should also have league pass very soon. With those things happening
Stephen and I are planning our own podcast, which will be posted here
and in iTunes if I figure out how to do it.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
A podcast? More than likely.
Quick update: I should have DirecTV set up tomorrow. That means I
should also have league pass very soon. With those things happening
Stephen and I are planning our own podcast, which will be posted here
and in iTunes if I figure out how to do it.
should also have league pass very soon. With those things happening
Stephen and I are planning our own podcast, which will be posted here
and in iTunes if I figure out how to do it.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tale of the tape: Roy vs. Bryant (it's all about the defense)
Yesterday as I was sitting at It's a Grind with my brother, both of us reading our daily dose of NBA news and blogs, I started talking to him about a specific element of the Blazers win over the Lakers on Tuesday night. Specifically, I was working out an idea that came to me concerning the Roy-Bryant match up. In his Late Wednesday Mini-Bullets, Henry over at TrueHoop quoted Michael Jordan from an article Jack McCallum wrote about him in 1989. Have I mentioned that I love the new SI Vault? The gist of the quote from Jordan was that the best way to defend him was to make him play defense against a guard who had a physical offensive game. This tired him out and kept him from being as physical against them on the other end. When I read the quote it reminded me that Jordan was an exceptional defender who focused on that even more than scoring.
What does that have to do with Kobe? I was shocked as I watched the KCAL 9 broadcast here in LA that Roy could play as well offensively as he did against Bryant. Several times Roy broke Bryant down on the edge, beat another guy, and made an easy layup. Bryant didn't do that to Roy nearly as badly on the other end. By my count, four of Roy's eight field goals were layups.
One of his field goals was a three, one was a wide open 22-footer, one was an eight-foot jump shot early, and the other was a nine-foot runner in the fourth. Of his seven missed shots, five were jumpers from outside the key, including two three point misses. On the other hand, Kobe made 11 of 26 from the field. Twelve of his fifteen misses were jump shots from outside the key, including five failed three point attempts. Of the ones that he made, one was a dunk, two were layups, two were three-pointers, two were four foot running j's, one was an eight-footer, one was a 21-foot jumper, and two of his shots don't have a distance on the ESPN play-by-play. If you aren't already bored by reading what shots were taken, you might be wondering why it matters. I mean, Bryant scored 34 and Roy only had 23 – Kobe was 10-13 from the stripe while Roy was 6-8, showing a good effort by each of them getting inside.
As I thought about the ways Roy scored on Bryant compared with the ways Bryant scored on Roy – and, in fairness, Outlaw – I realized that Kobe was working a lot harder for his shots than Brandon was. Roy was taking the lane when it was given, shooting open jumpers when they presented themselves, and directing the flow of the offense. But Kobe was often taking the time to force his way into the lane, or else use some combination of moves to set up his beautiful turn-around jumper. This is where the difference between Bryant and Jordan (as evidenced in the aforementioned quote) really stuck out to me: Bryant could have shut Roy down. He's that good of a defender. But instead, he spent more energy on making sure he got his points. And yes, he scored more than Roy. But I looked at the assists for each and what those assists led to, and it tells the tale that Roy actually contributed to more offensive production than Bryant did.
Bryant had five assists. Three of them were to Lamar Odom for layups (two) or dunks (one). The other two assists were from hitting Radmanovic outside for the three. That means Bryant scored 34 and was directly responsible for getting his teammates the ball for 12 more. In total, I'll say that Kobe created 46 of the Lakers' 103 points. Roy had a career-high tying 12 assists. Four of those set up three-point field goals, and the other eight went to guys making mid-range jumpers or layups. So Roy scored 23 of his own points, and was directly responsible for getting his teammates the ball for 28 more. In total, I'll say that Brandon created 51 of the Blazers' 112 points. Of course this doesn't take into account the fact that the Blazers might have given up points to the Lakers because of the way they defended Bryant, plays on which he got no statistical credit. I wouldn't suggest that those sorts of plays would be even with the same type for Roy on the Lakers' side, but I don't think they would be too far off, either, and since they are immeasurable I really can't speak to them.
Being the type of defender that Kobe Bryant is, I believe he had the ability not only to stop Roy from scoring 23, but from directly creating as much as he did for teammates. Certainly some of the blame must go to other LA defenders, but when you're as talented and highly regarded as Kobe is, you need to shut down the opposition. If Kobe had decided to make Roy work harder for his offense, he might have scored a few less points. But I really think that the reduction in Roy's contribution would have been far more significant. Yeah, there were many other factors in the game, but for the Lakers to win in the playoffs it's Kobe's defense that needs to be at its best, not his offense. His offense will take care of itself.
One last note: I realize that the Lakers were without any real low-post presence on defense, which also contributed to Roy's ability to drive. But the Blazers have been without their chosen low-post presence – Oden – all season, and were without their next best option – Joel Przybilla, thanks to a broken hand – in this one. That left the über-tough Channing Frye as the center. I love me some Channing, but he is not my first (or second or third or fourth) choice for a tough inside presence on defense.
What does that have to do with Kobe? I was shocked as I watched the KCAL 9 broadcast here in LA that Roy could play as well offensively as he did against Bryant. Several times Roy broke Bryant down on the edge, beat another guy, and made an easy layup. Bryant didn't do that to Roy nearly as badly on the other end. By my count, four of Roy's eight field goals were layups.
One of his field goals was a three, one was a wide open 22-footer, one was an eight-foot jump shot early, and the other was a nine-foot runner in the fourth. Of his seven missed shots, five were jumpers from outside the key, including two three point misses. On the other hand, Kobe made 11 of 26 from the field. Twelve of his fifteen misses were jump shots from outside the key, including five failed three point attempts. Of the ones that he made, one was a dunk, two were layups, two were three-pointers, two were four foot running j's, one was an eight-footer, one was a 21-foot jumper, and two of his shots don't have a distance on the ESPN play-by-play. If you aren't already bored by reading what shots were taken, you might be wondering why it matters. I mean, Bryant scored 34 and Roy only had 23 – Kobe was 10-13 from the stripe while Roy was 6-8, showing a good effort by each of them getting inside.
As I thought about the ways Roy scored on Bryant compared with the ways Bryant scored on Roy – and, in fairness, Outlaw – I realized that Kobe was working a lot harder for his shots than Brandon was. Roy was taking the lane when it was given, shooting open jumpers when they presented themselves, and directing the flow of the offense. But Kobe was often taking the time to force his way into the lane, or else use some combination of moves to set up his beautiful turn-around jumper. This is where the difference between Bryant and Jordan (as evidenced in the aforementioned quote) really stuck out to me: Bryant could have shut Roy down. He's that good of a defender. But instead, he spent more energy on making sure he got his points. And yes, he scored more than Roy. But I looked at the assists for each and what those assists led to, and it tells the tale that Roy actually contributed to more offensive production than Bryant did.
Bryant had five assists. Three of them were to Lamar Odom for layups (two) or dunks (one). The other two assists were from hitting Radmanovic outside for the three. That means Bryant scored 34 and was directly responsible for getting his teammates the ball for 12 more. In total, I'll say that Kobe created 46 of the Lakers' 103 points. Roy had a career-high tying 12 assists. Four of those set up three-point field goals, and the other eight went to guys making mid-range jumpers or layups. So Roy scored 23 of his own points, and was directly responsible for getting his teammates the ball for 28 more. In total, I'll say that Brandon created 51 of the Blazers' 112 points. Of course this doesn't take into account the fact that the Blazers might have given up points to the Lakers because of the way they defended Bryant, plays on which he got no statistical credit. I wouldn't suggest that those sorts of plays would be even with the same type for Roy on the Lakers' side, but I don't think they would be too far off, either, and since they are immeasurable I really can't speak to them.
Being the type of defender that Kobe Bryant is, I believe he had the ability not only to stop Roy from scoring 23, but from directly creating as much as he did for teammates. Certainly some of the blame must go to other LA defenders, but when you're as talented and highly regarded as Kobe is, you need to shut down the opposition. If Kobe had decided to make Roy work harder for his offense, he might have scored a few less points. But I really think that the reduction in Roy's contribution would have been far more significant. Yeah, there were many other factors in the game, but for the Lakers to win in the playoffs it's Kobe's defense that needs to be at its best, not his offense. His offense will take care of itself.
One last note: I realize that the Lakers were without any real low-post presence on defense, which also contributed to Roy's ability to drive. But the Blazers have been without their chosen low-post presence – Oden – all season, and were without their next best option – Joel Przybilla, thanks to a broken hand – in this one. That left the über-tough Channing Frye as the center. I love me some Channing, but he is not my first (or second or third or fourth) choice for a tough inside presence on defense.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
No April Fool
Last night I finished watching Black Magic, the ESPN show about many of the Black players who helped integrate basketball in this country. It was a great show, and today I bought the soundtrack on iTunes because that was such a great part of the show. Actually, I bought the show on iTunes as well. So Apple made some money off of that show, at least from me. I'm thinking about using the show in class, if I can get a projector, as a reward at the end some days. It would be somewhat relevant because it's about history and oppression and making change. It's also just good, and I've reached the point where it seems that I'm mailing it in a little bit.
Speaking of that, my grades for third quarter are due next Monday, and I am not excited about making sure I've represented the progress of each of my students. Ugh. I hate grades. Also, the accreditation committee is visiting beginning next Sunday, and I'm not really excited about that either. Then again, as my roommate Eric said, if the accreditation of the school comes down to how good I'm doing, then the school really is in bad shape and probably doesn't deserve to keep its accreditation. Not that I think the school will lose accreditation, and not that I'm planning on a poor showing by myself, but it was a nice thing to keep me from feeling too much pressure.
I think I might head to a bar or someplace that I could watch the two college games soon, although I could watch fuzzy versions of the game at home. That's a decision to make, although I should make it soon, since the first game will probably start before I finish this post.
Just a little Blazer news: Martell Webster is having some heart issues, which is scary. Jack Brown at Deceptively Quick had a good little post about it, especially the YouTube video he embedded that shows Martell torching the Jazz. Go there to watch the video, if not to read his take.
Rudy is "90% sure" he's coming next year. I think we knew that, but it's still good for him to say it. I found that here (of course that's a link to OregonLive – those guys are great).
Alright, I don't think I have anything else to say. Look at the top of the page for something new I added to the blog. It's great. Oh, and the title of this post had nothing to do with the post except that it's my first entry of April.
Speaking of that, my grades for third quarter are due next Monday, and I am not excited about making sure I've represented the progress of each of my students. Ugh. I hate grades. Also, the accreditation committee is visiting beginning next Sunday, and I'm not really excited about that either. Then again, as my roommate Eric said, if the accreditation of the school comes down to how good I'm doing, then the school really is in bad shape and probably doesn't deserve to keep its accreditation. Not that I think the school will lose accreditation, and not that I'm planning on a poor showing by myself, but it was a nice thing to keep me from feeling too much pressure.
I think I might head to a bar or someplace that I could watch the two college games soon, although I could watch fuzzy versions of the game at home. That's a decision to make, although I should make it soon, since the first game will probably start before I finish this post.
Just a little Blazer news: Martell Webster is having some heart issues, which is scary. Jack Brown at Deceptively Quick had a good little post about it, especially the YouTube video he embedded that shows Martell torching the Jazz. Go there to watch the video, if not to read his take.
Rudy is "90% sure" he's coming next year. I think we knew that, but it's still good for him to say it. I found that here (of course that's a link to OregonLive – those guys are great).
Alright, I don't think I have anything else to say. Look at the top of the page for something new I added to the blog. It's great. Oh, and the title of this post had nothing to do with the post except that it's my first entry of April.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Not a tumblr
I drove back from Phoenix today. It was a decent trip, especially because part of it included a phone conversation with my friend Luke and another part had a phone conversation with my brother. It's always good to talk to either of them. The weekend as a whole was great, mainly consisting of me playing Rock Band with various people. Saturday I played the game with a bunch of great kids that go to SCA. It was fun to be around high school students who like me and are clear about thanking me for the effect I've had on them. Last week was pretty much the opposite of that at school, so it was nice to get that affirmation in Phoenix. Sunday I played the game at Adam's house with a bunch of Adam and Phil's friends who were over for a birthday party. That was nice, too: hanging out with adults that are around my age.
I didn't get anything done for school over the weekend, but I've already gotten some of it done since getting back, and that's good. Sadly, I'm more excited about the end of the school year than I am about anything except maybe Chicago with Luke over spring break. I'm nearly positive that I'll take off after this year. That makes me sad but is also a little relieving.
The other thing I did in Phoenix was watch the NBA All-Star game with other NBA fans. That was fun, especially because of how well Brandon Roy played. I loved seeing him fill up the stat line and help the West come back at the end. My group of Suns-fans/friends had fun with me and how connected I was to Roy's performance. Really, I had no personal investment in it, but I certainly felt and acted as though I did. In addition to watching the game, I got to talk to them about the trades that have been flying around. Seriously, I applaud the Hawks for making the move to get Bibby. I hope that works out for them. And as a Blazer fan I'm glad that the Dallas deal finally looks like it is actually going through. I'm happy to have the window of another Western conference team closing soon, and Kidd closes the window sooner than Harris would have.
Oh, and Kinsey, one of the students from SCA, insisted over the weekend that I should join the ranks of those with a tumblr (her, Luke, and a few other people I like), but I refused and continue to refuse. Hooray for blogger.
I didn't get anything done for school over the weekend, but I've already gotten some of it done since getting back, and that's good. Sadly, I'm more excited about the end of the school year than I am about anything except maybe Chicago with Luke over spring break. I'm nearly positive that I'll take off after this year. That makes me sad but is also a little relieving.
The other thing I did in Phoenix was watch the NBA All-Star game with other NBA fans. That was fun, especially because of how well Brandon Roy played. I loved seeing him fill up the stat line and help the West come back at the end. My group of Suns-fans/friends had fun with me and how connected I was to Roy's performance. Really, I had no personal investment in it, but I certainly felt and acted as though I did. In addition to watching the game, I got to talk to them about the trades that have been flying around. Seriously, I applaud the Hawks for making the move to get Bibby. I hope that works out for them. And as a Blazer fan I'm glad that the Dallas deal finally looks like it is actually going through. I'm happy to have the window of another Western conference team closing soon, and Kidd closes the window sooner than Harris would have.
Oh, and Kinsey, one of the students from SCA, insisted over the weekend that I should join the ranks of those with a tumblr (her, Luke, and a few other people I like), but I refused and continue to refuse. Hooray for blogger.
Monday, February 04, 2008
A lot can happen between posts
Since I last posted something here a lot has happened. Last Tuesday I tried to destroy my shoulder during soccer practice. You might wonder how that could happen, since I’m coaching. Well, all of us coaches participate to some extent during practice. At the time we were scrimmaging, and I was playing in goal. One of the girls had a breakaway, so I rushed out of goal to close the angle and try to force the ball out of her possession. She did a good job of taking the shot, and the ball ricocheted off my legs and up. I scrambled to my feet to secure the ball before someone could score off the rebound. But the girls have been learning well, so two of them were right on it as it careened back down. Knowing that I couldn’t get to the ball before a shot, I tried to dive in front and towards the ball, hoping to block the shot. Instead I succeeded at landing on my forehead and my shoulder, arm outstretched. Incredible pain shot through my right arm. Our head coach took a look and decided that the shoulder wasn’t dislocated, and I was able to stand up. But I wasn’t able to rest the arm at a comfortable or even normal angle. My arm was positioned in a grotesque manner, slightly bent in and hanging out in front of me. Then instantly it was different. My arm seemed to have a muscle spasm, or some other involuntary movement, and shook itself out, landing in it’s proper resting place. It still hurt pretty badly, but no where near as badly as it had.
That was Tuesday. My semester grades were due on Thursday morning, and I didn’t have them finished before then. I got up at 4:30 that morning to go to work on finishing them, and got them turned in on time. We have a grade, a citizenship mark, a work habits mark, and a spot for a comment. We are required to put one comment for every student. After we turn in the paper sheet we get a printed packet of everything that we bubbled in order to verify what we put for each student. As I checked the sheet, I was surprised to see the grades missing on the front page of students. Then the next. The grades ended up being absent on every page, while every other mark was there. At least I didn’t have to write everything back in by hand, but it was pretty amazing that only one section didn’t register with the scantron.
The rest of the week went okay, with Thursday night providing a highlight as LOST returned to TV. But then came the Super Bowl. If it turns out that the Patriots really did some of the other things of which they’re now being accused, in addition to the illegal filming that I think is commonplace around the league, then I might turn on them. But otherwise I think they are a pretty good picture of the way a franchise should run, and I think that deserves a trophy. I also enjoy seeing impressive records, and 19-0 would have been the most impressive. Add in my hatred of the Giants and Eli Manning, and I was quite disappointed with the outcome on Sunday night. Quite disappointed.
Oh, and this is most likely the vehicle I'm going to buy soon. (Clicking will download a pdf with the specs for the truck. If you don't want to see that, just look at the picture.)
That was Tuesday. My semester grades were due on Thursday morning, and I didn’t have them finished before then. I got up at 4:30 that morning to go to work on finishing them, and got them turned in on time. We have a grade, a citizenship mark, a work habits mark, and a spot for a comment. We are required to put one comment for every student. After we turn in the paper sheet we get a printed packet of everything that we bubbled in order to verify what we put for each student. As I checked the sheet, I was surprised to see the grades missing on the front page of students. Then the next. The grades ended up being absent on every page, while every other mark was there. At least I didn’t have to write everything back in by hand, but it was pretty amazing that only one section didn’t register with the scantron.
The rest of the week went okay, with Thursday night providing a highlight as LOST returned to TV. But then came the Super Bowl. If it turns out that the Patriots really did some of the other things of which they’re now being accused, in addition to the illegal filming that I think is commonplace around the league, then I might turn on them. But otherwise I think they are a pretty good picture of the way a franchise should run, and I think that deserves a trophy. I also enjoy seeing impressive records, and 19-0 would have been the most impressive. Add in my hatred of the Giants and Eli Manning, and I was quite disappointed with the outcome on Sunday night. Quite disappointed.
Oh, and this is most likely the vehicle I'm going to buy soon. (Clicking will download a pdf with the specs for the truck. If you don't want to see that, just look at the picture.)
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Day running diary
5:05 pm Here I am, sitting in the house I helped my parents build, on Christmas day, getting ready to watch the first Blazer game of this win streak. I just said “this” win streak, because I believe that the streak will continue tonight.
5:08 pm I love the stat they just showed. Portland is the best team on Christmas day all-time, and Seattle is the worst on Christmas all-time. While I was typing that the Blazers got three offensive rebounds and finally put their first points up.
5:10 pm Beautiful steal by Martell. It’s good to see him working hard like that. Now he needs to get both of these free throws. Nope, one-of-two. We need to start pushing it inside and stop relying on our poor jump shooting.
5:12 pm Just after I said that, Roy hit Przybilla for a nice dunk. It’s good to see the vanilla thrilla throwing it down like that.
5:15 pm Steve Blake is getting a lot of open looks and needs to start hitting those shots. And now the Blazers have given up the lead. They need to calm down a little bit.
5:16 pm Boom. Webster drills a three pointer off a kick out from Roy.
5:19 pm I just checked the Blazer station, but for some reason the picture n my parents’ new TV is way better on ESPN, so I’ll continue listening to these announcers instead of the Blazers guys.
5:21 pm Great pass by Channing Frye, good finish by Roy, but he can’t get the and-one. Fortunately the Sonics are terrible at rebounding and throw it out of bounds.
5:23 pm Jarrett Jack doing what he does well, driving to the hoop. And wow, Wally Szczerbiak just hit another three pointer. Thankfully Frye made a jumper. Other than the opening jitters, this has been better game than the Miami-Cleveland game this morning. That game was terrible. I expected that it would be, but still. Eww. The Lakers and Suns, on the other hand, played great basketball. That was fun to watch.
5:27 pm Did you see Roy juke Durant out of his shorts a few minutes ago? That was great. And then Brandn just rose up and put it through.
5:28 pm Sergio Rodriguez is looking good in his quick stint for Roy right now. El Mago making magic happen.
5:30 pm That first quarter wasn’t great, but 24 points for each team isn’t bad when we started so poorly.
5:32 pm Apparently there’s a new American Pie movie, and guess what: there are girls in it, and it’s about sex. Man, that sounds hilarious.
5:34 pm Jack just made another great drive. He is really good at that. And Travis Outlaw is great at shooting over anyone. He just elevated to drain that jumper.
5:36 pm WOW. Beautiful pass inside from Rodriguez to James Jones, and Jones THREW that down. As the announcers just noted, the second unit for this Portland team has been playing so well and they’re doing it again today.
5:38 pm That was a terrible call. They just called Jeff Green for the charge, but Channing Frye pushed him. Boo. Oh well, I’ll take it.
5:44 pm Jack has eight now, which is great, but Szczerbiak just hit another three.
5:45 pm Collison just completed the three point play to tie the game back up. This really does look like better basketball than the first game today.
5:48 pm Apparently Greg Oden had some sort of surgery on his knee before the season started. I also just found out that he’s supposed to be good. Man, just imagine what this team could be like with him back. (Oh, and Przybilla just made both free throws. He’s improved that aspect of his game so much.)
5:50 pm That was a terrible foul call. Przybilla played great defense on that, but they called him. Lame. The ball never lies, then Przybilla gets the rebound and gets fouled. That worked out.
5:53 pm Blake just missed another open jumper. Blech. Roy then comes back with a good drive-and-dish to Przybilla, but he was on the baseline. And now another terrible foul call when it should have been a travel.
5:57 pm Durant just made his first really pretty shot. That was nice. Of course, on his next play he traveled.
5:58 pm Blake finally hit a jumper. This one was behind the arc, where he has been shooting better than everywhere else on the floor.
6:00 pm Jarrett Jack is filling in nicely for Roy, who is in the locker room after getting hit with a Chris Wilcox elbow. We need to come out really strong in the second half.
6:02 pm At halftime we’re ahead by two, after having a pretty poor first half, so that’s not too bad.
6:06 pm Scott Van Pelt is a genius. “The Boston Three Party.” I love it. Although seeing Garnett, Pierce, and Allen do the Three Amigos salute was the best part of that commercial.
6:18 pm Red Bull is shameless. Geez. “Start with practice and work our way back to theory.” I’m sure that’s how my friend J-Lew studied biology in college.
6:21 pm Wow, Jon Barry just made two great jokes.
6:24 pm Ugh. This is a rough shooting game. R-O-U-G-H.
6:25 pm Jon Barry just made a joke about streaking and Will Ferrell in the movie Old School. This guy is culturally relevant.
6:26 pm Roy is starting to hit now. And there is LaMarcus Aldridge. Pretty basketball right there with that turnaround by LA.
6:30 pm There was a beautiful play by Roy and Przybilla, once again highlighting the progression of the big man’s offensive game this season.
6:31 pm FAST BREAK POINTS!! Portland has so much trouble getting those, it’s good whenever we can find some.
6:34 pm ESPN just showed a great stat: Portland didn’t have any field goals in the last five minutes, even though they just went up by ten. I think they had the wrong team there. Oh, and Roy is playing really well right now.
6:36 pm Brandon Roy. Brandon Roy. Brandon Roy. Brandon Roy. (I think he must have just heard that he didn’t win his third consecutive western conference player of the week. He has 11 points in the quarter.)
6:41 pm The Sonics just made their first field goal in 12 attempts. Portland has been playing pretty good defense. And there Channing Frye knocks down another jumper.
6:43 pm Kevin Durant, everybody! He just tripped over the ball and himself. No ceiling, right Bill Simmons?
6:44 pm Durant just absolutely swatted a runner by Jack. I change the tone of my last comment: now it’s slightly less smarmy.
6:47 pm Sloppy play right there by Jack on defense.
6:48 pm Shades of old Travis Outlaw on his last ill-advised jumper and poor defense/foul on a Jeff green lay-up.
6:50 pm The second unit didn’t look as good at the end of that quarter, but they’re still up by eight. Brandon Roy was so good during the third quarter, and that was great to see.
6:54 pm Nice steal by El Mago to start the fourth quarter.
6:57 pm The Sonics are shooting well again, which is tough for us.
6:58 pm I’m really excited to see Roy come in and take over the fourth quarter, but it’s also nice to see Channing continue to make those mid-range jumpers.
7:04 pm Channing Frye just nailed another jumper. That is soooo good to see.
7:08 pm Jarrett Jack just took us shopping. It was fine until one of the announcers said that Jack is a “single male addicted to retail.” Yikes.
7:12 pm The Blazers are taking far too long with the ball, and waiting until the end of the shot clock. It’s making for some pretty ugly basketball right now.
7:16 pm I really don’t like this “wired” thing the NBA is doing now. It doesn’t really seem to add any insight, and it’s mainly just annoying.
7:18 pm It’s nice to see Jack having another good game. The same for Przybilla. He has 16 rebounds. Once again the team is getting it done by having various people step up well.
7:21 pm Well, we didn’t play that well again today. It is exciting that we keep winning when we’re not playing that well.
7:23 pm Neil Everett just said that the Blazers may never lose again. I’ll end this on that note...(merry Christmas)
5:08 pm I love the stat they just showed. Portland is the best team on Christmas day all-time, and Seattle is the worst on Christmas all-time. While I was typing that the Blazers got three offensive rebounds and finally put their first points up.
5:10 pm Beautiful steal by Martell. It’s good to see him working hard like that. Now he needs to get both of these free throws. Nope, one-of-two. We need to start pushing it inside and stop relying on our poor jump shooting.
5:12 pm Just after I said that, Roy hit Przybilla for a nice dunk. It’s good to see the vanilla thrilla throwing it down like that.
5:15 pm Steve Blake is getting a lot of open looks and needs to start hitting those shots. And now the Blazers have given up the lead. They need to calm down a little bit.
5:16 pm Boom. Webster drills a three pointer off a kick out from Roy.
5:19 pm I just checked the Blazer station, but for some reason the picture n my parents’ new TV is way better on ESPN, so I’ll continue listening to these announcers instead of the Blazers guys.
5:21 pm Great pass by Channing Frye, good finish by Roy, but he can’t get the and-one. Fortunately the Sonics are terrible at rebounding and throw it out of bounds.
5:23 pm Jarrett Jack doing what he does well, driving to the hoop. And wow, Wally Szczerbiak just hit another three pointer. Thankfully Frye made a jumper. Other than the opening jitters, this has been better game than the Miami-Cleveland game this morning. That game was terrible. I expected that it would be, but still. Eww. The Lakers and Suns, on the other hand, played great basketball. That was fun to watch.
5:27 pm Did you see Roy juke Durant out of his shorts a few minutes ago? That was great. And then Brandn just rose up and put it through.
5:28 pm Sergio Rodriguez is looking good in his quick stint for Roy right now. El Mago making magic happen.
5:30 pm That first quarter wasn’t great, but 24 points for each team isn’t bad when we started so poorly.
5:32 pm Apparently there’s a new American Pie movie, and guess what: there are girls in it, and it’s about sex. Man, that sounds hilarious.
5:34 pm Jack just made another great drive. He is really good at that. And Travis Outlaw is great at shooting over anyone. He just elevated to drain that jumper.
5:36 pm WOW. Beautiful pass inside from Rodriguez to James Jones, and Jones THREW that down. As the announcers just noted, the second unit for this Portland team has been playing so well and they’re doing it again today.
5:38 pm That was a terrible call. They just called Jeff Green for the charge, but Channing Frye pushed him. Boo. Oh well, I’ll take it.
5:44 pm Jack has eight now, which is great, but Szczerbiak just hit another three.
5:45 pm Collison just completed the three point play to tie the game back up. This really does look like better basketball than the first game today.
5:48 pm Apparently Greg Oden had some sort of surgery on his knee before the season started. I also just found out that he’s supposed to be good. Man, just imagine what this team could be like with him back. (Oh, and Przybilla just made both free throws. He’s improved that aspect of his game so much.)
5:50 pm That was a terrible foul call. Przybilla played great defense on that, but they called him. Lame. The ball never lies, then Przybilla gets the rebound and gets fouled. That worked out.
5:53 pm Blake just missed another open jumper. Blech. Roy then comes back with a good drive-and-dish to Przybilla, but he was on the baseline. And now another terrible foul call when it should have been a travel.
5:57 pm Durant just made his first really pretty shot. That was nice. Of course, on his next play he traveled.
5:58 pm Blake finally hit a jumper. This one was behind the arc, where he has been shooting better than everywhere else on the floor.
6:00 pm Jarrett Jack is filling in nicely for Roy, who is in the locker room after getting hit with a Chris Wilcox elbow. We need to come out really strong in the second half.
6:02 pm At halftime we’re ahead by two, after having a pretty poor first half, so that’s not too bad.
6:06 pm Scott Van Pelt is a genius. “The Boston Three Party.” I love it. Although seeing Garnett, Pierce, and Allen do the Three Amigos salute was the best part of that commercial.
6:18 pm Red Bull is shameless. Geez. “Start with practice and work our way back to theory.” I’m sure that’s how my friend J-Lew studied biology in college.
6:21 pm Wow, Jon Barry just made two great jokes.
6:24 pm Ugh. This is a rough shooting game. R-O-U-G-H.
6:25 pm Jon Barry just made a joke about streaking and Will Ferrell in the movie Old School. This guy is culturally relevant.
6:26 pm Roy is starting to hit now. And there is LaMarcus Aldridge. Pretty basketball right there with that turnaround by LA.
6:30 pm There was a beautiful play by Roy and Przybilla, once again highlighting the progression of the big man’s offensive game this season.
6:31 pm FAST BREAK POINTS!! Portland has so much trouble getting those, it’s good whenever we can find some.
6:34 pm ESPN just showed a great stat: Portland didn’t have any field goals in the last five minutes, even though they just went up by ten. I think they had the wrong team there. Oh, and Roy is playing really well right now.
6:36 pm Brandon Roy. Brandon Roy. Brandon Roy. Brandon Roy. (I think he must have just heard that he didn’t win his third consecutive western conference player of the week. He has 11 points in the quarter.)
6:41 pm The Sonics just made their first field goal in 12 attempts. Portland has been playing pretty good defense. And there Channing Frye knocks down another jumper.
6:43 pm Kevin Durant, everybody! He just tripped over the ball and himself. No ceiling, right Bill Simmons?
6:44 pm Durant just absolutely swatted a runner by Jack. I change the tone of my last comment: now it’s slightly less smarmy.
6:47 pm Sloppy play right there by Jack on defense.
6:48 pm Shades of old Travis Outlaw on his last ill-advised jumper and poor defense/foul on a Jeff green lay-up.
6:50 pm The second unit didn’t look as good at the end of that quarter, but they’re still up by eight. Brandon Roy was so good during the third quarter, and that was great to see.
6:54 pm Nice steal by El Mago to start the fourth quarter.
6:57 pm The Sonics are shooting well again, which is tough for us.
6:58 pm I’m really excited to see Roy come in and take over the fourth quarter, but it’s also nice to see Channing continue to make those mid-range jumpers.
7:04 pm Channing Frye just nailed another jumper. That is soooo good to see.
7:08 pm Jarrett Jack just took us shopping. It was fine until one of the announcers said that Jack is a “single male addicted to retail.” Yikes.
7:12 pm The Blazers are taking far too long with the ball, and waiting until the end of the shot clock. It’s making for some pretty ugly basketball right now.
7:16 pm I really don’t like this “wired” thing the NBA is doing now. It doesn’t really seem to add any insight, and it’s mainly just annoying.
7:18 pm It’s nice to see Jack having another good game. The same for Przybilla. He has 16 rebounds. Once again the team is getting it done by having various people step up well.
7:21 pm Well, we didn’t play that well again today. It is exciting that we keep winning when we’re not playing that well.
7:23 pm Neil Everett just said that the Blazers may never lose again. I’ll end this on that note...(merry Christmas)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I forgot to mention
When I did that quick update on Roy I forgot one important note: he missed practice yesterday with the flue, and said that he was playing tonight at around 70%. That certainly isn't the same sickness MJ played through in The Flue Game, but to do what Roy did while being a little under the weather is pretty good. Especially for a second year player. Oh, and that second year player really is making a very strong case to be Western Conference Player of the week for a third straight, and then conference player of the month. If he keeps this up, he'll be battling with Aldridge and Outlaw for most improved for sure. Here's the box score for your perusal.
(Trying to settle nerves and calm expectations...)
I love listening to these games online, but I really need to get league pass when I come back after Christmas so I can watch them.
(Trying to settle nerves and calm expectations...)
I love listening to these games online, but I really need to get league pass when I come back after Christmas so I can watch them.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Two quick posts in one night
I didn't plan to do this, but I'm listening to the Blazers game against the Pistons right now, and I couldn't help it. I'm also watching the game cast, and it's ahead of the radio broadcast. This made me think about switching over. The reason I don't? The Blazers are playing great basketball right now, and it is way too exciting listening to the crowd go nuts as the announcers tell me what I know already happened. Some quick in-game notes:
That's it, time to go home soon and watch HOUSE, M.D.
- Jarrett Jack is fantastic for this team off the bench. It's great.
- Przybilla is great. He's one-for-one from the floor and two-for-two from the line so far, to go with six rebounds and one block. Oh yeah, it's only the second quarter, with five minutes left. And he just set another huge pick. I love it.
- Rasheed Wallace is great, and I still love him.
That's it, time to go home soon and watch HOUSE, M.D.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Mad Dog
When I saw the headlines today about Greg Maddux re-signing with the Padres, I had caught a quick case of nostalgia. Somehow I missed the "Padres" part in my initial reading of the headline, and I wondered if he would be heading back to Atlanta to re-join Smoltz and Glavine. And I was really excited for a few seconds. Then I realized that the story was about him signing the deal with San Diego, and then I realized that it's probably better to not try to just relive the '90s. But for that second, I was ecstatic about the thought of having those three guys in the rotation with Hudson next year, with all the young guys battling for the number five spot. Well, unless Hampton actually comes back. Then we could have the best rotation from the turn of the century.
I only have a few things to say about the Oregon game on Saturday. The first thing that struck me was how much better I thought we looked against Cal and USC than we did against ASU. Maybe that's not true, but that's how it looked to me. The second thing that struck me was how dominant our offense was when we got into a rhythm. That offense looked unstoppable when things were going right. Sure, most teams would probably say that. But it reminded me of the Seahawks attack in 2005, back when Tobeck, Hutch, and Walter Jones just decimated defenses and Alexander was able to run all over them. Of course, that opened things up for the passing attack. That was exactly what it felt like watching Dixon and Stewart march all over the Sun Devils on Saturday. The last thing that struck me was how truly annoying LA fans are. I was watching the game at a sports bar here in Long Beach, and it was excruciating. The USC fans were really obnoxious as they watched the Trojans steam roll Oregon State. It made me wish even more that I was either at Autzen, with my family, or watching anywhere else in the world.
I don't think those things actually struck me in that order, I just listed them in order of importance.
I only have a few things to say about the Oregon game on Saturday. The first thing that struck me was how much better I thought we looked against Cal and USC than we did against ASU. Maybe that's not true, but that's how it looked to me. The second thing that struck me was how dominant our offense was when we got into a rhythm. That offense looked unstoppable when things were going right. Sure, most teams would probably say that. But it reminded me of the Seahawks attack in 2005, back when Tobeck, Hutch, and Walter Jones just decimated defenses and Alexander was able to run all over them. Of course, that opened things up for the passing attack. That was exactly what it felt like watching Dixon and Stewart march all over the Sun Devils on Saturday. The last thing that struck me was how truly annoying LA fans are. I was watching the game at a sports bar here in Long Beach, and it was excruciating. The USC fans were really obnoxious as they watched the Trojans steam roll Oregon State. It made me wish even more that I was either at Autzen, with my family, or watching anywhere else in the world.
I don't think those things actually struck me in that order, I just listed them in order of importance.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
With guns drawn
That's how the police would have approached me, apparently, had I tried to get into school this morning. The title of this post, I mean. That's what my colleague Mariano told me as I was talking with him in front of the school. I asked a secretary as I was leaving yesterday if I could get in this morning, and she said it would be open from eight until noon. Wrong. After she confirmed that, I left a bunch of things in my classroom that I was going to get done today. But instead they're just going to sit there until Monday morning, which is not good. That means I need to try to get to school even earlier on Monday than I normally would. Boo to that. So instead I took care of some car things this morning, specifically a long-overdue oil change. Now I'm catching up with a TV show that I think I'll like, Dirty Sexy Money. I've only seen part of the premiere, but it sounds pretty good.
Speaking of pretty good, last night I went to see The Darjeeling Limited with my roommate Eric and our friend Beau. A review of it in The District – Long Beach's weekly art/entertainment magazine – thought that it fell apart when the brothers got off the train. I disagree with that strongly. Once again it seemed to me that Wes Anderson does his best work when he is focusing on the most painful of human experiences. The rest of the time the movie was funny, but when the brothers were really confronted with tragedy and forced to look at their own lives and actions the movie got that much better. All the acting was really good, but I was especially pleased with Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody. Wilson was better than normal, and I think Brody showed me that he really is that good. I wasn't as happy when I walked out as I was at the end of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, I didn't think the whole movie was as insightful as The Royal Tenenbaums, probably my favorite Anderson movie, and I didn't think it was as funny as Rushmore or Bottle Rocket. But it might have done the job of combining those things that a fifth movie from an idiosyncratic director should.
Speaking of pretty good, last night I went to see The Darjeeling Limited with my roommate Eric and our friend Beau. A review of it in The District – Long Beach's weekly art/entertainment magazine – thought that it fell apart when the brothers got off the train. I disagree with that strongly. Once again it seemed to me that Wes Anderson does his best work when he is focusing on the most painful of human experiences. The rest of the time the movie was funny, but when the brothers were really confronted with tragedy and forced to look at their own lives and actions the movie got that much better. All the acting was really good, but I was especially pleased with Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody. Wilson was better than normal, and I think Brody showed me that he really is that good. I wasn't as happy when I walked out as I was at the end of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, I didn't think the whole movie was as insightful as The Royal Tenenbaums, probably my favorite Anderson movie, and I didn't think it was as funny as Rushmore or Bottle Rocket. But it might have done the job of combining those things that a fifth movie from an idiosyncratic director should.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
NFL Season Preview, via Arrested Development (Part 1)
It's been a long time since I wrote about a sports topic that wasn't related in some way to the Blazers. So I'm ripping off a gimmick that the Sports Guy uses and doing an NFL season preview. Instead of just writing a normal preview, though, I'll be using characters, episodes, and quotes from Season one of Arrested Development to set up my lame jokes and comments. To do that will take three parts, which means this first part is the only one that'll happen.
Quotes:
That's everything I have for now. I hope to do the other parts, but we'll see.
Quotes:
Gob: So what? Lindsay's been staying at the Four Seasons for like a month, and she's probably charging it to the company!This goes to the Oakland raiders and Jamarcus Russel. I mean, the draft was in April. He was the first overall pick. I'm trying to imagine how the conversations have been between Russell and his agent, and between the agent and the Raiders.
Michael: Lindsay's been in town for a month?
Gob: ...I don't think so.
Agent: When Brady Quinn signed last week he got more money than we thought he would, so we've...
JR: Brady Quinn signed last week?
Agent: ...I don't think so.
Raiders Exec: Well, he should sign soon. I mean, even though he's a veteran, it took Daunte Cullpepper a little while to figure out our offense when he showed up a few months ago...
Agent: You signed Daunte Cullpepper a few months ago?
RE: ...I don't think so.
Gob: You know, I sort of thought my contribution could be a magic show.This goes to Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. Who didn't like Favre in the '90s? I mean, besides fans of all the other teams in the NFC north? But now it's just sad. Like a grown man having a magic show at his retirement. Speaking of, maybe Gob could convince Favre that his it would be wroth retiring just to see the illusions performed at his retirement party.
Michael: Oh, that's perfect, Gob.
Gob: Thank you.
Michael: Or, wait a minute. I just remembered something — Dad's retiring, not turning six.
George Sr.: I don't have time for your magic tricks.This goes to Matt Millen and the Lions. How does he still have a job in Detroit? It's the illusion. Or maybe he's turning tricks. Doing tricks, I meant doing magic tricks.
Gob: Illusions, Dad! You don't have time for my illusions!
Michael: Okay, guys, um... they are going to keep Dad in prison at least until this gets all sorted out. Also, the attorney said that they’re going to have to put a halt on the company’s expense account.This goes to the Falcons. I really wouldn't have expected Vick's teammates to be so quick to embrace Joey Harrington as The Man in Atlanta. Wow, they haven't exactly thrown Vick under the bus, but there hasn't really been much support for him.
[All gasping.]
Michael: Interesting. I would’ve expected that after “They’re keeping Dad in jail.”
Lindsay: You’ve had $80,000 worth of cartography lessons. Get us a channel to the ocean.This goes to Eli Manning. Let's see:
Buster: Okay, okay, okay.
(Pauses)
Buster: Obviously this blue part here is the land
- Great bloodline? Check.
- Successful college career? Check.
- Cocky attitude that kept him from staying in San Diego? Check.
- Numerous weapons on offense? Check.
Lucille: I'd rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona.I don't think I even need to explain why this one goes to Matt Leinart.
Michael: Hey mom, I was wondering if you knew anything about these....The first one I'm awarding to Michael Vick.
Lucille: [interrupting] I don't know where they are.
Michael: ...flight records. You know, it's really more believable if you let me finish first.
George Sr.: ...this is my vacation, Michael.This goes to Pacman Jones. It's too bad the NFL won't let him wrestle. They probably won't let him follow the example set by Joey Galloway in 1999 of playing flag football. We could see Pacman competing in all sorts of reality show events. It really could be the time of his life.
Michael: You're doing time, dad.
George Sr.: I'm doing the time... of my life!
Narrator: Tobias had gotten the directing job by meeting with the school principal.This one goes to any team that's just trying to fill holes.
Tobias: ... and you tell me you've got some P.E. teacher directing? That just makes me want to puke all over your head, sir! [gets on one knee] Give me a chance to tell the bard's tale and I give you my word on humble knee whence you shall not say it wasn't e'r to be.
Principal: ... Jerry, you cool with this?
Jerry/P.E. Teacher: Sure, let the little fruit do it.
Tobias: Huzzah!
Buster: It's like she gets off by being withholding.This one goes to the New York Giants and whichever of their players goes crazy this season about how controlling Tom Coughlin is and how much everyone hates him. I'm guessing around week five, depending on if Strahan comes back.
Gob: Look who's got something to say.
Buster: I'm Mom and I want to shoot down everything you say so I can feel good about myself. 'Cause I'm an uptight -- [Incredibly extended BLEEP] -- Buster! -- [Extended BLEEP] -- You old horny slut!
Michael: [pause] Well, no one's gonna top that.
Michael: Listen, after we get that lot cleared, we're going to have enough money for you to neuter thousands of animals. You can make dogs and cats a complete thing of the past. No more dogs and cats.This one goes to Vick too.
Kitty: Your wife's on line one.This goes to the Cheifs. Three weeks into the season, after signing Larry Johnson to a huge deal ending his holdout, the Cheifs are going to really wish Priest Holmes' comeback had worked out better when Johnson's knees explode. Running backs can only handle so many carries per year, and I think LJ has fit 8 seasons worth of carries into two and a half seasons.
Narrator: Michael's wife had been dead for two years.
Michael: My what?
Narrator: Kitty realized her mistake.
Kitty: I said, "your wife is on line one."
Narrator: But not immediately.
Gob: Take off your glasses. Oh ... wait, wait. Let down your hair. No, glasses on, hair back up. Let's just get that hair right back up.This goes to the Oakland Raiders offense. No matter what you do or how you look at it, this offense is really ugly.
Kitty: Let me turn the lights off.
Gob: Yes, yes, please.
Kitty: How's that? Is that better?
Gob: It just seems like there's still light coming in from under the door.
Lindsay: It's all I've ever wanted from you, Daddy - for you to spend money on me.This goes to Tom Brady. The Patriots finally spent money this off season to help him out, and I think he's going to show his gratitude by playing even better this season than he has so far in his career.
Lucille: It's an idiot on a scooter at night. It's got to be Gob.To LaVar Arrington. I thought that after Kellen Winslow and Ben Roethlesberger crashed their motorcycles NFL players would be more careful. I thought wrong.
Lindsay: Oh you'll never be able to do it. You're too good. You're the noble one.I'm going to go ahead and give this to the Bears. They've been pretty good the last few years. They're supposed to be good again this year. And yet, I just don't think they'll be able to even match last year's success.
Michael: Thank you.
Lindsay: The one who never wins.
Michael: I don't know about that.
Lindsay: The loser. The fool.
Michael: Your Uncle Gob seems to think that he saw you down at the docks today. Was that you?This one goes to Adrian Peterson, the rookie for Minnesota. When Cedric Benson gets hurt a week and a half into the season, the other Adrian Peterson will take over the running back chores in Chicago, and he'll end up having more touchdowns than his Viking-rookie counterpart.
George Michael: No. Maybe it was the other George Michael. You know, the singer-songwriter.
Michael: Yeah, that makes sense.
Reporter: Where's Earl Milford?This goes to the Cincinnati Bengals. At this point, even when players don't do anything wrong they get a bad rap. Then again, they did bring it upon themselves.
Gob: I-I don't know. I put him in a box. I didn't kill him, alright? And don't edit this for your broadcast so it looks like I'm screaming, "I killed Earl Milford!"
[Cut to Fox6 News]
John Beard: Startling confession tonight at 11:00.
Lindsay: I'll tell you what. I'll take you down to see Nana if you split the money with me 60-40.This goes to the Houston Texans. I don't know how much they think Matt Schaub is worth, but my guess is that he's not worth as much as they think. Honorable mention on this goes to the Raiders for every QB they have, the Dolphins for Trent Green, and the Buccaneers for Garcia and the still-retired Jake Plummer.
Maeby: 55-55.
Lindsay: Deal.
Michael: Sounds like you guys are getting more than you think.
Lindsay: We should go now before your Dad gets back. No need going halfsies with him, too.
Gob: And now you love the ten commandments. And yet you're the one who so conveniently forgot "Thou shalt protect thy father and honor no one above him unless it be-ith me, thy sweet Lord."This goes to everyone who's making up things about how good some bad team will be this year. I guess it's mainly for anyone suggesting that the Cardinals will be good. You're just faking it if you say that.
Michael: I'm not sure that one made it down the mountain, Gob.
Tobias: Well, I've always wanted to remake Annie Hall. Except, I wouldn't want to get in bed with a green producer like a Sofia Coppola, though. Oh, but give me an old pro like a Robert Redford. Oh, I'd jump into bed with him in a second. And I wouldn't just lie there, Michael Bluth, if that's what you're thinking.This goes to the New England Patriots, who just signed "an old pro" to go with Tom Brady. Why would any team need Vinny Testaverde at this point?
Michael: Actually, that time, that was what I was thinking.
Michael: Lindsay, new outfit?This goes to the Cleveland Browns, who acquired Jamal Lewis during the off season. I mean, how is that old thing going to help they're running game when he couldn't even run behind a better than average line in Baltimore?
Lindsay: This? No, I've had this for years. I think it's a hand-me-down from Mom.
Michael: You got a price tag. Right there.
Lindsay: Is there? I guess she wanted me to have something new. Sweet old thing.
Michael: Only two of those words describe Mom, so I know you're lying to me.
That's everything I have for now. I hope to do the other parts, but we'll see.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Recovering
I was on the phone for half an hour yesterday getting my MacBook squared away. I should be receiving a box today or tomorrow in which to send my computer to Apple. Then it should be back, in proper working order and in my hands, in another five to seven days. This is good news because the term is ending, but it's also good news because I've missed blogging. I'm still frustrated that I've been posting so infrequently, but I think that has mainly been because of the computer problems.
While I've been recovering from my ear infection and my cold, and my computer is getting ready to recover from its severed head, my fantasy basketball team and the Blazers are going the other direction. In two of my three leagues I've had at least one big injury (Dwyane Wade) and at least one or two other tough injuries (Baron Davis--forever, Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer finally came back, as did Antawn Jamison). As much as I care about fantasy basketball, I care more about the Blazers. That makes the injury situation tough for me to figure out. I really like Joel Przybilla, and I think he can get back to top form, but his injury and Raef LaFrentz's combine to give LaMarcus Aldridge a bigger chance. Of course he took full advandtage of that chance on Thursday last week against the Bobcats. But it also eases some of the tension that might have been building because of Jamaal Magloire not being traded. Now Mags is the only real big man other than Aldridge and Zach Randolph, so his minutes will be higher than they would have been otherwise. He still scares me most of the time he's in the game, but we didn't trade his expiring deal for junk and now he'll be happier and still playing hard so he can sign with someone during the offseason.
It has been good to have Sergio Rodriguez back, who is so much fun to watch (more on this in the next paragraph). And I'm happy that we get another chance to see what Travis Outlaw can do, even if I'm already leaning toward letting him walk this offseason. The one injury I forgot to mention is Martell Webster's shoulder. He left the Kings game on Saturday night hurt, but I haven't been able to find more information. I think that means he's probably alright. We need more from him.
Yesterday I watched a Phoenix Suns game just for the pleasure of seeing Steve Nash play. I lived in Phoenix for a year and couldn't stand most of the Suns fans, so this made me really dislike the team. I also didn't think Nash deserved either of his two MVP awards. I stick to all of that, but I also say this: I think Nash does deserve the MVP this year. I think that his help defense is a little better than his man-to-man defense, but I've come around to the consesus that his offensive game is good enough to make up for that. Even the turnovers he makes--which he does make, despite the way the announcers were talking yesterday--are made in a way that you know he was doing the most he could to get his teammate into great position to score. I had already floated the "Rodriguez is a little like Nash" line earlier this year, but after having seen quite a few of Rodriguez's highlights and some full games and then comparing them with the Nash I watched yesterday, I don't think that's too much of a stretch. This kid could do those same types of things for his teammates. Of course, it doesn't hurt Nash that he's playing with my other favorite guy to watch in the NBA, Amare Stoudamire. Can LaMarcus bulk up and turn into that sort of presence? Can we get the makeup lottery we deserve and land Oden or Durant? Does it even matter, now that this nucleus has shown their possibility? It really is good to be a Blazer fan again, and part of it is that these questions are fun instead of just frustrating.
While I've been recovering from my ear infection and my cold, and my computer is getting ready to recover from its severed head, my fantasy basketball team and the Blazers are going the other direction. In two of my three leagues I've had at least one big injury (Dwyane Wade) and at least one or two other tough injuries (Baron Davis--forever, Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer finally came back, as did Antawn Jamison). As much as I care about fantasy basketball, I care more about the Blazers. That makes the injury situation tough for me to figure out. I really like Joel Przybilla, and I think he can get back to top form, but his injury and Raef LaFrentz's combine to give LaMarcus Aldridge a bigger chance. Of course he took full advandtage of that chance on Thursday last week against the Bobcats. But it also eases some of the tension that might have been building because of Jamaal Magloire not being traded. Now Mags is the only real big man other than Aldridge and Zach Randolph, so his minutes will be higher than they would have been otherwise. He still scares me most of the time he's in the game, but we didn't trade his expiring deal for junk and now he'll be happier and still playing hard so he can sign with someone during the offseason.
It has been good to have Sergio Rodriguez back, who is so much fun to watch (more on this in the next paragraph). And I'm happy that we get another chance to see what Travis Outlaw can do, even if I'm already leaning toward letting him walk this offseason. The one injury I forgot to mention is Martell Webster's shoulder. He left the Kings game on Saturday night hurt, but I haven't been able to find more information. I think that means he's probably alright. We need more from him.
Yesterday I watched a Phoenix Suns game just for the pleasure of seeing Steve Nash play. I lived in Phoenix for a year and couldn't stand most of the Suns fans, so this made me really dislike the team. I also didn't think Nash deserved either of his two MVP awards. I stick to all of that, but I also say this: I think Nash does deserve the MVP this year. I think that his help defense is a little better than his man-to-man defense, but I've come around to the consesus that his offensive game is good enough to make up for that. Even the turnovers he makes--which he does make, despite the way the announcers were talking yesterday--are made in a way that you know he was doing the most he could to get his teammate into great position to score. I had already floated the "Rodriguez is a little like Nash" line earlier this year, but after having seen quite a few of Rodriguez's highlights and some full games and then comparing them with the Nash I watched yesterday, I don't think that's too much of a stretch. This kid could do those same types of things for his teammates. Of course, it doesn't hurt Nash that he's playing with my other favorite guy to watch in the NBA, Amare Stoudamire. Can LaMarcus bulk up and turn into that sort of presence? Can we get the makeup lottery we deserve and land Oden or Durant? Does it even matter, now that this nucleus has shown their possibility? It really is good to be a Blazer fan again, and part of it is that these questions are fun instead of just frustrating.
Monday, February 12, 2007
I Am A Trail Blazers Fan
That's the name of the new online community I joined last night. I'm pretty excited about it, because now I'm sure I'll...wait, there is no good reason for me to be excited about it. But I still am. I have more work this week than I did last week, which is fantastic. I also start my teaching unit this week.
This weekend I got to see my friend Brian swim really well on Friday, but missed his race on Saturday that made another friend of mine cry because it was so good. I also watched a bunch of Super Bowl highlight shows put on by the NFL Network with my dad yesterday. The series is called America's Game, and it is very well done. Oh yeah, I also watched the Ducks lose on Saturday. I'm halfway through a post about my experience at the game last Thursday, so that'll be done hopefully by Wednesday. And it was great to get a Blazer sweep for the weekend, even if my predictions at Blazer's Edge weren't confident enough in my team.
I know there wasn't much substance here, but hopefully it gives you a few things to check out.
This weekend I got to see my friend Brian swim really well on Friday, but missed his race on Saturday that made another friend of mine cry because it was so good. I also watched a bunch of Super Bowl highlight shows put on by the NFL Network with my dad yesterday. The series is called America's Game, and it is very well done. Oh yeah, I also watched the Ducks lose on Saturday. I'm halfway through a post about my experience at the game last Thursday, so that'll be done hopefully by Wednesday. And it was great to get a Blazer sweep for the weekend, even if my predictions at Blazer's Edge weren't confident enough in my team.
I know there wasn't much substance here, but hopefully it gives you a few things to check out.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Oh what fun it is to ride
On Thursday my friend Jacob called to tell me that he might be able to get tickets to this morning's Oregon-UCLA basketball game. It seems that his mom gets tickets from her job to offer to clients, but sometimes the clients can't go. When that's the case, she can use the tickets herself. It sounded like her client was going to be busy, so Jacob and I were going to get to use the tickets. He told me this right after we lost our first game of the year, losing by two to USC. It sounded like the Ducks played tough, but couldn't quite pull it out. That was a distinguishing characteristic of the team last year: lots of talent but an inability to finish tough opponents. I had been hoping that this season would be different.
Last night I talked to Jacob again and found out that the client would be taking the tickets after all. With that, I sunk back into my recent routine of watching as much LOST as possible, hoping to get caught up with the series before it returns on February 7. When my connection
wasn't working so well I stopped trying to do that and started catching up with season two of Entourage. Before falling asleep I decided to take a ride on my bike this morning to figure out how long the trip to my new practicum site would be. Well, I ended up watching another episode of LOST before taking off, and so I didn't get onto the road until a little after 12:00.
I had a nice ride, and found that if I'm making good time I'll be able to get to school in about half an hour on the bike. I'm looking forward to this because it will solve one of the problems I had in my New Year's Resolution post--how to work out regularly and keep getting my foot healthy--and it will save me money and emissions. When I got back my phone was flashing with several messages. My friend John from Phoenix sent me this text:
on to listen to my one voicemail. It was another friend congratulating me, but this time at halftime. Halfway through the game Ian Lovett had called to wish me luck as the Ducks were up 40-30.
A few days ago I was going to post about how my two basketball teams, the Blazers and Ducks, had taken the confidence that had recently been reserved for my two football teams, the Seahawks and Ducks. But then Portland started going way downhill, and I got worried about Oregon after the USC loss. It looks like at least one of those teams still deserves my confidence, since Oregon proved that the close games will come sometimes this year.
It's too bad I didn't get to go to the game this morning, but it was a good bike ride, and it was really good to come back and have the nice surprise of winning a huge game.
Last night I talked to Jacob again and found out that the client would be taking the tickets after all. With that, I sunk back into my recent routine of watching as much LOST as possible, hoping to get caught up with the series before it returns on February 7. When my connection
wasn't working so well I stopped trying to do that and started catching up with season two of Entourage. Before falling asleep I decided to take a ride on my bike this morning to figure out how long the trip to my new practicum site would be. Well, I ended up watching another episode of LOST before taking off, and so I didn't get onto the road until a little after 12:00.I had a nice ride, and found that if I'm making good time I'll be able to get to school in about half an hour on the bike. I'm looking forward to this because it will solve one of the problems I had in my New Year's Resolution post--how to work out regularly and keep getting my foot healthy--and it will save me money and emissions. When I got back my phone was flashing with several messages. My friend John from Phoenix sent me this text:
That was a sweet game by your ducks. I was happy to see ucla lose. CongratulationsI had forgotten that the game was this morning, so I went
on to listen to my one voicemail. It was another friend congratulating me, but this time at halftime. Halfway through the game Ian Lovett had called to wish me luck as the Ducks were up 40-30.A few days ago I was going to post about how my two basketball teams, the Blazers and Ducks, had taken the confidence that had recently been reserved for my two football teams, the Seahawks and Ducks. But then Portland started going way downhill, and I got worried about Oregon after the USC loss. It looks like at least one of those teams still deserves my confidence, since Oregon proved that the close games will come sometimes this year.
It's too bad I didn't get to go to the game this morning, but it was a good bike ride, and it was really good to come back and have the nice surprise of winning a huge game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
