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Portland Trail Blazers Blazer's Edge
@ Boston Celtics CelticsBlog

Friday, Dec 5, 2008, 8:00 PM EST
TD Banknorth Garden

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Portland Blazer's Edge	Fri 12/05	8:00 PM EST
@ Indiana Indy Cornrows	Sun 12/07	6:00 PM EST
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Home-and-Home With Blazer's Edge

by Steve Weinman on Dec 5, 2008 11:09 AM EST in NBA

A Daily Babble Production

The team that strolls into the TD Banknorth Garden tonight may well have the most intriguing story in all of basketball thus far this season. After a year without Greg Oden, the Portland Trail Blazers lost the big man from Ohio State in a season-opening shellacking in Los Angeles. They lost three of their first four games and have since proceeded to win 13 of 16 while getting their franchise center back as well. The Blazers are young and likable, and oh by the way, they're good, too. At this time two years ago, we Celts fans were the ones gearing up for an an Oden arrival and better times to come. We were miserable on lottery night in May 2007, but suffice it to say things have gone pretty well since then. The Blazers haven't quite hit that level of success yet, but they appear on a fast track to an era of contention, which makes tonight's tilt all the more interesting as an early-season litmus test.

Meanwhile, it's not just the team that the Portland franchise has to brag about: The fans are no slouches either. With yours truly writing ad nauseam about the Blazers in our NBA pieces as of late, we've had no shortage of visits from members of the Portland faithful, all of whom have added great insight to our discussions here. In the spirit of those discussions, we today host our end of another home-and-home by welcoming in Dave and Ben from Blazer's Edge. I'm a serial lurker over there, and I've got nothing but respect for the great community they've built. I answered some questions earlier at the Edge, and Dave and Ben were kind enough to return the favor. Without further ado, let's roll out the questions for this home-and-home:

SW: With the drafting of Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden in successive years, it became evident to many observers that this Portland team wasn't going to stay in the depths of the lottery for too much longer. We saw flashes of that even without Oden last year, particularly during the big winning streak around the turn of the calendar. After losing Greg Oden on opening night and starting 1-3 this season, the Blazers have won 13 of 16 including their last six to take the league by storm. Dave recently even wrote a post calling November "The best month in forever." Was there any expectation that this team would be this good this soon? As one of my readers asked recently, are the Blazers truly this good already, or are they playing over their heads? If it's the former, what's the secret so far? What are the standards for this season at this point?

Dave: If you ask Blazer fans, some would have said this was possible. I think most experts believe that this is on the high end of Portland’s potential production this season. I’ve been in the latter camp. You don’t win anything on credit in this league. You have to show it, night in and night out, for an extended period of time. Blazer fans are hanging their hats on the fact that the team has played an enormous number of road games and faced an inordinate number of good teams early in the season and emerged with a great record. If the pattern holds, the Blazers should have an amazing run after the calendar turns. But projections of that sort don’t mean anything unless you actually win the games.

The secret to winning so far has been threefold:

1. Rebound well and take care of the ball to maximize control over possessions and game flow.

2. Hit them where they ain’t defending. The Blazers usually field five guys you have to guard nowadays. They play a couple at least that you have to double-team. This creates problems. Double-team the inside and Portland’s three-point shooters will butcher you. Run out on the shooters and watch the Blazers thread the needle pass for a dunk.

3. Complete unselfishness on the offensive end. The Blazers find the open man, pure and simple. When push comes to shove, Brandon Roy is going to take over the game but he’s averaging a career high in assists himself. There’s offensive determination on this team but a startling lack of offensive ego.

At this point, admitting it’s still early. The standard for the Blazers has probably moved up to 50 wins from 45 or so. We’ll see how it goes with a couple more months under the belt

Ben: I thought the Blazers would be substantially better than last season. Most everyone in Portland expected them to take steps forward. With the brutal opening stretch plus Greg and Martell going down, expectations started to simmer a bit. The Lakers handing us our hats on opening night was a nice reality check. Did I think they would be 14-6? No freaking way. I still don't believe it. It still feels a little too good to be true.

Are they "this good"? Maybe, maybe not. Blazers fans are used to sweating out wins against bad teams, dropping games down the stretch to good teams and getting cleaned up by great teams. This year, that has started to change. And it's made being a fan a lot less stressful. It's nice to sit back and enjoy an alley-oop during a 30-point win every once in awhile. We forgot what that was like.

The secret is no secret at all: Brandon Roy is becoming a superstar. He does it every single night. He hits big shots. He makes good passes. He works on defense, and he gets important rebounds. He gets easy buckets, has good shot selection and is running the pick and roll better than anyone can remember. Top quality players are no secret -- you need them in the NBA. B Roy is a top quality player.

SW: How would you describe the emotional ride for Blazers fans of Greg Oden's career arc so far? Have Blazers fans begun to grow frustrated with the injuries or with Oden's rate of progress on the floor, or is he still on a grace period of sorts? How have the expectations been adjusted for him this year?

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Daily Links 12/5

by FLCeltsFan on Dec 5, 2008 9:51 AM EST in News/Links

Herald    Greg Oden front, center
Mavs not yet among NBA elite, but they are on the rise
Accusation of palming ball irks Heat's Dwyane Wade
Globe    The championship link
Powe, Davis fill void
Ex-Celtic Rogers paralyzed

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Thankful For Unanswered Prayers

by Jeff Clark on Dec 5, 2008 8:07 AM EST in Articles

The Portland Trail Blazers come to town tonight, and you know what that means! Greg Oden's first game in Boston. And of course you know what that means. Nostalgia and reminiscing about that emotional roller coaster of an offseason in 2007. And you know what that means! Gratuitous linkage and quoting of myself. (This feels a little like when Dwight got faxes from himself from the future, only in reverse)

Here's what I said the morning after the lottery in an article titled "The Big Stomach Punch"

Waking up this morning, I don't feel any better.   I feel a little sick in my stomach. I'm sure Celtics fans all across the world feel the same.

The funny thing is that yesterday I was so very excited. It was like I was 10 again and it was Christmas morning.   I was giddy.   It hadn't even occurred to me that this could really go this wrong. I mean, logically, sure, I knew we could miss out on 1 or 2.   But that's not what my heart said.   My heart believed.   I was completely sold.   We weren't just going to get a top 2 pick, we were going to get Oden at number 1. It was going to happen.

The first hint was the Bucks at 6.   "That doesn't seem right." My head said.    "Shut up, you're overthinking this" my heart said.   Then he pulled out the Celtics logo and my heart stopped.   Dumbstruck I couldn't even react.   Out of nowhere, my dreams were shot, Christmas was canceled, and my team was doomed to another 10 years of failure.

I thought about it a lot last night and this morning and I've had time to ponder the implications. You'd think that after that I would have a better perspective.   Sorry. I don't. I'm still depressed.

Who could have predicted that the Big Stomach Punch could have been the turning point that put us where we are today? Even the most insanely optimistic fan couldn't have said, "yup, I knew even then that we'd be NBA champs the next year." But that's just what happened. And we owe it all to that event.

If we won that draft, chances are pretty good that we'd pick Oden (though some believe Danny would have picked Durant). Either way, I'm not sure Paul Pierce would have accepted another several years of rebuilding. In fact, it wouldn't have made sense for Ainge to hold onto him.

Sure, we'd still have some of the guys that we grew to love, like Delonte, Big Al, and Ryan Gomes. Adding Oden or Durant to that group would have been exciting to watch. Maybe if we got lucky we would have seen some of the same success that the Blazers are enjoying with their young ballclub. But the chances are just as good that we would have seen the same kind of young team growing pains that the TWolves and Sonics/Thunder have had the last few years.

So thank you lottery balls. Thank you for dashing my dreams and destroying my hopes. Without hitting rock bottom, we would never have reached the top.

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The Truth Revealed

by Jeff Clark on Dec 4, 2008 10:34 PM EST in News/Links

Just finished reading the new SI article on Paul Pierce. Great story, very well written. I learned a few things and was reminded about a few more things I knew already. I'm very happy for Paul and I am very proud of him (I feel like I've watched him grow up with me). Here's one quote:

“I’ve always been the Rodney Dangerfield of this game,” he says. “Maybe it was meant to be that way, but that always drove me. If somebody said, ‘You’re going to be the Number 1 pick, you’re going to have a great team around you all these years’? It would’ve been too easy.”

Red's Army had several other quotes earlier this week, but the article is worth the read.

See the whole thing here.

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How Much Is a Championship Worth? Forbes Tells Us...

by Roy_Hobbs on Dec 4, 2008 5:14 PM EST in News/Links

Forbes released its annual list of the most valuable sports franchises today, and found that the Celtics' championship paid off in a big way:

The Celtics' NBA-record, 42-win regular season improvement and NBA title boasted the value of the franchise 14% to $447 million, ninth highest in the league.

Last year, the Celtics were valued at $391 million, a change of $56 million. The Celtics had total revenue of $149 million, and "income" (really EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $20.1 million.

Also, Forbes named Wyc Grousbeck the 6th best owner in the NBA. During his tenure, Wyc has overseen the Celtics grow 54.1% in value (8th in the NBA) and 53.6% in revenue (4th in the NBA), and earn $113 million in operating profits (6th in the NBA), despite not owning the Garden. I guess the owners' investment was worth it, huh?

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Perk's Offense Improving

by Jeff Clark on Dec 4, 2008 1:32 PM EST in News/Links

One undersold story of the year thus far has been the gradual but consistently improving offensive game for Kendrick Perkins. My first thought was that he must have put in some extra work with Clifford Ray. However, this article reminds us that he didn't have much of a summer to work on anything.

Despite undergoing off-season shoulder surgery that cost him nearly the entire summer, Perkins has been as effective and passionate on defense as ever. He has slowly added a nifty offensive move or two as well.

“I didn’t get to really have the off-season the way I wanted,” he said. “With the month of October, I had to hurry up and jam it in all in one. I was trying to work on my game and get better. I am still trying to improve.”

If Perkins keeps improving his offensive game, he'll be an even bigger bargain than he already is (at just over $4M a year - unheard of for a talented big man).

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Reminiscences of Rodney

by Steve Weinman on Dec 4, 2008 1:30 PM EST in NBA

A Daily Babble Production

Despite the fact that it occurred nearly seven years ago, it is easy to understand the angst still held by many Celtics fans about the trade then-GM Chris Wallace made with the Phoenix Suns in February 2002.

But despite the fact the trade almost came back full circle to bite the green when departed Joe Johnson played catalyst for the Atlanta Hawks' near-upset of the Celts last spring, I have a hard time being as retrospectively upset as some.

For the sake of memory refreshment, the trade in question sent a rookie Johnson and the Celts' 2002 first-rounder (eventually used on Casey Jacobsen) along with guards Randy Brown and Milt Palacio for veterans Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers. It was a trade that was met with plenty of scrutiny at the time, followed by frustration when it came out that the Celtics likely could have included Kedrick Brown instead of Johnson and then agitation as Johnson grew into a less-heralded-than-he-should-be stud in Atlanta. All are understandable reactions.

We can chalk my lack of fervent anger about this deal up to a combination of factors: the fact that I was dopey enough at the time not to really have a clue as to what Johnson would become, the natural impatience that occurs when one's team has been a horror show for most of the last decade, and perhaps the naive belief, however misguided, that the 2001-02 Celtics team could make the Finals in a weak East and maybe even find a way to shoot themselves into a championship (a much easier proposition if the NBA Finals were single elimination).

For all of those reasons, I didn't hate the idea of dealing a falling-out-of-favor rookie, two expendable guards and a low first-rounder for two guys who would provide veteran help and playoff experience for a team with young leaders. As a rule of thumb, while I do believe that the guys paid to be front office executives should be held to a higher standard than fans, it seems disingenuous for me to unduly hammer a GM after the fact for a move I was on board with at the time. Oh, I'll still criticize and rant, but it's only fair to have a grain of salt attached when I know I would have made the same move.

[Aside: Note please that this is a general principle that is not always rigidly applied. For example, the Mark Blount contract? Completely on Danny Ainge. The fact that I got suckered in by his trillion double-doubles over the second half of the season was no excuse for an employee affiliated with the team to hand a guy who for his entire career only cared for half a contract year $41 million over six seasons. I'm extending myself an official Babble-sponsored pardon on that one, and my guilt on this issue will heretofore hopefully never be broached again in this space.]

But in addition to the at-the-time rationale, one other factor came into play after the fact: I became a huge Rodney Rogers fan.

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Daily Links 12/4

by FLCeltsFan on Dec 4, 2008 11:50 AM EST in News/Links

Herald    Rajon Rondo, Celtics push pace
Indy poll sees Celtics, LA
Rajon Rondo triple threat
Danny Granger simply got away from Celtics
Sam Mitchell axed
Globe     Rondo sets a hot pace
Opportunity to beat them has come, gone
Allen gave an assist to friend
Various posts in the Globe Celtics blog

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The Rondo-KG Alley-Oop

by Jeff Clark on Dec 4, 2008 9:07 AM EST in Articles

Rondokg_medium

Rondo is at the top of the key, head on a swivel, surveying the options and watching the cutters and screeners execute the play. Garnett is doing the big man dance; first looking for position on the block, then hedging out towards his favorite jumpshot spot, then just as his defender has been lulled to sleep, BOOM, he spins and cuts baseline. Lob, catch, dunk. You just got Rondo'd with a side of Ticket.

There is nothing not to like about the alley-oop. It is a pretty play. It is a high percentage play when done right. It is a play that promotes teamwork.

I'll even take it one step further. It is a play that happens only when two players (or perhaps a point guard and several players) are so in tune that they don't even need a play called or words exchanged. They just both see the play developing and react as one. Like a quarterback and reciever, they couldn't tell you how they know when to make the play, they just know.

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A Wave to Sam Mitchell and An NBA Coverage Note

by Steve Weinman on Dec 4, 2008 1:34 AM EST in NBA

A year and a half ago, he distinguished himself as the NBA's Coach of the Year. Yesterday, Raptors head man Sam Mitchell officially became former Raptors head man Sam Mitchell.

Whether or not Mitchell was the cause of the problems thus far this season in Toronto is debatable, and perhaps that debate will be affected by what the future holds for the Raps. For now, however, it appeared the Raptors' front office decided that someone needed to take a fall for the team's uneven 8-9 start out of the gate this season. As is often the case in pro sports, it tends to be a lot easier to remove the coach than to change the on-court personnel (plus, changing the players is often seen as an implicit admission of fault on the part of the general manager).

Mitchell had a reputation for being a bit prickly with the media and fans, and it didn't help that his temper wasn't getting his team to guard anybody lately (26th in defensive efficiency), and the Raps haven't exactly been world-beaters offensively this season (17th in efficiency). Mitchell guided the team to a 20-win turnaround in 2006-07 but also to a first-round playoff exit via upset. The squad fell back to .500 last season and exited early again. A season later, after the front office took a risk in acquiring Jermaine O'Neal, Chris Bosh is killing it even by his own lofty standards, and the team is still struggling. Someone has to face the music, so Mitchell goes.

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