[Live 05]07-08 Blazers- D-Miles Trade Rumours

[Its_asdf]

Blazers Second Half Struggles Leads to Loss


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Andre Iguodala and Kyle Korver both combined for more than half of the Philadelphia 76ers' points as they utilized a second half surge and held Portland to only 26 points in the final two quarters. The only time Portland's offence was clicking was during the second quarter when they led 40-37 going into half time. The Blazers missed 8 consecutive shots in the third quarter which allowed the Sixers to easily reclaim the lead behind Korver's three point shooting and Iguodala's penetration. "Andre attacked the basket often and he set me up with some pretty good looks," explained Korver. "I was able to hit my shots and that also helped stretch the defence for him, so we compliment each other very well."

"They really took it to us," said Quentin Richardson, who shot 1 for 7 from three and was also a part of the Blazer offensive struggle. "Our big guys played alright, but it was our bench and our guards that didn't really produce enough. When our perimeter guys start scoring, so do our bigs and vice-versa."

Darius Miles was one of the few who did not struggle as much this game
The Blazer big men failed to get it going offensively
Kyle Korver hit plenty of big shots with the clock winding down

Miles and Richardson Bury the Bulls


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The Blazers fell victim to yet another third quarter collapse, but this time Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson managed to re-kindle their on-court chemistry to lead the Blazers to their second win of the season. The duo led the team scoring 23 and 25 points respectively, and they both scored the last 10 Blazer points.

Last year's Eastern Conference finalists manage to cut an 11 point lead by Portland in the second quarter and took a 3 point lead in the third quarter, which was their largest lead of the game. The Blazers battled back and held a 96-95 advantage with 27 seconds remaining, but Channing Frye missed a wide open layup with the shot clock winding down and Ben Gordon capitalized by nailing a long two to put the Bulls on top. Richardson threw a pass to a cutting Miles for an easy dunk to give the Blazers a 98-97 lead with 16 seconds remaining after a brief timeout by Nate McMillan. Richardson immediately stole the inbounds pass from Luol Deng and was forced to shoot and make two free throws to extend the Blazer lead to 3. Bulls leading scorer Kirk Hinrich missed a potential game-tying three pointer and the Bulls were forced to foul once again.

"We choked at the end," said Bulls centre Ben Wallace. Wallace finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds and was the third leading scorer for Chicago. "We made some bone headed decisions down the stretch which weren't characteristic of a team that made the NBA finals."

Ben Gordon soaring for 2 of his 11 fourth quarter points
Suprisingly, Ben Wallace dominated on the inside
Hinrich splitting the defence
Darius Miles' game-winning slam

Warrior Backcourt Too Much for Portland


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Right from start to finish, the Golden State Warriors controlled nearly all faucets of the game and Portland never led during the game. Portland was single handedly dismantled by Golden State's deadly guard duo of Jason Richardson and Baron Davis while Al Harrington tore apart the Blazer defence from the inside. Harrington had 13 rebounds, 5 of which came from the offensive end and topped it off with a double double of 19 points with 8-11 shooting. "Our guys failed to go after it on the glass," said Nate McMillan as he shook his head. "I don't know how many times Harrington simply caught the ball over our guys and just dunked it with both hands. It was a disgraceful effort by the entire team. I mean, how many less points and how many more scoring opportunities could we have had if we simply boxed their players out instead of just waiting for the ball to land in our hands?"

Baron Davis scored from both dribble penetration and the perimeter to finish with 27 points, but the victory came at a costly price when Davis rolled his ankle after Brandon Roy came from behind to contest his layup with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter.

Miles led the team with 4 blocks
Harrington dominated the offensive glass
Davis got into the paint at will
Davis clearly in pain after the collision

[Its_asdf]

Pfew, Kobe with only 9 points. Anyway nice game and recap there, nice debut for Horford

Thanks man, I was pretty suprised to see Smush Parker handling the ball 99% of the time. Oh well, that's NBA Live for ya.

Goddamit, I just wrote out a pretty lengthy post and lost it because I automatically got signed out.

Anyway, loved the Webster feature. You should become a writer, your damn good at it - even when working on a video game. Theres no recent news or info about the guys personalities to feed off of.

Al Horford looks good for 20/10 as a starter and a major threat on both ends as he begins to earn big minutes. Dump it down low and yet the young Elton brand get to work. Aldridge/Horford/Frye frontcourt is seriously good for 50 points every game.

Great work.

Yeah there weren't a lot of things to research on for Webster, but I did find a couple of links to articles from a Blazer fan site that talked about Webster's frustration on the court, so I got a lot of my inspiration to write about it from that article.

It's pretty difficult to share the front court with Horford, Aldridge and Frye though. I all want them all to do well, so I don't think there are enough minutes to allow Horford to become a fully fledged star just yet. Who knows, a trade is always a possibility to free up some PT.

you had to let Oden score 6 points.

You'd probably let him score a little bit too if you saw how badly the computer was using him. Every time he got the ball he simply kicked it out to Smush Parker or Luke Walton as if they were Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

great opener man! nice solid/balanced attack by your 'Blazers

my Rockets squad just played Lakers as well - compare Kobe's stats to yours - what a trip!

Thanks man, that's what I really like about the trades that I've done. They've made the team a lot more balanced scoring wise even if a lot of the guys on my team are only 60s-70s. Its more fun to play that way than having just one superstar dominate the game in my opinion.

I'll be sure to check out your Laker recap as well. It'll be interesting to compare.

[Its_asdf]

Blazer Come Back Falls Short In Double OT


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The Portland Trail Blazers have shown once again that they can get hot and put the ball in the basket, but lacakdaisical defence and poor offensive execution overshadowed their success on offence. Portland began the game shooting a sizzling 71% in the first quarter after Tim Duncan got into foul trouble and led by as many as 12 points, but the Blazers allowed the San Antonio Spurs back into the game by committing 19 turnovers. "We were sloppy to say the least," said Blazer rookie Al Horford. Horford enjoyed the best game of his young career as he played a spectacular all around game. Horford finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists but he also contributed to the Blazers' turnover problem by having 4 himself. "They put pressure on our passes and we struggled to get them to the right person."

A perfect example of the Blazers poor passing was during the final two posessions for Portland in the second overtime. Michael Finley stripped the ball from LaMarcus Aldridge for a coast-to-coast layup in the dying seconds of the second overtime to give the Spurs a 113-111 advantage. Brandon Roy then had his inbounds pass intercepted by Ginobili who ran down the shotclock for the win.

The Spurs were led in scoring by the trio of Michael Finley, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and held a 10 point lead late in the fourth quarter after each of them hit a three pointer. Portland quickly erased that lead by hitting two three pointers of their own courtesy of Martell Webster and Quentin Richardson, which was followed by a dunk by Darius Miles. Miles however, suffered an arm injury after going up for a dunk attempt on Michael Finley and was forced to leave the game with only 1:20 remaining while the Spurs were still up 84-80 after Tony Parker hit a runner in the paint. Channing Frye answered Parker by scoring a basket of his own and hit two freethrows to even the score. Parker picked off a bad pass and once again converted it into another 2 points. With only 6.2 seconds left, Brandon Roy recieved an inbounds pass at the elbow and swished a shot to send the game into overtime.

Portland managed to obtain a two point lead in overtime, but Tim Duncan once again showed that he could help make a significant impact without dominating in just scoring alone. Duncan scored 15 points, but also finished the game by stuffing the stat sheet with 18 rebounds 3 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks and just one turnover. The superstar managed to coral a rebound with 23 seconds left into overtime and fed the ball to late-game magician Robert Horry to tie the game once again. "Duncan did all the dirty work for us," said game-high scorer Michael Finley. "The first two quarters we played badly because he was in foul trouble, but when he came back on the court he gave us open looks that we would have never gotten if he wasn't there."




Portland's turnovers came back to haunt them


Michael Finley played as if he was in his prime
Horford's play gave Duncan a pleasant suprise on defence this game
Horry sends the game into double overtime
Miles had a bad fall on his left arm at the worst time
Brandon Roy did a stellar job running the point
Tim Duncan throwing it down

[jonthefon]

Ouch, you copped it from Bob. And Fin. Tough loss, but you should bounce back now that you've shown you can beat good teams.

[Its_asdf]

Blazer News
Miles Out for 2 Weeks, Blazers Activiate "Other Miles"



November 17, 2007

Darius Miles finished travelling the road to recovery to play with his surgically repaired knee only to have injured another part of his body. Miles sprained his wrist in a double overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs during a crucial fourth quarter stretch. X-Rays have shown that Miles will need some time to recover from his wrist injury and will have to be moved to the inactive list once again.

Ironically, Miles had just finished rehabbing from a knee injury a few months ago that took him out for the entire 2006-2007 season. Although Miles has been attracting negative publicity for the Blazers and has been labelled as an underachiever, Miles had quietly made a solid impact off the bench for the Blazers in the 5 games that he has played in, averaging 12.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and a team leading 1.8 blocks per game, including a game-winning dunk against Chicago where he tallied a season high 23 points and 4 assists on 11 of 19 shooting.

"He's been a crucial piece off the bench," said teammate and best friend Quentin Richardson. "He's been playing very good basketball lately but all we can do now is to play even harder and hope that he has a speedy recovery."

Miles' injury opens up playing time for some youngsters that have been eager to prove themselves. Dorell Wright and C.J. Miles are both players drafted out of high school that have earned rave reviews from the coaching staff but failed to earn any playing time so far. Seldom used back up point guard Mardy Collins could also fill in at the shooting guard position where Martell Webster and Darius Miles would alternate playing in off the bench. "Not only do C.J. and Dorell get a chance to get some playing time, but guys that already get playing time like Martell, Mardy and Brandon can also step up to the plate and contribute even more than they have been contributing," said head coach Nate McMillan. "Q is on a roll right now and this will help fuel his fire right now... Even JJ (Jarret Jack) will get more opportunities because we'd always shift Roy to the point guard spot to make room for Miles on the floor."

According to Blazer trainers, the third overall pick out of high school in the 2000 draft will miss the rest of November. Portland will play a back to back against Denver and Minnesota followed by an away game in Sacramento to face the Kings and then will fly over to the East to play the Washington Wizards. The 6'9 swingman is schedueled to return on the first of December, when the Portland Trail Blazers will face off against the Utah Jazz.

Payton Waived



November 20, 2007

Gary Payton's career is now on hold after the Portland Trail Blazers decided to let the 17 year veteran walk.

Payton, 38, was known around the league as a player with hall of fame status written all over him, but the charismatic trash talking lock-down defender did not seem to fit in with the youth movement that the Blazers are currently going through since Payton is now just a mere shadow of his former self. Portland GM Kevin Pritchard explained that he wanted to keep Payton, but Payton insisted that he did not want to be part of the team. "I've said this before, but Payton is a veteran with a lot of experience and that could've helped our younger players grow, especially the point guards," he said. "But I asked Payton whether he was willing to play for us and 'No' was his answer."

Payton, otherwise known as "the Glove", earned approximately 6 million dollars this year in a contract that was about to expire, so financially the Blazers did not suffer much from releasing him. Payton won a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006 and was brought over in a trade during the '07 off-season where he was shipped to Portland along with Dorell Wright in exchange for Fred Jones and Travis Outlaw. He told reporters he is considering retirement if he is not signed to a contender after he clears waivers.

[Its_asdf]

Ouch, you copped it from Bob. And Fin. Tough loss, but you should bounce back now that you've shown you can beat good teams.

I was kind of pissed because I hate Horry. But yeah, I'm using simple plays and things now to make my life easier so I think I have a pretty good chance at beating some of the better teams. Its just irritating how sometimes you just start bricking shots and the computer just catches up for no reason.

[Clutch]

Brandon Roy then had his inbounds pass intercepted by Ginobili who ran down the shotclock for the win.

freakin' Ginobili! what a way to lose the game - an inbound steal and in double OT to boot

tough loss w/Darius and poor dead-weight GP; ah well, at least some others will have a chance to shine

[Its_asdf]

Iverson and Anthony Duo Too Much for Portland


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The Portland Trail Blazers' perimeter defence is beginning to become a growing concern for coach Nate McMillan and his ball club. The Denver Nuggets, last year's number one seed in the Western Conference, managed to score 31 points to give them a 12 point lead in the first quarter and would never lose their lead at any point during the game.

"This was a lot like the Golden State game where we got discouraged and we lost our confidence," commented Nate McMillan. "We shot 47% from the field, so offence isn't our problem. We're just playing lazy defence from the perimeter and giving their guards free lanes into the paint." This was also the Blazers' first game without Darius Miles after he injured his wrist, and they seemed to miss his energetic presence off the bench as Portland failed to get enough energy going for a run to bring themselves back into the game. "Obviously Miles was an important part of the team for us in the few games that he played, but its no excuse to play the way we did," McMillan later added.

"Our opening quarter really hurt their chances of winning the game," Carmelo Anthony said. Anthony played an integral part in Denver's early run, scoring 10 points and helped the Nuggets shoot a sizzling 68% from the field during the opening quarter. "Me, J.R. and A.I. attacked the basket and we were rewarded for it."

C.J. Miles performed well in his first game of the season
Portland's weak perimeter defence allowed Iverson to knife into the lane at will
Melo throwing down a powerful two hander
Nene provided instant offence off the bench

Portland Squeeze By Timberwolves


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Despite going 2 of 12 from beyond the arc to start the game, the Blazers would nail their three pointers when it mattered the most. The Minnesota Timberwolves led through the first three quarters as they rallied behind Ricky Davis' game-high 22 points. Although not known to be an offensive weapon, Trenton Hassell also managed to net himself 19 points in the process.

Portland kept it close however, refusing to give the opposing team any opportunity to widen the gap. The Wolves managed to hold the lead for the majority of the game, but it was clear that the momentum was in Portland's favour for the entire game. "We were still down on ourselves about the Denver game and how we would let them go on runs that would put the game out of reach for us," said Brandon Roy, who fought off early foul trouble to lead a well balanced Blazer attack with 15 points. "Everytime they tried to push us down, we pushed back and eventually they were the ones that fell."

Quentin Richardson and Martell Webster then each knocked down a three pointer to start the fourth quarter to give the Blazers a 67-64 lead, which would be their first and only lead of the game. C.J. Miles later connected on another three ball in the waning seconds of the game to break a tie between the two teams. "We were getting good looks," said sharpshooting foward Quentin Richardson, who finished the game shooting 50% from three. "It was only a matter of time before we made them."

Brandon Roy was one assist shy of a double double
Horford with a double pump slam
Garnett struggled to establish himself in the post this game
Ricky Davis with the jam on the fast break

Ugly Game From Both Teams, Kings Come Out on Top


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Both teams played poorly throughout the game, but it was an abysmal second quarter by Portland that sealed their fate. Portland scored a season low 9 points in the second quarter, making only 3 of their 16 shot attempts. The Blazers finished the game shooting 38% from the field and 15% from beyond the arc. The only quarter which Portland was outscored in was the second. "It was painful," said Martell Webster, who sank only 1 of his 6 three pointer attempts. "All the shots that we took we would normally make with ease, I'm still scratching my head as to why we played so badly in the second quarter." Portland head coach Nate McMillan also struggled to describe Portland's shooting fiasco.

"We did everything right," sighed McMillan. "We played good defence on them, forced them to take outside shots and made them work for every basket they got, but in the end we didn't make the shots we were given and that hurt us." McMillan however remained optmistic and applauded the team's effort. "Even though we couldn't put the ball in the basket tonight, I'm proud of how our guys didn't hang their heads when the shots weren't falling, especially during the second quarter. If you look at the score sheet, the only quarter that we were outscored on was the second quarter, and if it weren't for that one quarter, we would have won the game."


Horford abused Kings' rookie Tiago Splitter with a facial
Roy about to be posterized by Kevin Martin...
...And was also the victim of a Mike Bibby crossover...

[Its_asdf]

Brandon Roy then had his inbounds pass intercepted by Ginobili who ran down the shotclock for the win.

freakin' Ginobili! what a way to lose the game - an inbound steal and in double OT to boot

tough loss w/Darius and poor dead-weight GP; ah well, at least some others will have a chance to shine

Darius seemed to be a lot more important than I thought. His length and dunking ability really allowed me to generate a lot more looks on offence.

I'm kind of liking C.J. right now though. He's very versatile and I think he's got the handle and passing to even play the point.

[Devin112]

NICE TEAM man. I'm really intrigued by dorell wright and cj miles, I had CJ on my squad last time around too.

Great dynasty-porn man, it's getting me in the mood!

[Mark.]

Looking good dude, hopefully you will start to find some consistency soon. What length quarters are you playing?

[---]

Nice updates.

I'm just wondering, will you be looking for a new point gaurd any time soon? Jarrett Jack has been pretty disappointing to say the least, judging by his totals. His season high so far by my count has been 8 points, pretty low. I suggest you get him on the block and move him for someone else, possibly a guy like Luke Ridnour or Antonio Daniels?

Ridnour will bury most open shots he gets a look at, and Antonio is quick with a good handle so it's easy to create shots with him. Keep it up.

[Its_asdf]

Trying to Shake Off the Inconsistency
Horford Replaces Aldridge in Starting 5 to Avoid Further Slump

November 28, 2007

Inconsistency. The one word that Trail Blazer coach Nate McMillan has been hearing over and over about his team for the past few weeks. The Blazers are now 8 games into the season, and if there's one thing that we've learned through out the season so far is that this team is unpredictable to say the least.

The Blazers started off the season well with a convincing win against Greg Oden and the Lakers, showcasing a depth-filled balanced attack of young, up and coming players while locking Kobe Bryant down to single digit scoring. But like many young teams, the young Portland squad has also had its rough nights and are prone to sudden disspearances in confidence for long stretches of the game; perfect examples come in the form of losses against San Antonio and a Ron Artest-less Sacramento, where they've failed to close out games, or even games against Denver and Golden State where they would fall behind early in games and simply give up the fight soon afterwards.

That's why McMillan always has a look of despair on his face during timeouts. McMillan has been desperately looking for a winning combination of players on the court to salvage some sort of cohesion and consistency.

Suprisingly, one player that has brought on a nightly basis for the Blazers is none other than their first year big man, Al Horford. McMillan has awarded the rookie by moving "Big Al" into the starting lineup in hopes that Portland won't repeat last year's train-wreck of a season. "This is a young team, and I understand that there will be ups and downs," McMillan said. "But that doesn't mean that we're going to do our best to find some consistency. Normally rookies are the ones that go through ups and downs their first year, but Al has shown us why he was talked about being the most 'NBA-ready' player in the draft."

"I'm just doing whatever coach tells me to do," Horford said, trying to downplay any signifigance to his new role. "I'm a rookie, but that doesn't mean that I can't lead by example. I want to prove to Portland why I'm the 3rd pick in the draft. I'm happy that I'm a starter, but its all because of the hard work I put into my game."

Another factor to the Blazers inconsistentcy seems to stem from the major roster overhaul during the off-season, which has yet to take effect for the struggling Portland Trail Blazers. "We have a lot of new guys here," said second year guard Brandon Roy, whos roller coaster-type inconsistency has people wondering if he is going through the dreaded "sophomore slump" after a stellar rookie campaign. "It's going to take some time to gel together, but I know when we start clicking with our chemistry, we're going to go far."

As for his own struggles, Roy has been relatively confident throughout his topsy-turvy play. "I know my game better than anyone, and I know that I can shake this off," assures Roy. Brandon attributes his early season struggles to his new role as the team's main back up point guard when Jarrett Jack is taken out of the game. Although known for his passing ability and good court awareness, the 6'6 guard still feels slightly unfamiliar in playing the point for such long durations of the game. "It's going to take some time for me to get used to being a point guard. Coach has been playing me a lot more at the point this year and I played a lot of the two last season under his system, so I'm trying to adjust to be more of a distributor than last year."


Al Horford's agressive inside play has earned him 2 double doubles so far this season.

[Its_asdf]

NICE TEAM man. I'm really intrigued by dorell wright and cj miles, I had CJ on my squad last time around too.

Great dynasty-porn man, it's getting me in the mood!

You, Shannon and I should start our own C.J. Miles fan club. I'm thinking of using him as a back up point guard since his passing ratings in the game are fairly high and he's got good height (around 6'6 I think) so he can shoot over shorter guards. I kind of envisioned having Mardy Collins in this role, but he's been really disappointing to say the least.

Looking good dude, hopefully you will start to find some consistency soon. What length quarters are you playing?

I'm playing in 9 minute quarters. Might bump it up to 10 because of the low scoring, but normally I reach my NBA-Live threshold for the day when playing 9 minute quarters. Nice to see you pop in once in a while man.

Nice updates.

I'm just wondering, will you be looking for a new point gaurd any time soon? Jarrett Jack has been pretty disappointing to say the least, judging by his totals. His season high so far by my count has been 8 points, pretty low. I suggest you get him on the block and move him for someone else, possibly a guy like Luke Ridnour or Antonio Daniels?

Ridnour will bury most open shots he gets a look at, and Antonio is quick with a good handle so it's easy to create shots with him. Keep it up.

I've been thinking about it, and to be honest I think I might experiment a little by moving Roy to the point and bring Jack in as a sub, since he plays really well against second-tier point guards. You can never rule out a trade though. I'm always looking to add a couple new perimeter oriented guards that can hit some shots.

[Mark.]

Haha yeah well 5 mins reaches my Live 07 threshold, and since I don't have any of my other versions here Live aint really an option. I like the idea of moving Roy to PG then having maybe Q-Rich or Webster at the two maybe?

[Its_asdf]

Blazers Lose Horford as Frye and Roy Beat Out Wizards' "Big 3"


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Al Horford's first NBA start will not be a memorable one. The 6'9 power foward played in his first NBA game as a starter against Washington, but less than 3 minutes into the game Horford collided with Wizards foward Antawn Jamison and landed on his foot, rolling his ankle. Horford would not return to the game, but Channing Frye would help pick up the slack. Frye, who normally played power foward, was placed at the center position to make room for Horford and reaped the benefits of his new position greatly by scoring season-high 21 points and also finished with 12 rebounds and 3 assists. Brandon Roy also showcased his all around game with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists.

Portland managed to maintain a sizeable lead throughout the first three quarters, and looked as if they were finally going to put away the Wizards after going on a 6-0 run in the fourth to give them a 80-66 advantage. Wizards' guard Gilbert Arenas manage to catch the Blazer offence off guard with pesky defence and eventually stole the ball from Portland for four consecutive posessions. The mounting turnovers and fatigue from the Blazers' main big men setting in after losing Al Horford led to 10 unanswered points by Washington. After trading a few more baskets, the Blazers found themselves down 88-86 with only 2 minutes remaining.

"We've been in this situation many times where we've lost the lead and we'd never get it back because we're so young and we didn't have the experience," said Blazers foward Quentin Richardson. "We've learned from the past now and it looks like we finally understand how to play with our backs against the wall."

Richardson once again delivered crucial scoring in the fourth quarter by knocking down a three pointer and on the following posession scored on a turnaround jumper in the post. Roy capped off the Blazers' 7-0 late in the fourth with a dunk and the score would be 95-92 with only 32 seconds remaining. The Wizards were forced to foul and Roy and Aldridge both nailed their free throws.



Frye played the center position flawlessly.


Arenas had a mediocre offensive game, but forced 3 of his 5 steals in the 4th
Caron Butler hit shots from every angle
Horford needed to be helped off the floor by his teammates
Part of Horford's minutes were given to Pyzrbilla and Sow, who did most of the dirty work on the inside

[Its_asdf]

Haha yeah well 5 mins reaches my Live 07 threshold, and since I don't have any of my other versions here Live aint really an option. I like the idea of moving Roy to PG then having maybe Q-Rich or Webster at the two maybe?

Yeah, I'm think about moving Webster up to start, but he still hasn't really "proved" himself yet. Maybe I just have too high expectations for the guy.

Miles should be healthy enough to come back next game against the Jazz as well. Although I wouldn't peg him as a definite candidate to start, he's probably the best defender on my team because of his height and I really need a stopper on the perimeter (the Washington game showed how much I need someone to play defence )

We'll see when the time comes. I'm open to try different things and experiment a little.

[buzzy]

Oh man, 2 minutes on the floor and already injured. Hopefully this wont hold up long.
Anyway, nice win, good to see Roy turned things around in the last minutes. Also nice game by Q.

Try to get some games over .500 and keep her up !

[Clutch]

NOOOOoooo! Freakin' injuries and a nasty one too - ankle roll; usually a few weeks at least, no? was really looking forward to see how Horford does

anyway, hope you can hold down the fort with your guys off the bench

[Mark.]

Oh yeah I fogot Miles, I always found him pretty handy as another option for a ball handler, even played him at point sometimes.

[Its_asdf]

November Player Report Card

Most of you who have read my dynasties in the past (which isn't very many people ), remember that I'd give out a monthly report card for the players on my team. This dynasty is no exception since the report cards are something that enjoy doing the most and help continue to motivate me to update the dynasty.

This first update isn't going to be very detailed... I haven't done this in a while so I've forgotton a lot of the details I'd normally have in it, but next report card I'll be sure to make it look nicer/more detailed.

Anyway without further ado...

Centres

Channing Frye - B+
All in all, Frye's numbers throughout the first 9 games aren't amazing, but they get the job done well for someone who shares minutes equally with LaMarcus Aldridge and Al Horford. Frye is a near double-double guy and has led the team in rebounding in 4 of the 9 games. Although he moved to the centre position for only one game, you can really see the difference that it made in the game against Washington as he showcased a deadly all around game that made opposing centre Brendan Haywood look silly everytime Frye touched the ball. Also with Horford out of picture, the former Arizona Diamondback should be able to showcase much more of his offensive repitoire.
Line of the Month - 21pts, 12rebs, 3asts, 2blks @ Washington

Joel Przybilla - D
Joel has played only 3 games this season and went from being the anchor of the Blazers' interior defence to just a benchwarmer in a couple of seasons. Przybilla should get some extended minutes with the Horford injury though. He showed promising signs that he could rebound in bunches in the win against Washington.
Line of the Month - 2pts, 4rebs, 1blk, 1stl @ Washington

Pape Sow - C-
Like Joel, Pape Sow hasn't played often because of the big man rotation of Frye, Aldridge and Horford. However, Sow doesn't have the expectations that come with a large contract like Przybilla does, and anything that you can get from Sow is a plus. His only game played was against Washington, and he's also showed signs that he isn't a complete screw up when given a few minutes here and there.
Line of the Month - 3pts, 3rebs, 1/1FG @ Washington

Power Fowards

LaMarcus Aldrdige - B-
Like Frye and Horford, Aldrdiges' numbers aren't that great, especially if you're comparing last year's stats to see how much LaMarcus has improved. But considering that he shares the load with Frye and Horford evenly, Aldridge's numbers are very comparable to them. One thing that might bring Aldridge down in a Frye/Horford/Aldridge debate on who's better is the fact that he hasn't had any big offensive games yet. Aside from Aldridge's 16 point effort against Denver, there hasn't been any signs showing that Aldridge could potentially emerge as the go-to offensive big man. Out of the three main bigs, Aldrdige definitely is the least consistent offensively.
Line of the Month - 16pts, 9rebs, 2asts vs Denver

Al Horford - B+
When comparing Horford to Frye and Aldridge, Horford's easily the most offensively consistent out of the three. Horford also brings very underrrated passing skills which aren't reflected in his assists numbers. He has scored 10+ points in 6 of the 9 games, but if there's one thing Horford doesn't do nearly as well as Frye or Aldridge, it's rebounding. Horford's been playing off the bench for every game that he's played in (minus the Washington game), so its only natural that his rebounding numbers aren't as high. If Horford's ankle injury isn't that serious, he could be expected to start once again, which would really put the rookie to the test.
Line of the Month - 18pts, 12rebs, 4asts vs San Antonio

Small Fowards

Quentin Richardson - A
Q-Rich has been a pleasant suprise for Portland, becoming their go-to scorer, is a steady defensive rebounder and leads the team in steals. He might have taken a game or two to get into rhythm and had a few off shooting nights here and there, but when the Blazers win, you know that Richardson was the one who did something positive to help them get the 'W'. Richardson's knack for scoring in the post has becoming the Blazers' bread and butter move on offence; allowing Richardson to draw the defenders in and then kick it back out. This is a sharp contrast to Q's perimeter oriented catch-and-shoot style of play that he's been known for the past few years.
Line of the Month - 24pts, 7rebs, 3asts, 2stls vs San Antonio

Martell Webster - C
Martell has been doing a very good job scoring off the bench, but Webster has become growingly inefficient from the field. It seems like Webster's offence also dictates his confidence in other areas of his game as well. Webster's rebounding has slumped tremendously the past few games, and after his pre-season vows of becoming a starter and making a deep impact on the team, Webster still has a long ways to go from achieving his goals for this season.
Line of the Month - 17pts, 6 rebs, 3/4 3ptFG @ Los Angeles Lakers

Darius Miles B+
Miles has also been a suprise for the Blazers, and despite fans questioning his future with the team, Miles has strung together some pretty good games off the bench for Portland. Whether or not Miles can keep his mouth shut and behave for the rest of season is still questionable though. Unfortunately, Miles had to sit out for latter half of the month after injuring his wrist against the Spurs. From the looks of it, Miles looks like he'll make a full recovery without any mishaps.
Line of the Month - 23pts, 3rebs, 4asts vs Chicago

Dorell Wright (?)
Wright hasn't played a game yet for the Blazers, but he did show a lot of promise with the Miami Heat. With a similar and more experienced player in Miles, its doubtful that Wright sees any PT unless Miles is traded.

Shooting Guards

Brandon Roy - C+
Brandon Roy's season has been filled with as many ups as downs so far. He finished the month off strong against Washington after a poor performance against Sacramento, and Roy has been experiencing a similar pattern throughout all 9 games where he'd have one quality game and follow it up with a poor one. Unlike last year, defences are zeroing in on Roy and opposing teams are doing a lot of their scouting on Roy this season. Roy will have to get used to the attention, but Roy's smooth and confident demeanor doesn't look like he'll be rattled for much longer.
Line of the Month - 21pts, 4rebs, 8asts, 7/7FT @ Washington

C.J. Miles - C-
It's not really right to peg Miles as a 2-guard since he spends probably just as much time, if not more, at the point guard position. C.J. suprised a lot of people with his play the first two games that Darius Miles was out, never forcing the issue and doing a steady job running the offence while scoring 7 points in each game against Denver and Minnesota. Miles followed these solid (but not stellar) performances with two stinkers against Sacramento and Washington, which was probably when the excitement of finally getting playing time got the best of him. All in all, its intriguing to see Miles' play. His 'jack of all trades' style of play is sure to earn him some more minutes as a role player off the bench in the future.
Line of the Month - 7pts, 4asts, 1/2 3ptFG @ Minnesota

Point Guards

Jarrett Jack - F
If disappointment had a face, Jarrett Jack would be it. Jack's play has been terrible all around and it seems like Brandon Roy has taken over the point duties for Jack, even if JJ is starting. It's not as if the defences are keying in on Jack either; most of Jack's struggles are self-imposed. He shoots a fairly good percentage from the field but just doesn't assert himself on offence enough, which is strange because he was the team's third leading scorer last season. Jack's defence has been suspect this year as well. While the effort has been there, he just hasn't been able to keep other point guards in front of him.
Line of the Month - 8pts, 5asts, 1reb @ Los Angeles Lakers

Mardy Collins - D-
With Brandon Roy becoming more of the team's playmaker and C.J. Miles starting to take minutes at the point, it looks like Collins' duties as the back up point guard aren't going to be needed very much. It isn't very suprising to see plenty of '0's on the stat sheet next to Collins' name.
Line of the Month - 6pts, 1reb, 1blk @ Minnesota

Blazer of the Month:


Quentin Richardson

17.0 ppg
4.8 rpg
1.7 apg
1.3 spg
48% FG
39% 3ptFG

[Its_asdf]

Oh man, 2 minutes on the floor and already injured. Hopefully this wont hold up long.
Anyway, nice win, good to see Roy turned things around in the last minutes. Also nice game by Q.

Try to get some games over .500 and keep her up !

I know, I was kicking and screaming when I saw that in-game cutscene of Horford limping around in pain.

NOOOOoooo! Freakin' injuries and a nasty one too - ankle roll; usually a few weeks at least, no? was really looking forward to see how Horford does

anyway, hope you can hold down the fort with your guys off the bench

Thats what I like about this team is that there is a lot of depth on this roster. I'm confident I can hold out, Horford's injury isn't that serious anyway.

Oh yeah I fogot Miles, I always found him pretty handy as another option for a ball handler, even played him at point sometimes.

Yeah, Miles is pretty versatile in-game. I kind of hate it how he can't hit a jump shot to save his life though... Oh well, realism, I guess.

[Jing]

I read, but the amazing writing makes me forget to reply.

BTW, the Marty Collins had an extra [b] in front of his name in your report card, a minor mistake.

[Oli]

Great presentation. Where are you ranked in the league

[Devin112]

wow wow we wha!

I love the report card!!

this really fleshes out the dynasty. great job man, i'm loving it