Even skeptics chalked up Portland's Andre Miller acquisition as a win. Miller, one of the best distributors of this decade, figured to augment an already lethal Blazers offense while providing a jolt of veteran leadership. Even if you don't believe in the power of savvy, Miller's passing skills sit on a different plane than those of Steve Blake, the incumbent.
What Portland probably didn't count on was Miller causing drama ... in the preseason. Blazers coach Nate McMillan has been insisting Blake is the starter for now. But Miller told Yahoo!'s Marc Spears that coming off the bench wasn't a part of the deal when he signed with Portland. And we have a problem.
Even as his team was booted from the playoffs by the Houston Rockets, Brandon Roy recently received high praise from Ron Artest. Artest decided to give him the highest compliment possible, stating that Roy, not Kobe Bryant, was the toughest player he's ever had to guard.
And you best believe FanHouse (specifically my homie Elie Seckbach) was jumping on that question when Roy made an appearance at the Global Training Summit, sporting his customized B-Roy Trainer 1's. We also discuss his offseason plans, what the Blazers' goals are for next year and what he's doing in the offseason.
You can't keep a good seven-foot Chinese guy with incredible footwork, length, and a solid supporting cast built of metric-positive role players down forever.
The Houston Rockets advanced to the second round for the first time in Yao Ming's seven-year career on Thursday night with a 92-76 win at home over the Portland Trailblazers. And while Yao was his usual productive self with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, it was Ron Artest shaking off his offensive doldrums to explode for 27 points that helped Houston to overcome their demons. And possibly give Tracy McGrady a few more.
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.
Everyone knows that Flip Murray exists only in flashes. Everyone talks about "streak shooters," but Flip is actually a "streak human." He'll go a good 10, 12 days not even in existence. And then poof! he's the leading scorer for a playoff team for a week.
Flip's alive right now, y'all, racking up 30 points and five assists in a romp over Minnesota Monday night. He's averaging 24 points over his last three games. The three games before that? 23 points ... total.
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.
Dwyane Wade leads the league in scoring. Twice before this season he has averaged more than 27 per game. But his outburst against the Magic on national TV Sunday evening was his first career 50-point game. The Heat lost, but Wade went for 50/5/5; he shot 56% and got to the line for 15 FTAs. One other Heat player (Michael Beasley, 14) scored in double digits. One man show.
The Raptors played their best game in over a week against the Blazers, after losing their last three by an average of 26 points per game. They had taken a two-point lead with under 10 seconds to play, but Steve Blake made sure this one would end with his team in the win column.
Blake may have pushed off a bit there, but I don't know, to me it looked like he just extended his arm and that Jose Calderon was playing him for the drive instead of the three-pointer. Either way, it wasn't called, so it ends up being a gritty win for Portland and a pretty tough loss for the Raps.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
The MMA is one of fastest growing sports in the world and these days even NBA players are getting into it. In this video we ask players like Luke Walton, Channing Frye, Sasha Vujacic and Jarron Collins which fighters they enjoy watching, and we also find an NBA player who is actually working out with an MMA star to sharpen his basketball skills. When you hear which NBA player that is you will be caught off guard.
Check out the full video after the jump, and find out which NBA player would be a surprisingly tough tussle on the hardwood.
Mr. Edwards noted a reported trade request from Portland back-up Sergio Rodriguez in the Essentials, but there's been a bit of movement since then. The Portland media crew caught up with Rodriguez at practice; Ben Golliver from Blazer's Edge offers a thorough account. On the basic locus of consternation, though:
How do you see your future playing out?
I don't know. I'll continue being professional. I told everybody here I love here and I keep working and I think I improve in the two years I've been here. I continue with the team and hoping the team and wishing the team win every game. And help the team. [...]
Would you ask for a trade?
I mean, I am frustrated because I don't feel I can figure out the rotation on the team.
Sergio stops short of asking to be freed according to Golliver, but it's clear Rodriguez is confused and thinks he deserves consistent play. Honestly, I'm not clear as to why Portland has kept Rodriguez to this point; is his spotty play helping his trade value? Is the team looking to unload Steve Blake soon? I mean, in addition to Rodriguez, Blake and Jerryd Bayless, the team has Petteri Koponen simmering in Europe. The Blazers are also always stuck in rumors about acquiring a top-line PG.
Kevin Pritchard hasn't been one to resign himself to making a move -- he's the most proactive exec in the game. Golliver notes that Pritchard and Rodriguez spoke before Sergio explained his mood to the media. If Sergio said the same things to K.P., we might see a trade sooner than later. Or ... we might not. Who knows?
Even skeptics chalked up Portland's Andre Miller acquisition as a win. Miller, one of the best distributors of this decade, figured to augment an already lethal Blazers offense while providing a jolt of veteran leadership. Even if you don't believe in the power of savvy, Miller's passing skills sit on a different plane than those of Steve Blake, the incumbent.
Will Brinson kicked it at The OC for the 
NBA superstar 
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
The MMA is one of fastest growing sports in the world and these days even NBA players are getting into it. In this video we ask players like 
Mr. Edwards noted a reported trade request from Portland back-up 
