The Vig

The last two minutes of tonight’s Blazer radio broadcast were an embarrassment to the organization.  McMillan subbed in Batum, Oden, Frye, Bayless, and Rodriguez with 2:39 left in the fourth.  As soon as the ball came in, Wheeler started complaining that Houston still had most of their regulars in the game.  As play continued, Wheeler kept harping on Adelman, at one point calling him “classless”.  Really?  A coach leaves his starters in an extra whistle or two and suddenly he’s classless?  Save it.

Speaking of classless, a minute or so later, Ron Artest apparently ran into the stands after a ball or something and rather than return to the floor, he took a seat.  I didn’t see it, I only heard it described by the now-hyperventilating Wheeler and Harvey.  Harvey went so far as to say if he were still playing, he’d fight Artest everytime they met on the floor for the rest of his life.  This was after Wheeler’s classless comment, yet Wheeler did nothing to wheel in his partner.

The homerism of the Blazer announcers this season has been a topic on at least one radio station in town and has been a conversation I’ve had with a few folks.  This town used to have some greats on both radio and TV.  I would say we deserve better, but after listening to the yahoos on Dawson’s Morning Sports Page, I’m not so sure.  What I wouldn’t give though for Dave Twardzik back on the radio.

Another thought.  I wonder what it would take to get Kevin Calabro to come down and take over radio duties.  I wonder what he’d say if Allen were to back the Brinks truck up and offer him the gig with the understanding he’s free to go the second Seattle gets an NBA franchise back.  Alternatively, give him the TV gig with the understanding he does all home games and say 15 road games a year.  That would leave him plenty of time in Seattle.  Then we slide Barrett over to radio.  That would work too.

Either way, Wheeler, Harvey, and the awful Mike Rice have all got to go.  Like now.

Still thinking about Canzano, KP, and what it means to go to ten all-star games.  The following is Wikipedia’s list of everyone who’s played in ten or more NBA all-star games and how many championships each has won.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 6
Shaquille O’Neal  4
Michael Jordan 6
Karl Malone 0
Jerry West 1
Wilt Chamberlain 2
Bob Cousy 6
John Havlicek 8
Larry Bird 3
Kevin Garnett 1
Elvin Hayes 1
Magic Johnson 5
Hakeem Olajuwon 2
Oscar Robertson 1
Bill Russell 11
Dolph Schayes 1
Isiah Thomas 2
Charles Barkley 0
Elgin Baylor 0
Kobe Bryant 3
Tim Duncan 4
Julius Erving 1
Patrick Ewing 0
Moses Malone 1
Bob Pettit 1
Paul Arizin 1
Clyde Drexler 1
Hal Greer 1
Allen Iverson 0
David Robinson 2
John Stockton 0

Do it ten times, and you’re likely to walk away with a ring or two.  You’ll notice only a handful of guys on that list have five or more championships.  I think it’s safe to say three rings makes you one of the all-time greats.  KP thinks Oden could win ten.  Right.

We won’t have the answer for another decade, at least.  By then Durant will be long gone from OKC and at least one of Portland’s current big three will be gone as well, so the answer could end up being a jumbled mess.  Ultimately, I think the measuring stick will be how many championships will each player decide.  That is to say, if the Blazers win a championship, could they have done it without Oden?  And when Durant gets his, could his team have done it without him?  That will be the ultimate question.

Canzano:

Portland got the right guy.

I’m convinced of it. And I’m thinking those on the outside looking in, those who don’t see Oden in practice and night to night, you know, the ones snickering at the Blazers today, are missing the point.

Durant was the safe selection who would have made the Blazers look immediately brilliant. I suspect Pritchard knew that when he picked Oden. And it’s probably testing his patience and his ego some to watch Durant badly outperform Oden, especially on All-Star weekend where Oden sat out injured and Durant performed like Moses in sneakers.

But when the Blazers picked Oden two drafts ago, they were announcing that they were more interested in a winner who could anchor a team than a spectacular offensive player who would win lots of individual awards.

Man, that sounds an awful lot like the Bowie/Jordan argument.  Jordan was a spectacular individual talent, but Bowie was the big offensive threat in the middle who was going to join with Clyde to win championships.  We all know how that worked out.  And as we watch Oden hobble around while Durant has a coming out party, it’s hard not to play “what if”.

Twenty-five years ago, I don’t think Jordan and Drexler would have been able to co-exist.  One of them would have left.  Same thing here.  Either Durant or Roy would have left Portland at some point.  That’s how it would have to be.

If you *really* want to play what-if, imagine if the Blazers didn’t already have Brandon Roy on the roster when they had to make the call between Oden and Durant.  Then what would you have done?

Blazers Edge ponders the possibility of bringing the Big Diesel to Portland.  As I recall, this was talked about back before Shaq ultimately went to Phoenix.  It made a ton of sense then to bring the big fella in to help guide Oden.  After a half-season of watching Nate use his bigs however (ie. he doesn’t), I’m not sure what the team gains.

Shaq will only work when challenged.  There’s no one on the staff who’ll challenge him.  And there’s nothing for him to play for here.  So why bring him in if we’re only going to watch him nurse his injured big toes in street clothes?  The plus side, I suppose, would be the fact it would only be one year and the Blazers could clear a boat load of cap space when he leaves.  And I believe that’s the off-season when you really want the space anyway, as that’s the year that huge superstar class of free-agents hits the market.  So there’s that.

Wouldn’t it be more fantastic to see Shaq somewhere like Utah?  It would be great on two levels.  One, those fans would absolutely crap themselves with joy.  Two, he would hate it.  Win-win.

The Blazers are threatening to sue any NBA team who dares sign Darius Miles to a contract.  Great.  Do it!

The Portland Trail Blazers have no one to blame but Paul Allen for this situation.  He had a stiffy for Miles long before he ever put on a Blazer uniform.  It was Allen’s decision to sign Miles to the idiotic extension.  Allen had a chance to be out of this years ago, but quashed it.  Think maybe he’d like to have that one back?

Paul Allen made his bed.  It’s time for him to lie down in it.  Surely someone will stand up to this crap.

It’s a big deal when you win a bowl.  Unless you lose a bowl, then it doesn’t matter at all.

-D. Jaynes

You can easily remove the Holiday Bowl from that quote, insert tonight’s Blazers-Celtics game in its place, and the meaning would stay exactly the same.  Listening to The Game today, you would think the Blazers and their fans had already chalked this one up to the loss column.  The list of lame pre-game excuses was deep.

• Oh!  Brandon Roy was hurt, he couldn’t go.
• Oh! the Celtics are just too good.
• Oh! this season isn’t about winning, it’s about improving.
• Oh! it doesn’t even matter if the Blazers make the playoffs this season.

This game meant nothing.

Except now it does.  There’s going to be a little extra pep in Blazer fans tomorrow as they dissect this game.  Spare me.  It was a fun victory to be sure, but it doesn’t mean anything.  Beat Utah next month, then we’ll have something to crow about.

One more thing.  It’s time for Brandon Roy to man up.  These “nagging” injuries seem to keep popping up right around this point of the season.  Last year it was his ankle.  The season before that it was his heel.  If he wants to be an star in this league, he needs to figure out how to play through “tweaks”.

Busy busy busy.  It’s a good thing.

Beer and Blog: It’s become a Friday tradition in the local tech community.  How on earth have I never been?  I had a great conversation with @dieselboi about beer and the future of the Dragon.  Hopefully the folks at Rogue will elect to keep the place weird, or whatever.  It’s fantactic.  Anyway, Dieselboi got me set up with a Jubelale and sent me on my way.  I also spent some time with @betsywhim and @ahockley, with whom I shared a spirited political conversation.  A good time was had by all.  Clearly I need to attend this more often.

Portland Winter Hawks: They went 2-1 on the weekend, picking up 4 points.  Going into the sale, I kept hearing that all the team needed was a few minor roster adjustments and a fresh approach at the top.  I didn’t believe it could be that easy.  And maybe it’s not.  The early returns are extremely encouraging though.  We’re watching a different team on the ice.  And I think it’s taking.  Even though they came up short against Vancouver last night, they competed.  This wouldn’t have happened a month ago.  They’re on the road until after Thanksgiving, playing in Everett three times in nine days.  Wow.  Did they bring in an ECHL scheduler this season?

Portland Trail Blazers: This season is going to be bi-polar for the Blazers, particularly for Oden.  The single best thing we can do for him at this point is quit looking at the stat sheet.  Seriously, just don’t.  Let him play.  Let him get accustomed to playing in the NBA.  At the end of the season we can open up the stat sheet and see what it is we have.  Believe me when I say everyone would sleep better if we did.

UFC: Brock Lesnar was just too big for Couture.  I’d like to see someone take on the big guy who could expolit his obvious lack of conditioning.  That requires taking him deep into the third round and beyond.  The problem is he’s liable to kick your ass before then.

Eisenhower dollars: Anyone know where I can get a couple rolls of these locally?  Ideally I’d like to pick up a couple rolls every few weeks.  I’ve been getting the presidential dollars, but they’re just not the same.  I prefer the heft of the Ikes.  The whole silver thing has kind of spooked me.  Turns out a dollar coin will always be worth a dollar.  An ounce of silver, not so much.

Arizona Cardinals: Thanks to the generosity of a friend of mine, I was able to take in the Seahawks and Cardinals yesterday.  We had primo seats down in the south end zone.  The game obviously looks much different down there than it does on TV.  As does my team.  In the first half, they were one score away from taking the crowd completely out of the game.  They got the Seahawks to punt in the second quarter and ended up getting bogged down just outside the red zone.  Had they managed to get a touchdown there, the Seattle faithful would have turned on their team.  Instead, they could only manage three, and the Hawks mounted a valiant second-half comeback.  Up by only six with five minutes to go, I figured we were sunk.  But they forced a three-and-out, and that was the game.  Seattle never threatened again.  It’s eat, drink, and be merry for the time being because they get the Giants in the desert next weekend, then it’s at Philly on Thanksgiving night.  But for one night, all is well.

Kermit to Billy Ray will always be the gold standard for Blazer victories.  Blake to Roy, however, is definitely top-5.

The NBA sent Bennett Salvatore and Violet Palmer to the Rose Garden last night in an effort to cool the Blazers.  They both gave it the old college try (see the BS Yao call), but in the end the Blazers overcame.  If you get the chance, check out Marvelour Marvs call.  It’s here for now, but I’m sure the NBA will have it taken down shortly…

This picture just showed up in my inbox.  Looks like there’s a new member of the Big Three.  It’s difficult to believe Oden wasn’t originally supposed to be in here.  Maybe I’m wrong.

Oh come on, like a part of you didn’t expect this.