Pick and Scroll

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

Portland vs. Oklahoma City

• Mike Barrett says it best:

What a weekend for the Trail Blazers, who have gotten red hot at exactly the right time. It should remind you of last season, where, at this very same time, Portland got in a rhythm, and closed on a tear.

• The Oregonian’s Jason Quick reports that Portland’s recent infusion of experience is serving them well:

Remember, it was just last season when the talk around the Blazers was how the roster was so young and inexperienced. But with offseason signings of Miller and Howard, and a midseason trade that netted Camby, the Blazers are starting to look like the perfect blend of youth and savvy. 

“We are in a rhythm,” Miller said. “I’ll say that. We are finding our rhythm.” 

• Kelly Dwyer says the Blazers did it with defense. Let me take a second to say that I really appreciate how much Dwyer advocates pace-adjusted statistics. Every single time Dwyer does a “Behind the Boxscore” on the Blazers he mentions pace-adjusted statistics, and I’m grateful for it because of the off chance that a play-by-play announcer or a beat journalist will read it and learn something. Perhaps then I won’t have to cringe when an announcer calls Portland “One of the best defenses in the league,” and cites points allowed, or when a journalist claims that the Blazers’ offense needs work while their defense is stellar. These guys have one job, and that is to keep fans informed about basketball. Mike Barrett does a fantastic job of incorporating pace-adjusted statistics into his play-by-play and every time I listen to a particularly bad opposing announcer, I silently thank him for it. Also, if anyone is looking for a play by play announcer, I’ve been working on my “Bill Walton voice.”

• Ben Golliver from BlazersEdge recaps the Blazers’ “huge road victory.” I’m surprised Ben had time to spend writing a recap with all the time he’s spent on TV as of late.  

• SJ from Rip City Project says last night, Portland always had an answer. Which was good, because Kevin Durant was damn sure asking some hard questions of the Blazers’ defense in the third quarter.

• Sebastian Pruiti of TrueHoop Network sister blog NBA Playbook breaks down exactly what happened on the Thunder’s last possession. Sebastian does not care for the time-intensive plays that Oklahoma City coach Scotty Brooks has been drawing up at the end of games.

• For the Oklahoma City perspective, check TrueHoop Network sister blog Daily Thunder. Did I ever mention that I had the misfortune of being born in Oklahoma? Well I was, and it wasn’t my fault. I got out as fast as I could.

Portland vs. New Orleans:

• There was another game this weekend, and it was beautiful, unless, of course, you’re a Hornets fan. Check TrueHoop Network sister blog Hornets247 to reminisce how it feels to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. It’s a recent memory that many Portland fans have not forgotten.

• Coup from Rip City Project has been breaking down film as of late and says that Aldridge and Miller are not too shabby at defending the Pick and Roll.

• Wendell Maxey thinks the Blazers might go for 50 wins. We agree.

• Dave from BlazersEdge breaks down the seeding battle and takes into account tiebreakers like the division title, an empty crown according to Henry Abbott over at the TrueHoop Motherblog.

• NBA.com’s David Aldridge has a must read article on the embattled Kevin Pritchard.

• Word on the street is that the Blazers could be interested in Oklahoma City Assistant GM Rich Cho, which confirms the rumor Ben Golliver reported shortly after the Tom Penn firing.

• Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post reports on Portland’s rumored interest in Mark Warkentien. However, in another example of someone paid to inform a fanbase simply not taking the time to practice due diligence, Dempsey gets his facts wrong. First, Dempsey claims that Larry Miller was fired and that LeGarie is Miller’s agent as well: 

Currently, Kevin Pritchard is the Trail Blazers’ general manager. But after team president Larry Miller was recently fired, Warren Legarie — agent for Miller and Pritchard — openly wondered if his other Trail Blazers client was next. (Emphasis Added)

To his credit, Dempsey did correct his article, however, he got it wrong again, this time elevating Tom Penn to Team President and again claiming that Miller’s agent is Warren LeGarie: 

Currently, Kevin Pritchard is the Trail Blazers’ general manager. But after team president Tom Penn was recently fired, Warren Legarie — agent for Miller and Pritchard — openly wondered if his other Trail Blazers client was next. (Emphasis Added)

I’ll be honest, after a few minutes on Google, I am still not sure who Larry Miller’s agent is, or even if he has one, though I’m sure that if I send an email or two to people who know, they will direct me in the right direction. However, I’m pretty sure Miller’s agent isn’t LeGarie, because surely Jason Quick, Dwight Jaynes, or somebody would have mentioned Penn, Pritchard, and Miller sharing an agent. Do you see what I did there? I took the time to check my facts before publishing something, and since I wasn’t sure of the answer, I made sure to include a statement to that effect. 

• Now, I know that if the Spurs had lost it would bode better for Portland’s playoff seeding odds, however, I just can’t root for the Celtics. I just can’t. That is why I jumped for joy when Manu Ginobili crushed Kevin Garnett’s soul.

• Confused by who owes whom what picks and under what protection? DraftExpress has you covered. 

Miller and Camby Help the Blazers Knock Off the Thunder, 92-87.

Deciphering the NBA playoff tiebreakers is like trying to figure out the rules of Fantastic Mr. Fox’s whackbat (“Basically, there’s three grabbers, three taggers, five twig runners…”). But following an impressive 92-87 victory over Oklahoma City in the Thunder Dome Ford Center, the Blazers now hold a decisive tiebreaker (at least for a few more days) against the Thunder. 

Now 14-3 in the latter half of back-to-backs, Portland’s tempo was consistent throughout the night; the Blazers took a respectable lead (about eight points or so), then blew said lead (usually on Durant slicing the key and dunking through/over anyone in his path), and then Portland regained the lead once more. The two teams kept it close into the final minute. Portland had the ball and a three point advantage—following James Harden scooping up a clutch block from LaMarcus Aldridge (read that again, it sounds so weird) and converting it for an easy layup—so naturally the ball was given to Brandon Roy. Off the dribble Roy came up with a faceful of elbows but not the basket or a whistle. Following his miss, Roy pounced on the loose ball in the scrum, and the Blazers had the possession arrow. Oh sorry, too much NCAA tournament watching. It was actually a jump ball, which Marcus Camby tips in the Blazer’s favor. It didn’t result in any points, instead it was an equally-as-valuable clock killing double possession. On their last look, Kevin Durant was initially covered by Camby (denying him the ball early), then Miller when he launched up a three that didn’t fall. The rebound fell to Portland and that was it.

While not as impressive as last night’s pop-a-shot shooting performance against the Hornets, Portland starters were a model of consistency against a Thunder defense that held the Blazers to 77 points (on 40% from the field) the last time these two teams crossed paths. All starters hit the double digit mark except Nicolas Batum (he had nine), and Portland was lead by Miller’s 26 points, plus 14 for Aldridge, and 20 from a cold shooting Roy. The product of wide open looks off the double teams, Camby’s shots were falling all night (his tattoo is Japanese for “ugly jumper”), and he notched his third straight game with a double-double. The team has now won 12 of the 14 games that the newest Blazer (um, sorry Travis Diener) has started. While Roy struggled throughout the night, it was Miller and Camby that directed the team to victory. Thanks to acquisitions like that, Portland GM Kevin Pritchard should… “get to the end of the season and you evaluate what has gone on.” Oh sorry, I let Larry Miller finish that sentence for me. My apologies. 

Thunder Preview: BTO Edition

There are few teams I’d like to see more—and am forced to see less—than the Thunder. How the pitiful, plodding and painful to watch Chicago Bulls got nine appearances this year on TNT to Oklahoma City’s NONE makes my brain hurt.

And last time we got to see Kevin Durant in person, ugh. Damn. The Thunder just laid such a ridiculous whooping on the Blazers that the joys and marvel of watching Durantula were all but washed away. They clamped down on the Blazers like truckasaurus.

Sunday’s matchup in Oklahoma City may not be much better. Which is not to say the Blazers should be picked to fall, it’s just that the matchup between the division rivals and closely grouped playoff jockeys is so tight. There’s so much at stake one cannot root for Durant to do those ridiculous things we all want to see so badly.

A single game separates the Blazers and Thunder. Oklahoma City (44-27) currently hold the sixth spot while Portland (44-29) are just .003 percentage points out of seventh. The two teams have played twice this year, each winning on the other’s court. A win for Portland Sunday would guarantee at least a season split. They meet again at the Rose Garden for the fourth and final time in the Blazers’ second to last game of the year on April 12th. Should the teams finish with equal records, the first tie-breaker is head to head record. The second is record in the division, where Oklahoma City holds an edge, making Sunday’s game all the more important.

The Thunder are coming off one of their biggest wins as a franchise. At home on Friday they destroyed the Lakers 91-75. Obviously their confidence is boiling up out of the pot. The Blazers too are playing some of their best ball of the season. Since picking up Marcus Camby, Portland are 11-2. It should be one hell of a game—think playoff atmosphere.

Maybe the best way to sum this weekend’s back-to-back is with the sweet tunes of BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive, you fool, and no, I’m not a baby boomer). The first one represents the win in New Orleans (picture the Blazers as these sexy cleaning ladies and The Hornets as the dirty floor):

This next one is what the Blazers hope for in their Oklahoma future (watch this it’s AWESOME—one day Jeff Pendergraph is going to show up in one of these outfits, I swear):

Tip Off: 4:00PM
TV: Comcast 37
Vegas Line: Portland +5

The Big Easy

In New Orleans Saturday, the Blazers dealt with the Hornets much the same way as Team USA dismantles a clearly inferior opponent—say Slovenia. Every player in black, silver and scarlet scored at will. They Blazers shared the ball, more even than was necessary, and whoever ended up taking the shot, they simply nailed it. And like Team USA, before the game was over, it was over.

The final score, 112-101, doesn’t do justice to how one-sided this matchup was. For most of the contest, Portland shot over 60% (they finished at 57%). Portland led by as many as 26, and only in junk time—where Blazers Travis Diener and Jeff Pendergraph saw minutes—was the gap whittled down.

The two hottest Trail Blazers were, by far, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Together they combined for 52 points, making 23 of 30 attempts from the field.

Roy came out of the gates smoking and the smoldering never stopped. He scored 12 points in the first quarter, and 16 in the first fifteen minutes. Roy’s efficiency was off the charts. His stunning 12-14 attempts from the field netted the Blazers’ star a game-high 28. Roy did not play in the fourth quarter.

Aldridge was close behind. On 11-16 shooting from the field he finished with 24.

For the second time in as many games, Marcus Camby piled up a double-double. The lanky center grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points.

From end to end, the Hornets either could not or would not defend the Blazers. Their poor effort was continually frustrating to New Orleans star Chris Paul, who had just seven points while dishing out 10 assists in between bursts of shouting either at teammates or the refs. One imagines Paul can’t wait for this his injury-cursed season to end.

Portland’s defense wasn’t much better—actually, by the numbers it was worse—but it didn’t matter. One would believe that, if they had to, Portland could’ve buckled down against the Hornets, who shot 58.6% from the field.

Still, the Blazers went into New Orleans and simply took care of business. They beat a broken Hornets team, who, with the loss, were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. For the Blazers, the magic number is now four—any combination of Blazer wins and Memphis losses equaling that number will secure Portland a spot in the playoffs.

NOTES:
- The Hornets 25 rebounds was a season low for a Blazers opponent, and just two off the franchise record.
- The win was the Blazers 20th on the road, matching last season’s total.

Blazers vs. Hornets - Preview

This picture sums up the season for the New Orleans HornetsFor the first, and only, time this season the Portland Trail Blazers have the opportunity to bury a team. The New Orleans Hornets reside in the Southwest Division cellar and with one more loss they will be eliminated from the playoffs. (Of course, if they were in the Eastern Conference they’d be a few percentage points out of the 8th seed, but pointing that out to a team headed to the gallows is just plain cruel.) If anything, the Hornets should serve as a cautionary tale to Blazer fans everywhere; how a young, small market team can go from the envy of the NBA, to a faltering organization weighed down by bloated contracts and desperate for cap space.

But before you get the weakness tissues and shed some eye water, keep in mind that the Hornets still have Chris Paul. Granted, they have little money to give him anyone to pass the ball to, but the team’s future isn’t entirely sunk, even if they’ve become that fabled city’s other sports franchise. Paul is in rarified air, one of the NBA’s best players and after he was fed after midnight—or got wet, I forgot how this works—he sprouted Darren Collison. A backup PG like no other, Collison absolutely dominated during Paul’s 25 game stint on the bench following a left knee injury. Now that there season is headed towards nowhere, it’s a perfect time for head coach Jeff Bower to experiment with a Paul/Collison backcourt.

Despite their season teetering on the brink, and dropping 12 of their last 16 games, the Hornets are a very respectable 22-13 on their home hardwood. With just ten games to go, a Portland victory in New Orleans will help the team avoid a postseason date with the Lakers.

Tip-off: 5 pm
TV: Comcast
Las Vegas Line: Portland -2.5
TrueHoop Network Blog: Hornets 24/7

Pick and Scroll

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

• Mike Barrett likes what he saw last night, and if Barrett was right about playing Dallas in the playoffs, Portland just might have a chance.

• Wendell Maxey says that the Mavericks did not look like contenders last night:

For the first time in a long time, the Mavs didn’t look like a team who could possibly give the Los Angeles Lakers a run for their money in Western Conference supremacy.

They looked like a team that couldn’t even run.

• Coup from Rip City Project thinks the Blazers played as a unit:

This wasn’t Portland’s masterpiece, but it is a great example of a team buying into what they had been practicing during a break between games. Many team’s will come into games after a lengthy layoff looking rusty and out of rhythm — the Blazers did just that last week — but tonight they looked prepared and cohesive.

This cohesiveness that Coup talks about is important, because it shows that Nate McMillan has the respect of his team. No one is tuning him out, instead they are buying in and executing even after a terrible (horrific really) stretch of basketball.

• Kelly Dwyer gets it:

On the other end, though it still bugs me that TV people don’t know that Portland is a very good offensive team despite its slow pace (and a rather average defensive team for the same reason), Portland just nailed shot after shot, and didn’t turn it over much themselves.

Right on KD, I just wish all basketball reporters and announcers had at least a passing familiarity with pace-adjusted basketball metrics.

• Ben Golliver from BlazersEdge breaks down the curious Paul Allen appearance from last night. 

After issuing a terse press release before the game — one that covered the bare necessity basics and arrived 48 hours too late to be truly meaningful— Blazers Owner Paul Allen sat courtside last night, flanked by a lady friend and Vulcan Flunky #1A Bert Kolde. Kolde is pictured below celebrating the dramatic fourth quarter Blazers run by firing someone for absolutely no reason via text message. Neither Kevin Pritchard (no surprise) nor Larry Miller (in timeout?) accompanied Allen.

Plus, Golliver wants to know if Allen’s “Thundersticking” was legit or not. I voted for “Manufactured for TV. What better way to make a billionaire seem personable than a few inflatable banging devices?” 

• Rob Mahoney over at TrueHoop Network sister blog The Two Man Game, thinks the Mavs just might have a “Blazer Complex.”

• Sheed from Bust a Bucket thinks that the win over the Mavs was one of the biggest wins of the year.

• Dwight Jaynes liked Camby’s aggressiveness, hated his jumper. There is a little Bayless hate at the end there too, however, Bayless is still much better than the player we drafted and traded for him.

• Casey Holdahl has a must read story on Nicolas Batum and coach Monty Williams. It would appear that Monty would agree with our discussion on Batum’s usage rate in yesterday’s Pick and Scroll.

• Bob Cooney of Philadelphia Daily News talks about Andre Miller and rebuilding teams vs contending teams.

• It appears the Cavaliers have an Ace up their sleeve. First Big Z goes through the revolving door and re-signs, and now this? I get the feeling that David Stern is going to have to step in at some point.

• The Onion takes a look at the pros and cons of John Wall.

Allen, Not Pritchard, Watches Blazers Thump Mavs

Kevin Pritchard wasn’t there to see it in person, but Paul Allen was. The Trail Blazers owner, mum about the future of his embattled GM, wore a suit to the Rose Garden and clapped along with thunder sticks as his team cruised past the Mavericks 101-89.

Allen had a front row seat for one of the most even team performances of the year—one that saw the Blazers win despite Brandon Roy’s taking a measly seven shots. He may not have seen the “Keep K.P.” signs strewn throughout the arena, or a man hawking the t-shirts out front. But I know Allen noticed what a cohesive team Pritchard has constructed for him.

Allen paid dutiful attention throughout, including the play that wraped it all up:

With the ball and just over two minutes to play, Dirk Nowitzki forced a 22 foot jumper with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. Dallas were down 12 and it was now or never. Nowitzki missed badly and, perhaps knowing so, he flopped the ground. It was was two prayers that would go unanswered. The Blazers were playing tight, finely tuned, playoff caliber basketball, controlling the game against a high-seeded opponent.

But even after the Blazers put the defensive clamps on the Mavericks, holding them to nary a fast break point and just 14 in the final period, Nowitzki still said his shot felt good. He credited the Blazers defense as a whole, yet Nowitzki strangely added that he didn’t feel off “at all” Thursday night. The Dallas star scored just 15 points, hitting just five of 13 attempts:

The Blazers, on the other hand, we certifiably “on.” It was no figment of their imagination. As a team they shot 50% from the field, a marked improvement over the last two games (which marked the worst shooting of the Nate McMillan era).

The zone, which had confounded the Blazers in those two games, became a non-issue Thursday. A few outside jumpers go in and teams often switch quickly back to man to man. So it goes.

And while watching all those shots fall must’ve put a spring in the Blazers’ defensive step, the game plan was spot on as well. Nate McMillan refused to share elaborate detail of Portland’s defensive sets as not to tip his hat. He did say, however, that this was a win the Trail Blazers “desperately” needed.

Some of the defensive schemes, which LaMarcus Aldridge (and Dallas players) shared, had to do with pushing the Mavericks’ pick and roll a certain way and denying the ball to Nowitzki late. Others centered on covering the streaky Maverick guard Jason Terry on the perimeter. It seemed to work—Terry made just four of his fourteen attempts.

The win was the Blazers third straight over the Mavericks this season. I asked Jason Kidd what aspect of Portland’s play has made the difference:

Although he wouldn’t point to anything particular in the season series, Kidd did dwell on the Blazers defense of the Dallas fast break on Thursday. Either by making shots or running down Mavericks for blocks from behind, Portland kept their opponents from scoring a single fast break point. It was the first time the Blazers have done so since December of 2008. The Trail Blazers, on the other hand, had 16.

The two Marcus’—Camby and Aldridge—both notched double-doubles. But for Camby, the event seemed much surprise and welcome. With 17 points and 10 boards, Camby got his first double-double in a Trail Blazers uniform. The scoring matched Camby’s best output since Janaury 18th when he was still a Clipper.

Camby sure was a good pick up. Was that trade Paul Allen’s or Kevn Pritchard’s idea, I wonder?

NOTES:
- Portland wins the season series w/ Dallas for the first time since 1998-99
- Andre Miller had 33 less points than his last game against the Mavs
- Tonight marked Marcus Camby’s first double-double as a Blazer
- The win moves Nate McMillan into sole ownership of the third most all-time coaching wins in Portland with 191

Roy’s postgame comments: Also, Rudy mostly brushed off media but said quickly his strained quad feels fine:

Paul Allen Releases Meager Statement

Via Trailblazers.com:

The Trail Blazers made a change in the vice president of basketball operations position, and that’s all. Decisions like this are made at the top levels of Blazer management, and are not made unless we have good reason, have worked through the issues involved, and feel we should make an immediate change.

We are not going to make any more long-term decisions today. When the season ends we will evaluate how best to move the Trail Blazers forward. That’s no different than the way we have operated for the past 21 seasons.

I support everyone who works for me, including Kevin Pritchard, and that’s why he’s our general manager. We all have the same goal — to bring another NBA Championship to the great fans of Portland.

Sorry to say, but it’s not going to quiet the general fear and outrage over Kevin Pritchard’s tenuous future.