The New Red & Black

Whoops took to long to post, to address Mesa..... Yeah we've all been wondering the same thing, i think part of it is the emergence of Batum and there just not being enough minutes to go around. (and now Sergio's complaining about PT probably doesn't help Bayless' sitch either...) Blake can be good when he doesn't try too much, but I think between Roy and Oden's injuries he's been asked to create a bit more than he would. Also I think Rudy is another player better than expected, and his synergy with Sergio has kind of led Nate to favor the spaniard backcourt over our latest 1st rounder...

It's late.... (I'm just still awake and stoked from the UW throw down!!) But I gotta give Greg props for his first career double double!! I love that they decided trying to run the offense through him was a bad idea for the time being. Just let him get used to the game speed, get in shape, get comfortable with his team mates, and just focus on grabbing boards and blocking shots. I mean doing that he's already an upgrade over Pryzbilla because Oden can go right back up with rebounds and emphatically flush them down the nylon. When he gets more comfortable, extend his minutes and then gradually get him more involved in the offense.

Agreed. Bring Oden along at a measured pace. His rebounds and blocks and his size, (taking up space), should be the focus now. And I lke him coming off the bench. He's going to be so important to us for so many years to come, there simply is no big rush to have him dominating both ends of the court right now.

Just gotta throw this out there... an article on The Beacon got linked up on the Oregonian Blazers Blog!

As a former Beacon writer myself, I had to represent!

http://media.www.upbeacon.net/media/storage/paper1193/news/2008/11/13/Sports/Why-You.Should.Become.A.Blazers.Fan-3542668.shtml

And the blog page:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2008/11/monday_afternoon_linkage.html

The headlines tomorrow should read "Blazers Get Jobbed at Golden State"; but, they won't. As far as I'm concerned those refs should be fined and suspended for that blatantly biased performance.

-SciFi

Hmmm the spread was 2 points.... And that refereeing seemed determined to keep it outside that window.... Just saying...

Anyone else notice that the line moved 3.5 points yesterday?

Stat lines from last night:

Nicolas Batum 18min 3-6 FG 2-2 3pt 1-2Ft 6reb 1ast 2stl 0blk 1to 2 fl 9pts

Travis Outlaw 25min 3-7FG 1-3 3pt 2-2 ft 4reb 1ast 3st 0blk 1to 4 fl 9pts

Who would you rather have coming off the bench getting minutes, esp with Martell coming back?? I say trade Outlaw, the kid has allstar, starting aspirations, and i just don't see it with this team... Guys like Martell and Batum don't need the ball in their hands to be effective and can fill up the stat line in other ways (and are both athletically comparable to outlaw). Outlaw has the penchant for the incredible play, but dilutes that with tons of ill advised jumpers and VERY suspect passing. That said I think he is a VERY interesting trade commodity along with Sergio, Bayless and Raef's expiring contract...

Thoughts??

Yeah... Outlaw does seem to be a bit of an odd man out. And they did just re-sign Martell with a very reasonable contract.

The thing for me, though, is that we need to get something of value back for him. Not that many guys in the league average 13+ points of the bench like he does. And he can get a shot off of anyone with his size and elevation, which has really helped the Blazers in crunch time over the past season or two.

I think the problem with him is that he kind of is a tweener when it comes to position... doesn't really have the handles/BBIQ to play the wing and doesn't have the size to play the power forward.

Plus, with this team... he just doesn't really fit as well due to his need to take so many shots. So I can definitely see him being a valuable trade asset.

If Portland can package him with Raef's contract and get a really good PG in return, awesome. Or even a high-energy, banger-type post guy (in the mold of Paul Millsap, Jason Maxiell, or David Lee). Something tells me D'Antoni would want Outlaw, and I think Lee would be an awesome fit with the Blazers. And you know the Knicks are looking for cap space... they would love Raef's contract. Maybe we could swing a deal for Lee and Nate Robinson? Now wouldn't that be something.

YES!! a Purple and Gold back court!! (Or at least one I can actually stand)... So Raef, Sergio and THE contract for Robinson and Lee?? Interesting, plus I love me at least one crap talking guard to counter the stoic nature of Brandon Roy... Aka the Hersey Hawkins or Nate Macmillen to a Gary Payton... (sigh)...

No no no... no way do you include Sergio.

That contract is worth a lot, and Outlaw has more scoring potential and fits New York's system way better than Lee.

I see it as straight up Outlaw for Lee and Raef's contract for Robinson.

If Blake continues to struggle, give the reins to Sergio (who has been playing well the past week... even more minutes than Blake), and let Robinson battle it out with Bayless for scoring pop off the bench.

ummmm...plug that trade into ESPN.com's trade machine. Not going to work. But if you want Lee, you could make this trade.

Knicks get:
Raef LaFrentz
Travis Outlaw

Blazers get:
David Lee
Zach Randolph

I don't think you want Lee that bad.

Well the Knicks did pull the trigger on a trade today... just not this one.

Knicks get Al Harrington.

GSW get Jamal Crawford.

Has anyone else noticed that Directv carries like 5 of the CSN channels, just not the Northwest one? Good thing I get two CSN channels for California!

Well I haven't given this thread any love for some time so why not...

Let's start with the rumor mill:
http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/56392/20090105/camby_back_to_new_york_in_three_way_with_portland/

David Lee for Channing Frye and a pick?? While I hate giving up draft picks it makes sense to me, Lee gives you versatility, he can play all 3 front court positions and gives you more of the classic post player that we lack right now. I love Channing as a person and you gotta love his PDX affections, but he really kind of duplicates what we have in LaMarcus... And I could see him fitting in VERY well with the D'Antoni Knicks. Not sure if y'all caught the WW article on Frye, but here it is, definitely give it a read: http://wweek.com/editorial/3507/12013/

Speaking of Blazer articles, this ESPN the Mag isn't a bad one either about LaMarcus: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3800651


So as for the team... The way they have been playing lately, SO up and down it's been ridiculous. I LOVE the play to beat Boston without Brandon, but it's obvious the team needs him to consistently win. I welcome the Lee trade because it seems to address a lot of our needs, especially with Joel playing hurt, but at the same time the guard play also seems to need to be addressed. I feel like as good as Rudy has been, he's been pigeonholed into the distance shooting role, which has stymied the development of the rest of his game.

Steve Blake is good, and then awful when he tries to do so much. The Boston game was kind of an anomaly, but when he has to be a creating PG it just doesn't seem to end well, he forces shots and doesn't puts players in poor situations to be successful. You might even say the lack of good PG play has hurt Oden's development on the offensive end. With good distribution Greg would get a lot better opportunities and gain the confidence he needs to really be effective in the long drive.

Martell needs to come back... STAT... We need his defense more than anything, his quickness and sheer speed are excellent shutting down (or at the least, containing) the Kobe Bryants and whatnot of the league. Outlaw's length is supposedly makes him a good defender, but his sheer lack of intensity completely erase that intent to be a "lock down" defender... Between Roy and Martell we have 2 excellent defenders capable of guarding elite SFs all the way through PGs... We need both to be successful, especially against good teams like the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics that can throw in so many different sets and lineups.

Since the success of the teams is pretty well divided in the west, there are 9 teams in the race for 8 spots... I hope the blazers are able to pull it out, but their inconsistencies really have me seeing the Blazers being that 9th team... Especially when competing with much more experienced teams like the Suns and Mavericks for those last few playoff spots. Haha I'm really not trying to be a negative Nancy, but it's just the vibe I've been getting lately...