Pick and Scroll

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

• In news we already know, John Hollinger explains that Brandon Roy will start and Nicolas Batum is sore. Technically, you can swap those two. John Hollinger says that Nicolas Batum will start and Brandon Roy is sore. That works, too.

• Jason Quick at the Oregonian says the season is on life support but Brandon Roy can’t do everything, he needs help. 

“We have to help him,” forward Nicolas Batum said. “He won’t win the game by himself.” 

His cubicle buddy, John Canzano, thinks it’s all on Nate McMillan:

And really, as much as we talk about players rising to the occasion of a big moment, we’re really talking now about McMillan coaching the game of his life today. 

• Dave from BlazersEdge thinks that tonight’s game is—cue dramatic music—“the most important game the Blazers have played in the last seven years.” Meanwhile, tonight is the 23rd most important game the Suns have played in the last seven years.

• Paul Coro from the Arizona Republic talks about the reversal of roles, how the Suns went from getting kneed in the crotch by Bruce Bowen, to being accused of playing dirty:

“Phoenix Suns, dirty players,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said, chuckling. “Wow, we’ve come a long ways. Amar’e’s not a dirty player. He’s not even close to being a dirty player and neither do I think that anybody on their team is a dirty player. It’s the same thing that happens in any playoff series. When you play somebody five times, there’s going to be a little snippiness.”

• The NY Daily News has a nice piece on “future star head coach” Monty Williams. Not as nice, they ran a photo of Michael Jordan (unless that is Williams’ ear in the background). Then again, if they are going to get your photo wrong I guess it’s better they use MJ than say, Dickey Simpkins.

• Once again TNT shows how much they respect the, uh, Balzers. 

• Rip City Project ditches the tuxedo T-shirt and classes up the joint with their new layout.

• I wish the league would use a better source than the NBA Store in New York and NBAStore.com in determining the most popular player jerseys, but Brandon Roy does make the list at #13. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t even started a playoff game this season. (I know nothing about the sport of basketball.)

Game Six: Blazers vs. Suns

Nobody wants to go home.

While the offseason lives of the Blazers unavoidably looms on the horizon, it seem abundantly clear that no one on this team wants this season to end a few hours from now. Brandon Roy doesn’t want to go back to Seattle, Andre Miller doesn’t want to go back to his supermodel diet of starvation, Juwan Howard doesn’t want to go back to the golf course, and Marcus Camby doesn’t want to return to his home in Los Angeles (running into former teammate Chris Kamen at Safeway—awkward). Well, okay maybe Rudy Fernandez does. Perhaps he thought the season ended against Golden State and this is some sort of Summer League event. That would explain so much…

Instead of trotting out the “back against the wall” sports cliches, we all know that this Blazers team thrives on situations like this, and it’s only fitting that (obscure bench player) Brandon Roy will get the start tonight. Roy has a personal highlight reel of last second heroic plays that is growing so vast that it might have to be released in two volumes (sort of like Kill Bill, but less violent—unless you are a member of one of the opposing teams). Even if the Blazers lose and the next time we see the team is in training camp with Greg Oden back on the court alongside John Wall (Rudy to New Jersey for the number one pick, make it happen KP!), Roy should be on the court. This is his team.

Instead of talking about the Suns’ bench, or the game’s pace, or what happens when Steve Nash hits the double digit amount of assists (Phoenix wins, that is what happens), the Blazers just need to stay close. The Suns are their best when leading by around 10 points or so, because this team can turn a small point differential like that into a blowout in a matter of minutes. When the score is tight and the leads toggle between the two teams, Phoenix struggles to maintain a consistent level of intensity. The Rose Garden will be loud (redundant statement), Roy will be on the court for serious minutes (redundant statement), and I boldly predict that the Blazers bench—even Rudy—will have their best game of the series (absolutely insane statement). While no one in their right mind wants to go back to Phoenix (especially now), this is a Blazers team that isn’t ready to call it a season yet.

Tip-off: 7:30 pm
TV: TNT/KGW
Las Vegas Line: Portland -1
TrueHoop Network Blog: Valley of the Suns

Pick and Scroll

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

 

• Congrats to our very own Andrew Tonry for writing this piece on Andre Miller for TrueHoop. It’s a fascinating look at the NBA’s resident iron man. This might be my favorite quote ever from Dre:

“I have no regimen,” Miller says. After the season ends, so does Miller’s working out — no weights, no cardio, no nothing. “I really don’t pick up a basketball.”  

 

Eating right also falls by the wayside. “(My diet) isn’t healthy at all,” Miller says. “Hamburgers, hot links on the Fourth of July, all that.”  

 

To control his weight, however, Miller uses old-fashioned discipline. “I starve myself,” he says. 

Also, I like how David Thorpe compares Miller not to other NBA players, but instead to a horse. Correction, a dead horse:

David Thorpe, executive director of the Pro Training Center in Clearwater, Florida, suspects Miller may have a genetic advantage.  

“When they cut open Secretariat — the most amazing horse of all time — his heart was one and a half times bigger than that of the average thoroughbred,” says Thorpe. The same sort of thing may be true of Miller, says Thorpe. Perhaps his skeletal system and soft tissues are optimal for the rigors of the NBA. 

 

• Joe Freeman from the Oregonian asks if the Blazers have “encountered an obstacle too great to conquer?” His co-worker John Canzano gives us gambling advice and tells us not to bet against the Blazers now that their backs are against the wall. He also wrote this, which I believe is some sort of haiku: 

Webster got up.  

 

The Blazers inbounded the ball.  

 

The season moved along. 

Does he get paid by the paragraph? If so, his column just bankrupted that paper. 

 

• Ben Golliver from BlazersEdge transcribed Greg Oden’s comments from his appearance on 95.5’s aptly-named “Greg Oden Show.” Did anyone else find it a little troubling when Oden admits that he has not contacted anyone on the team during the playoffs and doesn’t even talk to Joel Przybilla? Okay, maybe it’s just me.

 

• SJ from Rip City Project thinks Portland fans should stop shedding tears over the officiating:

And if you still want to believe in ghosts, witches, conspiracy theories and the effectiveness of blame, make sure to be just as honest when the Portland crowd intimidates the officials tomorrow. Just like they did in Game 4. 

• May the Suns’ Grant Hill always be remembered via temporary tattoo. Wait, there was a Dream Team II? Was Christian Laettner on that team as well?

 

• Did you know that there is a one-armed juggler also named Jason Quick? Inspiring! (These are the kinds of links you get on an off night and when Nathan is not around. Sorry.) 

Pick and Scroll

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

 Yet another loss that requires cuddliness to be overcome…

• The Oregonian’s Jason Quick reports that Phoenix’s bench finally got going.

• As Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports, Channing Frye was a big part of the Suns bench coming alive.

• Coup from Rip City Project doesn’t want to hear anything about the officials. They’re right, the referees didn’t box Aldridge out and hold him to two (!) boards total. However, this did happen (via BlazersEdge poster brandonmitchell). Perhaps Marcus Camby has been spending time with Greg Oden and no longer has to actually be within 12 feet of someone to foul them?

• Dan Bickley, of The Arizona Republic thinks the Suns have found their toughness… and it’s Channing Frye? I lol’d, then starting sobbing when I realized that the Blazers make Frye look tough. Then I looked at the puppy photo and felt better.

• Sophia Brugato over at Bust a Bucket says second-chance points were the story of the game.

• Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus agrees with Sophia regarding the rebounding, but also points out that the Blazers were unable to deploy the pick and roll defense that had worked so well in the previous game. I think Nicolas Batum may be in more pain than previously expected.

• Ben Golliver talks about “one move to save the season.” Does “score more points than the Suns” count as a single move?

• Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Hawks may have a draft pick for sale. Let’s hope Portland doesn’t use it on another overseas player since apparently Victor Claver doesn’t want to come over. Of course, how can you blame Claver? The last Spanish player to play for Portland seemingly disappeared and hasn’t been heard from in months. I have a feeling that in the next few years you’ll be able to pick up a slightly-used “Rudy” shirt at the Goodwill for a very low price. 

• When you watch this dunk by the Milwaukee Bucks’ Bango, you will hate Blaze the Trail Cat even more. If that is even possible.

Game Five: The Blazers are Bipolar

The Blazers are bipolar and so is this series. There is just no in-between.

When the Blazers are manic—full of an scrap and energy—they win. But that energy level, it seems, is either peaked or nowhere to be found. When depression sinks in the Blazers become lifeless as the Suns run roughshod to a land where everything comes easy.

Unfortunately for Portland, depression has so far become the more dominant trait.

Monday’s pivotal game five opened with the Blazers’ mania. But the rush lasted just six minutes. After making their fist seven shots and racing to a 23-9 lead, Phoenix rattled off a 16-2 run, to tie the game at 25.

Instead of knocking out their opponent, the Blazers’ opening punch seemed instead to wake them up. Unable to maintain their early brilliance, the Blazers sunk back into depression. They were outscored 98-65 the rest of the way and the Suns won easily, 107-88.

In a way, Monday’s matchup in Phoenix became a game we’ve seen before: the Blazers had trouble scoring while the Suns poured baskets in with gusto and grace. There were, of course, a few new—and disappointing—rubs.

Brandon Roy was in uniform. As in game four he came off the bench. Roy entered with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter, and by the 9:52 mark of the second he picked up a third personal foul. It was back to the bench for Roy. He would never find his rhythm or a way into the game. Roy’s impact was negligible. Far from the heroic inspiration of game four, he might as well have been out with injury. In 19 minutes Roy scored five points on two of seven shooting from the field. He wasn’t the only Blazer plagued by foul trouble.

Marcus Camby was whistled for his second midway through the first quarter, which opened the paint and the Blazers’ defense for Phoenix to launch their comeback. In 29 minutes, Camby was effective, but the Blazers needed more. Whenever the lanky center went out, the Blazers fell apart. While playing through a dislocated pinky finger, Camby scored seven points, handed out four assists, and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The team battle for boards, however, was won by the Suns.

Phoenix grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored continually on their second chances. The Suns also dominated the Blazers in foul shots. Phoenix made 29 free throws to Portland’s 17. Both the rebounds and trips to the line are indicators of Portland’s depression in effort, reminiscent of both games three and four.

Suns reserves Channing Frye and Jared Dudely provided a heretofore unseen offensive firepower for the Suns. The two combined for 39 points off the Phoenix bench, matching their combined total of the previous four games.

Portland, on the other hand, got next to nothing from their second unit, besides 11 points in 12 minutes from Dante Cunningham. The Blazers’ bench were outscored by Phoenix’s, 55-23.

After a career night in game four and a hot early start, LaMarcus Aldridge again faded into obscurity. He wasn’t tough, and the will displayed previously seemed a thousand miles away. Aldridge scored only five points in the second half after the game was well out of reach. He finished with 17 points and a measly two rebounds.

For reasons I cannot explain, Nicolas Batum was limited to just 20 minutes by coach McMillan. Rudy Fernandez saw 15, but did not score.

Aside from the gravy points kicked in by Dante Cunningham, the lone Blazers to show up were Andre Miller and Jerryd Bayless. Miller led all scorers with 21. He got to the line regularly (although he would argue it should’ve been more) and even hit two threes, a rarity for the veteran guard.

Bayless was again tenacious and helped the Blazers strike first. His stroke from deep, undependable at best, found its mark Monday. Bayless hit three of five from downtown to finish with with 17 points, although he wasn’t particularly efficient making just six of 14 attempts overall.

As the Blazers return home for Thursday’s game six, they must find a way to again to engage and maintain their manic high. Another depressed outing like game five’s and that’s all she wrote.

NOTES:
- Channing Frye’s 20 points set a new playoff career-high.
- The Suns have not lost consecutive games since January 26th.

Pick and Scroll

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

• Mike Barrett got chills when Brandon Roy went to check in: 

I must admit that I rarely ever get chills anymore, as it relates to this job. You numb a bit to that stuff over the years. But, looking up at the big screen, hearing the crowd, watching Brandon bounce around like a caged animal in the hallway, was something I won’t forget. Head-to-toe chills, and the thought that momentum was about to shift in this series. This is why we emotionally invest so much in sports. Moments like this. I was going back and forth between watching the big screen, and watching fans in the arena point to the screen to tell the people around them, “he’s going. He’s going to play.”

• For the inside scoop on how Roy came back, check out David Aldridge’s article over at NBA.com. Roy is going to need a new cell phone plan after all that texting. 

• The Oregonian’s Jason Quick says that with the surprise return of Roy, now the Suns have to adjust to Portland.

• Wendell Maxey reports on Kevin Pritchard’s “tunnel vision.”

• Over at the TrueHoop Motherblog, ESPN’s John Hollinger says that Portland’s dramatic pattern of emerging victorious when things have looked darkest continues unabated.

• Kevin Pelton over at Basketball Prospectus says it wasn’t just Roy’s huge return or Aldridge blowing up that won game four, it was the pick and roll defense. I’d like to take a second to point out a couple things here: First, LaMarcus Aldridge’s ability to defend the perimeter and force opposing point guards into low-percentage mid-range jumpshots without fouling is critically underrated. Secondly, Nate McMillan has come under fire for his “switch in emergency” pick and roll defense, but apparently, there is at least some merit to it.

• Bust a Bucket wants to know if Amare Stoudemire elbowed Batum on purpose (with video). Allow me to clear this one up. I think it was intentional, and that elbow wasn’t the only one Stoudemire threw at Batum that game. Earlier in the game after Jason Richardson shot a technical free throw, Amare slammed Batum’s shoulder with his elbow while running back down the court. It’s easy to see how intentional, and pathetic, it was. Meanwhile, PRS’ Ezra Caraeff thinks it was accidental. This debate will tear us apart.

• SJ from Rip City Project says games fives are like booty calls…

• Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian takes a look at the adjustments that Phoenix will probably try to make tonight.

• SJ from Rip City Project says Bayless should start tonight. Yes, over Roy.

• Dave Deckard from BlazersEdge wants to know, can the Blazers dictate the tempo?

• Don’t forget to check out TrueHoop Network sister site Valley of the Suns, but remember, they didn’t throw those cheap elbows, so no trolling. 

Game Five: Blazers vs. Suns

Funny how number seven changes everything.

Just when we thought we had witnessed every plot line (Jason Richardson good/Rudy bad. Blazers good/Suns better.) and had this series figured out, Brandon Roy emerges from the operating table and changes everything. The clean slate offered by Roy’s return means that this truly is a a best-of three series now. The Blazers will once again have to pull off an upset (winning in Phoenix), while defending the Rose Garden as well. It’s a tall order, even for a team that is once again being carried on the shoulders of its lone superstar.

Phoenix will not score 87 points again. Ever. At least not this postseason, so while game four offered a thrilling peek at a lockdown Blazers defense, and how truly powerful momentum can be in a series like this, the Blazers will need to rely on more than just the boost of seeing Roy on the court. Instead they’ll need to focus on containing the Suns’ wings, namely Jason Richardson. As J.Rich goes, so goes this series: when he scores 14 or 15, the Suns lose; when he scores 29 or 42, the Suns win in a blowout. In a similar role for Portland is LaMarcus Aldridge. While Roy captured the spotlight on Saturday, Aldridge did the real work. His game was fantastic, and thanks to Roy drawing the attention of the Suns, he was finally given enough breathing room to get off a shot without a hand (or elbow) in his face. Aldridge has proved that he is one great banana.

This is the year of the upset, right? Nine of the first 15 Western Conference playoff games have been won by the lower ranked, underdog teams. Let’s see if one more victory can be added to that list. 

Tip-off: 7:30 pm
TV: TNT/KGW
Las Vegas Line: Suns -6
TrueHoop Network Blog: Valley of the Suns

Game Six Tickets

Discovered: Bill Walton’s Grateful Dead underpants.

No matter what happens tonight, Game Six at the Rose Garden Thursday looks as if it could become another epic. If you want to be there, you’ll need to be by a computer Monday afternoon. At 2:00PM tickets go on sale at trailblazers.com.

Good luck.