Pick and Scroll, MAR-CUS CAM-BY Edition

Your daily (Mon-Fri) roundup of links from around the blogosphere, typically Trail Blazers related.

• In case you forgot, or blocked it out, Brandon Roy has a partially torn meniscus and will require surgery either now, or in the offseason.

• Wendell Maxey notes that with Brandon Roy out, Martell Webster and Rudy Fernandez are going to have to step up.

• Mike Barrett says that age went before beauty in last night’s victory:

For all this talk for the last couple of years about the youth an inexperience of this Portland team, it was a couple of players in their mid-30s who shouldered the load against the Thunder. In what turned out to be one of the better games in his storied career, Marcus Camby torched the Thunder for 30 points (on 12 of 16 shooting), 13 rebounds, and 3 assists. As always, many of Camby’s hustle plays didn’t even show up in the box score.

 • MAR-CUS CAM-BY!

Camby had 30 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block and was so all-over-the-place that the crowd at the 111th Rose Garden sellout began chanting his name in unison with 15.9 seconds left.

• Coup from Rip City Project hopes that Larry Miller starts evaluating Kevin Pritchard early. It goes without saying that Pritchard’s trade for Marcus Camby salvaged this brutal season. Pritchard made the right move at the right time and had faith that Bayless, Webster, and Batum would be enough to fill in the holes left by Blake and Outlaw. 50 wins, evaluate that.

• Sheed from Bust a Bucket calls Marcus Camby one of the best acquisitions in Blazer history.

• Dave Deckard from BlazersEdge says that Portland looked like a veteran team out there:

More than anything else the Blazers looked poised.  When the pressure was on Portland started playing better.  When the pressure was on the Thunder started playing worse.  From the big-picture perspective that was the story of this game.  The Oklahoma City TV announcers said something interesting as the two teams exited the court.  They opined that the Blazers had just given the Thunder something to gun for and aspire to.  When you consider how easily that could have been flipped around you understand the importance of this game, and not just from a seeding perspective.  For once…maybe for the first time in the Roy/Aldridge era…the Blazers are the experienced team someone else is looking up to.

• Ben Golliver from BlazersEdge notes Camby’s hygienic habits and gives a prediction on Roy’s knee based upon his own experience in the Media Row Report.

• For the Oklahoma City perspective, check out TrueHoop Network sister site Daily Thunder, and please, don’t go over there and troll. In the words of Mark Jackson “You’re better than that!”

• Casey Holdahl reports that even though Camby wasn’t here for all 50 wins, he’s very happy to have helped Portland reach that benchmark.

• Dwight Jaynes will remember Camby’s trebuchet-like jumper.

• Chris Mannix gives Portland a B+ on the season:

Thirteen players combining to miss more than 300 games with injuries is a recipe for disaster. Unless you’re Portland, which dusted off a surprisingly game Juwan Howard, made a big midseason trade for Marcus Camby and rode Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Miller to one of the most unexpectedly successful seasons in team history. 

• So what now? John Hollinger breaks down the playoff picture over at the TrueHoop Motherblog:

…That leaves only spots Nos. 3, 4 and 5 to settle, and those could be decided by closing time Tuesday because if Denver beats Phoenix to wrap up the No. 3 slot. If so, that would leave only Phoenix and Utah to fight it out on the final day for seeds Nos. 4 and 5 (which would be the case regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s Jazz-Warriors game.)

Otherwise, Phoenix will be No. 3 if it beats Denver Tuesday and Utah Wednesday. Utah will be No. 3 if it wins its final two games and Denver loses to Phoenix. If Utah loses to Golden State, then Denver clinches the division and can be seeded no worse than fourth … but if Denver loses and Utah beats Golden State then the Nuggets can’t be a top-three seed and would need Phoenix to beat Utah to have home-court advantage.

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