khandor’s sports blog

According to Kevin Arnovitz … 

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David Thorpe had this to say about Portland rookie Luke Babbitt: “He’s very comfortable as a scorer. He knows he has many option [sic] to choose from to get the ball in the bucket. He plays the game with a great pace — not unlike James Harden. That allows him to let plays develop. He’s going to be very effective in his shot-fake attack game.”

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Houtson Rockets 67
Portaln Trail Blazers 84
Complete Game Summary

Tuesday, July 13 the Blazers are scheduled to tip-off against the Raptors, on Day 4 of the Las Vegas Summer League.

This should present an interesting opportunity to see how:

* Ed Davis [No. 13 Draft Pick/2010] and Solomon Alabi [No. 50 Draft Pick/2010] perform for Toronto against the young bigs of Portland, i.e. Dante Cunningham [No. 33 Draft Pick/2009 and Jeff Pendergraph [No. 38 Draft Pick/2009],

and  

* Luke Babbitt [No. 16 Draft Pick/2010] performs against the young wings of Toronto, i.e. DeRozan [No. 9 Draft Pick/2009 NBA Draft] and Sonny Weems [No. 39 Draft Pick/2008 NBA Draft].

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PS. FYI, James Harden - the player to whom David Thorpe compared Luke Babbitt’s skill-set, above - was acquired last season by the Oklahoma City Thunder, as the No. 3 [overall] Selection in the 2009 NBA Draft.

PPS. Although, this corner considered James Harden to be an over-rated player last summer, in the No. 3 position of the 2009 NBA Draft, anytime a team can obtain a player with his type of ability in the latter half of the 1st Round, there’s a definite possibility this team might end up with someone who eventually could be considered as “the steal” of his specific draft class.  

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Update:

An apology of sorts is in store here, since the schedule for the 2010 Las Vegas Summer which is now published on this web site no longer shows that the Raptors will play against the Blazers later on this evening. Instead, Toronto will meet Houston. This was not the same information which was published on that site late Sunday night/early yesterday morning … which had a Raptors/Blazers match-up scheduled for today. It should still be very interesting to see the Raptors/Rockets match-up today, as 4 of Toronto’s so-called Young Gunz - i.e. Ed Davis, Solomon Alabi, Sonny Weems and DeMar DeRozan - will be in solid match-up situations against the core pieces of Houston’s summer team who either [i] spent last season in the NBA - i.e. Jordan Hill [PF], Jermaine Taylor [G] and Chase Budinger [G/F] - or [ii] were also selected in the 1st Round of this year’s NBA Draft - i.e. Patrick Patterson/No. 14 - after being by-passed by the Raptors.

When you take a look at the following extended video clip, it’s important to understand exactly what the Portland Trail Blazers are trying to accomplish this season …

and just how remarkable it would be, if they can actually pull it off, considering that they are playing WITHOUT their:

1. Starting Center, i.e. Greg Oden;

2. Back-up Center, i.e. Joel Przybila; and,

3. Back-up Power Forward, i.e. Travis Outlaw;

completely, and with several other key players like their:

4. Starting Off Guard, i.e. Brandon Roy;

5. Starting Small Forward, i.e. Nicolas Batum; and,

6. Back-up Small Forward, i.e. Rudy Fernandez;

each having spent a fair number of games on the Inactive List this season, due to an assortment of different major and minor injuries.

Yet, somehow, this team is still:

- well above the .500 mark with a W-L Record of 29-21 [i.e. .580]
- in 3rd place in the Pacific Division
- in a tie for 5th place in the Western Conference

in spite of also having to cope with the fact that their head coach, Nate McMillan, is still in ”recovery mode”, himself, from a torn achilles tendon injury, sustained when he stepped into practice earlier this season because the Blazers did not otherwise have enough “healthy” players on their roster to be able to conduct a full scale session.

If Portland can sustain their current level of performance … especially their present Points Allowed Ranking and Rebounding Differential Ranking … now that some of their walking wounded are finally beginning to return to good health, and make the Western Conference playoffs, then, there should be NO DOUBT, whatsoever, which coach should eventually receive this year’s Coach Of The Year Award, in the NBA.

No … doubt … whatsoever!

“A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”
- Lao Tzu

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Portland 122, Chicago 98: Everything falls into place for Blazers
For a night, at least, order was restored within the Trail Blazers. Brandon Roy was back at shooting guard and controlling the pace and precision of the offense. Andre Miller, steadfastly saying he is accepting the reins of the second unit, played perhaps as hard and determined as he has all season. And the inside combination of Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge was dominant like never before.  

The Blazers didn’t just beat Chicago on Monday, they overpowered them — dunking over, cutting through and stepping all over the Bulls during a 122-98 victory in front of 20,383 at the Rose Garden, its 79th consecutive sellout.

“A number of things are just starting to come together,” said Roy, who had 18 points and seven assists despite sitting the final eight minutes. “I think guys are back in their natural positions and we sensed that we have to get this going, too.”

Oden tied his career high with 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds, and Aldridge recorded his fifth double double of the season, finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds. While the Blazers’ big men helped create a 50-32 advantage in points in the paint, the perimeter duo of Roy and Miller (16 points, five assists) not only flourished in separate units, they also thrived when they played together.

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Building a championship calibre organization in the NBA is about making small steps forward each and every day … not swinging for the fences.

In Portland … it’s only a matter of time.

Related:

Diamond in the rough finally begins to glisten