On this Barbosa business

Here is the article that has local sports radio and Blazer blogs across Blogfrica sizzling at the moment. The meat of the trade has Portland landing Barbosa for Martell Webster and the thirteenth pick of the draft.

It seems Steve Kerr, in his quest to further demoralize an elite franchise, wants to trade the Brasilian Blur. Barbosa was a great fit on the pre-Kerr Suns teams that were always a little short of breaking through to the finals. He is a horrible fit for the train wreck that looms on the horizon of the new Kerr era. He should be happy about that.

The rumor has sparked a lot of debate, and most arguments can be categorized as falling into two categories: Does Barbosa fit with the Blazers? Do we want to part with Martell?

At this point my feelings are "no" and "no." Would Barbosa fit with this team? It is possible, but doesn't seem like it would be the most natural fit. Barbosa is not known for facilitating or running an offense, or his jumper. He is known for speed, pesky defense, and an ability to get to the rim. The man is in his element in the open court with the ball in his hands. I know the Blazers enjoy talking about being a running team, but we can all admit to seeing little evidence of this idea moving beyond the concept phase. Yes, they have long athletic finishers. Yes, it sounds like an awesome idea. Ultimately though, Roy appears more comfortable and effective with a slower style. I think this should always be considered in the "running team" discussion.

Do we want to part with Martell? If it really will improve the team, of course we are all for it. Maybe you are one of the folks that think we have given Martell enough opportunities to develop and he just isn't giving what we need. For all the knocks he takes about his consistency, I would like to remind you all that Martell is 21 years old. Understand the power of that number, please. There will be many players drafted this year who are Martell's age, there will be a handful that are older. We saw with Outlaw that patience is a virtue. I'm not sure if this trade is worth giving up on Martell so early.

We know Kevin Pritchard and his staff are good at making trades. I assume they like making trades. With all the young talent and draft picks, there is certainly ample resources to make moves. The more interesting challenge might end up being one of patience.

Im in ur emailzz, stealing ur monies

Here is some random hilarity. A DeceptivelyQuick reader let me know he received a scam email from Jack Brown of this here blog giving him some get rich internet scheme. This amuses me. First, I think we all know I'm not exactly a profitability wizard. Also, the abject obscureness of this blog only makes it funnier.

For future reference, you should know that all my authentic emails are signed with a tuba.

As good a time as any for some Stig Dogg

Hm, it really has been a while since we last checked in with our good friend and Finnish rap kingpin Stig Dogg. Globetrotter H.T. recommends this classic:



Wow.

Petteri Koponen touches down in Portland

Was there really a Josh McRoberts headline on this blog for like five days? Terrible what I did to you there.

Luckily I got an email from H.T. letting me know the Finnagler himself will be in Portland Sunday to workout and get ready for summer league. The Finnagler and the Blazers, together again. Petteri should be excited to show off his growth as a player, coming off a Finnish league title and MVP. The Blazers are also excited, hoping he brings some sweet Nokia phones that haven't been released in the States yet.

I'm excited for summer league, but things have the potential to be depressing on the Koponen front. Last summer, he got very little opportunity to play pointguard. Hopefully his development will warrant an honest chance at running the team this time around. Finnaglerphiles should be hoping the Blazers don't draft any pointguards.

Also, the esteemed H.T. interviewed Koponen, which can be found achieving its manifest destiny over at Blazers Edge. If this interview is any indication, H.T. is becoming a major player in the Finnish Underground and with the darker Invisible Finnish Hand. I suggest you all click that link and read the text with your eyeballs.

The Post-Duke Career of Josh McRoberts

Ah, the journey of Josh McRoberts. When he was at Duke, people naturally hated the guy. But being hated isn't so bad, it is acknowledgment of existence and probably relevance.

Then, after getting drafted in the second round, Josh McRoberts entered a new and exciting phase of his life: irrelevance. The guy had been known on the basketball scene since high school, so the sudden relative anonymity must have been strange.

Little NBA playing time, little D-League dominance. (Role player for D-League Champion just doesn't seem to grab people, wadayagonadooo?) Now you can't really discount the argument that his most positive contribution to the team is being Greg Oden's friend. Although I still like some of his potential as a player (remember all these nice things I said?), the basketball universe has seemingly made its final judgment that he doesn't matter after all. Its up to him to battle that.

All of this is brought home in Oden's recent workout clip for ESPN. Here, McRoberts plays the role of anonymous workout partner to perfection. Watching the first couple scenes, I actually was wondering who that white guy was working out with Greg. He looked kinda tall, I wonder if he plays basketball? I believe this is a sign that Josh should do all he can to maintain this friendship.

Terry Porter got the Suns job? Rudy is coming? Someone should blog about that...

I have no business blogging right now. Seriously. I'm in a cave somewhere frantically pounding my keyboard with bloody stubs that used to be fingers, gasping for one last wave of vigor as I dig my way through a sea of inconveniently close deadlines.

Apparently I don't control the timing of many things in life. This includes juicy Blazer developments that are just begging to be tossed around in this desolate space.

For example, Terry Porter getting the Suns coaching job. Wow. Really. You know we wish him well.

And then Rudy making it official that he will be coming over. That isn't especially surprising, but an eerily familiar pattern seems to be emerging here. Remember when the tornado of Sergio hype touched down in the Portland area? That was a ride.

Rudy is better prepared and in a better position to succeed than Sergio was/is, but I have really been hoping local media folks would wait at least two seconds before giving the guy an insane amount of hype. I took the picture below of the front page of the Oregonian today while on my morning Poptarts run. Sheesh people:

I love Blazers fans

Despite what you have been reading on here lately, I do not actually hate Blazer fans. I mean, you tell somebody to eat poo one time and all of a sudden you're the bad guy. I am a Blazers fan, did you notice the blog? Anyways, Its good to support your team, and Blazer fans definitely do it. So good for us.