The Blazers and the Rockets are both playoff teams that have their share of obvious flaws. In fact, neither one of them have any business getting out of the first round this season. But thanks to the way the seedings shook out, one of them will advance by default.
Unfortunately for Portland fans, that team is going to be the Rockets, and the reason is rather simple: This Blazers team is just not built for the playoffs.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
NBA superstar LeBron James is having an amazing season, having led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the best record in the NBA. This makes him the leading candidate for the 2009 NBA MVP, if not bigger, Fabio-like levels of stardom. In this video we catch up with LeBron to hear what he thinks about the award, as well as the Fabio comparison. Plus, we ask LeBron who he pick if he had a vote. We also hear from Al Thornton, Steve Blake, Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw, and get their picks for the 2009 MVP too.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Rule: if you drop 30 points on Boston, you get special consideration for Doing Lines. Welcome to the club, Wilson Chandler. The spiritual guide to D'Antoni Ball in the Big Apple dropped 31 points on 19 FGAs, and added eight rebounds and no turnovers. The hardest things to do against Boston: shoot efficiently and protect the ball. You're a man, Mr. Chandler. (Al Harrington also dropped 30.)
Making Up Lost Ground:Nicolas Batum has been cold as a starter in Portland, but Sunday's loss to the Lakers featured a break-out of sorts: matched up against clone Trevor Ariza, Batum had 17 points on perfect 6-6 shooting, along with five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. Batum's starting because of his defense and his willingness to stand in the corner and hoist up open threes. It's a boon when he can make those shots.
Property of Camby:NBA Rule 34a, Section 3: All rebound opportunities belong to Marcus Camby(20 rebounds, averaging 21/game over last four) by default. In the event another player lays claim to a rebound Camby could capture, case will go to arbitration. Maybe soon they'll replace Camby's cousin as the rebound arbiter. Seems a little unfair.
Blazers small forward Martell Webster returned from his broken foot Sunday in Toronto. He played five minutes in the first half, but ended his stint at halftime with some soreness. Now The Oregonian reports Webster is back in a walking boot and will be out another four weeks.
By itself, this is not a serious problem for Portland, which ripped through a tough November with rookie Nicolas Batum filling Webster's starting spot ably enough (especially on defense). More specifically, Portland's offense has been better than anyone expected; Webster is a shooter foremost, but the team hasn't really missed his jumper. It's hard to imagine the team being a whole lot better if Webster had been healthy.
Where this hurts is in Kevin Pritchard's private trade machine. Travis Outlaw remains to be one of the few Blazers mentioned in rumors. Portland does have a few other assets: Raef LaFrentz's expiring, self-sustained contract, Sergio Rodriguez. But Outlaw's the man teams seem to want. And through all Steve Blake's success, the talk that the Blazers want a veteran point guard keeps up.
With Webster on the shelf, can Portland afford to lose Outlaw? Small forward is the one position in which Portland lacks remarkable depth. Rudy Fernandez and Brandon Roy prefer the two-guard, and Channing Frye really isn't quick enough to go down a weight class. If Pritchard moves Outlaw before Webster's ready, there's the risk of putting way too much pressure on Batum and messing up the guard rotation.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
In this exclusive video, we talk to NBA All-Star Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers about his new and exciting young team. Find out why he thinks he's lucky to be on such a good team. We also catch up with Channing Frye, Greg Oden (before his most recent injury) and the newcomer, Frenchman Nicolas Batum, who shares with us the one thing people want to know about his homeland.
Guessing NBA starting line-ups on a night-to-night basis is a fool's game, and today is no exception. At least two coaches have made surprise changes of heart heading into the season opening slate.
In Chicago, Kirk Hinrich has been slated as the backcourt mate for rookie PG Derrick Rose. Instead, Vinny Del Negro has named Thabo Sefolosha the starting two-guard. To be honest, I didn't expect Thabo to be among the top four guards in the Bulls' rotation this fall, with Rose, Hinrich, Larry Hughes and ... um ... err ... (oh yeah) Ben Gordon (!) filling the spots. Hughes is broken (surprise), Gordon is still persona non grata (bummer), and here comes the Swiss Mister.
When Martell Webster broke his foot, I imagined a world in which perhaps Rudy Fernandez ascended to Portland's starting line-up. It was all a bit tongue-in-cheek, as Travis Outlaw seemed the clear favorite for the small forward job. Outlaw, of course, is a tenured pillar of PDX, a sparky bundle of basketball exuberance who seeks a greater stake in the team's future. Outlaw is the no-brainer here, Fernandez the fanciful daydream.
... and like a bat out of les Catacombes, here comes Nicolas Batum, the teenaged Francais who slipped to No. 25 in the '08 draft after years of lottery projection. Batum will not only stick in the States this year, he's looking to keep Webster's spot warm. From The Oregonian via Blazers Edge:
"I mean, at first it was one day. Then it was two days. And now it's three days. And it's still Nic," [Brandon] Roy said, pointing out that Batum has worked exclusively with the first unit the past three practices.
That leaves Roy with no other conclusion than [Nate] McMillan is very serious about starting Batum at small forward in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, which his a mere 11 days away.
Since then, McMillan has said Batum will start in Portland's next preseason game (Monday at Sacramento). This is a stunning turn of events, even by Trail Blazer standards. Here we have this universally beloved roster filled with award winners and top picks and breakouts waiting to happen ... and a mostly anonymous French kid almost no one has seen in professional game action swoops in and gets a starting job. Has a team ever managed to be a consensus heartthrob of 60-year-old pundits and a cult favorite at the same time? This is some '72-73 Virginia Squires stuff here.
The Spurs sent an e-mail to every team in the league at 3:30 p.m. saying that they were willing to move the 26th pick. The e-mail asked league executives to "E-mail us your interest and your offers to 26."
This nugget could not exemplify both the incredible confidence and the irrefutable cockiness possessed by the Spurs front office. Knowing you run laps around most of the league, how large must your testicles be to slap a "YOUNG WING OR BEST OFFER" tag on your damn draft pick?
This is already one of the most magnificently explosive draft days in history. Good to know the Spurs could contribute something.
(Meanwhile, what happened to all those rumors the Spurs and Cavaliers had conspired to refuse to allow any other team to see Nicolas Batum's medical reports, in the hopes San Antonio could snatch him away with #26? Is Cleveland going to take him at #19 now? What kind of odds can I get on Sam Presti getting a sweetheart retribution deal for #26? I HAVE DRAFT FEVER, AND THE ONLY CURE IS MORE ADAM SILVER!
Crystal Ballin'takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
The Toronto Raptors, the only team where sniveling prospects can blame their lack of desire to attend another low-first workout on passport issues!
Picks: #17. Needs: Bryan Colangelo and/or Sam Mitchell never seem(s) to be satisfied with the swing positions, though the qualifying offer extended to Carlos Delfino last week was a bit of a surprise. Center Centre should get a strong look, too. Rasho Nesterovic's contract with Satan is just about up for renegotiation, and I hear Mr. Nesterovic had the ol' snip-snip. (Mrs. Nesterovic couldn't take his chronic urination all over the house. Bad Rasho!)*
Best case scenario: At #17, there's a sincere possibility a great little prospect could remain on the board. Darrell Arthur's bangerball or Kosta Koufos' pick-and-pop machismo could fit in Smitch's offense just fine. Brandon Rush would also be a victory.
Crystal Ballin'takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
The Rockets had a nice 22-game win streak to hang their hats on in 2008, but that was about it. The injury to Yao really wrecked the team's chances of advancing deep into the playoffs (or even past the first round). If the team can add some athleticism and boost their bench a bit, they could be contenders in 2009.
Picks: #25, #54.
Needs: Not to have the Chinese government force their All-Star center to shut it down mid-season to make sure he's ready for the Olympics. That, and some size to back up said center when he does play. I know it seems like Dikembe Mutombo might just play forever. But I promise you, Rockets fans: he won't.
Cherry Picking recaps yesterday's action.
NBA superstar LeBron James is having an amazing season, having led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the best record in the NBA. This makes him the leading candidate for the 2009 NBA MVP, if not bigger, Fabio-like levels of stardom. In this video we catch up with LeBron to hear what he thinks about the award, as well as the Fabio comparison. Plus, we ask LeBron who he pick if he had a vote. We also hear from Al Thornton, Steve Blake, Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw, and get their picks for the 2009 MVP too.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Blazers small forward Martell Webster returned from his broken foot Sunday in Toronto. He played five minutes in the first half, but ended his stint at halftime with some soreness. Now The Oregonian reports Webster is back in a walking boot and will be out another four weeks.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos. 
Guessing NBA starting line-ups on a night-to-night basis is a fool's game, and today is no exception. At least two coaches have made surprise changes of heart heading into the season opening slate.
When Martell Webster broke his foot, I imagined a world in which perhaps Rudy Fernandez ascended to Portland's starting line-up. It was all a bit tongue-in-cheek, as Travis Outlaw seemed the clear favorite for the small forward job. Outlaw, of course, is a tenured pillar of PDX, a sparky bundle of basketball exuberance who seeks a greater stake in the team's future. Outlaw is the no-brainer here, Fernandez the fanciful daydream.
From the "I don't fricking believe how much of an expletive R.C. Buford and/or Gregg Popovich is" files, via ESPN.com's Chad Ford:
Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
