Blazer Analysis

This has been a tumultuous offseason for the Portland Trailblazers. Whether you're pumped or baffled about the moves and the direction of the franchise, you have to agree to that much.

Living in Portland, my 45 min morning commute is comprised of 35 min of Blazer analysis on the radio. After digesting the reaction of callers and radio hosts, there are a few points I'd like to touch on as we head into next season.


1. Jerryd Bayless - Which Side are You On?

It's amazing how much can change in a year.

Just twelve months ago, Bayless was heralded as (an integral piece of) the future for the Blazers. Today, the overwhelming majority seems to have given up on him, calling for his head and hoping a trade ensues. While I'm somewhere in the middle with regards to Bayless as a player, I am beyond annoyed by the overnight shift from a fanbase of Bayless believers to a fanbase of Bayless haters.

What caused this shift? A few summer league games. Summer league? Yep. This is the same summer league that Oden averaged 42 fouls/game in last year. What was fans' response to Oden's lack of discipline last summer? That he's still young and has plenty of time to learn. So why hasn't the same patience been offered to Bayless? You got me. More on Oden later in this post.

On Bayless, most fans are just now coming to the realization that he isn't a point guard. This is the primary reason for the abandonment of the fan base in recent months.

I knew Bayless wasn't a point guard from day one, but who really cares? The same point guard experiment failed on Monta Ellis in G.S. and Ben Gordon in Chicago. Both of those guys have managed to make a good living in this league, despite their lack of height and lack of a distributor's mentality.

So he can't pass. Big deal! As soon as Blazers' brass stops pushing him as a point guard and gets creative with lineups, he'll be just fine. The fact remains, Bayless is a FREAK athlete... you don't believe me, just youtube his high school and college highlights. He gets to the rim at ease and finishes. He can pressure point guards better than anyone else on the roster save Andre Miller. Let's stop focusing on what he isn't and focus on what he is.


Failed Transactions


Much has been made of Portland's failure to land Turkoglu and Millsap. What do I think? I think the Blazers are better off. While I love both of those players, they would have put a tremendous burden on Portland's future cap space.

Will Turkoglu really be worth $10mil+ in 5 years, when he's in his late-thirties? I doubt it. Plus, he excels with the ball in his hands as a point-forward of sorts. B Roy is still the pick-and-roller late in games, and I can't say with certainty that Turkoglu would have been as effective playing off the ball.

Millsap would have brought some toughness, but at the expense of $10mil per? Remember, he would have been coming off the bench. It's hard to justify paying that kind of money for 25-30 min per game.

In short, the death of those proposed deals could be a positive in the long run.


On Oden: Sam Bowie or Dwight Howard?

Let me start by saying that Greg Oden will be a much better player than Sam Bowie ever was. However, there are certain things about the former #1 that I am a bit worried about.

Did anyone else find it concerning that Greg opted against training with the team in favor of academic pursuits in Columbus? For a guy who underwhelmed in year one, I would think he'd dedicate every minute of his summer attention to getting better. Not saying he hasn't been working hard, but to even divert some of his attention to the books seems foolish to me at this point. If anything, it just strengthens the argument that Oden just isn't THAT passionate about basketball... at least not compared to the all-time greats people have been likening him to. That worries me.

As I mentioned earlier, the unwavering support for the big fella has been astounding. It's like people forget that free passes aren't given to #1 picks. People so desperately want to see him succeed that they are blinded by all of his shortcomings. This wasn't intended to be Oden bashing hour, but from what I've seen he 1) has no offensive awareness WHATSOEVER, 2) is extremely undisciplined on defense, 3) shows little aggressiveness or passion for the game, and 4) is injury-prone. Yet, somehow, people up here still think he was a better pick than Kevin Durant. Unbelievable.

The Blazers did the right thing by hiring Brian Grant to be Oden's personal trainer this summer. He should do wonders for the big man.... Grant was always a tireless worker and brought toughness to the court. If he can help Oden in these facets of the game, he should be a big-time contributor this year.

Despite all my criticism, I'm not gonna give up on the big guy yet. He is still VERY young and has years to come into his own. He's got the God-given tangibles that can't be taught, now it's just a matter of him taking it upon himself to improve every year. I hope this happens.


This Season and Looking Forward

The Blazers should be a contender this year, even more so than they were last year. I'm expecting a win total in the 55-60 range, which would be good for 3rd or 4th in the West. They aren't quite a championship-caliber team at this point (especially with the offseason improvements by the Spurs & Lakers), but they should make it past the first round. If they can lock down Roy & Aldridge to long-term deals, and Oden makes Pryzbilla expendible, this team could be downright scary in a couple years. There is not a team in the league that is more loaded with young talent. Should be fun to watch!

I hate "homer" announcers

Is there anything as painful as listening to a home crew of announcers who don't even attempt to hide their bias during the broadcast? Or even worse, they are so delusional about their hometown heroes that they think they are giving an unbiased account while level-headed fans cringe at their every word.

Living in Portland, I have been exposed to quite possibly the worst announcer on the face of the planet in Mike Rice. He is without a doubt the worst announcer in the NBA. For awhile, his analogies were so off point they were borderline amusing. I didn't mind listening to Blazer telecasts because they provided such comic relief. This season, I have literally gotten to the point that I watch all broadcasts on mute to spare myself of the man's idiotic commentary.

Rice lives off of player comparisons, namely comparing role players to former and current superstars. Here are a few that quickly come to mind:

Sergio Rodriguez as the next Steve Nash: this is a favorite point of Rice's that has been iterated during garbage time of multiple games. Undoubtedly, Rodriguez is a wonderful passer. Unfortunately, this is where the comparison stops. For those who haven't seen Rodriguez play, he invariably creates sheer chaos (for his own team) every time he steps on the floor. Picture Steve Nash, minus the court vision, minus the leadership, minus two inches and 15 lbs, minus any semblance of an outside shot, minus the clutch factor, and of course, minus the acne scars.

Greg Oden as the next Tim Duncan: This is probably the comparison that puzzles me more than any of the others. Aside from being 7 feet tall and #1 picks, these players are nothing alike. Let's start with their personalities -- Oden: Mr. Personality, goofy, and outgoing; Duncan: Mr. Monotone, soft-spoken and private. Now let's look at their games -- Oden: more power, less finesse, untamed brawn on the court; Duncan: less power, more finesse, sweetest 15-foot bank shot in the game. Oden will make a living cleaning the glass and playing with his back to the basket on offense. Duncan makes a living facing up his defender and is always a triple threat on offense. I'm sorry, but I just can't picture Oden opting for a baby-hook or face-up jumper over a drop step and throw down.

Brandon Roy as the third best player in the NBA: I didn't actually hear these words come out of Rice's mouth, but the comment was relayed to me by a friend I consider trustworthy. When I heard this one, I about gagged. Believe me, I'm as big of a Roy fan as the next Portlander. I thought his All-Star selection may have cut out a few more deserving players (ahem, Baron Davis), but by no means did I think it was absurd. Roy would be a top-5 guard in the East this season, but not in the loaded West. Take it a step, no, a leap, further and say third best in NBA? Not funny. Rice must be referring to Kobe and Lebron as #'s 1 and 2, with Roy biting at their heels. Is he implying Roy is better than Nash, Garnett, Duncan, Iverson, Wade (when healthy), Paul, and Stoudemire? Need I say more?

Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, and various other Blazers as Jerry West: Listen to Blazer games, and you really get a feel for how much the league has expanded since the 60's. You get the feeling Rice played half of his NBA games against the Lakers based on how much he drops West's name during broadcasts. Jerry West's silhouette is still the NBA logo. I feel like I need to remind Rice of this fact every time he nonchalantly says a mediocre player "looks like Jerry West" if he scores on consecutive trips down the court. I'm sure "the Logo" would be apalled if he knew that his legacy was being abused to this degree. The seemingly weekly Jerry West comparisons were the straw that broke the camel's back for me and caused me to watch the remainder of the season on mute.

As a fan of Sports in general, all I'm asking is that hometown announcers are reasonable during their broadcasts. I understand their target audience is predominantly hometown fans, but some of these guys just get out of hand. Am I alone in this opinion?


For comic relief, listen to the Bucks announcers debate whether Mo Williams shaves his shoulders while live in the booth: