Watch and listen to the #1 draft pick as he fights a head cold and prepares for the draft:
(Via Greg’s sparse – he’s a busy guy – but excellent blog.)
Watch and listen to the #1 draft pick as he fights a head cold and prepares for the draft:
(Via Greg’s sparse – he’s a busy guy – but excellent blog.)
The first day of the Blazer’s Edge Summer Book Club is upon us. A book discussion on The Blazers Edge: A Site by and for Blazer Fans? Makes perfect sense since the book is Red Hot and Rollin’: A Retrospection of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 1976-77 Championship Season (Library | Powell’s), edited by Matt Love. (You can read my mini-review from last month here.)
The discussion today is about the book’s first four essays. Dave (no relation) at Blazer’s Edge suggests a few starting points for discussion:
–How has Blazermania and your being a Blazer fan affected your family? Is it contagious? Are you just considered weird? Do you have any good family moments/memories surrounding the Blazers to share?
–How important is the style of game to fan enjoyment? Is it OK with you if the Blazers play ugly but win or do you need a more aesthetically pleasing style of ball to really be happy?
–Talk a little bit about the Blazers’ relationship with the national media. Portland fans have historically felt slighted. Is that legitimate or is it simply to be expected because of the size of the market?
Ian Thomsen thinks Nate will be the Popovich of the future:
If he can survive the next couple of years with his ultra-young roster, he could develop a Popovichesque relationship with Greg Oden. McMillan has the work ethic, defensive mind-set and integrity to become a championship coach.
And he has Greg Oden as a reserve. I think he might be on to something.
I’ve new found respect for Darius Miles. Check out his donk:

(Via the Blazer Blog, via NBA Noise, via the Blazer Forum; check them out for more photos.)
Casey at the Blazer blog on Oregonlive.com has the schedule, and points out some interesting things:
The Blazers kick off the season on the road on October 30 against the World Champion San Antonio Spurs. And it’s on TNT! That’s national. In fact, they’ve got 11 nationally televised games (six on TNT, five on ESPN) and seven NBATV games.
Looking over the schedule, a few things stand out. The first game against the Sonics is at the Rose Garden on Christmas Day! That’s an awesome way to spend the holiday. It’s also the first game on ESPN.
I bought season tickets (a pair) for my first time this year (like thousands of others when the Blazers won the top pick), so I’ve got lots of planning and negotiating with friends to figure who gets to go to which games. Bribes are welcome.