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The 2008 NBA Draft

July 1st 2008 03:49

I’d like to post about the previously finished NBA Draft. A lot of trades were completed/proposed making this years draft exciting and noteworthy. In this first post I will be going through the top five picks and thereafter with updates and all you need to know up to the minute stats and transactions.

Let’s get this post draft analysis going with the first overall pick for the Chicago Bulls DERRICK ROSE. Rose out of Memphis has a solid NBA body and can take the punishment as a player in the paint. He will mold himself into whatever type of player his team needs him to be as evident by the video below. He is one of the most ready-type players to enter the league. A truly solid addition to any team, kind of makes me think of the miss of Jay Williams. In which whom the Bulls took as the savior type PG years ago before he had his motorcycle accident stifling his promising career. With this pick Chicago puts themselves back into contention for a playoff spot in the East.

This video shows how Rose can affect the game as he will become a solid NBA-PG.

# 2

Undoubtedly the Miami Heat selected MICHAEL BEASLEY out of Kansas State. This PF needs no introduction to basketball fans as his huge wingspan makes up for any negativity about his height at the four spot. One of the perfect teams for Beasley to go to, I think his character issues would only become apparent if he were to have to battle with a solid proven veteran for his starting spot. He will be going in battling Udonis Haslem who has seen his stock drop as he needs to create more of his own offence. The heat I am sure are not finished in tweaking their team for the 08/09 season. Marion though will alleviate any concerns of the rookie being overmatched down-low as he is almost like an extra PF out there sometimes with his rebounding efforts and hustle in trying to make the right plays.

# 3

Minnesota at the third spot went with OJ MAYO, who I have seen and been hearing about for a good number of years. Mayo will be a solid two as at 6’4” 200lbs he is limited in selected positions, but this guy is just a born scorer and if he ends up in Grizz-town, look for him to team up with Rudy Gay as Mike Miller was moved with Memphis making the choice to let him go after he admittedly carried the Grizzlies last season at times. In return Minnesota looks to get #5 Kevin Love. I am in love with this deal as the T-Wolves send Antoine Walker also to MEM. Minnesota gets the scoring they desperately need and character guys, to build around. I know what fans may be thinking and no this isn’t the second coming of Wally World, Mike Miller is a gamer playing all three spots from 1-3 for the Grizz and did whatever was asked, as he became a versatile and proven scorer, unlike streaky Szczerbiak.

# 4

Russell Westbrook a surprise at number four as the top three had virtually been decided weeks beforehand. Westbrook though an unexpected pick is an explosive guard that will do well in this league especially when Seattle gets all the parts and can continuously run up and down with Durant and Green. The Sonics clearly want a guard that can break down the D and get up and down the court at breakneck speeds. They have found that guy with Westbrook. People want to compare him to NBA champion Rajon Rondo and maybe Monta Ellis, he is long and skinny and extremely athletic, time will tell if he can make the right passes for a long career with Durant by his side.

# 5

Care of NBADraft.net

Memphis picks Kevin Love at the number five spot and in turn will be sending him to Minnesota in the deal outlined in the third pick paragraph. Love is solid, not an athlete like the Grizz love at the four spot, but the T-Wolves just need ballers in which Kevin is for sure. Down-low he will be helped by Al Jefferson for sure on defense. Also he will have a great passer in Mike Miller to get the ball to him in good spots. I like Kevin Love on a solid team a rebuilding team he may flourish or sink as he’ll need to create his own offence and may struggle with the speed of the NBA at first.

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The NBA Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

January 22nd 2008 12:30

Portland Trail Blazers players celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

The Trail Blazers standing on the same court where Dr. King played basketball. (Image from espn.com)

Today was a very significant holiday in the United States: it’s the day when they celebrate a key figure in American history – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The influence of the great man can be seen all around in the NBA with the dominance of African-Americans in the sport, and how they are widely admired, accepted and emulated. Players in the NBA should never forget his legacy.

For Theo Ratliff, the centre for the Minnesota Timberwolves, MLK Day has an extra special pertinence because he grew up in Alabama, with his mother and uncle marching with Dr. King in the Selma march in 1965.

“My family was a big part of that, that whole movement…It always had a big part in our lives, remembering the struggles. My mom told me about that.” (Youngblood, Star Tribune, 2008)

The Portland Trail Blazers also embraced the day by visiting Dr. King’s birth home in Atlanta and the YMCA where he learnt how to play basketball. Blazers star, Brandon Roy for one shining moment envisioned what it must have been like to be Dr. King.

“To see the house where he was born, and to go to the gym where he played some hoop was kind of cool," Roy said. “It's like you get to walk in his shoes for a minute, which is a great moment, especially for us being African American males. Because of a lot of the things we are able to do today are things he fought for.” (Quick, The Oregonian, 2008)

Portland’s director of player programs, Chris Bowles tries to schedule excursions that will enhance the understanding of the world for his players. Coincidentally, Portland were in Atlanta for MLK Day, with Bowles taking the Blazers players on a trip that would further enliven their minds, and spirits with an education on black history.

Perhaps we should leave the final word for Brandon Roy who sums up Dr. King’s legacy perfectly: “I've got good friends that are all different races, and it's all because he fought for those things. He didn't fight for one race to be more than another. He fought for everybody to be equal. That's the thing that I really respect.” (Adande, ESPN, 2008)

Today’s video is of various NBA players stating what MLK Day means to them.

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Portland Trail Blazers

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Clyde 'The Glide' Drexler was an All-Time Great.

October 5th 2007 07:01

It’s easy to be overshadowed by a one-time phenomenon that will

Look up in the sky... (Image from nba.com)

never walk this earth ever again – just ask golfers, boxers and soccer players, what it’s like to be seen in a lesser light when compared to Tiger, Ali and Pele. For all you perceptive readers out there (which means all of our fine visitors to this space), would realise that one name is missing, Michael Jordan. Yes, His Airness is often grouped in with the aforementioned names, with basketball players in both the 80s, and 90s playing second fiddle to MJ.

While, Jordan was working his magic and dominating the game, a myriad of players also toiled away in the NBA landscape, with some quietly becoming legends themselves. Not everyone was like, Mike, but why would they want to be?

Recently the name ‘Sam Bowie’ and the Portland Trail Blazers have become hot button topics once again due to what happened to Greg Oden. When discussing the 1984 Draft where, Bowie was selected before the-greatest-friggin’-baller- of-all-time, many writers (this one included) have been a tad bit revisionist in their retelling of history. What is often overlooked, is that Portland selecting, Sam wasn’t a totally dud pick because they needed a big man and who was anyone to know that, Michael Jordan would become, well, Michael Jordan?

Furthermore, the Trail Blazers had a star shooting guard of their own, Clyde ‘The Glide’ Drexler, who was athletic and a kickass basketball player to boot. In fact so good was Clyde, there was a point in time when a few basketball observers thought he was a better player than, Mike!

Date of Birth: 22nd June, 1962.
Height: 6’7”
College: Houston
Draft: 14th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Points per Game: 20.4
Assists per Game: 5.6
Rebounds per Game: 6.1
Honours: Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2004); NBA champion (1995); All-NBA First Team (1992); All-NBA Second Team (1988, '91); All-NBA Third Team (1990, '95); NBA All-Star (1986, '88, '89, 90, '91, '92, '93, '94, '96, '97); One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996); Olympic gold medallist (1992).

Quiet by nature and playing in the small market Portland area, were two factors in why The Glide didn’t receive the attention that a player of his abilities deserved. Those who are familiar with, Drexler would come away impressed. You don’t become one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, part of the storied ’92 Dream Team and an NBA champion by being a scrub. What is disappointing is that we took so long before he got some love on this space! Sorry, Clyde.

Breaking into the NBA in 1983 after starring in college with Hakeem Olajuwon, Drexler was a great player that somehow dropped to Portland as the 14th overall pick. We can assure you that none of his fellow first round picks have achieved anything close to what Clyde has.

The Glide started slowly off the blocks, but after his less-than-stellar, rookie season, Drexler

...it's Clyde the Glide! (Image from espn.com)

really came to his own becoming one of the most prolific scorers in the league, whilst displaying a complete game that should have been appreciated more.

So, great was Clyde, that in the ’86-’87 season, he joined Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as one of only three players to average at least 20 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds per game. Portland would continually be frustrated in the 80s during the playoffs, but in the early 90s they assembled a talented team that would challenge for the title with comforting regularity.

A three year run of Finals challenges would begin in ’89-’90 when Portland faced the Detroit Pistons. Drexler was irrepressible in this series, averaging a rock solid 26.4 points per game and 7.8 rebounds, including some Game 2 heroics where he nailed the winning baskets. Unfortunately, the Bad Boys of Detroit would be the first team to continually deny, Clyde’s championship ambitions.

What faced Portland the next two seasons were the Lakers making one last run with Magic, and the Jordan led Bulls – we don’t need to tell you what happened there.

Expressing increasing dissatisfaction with Portland’s inability to get over the championship hump, Drexler asked for a trade, and the Blazers obliged, shipping him off to Houston. Clyde would get that much desired championship ring which was the cherry on top for a man who had such a high flying career.

Watch today’s video to see Clyde Drexler in all his high jumping and death defying glory.

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Portland Trail Blazers

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Bill Walton was a Big, Red God!

October 2nd 2007 12:23

Bill Walton was a hippie that could straight-up ball! (Image from NBA.com)

When we’re talking about starcrossed basketball players, Bill Walton would have to be up there as one of the NBA players that had a mixed bag of a career. Although, Big Red is considered as an all-time great, he really only had three truly great season, but what a run it was!

Name: William Theodore Walton
Date of Birth: 5th November, 1952
Height: 6’11” (211cm)
College: UCLA
Draft: 1st overall pick in the 1974 Draft by the Portland Trailblazers.
Points per Game: 13.3
Rebounds per Game: 10.5
Assists per Game: 3.4
Honours: Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1993); NBA champion (1977, '86); NBA Finals MVP (1977); NBA MVP (1978); All-NBA First Team (1978); All-NBA Second Team (1977); NBA All-Defensive Team (1977, '78); NBA All-Star (1977, '78); Sixth Man Award (1986); One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).

Starting his basketball education when he was in grade 4, Walton would eventually carve a path which would lead him to hoops immortality.

Big Red would become an uber-basketball player during his time at UCLA where he would change the face of the college game by being one of the most dominant players in higher learning history. Playing for John Wooden’s powerhouse UCLA squad in the early 70s, Walton and his band of merry students would dominate the sport, with Billy winning, three straight College Player of the Year awards.

UCLA was so dominant during Bill’s time that they posted an 86-4 record when he was playing in college, winning two national titles along the way.

However, Walton was more than just a basketball player, he was an activist with a rebellious streak that was once arrested during an anti-Vietnam war protest. He also criticised President Nixon and the FBI, whilst flirting with the idea of leaving basketball to try and find

Let's all praise, Bill! (Image from NBA.com)

spiritual enlightenment.

After his arrest, Walton released this kickass statement: "Your generation has screwed up the world. My generation is trying to straighten it out. Money doesn't mean anything to me. It can't buy happiness, and I just want to be happy." (NBA.com)

The NBA would beckon, and he was the no-brainer number one pick when he declared for the Draft.

Portland was his destination and he made an immediate impression in the pro level with his dominating performances. The moment, Walton broke onto the scene he was compared to some of the great big men of the game, in fact the universal praise that was bestowed on Big Red exceeded the love that other centres got. "Bill Russell was a great shot blocker. Wilt Chamberlain was a great offensive player," Dr. Jack Ramsay, Walton's coach in Portland, told Sport magazine. "But Walton can do it all." (NBA.com)

Walton’s skill set was so immense and complete, that there were absolutely no weaknesses in his game, scoring, rebounding, passing, blocking, hustle and intimidation, whatever was needed, Bill would provide. He was the ultimate winner, with a nasty perfectionist streak.

Exploding into the NBA-sphere as a rookie, Walton averaged 16 points, 19 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 4 blocks per game in his first seven games!

So, great was Walton that although he had only three peak seasons, he won the MVP award in the 1977-78 season for the defending champion Trailblazers.

Praise of greatness flowed easily when people spoke of Walton, however, injuries would take a devastating toll on his career. Dozens of injuries would haunt Walton, with a chronically broken left foot, amongst other injuries would rob, Bill of the potential to be labelled as ‘the greatest ever’.

Bill Walton was so injury-prone that during his 13 years in the NBA, he only played in 44 percent of regular-season games.

Still, for that brief moment in time when Walton was healthy, no star blazed brighter in the NBA skies than that of one William Theodore Walton.

Today’s video is obviously of the great man working his magic.

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Portland Trail Blazers

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Disappointment for NBA Fans Everywhere as Number 1 Draft Pick, Greg Oden, is Out for the Season.

September 14th 2007 10:43

Talk about your proverbial nuclear explosion with news that this

Greg Oden waves goodbye to his season. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

year’s number draft choice, Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers, is out for the season following microfracture knee surgery.

This has got to be the worst news that the Trail Blazers and the NBA could hear after a summer of scandal. The NBA Draft this season was widely heralded as one of the best because the top two standout players in Oden and number two pick, Kevin Durant, were sure fire superstars.

We were all looking forward to seeing how these two rookies would fare, but all we’ll be seeing now is a whole bunch of Durant highlight reels, while Blazers fans will look on in despair.

Not only has the city of Portland had their hearts broken with their future franchise centre down and out before his professional career had even begun, but now they have to deal with Sam Bowie comparisons.

‘Who is Sam Bowie?’ All you uninitiated readers out there are wondering. Well, Sam Bowie was the number two pick by Portland in the 1984 Draft, whilst the next pick went to Chicago, and they selected some player by the name of Michael Jordan.

History will show that Michael Jordan became, er, Michael Jordan, whilst Sam Bowie would be perpetually injured, and have a very minor impact on the NBA game.

So, why do we have a comparison now between Bowie and Jordan? Well, basically the Trail Blazers had the chance to draft the most talented player coming out in Kevin Durant, but passed. Talk about a cursed franchise in terms of big men.

Reports are now surfacing that Oden’s body had red flags everywhere and that his body resembled that of an elderly man, rather than that of a 19 year old – bulging disc in the back, bad wrist that had him miss the beginning of his one, and only season in college, ankles, hands, right leg an inch longer than his left leg, and now the knees.

Sam Bowie still gives Portland fans nightmares. (Image from ESPN.com)

For Portland fans, who are one of the best supporters of their team in the league, this is just another letdown after the Jailblazers years. The city was excited and why wouldn’t they be? There was a franchise changing player coming to their ranks, and not only that, Oden had a winning personality and quick wit. He was the dream player for a small market city.

But right now the visions going around the city, and NBA for that matter, is of Sam Bowie.

Portland can take heart in the fact that Amare Stoudemire had the exact same surgery as Oden and has come back even better. Jason Kidd also had microfracture surgery and had a postseason for the ages. Although, this is a serious injury, Oden’s age and the leaps in medical science give a glimmer of hope that Portland didn’t pass on another all-time great, whilst being forever haunted by that choice.

Speaking as an NBA fan, this was something no one wanted to see. We wanted to see the next Bill Russell, not Sam Bowie 2K7.

Today’s video is a reminder of the immense talent that Oden does possess.

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Portland Trail Blazers

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Greg Oden or Kevin Durant?

June 25th 2007 13:01

The NBA Draft is almost upon us and Sports Insider will probably give

Greg Oden is no longer the slam dunk number 1 pick. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

his more than educated take on the whole shebang, so this writer will instead focus on the question of whom will the Portland Trail Blazers select with their first pick? Greg Oden or Kevin Durant?

It may seem outrageous that the Blazers are even entertaining such a thought as who they should get with the number one pick – Greg Oden, duh! Well, on the surface it doesn’t seem that sure fire anymore with Durant impressing Portland’s front office no end. Kevin Pritchard, who is general manager of the Blazers, was heard remarking that Durant’s workout with the team was “as impressive a workout as any I've seen in here.” (Booth, AP, 2007)

Kevin’s wonderful workout leaves the intriguing possibility that the young gun from Texas may be the top dog yet, albeit, a very small chance. Greg Oden on the other hand visited Seattle who own the second pick and didn’t work out with the team at all which speaks volumes.

Portland is in the rather enviable position of choosing between two instant impact players and is apparently in such a state of conundrum of who to draft that they have put up billboards around the city asking drivers to honk their horns once for Oden, and twice for Durant.

Personally speaking this writer would honk twice.

This year’s draft is especially strong and those with lottery picks should count their blessings that this isn’t 2006, which was generally acknowledged as one of the worst drafts since the inception of the lottery. It may seem insane that Portland are even considering passing up on Oden, because 7-foot centres who are game changers are as rare as a sober night out for Lindsay Lohan, but the Blazers already have Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge who control the paint for them quite nicely.

Just imagine the damage the aforementioned players could do with Durant in the mix. Portland would become a very scary team.

Kevin Durant isn't going to win the Mr. Universe body building title. (AP Photo/Ty Russell)

Durant also has the mentality of becoming a franchise player immediately stating that: “I've been training to be a franchise player since I was nine. That's the first time I told my parents I was serious about getting to the NBA…Growing up, I'd wake up every day at seven to do guard drills--never post stuff--for three or four hours with my Uncle Stink, all the way until my junior year of high school. Sometimes he'd tack on 100 laps, and I'd cry while I ran. I wasn't training just to make an NBA team, though. I don't want to be a role player. I want to be the guy a team depends on.” (Durant, ESPN.com, 2007)

Oden on the other hand is as mellow as you’d imagine him to be, and in comparison to Durant doesn’t appear to have the go-to-guy mentality as yet: “I consider myself a role player. I understand people are projecting me to be a top pick, and those guys are supposed to be franchise guys. But I'm not the kind of guy who needs to come in and take over. I will do whatever my team needs me to do to win…Being a role player doesn't mean you can't play; everybody on a team has a role. I'm going to go to my new team and try to figure mine out.” (Oden, ESPN.com, 2007)

Who would you choose perceptive readers of NBALOUD?

Kevin Durant features on today’s video showing and what a clip! This is slammin’ so watch it will ya?

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Portland Trail Blazers

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