Scouting the 2008-2009 Blazers: The Bench

After taking a look at the possible starters for next season, it is time to take a look at the Blazer reserves.

Joel 'the Thrilla' Przybilla
Offensively Joel is very, very limited. He has no mid-range game whatsoever and little if any post-up game. He is never really an option at that end of the floor. With that said, he does have some positives. He is an above average offensive rebounder, does a nice job on the high pick and roll, and gets most of his points on broken plays or follow up shots. Since he takes virtually shot from inside of 8 feet he ends up shooting a good percentage.

It is on defense where Joel really shines. At times he is a dominant defensive rebounder who can totally control the boards. He uses basic fundamentals to block out the opposition and has above average timing and good hands. He is also a shot-blocking machine, particularly close in. He probably had more blocked dunk attempts than anyone else in the entire league. He is not particularly mobile, however, so his strength is against the big, strong post-up centers. Quicker guys tend to give him problems.

Probably the biggest weakness for Joel is his injury prone tendencies. He has never played a full season in the NBA. A lot of his injuries have been freak type things...but they keep happening. It is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Overall Joel is an excellent role player who can provide rugged interior defense and rebounding. He won't provide much scoring but you know that going in.

Channing Frye
Frye has a nice mid-range jumper that can be devastating when he is on. However, he is somewhat reminiscent of Brad Sellers...he is a big man whom is seldom seen inside for whatever reason.

Defensively he has a bit of a mean streak. You won't get any easy buckets against him...but you will score. At times he is a decent rebounder but too often he loses focus.

Frye is an intriguing talent. He was once a lottery pick but has never fulfilled his promise. With Oden coming in he will not get any minutes at the Center position and he will be fighting Travis Outlaw for minutes behind Aldridge. As a result, he will be towards the end of the bench or else gone via trade.

Josh 'McBob' McRoberts
McRoberts spent a bit of time in the D-League. He needed more time. Rumors abound that the popular McBob was kept around as a "comfort factor" for Oden. Expect that to continue. With Oden, Przybilla, Aldridge and Frye in front of him you will not see McRoberts on the floor even if by some miracle he is still on the roster.

James Jones
Jones is an intriguing talent. He provides excellent outside shooting and will go inside on occasion. Last season he was leading the league in 3-point percentage after the All-Star break before slumping. He is very dangerous shooting from the corner but, unlike Martell Webster, he does not just plant himself in the corner and make himself easy to defend. He will move side to side a bit to make the defense move. Nor does he limit himself to pumping up shots from outside the arc. Just often enough to slow the defense he will pump fake and drive to the rack. He is also more willing than most Blazers to get out on the fast break.

Defensively he tries pretty hard but is not very effective. Quick players habitually break him down and make the defense scramble when in the man to man. He is a bit more effective in the zone as his long arms and quickness let him be a bit disruptive in the passing lanes.

Jones also has a bit of a mean streak. When he and Frye are on the floor together at the same time you can expect to see opponent bodies on the floor at some point. Both tend to take a lot of fouls and have a lot of those fouls be hard fouls that are sometimes borderline dirty, a fact I am not fond of.

The other factor to consider is Jones also seems to be injury prone. He missed a lot of games last season.

Jones is most effective when he can come in to provide some long distance shooting and instant offense. In that role he is a valuable, lethal player whose deficiencies can be hidden. The more minutes he plays the easier he is to expose. Properly used he is the type of player who vastly improves a team as evidenced by the Blazers well over .500 record in games he played last year. He shares the Small Forward role with Webster and sometimes fills in at Shooting Guard, although with Rudy Fernandez arriving to back up Brandon Roy the latter minutes will be curtailed a great deal.

Jones is a great role player on a team like Portland. He is not expected to provide major minutes but performs very well in 15 - 25 minute per game stretches.

Travis Outlaw
If ever there was a player without a position, it has been Outlaw. He has played everything from Center to Power Forward to Small Forward to Shooting Guard and with varying degrees of success...within the same game. He is too fast for opposing Power Forwards, too tall for opposing Small Forwards, and can stay with most Shooting Guards. He can bomb away from 3 point land or drive as well as anyone on the team. He is a match-up nightmare for the opposition. He is also an exciting player; he probably had more momentum changing plays than any other Blazer. His highlight real hammer cocking dunk over Andre Iguodala of the 76ers got as many cheers as any other highlight with the possible exception of Roy's.

His offensive strength lies in his versatility. His .396% from long range trailed only Jones and Steve Blake. He shot a few too many from outside which dragged down his overall percentage, though that will improve with experience. He is great at creating his own shot as well. One of his favorite moves is to face up his defender, make a quick jab step to create space, and pull up for essentially an uncontested jumper. It works because his outside shot is good enough to make that respectable, he has the speed to get to the rim and power to finish, and he elevates so high that it is all but impossible for a defender to bother his shot.

Additionally, he is one of those players who is not afraid of the moment. He took the shot that really defined the Blazers season. Early on the Blazers had been struggling, losing games they should have won, not competing in some games. Against a Memphis team they needed to handle with just seconds left on the clock the ball ended up in Outlaw's hands. It is significant that he did not start that game...or many others...but he was finishing it. The young man created his own shot and in a shot that beat the buzzer by a photo-finish microsecond made the clutch bucket to give Portland their first road win...and first of 13 straight that carried the Blazers from a 6 games under to 7 games over .500 record. Arguably, that shot saved the season. And while it was the first of the game-ending shots he would take, it would not be the last.

Coach McMillan quickly learned Outlaw is a player he can rely on in the 4th quarter. If Roy is the Blazers' best prime time player then Outlaw is 1A. He is clutch, he is not afraid of the big shot, and if he misses it then he does what the best players do...he forgets about it and goes back in his mind to the one he made.

Defensively he is unsteady. At times he is spectacular. At various times he was focused, was moving his feet, and with his length he can bother the shot of virtually any player he faces. However, in the zone he tends to get lost, leave his area of responsibility and does not help on the boards as much as someone with his size and leaping ability should.

Outlaw is a high motor guy with seemingly boundless energy. He can transmit that energy to the crowd in a variety of ways...he can deliver a highlight reel dunk, he can make a sky-walking, out of nowhere block, or he can make an energy play. He reminded me a bit of Jerome Kersey a few times this year when he caught up from behind to reject break-away dunk or lay-in attempts. And he is only going to get better.

For whatever reason, mostly because of his contract, he is repeatedly brought up as the Blazer most likely to be traded. That is the biggest mistake Portland can make. He has future All-Star ability, can play on the floor inside or outside, and is taking charge of his career. He has been durable and coach able and his only downside is some have questioned his basketball IQ. He does get a little lost at times but it is important to remember he is still young, only 23. Physically, he has the tools to be a top 5 player in the league and is developing the mentality. It remains to be seen if he will put it all together.


Rudy Fernandez
Fernandez is an international star and good enough that many people claim he would be the 3rd pick in this year's draft behind Beasely and Rose. The excitement over his impending arrival has been felt throughout the city. In international play he has been a prolific scorer with above average passing skills. He is also rumored to have questionable man to man defensive skills. In the interest of full disclosure I have not really followed the international game so all I have is rumor and innuendo.

He will be providing backup minutes at Shooting Guard behind Brandon Roy. Since Roy played nearly 38 minutes per game last year, there is not a lot of time, particularly if Jarrett Jack is kept around as he, Jones, and Webster all took turns at the position last year. However, it is anticipated the Blazers will experiment with running Roy at the point a bit more this year which will give Fernandez a bit more playing time. Either way, Portland has the roster to give him time to develop and learn the NBA game.

Jarrett Jack
Jack was projected to be the starting point guard last year but just a handful of games in he proved to be unready. He slid quietly into the role of instant offense off the bench and at first played really well but then he hit an extended slump before again hitting his stride towards the end of the year. Jack is a more natural shooting guard than point when you examine his skill set.

Offensively Jack is at his best when he is penetrating. He can get into the paint virtually at will but once he gets there he sometimes gets lost, deciding too late whether to shoot or pass. He has a nice little teardrop running one hander and is good at drawing contact. When he gets to the line he is the best foul shooter on the Blazers. He is okay from the 3-point line but is not going to make anyone tremble. Either way he tends to get sloppy with the ball and tends to turn it over in bunches.

Defensively he is an average on the ball defender and a decent ball hawk out top in the zone but he tends to get overpowered by guards who can post him up.

Overall he is a streaky player. When he is playing well he makes solid contributions, stays within his game, and is a serviceable player. When he plays poorly he can really hurt the team. Hopefully another year of experience will help him gain a bit of consistency. If not, he is likely to be the odd man out in the rotation.

Sergio Rodriguez
Sergio is a real mixed bag. He can be a spark plug who wins lost games or a goof who loses games that were in the bag. He tends to get himself into McMillans doghouse and disappear for long stretches.

At his best Rodriguez is penetrating the lane and creating havoc for the defense. He has excellent court vision and is lightning quick. He can break down any defender and will find the open man. In one notable game he had something like 8 assists in 5 minutes. However, at other times he looks for his shot and that is when he costs the team. He is a lot like Jason Kidd...he has talent, he just uses it for the wrong end and the opposition is more than willing to let them shoot it.

Defensively he is a wreck. He tends to let his man by him way to often, he gambles too much in the passing lanes and the others have to cover for him.

The best use for Rodriguez is to change the pace of a game. He gets the ball up the floor in a hurry and with him on the floor the Blazers give a completely different look than when Blake, Jack, or Roy is running the team. He can play 5 - 6 minutes at a time at a high level and his deficiencies are not badly exposed there. When he plays longer he tends to get abused and the team suffers.

The Bench
As a whole the Blazer bench has a lot to offer. There is versatility, firepower, defense and rebounding. Properly used there are players who can change the pace and flow of the game or shore up holes. The biggest problem the Blazers will have is finding minutes. I would anticipate that Raef LaFrentz and Von Wafer will not be on the roster at all and some combination of 2 -3 players from among Frye, Webster, Jones, Jack, Rodriguez, and Blake will be packaged together in trades.

The bench can contribute significant minutes and in Outlaw, Przybilla, Jack, and Jones they have guys who are capable of stepping in and starting if a starter gets injured. For that matter, if he sticks around you could include LaFrentz in that category.

With another year of development the bench figures to be a strong point for this team.

Coming up next: Projecting next year

Scouting the 2008-2009 Blazers

Heading into the off-season, Blazermania is scaling back a bit yet there is still palpable excitement. Next year is expected to be a break-through season and the fans are waiting with great anticipation. We don't just want to squeak into the playoffs, we want to roar in and do some damage. However, before we get to that point, what will the team look like? Here is a player by player breakdown.



Greg Oden

It will all start with the man in the middle. 2007-2008 saw Portland struggle on the boards as even indifferent teams regularly won that battle. Oden is anticipated to change that around. He his big, strong, agile, and fairly quick for a big guy. His workout regimen while recovering from micro fracture surgery was so strenuous that team officials actually insisted he scale it back for fear he would become so bulky that he would lose the speed and athleticism that make him special. Oden has already shown he knows a good deal about rebounding in college. His transition to the demands of the boards in the NBA can only be helped by the coaching of Maurice Lucas, a solid rebounder in his own years in the NBA. It would not be shocking to see Oden pull down double digit boards almost every night if he can stay out of foul trouble. That foul trouble is likely to come on the defensive end.



Defensively he may have an Achilles Heel. He demonstrated superior shot-blocking abilities in college as his size, leaping ability and timing combined to give him an advantage over the majority of centers he faced in college. In the NBA he will still often have the advantages but will face stiffer competition. And that can lead to foul trouble...particularly for Oden who is already on record as saying he would try to block every shot. For a rookie, this is a recipe for disaster. If he is out there flying around trying to do to much he will hear a lot of whistles and spend a great deal of time on the bench. That will hurt him at the offensive end.



On the offensive game he will be counted on for back to the basket offense. His imposing size will make entry passes easy if he can establish position. The micro fracture surgery has been a blessing in this regard as Oden has received a great deal of valuable one-on-one instruction from the Blazer coaching staff. Reports coming out have his game expanding. He can use either hand for little baby hooks and has a pretty good spin move. When he goes to the line his free throw shooting is above average.



By all reports he has responded very well to coaching. Additionally, there can be no questioning his desire to play as evidenced by the incident where he played pick-up basketball at a 24 Hour Fitness since that is where he found a game. He seems to have the complete package. He has one other weak link, and that is his history of injuries.



Coming out of college is a big step for anybody. Coming out of college and having that compounded by missing the rookie season with a micro fracture in the knee is even bigger. Nobody questions the capabilities or will of Oden...the only question is how it will translate to the court. His upside is huge. If things break his way he could score 15 - 20 points a game, pull down 8 - 10 rebounds, block 2 - 3 shots, and be an instant All-Star. On the other hand, he could find himself saddled with foul trouble and only chip in 10 points and 5 rebounds. Even worse would be another injury. The Blazers franchise and fans have put an unrealistic burden on this young man but it will be interesting to see how he responds.



LaMarcus Aldridge

Aldridge should have received some consideration for Most Improved Player last year. His points and rebounds both nearly doubled, his defense improved by leaps and bounds, and he was a key component on a team that lost its best scorer, rebounder, and shooter...and improved 8 games.



Aldridge made huge strides last year. He was not always consistent...one game he would dominate the boards and the next he would end up with just 1 or 2. He had one stretch of 7 or 8 games where he averaged over 20 points and shot over 50% and then, inexplicably, melted down against the defense-inhibited Supersonics.



Yet he never quit working on his game. After one poor outing the Blazers couldn't find him. At last someone thought to check the practice facility and there was Aldridge, working alone on the shots he could not get to fall in the game. The next night he came out and had a monster game. By the end of the season, almost every night the Blazer broadcasters would look on in awe as they said, "Their is a move we have not seen from LaMarcus before."



2 games against the Suns tell us all we need to know about his ability to improve. In the first one, Amare Stoudemire got into his head. Stoudemire bothered every shot he took and rendered him completely ineffective. Bricks, turnovers, airballs...those were the modus operandi for Aldridge. The next time they played he made some subtle adjustments and, while Stoudemire still outplayed him, he at least held his own and was a force for the Blazers. He has no quit in him and will not yield to anyone. He has all the tools to continue to improve offensively.



He has a silky smooth jumper that is good out to 17 or 18', a developing post-up game, and is willing to run the floor. Expect to see his scoring average increase yet again on offense and for his defense to continue to improve.



He has the length and speed to trouble the shot of anyone he is matched up against on defense. His primary weaknesses are twofold. First, his long, lean frame makes it tough for him to match up for bigger, stronger players as he can be pushed around a bit. Second, he sometimes struggles to properly block out and gives up a lot of offensive rebounds. He largely counteracts this with a motor that never quits.



If Aldridge shows just average development he will soon be mentioned in the same breath as some of the top forwards in the league. However, to take that step he will need to learn to play alongside Oden who will receive the majority of the touches on the block. If the 2 big men do not play well together it would be disastrous.



Martell Webster

At the beginning of last year I thought Webster would be good for 12 - 15 points a game and a half dozen rebounds. It proved to be a disappointing season and now that door might be closed. With Oden, Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Travis Outlaw all slated to score 15 - 20 points there are simply not going to be that many shots left. That is unfortunate because Webster has one of the better shots in the league...at least, he does by reputation.

On offense, that is his strength. He can stroke the three with anyone in the League. However, it is also his weakness. Because he is such a good shooter from downtown he neglects the rest of his offense. You seldom see Webster drive into the lane or pull up for a mid-range jumper. In fact, too often he does not move at all...he heads to his preferred corner and stands there, nearly immobile. When defenses collapse off of him, Webster makes them pay with his shooting. When the offense is on the far side of the floor his defender can sag off which helps the defensive rotations and causes Webster to become a liability.

Defensively he is a mixed bag. He showed flashes at times of being the Blazers' best on the ball defender. He even did a passable job defending Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in one on one situations. However, when the Blazers switch to their zone defense he often gets lost and leaves his area open. This gaping hole led to some huge breakdowns over the course of last year.

On the boards he has shown flashes. From time to time he will go down amongst the tall timber and grab some pretty rugged rebounds but more often than not he is a non-factor. He should get more rebounds at his size and position and needs to improve in that regard.

This position is rightfully considered one of the 2 big weaknesses on the team. Webster showed flashes early in the season and was averaging low to mid teens in points, shooting well, and playing acceptable defense. As the season wore on, however, he slumped across the board. He then came on strong towards the end of the season. He has shown flashes of true greatness such as his 25 points or so against Utah in the third quarter and towards the end of the season he had a nice string of games.

He is young and Portland loves his potential so he will get another long look and probably, barring a trade, start the season as the small forward. If he fulfills his promise the Blazers should have an extremely successful season, possibly even exceeding 50 wins. If he struggles his he could quickly find himself on the bench.

Brandon Roy
Every NBA fan knows his name by now. Rookie of the Year, avoided the sophomore slump to become Western Conference All-Star, and was getting some early mentions as MVP though of course those (rightfully) faded away as the Blazers also faded away. He is the heart and soul of the current Blazer roster.

In crunch time he always has the ball in his hand, usually for a pick and roll. His Jordanesque fake right, switch the ball to his left hand, flip up the reverse layup highlight almost always got the largest cheer of any highlight every time it was shown. It was a spectacular move and it showed everything you need to know about Roy...he is not the tallest or strongest or quickest...but he gets the job done.

Offensively he has a solid game. He is a solid mid-range shooter and an above average penetrator. He has excellent court vision which leads to assists in bunches. His three point shooting is a bit suspect but he recognizes this and does not shoot them in volume. As a result he is a dangerous offensive player.

His numbers are less overwhelming than they would be because he tends to spend 1 - 2 quarters getting everyone else involved and does the bulk of his scoring in the 3rd and 4th quarters. At one point late last season he was second in the league in 4th quarter points to LeBron James. When the points mean the most he is scoring them. The downside of this is last year, with their most potent offensive player not scoring, the Blazers sometimes struggled to get rolling early in the game.

Defensively, Coach Nate McMillan loves his game. At key points in games he would often be matched up with guys like Joe Johnson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and so forth. At times this worked well. In one memorable stretch against Atlanta he forced Johnson into an air ball and a 24 second shot clock violation. Conversely, James and Bryant had layups. Not that Johnson is in their class, but he is a very capable one on one player. Still, Roy did an overall decent job against those two players as well.

At times he is a lock down defender in man to man and he was the best on the team at getting into the passing lanes and picking off errant tosses. However, he does have vulnerabilities to the top penetrators in the league and to smaller, faster guards.

He also is susceptible to injury as he struggled with that issue in both college and his first two seasons. If he continues to have injury problems it could derail a very promising team from fulfilling expectations.

His stats don't tell the full story of Roy's value but they are still impressive. Look for another All-Star worthy performance even if his 22 point, 5 rebound, 6 assist numbers do not improve with the addition of Oden.

Steve Blake
Point Guard is the other position of concern for the Blazers. Currently it is manned by Steve Blake. Blake catches a lot of flack from Blazer fans. He is not a high scoring guy, does not register a large number of assists, and is an average defender.

Offensively he does not shoot a lot but he has the knack of knocking down clutch threes. He shot better than 40% on them throughout the year. It is seldom you see him shooting from closer than three. He can surprise you with an occasional penetration but those times are relatively rare. For the most part he just moves the ball around the perimeter and makes entry passes. His role is minimized by the role Roy takes in distributing the ball and as a result the Blazers essentially play with 2 combo guards. Blake is a point only in the sense that he brings the ball up the floor.

Blake is the type of solid role player that can make a good team great. He does not need a lot of shots but if the opposition sags off, he will make them pay with a trey, he is not afraid of taking the big shot and does not complain about not having a bigger role. Is he a starter on a playoff winning team? I will argue that, in the right setting, yes...and he fits in well with Portland.

That is not easy for me as I am not a big Steve Blake fan either but the truth is he fits very well with their current make-up. Yet the Blazer franchise is taking a long, hard look at this position. It will be interesting to see if Blake is still with the franchise and/or starting. I actually think Portland will not be making a mistake to keep him...but time will tell.


Starting Lineup
That is the current starting line-up. It is well balanced. Oden and Aldridge should provide interior defense, rebounding, and a strong post presence. Webster and Blake provide long distance shooting and perimeter defense and Roy makes it all run. This is a team that should improve on last season's rather pedestrian offensive numbers and with a year of maturity will score the ball better. Their already above average defense should also improve.

Coming up next: A look at the bench

The Greatest of All Time? Not even close.

The debate over who "the greatest player ever" has gained currency as Kobe Bryant has led the Lakers back into the Finals. The most-cited argument for Bryant to be mentioned for that status is his leading a non-Shaquille O'Neal team into the Finals and that validating him as being on the same level as Jordan. It seems to have a lot to do with the number of Championships they have each competed for. Of course, that points to an interesting bit of hypocrisy in the argument. If Championships won is the yardstick then Bryant should not even be mentioned. Neither should Michael Jordan, for that matter. The 11 Championships of Bill Russell pretty much end that conversation once and for all.

And aside from the number of Championships, consider the totals of their other statistics. Russell was never a great shooter, checking in at just a 44% clip and his 15.1 points per game hardly devastates anyone. It is a nice number but not exactly Hall of Fame. But his 22.5 rebounds per contest boggles the mind. Every night Russell was out there controlling the boards, blocking shots, and performing defensively at unheard of levels. He did his job and let other Celtics do the scoring which led to Championship after Championship after Championship. They would laugh to hear about how impressive a mere "3-peat" is in comparison to their 9-peat.

But it isn't just about Championships. Nobody in their right mind would ever say Robert Horry was, over the course of his career, a better player than Bryant, Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Jerry West, George Gervin, or a host of others...but he has more rings than any of them. Clearly there needs to be some relation between individual production and rating as a player to go with the Championships.

In the regard of individual production there is no debate possible. One player stands head and shoulders above any other player in NBA history. He averaged 30.1 points per game. He added 22.89 rebounds per game. He shared the ball as evidenced by his 4.4 assists per game average and shot a healthy 54% from the field. I am speaking of course of Wilt Chamberlain. His great downfall was scoring only 2 Championships.

Compare him to Jordans' line: 30.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg., 5.2 apg. and .497% field goal percentage.

Chamberlain scored about equally, out rebounded him by nearly a 3.5-1 margin and had nearly as many assists, all while shooting better.

Or to Bryant:25 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, .453% from the field.
The disparities only grow larger.


Of course, there is more to the game than just numbers. And these totals admittedly do not discuss blocks or steals...in no small part because those numbers were not kept for Chamberlain and Russell. Even there, Russell and Chamberlain stand head and shoulders above Jordan and Bryant. Russell was widely acknowledged to be the difference between Chamberlain being the most dominant regular season player in history but winning relatively few championships and perhaps having a dozen banners of his own.

On the other side of the coin, some people criticize the achievements of Jordan, Bryant, and other more recent athletes for competing in a league watered down by expansion. The merit of that argument seems to be somewhat counteracted by the expansion of the game world wide. The NBA draws from every continent for their players instead of just the United States as they did for so long. The larger pool of players now available is certainly worthy of stocking a few more teams. Indeed, I have even heard the counter-argument that Chamberlain and his cohorts benefited from facing inferior competition. Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, all the players concerned faced the best competition available in their era. And dominated. They were so dominant that Chamberlain once forced a widening of the lane to lower his influence on the game.

Chamberlain could do whatever he wanted on the basketball floor. When he felt like winning the scoring title, he did. When he felt like winning the rebounding title, he did. One year he even won the assist title! With the possible exception of Oscar Robertson, no other player in history has had the ability to dominate whatever statistical category he wanted to like Chamberlain did. And for how many players has the league changed the floor dimensions?

There has long been a rap on Chamberlain for not being a winner. By those standards it is tough to be a winner when you are the best PLAYER on the floor but not on the best TEAM on the floor. Chamberlain had the misfortune to repeatedly run into the greatest TEAM of his generation.

The same held true for Jordan early in his career. When he dropped 63 on the Celtics in the Garden even Bird was amazed by his talent...but Boston won that series. Jordan was far and away the best player on the floor but Boston had the better team. Later Jordan had a much better team around him but still lost to the Pistons...who had yet a better team. There were no two players on the Pistons that could match Jordan's talent...not Joe Dumars, not Vinnie "the Microwave" Johnson, not even Isaiah Thomas...but the Pistons were, plain and simple, the better TEAM. Did that mean Jordan was not a great player or not a great winner? Two three-peats seem to put the lie to that question.

Of course, part of being on the best team is sublimating personal statistics to the needs of the team. It is possible...even probable...that Jordan, for example, could have averaged far more than 30 points had he wished to. However, that would not have been the best thing for the Bulls as a whole.

That was always one of the knocks on Chamberlain, that he would not sublimate his personal needs to the good of the team. In '67-68 he decided to show that was not accurate and that year he led the league in assists. Was it an accurate assessment?

Hard to say from a distance. To be honest, most of us debating "the greatest player of all time" have never seen him play consistently, we have never seen the Big O play...so we go to the easy answer.

"Jordan is the greatest player of all time."

"Bryant is the greatest player of all time."

I call shenanigans. By what measure is either of those players even in the conversation? Statistically they fall short of Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and even, arguably, based on his rebounding, Bill Russell. In championships they fall short of Russell.

And by claiming too much we create a backlash. Why not simply recognize what is. In Jordan we certainly had the greatest player OF OUR GENERATION. In Bryant we have one who may or may not eclipse him and, in turn, may or may not be eclipsed by LeBron James who is rapidly building a very impressive portfolio.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out I am not a Kobe Bryant fan. I find his Denver peccadillo reprehensible and his off-season antics little better. Furthermore, he is a Laker, the team that has forever stood between my home team and success. Every shot he misses brings a smile to my face, every loss he absorbs is one more happy moment for me.

And with that said, when I watch him play the game, I still recognize that I am, hate him or hate him more, watching greatness. He has abilities I cannot even match on the X-box. He is able to make moves on the basketball floor that very few other players can conceive of, much less execute. He does play the game the right way. He works on defense, he passes to his teammates, he scores seemingly at will.

I would say the same thing about LeBron James with the caveat that he has not done it as long, nor as consistently. Well, there is that and then the other undeniable difference...he seems to have better character off-court.

The conclusion, to me, is simple. Let's cut back the hyperbole. It is certainly a valid debate whether Bryant is the best player in the NBA today and whether he or Jordan currently holds the title of best player of the 21st century, but best of All Time? There are a half dozen championships and a whole lot of statistics between either of them and the greats whose games we no longer have the opportunity to see.

Go Away Jeff Van Gundy

Having watched the first two games of the Finals I can honestly say I am finding them compelling. Normally anything involving the Lakers sits alongside movies like Bride of Chucky...completely irrelevant to my viewing habits. I have absolutely no interest. However, since I am at least a passing fan of the Celtics and would love to see Da Kid win a title and I like watching Rajon Rondo, one of the most maligned point guards around...and unfairly, in my opinion.

Sure, he is limited. He will never shoot the lights out from downtown. Then again, with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen on the floor, he shouldn't need to. He provides speed, some ability to penetrate the lane, he knows enough to make sure Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce get their shots...though not in that order...and doesn't try to do things he can't do. Last time I checked, Tony Parker is not exactly a feared sharp shooter, but he is certainly considered a good point guard.

Be that as it may, game 2 of the Finals was very fun to watch. The explosion of Leon "the Show" Powe was fun to watch but should not have been unexpected. If you watch the Finals for long, seemingly every year some role player steps up and has an outstanding game and/or series where they provide an unexpectedly large number of points, rebounds, or something. Last year it was Daniel Gibson, for example.

The fourth quarter provided us with a record as the Lakers bombed away from 3 point land and took less than 7 minutes to pull within 2 after trailing by 20. With seconds left to go the game finally was put away when Pierce dropped in a pair of free throws to give Boston a near insurmountable 4 point lead.

The end of the game was a relief...not just because the hated Lakers are looking up at a 2 game deficit but more because it put an end to the drivel Jeff Van Gundy was spewing. Has there ever been a worse commentator than him?

Not too long ago I criticized the broadcast team of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Van Gundy. That was unfair. Breen does a very solid job of staying on topic, talking about the game, and relating his anecdotes to what is going on.

Van Gundy, on the other hand, inflicts us with commentary so banal it makes Miss Teen South Carolina seem like a Mensa candidate. In this game he jumped the shark even by his own standards.

At one point Kobe Bryant threw an elbow trying to back off Ray Allen...who was not even glued to him at that point. He had given Bryant an unexpected bit of space. It was an obvious foul and was very properly called. Well...properly except by the standards of Van Gundy who ignored the game for a while so he could talk about how "you can call that every trip down the floor. The players need to be on the floor, they should not call that".

Interesting. So a star should not be called for the fouls he commits because he needs to be on the floor? Yeah, nice work Van Gundy. That is the same argument that has people complaining, "Let the players decide the game!" when fouls are called in the closing seconds, ignoring the indisputable fact that committing a foul DOES decide the game. Fouls are called on things that create a competitive disadvantage. If a player is prevented from making a shot by a foul, that foul HAS decided the game...if it is not called, then negatively and if it is called the positively by allowing the player an opportunity to complete the play at the line. Yet in Van Gundy's world the ref has made a mistake.

He then dropped this bomb: "If you want to ruin the NBA game, just call it the way the rules are written." In his world of banality, that probably makes some sort of twisted logic. The rules are there for a reason. A large part of the reason we have had games decided by the first team to 90 is precisely because numerous infractions are not called. For years Shaquille O'Neal committed offensive fouls nearly every time he touched the ball and they were not called. How entertaining was it watching him run over people and have them get called for the foul every time he lowered his shoulder and laid them out? For some people, it may have been...for many of us, it was not.

Ironically, my own favorite team, the Trailblazers, would benefit greatly if the referees continue to throw out the rule book. By all accounts, Greg Oden is likely to pick up a huge number of fouls next year. He has stated he plans to try to block every shot, he has a tendency to lower his shoulder a bit...so if they don't call the fouls he commits, it will give him and, by extension, the Blazers, a huge competitive advantage. And an unfair one.

Ignoring the rules is not good basketball regardless of who it benefits. Not calling fouls because someone is a bigger star is a horrific system with numerous abuses resulting from it. And having an ex-coach begging the NBA not to call the game properly is bad business.

Of course, he was not done there. He went on to use a very entertaining Finals game as a platform to lobby for his plan to not allow players to ever foul out. I hope he is paying the station to be their commentator because if they are paying him he is robbing them blind.

There is an old adage that if you notice the referees they are doing a poor job. The same thing holds for commentators, apparently. When they detract from the game it is time for them to go. Do whatever it takes to get rid of Van Gundy. Let him go coach the WNBA. The NBA is pushing that hard, maybe it will keep him where he can do the least harm.

Other than Van Gundy, these Finals have some great storylines developing and I look forward to watching the next few games.

Things we learned from the playoffs

Going into the playoffs people were talking about how the Western Conference playoffs were going to be the best ever. 1-8, no team was an underdog. Well, maybe the Yao Ming-less Houston Rockets, though even that was doubtful given the brilliant winning streak they had even without him.

Yet here we stand with a bunch of series that, frankly, have not been competitive. The Nuggets were swept by the Lakers, in the midst of which both their stars pulled off bonehead moves; Carmelo Anthony and his DUII stunt and Iverson with another classic blast about how well loved he is not in Denver.

However, the things we have learned have perhaps been the most interesting.

Phoenix - San Antonion
Whatever happens in this series, a lot of it will rightfully be attributed to the desperation Shawn Marion - Shaquille O' Neal trade. Unfortunately, a lot of other things will be overlooked. Among those is this simple fact: Phoenix did everything they needed to do to win the series except close. And they did it in a new way.

In the first game they built a lead, but it was not a typical lead building for them. There was no explosive 17-2 type run. There was no explosion of 15 - 20 points in 4 or 5 minutes while simultaneously clamping down on the Spurs. Instead they built the lead slowly and steadily. A 5 point extension here. A 9-1 run there. Trading baskets. Small, rugged 4-2 exchanges.

They played better, plain and simple...and for long stretches of time...until it counted. When they had to have a stop they could not stop Tony Parker. When they had to have a bucket they had problems even getting off shots. Is San Antonio just that much better?

To be sure, plenty could be said about twice having the option of fouling to prevent 3 point attempts. When Leandro Barbosa let Michael Finley get that wide open look...and yes, someone else should have come across the screen, but ultimately Barbosa let him get free...it was crushing. On that epic Tim Duncan cold-blooded trey I was yelling for the foul even as Manu Ginobli penetrated the lane. Was it bad coaching or bad execution? The easy answer is to lay the blame on Mike D'Antoni and a lot of Phoenix fans have done so. In truth, had the players executed as they normally have throughout the season the 3s would not have mattered. The Spurs took advantage of the opportunities as champions often do...and the Suns presented those opportunities as also-ran teams often do.

Here is an interesting coaching question. Tony Parker has been running wild on Phoenix to the point where he is dominating the series. At any point has Phoenix considered taking their best small-guy defender, Raja Bell, and putting him on Parker?

By game 3 the Suns looked stunned. I turned on the game early in the second half and could not believe what I was seeing. Steve Nash could barely dribble the ball. Amare Stoudemire fumbled away pass after pass. The Suns looked like a jayvee team playing McDonalds All-Americans. It was embarrassing to watch. There are some teams that, going into these playoffs, were widely believed to be badly over matched and in danger of being swept...the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers come to mind...but at least for these few minutes, it was the Suns who looked not just over matched but badly demoralized. It is worth noting that the Hawks held serve at home and the 76ers even managed to win in Detroit...which says a lot about our perceptions.

That is not the only surprising Western Conference series, however. The Dallas-New Orleans series has been another eye-opener. I said at the time that acquiring Jason Kidd was a mistake for Dallas not just for this year but for years to come. Kidd tends to get exposed in the playoffs. Bringing him in wrecked their chemistry, got rid of a talented young point guard with the foot speed to at least get between Chris Paul and the basket, and hid a lot of weaknesses. Dallas had one thing going for them going into this series; their home court mastery of the Hornets. However, even that was exposed. After scoring 32 in the first quarter, they were held to 52 points the rest of the way. They were out coached, outplayed, and out hustled. And Kidd showed his character once more with his cheap shot on Jannero Pargo. Worst of all, that happened at home in Dallas.

It is not a surprise that New Orleans is at worst tied in this series. It is not even a particularly huge surprise that they took the 3-1 lead with that win in Dallas. What is surprising is that the series has not really been close. It is not just Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler and David West dominating their respective positions...it is guys like Pargo that the Mavericks have also been unable to contend with. Just 2 years removed from a 2-0 Finals lead people are talking about blowing up the roster and starting over. That sounds desperate to me...remember, the Spurs for years were on a "Win the Championship/out of the playoffs early" model for years. One fluke ouster (last year) and making the mistake of bringing in Kidd does not a franchise kill. They can still get rid of Kidd and have plenty of talent to contend. They have enough talent to make this one a series. But they won't, it says here.

Down in Houston there was one bright, shining moment when it appeared Tracy McGrady had finally "figured it out". In Utah, down 2-0, with the game in its closing minutes, he took over. McGrady has had the knock on him that he does not perform in the playoffs, specifically the 4th quarter. In this game he pulled down a couple clutch rebounds, made clutch shots, good passes, and had solid defense to help them win. Then in the next game he remembered he is Tracy McGrady. Barring something shocking he will continue to have the same number of second round appearances as Grant Hill.

The saddest part of this is the finger pointing going on down Houston way. I wonder if Rick Adelman is feeling warmth in his seat. They need to win 3 straight...and while 2 are at home, home has been unkind to them in these playoffs.

Meanwhile, Denver, having had their best season in years, melted down. They could not muster so much as a single win. This will give the Lakers some valuable rest. Will it give them rust?

What once looked like a promising playoffs with an excellent chance of 2 or 3 first round upsets now looks like, in the West, the only potential "upset", and it is not much of one at that, is Utah over Houston with the potential to see other once-marquee series end in 5 games apiece with one sweep.

Sadly, this could adversely affect future years. As roundly as I have criticized the Mavericks for the Kidd blunder and as much criticism as the Suns received in some quarters for the Marion-O'Neal trade, the undeniable fact is those trades brought a sense of excitement to the Western Conference playoffs. Should the series all end in disaster for the teams that made the blockbusters, it could put a damper on future editions.

Why would a team trade for an aging, overrated team-killer (Kidd) or an aging, injury-prone guy who is a bad fit for the team's play style (O'Neal) if it results in a step backward in the playoffs? That could end for decades the blockbuster deadline deal and we will be back to the hardly inspiring signings such as Damon Stoudemire to the Spurs, Brent Barry to the Spurs...hmm, I see a pattern here. Never mind.

Who would have thought, prior to the start of the playoffs, that the most compelling series to watch would be a toss-up between the Celtics-Hawks and Pistons-76ers? Even now both higher seeds look to win their respective series...but at least they will go at least 6.

Going the Last Mile; Blazers Image Makeover Now Complete

After carefully maintaining a classy image for the first two decades of existence, the Blazer franchise lost their way somewhere in the 1990s. Out were players such as Terry Porter or Cliff Robinson; talented guys who cared about the community and gave back. In were guys like Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudemire, Isaiah Rider, Ruben Patterson, and so forth. You might recall them as the "Jailblazers", a not so tongue in cheek reference to their habits of run-ins with the law.

Local headlines were more likely to revolve around marijuana arrests (tin foil sets off metal detectors? who knew?), domestic assault, or technical fouls than about the games being played. It is hard to say when the decline started, though many Blazer fans point to the tail end of the Clyde Drexler area. When it became obvious the Blazer window for a title had closed in disappointment he wanted out. There has long been a feeling he essentially quit on the team for his last season and change in Portland, not playing to his full potential. Maybe. Maybe not. But the change in mentality was huge.

Portland had never experienced that before. They always had guys who felt blessed to be in the league, who loved to play, and put forth exceptional effort every night. Guys like the under talented, over achieving Jerome Kersey or the imported backbone, Buck Williams who came to play every night were the ideal type of players Blazer fans expected. Guys who did not want to be here were something we did not know how to deal with.

On the heels of the Drexler departure the franchise shifted gears. In came guys who would repeatedly get in trouble on and off the court. Perhaps the nadir of the slide was Ruben Patterson, a guy with serious legal troubles in Seattle whom Portland brought in because he was talented. Say what you wish about the temper tantrums of Rasheed Wallace on the court, off the court he has always been a good citizen. Not so for Patterson.

Bringing him in said a great deal. He was the type of player Portland had always rejected in the past. Nobody questioned his talent or his ability to help Portland win games. But his legal problems were the type of thing that had always had Portland GMs saying, "Sorry, not interested." Now the desire to win overrode the desire to have players who would not embarrass the franchise.

And embarrassment was the watchword of the day. Multiple players were caught driving back from a Seattle game while high. Dog fighting charges were leveled. More sexual assault and domestic disturbance charges were aired. The famed Phoenix tin foil scandal hit the news. The fans turned out in droves...just not to the games. They went to the movies, the local Triple A baseball affiliate, the local minor league hockey games, or out to eat but they stopped going to the games.

Slowly but surely the Blazer brass got the picture. One time hometown hero Stoudemire was let go for almost nothing. Wallace hit the door. Rider, Patterson...the litany goes on. They were names who had great success on the floor in Portland...but were not, in the opinion of the community, "good character guys".

I would say "slowly but surely" when referencing the change that took place but that is not true. Almost overnight the roster was remade. It took almost 2 years but within that time the roster turned over 100%. Perceived slacker Theo Ratliffe, malcontent Zach Randolph...gone. Overnight the face of the franchise became Brandon Roy with LaMarcus Aldridge, Jarrett Jack, Joel Przybilla, Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw becoming the face of the organization. In a stroke of luck Greg Oden became a Blazer.

Out were the guys with rap sheets or questionable attitudes, in were community service award winners and guys who wanted not only to play but to play here in Portland. A team slated to win less than 40 games once again became the hottest ticket in town.

Strangely, a lot of this came when the team was seeming to get worse. I am a huge fan of Przybillas' game but even I would not argue he is an upgrade over Wallace in terms of talent. Randolph, whatever else you say about him, was still a 20 point, 10 rebound guy who had the highest shooting percentage on the team. LaMarcus Aldridge looks like he will develop into an All-Star but is not there yet. In this, his best season to date, 17 and 8 are his numbers. On paper, the team is worse but, assuming they beat Memphis at home and lose to Phoenix on the road, they will finish 41-41, .500 for the year.

And yesterday they took the final step in cutting ties with the Jailblazer era when Darius Miles was waived.

Miles is another guy who was a phenomenal talent on the floor and pretty unpopular off the floor. His scrapes with the law are a matter of record, his poor attitude when he was still playing plain to see. How badly did Portland want to get rid of him? Consider this; he, like Oden, had microfracture knee surgery. Oden was welcome to go with the team on any road trips he wished. Miles was not allowed on the plane according to unconfirmed rumors.

The point is not whether Miles was actually prevented from going on the plane or not. The real value to the rumor is that many Blazer fans A) believed it and B) were ecstatic about it, not wanting Miles disrupting the chemistry of the team or providing a bad influence on the young players.

On the one hand, I wish Miles all the best. I hope he has a long, healthy life, prudently invests the nearly 50 million he will have been paid by the end of his contract, and enjoys his time here on earth. On the other, I join with the Blazer fans applauding the move by the team to cut their ties with him as soon as legally possible. He will get his money but is no longer part of the team. With his release the last link to the shameful years is gone and we can truly look forward to watching a team that, win or lose, we can be proud of.

Fools Gold

The first quarter of the Blazer-Laker game looked promising for Portland fans. It was largely set up by recent games. LaMarcus Aldridge has been on a tear recently. He regularly has dropped in 20 or more points and shot better than 50%. As a result he has been commanding double teams and forcing teams to dedicate a strong defender to him. This game started out no different.

When you double team one post player it opens up other things such as deep jumpers and weak side rebounding. Portland took advantage of both. Travis Outlaw made the first bucket on a spectacular one hand follow-dunk of a missed Aldridge jumper. That opportunity was created by the double team that moved Lakers defenders around. Most of the rest of the quarter was taken up by a flurry of a dozen try attempts and a couple more bombs that were prevented from being 3s only by virtue of Steve Blake and James Jones having their foot on the line. 6 of the 3s dropped in which is kind of the ultimate good news/bad news scenario.

The good news is Portland was scoring seemingly at will and the 3 was dropping. The bad news is the team that lives by the 3 tends to die by it as well when they stop dropping. Watch any team that regularly dials long distance and you will generally notice they both generate and give up huge runs. Golden State is probably the poster boy for that paradigm but in games like this one Portland follows the formula as well.

After building a 23-15 point lead Portland kept bombing away from outside but made just 1 of the next 4 triples. Meanwhile the Lakers were pounding the ball inside, going to the line, and getting the long rebounds to get some easy transition points.

The second quarter saw a lot less reliance on the 3 (2-6) but they were still shooting from deep. When they got penetration they set up a couple easy buckets but now the Laker defense was much more dialed in. Lamar Odom was doing a great job defensively on Aldridge when they were matched up 1 on 1 and as a result Portland now had no low-post scoring, the 3s were no longer open and the other players were not involved. After dropping 31 points in the first quarter they could only manage 19 in the second. Too much of the Portland offense devolved into random 1 on 1 moves against the shot clock that resulted in bad shots or turnovers. Though the Lakers only scored 24 points they completely dominated the quarter and it was obvious Portland was on its way to another defeat.

A lot of the damage was done by their first quarter success. When they do not have to work to score early the young guys on the Blazers tend to relax and not work as hard at the game as they need to in order to win. Though they are a talented young team they are not so talented that they can win without giving complete effort. They have problems with the transcendent talents of the league which, in reality, means 2 players: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Either of those guys can lift their team to victory even in the absence of significant assistance from their teammates. And on nights when their teammates are playing well...forget about it. It could get embarrassing.

This game did not reach that stage...not having your best player (Brandon Roy) and falling by 13 on the road to one of the premiere teams in the Western Conference is nothing to be ashamed of. And to their credit the young Blazer players never quit. They simply were outworked by a team that is, at this point, simply more talented and that outworked them on this night.

And there is no doubt the Lakers are a very talented team. I have never understood why Odom has not gotten more respect. His agate type for the night hardly overwhelmed anybody...12 points on efficient 6-12 shooting, 8 rebounds, just one assist...but he played a very complete game including 2 steals and 3 blocks. Most importantly, he played rugged, impressive defense on Aldridge and forced him into a 4-15 night with at least 2 of the makes coming when Odom was nowhere to be seen. Here is a guy who arguably made the difference for the Lakers in this game yet seems to be a favored whipping boy of many Laker fans. That seems mis-placed to me. Sure, Odom is not at a point in his career where he will regularly drop 20 and 10 but he will score timely buckets, play solid defense, and just generally be an above average threat to the opposition.

They also have Bryant, a guy for whom legitimate MVP chants are raised in about every home game. That brings up an interesting question; how important is image to the MVP? There are a lot of issues to discuss there but that is a post for another time.

For now, the Blazers are sitting at 38-37 with a tough schedule ahead: Home against Houston, San Antonio and the Lakers, then a quick road trip to Sacramento, home games against Dallas and Memphis and then closing out in Phoenix. 6 of those look like strong possibilities of losses with only the Memphis game looking like a probably win. After the Charlotte debacle, even that is questionable. Early on I figured them for 42-44 wins and a long-shot playoff slot. I was wrong about the playoffs...who knew you would need 50 to get in? and the win totals are looking shaky. But I am not ready to pack it in. One more strong run fueled by the home fires could see them go 4-3 or even 5-2 with a little help. While none of the games are easy all except the last one in Phoenix are games that should not surprise anybody if Portland won. They have a very respectable 25-11 record there and have almost always brought their A-game to the Rose Garden. Rumors abound that Roy may be back as soon as Friday which would make all the difference. It will be a fun close to the year as we see exactly what these guys are made of and get a look at who will still be on the team next season.