Does Brandon Roy deserve a max contract?

Portland loves Brandon Roy. Max money and max years? Done.  Any other demands, Mr. Roy? The city of Portland would oblige to almost anything the man asks for. The question is, has he earned this blind loyalty?

Fans and journalists alike are furious over the fact that Brandon Roy hasn’t been signed yet. Why should there be any debating? Brandon is our best player and deserves anything he wants, they say. Perhaps they are right in that he is our best player, but what has he accomplished that sets him apart from other league leaders? Almost every team has a player they call their leader and “franchise” player.

Sure Brandon Roy is an all-star. We’ve had all-stars in town before. Yeah, he won rookie of the year, but that is nothing but another chapter to awe at when a great player retires. The real measure of success is winning. Individual accomplishments mean nothing when compared to the success of the team. The leader of a teams value should be measured in his ability to lead the team to victory, not on his collection of all-star game appearances and awards.

That’s not to say Brandon hasn’t done a great job in leader the team to victory. The Blazers won 54 games this year, much more than many people expected. Brandon led the Blazers, a team many believe is among the deepest in the league, to the playoffs for the first time in six years.  But that’s where I see a problem in Roy receiving the maximum contract.  The Blazers as a team are among the deepest in the NBA. The 1st round isn’t enough. Other star players lead their teams deeper into the playoffs with half the supporting cast Roy has.

Despite this, there is no reason to doubt the Blazers or Roy. We have one of the youngest and deepest teams in the NBA that is still growing up.  If you offer a max offer to Roy, you risk the child that is the Blazers growing into a 30-year-old young creative living in the basement. But then again, this is Portland, so I guess that’s what should be expected.

Massive D. Stern: Taking charge/block calls out of basketball

I don’t know about you, but when I’m playing basketball I don’t worry about a defender standing in my way purposely trying to get me to foul him. It doesn’t make sense, a foul is, well a foulAlthough ‘taking the charge’ has become a highly valued skill in basketball, I don’t think NBA players should either. Fouls are not supposed to be a skill you develop, but something that happens by accident or that has to happen. Drawing charges should be viewed the same way.

Unfortunately for Anderson Varejao, if the NBA stopped calling charges he'd have to find a new place of employment

 

 

I can’t tell you how many games I’ve seen recently that have been decided by a charge or blocking call. Why can’t we just see some real defense? No one but centers go for blocks anymore because it’s easier to just fall down and hope the call goes your way. NBA players probably feel that if they go for a block they are more likely to get called for a foul than by attempting to draw a charge, but if they go straight up, there’s no reason they should be called for a foul. 

I can understand why keeping this call in the game is probably easier than taking it out, but when it’s constantly deciding games, it’s time to change it. This rule puts the game completely in the hands of refs when the games on the line, instead of letting the players decide it. I can see Anderson Varejao drawing a charge against Kobe in the finals to win a game this postseason, will the NBA let a high school musical star be the finals MVP?

The main argument for having charging/block calls is that without them, offensive players could simply knock over defenders. But this is an issue that was mostly created simply because of defenders taking charges. After all, it is much more easy to knock someone down that is trying to get knocked down than someone who is trying to play defense.

Blazer fans’ tears made into “where amazing happens” commercial

I just saw this on espn today…Brought back some lovely memories. Enjoy.

Mark Cuban: You aren’t an athlete or a thug and no one likes you

I honestly have no idea what’s going on in Mark Cuban’s mind. Why does his five foot something chubby ass continue to get in verbal fights with NBA players? I used to think it’d be cool having Mark as an owner, but now I’d be embarrassed. He seems to have a desperate longing to be more than the owner of the team. On his twitter he posts about his “pre-game shooting and workouts”. What is he working out for? So his fat ass can get away from players who he’s yelling at?

Cute shirt, Mark.

 

 

In his most recent altercation, he told Kenyon Martin’s mother her son was a “thug” and eventually posted an apology on his blog. Apparently K-Mart wasn’t satisfied with his apology. Now, I don’t expect Cuban to get beat up, or Kenyon Martin to even do anything to him. This is the NBA, unless Mark runs onto the court and hits Martin nothing will come of it. But Mark Cuban still has no reason to go around acting like if something did happen he’d come out on top.  As an owner he has no reason to be doing anything other than sitting on his fat ass.

Besides the Blazers owner Paul Allen, I can’t tell you the name of any other owner in the NBA. Some would say this is a good thing, but there’s no reason a team in owner needs publicity other than their own selfish needs. Mark distracts from his team so much that he is now the biggest star of the Mavericks besides Dirk Nowitzki. 

Mark Cuban’s actions as an owner used to be entertaining, but now he’s gone from being funny to foolish and annoying. Complaining about the refs is one thing, but acting like you’re playing in the game is ridiculous. Aren’t there enough billionaires in texas that someone else can take the team from this out of control moron?

Which team will be the Blazers of 2010?

He probably got injured doing this...

The Blazers have been steadily improving for the last couple years, but this year we saw a large leap as they became one of the elite teams in the NBA. After failing to make the Playoffs in 2008, the Blazers managed to get the 4th seed in a tough western conference this year. Miami did have a larger win-loss improvement, but only because they were without and Dwyane Wade last year and finished with the worst record in the league. That obviously makes it easier to improve upon. Now we will look at which teams have the potential to do what the Blazers did this season

5. Washington Wizards-The Wizards will almost definitely have the greatest margin of improvement with the Gilbert Arenas playing a full season. This year, they won only 19 games and were a team everyone wanted to play. They have enough talent in Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler that I could even see them taking the 4th seed in the east. All this of course depends on the health of Gilbert Arenas, which is an area of concern as he hasn’t even played half a season since 2007. A high draft pick and Arenas healthy will lead to good things. I see them as the Miami Heat of next year, and we could even see Arenas in the MVP discussion. But this isn’t a team that we will be discussing in the future like the Blazers.

4. Chicago Bulls-The Bulls are the team everyone is talking about for next year. They took the Celtics to 7 games in a classic series. I honestly wasn’t too impressed with them because the Hawks also took Boston to seven games but they haven’t improved too much. The bulls do have a great player in Derrick Rose, but as Ben Gordon is likely leaving next year I don’t see them improving too much. They were .500 in 2009 and I see them winning 50 games at most in a still weak eastern conference next year.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder- I don’t know if these guys really have much of a future with the current line-up, but with Kevin Durant improving they’re definitely going to improve.  They probably won’t reach .500 next year, but with some moves in the off season I see them in 2011 playoffs. I’d imagine around 33 wins next yea

2. Minnesota Timberwolves-These guys had some great runs when Al Jefferson was playing. A 23 point 11 rebound center who should be an all-star next year will improve their record by a good margin. The team doesn’t have an eye opening starting line-up, but does have a fair amount of depth which should help them during the long season. The key with them is, as with a lot of teams, can their star stay healthy? Al Jefferson played a full season in 2008, but only 50 games this year. The wolves will need him to play most of the year to avoid having to adjust to having him during the season. If all goes well, I could see this team getting to .500 next year.

 

1. Memphis Grizzles- This year we saw great improvement over the season from the Grizzles and I expect that to continue next year. They have a great young starting line-up that can put up great offensive numbers. Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo are a great back court duo that we should be hearing from for years to come. Marc Gasol can offer an offensive team a defensive presence in the post and some rebounding. I don’t see them making the playoffs next year, but it’s a possibility depending on what happens with the Phoenix Suns. Down the line the Grizzlies will be taking the place of a team like the Mavericks as the teams led by the last generation of NBA stars start to fade away.

Yao Ming is a facial flopper

We’ve all heard about the floppers in the NBA. Most of them european, they tend to be the most annoying part of basketball games. Flopping isn’t a basketball skill, nor something to be proud of. Players like Anderson Varejao should be fined every time they flop, like they are in soccer. Europeans must have realized they like to flop, so they implemented this rule into the game.

Do you see my face? DO YOU?!

 

 

But Yao, always original, has taken a new approach to flopping. He uses his face to convey an extreme dislike for calls that don’t go his way. Much more effective than talking to the ref because if the referee happens to see his face it’s hard not to feel sorry for the guy. Another bonus is that at this point in time I don’t think a technical foul can be called based on a guys facial expression. This may be the mark that Yao leaves on the game.

In my opinion, this new form of the flop is a much safer and doesn’t slow down the game as much. Because getting up takes time, and it gets annoying hearing the  commentators endlessly debate whether or not it was a flop. Yao doesn’t fall down when he gets hit, he just grimaces like he’s gone into labor. It’s hard to doubt whether or not he’s in pain.

This leads me to believe that maybe Yao has an acting career in his future. Shaq did all those ridiculous disney channel movies, maybe Yao should too. His acting may be a little bit over dramatic, but with a little coaching, I’m sure he could be a pro. They say it’s all about the face, right?With all the viewers in China, it’s safe to say Yao’s movie would be bigger than Shaq’s. Although Yao’s name would be considerably more difficult to make into a movie title.

 

During the Portland-Houston series I got so tired of seeing Yao’s ridiculous reactions after every call that didn’t go the way he wanted. I probably would have been sick, but luckily most calls in the series went his way. Something about 2 billion chinese viewers simultaneously turning their TV’s off.  It was refreshing seeing Yao with a beautiful smile on his face from the bench today during the rockets blowout of the lakers. But I’m sure the NBA isn’t too happy about it.  

 

 

Justin.tv is no longer streaming NBA games

It’s a sad, sad day for cheap NBA fans everywhere. Justin.tv, a place I have been using to watch NBA games for a couple years now, is no longer showing games. The site, a broadcasting website like stickam, is now blocking all the streaming of NBA playoffs game

Sorry man, it's true.

 

 

It was a good run though. I watched dozens of Blazers and NBA playoff games on it for the last couple years. The users would stream the network coverage of the games through the site. It was great, because while watching it you could see the comments of moronic fans in the chat room, which made it more like being at the game.

But all that’s done and gone now, as they have stopped all the streaming on the site. If you try to watch the game on there, streams will come up, but they are full of advertisements to go to another site to watch the game, which also don’t work. I remember last year for one series TNT had a special website where they streamed some of the games, but I haven’t seen it this year. This means I will have to refresh espn over and over again just to see the what’s going on. (Ok, that’s not actually true..)

I understand cable companies not wanting people to use sites like JustIn to watch the games, but I imagine it was the networks that forced them to shut it down. I don’t really see why they’d care, as we watched the advertisements just like anyone else watching the game on their tv. Users on the site would even sometimes discuss them, which I’m sure can’t be a bad thing.

Anyways, it’s been a great run, Justin.tv, and I thank you for enabling me to watch the games over these last couple years. Maybe you guys could send your viewing numbers to TNT so they could figure out someway to make money off it. But they’d probably rather have me buy cable. Oh well, I hear it’s all rigged until the finals anyway. So I guess I can just wait till I’m seeing Kobe and LeBron on ABC.

Ron Artest is the only real player in the League

People often like to criticize Ron Artest for his interesting comments during interviews. I applaud him. It is so tiring listening of players saying the same things over and over during interviews. “Yeah, it was a great game. They’re a great team and he’s a great player”. Sound familiar? “We need to pushthe tempo and play some defense and I think things look real good for the second half” Awesome, man, that was some great insight into the game. It’s like watching a bunch of PR agents talking out there.

I bet he said something about what a great game it was and how he's a great player how they need to push the tempo next game

 

 

Sure, players can get fined for saying things the league doesn’t like. That doesn’t mean they have to talk like robots and not use names unless it’s simply to say “Yeah, Dwyane’s a great player”. It gets a bit boring, considering I’m pretty sure a player could say things he said from a different game and no one would notice. When Rasheed Wallace said “Both teams played hard” over and over again in a post game interview, he was basically summing up what everyone else says…Over and over again. 

This isn’t limited to just the NBA of course, as I’m sure there have been great games in other sports. The NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB all have their share of great games. And there are great players in all those sports. We hear about them every night in post game interviews. And oh yeah, we know it’s a “long season”.

Ron probably does go off  on tangents little too much, but I’d sure rather have that than a players saying the same things about different games. This is another reason I’d like to have Ron in Portland. He’d make post interviews worth listening to. Right now the only reason they are some what interesting is because a lot of our players talk funny. 

As far as that goes, it’s interesting to note that the “great game” interviews extend to all different players. Yao says it was a great game as much as LeBron does, Dirk Nowitzki does too. I love this game where amazing interviews happen. Oh, and we have to get defensive stops and execute on the offensive end.

Just how good is Rajon Rondo?

People often compare LeBron James to Oscar Robertson. Unfortunately, though he could probably put up those numbers, he’d rather be a scorer first. It seems like no one is talking about the fact that Rondo is 0.4 rebounds away from averaging a triple double for the playoffs. But perhaps no one wants to discuss him because he’s not a superstar. I guess it’d be hard being the 4th star of a team.

Perhaps this is part of the reason why Rondo’s numbers are so great. Without KG to get rebounds, Rondo has more chances to get them himself. Also other players on the team have been struggling, leaving Rondo to pick up the slack. But this may only be an indication of what’s to come.

As the All Stars on the celtics begin to retire, Rondo will still be on the team. And every one of them offers something Rondo can learn from them. Imagine when Rondo is the main star of the Celtics. He’ll constantly have the ball and the opportunity to improve his stats. His numbers in the regular season aren’t as good as in the playoffs, but it seems like they simply didn’t need to be. Without Paul, Ray and Kevin, if the celtics want any chance of winning he’ll have to put up crazy numbers.

Rondo doesn’t have the athleticism of some of the stars, but as we saw in Game 2, he is definitely athletic enough to throw down some impressive dunks. His main strength of getting to the basket could be even further utilized if the celtics acquire more shooters. A small line-up with Rondo penetrating then passing out would surely increase his assist average. 

It seems that if Rondo continues to improve, he’ll pass Paul Pierce as far as legendary celtics. He’s already won a title, which is all Pierce had to do in order to secure his legacy. We can only imagine what else he’ll be able to accomplish.

95.5 The Game ‘Wheels at work’ discuss Ron Artest

Listen to it it here. I edit it to just the parts about Artest.

Basically, they acknowledge the fact that Ron would greatly benefit the team, but that believe that his off court problems are too much. I disagree. He hasn’t really done anything in the last couple years, and I don’t give a fuck if it’s a “contract year”, if he’s crazy like people say, there is no way he’d be able to contain himself for an entire year. He had some anger issues, but so do a lot of people in the world. I believe he’s dealt with them for the most part. 

They do go on to say that it may be time to bring on a guy with a less than perfect past, but that ridiculous soccer moms and dads around Portland wouldn’t have it. I ask of these folks, did you vote for Sam Adams? Imagine if, during the Jail Blazers era,  a player slept with someone underage? You would have gone crazy. But Sam’s still mayor. 

I think some of Portland’s fans should start following Segway Polo. I doubt you’d find anyone of “questionable” character there.