TrueHoop Weighs in on Larry Miller & Pritchard's Future

Our pal Henry Abott put this together from the otherwise unhelpful press event which took place Monday:

There are accounts of these kinds of reviews — executives getting hauled in for very tough questioning — at many of Allen’s businesses, including the Seahawks. The deep review is part of his game. (When the Seahawks fired coach Jim Mora recently, they did so after “an extensive internal audit.”) It’s something Allen has a track record of liking to do, and it’s one of the ways he puts his imprint on the organization. And if ever there were a year for such a review in Portland, this would be it. So, expect a serious brand of questioning, after the season, from the owner. And expect that to play a big role in who runs the team in the future.

Now, put yourself in the shoes of Larry Miller or anybody else who works for Paul Allen. Blazer fans are irate and confused. Miller serves at the behest of Allen. He can’t really be considered a good employee if he goes out there and says that “nobody knows what the owner is going to do!” That would be like building a neon sign, directing fans to send their ire directly to Allen. Meanwhile, it’s his part of his job to insulate Allen from some of that. So he wisely didn’t sell his owner down the river. Instead, he said what he could say: That there would be a review this summer.

Assuming Pritchard doesn’t resign in the interim — at this point, many think he could get a different job where he’d be happier — that review will likely be the next important step in this process, because that’s when the voice that matters most will enter the conversation.

Read Henry’s whole piece here.

Interview with Rob Mahoney from Mavs Blog The Two Man Game

No one has the heart to inform Josh Howard that he is wearing the wrong uniform

Since it’s quite possible that tonight’s Blazers vs Mavericks game is a preview of the opening round of the playoffs, we turned to Rob Mahoney from Mavs blog The Two Man Game for some perspective from the unmessable state of Texas. Mahoney was nice enough to stop counting the large pile of cash that Mark Cuban gives to every Mavs fan (fact!), and he answered some inquires we had about Dallas.

Many Blazer fans are dreading playoff matches against Los Angeles or Denver, yet they seem optimistic if Portland draws Dallas in the first round. From the Mavs point of view, what team is the ideal first round matchup? If they face Portland in the postseason, do you think the Blazers can be problematic for Dallas?

I think the Mavs wouldn’t mind seeing San Antonio in the playoffs, but Phoenix also presents an interesting possibility. The Mavs seem to have a pretty good handle on both opponents, and hold plenty of matchup advantages against either opponent. 
 

The Thunder and the Blazers, though, perhaps a bit less appetizing. OKC plays such great defense, and that’s so crucial to early round upsets. They’re young, hungry, tough-defending, and very Kevin Durant-y, which won’t be too fun for any playoff opponent.

 

Portland, on the other hand, as you and your readers well know, has had Dallas’ number this season. It’s weird considering how well the Mavs played the Blazers last year, and that on paper, Portland doesn’t boast all that many individual advantages. Brandon Roy is a terrific player, but he hasn’t even been doing heavy damage against Dallas this season… and that’s worrisome. He didn’t play at all in one of the Blazers’ wins, though Andre Miller’s performance that night probably made up for his absence. An up-and-down of the Blazers roster doesn’t point to any one specific player that would be especially problematic for the Mavs offensively or defensively, and yet Dallas has dropped both games this season in semi-spectacular fashion: once in allowing Miller to put up the performance of a lifetime, and in the other by dropping a game to a scrambling, undersized Blazers team without a real center in the mix at all.

It’d be arrogant to think Portland couldn’t at least give Dallas some trouble in the playoffs. That said, I wouldn’t expect the Blazers to beat the Mavs. Rick Carlisle is an excellent coach when it comes to in-game and between-game adjustments, and nothing Portland has done to Dallas this season is particularly unsolvable; after all, it was Andre Miller scoring 52 points, not Chris Paul. There would be some questions going into a series between the two teams, but there would definitely be answers as well.

It’s been about a month since the Washington trade and to most casual NBA fans it seems that Dallas came away significantly improved. How have Butler (and company) worked out for the Mavs? Will you miss Josh Howard at all?

Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood are playing big minutes for the Mavs, and both have been pretty successful. Butler’s shooting has been a bit worrisome during his stint in Dallas, which is a product of some poor shot selection (dude loves the long two-pointers), and an inability to finish around the rim (his FG% at the rim is absolutely miserable). He’s been decent defensively, though, and most of his lesser offensive performances have been balanced by Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki. That’s really what acquiring him was all about, anyway: the Mavs now have three stable scorers rather than two, which affords the team some slack when one of them has an off night. Or seven.

 

Brendan Haywood has been impressive, though he’s just now recovering from a three-game mini-rut. It wasn’t quite a slump and a back injury could have played a part, but he looked to be back on track Tuesday night against the Clippers. Then again, it was against the Clippers. We’ll see how it goes. He’s been great defensively for the most part, which is what should be expected of him. Haywood is one of the better defensive centers in the league, and a difficult cover for most traditional back-to-the-basket pivots. That’s not going to be particularly useful tonight, but it would sure come in handy if the Mavs were to encounter L.A., Denver, or Utah in the playoffs. 

 

I’ll definitely miss Josh, even if his time in Dallas was marred with bad decisions and on-court struggles. He still did a lot for the Mavs, and those with short memories may even forget that he was the MVP of the Mavs’ first round series against the Spurs last year. Watching him grow as a player was a treat, and watching him devolve a bit could be infuriating. But it doesn’t change all the positive things he brought to the Mavericks as a franchise, and I’m not one to forget that type of thing. 

 

Due to a roster with nine players over the age of 30, is there a fear amongst the Dallas faithful that this team needs to make a championship run immediately?

There’s no question the Mavs want to win now. That being said, there’s no reason they wouldn’t be able to make a similar run next year. Jason Kidd isn’t the player that he used to be, but he’s still finding ways to be amazingly effective, even at 37. Dirk Nowitzki is still an All-NBA caliber talent, and even the other senior members of the Mavs—Dampier, Marion, Terry, Butler, Haywood—are good at what they do and productive players. It’s hard to predict when a player is likely to fall off due to their age, because the circumstances are so player-specific. For now, though, the Mavs are operating at a high level despite their advanced age. After all, experience counts for something, right? The Mavs’ gaudy record in close games this season would at least help in proving that theory, and they’ll certainly hope it holds true in the playoffs this season.

 

Will Andre Miller score 52 points against Dallas tonight?

No? I hope not? I’m ending all of my sentences with a question mark to indicate that I’m unsure in order to avoid a jinx? Please?

 

I’m not sure I see Miller dropping 52, well, ever again, but I guess if he were to pick his spot to do it, it’s only fitting that it’d be in a repeat performance against Dallas. I’m not exactly a Miller-fearing man, but he did the impossible against Dallas, and that makes him mighty. Then again, I’d hope that these Mavs are at least proud enough to not let it happen again. 

Pick and Scroll

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

• Mike Barrett thinks that tonight’s matchup could be a sneak peak of things to come.

• Casey Holdahl has player interviews from internal media day.

• The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman thinks playing the Mavericks might be just the thing to help the Blazers out of their funk. Nicolas Batum is not so sure:

“They’ve (added) two great players. Much, much, much better than last time.”

• Speaking of Batum, Sean Meagher over at OregonLive has a great article on the defensive versatility of Nicolas Batum, complete with much, much, much praise from Nate McMillan:

“It’s nice to have that guy who gets into the game on the defensive end of the floor,” McMillan said. “In Dallas he had only two attempts, but you wouldn’t have known it by the way he played.

Having that type of guy on the floor who doesn’t need to shoot the ball to be productive is good because he’s bringing his hard hat to the floor and he’s focused on defending.”

• While on the subject of Nicolas Batum, let us check in on a somewhat similar player, Trevor Ariza. Kurt Heinlin of Pro Basketball Talk takes a look at the work of Rahat Huq of TrueHoop Network sister blog Red94. The argument here is that Trevor Ariza is best utilized when he is not expected to be the primary (or even secondary) playmaker. While I believe that Nicolas Batum is a more skilled offensive player with better handles and vision, I think that the same logic applies to him as well. Batum is an incredibly efficient player who picks his spots very well, however, if Batum’s usage were to increase, his efficiency would likely decrease (for more on usage and efficiency, check this and this). In my opinion, Batum’s optimal usage rate is between 16% and 19%. I think at less than 16%, the team would be underutilizing Batum’s gifts and at 20% or more, the team would likely be placing too high of a load on Batum at the expense of other players. Roy and Aldridge are both high usage players and this is not very likely to change and someone has to get the short end of the stick. Additionally, Oden will be returning and he will likely get more touches than Juwan Howard and Marcus Camby. Fortunately, both Batum and Oden have shown themselves to be exceptionally productive even with limited usage rates.

• By the way, Pro Basketball Talk has had the latest CBA negotiation news on lockdown and Kurt Heinlin reports that the players are talking about saving up money in case there is a work stoppage. However, I believe that this is continued posturing. The players want the owners to think that they are prepared to hunker down and withstand a lockout in order to get more favorable terms, but this premise rests on the incredibly shaky theory that NBA players will by-and-large save an appreciable amount of money and not spend it on less practical things. 

• For the Dallas perspective on tonight’s game, check out TrueHoop Network sister blog The Two Man Game.

Blazers vs. Mavericks - Preview

Sorry JK, but your toy looks NOTHING like you.

After a grueling opening haul through their schedule, the Portland Trail Blazers are now in the odd position of having more off days than game days in any given week. Currently the Blazers’ schedule resembles that of a fifth year senior, just killing time and credits in ceramics class until graduation day. While the Blazers have had plenty of time to mend various injuries—or in the case of Rudy Fernandez, stumble upon some new ones—the team still has a long way to go before proving they can upset a higher seed and make it past the first round of the playoffs. A 7-2 record in March is excellent, but less so when you realize that only two of those victories were over winning teams (Toronto and Memphis, both of which have been flirting with the .500 mark as of late). 

The Mavs are a winning team. 13 in a row at one stretch, although they did follow that with an ugly string of three loses in four games. In previous years the Mavs have absolutely owned the Blazers, but after Portland picked up an unlikely pair of wins in Dallas earlier this season (including the worst day of Joel Przybilla’s non-showering career), Portland is in the position to take (or even sweep) the season series with the Mavs. To do so, the Blazers will have to find a way to score against a zone defense, which is all they will see until the learn to shoot better than 34% from the field. It’s a little unsettling to see the Blazers offense derailed by a defensive scheme they teach you in gym class. 

Another key, stopping the big David Hasselhoff fan* by the name of Dirk Nowitzki. The big German has had a pair of excellent games against Portland (28 and 27 points, respectively), but he hasn’t received consistent help from his teammates on the offensive end (Jason Terry averaging under his season average), and on defense, Andre Miller gave Dallas 52 reasons why Jason Kidd can’t cover a guard like used to. While it’s highly doubtful that Miller will give a repeat performance of that night—on the scale of things that will never happen, this ranks right below “blogger marrying a Blazer dancer”—his team will need a better effort than they’ve displayed as of late to beat a team they very well might face in the playoffs. Oh, and the Blazers two wins came before Dallas acquired Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood at the trade deadline.

* On a somewhat related note, we just hosted a friend from Hamburg, Geremany who insists to the point of anger that not all Germans like The Hoff. So there.

Pick and Scroll, The Vent

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

• Jason Quick of The Oregonian reports that the Trail Blazers have got to hit their outside shots:

 The scouting report is out on the Trail Blazers: Play a zone defense and wait to see if the Blazers can make an outside shot. 

The past two games the Blazers were so pitiful shooting the ball, the Wizards and Suns never abandoned what is generally considered a gimmick defense, used only to throw a team off balance for a possession or two. 

• Dave Deckard of BlazersEdge answers some mail. The Blazers’ zone-woes make a cameo.

• Sacramento’s front office is in flux as well, though with less of a soap opera vibe. Can we get an anonymous GM to comment about them? Paging Adrian Wojnarowski.

• Looks like former Blazer Sergio Rodriguez has a firm offer or two from Spain. Well, there were always two vocal camps with Sergio: those who thought Rodriguez would be an All-Star in the right system, and those who thought he might be out of the league after his rookie contract. Technically they were both wrong.

• Brandon Roy bleeds purple. 

•As the season winds to a close, check Hollinger’s Playoff Odds to see how the race is shaping up. Unless you are a Nets fan. 0.0%? I like those odds.

•Never dunk without a ball.

• Congrats to BlazersEdge’s Ben Golliver, who was on KGW talking about the Blazers last night. It was Golliver’s first non-Crime Stopper appearance on local news. [Editor’s note: Golliver never appeared on Crime Stoppers.]  Sophia Brugato of Bust a Bucket was on Talkin’ Ball not long ago (I was on Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan once, that’s all I got), and it seems that bloggers are starting to go mainstream, thanks to vocal fans and readers (like you). The media landscape is changing because people that love the game are getting involved. That said, today’s comment section is going to be dubbed the “vent section.” We want to encourage fan involvement, so tell us what you think the Blazers ought to do against a zone, or about KP, or about why Patty Mills isn’t getting playing time (or why he is wearing a tail), or whatever. Alternatively, you could tell us how amazing it is that Portland is even in the playoff race and how awesome everything will be when Greg Oden returns to help sweep the Lakers in four games—it’s your vent section.

Pick and Scroll "et tu Miller?" edition.

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

• Dave Deckard of BlazersEdge is worried that the Trail Blazers have been down similar roads before:

A week ago the questions surrounding the team were simple:  Will they make the playoffs?  Will they succeed there?  Those were beautiful, vibrant questions speaking of goodness among us no matter how they were answered, even to the negative.  Now the lingering question is, “Will this organization ever learn?”  There’s no satisfying, unifying, cheer-worthy answer to that no matter which way you go.  It’s sad that the terms were redefined like that again, even if it’s only for a while.  In more ways that one it was a sorry exchange. 

 • Wedell Maxey says that we should quit hating on Kevin Pritchard. (Quoting a source):

“All Kevin has done since joining Portland is help re-make them from a laughing stock in the league to a team other front offices emulate. If you don’t care for the way he goes about his business, that’s your problem. That’s not his. That doesn’t make it alright to beat the guy when he’s obviously going through a difficult time.” 

• The Oregonian’s Jason Quick takes us inside the supervillan-esque nomenclatured “Vulcan Logic” behind the Pritchard situation and, amongst other things, insinuates that a Western Conference executive *cough* Mark Warkentein *cough* is behind all of this mess and reports that Nate McMillan supports KP,  and has this money quote:

If anything has become clear to me over the past week it’s this: Anyone under Kevin Pritchard in this organization loves him and swears by him. Anyone over him appears uncomfortable with him or threatened by him. 

• It will be interesting to see where Portland goes from here. Adrian Wojnarowski paints a picture of Pritchard as a power hungry neophyte with great drafting skills but poor acumen as a day-to-day general manager, disconnected from his coach. Quick seems to be painting his own picture of Pritchard as a talented general manager with the full support of his coaching staff being railroaded by a jealous rival feeding information to an antagonistic columnist, a rabble rousing agent, and a cold and mysterious group called “the Vulcans.” Can both scenarios be true? Perhaps there is merit to both stories, one thing I know for certain is that firing Penn when there is such a lull between games was probably less than ideal. All this downtime gives fans nothing to do what ruminate over the various conspiracy theories in an attempt to fill the gaping holes in a story filled with bias, vagueness, and half-truths. 

 • Sheed from Bust a Bucket puts all that drama in a nutshell, and has a petition to save KP. If these petitions worked, I’d have drafted a “trade Blake/Outlaw for Camby” one last year.

 • I’d advise signing the petition as opposed to, say, wearing a paper bag over your head during a game. Apparently, front office types can get a bit miffed over a fan’s choice of head-ware.

 • Look on the bright side, the Blazers front office may be crumbling before our very eyes, but at least the Trail Blazers aren’t thinking about signing Mikki Moore! The glass is always half full here in at PRS.

Kevin Pritchard Has The Fear

A lot of words were spoke at the Trail Blazers practice facility Monday afternoon, but very little was actually said.

This much became clear: general manager Kevin Pritchard is fearful about his future with the Trail Blazers. And although he wouldn’t say it, Pritchard clearly feels like he deserves better for the good work he’s done.

Larry Miller said he is surprised the tumult around Tom Penn’s firing has widened to engulf Pritchard. I told Miller the reason the situation has evolved is because people have questions that the team refuses to answer. Still, he refused to elucidate—there is no explanation for Penn’s firing. Miller cited “philosophical differences” over and over again, as if it actually meant something.

Miller seems like he’s caught in the food chain—the firing of Penn and the vote of no confidence on Pritchard seem to have come from above. And unless Paul Allen comes clean it seems unlikely we’ll ever know the truth. As for that happening, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Kevin Pritchard:

Larry Miller:

Pick and Scroll

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

• Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski drops a bomb. AWoj blames Pritchard for McMillan not having a long term contract, giving in too easy on Roy and Aldridge’s contract negotiations, trying to grab power for himself, global warming, and Chris “The Birdman” Anderson’s mustache. It seems like in the past week, the Blazers front office went from the best in the NBA to the final days at Enron. 

Now, Wojnarowski has never been considered a fan of Kevin Pritchard. However, that doesn’t mean there is nothing to this story. If half of these statements are true, then I suppose Portland should just cut their losses and return to the sweet embrace of John Nash and Steve Patterson… *shudder*

• Jason Quick of The Oregonian says that the Blazers got “zoned out” in Phoenix last night.

• TrueHoop Network sister blog Valley of the Suns is ecstatic that Phoenix won a “grind it out” game.

• Sheed from Bust a Bucket thinks last night’s game was an indicator of things to come.

• Wendell Maxey says Portland wasn’t responding to Nate McMillan’s instructions.

• Basketbawful takes a look at using standard deviations in fantasy basketball. Yeah, this would have been nice to have in October when I drafted Primoz Brezec.

• Ira Winderman of Pro Basketball Talk reports that for NCAA players weighing whether or not they should enter the draft, waiting for 2011 might mean waiting until 2012.

• As Bob Dylan once said: “The times, they are a-changing.” Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen looks at how a few innovations might shape the NBA in the future.

• Seth Johnson of Bust a Bucket checks in on Koponen. DINOSHARK!

• Sergio Rodriguez has lost his starting spot to a rookie. Please raise your hand if you saw this coming.

• In a show of unbridled masochism, Coup from Rip City Project breaks down the Blazers worst victory ever (san injuries).