Jan 5th 2009 8:38AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Clippers, Knicks, Trail Blazers, NBA Last Night

Rule: if you
drop 30 points on Boston, you get special consideration for Doing Lines. Welcome
to the club, Wilson Chandler. The spiritual guide to D’Antoni Ball in the
Big Apple dropped 31 points on 19 FGAs, and added eight rebounds and no
turnovers. The hardest things to do against Boston: shoot efficiently and
protect the ball. You’re a man, Mr. Chandler. (Al Harrington also dropped
30.)

Nicolas Batum has been cold as a starter in Portland, but
Sunday’s loss to the Lakers featured a break-out of sorts: matched up
against clone Trevor Ariza, Batum had 17 points on perfect 6-6 shooting, along
with five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. Batum’s starting
because of his defense and his willingness to stand in the corner and hoist up
open threes. It’s a boon when he can make those shots.

(20
rebounds, averaging 21/game over last four)Maybe soon they’ll replace
Camby’s cousin as the rebound arbiter. Seems a little unfair.

Jan 4th 2009 4:45PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Knicks, Trail Blazers, NBA RumorsVia P&T, reputable Tommy Dee
of The Knicks Blog cites sources reporting that Portland is after New York
forward David Lee. This isn’t a particular surprise as every team in the
league (including the Knicks) loves Lee. The last rumor had New York refusing
Denver’s offer of Chucky Atkins (expiring contract, decent back-up PG on a
trigger-happy team) and two first-round picks for Lee. Two picks, even in the
20s … that’s a big of a haul, no? Given that reported rejection,
actual players would need to be involved from Portland’s side.

Dee
mentions Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, either of which could fit in to
New York’s program. Better, the trade of either secures the back-up point
guard position for the other, and that can’t hurt in terms of confidence.
(It’s like Harry Potter’s prophecy, or something.)

The
concern with Lee for Portland would be this: isn’t he superfluous? The
Blazers have little trouble on the glass and have a surprisingly efficient
offense. Lee’s strengths are … rebounding and efficient scoring.
Portland needs help on swing defense and bench shot creation. That’s not
Lee. At all.

Further, doesn’t Portland have enough offseason salary
issues piling up without the quixotic restricted free agency of Lee mucking
things up? Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are eligible for extensions; Ike
Diogu and Channing Frye will be restricted free agents and the Blazers have
some cap space available, depending on the Darius Miles situation. Since the
Blazers must give up something to get Lee, the team won’t want to let him
slip for nothing. I don’t mean to question Kevin Pritchard’s ability
to get things done, but it seems like an added trouble with little real benefit
for this particular team.

Jan 3rd 2009 7:55PM by Matt Moore (author feed)
Filed under: Trail Blazers, NBA InjuriesOkay, good news, bad news, Blazers fans.

Good news: An MRI showed “no significant changes” to the
knee of Brandon Roy which has sidelined him recently. So you can go ahead and
exhale into the bag.

Bad news: He’s out 7-10 days, according to an
official team release via Blazer’s Edge. That would of course include
Sunday’s game versus the Lakers.

The upside is that after L.A. and
Detroit, the schedule isn’t brutal for the Blazers during that time.
They’ve got a series of middle-of-the-pack easter teams on a four game
road trip with a game against struggling Golden State next Saturday. They also
only have five games max in that time.

It’s possible this could
end up being a good thing for the Blazers. They desperately need someone on
their team, perhaps Rudy Fernandez as BE suggested, to step up and provide some
support. More and more close games have become the Roy Show and the Blazers will
need more come April.

Yeah, that’s just me trying to put a
positive spin on the fact that the Blazers have lost their best player for a
week with a wonky knee, and they haven’t exactly shined without him,
especially after getting blistered by the Hornets post-Tyson-Chandler ejection
the other night.

Buck up, little Blazers!

Jan 2nd 2009 12:30PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Hornets, Jazz, Lakers, Trail Blazers

Every team in the
league plays tonight after the NBA took New Year’s Day off. But it’s
a League Pass party with ESPN ditching its typical Friday double-header for more
college football.

HEADLINERS
New Orleans at Portland, 10PM EST

The Blazers feel feisty after knocking
off the Champs earlier this week, while the Hornets need to make up some ground
on the Lakers to contend with L.A. for the Western top seed. It doesn’t
hurt that this is a nice little match-up between teams with similar offensive
goals.
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