Whats eating Spanish Chocolate?

At a recent Blazers training camp where all relevant media were allowed to watch the entire day (I was invited, but unfortunately again had to go shower and do some stuff), Casey Holdhal at OLive did a sort of live blog that seemed to include a bunch of bad plays by Sergio Rodriguez (it starts here).

This freaked out some of the Blazer faithful, who apparently bombarded the man with follow up questions about how it could be that Sergio was performing so poorly. Casey noted that Sergio wasn't terrible, he did distribute the ball well, then added:

"Nate McMillan didn't raise his voice a whole lot during practice, but when he did, it was almost always because of Sergio."

Casey later conjectures that Sergio seems like he may not be comfortable, which could be hurting his performance. Looking back on Sergio's offseason, its easy to see why he may not have all the confidence in the world.

Mike Barrett has been watching too. His ringing Sergio endorsement went like this:

"Sergio Rodriguez hasn't been especially disappointing"

Awesome. That counts as praise at this point.

Sergio has been in a whirlwind that has taken him from Bill Brasky, to a lackluster summer league, to not being able to get off the bench on his national team, to his coach telling the press he is out of the rotation and probably won't be back, to obscure bloggers calling for him to be traded (you should read that one).

To play his freewheeling style, I would think that comfort and confidence would be critical. I would also think that a player like Sergio wouldn't benefit by squelching the flavor of his game in order to join the "Nate-guy" club. If he wants to get playing time with this team, it seems he'll have to do all the things Nate wants and stay Spanish Chocolate.

Theres a line between show and hard-nosed basic basketball that every player like Sergio's success depends on. Sergio's idol, Jason Williams, reigned himself in and had it mostly figured out until injuries came along. Lets give Sergio a vote of confidence that it won't take him so long, his future as a Blazer is likely depending on it.

NBA Live 08 Update

As I've been letting everyone know my excitement for the upcoming release, I was pretty let down by news that it won't be coming to the Wii until October 30th. Lame. For the record, it comes out on the Wii in Europe October 19th. Yep, Europe.

Just another downer after hearing that dynasty mode will not exist on the version for my adorable little console, and reading the mixed reviews that continue to pour in.

I finally discovered ratings for the teams and partial lists for the players available online. Only the overall ratings of the top 20 players are listed (if you have the game on xbox or ps3 and would like to fill me in on Blazer ratings, I would pledge my unwavering devotion to you). The oddest ranking to me is Toronto at #28, weren't they in the playoffs as a new and young team last season? Portland comes in at #24, by the way.

I decided to cycle through the list and check in on some predictions I made back in August:

LaMarcus Aldridge will be underrated.
Cheeeeck! Well, all the list tells us is that he's not among the top 20 power forwards or centers. But, being that Shareef Abdul-Rahim is #20 I would think Lamarcus should be in there. Interestingly, new Blazer Channing Frye is tied with Shareef, both rated at 75.
Channing is one of two Blazers that made the top 20 cut, which leads us to....

Greg Oden will be overrated.
Cheeeeck! Although keeping him at a 75 was certainly more modest than I anticipated. This ties him with a gaggle of players as the 7th highest ranked center in the game. No I don't know why Brad Miller is a 76.

My Baron Davis-centric playing will continue to be sweet.
Cheeeeck! I will not complain that Mr. Boom-Dizzle is rated as the 4th best pointguard in the game at 88. My style of play is such that all my hopes hinge on this.

Franchise mode will continue to suck.
Nope! Man, they really got me on this one. How can it suck if they take it away completely? By the way, most NBA Live supporters clamor for EA to make a dynasty option that is as good as Madden. Apparently, this has yet to be heard at EA.

The Bobcats will be fun.
Eh? Too early to tell, but they did come in ranked at #16. Thats 12 spots ahead of the Raptors.

It really isn't shocking, but Roy didn't make the top 20 cut either. Which is fine, until you notice Randy Foye came in at #18 with a 76 rating.

Much of what I'm hearing is bad, which is depressing because I know I will still feel compelled to shell out the cash on October 30th. Damn you NBA Live, you never learn. And I cannot learn to let you go.

Blazers injury bug lashes out at DeceptivelyQuick

Oden's knee. Roy's heel. Today I learned that this injury plague is not limiting itself to Blazer players. None of us are safe, not even obscure sportsbloggers. This weekend, I contracted this. Just read the introduction paragraph, ya, things have not been good.

If I were Jordan, I might just score 47 against the Knicks in my condition. However, I am me, and will settle for a blogpost.



One update that won't gross you out is a new take on my creepy Pippen/Finnagler fantasy brought to you by BlueForest (somehow this had gone unnoticed by me until now):

"BlueForest said...
DQ, those ships could well wage a naval battle. If the Pippen GAMES do happen, one of them should be against Honka. Two years ago, when Rodman played one game for Torpan Pojat, it was against them. Ol' Dennis revealed a new side in his game by shooting 5/14 on THREE-POINTERS, but he could not run, jump or pick up a ball off the floor. I hope Pippen has a bit more left..."

Indeed, it seems the combination of former NBA greats and Finland can produce strange phenomenon. A potential Pippen v Finnagler showdown just got even better. Anybody have a hookup for Finnish airfare?

NBA Live 08 Release

With all the excitement around here, I nearly forgot the new NBA Live is out (I've been waiting, read here and here). I need to go buy NBA Live 08, but am holding off until the weekend as it is conducive to me not messing my life up. Fate has decided to tempt me daily, as there is a video game store directly along my daily foot-commute. I must stay strong.

Here's some first reviews of how the people are liking it on the Wii. As one of many who has been clamoring for a dynasty mode on par with EA's Madden games, its pretty disappointing to learn that it no longer even exists.

Assuming I'm able to get some quality Wii time this weekend, expect a review and I'll check in on how my predictions turned out.

Blazers on Myspace. I know I'm a loser.

It was Blazers media day today, and everybody who is anybody was there. I was going to get a press-pass and get all sorts of scoops, but I had to shower and do some stuff.

So I decided to have my own media day. There will be no microphones or cliche questions/answers at this one. To get to really know a person, they have to open up. You have to see them stripped down to their most honest self-expression. Thats right, we're going to Myspace!

I guess its important to keep in mind anyone can pose as anyone on myspace. I mean, if I really wanted to I could create an account claiming the name "Raef LaFrentz," throw up some pics and a Kelly Clarkson song, and BOOM, I'm hooking up with "LaFans" until I get "LaClap."

Full disclosure, here's mine.

Lets assume that at least some of these are real, and we can learn all types of interesting personal trivia. For example, did you know Raef LaFrentz would like to meet "Bill Russel, Magic Johnson, Jesus, " This is just the beginning my friend.

I ran the entire roster through the name search (I added the draft picks who will remain stashed in Europe for a while). Then I took my shirt off, took pictures at extreme angles that hide my flaws, and got my social-network on.

If you don't see your favorite Blazer on the list, there could be a couple of explanations. They could actually NOT have a myspace, it is sort of possible. Or, and this was more frequent, they have a common name and I didn't feel like sifting through 9 million other Steve Blakes of Chris Elisseses (Ellisi?). I guess I could of tinkered with the zip code filter on my searches, but um, I didn't.

LaMarcus Aldridge
Title: "The Official LaMarcus Aldridge Myspace"
Song: Get 'Em by lil Wayne
Friends: 144
Last login: 10/2/07
By reading the quote, you might think his page is more corporate-marketing tool than actual myspace. You're wrong, you'll be assured of this by the Weezy track and high volume of basketball pictures stuffed into the columns.

Channing Frye
Title: "with any new job, you embrace it, accept it, and move on proudly"
Private Page
He looks to be a serial-myspacer, with a few older accounts. If you're curious, I linked to one he had when he played for the Knicks. The move to a new private page with a positive mantra serving as title (his old one is "Go Knicks!!!!!!")? I like it.

Taurean Green
Title: "gators back to back champs"
Song: Low by Flo Rida
Friends: 945
Last login: 9/27/2007
If you have read this blog, you know I love Taurean's game. He's also impressing the pants off of Nate McMillan, which I always imagine as being hard. His teammates are in his picture, but he didn't just make this to show them some love. You know he can score effectively on his own: "Ladies I'm lookin for i girl that will treat me the way that i will treat the and da way i treat them is good." Awwwwe ya.

Jarrett Jack
Title: "Jarrett Jack"
Last login: 4/28/07
Private Page
Break down the walls, Jarrett, let me love you!

Raef LaFrentz
Title: "Trail Blazers on their way up"
Song: Streamline by Newton
Friends: 295
Last login: 1/5/07
This is the one profile I absolutely insist you visit. Really its too funny to be real (Dane Cook and Bishop Don Magic Juan are top friends), and I can't do it justice.

Josh McRoberts
Title: "im a lucky guy."
Last login: 9/7/2007
Private Page
I admit, I wanted to see this one pretty bad. But not as bad as the next one.

Darius Miles
Title: "Dunkin' Darius"
Song: Where it started at by Hi-Tek
Friends: 3987
Last login: 5/24/2007
Whatever people think about D.Miles, they still think about him. When I talk Blazers to those that don't really follow the team, his name comes up often. Further evidence is the multiple fake myspace pages that are dedicated to him. I linked to the one that seemed to have the most effort put into it.

Greg Oden
Title: "The Ohio State"
Song: Get them hands hi by Ten Days Till
Friends: 368
Last login: 10/2/207
Ordinary enough. Stick to his blog.

Travis Outlaw
Technically has one, but its totally blank. No bad joke equating that with his court presence. Not from me.

Brent Petway
Title: "Holla at ya folk!"
Song: None.
Friends: 3
Last login: 7/8/2005
Brent is one of those guys we should all cheer to catch on somewhere and make the league this season, if only so he can be in the dunk contest. Air Georgia's not really into myspace, though.

Joel Pryzbilla
See Travis Outlaw above.

Sergio Rodriguez
This search yielded 1183 hits, so I let it go. I do write about Sergio often, so I hope to satisfy your needs. Did that sound weird?

Martell Webster
Title: "YA ITS ME MARTELL"
Song: KOBE by Kobe Bryant
Friends: 42
Last login: 8/20/2007
Its not Martell, but it is hilarious. If you didn't know, Martell has angered teammates with the love he gives Kobe, especially when its moments after Mamba has snatched yet another W away from Portland. Kobe's rap song is one of the greatest gifts ever given to us, but for some reason it doesn't get the attention it deserves. This page keeps that alive.

Joel Freeland
Title: ""
Song: none
Friends: 15
Last login: 10/2/2007
Joel is in a frustrating situation. The Blazers know he's good enough to play here. Joel knows he's good enough to play here. But he isn't playing here, instead there is another frustrating season with Gran Canaria ahead. They signed him after he got drafted, seemingly in hopes of securing a nice buy-out payday from Portland, and have played him little and worked to develop him even less.
Trying times. But going emo won't help anything, there are no emo-guys in the League. Thats why his picture selection worries me a little:

Finnagler in arms, Update!

Once again, the Invisible Finnish Hand has surfaced. Agent H.T. offers us this first look at Koponen in uniform:

Slick. Not only can this uniform help you hide from enemies, but its also perfect gear to do the robot in at a European techno club. If you don't know whats going on, get up to speed on the Finnagler in the Finnish Defence Force.

Deceptively Quick's Blazers starters

A big feature in the Oregonian is detailing how nearly every position on the Blazers is up for grabs. Basically, we know Roy and Aldridge will start and thats about it. Although this topic has been beaten to death by other Blazer sites already, I am a hack, so I offer my starting five:

• PG: Jarret Jack. Sure, bringing in Steve Blake may have freaked out both Jack and myself. And while Sergio has apparently slipped out of the rotation (good for Jack), Taurean Green is stepping up in a big way (bad for Jack), and Nate loves tough pointguards like Green. We already know Blake is a Nate-guy. I still like Jack to earn the spot in training camp, simply because he's the most talented of the four, and won't give up his spot as incumbent starter so easily. Thats right, Jarret Jack.
• SG: Brandon Roy. I wish those of you who didn't watch much Blazers last year could truly understand how good Roy is. He really is the total package. I don't curse a whole lot on here but, (cover your ears!) I fucking love when Roy runs the point (my bad, should have said cover the eyes). That said, at least for this year, he'll probably start at the two, but will play point often during the game. Enjoy it.
• SF: James Jones. The competition for this spot is tight, with Outlaw, Webster, and rumors of a Miles comeback (in Decemberish, ugh). Outlaw's late season explosion while many opponents were simply playing out the schedule didn't impress me, it actually cost me the fantasy league title, so I hated it. Both he and Webster still have to get it together between the ears before they can start. I like what Jones could bring to this spot as a veteran with a shooting touch.
• PF: LaMarcus Aldridge. I can't wait to see LaMarcus this season. In case you didn't know, this guy will be an All-Star at some point in the next few years.
• C: Joel Pryzbilla. Don't think this is because I think he's better than Channing Frye, I think Frye will actually play more minutes and be the one to finish games. But Joel is another Nate-guy, and his defense and the fact that he won't take a lot of shots helps him fit in with the starting unit.

While I'm on it, here's a couple other actions I'm currently supporting:

• Trade Sergio Rodriguez. Ok, the Blazers like all four pointguards and want to keep them all for now, which I understand. Nate has said Sergio is currently out of the rotation. Next year, Portland has to bring over guard Rudy Fernandez. Supposedly, other teams are interested in Sergio. Portland needs to open up a spot in the backcourt. Will Sergio's trade value increase or decrease with him riding the bench all season? That's my case.
• Bring over Joel Freeland. You haven't forgotten about him, have you? Don't, because he's an animal. Oden is out for the season, so another big wouldn't hurt. Joel's current club, Gran Canaria, has a bizarre pattern of neither playing Joel nor helping him improve his skills in workouts. He's aching to get with the team and prove himself. I think Paul Allen can write a check and get him away from that last season with Gran Canaria. Why aren't we talking about this?