Weakened Review, ex-Blazers on the move

You step away from your computer for just a little bit, just trying to have some sort of a life, and all of a sudden things happen.

• Soon after we took a trip down memory lane, Z-Bo (along with my man Mardy Collins! Temple Owls!) goes to the Clips for Cuttino Mobley (can we still call him Cat?) and Tim Thomas. Hoop Fam!
• P.J. (Peej!) got fired freed from coaching the Oklahoma City Clay-Bennett-Is-An-Assholes. [ESPN] Unless he assassinates a world leader, Carlesimo will always be known for getting choked by a player that was just trying to feed his family.
• Shaq vs. Oden! Showdown! Not really. Shaq responded to the Oden hype by pulling out a vintage performance and dropping vintage quotes afterwards. He probably even LOL'd about it on his twitter.
  
• Portland came off blowing out Chicago by blowing out the Kings [ESPN]. Wasn't it just last season that this team was in dire need of outside shooting?

I'll never venture outside again.

Weakend Review: Don't you feel better? I feel better.

After the heavy dose of depression that was the Blazers vs. Lakers on opening night, I entered the weekend searching for some salvation. Luckily the games against San Antonio and Phoenix brought a little of the warm fuzziness back. Here's some tidbits...

Portland 100, San Antonio 99 (box score):

-This team will be tough at home all season, a rabid Rip City crowd seems to help the young'ins attack with confidence. The Spurs found that out the hard way as the Blazers held on for the narrowest of victories.

-Nicolas Batum played an absolutely stellar first half. Blazers management raised some eyebrows when they decided to keep Batum on the roster after his lame summer league performance. His play proves once again that Kevin Pritchard knows more than we do.

-The Spurs put some brutal shackles on Roy last season. It was hard to watch. This game, Roy was awesome against San Antonio's defense. His success was probably due to a combination of his continued growth and a Spurs team that is a year older. I prefer more of the former.

Phoenix 107, Portland 96 (box score):

-Portland lead at the half and played competitively throughout at Phoenix. This is encouraging considering that reports of the Suns death have been greatly exaggerated.
-Rudy Fernandez was great in this game. Teams aren't really considering him in defensive schemes yet, but they will have to if he continues to play like this. It really is not fair that the Blazers continue to get awesome young talent. Sorry NBA.