We got the result everyone expected, but played for it.
Everyone knew coming in that OKC would win the game. What they didn't know is that the Blazers would manage to close a gap to 8 points, despite numerous referee mistakes. Oh, sorry. I wasn't going to comment on that until later.
Anyway, a ransacked team, playing a Thunder team tops in the West that is coming off a devastating home loss, is probably not a team you'd expect to compete. Especially since before the Blazers fired the coach and gutted their frontcourt they lost by 42 to the Knicks. All the deadline day acquisitions didn't even road trip at all with the team, they're waiting (patiently I'm sure) in Portland to meet their teammates and interim coach in the next few days before the homestand.
But we managed to stay in it, for the most part. We got down, sometimes deep, but scrapped our way back like we fans are used to seeing. A deficit at halftime is almost old hat, and the fourth quarter comebacks seem to be just "our way". Today, it fell short, but, though we all wanted to believe in another Chi-town miracle, we just don't have the closing force - or, dare I say natural ability - to clutch into a victory.
Nor did we have a fair game, by any stretch of the imagination. The Blazers went more than an entire half of basketball (from 5:21 left in the second quarter, to 5:10 left in the game) without attempting a free throw. In fact, James Harden himself went 11-14 from the line and still made more than the entire Portland roster all game (Portland was 9-14). So the Thunder are superdeeduper favorites, don't just serve the game up for them. THey still have to earn their money, jackhole.
Now, Portland could have been a little better from the stripe. They pride themselves on free throws and were leading the league at one point. But when the referees aren't blowing the whistle at all, you have to capitalize when they breathe out too quick and make a mistake. I know Kaleb is too green to complain about the disparity, but OKC hat 28 attempts to Portland's 14. That's 200%. Something could be said (and was on the Thunder broadcast) about Portland's lack of aggressiveness with regards to going hard to the rack, but I saw multiple lay-ups and dunk attempts, as well as deep rebounds wherein fouling was happening with n'er a toot to be heard. So the commentators can blame it on lack of drive or whatever, but he who hesitates (to evolve) is lost. If you don't adjust your swing to what the ump is calling, you'll strike out looking every time, that's all the Blazers were trying to do. Watch the game, dummy.
Whereas, on the opposite end of the floor, Lames Harden chicken wings a defender's outstretched arm "drawing" a foul. One end Jamal gets hit twice on one attempt, manages to skip a stratospheric lay-up of the tippy top of the glass while falling onto the floor in a pile, nothing until the resulting fast break with numbers gets blown dead because the Thunder player ran into a defensive player's back. And then a 'T' on Crawford for saying, "Wow. He just tackled me. You do know you're ref-ing basketball, right?" There was a stretch of non-call/call sequences, three in a row, that I became livid. If I hadn't be comfortably reclined on my bean bag chair, Molly on lap, I'd have had a Camby-like "homicidal rage" moment resulting in a television not fit for redistribution. Just call it both ways, is all I'm saying. If you're calling ever jersey-shift, every hand check, every drop of sweat or breath on Rip City, call it on your precious Sonics. Thunder, whatever.
[Also, for the blogger writing about MC in that light, um...f*** you, you s***dick. Those were in no way as hard of fouls as you construed them. Granted, Camby is about the calmest human on earth, known to as butterflies to flutter quieter, but still. Knock off the Camby knocks, douche.]
Anyway, Raymond was ESPN's "top performer" for the team today. I can't say that my migraine was caused by this fact alone, but I will honestly say it contributed. When Raymond "Gimme the Ball" Felton is your leader, you have serious issues. He got 19 and 7. First off, he should reverse those numbers as a point guard. If your name does not start with "D-" and end with "-errick Rose," you should be passing to your All-Star scorers. Especially if your season field goal percentage is lower than Kurt Thomas' age. LA only fetched 15, but my ninja Wesley got himself 16, including 3-3 from 3. Look at he and his bad self, hitting longballs like he's 'posed to. Crawesome had 23 but was 3-9 from long range, which the announcers kept referring to as his bread and butter.
Losing by 16 isn't bad all things considered. Played Harden's fieldgoals pretty well, got some sick blocks and managed to ward off Kendrick Perkin's criminal sociopathic sexual appetite. I was scared for Nolan. When Kendrick wants to get his rape on...well, he more often explodes on Twitter, but, you never know.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Winner, Winner, Chicago (for) Dinner
All I can say is "Where has this been?"
This was not a perfect game. We played from behind the entire game, and having to come back from 8 points down in the fourth quarter is not something you want to count on, but tonight it worked. Why did it work tonight and not during the Knicks game?
Nate McMillan wasn't here. Don't read that as me blaming him either. I'm blaming the diva players (Felton/Crawford) for being little seventeen year-old high school girls, whining to their principal about their teacher teaching differently than they want to learn.
Nate did more with less night in and night out. More than six years here, he created magic out of nothing. Even this season we had some big wins with him at the helm. Oh, Lakers are coming to town, how will we win without Brandon Roy and Greg Oden (or Przybilla at the time)? Get me a bucket, a paintbrush and ten pounds of salt. Victory.
And yet, here we are left without him, and these guys pull a victory out of their asses. They worked hard. Best thing about it tonight was old school scrap. Rebounds, passing and willpower. And an emotional letdown from the Bulls after beating Miami. Their lull and our will.
Batum was there tonight. Not his best offensive game points-wise, but he created. Nolan Smith came in and showed the point guard we pay the money to how to earn it. Then Felton went back in and turned the ball over immediately. Babbitt. Didn't shoot the ball like he can, but rebounded like a champ. Sad to see the young guns getting loads of time without seeing The Lankmaster CJ in there too.
Big Country not backing down from BOOzer. Proud of Joel for not taking any crap from the crap that is Carlos. Even while Chi-towns announcers were just dogging on him all night for being old, broken, slow and fat. Douches.
It was great to get a win. A good one. Not flawless, but deserved. Teams this season are now 4-0 on the game following their head coach being fired. I just don't understand the cost. The ends don't justify the means to me. Video Only isn't going to coach his way into the playoffs. If we get in, it will be because we step up and play the game we are capable of. The game we were capable of with McMillan, but never gave.
It's frustrating to see that happen, the distinctly different variations of a great group of players. And what is even more disturbing to me is the pull that two first year (with the team) players, with expiring contracts, were able to pull for a release of the Captain. They should be gone, because they were the ones not performing. They were the ones not living up to their contracts, not doing their jobs. McMillan had to try to coach around them, but they were where the money went, and both kind of were the backcourt for the team. Two Kardashians playing the same position, it's hard to work around that. If not one, then the other.
In all honesty, check the blog, he should've benched the eff out of Felton. Elton. He could have played Nolan much more. He tried with Elliot until he got hurt, and it was an awesome move. But, I know that while that would've been a bold move, and the right move, Nate would have been fired earlier, in all likelihood. And I don't know why that is.
Trading Felton and/or Crawford would've brought a a good result also. Maybe different, maybe similar, but a good one. Better, because we'd still have the heart of the team in McMillan and we'd have successfully removed the tumor that is Felton. We would not have got much for Felton, probably, but considering who came over in the deals for Camby and Wallace, we couldn't have done much worse.
I was assured on the message boards that Paul Allen knows what he's doing. Fine, perhaps he does. I mean, by definition he HAS to, because he is doing it. He may not know the consequences though. He isn't the coach in the locker room, he isn't creating wins. I feel he should have been more vocal with McMillan, asking questions or asserting his plan for the team. He didn't even tell McMillan he was fired. They didn't talk it over, just axed and made moves with an interim GM. And it is too bad.
Money isn't basketball, Paul.
This was not a perfect game. We played from behind the entire game, and having to come back from 8 points down in the fourth quarter is not something you want to count on, but tonight it worked. Why did it work tonight and not during the Knicks game?
Nate McMillan wasn't here. Don't read that as me blaming him either. I'm blaming the diva players (Felton/Crawford) for being little seventeen year-old high school girls, whining to their principal about their teacher teaching differently than they want to learn.
Nate did more with less night in and night out. More than six years here, he created magic out of nothing. Even this season we had some big wins with him at the helm. Oh, Lakers are coming to town, how will we win without Brandon Roy and Greg Oden (or Przybilla at the time)? Get me a bucket, a paintbrush and ten pounds of salt. Victory.
And yet, here we are left without him, and these guys pull a victory out of their asses. They worked hard. Best thing about it tonight was old school scrap. Rebounds, passing and willpower. And an emotional letdown from the Bulls after beating Miami. Their lull and our will.
Batum was there tonight. Not his best offensive game points-wise, but he created. Nolan Smith came in and showed the point guard we pay the money to how to earn it. Then Felton went back in and turned the ball over immediately. Babbitt. Didn't shoot the ball like he can, but rebounded like a champ. Sad to see the young guns getting loads of time without seeing The Lankmaster CJ in there too.
Big Country not backing down from BOOzer. Proud of Joel for not taking any crap from the crap that is Carlos. Even while Chi-towns announcers were just dogging on him all night for being old, broken, slow and fat. Douches.
It was great to get a win. A good one. Not flawless, but deserved. Teams this season are now 4-0 on the game following their head coach being fired. I just don't understand the cost. The ends don't justify the means to me. Video Only isn't going to coach his way into the playoffs. If we get in, it will be because we step up and play the game we are capable of. The game we were capable of with McMillan, but never gave.
It's frustrating to see that happen, the distinctly different variations of a great group of players. And what is even more disturbing to me is the pull that two first year (with the team) players, with expiring contracts, were able to pull for a release of the Captain. They should be gone, because they were the ones not performing. They were the ones not living up to their contracts, not doing their jobs. McMillan had to try to coach around them, but they were where the money went, and both kind of were the backcourt for the team. Two Kardashians playing the same position, it's hard to work around that. If not one, then the other.
In all honesty, check the blog, he should've benched the eff out of Felton. Elton. He could have played Nolan much more. He tried with Elliot until he got hurt, and it was an awesome move. But, I know that while that would've been a bold move, and the right move, Nate would have been fired earlier, in all likelihood. And I don't know why that is.
Trading Felton and/or Crawford would've brought a a good result also. Maybe different, maybe similar, but a good one. Better, because we'd still have the heart of the team in McMillan and we'd have successfully removed the tumor that is Felton. We would not have got much for Felton, probably, but considering who came over in the deals for Camby and Wallace, we couldn't have done much worse.
I was assured on the message boards that Paul Allen knows what he's doing. Fine, perhaps he does. I mean, by definition he HAS to, because he is doing it. He may not know the consequences though. He isn't the coach in the locker room, he isn't creating wins. I feel he should have been more vocal with McMillan, asking questions or asserting his plan for the team. He didn't even tell McMillan he was fired. They didn't talk it over, just axed and made moves with an interim GM. And it is too bad.
Money isn't basketball, Paul.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Okay, so we had some big and dumb moves today.
They ditched my man Camby. Sad to see him go but it's probably the best thing for him to be out of the fray.
And then Wallace is gone too. He didn't necessarily fit the system per se, but he tried too. There goes rebounder #2.
Oden got waived. This makes sense, but he could chill for a year or two, sign with someone and beat the shit out of us.
Chris Johnson waived as well. Not enough time behind a legitimate center pair like Joel and Marcus to develop. He worked hard though.
Who did we get? Steve Blake back? I liked him, like him, but we traded him for a reason. But he probably would've been better than Felton AND Crawford AND another guard that we got in the trade. We also got Thabeet (first #1 pick to get D-Leagued), Shawne Williams (who?), Mehmet Okur (ugh, really?) and Jonny Flynn (decent).
Yeah yeah, so we have a stack up of guards, one that is so bad it hurts to watch. I know we gathered the mud that is this traffic jab of mediocrity of a backcourt for the expiring contracts, but did the interim front office forget that we have games left? How will we put together a team for the Bulls game tomorrow night?
Bloodbath.
Oh yeah, we fired Nate. No joke, that's confirmed. Yeah, I know. It's like....dafuq? As if this manure pile is his fault. As if he didn't make great decisions through the worst of times. Didn't breed All-Stars in Roy and LA, didn't piece together wins through record numbers of injury and hotheaded arrogance. Disrespect, Portland. Straight up disrespect.
Quite honestly, if Crawesome had a problem with Coach, he should've been benched or traded. This is not his team. He could've been benched to wait until the contract was up. Felton should've been the first if only one to go. Trade that bastard. He is cancer.
This season was in no way McMillan's fault. At all. I'm proud of him for limping through and showing up for this team of hot dogs that barely even play. No one was respecting each other or themselves. Slumps abounded, no one rebounded, but McMillan was always there to try (if unsuccessfully) to right the ship. Fuck Chad Buchanan, fuck Raymond Felton (it's not out of shape, the season is more than half over. You plain suck monkey ass), fuck this season and fuck Mehmet Okur. I hate that asshole. If they hire Jerry Sloane I might burn something.
Oh, and promote an unpaid video inter to Interim Head Coach. Wow.
All I can say is good luck to Crash and MC in their respective teams. Go easy on LA when you play him, guys. Best of luck to McMillan, though I doubt he'll need it. I hear New York wants a coach, who else? Lakers were pulling while he was still employed in good standing with a competitive team, so my guess is someone's hunting.
Forget this.
They ditched my man Camby. Sad to see him go but it's probably the best thing for him to be out of the fray.
And then Wallace is gone too. He didn't necessarily fit the system per se, but he tried too. There goes rebounder #2.
Oden got waived. This makes sense, but he could chill for a year or two, sign with someone and beat the shit out of us.
Chris Johnson waived as well. Not enough time behind a legitimate center pair like Joel and Marcus to develop. He worked hard though.
Who did we get? Steve Blake back? I liked him, like him, but we traded him for a reason. But he probably would've been better than Felton AND Crawford AND another guard that we got in the trade. We also got Thabeet (first #1 pick to get D-Leagued), Shawne Williams (who?), Mehmet Okur (ugh, really?) and Jonny Flynn (decent).
Yeah yeah, so we have a stack up of guards, one that is so bad it hurts to watch. I know we gathered the mud that is this traffic jab of mediocrity of a backcourt for the expiring contracts, but did the interim front office forget that we have games left? How will we put together a team for the Bulls game tomorrow night?
Bloodbath.
Oh yeah, we fired Nate. No joke, that's confirmed. Yeah, I know. It's like....dafuq? As if this manure pile is his fault. As if he didn't make great decisions through the worst of times. Didn't breed All-Stars in Roy and LA, didn't piece together wins through record numbers of injury and hotheaded arrogance. Disrespect, Portland. Straight up disrespect.
Quite honestly, if Crawesome had a problem with Coach, he should've been benched or traded. This is not his team. He could've been benched to wait until the contract was up. Felton should've been the first if only one to go. Trade that bastard. He is cancer.
This season was in no way McMillan's fault. At all. I'm proud of him for limping through and showing up for this team of hot dogs that barely even play. No one was respecting each other or themselves. Slumps abounded, no one rebounded, but McMillan was always there to try (if unsuccessfully) to right the ship. Fuck Chad Buchanan, fuck Raymond Felton (it's not out of shape, the season is more than half over. You plain suck monkey ass), fuck this season and fuck Mehmet Okur. I hate that asshole. If they hire Jerry Sloane I might burn something.
Oh, and promote an unpaid video inter to Interim Head Coach. Wow.
All I can say is good luck to Crash and MC in their respective teams. Go easy on LA when you play him, guys. Best of luck to McMillan, though I doubt he'll need it. I hear New York wants a coach, who else? Lakers were pulling while he was still employed in good standing with a competitive team, so my guess is someone's hunting.
Forget this.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Raped in the Apple
Wow. The Knicks, really?
And why is Felton still here?
That's it for tonight. Seriously, what the hell.
And why is Felton still here?
That's it for tonight. Seriously, what the hell.
Not on Pace(rs)
Wow. There isn't much more one can say about tonight.
Netted two field goals out of 15 attempts in the first quarter. I've made more than that in 12 minutes with my eyes closed. I could make more half court shots than that in 12 minutes. Jeepers. Also, talking about lows, five assists all game. And I'm pretty sure most of those came in garbage time. You can't have that. There was only one in the first half. Against a pedestrian team in Indiana, not known for their defensive prowess, nor are they known for their offensive prowess, nor are they really known at all.
A new career high for a third strong center is not really a stat you want to give up, but we did that too. He went 10 for 11 shooting with 21 points. He's only scored 20 twice before and I'm pretty sure his shooting percentage is less than forty. At least this year. And in games they win it's usually lower like 34%. Today it was 91%! Just pass it underneath to the white dude. I understand Camby wasn't there, but come on. You're in the NBA, and the easiest place to defend is the paint. It's painted! How hard is it to miss that area?
They were down thirty plus at one point. Aldridge only had 17. I say only because he's an All-Star, and supposed to be the workhorse. A 5-15 night with 17 is not the makings of consistent, especially when the guy guarding you is Hansborough or Hibbert. I'm pretty sure I was a better center my first year playing than Hibbert was last year. He's improved...not that much. Plus, he knows about the paint, and he stays there. LA has (or had) a jumper. Where did it go tonight?
Maybe I jinxed this game, but I really anticipated a back and forth with a Blazers 7-10 point victory. The Pacers haven't been relevant for years, since Reggie probably. I mean, for 5-6 years there Mike Dunleavy was their best player. I saw some good defense today, some good offense and neither of those was from the Blazers' side of the ball.
5-22 3PT. Four of those came in garbage time from Smith and Babbitt. FG% overall: 31. Free throws I can't really complain about, because the stripe was the only thing keeping us in the same building, but even there we had 8 misses. Misses are unacceptable to me. Those are free points. I mean, come on guys! If you're shooting 20+, 5 misses is the max I could handle. 30-38 is under 80%. We don't have Shaq or Dwight, and if you're not making jump shots, or layups, you gotta make the free throws.
Speaking of layups, 16 points in the paint. That would be 8 shots. 7 were missed in the paint. 3 fast break points. That's a defensive and offensive stat. Yowzer.
I wish I could have control of the payroll on nights like these. Even on the honor system. Just be like "Hey, Crawford. You think you earned $75,757.76 with your play tonight?" Contract renegotiated.
Brilliant plan!
Each game paycheck should be based on the previous game. Or, make it like bowling, and have a "Strike" number, perhaps a double double for a big man, certain number of assists, to base the next two games on it. That way, Raymond Felton would be making the same amount I've made the last three weeks. Nothing. Solid plan.
To Whom it May ConStern...
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Whizzing on Washington
Today's game was more my speed. Not perfect by any stretch, and against a lowbrow team in Washington, but solid.
LA netted another 30 point game, his fifth of the season. He also started getting some rebounds in rebounding form, which is his biggest weakness. The Wizards have some tall rebounders in McGee and Blatche, so I enjoyed seeing LA go after some a fetching the double-double he's more than capable of. Also nice was Mr. Felton's semi-poised play, producing around the calibre I expect him to night in and night out if he expects to stick around much longer. I like Crawdaddy's game tonight too, though I fear it was more making a show for teams interested in trades than to beat the Wizards.
One thing I hated, however, was Scott Foster, What the hell? This is the second time this season that Scott Foster had a [potential] dagger in his hands, and chose to stab away. First, not that I need to remind anyone, was his jackass "goaltending" call during the OKC game. Let's not kid ourselves, that was a horrid miss. The call was not even close to goaltending, at a time the Blazers had their fate in their hands. He certainly could have reviewed it at that point, but again, shouldn't have needed to. The Blazers lose because he's a boneheaded ninny.
Cut to tonight. Second quarter we have immature Wizard #15 elbowing Marcus Camby in the neck for a good solid 4 seconds. Not cool, jackwagon. I get the happenstance of accidental throat contact, I do. But not after a rebound. This dude gathers a rebound with one hand in order to keep his elbow in Camby's throat. Camby shoves him down. I would have too. GTF off me, nucka. So they blow the whistle. Camby nods, of course, I've been in the league I know that's a technical. Then Seraphin gets up and shoves Camby back. Retaliation, okay, technical assessed. Should be pretty cut and dry. After that Foster and teammates separate the two, including Batum, class act, going to his French National teammate Sarah's fin and talking him down. Offsetting T's.
But NOOOO.
Foster boots Camby with a Flagrant 2! And Scaryphin gets a technical? Are you for real? No way in hell that goes down like that in real time. But, to throw another facepalm into the mix, Foster reviewed the tape. You'd think this would be a perfect time to reassess the situation, oh, clearly Terraflip elbows Camby right there, elbow and hold, holding, rebound, holding...okay. Offset the technicals and move on. But nope, not Foster. After calling 3 consecutive fouls on back-up Blazers center Vanilla Gorilla in less than 3 minutes, Foster decides now would be a perfect time to eject starter Marcus Camby, one of the most mellow and truly good guys in the league.
Mr. Foster, you're on my list.
If I'm McMillan, I'm calling that BS hard and fast. I'll take the fine, just as Camby will now have to. I'm calling out Foster like I would have McCutcheon last year. These sluts need to learn that biased calls don't fly. Let Scaruhflimsy back into the game when he not only initiated but retaliated also? Wrist slap him but boot MC? Who the hell do you think you are?
Oh, great, now I'm mad. Remembering how John Wall slipped and they called a blocking foul on Felton. I hate Felton and even I think that call was horsecrap. One official was just brought up fro the NBDL, but, In my opinion, all three should go back down.
Blaze of the Night had to be LA. Playing only two minutes last match-up before getting injured, LA showed how much of an impact he can make. Got him some blocks, 30pt/10rb, making 12 fro 15 and all his FTs. Blatche, please!
Gory Blaze. Felton. Man, all you had to do was keep making free throws. Went 26 of 26 and with 30 seconds left you missed the second one? C'mon man!
Latest trade rumors are pretty out there. Just when you think you're reading a legit sports page you see a guy saying Blazers could trade Felton and Crawford for Boston's Big Three. Yeah, I suppose they could try that, but would it work money-wise, and would Boston go for it?
One reasonable one that I don't think will happen but I liked the thought of was sending Felton, Crawford and Thomas to LA Lakers for Blakey and Devin Ebanks an $8M trade exemption and Mav's/Lakers 2012 1st round picks. It would have to happen in two moves, logistically, because a trade exemption cannot be paired with players, but the picks and TE for Thomas and Felton is reasonable, in my mind, and Crawford for Blake and Ebanks seems like it could help both sides.
I don't think it will happen, but wishful thinking was satisfied when I read it. Blakey knows McMillan and the system, as well as many players and the fans, and could surely help with consistency. The two picks could shore up a nice backcourt in a deep 2012 draft, and the expiring contracts of Crawford and Felton as well as Felton's tremendously awful play would be gone. If we're gonna lose out on these guys in free agency anyway, might as well move them for something.
LA netted another 30 point game, his fifth of the season. He also started getting some rebounds in rebounding form, which is his biggest weakness. The Wizards have some tall rebounders in McGee and Blatche, so I enjoyed seeing LA go after some a fetching the double-double he's more than capable of. Also nice was Mr. Felton's semi-poised play, producing around the calibre I expect him to night in and night out if he expects to stick around much longer. I like Crawdaddy's game tonight too, though I fear it was more making a show for teams interested in trades than to beat the Wizards.
One thing I hated, however, was Scott Foster, What the hell? This is the second time this season that Scott Foster had a [potential] dagger in his hands, and chose to stab away. First, not that I need to remind anyone, was his jackass "goaltending" call during the OKC game. Let's not kid ourselves, that was a horrid miss. The call was not even close to goaltending, at a time the Blazers had their fate in their hands. He certainly could have reviewed it at that point, but again, shouldn't have needed to. The Blazers lose because he's a boneheaded ninny.
Cut to tonight. Second quarter we have immature Wizard #15 elbowing Marcus Camby in the neck for a good solid 4 seconds. Not cool, jackwagon. I get the happenstance of accidental throat contact, I do. But not after a rebound. This dude gathers a rebound with one hand in order to keep his elbow in Camby's throat. Camby shoves him down. I would have too. GTF off me, nucka. So they blow the whistle. Camby nods, of course, I've been in the league I know that's a technical. Then Seraphin gets up and shoves Camby back. Retaliation, okay, technical assessed. Should be pretty cut and dry. After that Foster and teammates separate the two, including Batum, class act, going to his French National teammate Sarah's fin and talking him down. Offsetting T's.
But NOOOO.
Foster boots Camby with a Flagrant 2! And Scaryphin gets a technical? Are you for real? No way in hell that goes down like that in real time. But, to throw another facepalm into the mix, Foster reviewed the tape. You'd think this would be a perfect time to reassess the situation, oh, clearly Terraflip elbows Camby right there, elbow and hold, holding, rebound, holding...okay. Offset the technicals and move on. But nope, not Foster. After calling 3 consecutive fouls on back-up Blazers center Vanilla Gorilla in less than 3 minutes, Foster decides now would be a perfect time to eject starter Marcus Camby, one of the most mellow and truly good guys in the league.
Mr. Foster, you're on my list.
If I'm McMillan, I'm calling that BS hard and fast. I'll take the fine, just as Camby will now have to. I'm calling out Foster like I would have McCutcheon last year. These sluts need to learn that biased calls don't fly. Let Scaruhflimsy back into the game when he not only initiated but retaliated also? Wrist slap him but boot MC? Who the hell do you think you are?
Oh, great, now I'm mad. Remembering how John Wall slipped and they called a blocking foul on Felton. I hate Felton and even I think that call was horsecrap. One official was just brought up fro the NBDL, but, In my opinion, all three should go back down.
Blaze of the Night had to be LA. Playing only two minutes last match-up before getting injured, LA showed how much of an impact he can make. Got him some blocks, 30pt/10rb, making 12 fro 15 and all his FTs. Blatche, please!
Gory Blaze. Felton. Man, all you had to do was keep making free throws. Went 26 of 26 and with 30 seconds left you missed the second one? C'mon man!
Latest trade rumors are pretty out there. Just when you think you're reading a legit sports page you see a guy saying Blazers could trade Felton and Crawford for Boston's Big Three. Yeah, I suppose they could try that, but would it work money-wise, and would Boston go for it?
One reasonable one that I don't think will happen but I liked the thought of was sending Felton, Crawford and Thomas to LA Lakers for Blakey and Devin Ebanks an $8M trade exemption and Mav's/Lakers 2012 1st round picks. It would have to happen in two moves, logistically, because a trade exemption cannot be paired with players, but the picks and TE for Thomas and Felton is reasonable, in my mind, and Crawford for Blake and Ebanks seems like it could help both sides.
I don't think it will happen, but wishful thinking was satisfied when I read it. Blakey knows McMillan and the system, as well as many players and the fans, and could surely help with consistency. The two picks could shore up a nice backcourt in a deep 2012 draft, and the expiring contracts of Crawford and Felton as well as Felton's tremendously awful play would be gone. If we're gonna lose out on these guys in free agency anyway, might as well move them for something.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Butchered in Boston
Three turnovers in the first minute and a half really set the tone for the rest of the game. And by that I mean, the Blazers matched the league's season high for turnovers, with 28. Yikes.
I could talk about how they were down 43 points at one time, or their 30 point first half, which was Boston's best defensive first half (not to mention offensive at 65) but II think we all saw that. Saw that LA still got his points and Camby still shagged the boards like he's born to do. Saw that, once again, Raymond Felton coughed up a big hairball, with a -27 net points of productivity while on the floor. He didn't shoot as much today, which suggests he is learning, albeit slowly, that he sucks.
All I heard this game was laughing. I was watching Boston's local broadcast, and all they could do was laugh and laugh, mock and laugh. And say that Felton looked out of shape. Which is rude, to point out someone else's flaws on TV like that. I mean, the camera never shows the commentator's themselves, and if it ever did, they'd be behind a monitor and a huge desk. They likely tip the scales at 230+ judging by the tambour of their voices, so I don't know what gives them the right to mock my point guard (as a lifelong fan, that's my job), but I can't really blame them, because it's all I've heard all season.
Because it's true. Which may explain why my buddies berate me for getting on his case. Why they say he's better than his numbers. But the thing is, he's really not. Not this season, and that's what the whole season is about. It's about itself. Wrap your mind around that one. I get that he came in a bit out of shape. The move to Portland, the gaining of weight to protect himself from the winter cold, but come ON.
Everyone had the same tumultuous offseason. Everyone had adjustments to make. I might let it slide were he producing anywhere close to where he was last season. I might let it slide if he were a Dwayne Wade, and was still a baller, leagues ahead even when he isn't 100%. But the dude isn't as athletic as DWade. He's not as tall as Dwight Howard or as quick as Jamal Crawford. He clearly doesn't have enough skill to backslide and still produce. And the thing is, Chris Paul and these other ballers who came in a bit out of shape, they're in shape now. How long does it take? You're an athlete, perform like one.
And someone who did tonight was Luke Effing Babbitt. Wowzer. I knew the dude could ball, I've liked him since we got him (though the trade wasn't my favorite), but finally, he got a chunk of minutes without any pressure, and got him some. We all knew he could shoot, and he did, but how about those rebounds? Thank goodness. When we got him, I didn't like it because Martell was gangsta. He hit some jays and could jump out the gym, and he was coming off the bench regularly. Luke hasn't had that time, he hasn't grown into a role like Webster did while he was here, so I didn't like it. But dammit if some of the regulars and starters could take a page out of his book. Try. Get motherfreaking rebounds. THe dude is white and getting some good boards in the middle of three Celtics. Yes sir.
And, while we're on the subjects of seeing things today. I saw a post about Crawesome and Great Oden's Raven going to Minnesota in a three way, that gives us Ramon Sessions and Daniel "Don't Call Me Boobie" Gibson. My thoughts are, No. Not Crawesome. The dude isn't consistently 6th man, for sure. But at times he;s the only scorer we have. Oden could come back next year and eat us alive. When he's healthy, he's in the argument for Top 3 centers. But, I get the sentiment that COULD is too much of a stretch at this point. I could stomach that, I think.
But I don't understand why would would gift Crawford to Minnesota, in a trade which takes from them Ridnour, Tolliver and cash. Even more of a question is, Why would we get Sessions and KEEP Felton? Gibson isn't going to be a PG, sure, but sessions, though young, would surely be better at any given moment than Ray and Felton's already proven that a battle for starter will in no way improve his performance. You might say "Nate, what if he comes back next season in shape?" and I say "...yeah, so?" From what I've seen, the dude in shape still couldn't hit a shot twice in a row. Jamal, all day, over Felton.
I don't know, if we give up Crawdaddy in a trade like this, without dumping Felton, I won't like it.
I could talk about how they were down 43 points at one time, or their 30 point first half, which was Boston's best defensive first half (not to mention offensive at 65) but II think we all saw that. Saw that LA still got his points and Camby still shagged the boards like he's born to do. Saw that, once again, Raymond Felton coughed up a big hairball, with a -27 net points of productivity while on the floor. He didn't shoot as much today, which suggests he is learning, albeit slowly, that he sucks.
All I heard this game was laughing. I was watching Boston's local broadcast, and all they could do was laugh and laugh, mock and laugh. And say that Felton looked out of shape. Which is rude, to point out someone else's flaws on TV like that. I mean, the camera never shows the commentator's themselves, and if it ever did, they'd be behind a monitor and a huge desk. They likely tip the scales at 230+ judging by the tambour of their voices, so I don't know what gives them the right to mock my point guard (as a lifelong fan, that's my job), but I can't really blame them, because it's all I've heard all season.
Because it's true. Which may explain why my buddies berate me for getting on his case. Why they say he's better than his numbers. But the thing is, he's really not. Not this season, and that's what the whole season is about. It's about itself. Wrap your mind around that one. I get that he came in a bit out of shape. The move to Portland, the gaining of weight to protect himself from the winter cold, but come ON.
Everyone had the same tumultuous offseason. Everyone had adjustments to make. I might let it slide were he producing anywhere close to where he was last season. I might let it slide if he were a Dwayne Wade, and was still a baller, leagues ahead even when he isn't 100%. But the dude isn't as athletic as DWade. He's not as tall as Dwight Howard or as quick as Jamal Crawford. He clearly doesn't have enough skill to backslide and still produce. And the thing is, Chris Paul and these other ballers who came in a bit out of shape, they're in shape now. How long does it take? You're an athlete, perform like one.
And someone who did tonight was Luke Effing Babbitt. Wowzer. I knew the dude could ball, I've liked him since we got him (though the trade wasn't my favorite), but finally, he got a chunk of minutes without any pressure, and got him some. We all knew he could shoot, and he did, but how about those rebounds? Thank goodness. When we got him, I didn't like it because Martell was gangsta. He hit some jays and could jump out the gym, and he was coming off the bench regularly. Luke hasn't had that time, he hasn't grown into a role like Webster did while he was here, so I didn't like it. But dammit if some of the regulars and starters could take a page out of his book. Try. Get motherfreaking rebounds. THe dude is white and getting some good boards in the middle of three Celtics. Yes sir.
And, while we're on the subjects of seeing things today. I saw a post about Crawesome and Great Oden's Raven going to Minnesota in a three way, that gives us Ramon Sessions and Daniel "Don't Call Me Boobie" Gibson. My thoughts are, No. Not Crawesome. The dude isn't consistently 6th man, for sure. But at times he;s the only scorer we have. Oden could come back next year and eat us alive. When he's healthy, he's in the argument for Top 3 centers. But, I get the sentiment that COULD is too much of a stretch at this point. I could stomach that, I think.
But I don't understand why would would gift Crawford to Minnesota, in a trade which takes from them Ridnour, Tolliver and cash. Even more of a question is, Why would we get Sessions and KEEP Felton? Gibson isn't going to be a PG, sure, but sessions, though young, would surely be better at any given moment than Ray and Felton's already proven that a battle for starter will in no way improve his performance. You might say "Nate, what if he comes back next season in shape?" and I say "...yeah, so?" From what I've seen, the dude in shape still couldn't hit a shot twice in a row. Jamal, all day, over Felton.
I don't know, if we give up Crawdaddy in a trade like this, without dumping Felton, I won't like it.
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