Nov 29th 2008 11:25AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, NBA RumorsSince Portland won the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, rumors about the Blazers seeking the rights to Mike Conley have abounded. Conley and Greg Oden have played with each other for years, and call each other best friends. Portland’s point guard position remains unsettled (despite the hefty attention paid to it in the draft), and it’s believed that Conley is the right guard to match with the Blazers core on the court and with Oden off it.

Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports Memphis and Portland have been discussing a swap which would reunite the pair, with Travis Outlaw serving as the apparent bait. Woj reports that nothing is in place as the teams negotiate over the extra parts — I’d guess Memphis requires more assets in return for a still-prized young PG.

If Outlaw is the principal and the Grizz don’t get much more in considerations, this is a coup for Portland. Just a year ago, LaMarcus Aldridge was the rumored Blazer involved in Conley talks. No slight to Outlaw, but Aldridge is a significantly better player — one of the best young pivots in the game. Aldridge’s ability makes Oden more special. Outlaw happens to be a decent wing, a cross between a poor man’s Kirilenko and a poorer man’s Stackhouse circa 2004. Outlaw could win a Sixth Man award eventually, and be a vital cog in championship team. But he’s not your star small forward.

That makes me question the move from Memphis’ end, assuming there isn’t a lot more kitty in the pot. Unless Conley looks even worse from the inside than he does from the fan’s view, or the Grizz know something we don’t, it’d be a rather epic sell-off to lose him at this point. I understand O.J. Mayo has turned into the team’s top option as future lead guard. But Conley’s worth a lot more than a sixth man, right?

Nov 26th 2008 4:44PM by Elie Seckbach (author feed)
Filed under: Trail Blazers, NBA Videos, Interviews

On Thanksgiving we all give thanks, and the NBA’s Channing Frye is no different. In this video the up-and-coming star of the Portland Trail Blazers tells us about his grandfather, a WWII hero and a person who has made history in the United States Army. The reason? Frye’s grandfather is one of the original Tuskegee Airmen.

Check out the full video after the jump.Continue Reading

Nov 24th 2008 9:00AM by Brett Edwards (author feed)
Filed under: Suns, Trail BlazersA few weeks ago when the Suns hosted the Blazers, Shaquille O’Neal had some interesting post-game words for Portland’s Joel Przybilla. I think Przybilla is (believe it or not) one of the few bigs in the league who isn’t afraid to be physical against Shaq, so it’s not surprising that O’Neal would fire back at him both on the court and off. But when the players matched up for the second time in this young season, it appeared that the two were ready to start the game on good terms.

Before the opening tip, Shaq and Przybilla shared a hug and a laugh or two at center court. Given their recent history of some minor altercations, I found this to be a bit odd, and got the chance to ask Shaq about it after the game.

His hilarious response comes at about the 4:07 mark, right after he’s done admiring my iPhone, which I use to record the players’ postgame comments.Continue Reading

Nov 23rd 2008 2:30AM by Brett Edwards (author feed)
Filed under: Suns, Trail Blazers, NBA Last NightThe Suns had an important game at home against the Blazers, needing to get back on track after losing their last time out to the Lakers. But to many, finding out how Greg Oden would do in his first game against Shaquille O’Neal was just as interesting.

With Shaq in the starting lineup and Oden coming off the bench, there was a question of just how much time the two would actually spend on the floor together. At about the eight minute mark of the first quarter, Oden reported to the scorer’s table to check in, but Shaq ended up subbing out at the same time, so it was unclear if we’d see more than a minute or two of the matchup. But in the second quarter, Shaq came in and didn’t hesitate to go at Oden the very first trip down the floor.

O’Neal posted up Oden, and went to his patented quick-baseline-spin move, the one that usually leaves young defenders standing there wondering what just happened as Shaq gets an uncontested dunk. The move worked on Oden just as it had on Andrew Bynum two nights earlier, but this time the refs whistled Shaq for a travel before he got the chance to throw it down. Shaq would get another chance in to dunk on Oden in the third quarter, and this time, he would not be denied.Continue Reading

Nov 19th 2008 3:35AM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Bulls, Magic, Raptors, Trail Blazers, Warriors, NBA Last Night

Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard may be tight off the court, but that didn’t stop Bosh from trying to do very bad things to Howard once the ball tipped last night. Playing all but three minutes, Bosh tallied a preposterous 40 points and 18 boards on 12-19 shooting from the field, chipping in four assists, two steals and a block for good measure.

Of course, Howard got the last laugh — the Magic won 103-90 — but it’s not everyday that an opposing big man makes Superman (18 points, nine boards) look like a mere mortal.

Just in case you figured Anthony Morrow was a flash in the pan, the undrafted rookie followed his 37-point explosion on Saturday with 25 more points last night against the Blazers. He’s been on fire from beyond the three-point line, connecting on four more three-pointers and combining to hit 8-for-10 in the last two games.Continue Reading

Nov 14th 2008 6:15PM by Elie Seckbach (author feed)
Filed under: Jazz, Lakers, Trail Blazers, NBA Videos, Interviews

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.Continue Reading

Nov 14th 2008 12:55PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Clippers, Mavericks, Pistons, Trail Blazers, WarriorsAn account of the hours-long Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton goodbye chat.

Which teams will surprise us by not falling back to the Earth (or being revived)?

How Baron Davis and Robert Rowell screwed up two franchises.

Do NBA players/owners downsize on the eccentricity during a financial crisis?

Things Mark Cuban hates, in order: 1) To lose. 2) To lose. 3) The English language.

A look at how one bad basketball moment can affect you for decades.

Nov 12th 2008 11:25PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Heat, Trail BlazersAs we previewed earlier, Greg Oden played his second NBA game tonight in a successful return from a sprained foot injury suffered in the long-awaited season opener in Los Angeles. Contrary to expectations from the more cynical corners of the globe, no appendages flew off of Oden and no stretchers were required. He played, he did not wince, and hey! the Blazers won.

But Oden wasn’t exactly a star on the court. He played only 16 minutes off the bench, and tallied only three points, two blocks and two rebounds. He came in with three minutes left in the first quarter … and looked gassed two minutes of play later. Oden had a fitness curve the foot injury as a big guy in his rookie NBA season. Spending two weeks in various states of recovery obviously doesn’t help.

One of those other Blazer rookies played a major role in Portland’s victory over Miami, though. Rudy Fernandez went absolutely nuts in his 29 minutes off the bench, dumping in a team-high 25 points on 11 FGAs. This isn’t a fluke. Fernandez has hit double figures in seven of the team’s eight games, and has hurdled the 20-point mark twice now. With Miami closing (on the back of Dwyane Wade, who is BACK) late, Fernandez — shot clock winding down — drove to the foul line, spun away and hit a nasty turnaround/fadeaway/floater thing. The arc of the shot defies physics, making the make a perfect cap for Rudy’s perplexing adventure.

Oden finds himself with a long way to go in terms of both his NBA career and the 2009 Rookie of the Year award. But Rudy (only 23 years old and cheap through 2011-12) is well on his way on both accounts.

Nov 12th 2008 11:05PM by Brett Edwards (author feed)
Filed under: Suns, Trail BlazersSuns’ head coach Terry Porter is finally getting his Trail Blazers jersey retired, but he won’t be the only one honored with a ceremony involving Portland’s number 30 in December. That’s because the team has also decided to retire the jersey of Bobby Gross, who played for the Blazers’ 1977 championship team, and just happened to also wear the number 30.

On December 16, Porter will get his jersey raised to the rafters during a ceremony on a Suns’ night off when the Blazers face the Kings. Then, two nights later — against Porter’s Suns — the Blazers will again raise the number 30, this time to honor Gross. Before the Suns’ game against the Rockets, Porter was asked how he felt about sharing the honor with Gross. It was very clear that he thought it was strange, but laughed it off and refused to give any inflammatory quotes, just smiling and saying “no comment, ” then chuckling some more before saying, “Me and Bobby Gross.” Since Porter was too classy to say how silly the dual jersey retirement is, I’ll go ahead and do it for him.

Terry Porter played 10 seasons in Portland, is the franchise’s all-time assist leader with 5,319, and its second all-time leading scorer with 11,330 career points. Bobby Gross, on the other hand, played for the team seven seasons, and averaged nine points and less than five boards per game. Gross did raise his game considerably during the team’s one championship season, averaging 17.3 points for the series when the team beat the Sixers in the ‘77 NBA Finals.

Look, maybe Bobby Gross deserves to have his jersey retired, and maybe he doesn’t. But it’s just odd for the team to wait 30 years to do it, and then to do it two days from retiring Porter’s jersey of the same number. Gross will be the seventh member of that championship team to get his number retired. Funny, I thought that’s what banners were for.

Nov 12th 2008 7:15PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Heat, Trail Blazers, NBA InjuriesGreg Oden’s previous national TV debuts haven’t exactly gone as planned. Last season, the NBA opened up the season with Portland vs. San Antonio, the new against the old. Oden missed it due to microfracture surgery. The Blazers and Lakers we’re a part of the league’s featured season opening double-header this season … and Oden lasted less than a half before spraining his foot, an injury that knocked him out for two weeks.

But Oden’s back! And hmm, how convenient … the Blazers are scheduled for a nationally televised game. Portland is 4-3 against a seriously daunting schedule without Oden, and faces a two-faced Miami squad tonight.

I feel all this injury noise will be forgotten some day. Henry Abbott might have put it best: these Oden injuries are not related. Microfracture has got nothing to do with the broken wrist suffered at Ohio State, nor the foot sprain suffered two weeks ago. These isn’t some recurring malady. It’s a series of unfortunate events. The smart money, you’d think, is on the series ending at some point.

You can’t blame Blazers fans for either cowering into the bomb shelter or planning for life without a full-time Oden, though. For all the luck and excitement Portland has had over the past three years, this isn’t a psychological roller coaster you’d wish on a billy goat. We with different allegiances can look at tonight’s coolly — hey, it’s just another game for the Blazers; Greg’s going to get a bucket and a couple blocks and the world will exist another day. But I see why it’s something larger for the men, women and children of Portland.

The game will tip off at 8PM EST on ESPN.