Trail Blazers Center Court

Don't Play With The Game

2009-11-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

The current iteration of the Portland Trail Blazers have never won in ORACLE Arena. Nate McMillan, Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge: none have won as Trail Blazers at Golden State. Only Joel Przybilla and Travis Outlaw were on Portland’s roster the last time the Blazers beat Golden State 78-75 at ORACLE on November 3, 2004, though neither played. That was the season opener, by the way.

Why so much trouble at ORACLE? Who knows? Could be that the home team gets the boost when teams that play wildly different styles, as the Warriors and Trail Blazers do.

Looking at their statistics this season, it’s hard to imagine two teams more dissimilar. Trail Blazers allow the fewest points per game in the NBA (87.5), Warriors allow the most (113.3). Trail Blazers opponents take the fewest number of shots per game (32.2), Warriors opponents take the most (42.6). Warriors tally more steals per game than anyone in the league (9.55), while the Trail Blazers rank 25th (6.23). Basically Portland and Golden State ends up on opposite ends of any pace-dependant statistic.

None of this should matter tonight. The Trail Blazers have more talent and better chemistry. The Warriors are playing their first home game after 1-4 Eastern Conference road swing, which should help tilt the scale in Portland’s direction. The Warriors don’t really have the size to make the Trail Blazers pay for playing a three-guard lineup, though someone else besides Brandon Roy is going to have to take a turn getting run into my Corey Maggette. Ronni Turiaf is day-to-day, CJ Watson has the swine flu, Raja Bell may or may not have season-ending wrist surgery, Kelenna Azubuike is out for the season after tearing his patella tendon and Andris Biendrins is battling some sort of back/groin injury that has kept him out of all but four games this season, so Don Nelson will likely have only eight players available. On paper, this should be a win. An easy win even.

But there seems to be no such thing as an easy win Trail Blazers win in Oakland, at least not recently. If the Blazers are to get their first win in the Bay since 2004, they’ll have to take to heart the directive Coach McMillan gave them after the near-loss to the Pistons on Wednesday: don’t play with the game.

Another win on the road is there for the taking, but not if the Trail Blazers play with the game. They have to approach the Warriors like they’re the best team in the league, the only team. If the Blazers jump out to a big lead, they need to keep the pressure on until the final whistle. Finish out quarters strong, especially the fourth. It’s not exactly calm waters in the Golden State locker room, so don’t give them anything to get excited about. Make it about business, get back to Portland and get ready for a homestand with four winnable games.

Outlaw Out But Not Down

2009-11-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

It figures Travis Outlaw would break his foot trying to make a play on defense.

For a guy who is maligned by his detractors for playing less than average defense, it seems cruelly poetic that Outlaw would injure himself on a routine closeout. And I don’t know about you, but when I think about the irony of a high-flyer like Outlaw being struck down on a play where he didn’t even leave his feet, it reinforces my belief that the fates do in fact have a twisted sense of humor.

So it’s easy to see why Outlaw would curse his bad luck. Things were just starting to come together, for Travis and the team in general, and then a snap; there goes the fifth metatarsal. And in a contract year, that snap could end up being rather expensive.

But that’s not the way Outlaw is looking at it. Ever true to his happy-to-lucky attitude, Outlaw is dealing with the first major injury of his pro career with aplomb.

“It’s nothing, you know?” said Outlaw. “You always have little bumps in the road.”

Traversing that rocky road is something Outlaw has been remarkably adept at throughout his pro career. When he played a total of 67 games through his first two seasons in Portland, he kept his head down and his mouth shut. When his name was mentioned in seemingly every trade rumor, he went about his business like a pro. When fans questioned his motives two summers ago after he joked about wanting more shots, he responded by taking fewer. And after the initial disappointment of knowing he would miss at least the next six weeks as the fracture in his foot heals, Outlaw has accepted the misfortune and moved on.

“Things happen for a reason, that’s my thing,” said Outlaw. “That’s how I’m looking at it. I feel like I got a lot of things to be thankful for, you know?”

Outlaw will have a pin inserted into his left foot on Wednesday to help the stress fracture heal. After that, he plans on picking up a hobby (“Maybe working on my car”), trying to keep his dog from doing any more damage to his foot (“He’s running over it all the time right now”) and rehabbing with the intention of getting back onto the court as soon as possible.

“We’ve got a lot of players stepping up. When I get back there’s not going to be some big rush to get mine. I’m just going to try to make sure I fit in. Do what is needed for the team to win.”

Figures.

Video: Oden Blocks, Rudy Steals, Outlaw Dunks

2009-11-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

NBA.com pushed a redesign ... sometime since the last time I checked out the mothership's homepage. Looks nice. Congrats to the folks at Turner, who are running the show over there, on the hard work.

NBA.com also pushed a new video feature, weekly Top 10 lists, recently, which beats the pants off of weekly power rankings, especially this early in the season. It seems like the whole point of power rankings is to start arguments, and I hate arguments. I like discussion.

Trail Blazers show up in three of NBA.com's Top 10 plays lists this week, which seems about right. I think you could make a case for a few more, which I'll do in a moment.

First up, Top 10 Blocks of the Week, featuring one of Greg Oden's blocks against the Timberwolves at No. 7.

Missing: Oden's block on Chris Paul from the game on the 13th. And though one particular block isn't coming to mind, you have to think that Joel Przybilla, who has rejected nine shots in the last three games, would make the highlight reel.

Next up, Top 10 Steals of the Week. Rudy Fernandez's steal in the Nov. 8 game against the Timberwolves that lead to a Webster-to-Bayless alley-oop checks in at No. 2. Worth noting that while Rudy gets the steal, Marty and Bayless end up getting most the face time in the highlight.

Missing: I can't really think of a particular steal this week that should have made the list. This is where you come in. Put what steal you think should have made the Top 10 in the comments.

We end on a bittersweet note. Travis Outlaw's monstrous dunk over Rudy Gay in the Memphis game on the 10th clocks in at No. 7 in the Top Dunks reel (a bit low, if you ask me). The sweet is the obvious ferocity of the dunk, but the bitter is that it's the last throwdown we'll see out of Travis for at least the next six weeks. I hate the fifth metatarsal bone in the left foot.

Missing: Again, I'm drawing a blank on what Trail Blazers play should be included here. To be fair, there were some crazy dunks in the NBA this week, so one might be sufficient, though I'm sure you could convince me otherwise.

Outlaw Out Indefinitely

2009-11-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

The injury bug has bitten for the first time this season, and he bit hard. Travis Outlaw, who is averaging 10.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.1 minutes per game this season, sustained a fracture in of the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot during the first quarter of Saturday's game in Charlotte. It didn't look that bad when it happened, but the x-rays say otherwise. Outlaw is heading back to Portland after the game for further evaluation

Yet to be seen what Outlaw's injury will mean to Nate McMillan's rotation. The second half of the Charlotte game will probably be a good window into how playing time will shake out in Outlaw's absence.

11.12.09 Trailblazers.com Podcast

2009-11-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

There might be a different tone this week among the fanbase after winning four straight, but Dave Deckard of Blazersedge.com and I, Casey Holdahl of trailblazers.com, try to keep an even keel. Smooth.

This week Dave and I talk about the first two games of the current five-game road trip, Greg Oden's confidence, whether the three-guard lineup is here to stay, helping out Brandon Roy, LaMarcus moving forward and a Ducks/Blazers comparison. That's cross promotion holmes.

Download Trailblazers.com Podcast (42.2 MB)

Subscribe to Trail Blazers Podcasts on ITunes

Video: Travis Outlaw Will Ruin Your Night

2009-11-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

This is THE Trail Blazers highlight thus far. Travis Outlaw just obliterating the rim as Rudy Gay tries to keep his head from getting caved in. Here's a larger version.

Don't Feed The Jinx

2009-11-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

I do a lot of standing around in the Trail Blazers locker room prior to games at the Rose Garden. Sometimes I’m waiting for a player to show up for an interview. Other times I’m just killing time before Nate McMillan’s pregame media availability.

Sunday night, I was killing time. All of the players were either out on the court, in the training room or at chapel and Nate’s pregame was still a ways off, so I stood in front of the white board reading the scouting reports of the opposing players. I do this before just about every game. Always interesting to read what people who really know the sport have to say.

So I’m reading the scouting report for each player on the Timberwolves, and after I’m about halfway through I start to realize something: these guys are going to have a heck of a time winning games this season. Al Jefferson isn’t 100 percent healthy. Kevin Love’s out, so his scouting report isn’t even on the board. Jonny Flynn is talented, but he’s a rookie who only played one year of college ball trying to learn the hardest position in basketball. Corey Brewer and Ryan Gomes are decent, but they’re complimentary players. The team as a whole is undersized and inexperienced.

While I’m reading through the reports, Joel Przybilla sits down at his locker, which is the closest to the white board where the reports are taped. I turn to Przybilla after finishing my overview and say something that, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have.

“There’s no way we’re going to lose to these guys tonight.”

It’s not that I didn’t believe what I said. The Trail Blazer, at home, coming into the Sunday’s game having beaten the Timberwolves the last eight times they’ve played, should beat Minnesota easily. And they did, but it’s never wise to tempt the fates so brazenly.

Realizing the error of my ways, Przybilla did his best to negate the bad juju I created.

“Don’t jinx us man,” said Przybilla, knocking on the wood paneling that serves as trim around his locker. “Any team can get beat on any given night in this league.”

Very true, and very reassuring to hear from a player heading out on a five-game road trip. Three of those games (Memphis, Minnesota and Charlotte) should be wins, but you can’t take anything for granted in the NBA, especially on the road. Not to mention that the Trail Blazers haven’t won in Charlotte since the 2006-07 season, so that’s hardly a gimme either.

The Grizzlies might be 1-6, but they’ve got a whole lot of talent and have played five of their first seven games on the road, so they’re probably not as bad as their record would indicate. (By the way, Zach Randolph is tied for third on the Grizzlies in assists per game with 3.3. He’s tied for second if you don’t include Allen Iverson. Way to dime Z-Bo!)

The Timberwolves also have just one win, but they too have had a tough schedule and have played some good team pretty close, losing to the Clippers by three and Boston by two being the most notable examples.

As for the games against the Hornets and Hawks, those are going to be tough gets. Both NOLA and Atlanta are historically difficult places for the Trail Blazers to get wins. Luckily the Blazers will have a day of rest before each of those games, so hopefully they come out fresh and, especially against the Hawks, with something to prove.

So if you’re looking at the first extended road trip and have already penciled in a 3-2 record, consider knocking on some wood. Joel Przybilla thanks you in absentia.

11.05.09 Trailblazers.com Podcast

2009-11-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

After starting the season 2-3, everyone wants to know what's wrong with the Trail Blazers. Are there answers to that questions? Is the question itself even valid? Can you fit more than three rhetorical questions into one intro paragraph? No, maybe and heck yes.

Dave Deckard of Blazersedge.com and I, Casey Holdahl of trailblazers.com, delve into the first five games of the season to debate what's working and what isn't. I'll let you decide if the answers are sufficient.

Download Trailblazers.com Podcast (42.2 MB)

Subscribe to Trail Blazers Podcasts on ITunes

The Wait Needs To Be Over

2009-11-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Watching the Trail Blazers through the first five games of the season, one could get the sense that they’re waiting for something to happen, something that will get everybody moving in the same direction. If it is indeed the case that this team is holding out hope that a spark will ignite the season, that expectation would not necessarily be without merit. It has happened before.

There was Travis Outlaw’s game-winning shot against the Grizzlies in early-December of the 2007-08 season. The Trail Blazers were 5-12 at the time and winless on the road in their first nine tries. They had just been blown out by the Spurs in San Antonio the night before, but that bank shot by Outlaw as time expired started something legendary. The Blazers would go on to win the next 13 straight and 18 of their next 20. That shot might have very well saved the season.

And of course there was Brandon Roy’s 30-foot overtime game-winner against the Rockets in the fifth game of the 2008-09 season. On the verge of starting the year 1-4, Roy’s high-arching attempt gave a young team something to build on. Roy’s answered prayer also started a run that would see the Trail Blazers win 13 of the next 16 games, putting them on course for their first playoff appearance in five seasons.

It is probably unnecessary to recap these events. After all, those moments have taken on lives of their own. They’re seen in commercials and reenacted on playgrounds. They hold an important place in the collective memory of Trail Blazers fans and, more importantly, the players. And while it would be sacrilege (and patently false) to blame those memories for the Trail Blazers’ inability to burst out of the gate through the first five games of the 2009-10 season, one has to wonder if reaping the benefits of a singular transformative performance in two consecutive seasons has brought the team to where they are now: waiting for a similar event to occur once again.

“I don’t know if we’re waiting on something,” said Joel Przybilla, “but if we are we better hurry up and figure it out. We’ve just got to look in the mirror, quit pointing fingers at what we think we need to do and focus on ourselves.”

“I think this is our next step to becoming a good team,” said Brandon Roy. “We can’t wait for the big bang to happen to go on these great runs. I think we have to figure out a way to be consistent at a high level. In a way it’s like we are waiting for that emotional charge to get us excited about the year, but we have to just develop it.”

At least if they want to make the jump from promising young team potential to legitimate playoff contender. You can get by on enthusiasm when you’re young, on passion when you’re untested. But it has to be about more than that to join the ranks of the elite. It has to be about confidence and commitment and routine rather than coincidence.

“The Spurs don’t have to have something great happen to them every year,” said Roy. Boston, they come in ‘This is what it is. We’re not waiting for a lucky shot.’ If that happens, then great, we get the win that night. I think it’s a little bit of a process because it seems like guys are waiting around for something crazy to happen. That can’t be what gets this thing started.”

Not any more it can’t. It has to be real this time, which is why it’ll be worth waiting for if and when it happens. Someone could hit a buzzer-beating halfcourt shot on Friday, sending the Rose Garden into a frenzy and the Spurs home to San Antonio with a loss, and it would be great to get the win and maybe it would pave the way for a successful season, but would that really help this team in the long term? What is the cost of getting over like that? Because eventually that potential game-winner isn’t going to find the mark. That much is inevitable, and to Roy, apparent.

“Bill Walton came in and said the good teams don’t win on adrenaline or emotions. He said the championship teams play consistent every night. You have to beat teams consistently and you have to be better. I think that’s what we’re trying to get to as a team. We can’t wait for this big crazy shot by me or Travis or Blake to get us emotionally excited about the season. We have to come in ready.”

It is a fine line. It’s looking a gift horse in the mouth or disavowing the notion that being lucky is in fact preferential to being good. It goes against human nature to root against good fortune, but that’s not really the point. Every team that has ever accomplished anything substantive has caught their fair share of breaks, but at some juncture, you have to be better than luck allows. Great teams win in spite of their luck, rather than because of it.

Which is why Portland’s 2-3 start, as painful as it might be to watch, could very well do this team a service in the end. If the entire team can come to the realization Roy has, that they can’t rely on a moment to change the course of their season, maybe they can meet or exceed the expectations thrust upon them.

Podcast: Trail Blazers Courtside And The Jim Rome Show

2009-11-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Lots of archived audio from the last few days to catch up on, so this will be quick...

Trail Blazers Courtside was on last night on just about every medium imaginable. If you missed it on Comcast, or on 95.5 The Game, or online at trailblazers.com you can now listen to it here. Jay Allen and Michael Holton hold down hosting duties, with Nate McMillan, Mike Barrett, Mike Rice and Wendell Maxey all making appearances.

Here's Hour One:

Download Trail Blazers Courtside (Hour One) (38.5 MB)

And Hour Two:

Download Trail Blazers Courtside (Hour Two) (38.7 MB)

But there's more! Jim Rome was in town yesterday recording the appropriately named "Jim Rome Show" at the 95.5 The Game studios. He seemed to enjoy his less than 24 hour stay a great deal. The show was heavy on Trail Blazers and Ducks, which is surely good for ratings in this and all other markets.

I'll leave the Duck interviews to our friends down in Eugene, but as for apperances by Nate McMillan and Brandon Roy, we've got you covered.

Here's the interview with McMillan:

Nate McMillan On The Jim Rome Show (3.8 MB)

And here's the segment with Roy:

Brandon Roy On The Jim Rome Show (3.6 MB)

Enjoy. Go Trail Blazers.

10.30.09 Trailblazers.com Podcast

2009-10-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

It's risky drawing conclusions based two games into the season, so neither Dave Deckard of Blazersedge.com nor I, Casey Holdahl of trailblazers.com, go too far in declaring the 2009-10 Trail Blazers the best or worst team in the history of sports. But we do look at the performances Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden, Martell Webster and basically every other member of the team who has seen significant PT through the first 1/41sts of the season.

We also delve briefly into the streaming of KGW games and whether pursing a point-forward is worth the trouble. And I didn't even get a chance to touch on the candy preferences of each member of the team. It doesn't seem like an hour worth of material, but file size don't lie.

Download Trailblazers.com Podcast (54.6 MB)

Subscribe to Trail Blazers Podcasts on ITunes

Brush It Off Big Fella'

2009-10-30T00:27:00.000-07:00

I knew exactly what the locker room would look like tonight before stepping through the heavy double doors that separate the team's sanctuary from the outside world. There would be a crowd of reporters in a semi-circle watching Greg Oden get dressed, recorders, cameras and microphones at the ready. Dante Cunningham, who inhabits the locker next to Oden, would be pushed aside while trying to get dressed by people half his size and infinitely less athletic. Sure enough, that's exactly what I saw.

I had no interest in joining the scrum. I was pretty sure I knew what he was going to say, and I'm positive he didn't need another camera shoved in his face, so I stood on the opposite side of the locker room waiting for it all to unfold.

And I wasn't alone. As the media horde stood quietly around Oden, head hung as he slipped a suit jacket over his shoulders, Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless, Juwan Howard, Rudy Fernandez and Joel Przybilla were all watching as well. I don't know if they were curious about how he would react to the moment, what he would say or what the media would ask, but they briefly stopped their own postgame rituals to take it in. All eyes were once again on Oden, just as they were when he missed two free throws that could have tied the game with 4.6 seconds to play.

He said the things you would expect him to say, though I doubt his teammates would agree with his conclusions. He put the loss on himself, talking about need to "step up" in pressure situations. While the later statement might be true, the former is not. Missing those free throws didn't loose that game. Shooting 34.6 percent from the field as a team took care of that.

The Blazers had 20 more attempts but the same number of makes as the Nuggets. Portland had more rebounds, more assists, fewer turnovers, more second chance points and only four fewer points in the paint while holding Denver to nine fastbreak points, but none of that mattered, just as missing two free throws didn't really matter. If the Blazers shoot even 40 percent from the field, which would still be a lackluster performance, they win going away. Instead, they head off to Houston 1-1.

No Looking Back

2009-10-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last time this season the Trail Blazers were excited, full of youthful exuberance, ready to take on the L.A. Lakers at Staples Center on national television. Ready to turn promise into production. Plant a red and black flag in the backyard of a Western Conference powerhouse.

Then they played the game.

In case you've wiped it completely out of your memory banks, the Trail Blazers did not play well in last season's opener in L.A. No reason going into any more detail than that. But with just hours to go before the start of the 2009-10 season, thoughts might drift back to the unpleasantness that occurred 364 days ago.

But they shouldn't.

"We're a different team," said Nate McMillan," different year, different opponent. Last year we started out with the Lakers on the road. We're starting out with a different team this year. It's about now and not the past and what we want to do starting (Tuesday) on our court against Houston."

This Trail Blazers team is a year older and wiser. They've added veterans. They're in better shape. Contracts have been negotiated and signed. And maybe most importantly, Greg Oden is healthy, confident and playing his 62nd professional game, rather than his first.

"My body feels a lot better (than last year)," said Oden. "Not as much of a grind as it was on my knee with that extra weight . Body feels good, I feel in shape. Guys are playing real aggressive and with a lot of energy, a lot of talking out there. Just hoping we can bring that to (Tuesday's) game."

When Families Negotiate

2009-10-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

There’s something that gets missed when discussing contract negotiations in the NBA. The focus is on the money, the respect. There’s talk of salary cap implications and “basketball-related income.” And people know things can get contentious, feeling can get hurt, pride can be wounded, but for Kevin Pritchard and LaMarcus Aldridge, those notions of negotiations don’t get to where the real difficulty resided during the process of locking LA up for the next five seasons in Portland.

The NBA is a business. Everyone knows that. But sport, especially basketball, is a business unlike most. There aren’t huge rosters like in football and baseball. You’re talking about 15 guys, guys you see every day during the season. And when you’re talking about the Trail Blazers, a team and an organization that is more tight-knit than most, you’re talking about relationships that are close and important. So when something changes those relationships, even temporarily, people feel it.

That was the case when it came to Aldridge’s contract negotiations. It wasn’t that the respect LA and KP had for each other changed, because it didn’t. Both have a sincere appreciation for the other, personally and professionally, but the fact is when it comes to hammering out a contract, each side has to approach each other differently. You have to give the other space so as to not give the impression that you’re trying to use that respect and those relationships you’ve cultivated to your own advantage. To do so would cheapen that bond. So you pull back, put your personal feelings aside as much as possible and conduct yourself in a professional manner befitting the importance of the moment.

“The hardest part for me is you grow close to these players and then you start the negotiations and all the sudden you have to step back and make it more professional, and I have a hard time with that,” said Pritchard. “I like talking to the players. I like helping them as much as I can in any way. But LaMarcus has been terrific in knowing we had good faith.”

It’s difficult, even when you know everyone is acting the way they should. There’s a lot of emotion wrapped up in this team, in this goal of winning a championship. The hugs, the handshakes, the high-fives, these things are like breathing for the guys in the clubhouse that is the practice facility. And when you have to put those things aside, even for a short period of time, it adds a complexity to the negotiations that people who are never involved in the process can’t realize. Teams are supposed to bring people together, and they do, but when you have to keep your distance for the sake of the team, it breeds a sort of mock conflict.

“I would see (Pritchard) but I would kind of be distant too because you just want to keep it professional,” said Aldridge. “You don’t want to make it like you’re talking to him to try and get information or you’re trying to butter him up, so you try to keep it professional on both ends. We would speak but it wasn’t like it used to be because it was just professional and we didn’t want to give each other mixed signals.”

“It’s a little bit like a Chinese water torture for me cause I’m a basketball guy,” said Pritchard. “I love smelling the gym and being in here and when you’re doing a negotiation, both sides, there are struggles. You’ve got to get to a fair point. But … we always felt good about it.”

It helps that KP has been a player. He knows the mind of an athlete and he knows LaMarcus. And this isn’t his first rodeo when it comes to negotiating. But KP is as connected to his players as any GM in sports. He’s not locked up in an office making decisions from on high. Everyday he’s feeling the pulse of the team. Part of that is being a good executive, but that’s just an ancillary bonus. The reality is with the players is where he wants, almost needs, to be. And when you take that away, it’s challenging. Some could take that forced distance the wrong way.

“I think he understood and I understood that it’s a business,” said Aldridge “It was being professional. I never took it personal that he didn’t talk to me as much and I don’t think he took it personal because we know at the end of the day we get along pretty well. We know it was circumstances that put us in that position, but that’s over with now.”

Indeed it is. Now they can go back to where they were before, hopefully better for the experience.

Check The New Billboard

2009-10-23T16:03:00.000-07:00

Trail Blazers get a win in Vancouver, BC. LaMarcus Aldridge gets five-years of stability. And we here at Trail Blazers HQ get a new billboard to look at everyday as we walk into the office. Everybody is happy.

10.22.09 Trailblazers.com Podcast

2009-10-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

There's been a ton of reported news regarding the Trail Blazers over the last few days, though nothing has gone official. So while Gavin Dawson of 95.5 The Game and Dave Deckard of Blazersedge.com speak on LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills with an air of definitiveness, I, Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com, tread a bit more lightly. Dance blogger, dance!

Also in this podcast: chemistry issues, Gavin and I argue about whether a trade needs to be made, a brief conversation on live streaming, predictions on the first week of the season and whether I can watch college football and play poker at the same time. Count you're money while you listen.

Download Trailblazers.com Podcast (41.9 MB)

Subscribe to Trail Blazers Podcasts on ITunes

From A Distance

2009-10-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Last season the Trail Blazers shot 38 percent from three for the season, good for fourth best in the NBA. The ability to stroke from three played a huge role on last season's successes. Aside from the obvious benefits of being worth more than a two-point shot, Portland's high-percentage from three forced opposing teams to pay close attention to the perimeter, helping free up the paint for Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. And this season, with Greg Oden looking much more polished and comfortable on the offensive end, outside shooting is going to be even more important. But through the first six games of the preseason, the Blazers have failed to consistently find the mark from long range.

The Trail Blazers shot well from three in the 2008-09 preseason, 40 percent (51 of 126) well to be exact. But through the first six games of the 2009-10 exhibition season the Trail Blazers are shooting just 31 percent (25 of 81) from long range. They're shooting fewer three's as well, 13.5 per game this preseason as opposed to 18 per this time last year. Hard to tell if they're taking fewer triples because they're not shooting as well or if other factors are in play.

Tuesday night's game was no better. Portland shot 2 for 15 from three, which pencils out to 13.3 percent. The absence of Aldridge and Oden from the lineup made it that much harder for shooters on the perimeter to get open, but you'd think at least they'd get luck more than twice in fifteen tries.

There's a number of things you can point to that explain the problem. The team has been without Rudy Fernandez, one of the best if not the best shooter on the team, for most of the preseason. Martell Webster, who challenges Rudy as the team's best three-point specialist, is still getting back into game shape, both from a fitness and tempo perspective. Those two can straight make it rain when healthy and in rhythm, but neither are there yet.

"You’ve got to get your rhythm," said Nate McMillan. "Normally you start out slow and that percentage goes up. A lot of that, I would say, probably are guys legs, they don’t have their legs right now. Rudy is not with us. Martell is a back shooting some three’s. A lot of guys are shooting some three’s. It’s early, but we want to take ‘em if we’re open and I think that percentage will go up."

Then there's Andre Miller. Dre brings a bevy of skills to the point guard position, but three-point shooting isn't one of them. The issue isn't so much that he's missing three's, because he's really not taking all that many, but he is taking away court time from Steve Blake, who was absolutely nails last year from deep. So when you've got one of your best perimeter shooters playing less, it's logical to see a drop off in both attempts and percentage. Also probably worth noting that Blake got a lot of open three's last season thanks to Roy's ability to penetrate then pass out to the perimeter. That SG-to-PG-for-three connection seems less likely with Roy working with Miller in the backcourt.

It's possible that there are some flow issues at play with Miller as well. He's still learning where his teammates like to receive the ball, where they like to spot up. When these kinds of things become second nature, there's a good chance the three-point percentages will improve. Miller's ability to penetrate and kick will eventually help those shooters as well.

But more than anything, guys just aren't making shots, and that's the way it goes sometimes. For every hot streak where the hoop looks like the size of a manhole cover there's a corresponding slump where nothing comes easy. Believe it or not, that's actually good news. Much better to get those cold spells out in preseason. So don't expect shooters to stop shooting any time soon.

"I think we have had some open three’s and we just missed ‘em," said McMillan. "We want to take those. We’ve got guys that can shoot the ball from three so we want to take those shots."

10.19.09 Trail Blazers Courtside

2009-10-20T14:35:00.001-07:00

Kudos to the Trail Blazers Courtside crew for putting together a top-notch show just a week before the start of the regular season. Great guests, great hosts, great show. Next week's prediction show should be fun as well.

But back to this week. Mike Barrett, Mike Rice and Brian Wheeler take care of hosting duties for both hours. In Hour One, both Kevin Pritchard and Joel Przybilla call in.

Download Trail Blazers Courtside (Hour One) (38.6 MB)

In the second hour, shooting coach John Townsend calls in to talk shop and Merlin swoops in to do ... whatever it is that he does.

Download the Trail Blazers Courtside (Hour Two) (38.8 MB)

Subscribe to Trail Blazers Podcasts on ITunes

Notes From A Shootaround: Taking It Easy

2009-10-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

A sleepy shootaround out yonder in Tualatin today. Jason Quick, Brian T. Smith and I were the only media folks in attendance. Those who didn't show didn't miss much.

A few things ...

• As you've already heard if you subscribe to our Twitter feed, Greg Oden, coming off one of the best six minutes stretches that anyone has had so far this preseason, will not play due to a sore thigh adductor. For those of you not sure where the adductor is at, it's apparently in the upper thigh area where the leg connects to the torso. A sensitive area, to be sure. The injury, as Oden remembers, stems from being kicked by Arron Afflalo in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Nuggets.

"It's sore from the kick, still," said Oden. "But Jay (Jensen) really didn't want to chance it. I can tell you it's feeling a lot better than what it did yesterday. But it's still a little sore and I feel it a little bit, so Jay didn't want to chance it."

Joel Przybilla, who sat out yesterday's practice with a sore back, will play and start. LaMarcus Aldridge returns to the starting lineup after sitting out Sunday's game with a knee contusion. Jerryd Bayless, who also missed practice yesterday after spraining his ankle in the first quarter of the Nuggets game, is expect to play. Rudy Fernandez, still battling back spasms, is listed as out. Now you know.

• As for the starting lineup, Nate McMillan is going with Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Joel Przybilla. McMillan has given the impression that he's fairly certain of who he's going to start on opening night, but he's keeping that news to himself at this point.

"The thing is I'm treating this like it were a regular season game in the sense that is these guys were out (in the regular season) we make our adjustments," said McMillan. "We approach it like that."

• Brandon Roy is looking forward to the start of the NBA regular season and Saturday's game between the Oregon Ducks and the Washington Huskies.

NBA.com Is Cuckoo For Preview

2009-10-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

I've always been a little lukewarm when it comes to NBA team previews. Back before this whole internet thing took off (who would have figured that?) it made sense for newspapers and magazines to write lengthy season previews since there were few ways to follow the team throughout the offseason. But with the changes in the media landscape, previews just don't seem all necessary anymore. The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, Blazersedge.com (here's Ben's preview, btw), The Columbian and a host of others follow the Trail Blazers 365 days a year. If there's something you still don't know about this team and the upcoming season, then you're probably not paying very close attention.

That being said, if you're going to put out a Trail Blazers preview, I'm more than likely going to read/watch it. The folks over at the NBA.com mothership obviously put a lot of time end effort into their previews, so I'm more than happy to do my part to get the word out.

Here's Eric Snow, Brent Barry and Andre Aldridge's (no relation) video preview.

Here's the interesting-yet-creepy "secret scout" breakdown.

On the written side, Howard Scott-Cooper writes that the new svelte edition of Greg Oden is ready to turn the page on the last two seasons:

This is the perfect time and place for him, it turns out, not the center of his crumbling universe. Among the many things that went right for the resurgent Trail Blazers last season, tying for the second-best record in the Western Conference alleviated an incalculable amount of pressure on Oden to be great already. Being good enough to start and put a lid on the basket makes him a difference maker and a potential hero. Strange given the '07 perspective, but true.

Sean Powell, also writing for NBA.com, lists GO as one of the "make-or-break" players of the 2009-10 season:

Can you imagine that, two years removed from a no-brainer draft decision, there are rumblings the Trail Blazers should've taken Kevin Durant instead? That says plenty about Durant, but also something about Oden, raw and hardly the impact player many expected him to be. Big men develop slowly, and Oden did suffer leg injuries, so patience, please. Still, Oden can make everyone in Portland exhale if he learns a pet move, elevates himself to third option on offense and grabs more than seven rebounds a game. Is that asking too much too soon? No, it isn't.

I'm going to use "pet move" in place of "go-to" move from here on out. It sounds much friendlier.

Oden Unfazed By Foul Calls

2009-10-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Greg Oden had a heck of a time staying on the court Sunday night, but at this point, he's used to it. He picked up his first foul 14 second into the game. A little less than three minutes later he got called for his second. Off to the bench he went. He checked back in with 8:46 to play in the second quarter, and proceeded to pick up his third foul a minute later. The first half of the game could serve as exhibit 1A for those making the case that Oden was and is foul-prone.

The second half didn't get much better. Oden made it four minutes into the third quarter before picking up his fourth foul. He got back into the game at the 10:23 mark in the fourth and, you guessed it, picked up his fifth foul a little less than two minutes later. At the time he had scored 4 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. Not exactly the kind of production you look for from your starting center.

Last season, Oden might have gotten frustrated with all the calls, but on Sunday night, he took it in stride. If nothing else there was solace in knowing that, in a game where the team combined for 77 fouls, at least he wasn't alone.

"I look at it like I wasn’t the only one getting called this time. B.Roy got a little taste of what I had last year sitting on the bench."

Knowing he probably didn't have much time before the inevitable foul-out, Oden got down to the business of dominating.

"I would like to say that at that point I really didn’t care," said Oden. "At that point you want to stay in the game. Through the whole entire three quarters I think the most I played was three and a half minutes in a row. At that point I was like, let me do whatever I can to stay out there on the floor."

He converted an And1 to pull the Blazers within five. He put back a Brandon Roy miss. He rocked the basket standard with a two-handed jam. He made all his free-throws. GO had scored 12 points and pulled down 5 boards in the six and a half minutes before collecting an offensive foul, his sixth and final of the night, that could be most diplomatically described as debatable. But by that point, the damage was done. Portland had taken the lead, which they wouldn't relinquish.

“(Oden) remained aggressive and played smart down the stretch with five fouls," said Nate McMillan. "That last foul could have gone either way but he got us going. He got us in the penalty. They were killing us at the free throw line and we were able to get back in the ball game as far as getting to the free throw line. A lot of that was due to going inside to Greg and attacking the basket.”

Podcast: Bill Walton Speaks

2009-10-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

I learned more than a few things today about Bill Walton. Things I never would have expected. I learned that for all he did for the Trail Blazers and the city of Portland, he still feels a great deal of shame and regret for the way things ultimately turned out. I learned that he suffered through such intense physical pain that at one point he was more afraid of living than dying. I learned that in 1990 he still had serious aspirations of playing in the NBA.

But this wasn't my first time talking to Bill Walton, so I was already aware of something other members of the media probably weren't, which is this: You don't interview Bill Walton. Oh sure, you can ask questions, but Bill is going to talk on his own terms. He's got stories on top of stories, and he's going to tell those stories. He'll talk about lifting weights in his garage with The Grateful Dead blaring through the speakers or about getting thrown from his bike thanks to a wayward skateboarder. He'll liken Maurice Lucas to Mt. Hood. He'll call the Lakers the "Fakers." He'll talk about a father's pride and of the weather in San Diego. If what he says pertains to your inquiry, great. If not, oh well. He's Bill Walton.

Below is the totality of Walton's remarks to the media today. You can't hear the questions that are being asked, but don't worry, those questions are quite inconsequential to what Bill says.

Download the interview (43 MB)

'Thunder Dan' Is An MC Fan

2009-10-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

After the way things turns out last night, Suns assistant coach Dan Majerle might petition the league to make the Trail Blazers play ever game at the Memorial Coliseum. After all, he’s 7-0 in that building over the last 14 years. Majerle was a member of the ’95-’95 Phoenix team that swept the Blazers at the Coliseum, both in the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs, so it’s no wonder he’s got such fond memories of the “Glass Palace.”

“Loved playing here,” said Majerle. “Just a classic old building. Not very big but fans are right on top of you, extremely loud. It’s a lot like the building in Phoenix, the old Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. A lot of similarities. These are the types of buildings that were always fun to play in because the atmosphere really set the game off.”

It’s usually assumed that a loud and rowdy crowd benefits the home side, and it probably does, but according to “Thunder Dan”, playing in a hostile road enviroment is almost as good as playing in front of the home crowd.

“There’s something about playing in an arena like (the Memorial Coliseum) where it’s more intimate, the fans are closer, there are no boxes. Just seats and it seems like the fans are right on top of you. As a player that’s a fun atmosphere to play in.”

The teams that Majerle played against in the MC were some of the best in Trail Blazers history, so much so that teams like the Suns had to make personnel moves to keep up.

“The reason why we traded for Charles Barkley in ’92 because we couldn’t get past those Portland teams with Terry Porter, Buck Williams, Duckworth, Drexler and Kersey,” said Majerle. “Just a very talented, hardnosed team that could score, play defense. Just a very hard team to get by. That’s the main reason why we went out and got a guy like Charles, to see if we could beat this Portland team.”

Rumors Of The MC's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

2009-10-14T23:51:00.001-07:00

I don't know that I've ever had as much fun at a losing game as I did tonight at Memorial Coliseum. Maybe I don't leave feeling that way if Wednesday's loss to the Suns was a regular season game, but would I trade a preseason win in the Rose Garden for the experience of playing again at Memorial Coliseum, even in a losing effort? I don't think so.

Like I said in the live blog, that building still has some life left in it. It's not a perfect venue by any definition, but I was expecting worse after hearing some of the things people were saying about the MC during the debate this summer over what to do with the building. To hear some people tell it you'd think the place was a strong gust of wind away from collapsing on itself.

Maybe I've got low standards, but I thought the joint looked pretty cool. Dropping the curtains that surround the bowl is definitely the way to go. You don't get the full effect at night, but when the sun is up and natural light is streaming into the building from all directions, it's a rather unique setting. And even at night it's a nice change of pace from the enclosure of the Rose Garden. The MC is like a small office with a window; it's not nearly as nice as the big corner suite, but at least it's got a nice view.

Not that I'd want to play 41 games a season there. The lack of a legit scoreboard is a killer, especially for someone like myself who often misses plays the first time around. Besides being small, I guess the locker rooms don't have showers, as the team had to walk back to the Rose Garden to hose off postgame. But other than that, it seemed alright to me. But then again, I'm not participating in the halftime rush to the bathroom with 12,000 people or having to wait in line for an elephant ear on the concourse, so I'm probably not the best judge of the building's public amenities.

And that's too say nothing of the game. Coach McMillan joked a few days ago that if the team played well at the MC, maybe he'd consider playing a few more games in the building. After Wednesdays game, I'm guessing he's never going to allow the team to step foot in the "Glass Palace" again. Not a whole lot of positives to take away from that one. Greg Oden looked good and Martell Webster is deadset on posterizing someone eventually, but after that, a mixed bag at best.

So forget about what you saw in the building and focus on the building itself. A bit of an oldie, but kind of a goodie.

Suns looking to return to the Western Conference elite

2009-10-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

By Max Mandel, trailblazers.com

When the Portland Trail Blazers host Phoenix tonight at the Memorial Coliseum, they will see a team that is trying to regain the swagger and confidence that made it one of the elite teams in the Western Conference. With Steve Nash running the point, the Suns continue to have arguably the best point guard in the league. However, in order for this team to return to the playoffs the supporting cast must be healthy and find the consistency that was missing last year.

Having been a key piece in the memorable playoff run with the Golden State Warriors during the 2006/2007 season, Jason Richardson certainly knows something about being part of an explosive offense. Now that he has had the chance to get comfortable with his Suns teammates, Richardson thinks this team is close to replicating the great offensive teams that fans became accustomed to in Phoenix.

“ I think we are real close. We just got to get adjusted to things that we normally do as far as running and being organized,” Richardson said. “ That’s why the preseason is important for us.”

In Golden State, Richardson played some of the best basketball of his career playing alongside Baron Davis. It’s pretty clear that Richardson thinks he can return to that form playing with Nash.

“ It’s very similar. Both of them are great point guards. They both understand the game and how to get guys the ball, and they can score. It’s definitely reminiscent of the days back in Golden State, where we were up and down the court and running, and that will make the game a lot easier for myself.”

For the first time in a couple of seasons, it seems that the Suns are finally healthy entering the season (Robin Lopez injury not withstanding). With the team healthy, Richardson has high expectations entering the season.

“ We have high expectations for ourselves. There aren’t too many people in the NBA world talking about us because other teams made major changes and we didn’t. I think our major change is getting back to the style of play that made everybody successful. Getting back to running makes Steve successful, myself successful, and Grant successful. Also, having Amar’e come back from the eye surgery, I’m definitely excited about that. We have some high expectations for ourselves, and we are going to go out there and try to accomplish them.”

Perhaps the most important piece to the success of the Suns this season is Amar’e Stoudemire. Having been a key part of some of the most dominant Suns teams in recent memory, Stoudemire has a good perspective on what it will take to return to that form. If preseason and training camp are any indication, Stoudemire thinks this team is capable of bringing that success back to Phoenix.

“ I think we are close. It’s just a matter of still incorporating it,” Stoudemire said. “ A lot of these guys haven’t been a part of this type of offense, so it’s just a matter of getting them use to playing that way. I think as we keep working and practicing, and with games also, it will allow us to really incorporate our strategies offensively, and also defensively.”

In order for the Suns and Stoudemire to find that comfort on the offensive end, it’s imperative that he stays healthy for the full season. Although it’s early, Stoudemire insists this is the best he has felt in years.

“ I feel great. I definitely feel closer to being back to that form. I’m right there. With the eye procedure, I’m 100%. I’m getting my legs back into better shape, so I’m almost there. We can never limit ourselves short of anything. If we just keep our motives in line and take care of what we should take care of and play hard out there, then we got a chance.”