. there's just not enough room at the 3 spot. so if Rudy demands a trade, we package Travis outlaw and Rudy Fernandez to pick up another quality player because word is that Rudy has got a fairly high market value and Travis has some suitors as well. All in all, i cant say I'm 100% confident in this move if we do sign Hedo, but i do know that im very intrigued because it has the potential to make us immensely better and possibly even... dare i say it? ... contenders? well we'll have to see. KP has improved the team every year since he's been here and I'm putting my trust in him, i believe that hes still got a couple other moves up his sleeve too after Turkoglu. It's all about waiting and seeing now. check back here I'll post anything as i hear it and keep an eye on Blazersedge.com too, one of my favorite sites, possibly the best Blazers fan site out there, and they'll get you the info as it happens! Get pumped Portland, this is an exciting time! Go Blazers!

Doc

Twas the night before the draft

Ah! it is upon us! on more day and the draft day is here, the trades from the last blogs have been completed and even more have been reported. Jamal Crawford sound like he;s headed to the hawks, and a few more trades have been mentioned. Without a doubt tho. the big deal thus far is Shaq headed to Cleveland. all we're waiting for now is for the owners to finalize the deal, and for Shaq to pick out another ridiculous nickname. The Cavs got Shaq while giving up only Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovich. im curoius to see if this works out for the Cavs or if it backfires, the good thing is that they didnt give up much. So as you can see there are already trades being made and it looks like its gonna be a big day for trades tomorrow. The Blazers made a trade today as well, nothing big but they traded the 24th pick, the 56th pick and the worst pick of next years draft to the Mavs for the 22nd pick. Why would they do that? just two spots? well I feel this is gonna be a piece in a bigger puzzle, i would be surprised if the Blazers picked at 22, i think if they do they'll be picking for another team. Possibly Chicago? theres a lot of talk about Kirk Hinrich coming to Portland, and this rumor has been circulating for the last couple years tho. However, it does seem to have some extra push as of late, captain Kirk has actually been telling friends that he believes he'll be in Portland next year. is this the best way to go? I have to say, if you dont have to give up a terrible amount of talent for him, I like it. Especially if Steve Blake stays. I think Hinrich is a little more talented and athletic version of Steve Blake. to have Blake and Hinrich as 1a and 1b, i would be very pleased with that. So i will keep this updated on that for sure. so many possibilities and I can hardly wait! Keep your eyes peeled because you never know whats gonna happen when KP is pulling the trigger. Go Blazers!

Doc

Two days to go and all ready the fun begins

There are two days left until the NBA draft and i can hardly stand it. I love this time of year, especially lately as KP never seems to let down, he always seems to have some sort of draft day fun up his sleeve. This year Will be exceptionally interesting because its so wide open. The Clippers will select Blake Griffin first overall but after that, its open for debate. The Blazers hold the 24 pick but i would have a hard time believing that they stay there and make a pick. I think they'll either move up or move out of the draft entirely. I'm in favor of moving out of the draft unless a few things happen; of the Blazers can get up high enough in the lottery without sacrificing much, i would be intrigued by Ricky Rubio, he's a big point gaurd from Spain and he's said to have great court vision. i also would be interested to see if the Blazers took stephen Curry, the 6'3'' gaurd from Davidson with a lights out shot. the only problem with that is I think Bayless would go, its either one or the other i think. i wouldnt mind seeing the Blazers keep the 24th pick if a couple players slid down that far. i'd be happy with Tyler Hansbrough, the 6'8'' forward from North Carolina, he would play behind Aldridge and I like the toughness he brings, and the energy, he seems to just keep going, theres a reason they call him psycho T. and the other player if he fell that far that i would like is Hansbroughs teamate, Ty Lawson. Lawson is a pure point, he can attack the rim and his shot has improved. He 's got good court vision and he knows how to win. the only thing that bugs me about him is his size, he's 6'1'' and thats probably being generous. He'll have a hard time defending bigger guard in the NBA but im intrigued and i have a good feeling about Lawson, look for him to surprise people how well he plays in the league. What i want the Blazers to do however is use some of their Young pieces and cap room to gain a small forward or a backup power forward. I've heard a lot this off season on how teams that have monetary flexibility (i.e. the Blazers) can afford to take on some of the star players salaries that other teams are trying to shed. Pretty much meaning that we may be able to pull of the equivalent of the pau Gasol trade ( ya know, where the Lakers gave the Griz shit and got an all star in return). However, i hadnt heard anything like that going down yet, until today that is. The Spurs traded the expiring contract of Frabricio Oberto, Bruce Bowen, and Kurt thomas to the bucks for star small forward Richard Jefferson. This is what i want the Blazers to do, trade some pieces they dont need to acquire a bigger pice to the puzzle, and seeing that its true, that some teams are going to be willing to give u star players for nothing more than salary cap space. makes me excited to think what the Blazers could do. Another trade also went down, the Wizards have traded Pechorov, Etan Thomas, songaila and the 5th pick to the timberwolves for Randy Foye and mike miller. i like what Minnesota did here, they already ahve the 6th pick and now have the 5th as well. this opens a lot of doors for them as they can now get high quality rookies, a big and a small perhaps to help Al Jefferson as they rebuild in Minnesota. this could also be good news for the Blazers if they feel theres a player they want and the 5th or 6th pick will be enough to attain them. with Minnesota having consecutive picks that high they may trade them to the Blazers or another willing team and get some young proven talent as well as a high lottery pick. there are so many things the Blazers could do, I believe that they're going to try to move up and if they cant for a reasonable Price they'll try to move out of the draft and trade for a veteran (which i like hearing and Im sure Nate McMillan does too!). Well in two days we'll see how it all goes down, make sure to check it out, its on ESPN at 4, and 95.5 the game will be covering the draft all day, and they usually break draft day news about the Blazers before ESPN does anyways. So sit back and enjoy this unpredictable ride, it could be an epic day in the lives of Blazers fans! Go Blazers!

Doc

Ah, Time Heals All Wounds

So its been quite a long while since my last post. after the Blazers lost game one, they went into the next game and won but then couldn't get a victory in Houston and came back to the RG down 3 games to 1. the Blazers manned up and took care of home court, beating the Rockets by double digits and sending the series back to Houston. that however, was all it took. I said all along that this was a horrible match up for the Blazers and it was, Houston dominated and went on to win the series 4 to 2. while its sad to watch the Blazers lose, lets look at this the right way, its a step in the right direction, they made the playoffs and they competed and competed well. the things that are on the way with this team are simply amazing. another bad piece of news, the L*kers ended up winning the finals, yuck, that's pretty gross to type. However, the season is over, and this is one of my favorite time of the off season; the lead up to the draft! the draft is happening on Thursday the 25th, the Blazers hold the number 24 pick and 3 second rounders. The reason i like this time of year is the rumors! there fun to think about and speculate on! and because the Blazers are always so active, their names always come up in a ton of rumors! already so far ive heard that we're trying to land Ramon Sessions, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Trevor Ariza, Ive heard were trying to trade up in the draft to land Stephen curry or Psycho T (tyler hansborough). Ive even heard were essentially giving away Sergio to the Knicks ( I'm actually in favor of this lol.) But my point is, its fun to speculate what KP and crew will do and to hear all the rumors, and the rumors will only increase as we get closer to Thursday. Soon ill write up a blog with all the rumors i have heard and list a few of the impressive draft workouts that the Blazers have had. I'll also try to get up a blog detailing what i think the Blazers should do, and what i think they will do, and what i wish the Blazers could do lol. So rejoice Blazers fans, last season, while the ending was sour, was a great ride and a fun memory as we move forward into the early stages of a new season and another promising season! Riiiiip Ciiiity baby!

Doc

The Rose Garden not a friendly place for Blazers fans on Saturday night

Saturday rolls around. It was a great day. It was sunny outside, there was lots of entertainment to be had outside of the RG, free flags were given out as you entered the doors. The building was buzzing with excitement, cheers were being screamed, mantras being chanted, and this was over an hour before the game. And Blazers fans were longing for that hour to be over, because that would end a 6 year playoff drought. It was exciting, i would even say goose bump- inducing. After the whistle was blown though, the chills of excitement, quickly turned into chills of dread running down your spine. The Blazermaniacs worst fear was coming true; the Blazers looked like a team that wasn't ready to compete in the post season. The Blazers looked flat, they couldn't stop Yao Ming (who didn't miss a shot the entire game). The Blazers couldn't score and they couldn't stop the Rockets. Aaron Brooks (former University of Oregon player) was red hot and ended the game with 27 points. The Blazers looked lost, and confused, and totally overwhelmed. The lone bright spots of the game were Brandon Roy, who looked as poised and confident as ever, dropping in 21 without playing most of the 4th quarter. Greg Oden also looked pretty good, dropping 15 points. That was it. Lamarcus Aldridge had 2 made field goals. Rudy had 1. Nobody could do anything. It was disturbing, unsettling, confusing, and down right shitty to watch as a fan. And it put me in a horrible place. a horrible place. I was not a happy camper (luckily my buddy is always there for me and helped me move on! thanx 'olly!), thats why this blog is so late. in the end, the final margin of victory was 27 points. The Blazers need to regroup. I hope they do, hopefully it was just a bit of nerves and inexperience that they got out of their system. the next game is tomorrow at 7, and it is crucial. if the Blazers dont win that one, its almost guaranteed that the series is over. The Blazers have bounced back after blowout losses all season, lets see if they have one more comeback left in em. It'll be tough but it can be done. My mission for all you Blazers fans out there?; still be loud. still be enthusiastic and let the team know that you've got their back. its when they're losing that they need your cheers the most. So Lets Rise Up, and answer the call, be there for the team when it counts, because tomorrow is the most important game of the year. So ready or not, its time for a Rip City Uprise. Wheres your Blazermania Portland?

Doc

Houston; you have a problem, and its name is Rip City

Thats right, the rockets are in town and im putting a memo to Blazers fans; get loud! make the Rose Garden unbearable to play in. its gonna be a fun series and Im hopefully optimistic. in my opinion, the Blazers should run the ball against them. i know in the playoffs, the game is supposed to slow down and teams are supposed to play more of a half court game. My reasoning however is that Houston is a great defensive team, but they aren't all that mobile. Yao Ming has never been all that mobile and Ron Artest is getting older. Aaron Brooks is so much shorter than any of our guards, I think if we can keep Houston on their heels and backpedaling, we can keep them from getting their defense set and we can get some easy baskets. Lets challenge this team to score with us, get the game into the 100's and see if they can keep up. i also think i like Aldridge on Yao, fronting him, i think the quicker Aldridge would give Yao fits if he fronted him, Yao has historically struggled when teams try to front him. All in all, I think Nate will do whats best for the team, and i dont know that the team really has to change much, they just need to play the way they've been playing to close out the season and i think they'll be fine. alright, check back here for a review of game one, hopefully you'll like the outcome! Go Blazers! Rip City Uprise!

Doc

Iron Pyrite, staying the night, 15,000 people and home by Saturday

yes sir yes sir, Wednesday's game against the butt Nuggets was the finale of the regular season and it was a big game. the Blazers only needed to win to guarantee home court advantage in the 1st round. with San Antonio winning and Houston losing, the Blazers were going to have a playoff series against the Rockets, but they were still playing for home court advantage. The game began and it was pretty clear that BOTH teams were ready to play as the score was very close, the Blazers had a 1 point advantage after the 1st quarter, after that however, the Blazers pushed the lead and never looked back. Lamarcus and Brandon took a back seat as it was Trout and Rudy who really filled things up. Rudy hit his 159th 3 pointer of the season, which is a new NBA Rookie record, he surpassed Kerry Kittles record which was about 10 years old. The Blazers ended up winning by 28 points in an emphatic win. the Blazers really made a strong impression on the rest of the league, winning 9 of their last 10 including ending on a 6 game win streak, and in those 10 games, they beat the 3 teams that finished ahead of them in the standings. So the Blazers finished 4th in the Standings will have to face the Rockets in the first round. The first game of the series starts tomorrow, saturday at 7:30.

So after the game, the Mafia and I headed outside, and to our dismay found a huge line extending back from the box office to the Memorial Colosseum,all people waiting to buy Blazers playoff tickets the next day. (we found this to be upsetting as we were told that people werent going to be allowed to line up until 6 Am the next morning). So we quickly got in line and thats where we stayed, from about 10 pm to 12 pm the next day we waited, and landed, tix. The Mafia will be at the game. The 'concrete camp out' was pretty sweet. It was a bunch of Blazers fans just kickin it and talking about the game and the Blazes in general. Brian Wheler (Blazers radio play by play guy and way awesome dude) stopped by to shake hands and take pictures. He also was handing out money from his own pocket to people, so they could go buy food for everyone. he even gave us one of his famous "BOOOOOMSHAKALAKA!!!" calls that he uses during games. it was way cool. after we got tix, we hit the max and headed over to the Blazers playoff rally at pioneer square. It was amazing, an estimated 15,000 people crammed the area to see the players and coaches and show their fandom and support their team. as John Canzano pointed out, a lot of fans from other teams in bigger markets may look at the rally and laugh at Portland fans for celebrating a simple playoff birth. But thats what makes Portland Portland. Its what makes us weird, its what makes us unique in our Fanhood. Its what makes us Blazermaniacs, and we're damn proud of that fact. So now, Rip City is anxiously awaiting Saturday, for our first match up with the Rockets. Portland; Its time to get up, and be loud, and be fierce, and to support your team. Its time for a Rip City Uprise!

Doc