Trailblazers.com podcast -- heavy duty knowledge!

I strongly encourage everyone to give this week's trailblazers.com podcast a listen.

Not that Casey Holdahl and Dave from Blazersedge.com are infallible, but they make some very strong arguments about what needs to happen this off-season and discuss why this off-season will probably make or break this team's future championship aspirations.

http://trailblazerscentercourt.blogspot.com/2009/05/050709-trailblazerscom-podcast.html

 

Can you fill those of us unable to listen on what it actually says.

 

Er ... it' an hour long ... they talk about what the team needs to do in the off-season (ie add some consistent veterans, make some decisions on some borderline guys, etc.) they talk about Nic's future, Rudy's future, etc.

Way too much stuff to easily condense into a paragraph or two (and frankly I don't feel like taking the time).

What's the problem, can't you listen to it later?

 

Possibly. Just figured if you were strongly encouraging others to listen, there might be portions of their argument that could be recapped.

 

No disrespect, Casey works for the Blazers, but has NO inside info what so ever. Still I am interested in what they have to say. I'll check it out after work.

 

They don't offer any "insider" info, just their analyses and opinions ... both of which seem to be pretty well informed.

 

Some things of note so far:

- Don't judge a player based on a 6 game series.
- Steve Blake helped our spacing by knocking down 3's more than people.
- Blake's inability to drive, create, and finish in the paint does hurt us.
- Don't think a big move needs to be made this off season.
- For us to enter the championship window, we will have to take a risk at some point. We can't just it on our roster forever.
- Portland and Cleveland might be gearing up for years of battle in the finals.
- If your argument for playing a guy is "we need to give a chance." then those guys aren't cutting it. The NBA isn't about giving players chances, it's about players earning their minutes.
- We depend on Joel/Greg too much when it comes to rebounding.
- Travis/Aldridge will never become great rebounders.
- Mortgaging our future to win an extra playoff series wasn't worth it. No player was available this year that was going to win us a championship.

 

- Batum could become a solid, 3rd best player on the team. His scoring potential is untapped, could develop into a 15ppg type guy.
- Batum has the lateral quickness the Blazers lack as a team.

 

Travis Outlaw and I just had a laugh at this take.

-Pop

 

I'd imagine Casey would be in the let's-keep-Travis camp since those guys are really good buddies.

 

Surprinsgly, not so much.

 

haha. give your props to Tince! I think you thought bc our avatars are similar.

 

Really? Hmm. I'll have to give this a listen at home later.

 

Or he could be a 2 point per game guy. It takes more than one game in 20 being in the teens to impress me. He has no offensive moves. He is a limited permiter shooter. He basically has to learn everything. So he has just as big as chance of tanking as he does succeeding on the offensive end.

 

We agree with this take. To win in the NBA, it takes five guys on the floor at any time who can take their defenders one-on-one.

Signed,

The Golden State Warriors

Co-signed,

The New York Knicks

 

They're both pretty frank in their assessments of players, they don't exactly throw anybody under the bus, but never do you hear them say "oh just give inconsistent player A more time and he could really be something" The gist of most of their player evaluations boils down to this: KP and the rest of management should be willing to take a long hard look at anybody who is not a cornerstone player ... and they both agree Nic and Rudy are ballers and envision those two as being significant secondary contributors to the team's championship aspirations, everybody else they see as an open question (Travis, Blake, Sergio, Bayless, Martell).

 

Although Casey does start out the discussion criticizing people for "basing their opinions on a player on how they performed in this playoff series." Outside of Oden (who gets the benefit of the doubt this year because he's a rookie coming off of microfracture surgery), the only other player he could possibly be referring to is Outlaw. Blake had a couple poor moments but was otherwise about what you'd expect. Sergio, Bayless, Batum and Frye didn't get enough time on the floor to base an opinion on. Everyone else played pretty well.

I thought it was pretty clear he was defending Outlaw.

-Pop

 

He wasn't featured much on offense and he does have a ton to learn, but I totally disagree; Nic has a pretty decent handle, he shot 37% from three and 44% overall from the floor (and half of his shots were threes) he understands the team game and he's a decent passer -- most importantly he's insanely young, with all the athletic and physical attributes you'd look for in a 3.

Of all this year's rookies I agree with Dave and Casey that he probably has the most upside and potential to realize that upside, outside of Greg.