Archive for the ‘Portland Trailblazers’ Category

Kevin Pritchard’s open letter to Trail Blazers fans

Posted 27 Jun 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category NBA, Portland Trailblazers
Dear friends,

It’s incredibly difficult to find the words to convey just how lucky and grateful I am to have experienced what I have for the past seven years with the Portland Trail Blazers, but I felt it was important to try.

First and foremost, I want to thank and salute Paul Allen. He is being unfairly characterized as a bad guy in all of this and that is completely inaccurate and totally unfair. We do not have Luke Babbitt, Elliot Williams, Armon Johnson and Ryan Gomes without an owner like Paul, just as we wouldn’t have Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum, Rudy Fernandez, Andre Miller or Greg Oden. He is a Blazers fan in every sense of the word and his only mission is to bring another title to Portland. Like any relationship ours has had a few bumps and bruises, but I would not be where I am today without Paul and for that I am eternally grateful and forever indebted to him.

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NBA Summer League 2010 Schedule

Twenty-two NBA teams, including 11 that appeared in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, will compete in this year’s NBA Summer League. For the second consecutive year, a team of NBA Development League Select players will also participate in the action taking place at the Thomas & Mack Center and the COX Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Marketing partners included in the event are adidas, EA SPORTS, Gatorade and T-Mobile.

This year’s event will feature the Washington Wizards, who won the top overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. Other participating teams with top five selections in this year’s draft include the Minnesota Timberwolves(fourth overall pick) and the Sacramento Kings (fifth overall).

Additionally, 10 of the top 14 picks are expected to participate in Las Vegas this summer.

Joining the above-mentioned teams scheduled to appear in Vegas this summer are the Dallas Mavericks,Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers,Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards.

Tickets for the 2010 NBA Summer League are on sale and can be purchased by calling 702-739-FANS, through UNLVtickets.com or by visiting the Thomas & Mack Center Box Office and UNLV Ticket Outlets. All general admission tickets are $25 for the day; seniors and children (3-12) are $15 for the day; and children two years and under are admitted free of charge.

A complete broadcast schedule will be released at a later date.

Schedule after the jump.

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NBA Playoffs (Day 13 Recap)

Posted 30 Apr 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Dallas Mavericks, NBA, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs aren’t the normal 7th seed. The Spurs Big 3(Manu,Parker,and Duncan) knew that treating Game 6 like a Game 7 would help to motivate the team to finish off the Dallas Mavericks. Thats exactly what they did. Manu, Parker, and Duncan combined for 53 points and the Spurs came out early with an intensity that was lacking in Game 5. After leading by as much as 22 points the Spurs let the Mavs back in the game, but circled the wagons and pulled out the win 97-87. San Antonio is only the fifth No. 7 seed to win a first-round series, and the first since the opening round became a best-of-7 in 2003.George Hill had 21 points, and now the Spurs face long time playoff rival Phoenix Suns.

Down and Out..Again! (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Before the trade-deadline the Mavericks made a big trade getting Brendan Haywood, and Caron Butler costing owner Mark Cuban an extra $30 million. Two players that were brought in to add toughness, and the pieces they needed to defeat the Lakers. Unfortunately the Mavs might have been looking to far in the future and not concentrating on the team in front of them. Dirk was Dirk, 13 of 21 for 33 points. Butler had 25 points and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois was the only other player in double figures with 16 points. Mark Cuban once again has a long summer ahead of him. Mavs have had 10 seasons of at least 50 wins and only one trip to the Finals to show for it. In many ways the Mavs havent been the same since the Heat came back to beat them in the Finals 4 years ago.

(AP Photo/Don Ryan)

If I told you that the Phoenix Suns got 10 points, 6 assists and 7 turnovers from Steve Nash, and won the game you wouldn’t believe me. Well in Game 6 on Thursday night thats just what happened. The Suns got 28 points from jason Richardson and 22 from Amare Stoudemire in a series clinching win 99-90. Phoenix is 32-4 this season when Richardson scores at least 20 points. Both Phoenix and Portland attempted 23 threes, while the Suns(12) made just one more then the Blazers(11). Now two old playoff rivals face each other once against the Spurs and Suns face off in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

Portland has never won a series that they have trailed 3-2. Portland scared the Sns in Game 1, but was unable to recapture the magic that help them win that game. Brandon Roy had 14 points for the Blazers in his first start of the series. Martell Webster had 19 points for Portland, which failed to advance out of the first round for the second straight year. C Greg Oden was at Portland’s shootaround earlier Thursday. The 7-foot former No. 1 draft pick broke his left kneecap and required season-ending surgery early in December. Oden addressed reporters during Thursday’s shootaround, saying he was not yet doing any court-related workouts

NBA Playoff: (Day 10 Recap)…it keeps going and going….

For the fourth game in a row Dwight Howard got in foul trouble, played less then 30 minutes, and the Orlando Magic won. The Magic  dominated all four of these games making Charlotte look completely different from the team we saw all season. The pressure of making it to their first playoffs, or Michael Jordan sitting next to you could have been to blame for Charlotes poor offense output. In only 106 minutes Dwight Howard had a playoff leading 20 blocks. The Magic now await the winner of the Hawks-Bucks series which is now tied 2-2.

Photo by Brian A. Westerholt/Getty Images)

As disappointing as these Playoffs have been for the Bobcats the future is bright. Michael Jordan is the owner, they have a nice amount of cap space to get a needed point guard and Larry Brown said that he’ll only coach for Bobcats owner Michael Jordan. “I’m not coaching anywhere but Charlotte,” Brown said. “Now am I going to go home and talk to my wife and kids? I’ll be 70 years old with two young kids. Am I going to talk to them and find out what I need to do and am I going to talk to Michael? Yeah, absolutely.”

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NBA Playoffs: (Day 8 Recap)

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

The Bobcats are disappointing Michael Jordan and making him look bad in front of his girlfriend. The Magic on the other hand are impressing everyone.

In Game 3, the Magic once again played the majority of the game without their Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard. For some reason Dwight continues to set-up in the post with his arms high, ramming them into poor Tyson Chandlers face, and drawing offensive fouls. For the third straight game and two days after Orlando was assessed $70,000 in fines for complaining about the officiating, Howard played about half the game, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. The Magic haven’t looked shaken by the lose of Howard and instead have gotten amazing performances from Jameer Nelson, who finished with 32 points.

The only good news for Charlotte is the crowd of 19,596 was the largest to see the Bobcats in their 5-year-old arena.Magic 3-0

(AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Big emotional boost for the Blazers from the return of Brandon Roy who had surgery eight days ago. He scored 10 points, including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Portland Trail Blazers evened their playoff series with the Phoenix Suns at two games apiece with a 96-87 victory on Saturday. “I just didn’t feel right sitting in the training room knowing that I could contribute — so I just had to keep begging coach,” Roy said afterward. McMillan said it was a “long, sleepless night” in deciding to play Roy, the team’s unquestioned leader. He even brought owner Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, in on the discussion.”All kinds of things went through my head, thinking about the risk of him reinjuring himself,” McMillan said. “But our doctors didn’t feel like Brandon could hurt himself.”

LaMarcus Aldridge was key with 31 points and 11 rebounds. I wish he and Amare Stoudemire who had 26 points, could just play one-on-one for the series. Back to Phoenix for Game 5! Series Tied 2-2

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NBA Playoffs: (Day 4 Recap)

  • The Milwaukee Bucks are going to need a miracle. Salmons played better in Game 2 but Brandon Jennings went from 34 points in Game 1 to 9 points in Game 2.
  • Josh Smith had 21 points, 14 boards and 9 dimes. Atlanta’s last triple-double in a playoff game was by Mookie Blaylock (14 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists) in 1994
  • Look for Milwaukee to gain confidence from the Home crowd, but sadly the Bucks are nearing summer vacation
  • Hawks played everyone but Jason Collins for the second game in a row, that’s funny.
  • Hawks won a Game 2 for the first time since a best-of-five series against Detroit in the opening round of the 1999 playoffs. Hawks 2-0

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

  • No KG for the Celtics, no problem. Ray Allen shoots 7-9 from long range finishing with 25. The “Ticket Stub” Glen Davis fumbled to the rim for 23 points.
  • Celtics have won the last three games they played against the Heat without Garnett.
  • The Heat aren’t making a good case to keep Dwayne Wade in Miami. Every Heat player not named Dwayne shot 18-59! Wade finished with 29 points on 11-18 shooting.
  • Boston outrebounded Miami 60-37
  • In the first half the Heat had just one offensive rebound and took just four free throws while Boston tried 16. Celtics 2-0

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

  • Grant Hill and Jason Richardson combined for 21-27 shooting for 49 points. They are a combined 66 in age.
  • Steve Nash ad 13 points and 16 assists, 12 at the half.
  • Suns have not lost two in a row since Jan. 26
  • Blazers need a good dose of the Rose Garden to reclaim the magic from the first game. Marcus Camby blew easy layups and Andre Miller finished with 16 points after getting 31 in Game 1. Suns-1/Blazers-1
  • Kobe seemed determine to put on a show, maybe it was the critics or his Dad sitting court side. Kobe had 39 points in a game the Lakers were trying to lose.
  • Ron Artest’s defense on Kevin Durant was stellar once again, but he has to start making open jumpers, going 2-10 from the field with 5 points.
  • Pau Gasol was nearly unstoppable with 25 points and 12 assists.
  • Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 19, making all eight of his free throws.
  • Thunder squandered points early on missed dunks, and layups. Heading home will be comforting but alas, the end is near for the Thunder. Lakers 2-0

NBA Playoffs: (Day 2 Recap)

All 16 teams in the playoffs have played and the most exciting game was the last one.

  • Phoenix and Portland came down to the last seconds in a game the Suns should have won, but played like it wasn’t the Playoffs. Andre Miller was too much for Steve Nash and the Portland defense was mightier then the 11 threes Phoenix made. Portland leads 1-0
  • Phoenix needs Robin Lopez in a major way

My Main Man!! (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

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2010 NBA Playoffs Bracket

2010 NBA Playoffs Bracket

The Truth Sports: NBA 2010 All-Star Game Guide!

Everything is bigger in Texas, the food, the people, and the stadiums. This years NBA All-Star game is taking place in the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. NBA Commissioner David Stern said because of the collaboration between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, “The result is now we’re going to wind up having the largest crowd attend a game in the history of the world.”

Both Jones and Cuban have said they hoped the NBA would try to surpass 100,000 fans. The building record is 105,121, set during the New York Giants’ 33-31 victory over the Cowboys in the home opener. During a recent interview with The News’ Eddie Sefko,  Stern remarked that the All-Star Game will “set and retire” basketball’s attendance record.

NBA Attendance Records
REGULAR SEASON
62,046 Chicago vs. Atlanta March 27, 1998 Georgia Dome, Atlanta
PLAYOFFS
41,732 LA Lakers at Detroit June 16, 1988 Silverdome, Pontiac, Mich. (NBA Finals Game 5)
ALL-STAR GAME
44,735 East vs. West Feb. 12, 1989 Houston Astrodome

ALL-STAR WEEK SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY

4-10 p.m.: All-Star Jam Session presented by Adidas, Dallas Convention Center: This one is for the kiddies. I’m not sure anything happens during the “jam session” other then kids screaming!

THURSDAY

4-10 p.m.: All-Star Jam Session presented by Adidas, Dallas Convention Center: Another Jam Session, just in case you didnt get enough Jam in the first one!

FRIDAY

4-10 p.m.: All-Star Jam Session presented by Adidas, Dallas Convention Center: This is ridiculous, another Jam Session. The kids are gonna be Jammed out!

6-8 p.m.: All-Star Celebrity Game, Jam Session Center Court, Dallas Convention Center: The fun of watching your favorite celebrity show that he shouldn’t quit his day job.

8 p.m.: T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, American Airlines Center: The Rookies have lost seven straight years to the Sophomores, but Derrick Rose was excused from playing because he was chosen as an All-Star reserve. The height of the Sophomore team could lead to problems for the Rookies, and make it 8 in a row for the Sophomores

Rookie Roster

Omri Casspi (Kings) F 6-9/225 Israel
DeJuan Blair (Spurs) F-C 6-7/265 Pittsburgh
Stephen Curry (Warriors) G 6-3/185 Davidson
Tyreke Evans (Kings) G 6-6/220 Memphis
Jonny Flynn (Timberwolves) G 6-0/186 Syracuse
Taj Gibson (Bulls) F 6-9/225 USC
James Harden (Thunder) G 6-5/220 Arizona State
Brandon Jennings (Bucks) G 6-1/169 Lottomatica Virtus Roma (Italy)
Jonas Jerebko (Pistons) F 6-10/231 Sweden

Sophomore Roster

Michael Beasley (Heat) F 6-9/245 Kansas State
Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) C 7-1/265 Spain
Danilo Gallinari (Knicks) G-F 6-10/225 Italy
Eric Gordon (Clippers) G 6-3/222 Indiana
Brook Lopez (Nets) C 7-0/260 Stanford
Kevin Love (Timberwolves) F-C 6-10/260 UCLA
O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies) G 6-4/210 USC
Anthony Morrow (Warriors) G 6-3/190 Georgia Tech
Russell Westbrook (Thunder) G 6-5/210 UCLA

SATURDAY

9 a.m.-10 p.m.: All-Star Jam Session presented by Adidas, Dallas Convention Center: What a surprise another Jam Session!

7 p.m.: All-Star Saturday Night (Haier Shooting Stars, Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, Sprite Slam Dunk), American Airlines Center:

The Haier Shooting Stars consists of a current NBA player teaming up with a NBA Legend and a player from the WNBA, in a shoot off, how exciting!

The Slam-Dunk Contest has definitly been worth watching recently, but I’m not sure this lineup is going to show us anything we haven’t seen before. Look out for DeMar DeRozan as our pick for the Slam Dunk crown.

2010 SPRITE SLAM DUNK COMPETITORS
Participant Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Shannon Brown L.A. Lakers G 6-4 205
Gerald Wallace Charlotte F 6-7 220
Nate Robinson New York* G 5-9 180
DeMar DeRozan Toronto** G 6-7 220
Eric Gordon L.A. Clippers** G 6-3 222

At the beggining of the season we knew Stephen Curry was a lock for the 3-Point Contest, but the veteran additions of Paul Pierce, and Chauncey Billups may make it difficult for him to win.

2010 FOOT LOCKER THREE-POINT SHOOTOUT PARTICIPANTS
*2009-10          Season Career
Player Made Att. % Made Att. %
Chauncey Billups, Denver 88 212 .415 1,520 3,904 .389
Daequan Cook, Miami 27 90 .300 259 723 .358
Stephen Curry, Golden State 78 182 .429 78 180 .429
Channing Frye, Phoenix 119 272 .438 139 342 .406
Danilo Gallinari, New York 126 313 .403 158 385 .410
Paul Pierce, Boston 77 165 .467 1,435 3,878 .370

Derrick Rose looks to defend his title in the Skills Competiton against Deron Williams, Steve Nash, and Brandon Jennings.

SUNDAY, FEB. 14

7 p.m.: 59th All-Star Game, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington: At Last the Game itself.

Here are the starters for the East and West,

The Truth Sports: NBA 11-Game Wednesday Re-Cap

AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

Nuggets 97 Rockets 92: The Nuggets won for the second straight time without Carmelo Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. The Rockets lost for the eighth time in 12 games, despite yet another dominating start. Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith were enough to beat the sputtering Rockets who have lost a bit of the intensity they had early in the season. Not to point the finger but Trevor Ariza is shooting 13-45 over the three game skid.

Hawks 90 Spurs 105: An old dog never loses its tricks and the Spurs used everyone of those tricks on display in a trouncing of Atlanta. Tim Duncan grabbed a career-high 27 rebounds and scored 21 points, and the San Antonio Spurs ended their three-game slide with a 105-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. It was the first 20-20 game since 2005 for Duncan, who bested his previous career rebounding high of 25, set against Miami in 2003. Jamal Crawford earned his 23rd career 4-point play. Now just one behind Reggie Miller’s NBA record. Whwn the Hawks win and lose BIG!

Lakers 118 Pacers 96: Bynum scored 22 points in the first half. Kobe Bryant took over in the second half and finished with a game-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists. Bynum finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Indiana decided to go small and it failed. Times have been rough in Indiana, for basketball at least. The Indianapolis Colts are playing in the Super Bowl next Sunday! Los Angeles doesn’t even have a football team, so…small victories.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Bulls 96 Thunder 86: Derrick Rose scored 26 points, Noah added 13 points and 11 rebounds and the Bulls held the Oklahoma City without a field goal for the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter on their way to a 96-86 victory on Wednesday night. The Truth Sports knew the Del Negro ship would stay afloat. It was Chicago’s fourth straight win — all on the road — after starting the season 4-15 away from the United Center. The Bulls — fresh off wins at Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio — improved to 22-22, returning to .500 for the first time since they were 6-6 on Nov. 21. A disappointing 3 game losing streak that gets tested Friday against the Nuggets….good luck

Heat 103 Raptors 111: Chris Bosh had 24 points and a season-high 18 rebounds,Andrea Bargnani scored 27 points and Raptors played another solid game after beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images

“We put (the Lakers game) behind us,” Bosh said. “One thing about a big win, you don’t want to beat a good team and then come back and have a poor performance. You always want to keep the momentum going and I think we’re building some good resistance at home.” Dwyane Wade had 35 points and 10 assists and former Raptors center Jermaine O’Neal scored 22 for Miami, which lost Michael Beasley to a right knee injury. The injury may keep him out of Heats next game against Detroit. Bosh is the onlyRaptors player to start all 46 games this season, and even more appealing to the Heat, and the Rockets, and the…….

Timberwolves 95 Cavaliers 109: Cavs are 9-0 at home against Western Conference teams, if you consider the Timberwolves a team. Just kidding, but this one was a no-brainer. LeBron is dancing in the highlights, and thats never a good sign.

Grizzlies 99 Pistons 93:  The Pistons 11-19 (57.9%) free-throw shooting was the only negative output of the game, unfortunately the Grizzlies shot 26-28 (92.9%) from the stripe. The Grizzlies have passed all the wins they had all last season(24). Ben Gordon (groin) missed his 19th game of the season, and Will Bynum (ankle) also sat out for Detroit.

76ers 88 Bucks 91: This game was not watched, yet it was played. Brandon Jennings scored 18 points, hitting a 12-footer with 22 seconds left, and the Bucks held on for a 91-88 win on Wednesday night after the Sixers missed three shots to tie in the final 11 seconds. Iverson finished with six points, all in the first half.

Jazz 106 Trailblazers 95: Here are some mismatch numbers. The Jazz had 19 turnovers the Blazers had 9. Utah shot 60.3 percent from the field, hitting 38 of 63 shots. Portland shot 36.3 percent (33 of 91). Utah led by as many as 26 points during the first half. The Jazz won for the eighth time in nine games and took over second place in the Northwest Division. Carlos Boozer, who scored 14 points, left the game early in the third quarter with a right calf strain and did not return. Can you hear the money slipping through Boozers fingers. It sounds like when Sonic loses his rings.

Hornets 123 Warriors 110: Did you know Stephen Curry is 5th in steals per game, crazy right? Chris Paul scored 38 points to lead five New Orleans starters in double figures. Paul shot 14 for 19 from the field, made all nine of his free-throw tries, dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Paul is a lock for All-Star reserve.  Monta Ellis returned for Golden State after missing the past two games with a sprained right ankle and had 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds. He had been averaging 30.7 points over his previous 16 outings. Hope this doesn’t hurt Monta’s chances of making it to the All-Star Game as a reserve. The roster is to be announced tomorrow.

AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT!!!

NETS WIN!!! NOW THE STRIVE FOR 5!