Lisa Dillman, LA Times: "The Great Clipper Experiment of 2008-09 continued this week with a new development involving an old player. Former Clippers forward Darius Miles worked out for the team on a scheduled off day Tuesday, one day after the Clippers dropped to 4-17, faltering in the fourth quarter against Orlando. 'We have an extra roster spot,' Clippers Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy said Wednesday. 'He is starting to work out for teams. And so, we're just looking into the situation.' Based on what they have seen and what they need, the woefully lacking-in-depth Clippers would jump at signing the 6-foot-9 free agent Miles, who was close to making the Celtics in training camp. The thought is that Boston wanted to keep Miles, 27, but a roster spot simply wasn't available."
This is not good news for Blazermaniacs... I'll keep watching the wire...
Good news is, he'd still have to wait 10 games to play due to suspension, so teams needing depth NOW might go after a D-leaguer...
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Game 21: You got Punkd, Fool
Brandon Roy drives the lane, crosses over his man, looks for the open shooter... and finds nothing. To me, that pretty much sums up the game. The Celtics are probably going to be in the Finals, same as the L*kers. I think in some ways this was the Celts trying to send a message to te league, but especially the L*kers "anything you can do, I can do better"
They did respect the Blazers by bringing their A-game. That's something I said after the opening game of the season, too. The Blazers aren't sneaking up on anyone this year, and the other teams certainly aren't going to like people annointing the Blazers while they're gunning for a ring.
I'm getting so tired of people mis-using the +/- stat. It's like a new toy that they just can't put down. Case in point, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were -18 and -17 respectively, while Channing Frye, who looked wholly flummoxed and flabbergasted (airballs, turnovers, lackadasical play) finished +2. Not a huge thing, but the +/- stat is a TEAM stat, not an individual one, even though it is applied to single players. I'm still not even sure how useful it is, considering you can't tell who was on the floor with whom. Ah well.
They did respect the Blazers by bringing their A-game. That's something I said after the opening game of the season, too. The Blazers aren't sneaking up on anyone this year, and the other teams certainly aren't going to like people annointing the Blazers while they're gunning for a ring.
I'm getting so tired of people mis-using the +/- stat. It's like a new toy that they just can't put down. Case in point, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were -18 and -17 respectively, while Channing Frye, who looked wholly flummoxed and flabbergasted (airballs, turnovers, lackadasical play) finished +2. Not a huge thing, but the +/- stat is a TEAM stat, not an individual one, even though it is applied to single players. I'm still not even sure how useful it is, considering you can't tell who was on the floor with whom. Ah well.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Game 20: Abracadabra
The Wizards had no spell to cast in the fourth quarter. So that's when Roy went all Harry Potter on them. 12 points in 8 minutes from "The Reason" (Yes jorginvegas, I know that's yours. No jorginvegas I will not give you any royalties) and a couple of nifty dishes to open guys for some clutch buckets.
Greg Oden's put-back smash was super sweet, like sugared honey... I think the rim is still rattling today... Backboards around the league tremble at the mere mention of Oden's name.
This was a clearly tired Blazer team playing a clearly tired Wizard's team and still finding the will to push themselves over the top. Great effort from the guys, but there's obviously room to improve. It's nice to say that this year, look at the calendar and see that the Blazers finish off the season with more home games than road games. Even before the Sonics were stolen from Seattle the Blazers had a lot of miles on their road, now they travel further more often than any other team. I wonder why Nate doesn't go a little deeper into his bench during games a little more, just a couple minutes here and there for Ike and Bayless. I'm not talking major time, just tell them their role, i.e. "Jerryd, just come upcourt and pass" or "Ike, just grab some rebounds" It's a long season and those guys should spell the team occasionally just to keep the rest of the team fresh for the stretch run. Would they really be hurting the team in-game all that much? Even during the blowouts the Blazer's have had Jerryd and Diogu barely played 8 combined minutes.
Greg Oden's put-back smash was super sweet, like sugared honey... I think the rim is still rattling today... Backboards around the league tremble at the mere mention of Oden's name.
This was a clearly tired Blazer team playing a clearly tired Wizard's team and still finding the will to push themselves over the top. Great effort from the guys, but there's obviously room to improve. It's nice to say that this year, look at the calendar and see that the Blazers finish off the season with more home games than road games. Even before the Sonics were stolen from Seattle the Blazers had a lot of miles on their road, now they travel further more often than any other team. I wonder why Nate doesn't go a little deeper into his bench during games a little more, just a couple minutes here and there for Ike and Bayless. I'm not talking major time, just tell them their role, i.e. "Jerryd, just come upcourt and pass" or "Ike, just grab some rebounds" It's a long season and those guys should spell the team occasionally just to keep the rest of the team fresh for the stretch run. Would they really be hurting the team in-game all that much? Even during the blowouts the Blazer's have had Jerryd and Diogu barely played 8 combined minutes.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
(What happened to my post?!?!)... Oh well, 25% gone, and a quick hit on Blazers Knicks
Hmm... not too sure what happened to my Detroit post-game, but I'll re try it now (maybe the computer Gods didn't like it)
Game 18: Gutsy
Welcome back, LaMarcus!!! I think we can finally say the slump is officially over. Aldridge scored as much in the first quarter as the entire Pistons team. Now that is saying something.
The Blazer's starters were the reason for this victory, since the bench was outplayed by their Detroit counterparts in every way. Still, that's why you have depth like this, some nights the white unit will bail us out, and (hopefully most games) the starters can relax, ball, and dominate like tonight. The +/- in this game for the black unit was ridiculous. +28 for Roy, +23 for Greg, +22 for LaMarcus, and on and on. The bench... not so much.
Tonight: New Yuck
It is hard for me to believe that this Knicks team knocked off Utah. Let alone Golden State. As long as the Blazers play their own game, and are not seudced by the temptation to run run run like the D'antonis (oh, sorry, the Knicks) this is a "should" win.
The Blazers may be dead last in posessions per game, but they are second in the league in offensive efficiency. I'll take those odds any day of the week. I'm sure Nate has been pressing his team on pounding it inside against the undersized Knicks and not "going over to the dark side" so to speak by trying to run with them.
That having been said, I think the Blazers could easily beat this team in an open-court game, even with only the second unit. Do you think ANY team is going to want to face the Blazers come playoff time? Didn't think so. As long as the Blazers keep Nate Robinson contained and play big, this is over by halftime. Anyone else smell a blowout?
Game 18: Gutsy
Welcome back, LaMarcus!!! I think we can finally say the slump is officially over. Aldridge scored as much in the first quarter as the entire Pistons team. Now that is saying something.
The Blazer's starters were the reason for this victory, since the bench was outplayed by their Detroit counterparts in every way. Still, that's why you have depth like this, some nights the white unit will bail us out, and (hopefully most games) the starters can relax, ball, and dominate like tonight. The +/- in this game for the black unit was ridiculous. +28 for Roy, +23 for Greg, +22 for LaMarcus, and on and on. The bench... not so much.
Tonight: New Yuck
It is hard for me to believe that this Knicks team knocked off Utah. Let alone Golden State. As long as the Blazers play their own game, and are not seudced by the temptation to run run run like the D'antonis (oh, sorry, the Knicks) this is a "should" win.
The Blazers may be dead last in posessions per game, but they are second in the league in offensive efficiency. I'll take those odds any day of the week. I'm sure Nate has been pressing his team on pounding it inside against the undersized Knicks and not "going over to the dark side" so to speak by trying to run with them.
That having been said, I think the Blazers could easily beat this team in an open-court game, even with only the second unit. Do you think ANY team is going to want to face the Blazers come playoff time? Didn't think so. As long as the Blazers keep Nate Robinson contained and play big, this is over by halftime. Anyone else smell a blowout?
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