Uprise [15-3] :: Most successful? Scrap it

Thierry's Blog: Greg's 18 fuel victory over Hawks
TrailBlazers.com | November 4th, 2009

Welcome back Blazers fans, Thierry reporting in TrailBlazers.com. You've got to love it when trade rumors surface in places like Toronto and New York about a player being on the block in Arizona. That's what has been on the papers over the past few days, as outlets in both places had Suns forward Amar'e Stoudemire being traded this season or testing free agency at the end of it. They probably should have checked with the Suns, however, as a source close to the situation said today that there is absolutely no truth to the notion that they're shopping Amar'e. It's not hard to see where the trade talk is coming from: Shaquille O'Neal (now in Cleveland) wasn't happy about the level of intensity he was seeing from his teammates in general, and Amar'e specifically. He's been more than vocal on that point. Amar'e is expected to be one of the biggest names in free agency during the summer of 2010, and that won't change a whole lot even with his current lackadaisical approach to the game. It will generally be assumed that he'd play harder for a different coach or in a different system. And he did. Look at his stats... no surprise the Suns are 4-0. Will he test free agency waters, stay at Phoenix or look for a championship somewhere else? Portland, maybe? Only time will tell.

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Greg scored 9 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and Brandon added 17 in our 87-76 victory over the Hawks Tuesday night. “The fourth quarter, usually the best players of the team have got to step up and lead the team,” Greg said. “I just couldn't afford for us to lose this game, so I had to impose my will on it.” Today he was the best of the squad. Greg also had 8 rebounds and one key block in a Hawks run to help us keep pace in the tight Western Conference race. Greg was 9-for-12 from the field. He made three straight dunks in a two-minute span in the third quarter as we opened a 20-point lead and finally put away Atlanta. “I got a little rhythm going and I took over the ballgame.” Way to go, Greg. We also outrebounded the Hawks 44-36, but they had 11 second-chance points against 2 from us. Hawks coach Mike Woodson decided to put Jamal Crawford in the place of Marvin Williams, and had 25 and four assists for Atlanta, who started the season 0-2 but after that, thay defeated the Lakers at the Staples Center.

“They beat us pretty good on the boards,” Woodson said in press conference. “Our defense wasn't bad, we had quite a few second-chance baskets, but our field goal percentage was terrible.” Yes it was, the Hawks shot 39 percent (29-of-85) while we shot 53 percent (39-of-73). Honestly, we looked sluggish in the first half. We ended the game committing 12 turnovers (5 by the Hawks), we committed more fouls, but the bench was again impressive: 29 against Atlanta's only 3 points. Yes, 3 points: Williams' 2 and a free throw by Joe Smith. Apart from Crawford, Joe Johnson was the most active Hawk on the floor, fighting for boards and scrambling for every loose ball, as he racked up 20 points and seven assists. “We weren't playing very good,” said Johnson. “Every possession, everything counts. You're not playing very good, you're not getting easy baskets, you need to play hard. It creates more possessions for you and it gives you more chances to score.” The Hawks now play four of the next five games on the road, the most important, the last one, at Boston (now, 4-1), the next Friday. “Every game is important,” Johnson added.

Mike Bibby flirted with a triple double, posting 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. “It took us until the third quarter to really find our defensive energy that was needed to win the game, but Portland had it all game long,” Bibby said. "We got an all-around night from Jamal and Joe, but it wasn't enough.” We built an eleven-point lead in the second quarter, but the Hawks stayed close behind Bibby and Josh Smith, who scored 8 points in the first half; he finished with 13. Lamar aggravated his finger injury on a drive into Al Horford just before halftime. He winced as he walked to the free-throw line but hit both shots to put us up 39-33. Then, we rebuilt our eight-point lead early in the third. Crawford made a 3-pointer and Horford dunked over Greg to cut it to 48-45. Trout had a putback and converted a three-point play to push the lead back to eight. He had a steal later in the quarter that led to an easy layup for Steve.

This deserved a separated paragraph. One good stat and one bad stat. I just couldn't believe LaMarcus game. J-Smoove was over him all night long and he couldn't shoot comfortably, most of the times trying to pass to his teammates in the last seconds of the possession. His night: 6 points and five rebounds, but seven assists, a team-high. The good news is, Martell had 9 points and 4 assists in 10 minutes, shooting 4-of-6 and also making a 3-pointer that posted a 23-point lead in the third (the highest of the night). A lot of fans asked for some minutes to him (my mailbox was full, Chris Hova from Germany, that was for you). Oh, I almost forgot, you will see in the video, a halfcourt shot by Steve. The strange thing is, there were 20 seconds left in the possession and 9:11 left in the quarter. “I couldn't believe it either,” Steve told me. “I was running to the other half of the court and I think I didn't step correctly, and I got a cramp in my left foot. It was like a reflex, I shot the ball and it got in.”

Next game: Friday, once again at the Rose Garden, against my favourite player, Manu Ginobili and the Spurs (2-1).

Flash

Music: Deadmau5 - “Not Exactly”

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Last edited by kibaxx7 on Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.

No Thierry until Christmas huh?

Good luck with your exams mate.

I might make a small update on the weekend... but yeah, it's pretty much paused until Christmas.

good luck on this dynasty bro. b.roy is one of my fav players and i know u'll do me proud

I remember your Clippers story, it was off the hook... what brought you back?

If I get 2K, lets do a co-association.

I'm like Trey Songz and you're like Drake. Don't do it with Martti... he's like Chris Brown and you would be like Rihanna and get bitch slapped.

Corrected the names for you, Sit... we could do a tri-association

I repeat: if everyone wants a song in the recap videos, go ahead, think of catchy beats that would be used in a NBA.com video

Very nice update. Good win and finally some minutes for Martell Webster!! I may write more E-mails and tell you who to play
The Steve Blake shot was so funny Throws up a goddam prayer for no reason and after it goes in he makes the moves with his fingers like "Told you I could get one off during gametime guys". Or maybe like "that was planned, guys". Really cool ^^

Blazers send rookie Cunningham to D-League
TrailBlazers.com | November 5th, 2009

PORTLAND - The Portland Trail Blazers sent rookie Dante Cunningham to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League today, general manager Nate McMillan announced.

Cunningham didn't get playing time with coach Thierry Tirieux yet, tightening his rotation as the Blazers make a playoff push with a 4-1 record. The rookie was on street clothes when the Blazers played against the Atlanta Hawks; he will play for the Stampede when the season begins at the end of the month. The 6-8 Cunningham was a second-round pick of Portland.

“Dante is a solid athlete who showed major improvement throughout his career. He does most of his damage near the basket, but showed an improving face-up game last season. He will surely do great at Idaho and we hope to call him back,” McMillan said. Coach Tirieux added: “Personally I love his jumper. It has a smooth release. He also moves well without the ball, and plays with all of his energy.”

As a senior (2008-09) out of Villanova, Cunningham was named Big East Most Improved Player and All-Big East Second Team and a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy. He led the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding and was named to NCAA Tournament All-East Regional Team as he had 12 points and 12 boards in a loss to UNC at Final Four, notched his ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Duke in Sweet Sixteen and scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds in a win over UCLA in second round of NCAA Tournament. He also tied a career-high with 31 points to go with nine rebounds in a triumph over Syracuse and tallied 15 points, five rebounds and two blocks in a win over No. 3 Pittsburgh. In a career-high 45 minutes against Seton Hall, he recorded 21 points and 13 rebounds.

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Last edited by kibaxx7 on Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Very nice update. Good win and finally some minutes for Martell Webster!! I may write more E-mails and tell you who to play
The Steve Blake shot was so funny Throws up a goddam prayer for no reason and after it goes in he makes the moves with his fingers like "Told you I could get one off during gametime guys". Or maybe like "that was planned, guys". Really cool ^^

Yep Webster saw 10 minutes of action and really took the opportunity. Nice crossovers, a key 3-pointer and a couple of assists, he's gonna play more often now.

About Blake, I tried to pause the game and accidentally pressed square, so there was the shot

I hope webster tears it up. i remember watching some summer league vids of him just dusting dudes.

I remember your Clippers story, it was off the hook... what brought you back?

I still have love the live and 2k mang! I actually lurked a lot over the summer checking out the previews of live 10 and 2k10.

keep up the effort, i'll be following fo sho.

Greg is such a white name...

EDIT: Use 'Best I Ever Had' for all ur vids from now on... or 'i can transform u' when u play OKC

Last edited by Fresh8 on Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Shoot low scoring game, good to see your still fitting a few updates in.

Kae Wun - I'm Hot

Kae Wun - I'm Hot

Best I ever Had - Drake

Fuck off Kae Won

That was a great recap, you sure do like writing a lot. The video was good too, that was an awesome shot by Steve Blake, did you accidentally press the shoot button or something?

Just had a nice read through this. Very nice.
I'm pretty sure this is the first of your Dynasty/Association stories that I have followed, and I think I've jumped on at the right time if you're actually going to go somewhere with this one

Anyway, great recapping and highlight videos. You're a really good writer, keeping the recaps original and interesting
I look forward to you getting this back in full swing after Christmas.

I hope webster tears it up. i remember watching some summer league vids of him just dusting dudes.

I still have love the live and 2k mang! I actually lurked a lot over the summer checking out the previews of live 10 and 2k10.

keep up the effort, i'll be following fo sho.

Great to have you back man. Any plans on returning to dynasty making?

Greg is such a white name...

EDIT: Use 'Best I Ever Had' for all ur vids from now on... or 'i can transform u' when u play OKC

Kae Wun - I'm Hot

Best I ever Had - Drake

Fuck off Kae Won

Will try with Best I Ever Had and I'm Hot, both of them Also Adam Tensta - My Cool, that one's catchy.

Shoot low scoring game, good to see your still fitting a few updates in.

Thanks man, I will try to post the next game tomorrow and after it I'm done until Christmas.

That was a great recap, you sure do like writing a lot. The video was good too, that was an awesome shot by Steve Blake, did you accidentally press the shoot button or something?

Thanks man. I said a couple of posts above: "About Blake, I tried to pause the game and accidentally pressed square, so there was the shot "

Just had a nice read through this. Very nice.
I'm pretty sure this is the first of your Dynasty/Association stories that I have followed, and I think I've jumped on at the right time if you're actually going to go somewhere with this one

Anyway, great recapping and highlight videos. You're a really good writer, keeping the recaps original and interesting
I look forward to you getting this back in full swing after Christmas.

I'm also pretty sure that this is the first of my Dynasty/Association stories that I'm comfortable with The idea is finish at least 1 season, I could never do that before. I'm also really comfortable with the blog layout. As I said to Mark, I might post an update tomorrow, but look for December 24th for a complete one.

Last edited by kibaxx7 on Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thierry's Blog: Rudy's career night hands us 4th straight W!
TrailBlazers.com | November 7th, 2009

Welcome back Blazers fans, to my blog here in TrailBlazers.com. It's been such a wild week for us. The trade rumors that swirl around us, first with Kirk Hinrich, now surface again. There were plenty of unsubstantiated rumors about where Hinrich could possibly end up, with Golden State and New Jersey apparently legitimate possibilities. But now we are recipients of another trade rumor: the Celtics offering us swingman Tony Allen in exchange for our prospect Jeff Pendergraph. If it's true, I'm sure our manager Nate McMillan will decline it. No need to trade a man like Jeff for a player like Tony, who I'm sure is great but we would be full-packed of guards.

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Against one of the best teams in the NBA, Rudy didn't even flinch on his mission to get to the basket. The unexpected heroics were part of his new career-highs of 27 points, 9-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from beyond the arc, (only in 18 minutes!) that lifted us to a 5-1 record after a 116-95 win over the San Antonio Spurs. “I really like those situations when I have the ball on top and I just think of scoring, Rudy said to ESPN. “I feel pretty comfortable in this situation. I really like to play and try to make something happen.” Brandon added 17 points, six rebounds and six assists. “It's a really important victory. Wins against this important teams are hard to come by,” Brandon added. Seven players scored in double figures for us, including all five starters. As I said, Rudy led the way with 27, Brandon's 17, LaMarcus added 16 (to go with 8 rebounds), Steve posted 14 (along with 13 dimes), Lamar had 12, and Trout and Greg scored 11 and 10, respectively. “It was an important game to try and win,” LaMarcus said. “Every game we play should have this kind of intensity. Our numbers are pretty rigth now, the point is trying to win,” I said.

My favourite player, Manu Ginóbili, led the Spurs with 20 points. Tim Duncan scored 18 points shooting 7-of-11, and newcomer Richard Jefferson racking up 15. My fellow Frenchman Tony Parker finished with 14 points and 11 assists. But, what I liked the most, is that we hold San Antonio to only 8 points in the first quarter. Yes, that's right, 8, as we raced to a 31-8 lead starting the second. It was San Antonio's franchise-low since 2008, February 25, when they only scored 5 against Atlanta. They could never overtake Portland! This 31-8 rally put the game out of reach. Brandon had eight points in the stretch, including a jumper from the free-throw line as the shot clock ran down. You can see coach Gregg Popovich's anger in a pic I uploaded, when the first quarter was ending.

“For us to go through this many different types of situations, it's really going to help us for the years to come and help us grow as players,” rookie forward DeJuan Blair said, sounding like a true veteran. “Hopefully, we can learn from it and develop from it.” We were up 59-33 at the half, but the Spurs started the third really well, with a 13-3 run. Rudy had 18 points at that point, and LaMarcus contributed 10. Steve was engineering our offense with a dozen assists at that point. “We finally figured out everything that they were doing,” I said. “We figured their zone out and Steve did a great job of getting everybody involved. Everybody did a great job of knocking down shots, and then it took off from there.” Jerryd then provided a spark off the bench to key one of our rallies in the fourth quarter; he finished the night with 7 points and 4 assists. “I think they out-toughed us,” Jefferson said. “I think we got tough too late. By the time we got tough, we were looking back, and we were down by 15. When it gets tough, I think we just have to take care of the basketball and run out offense even more. I don't think we did that.” Overall, I was really pleased with the game outcome.

Next game: next Sunday, we host the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-3) at the Rose Garden, third game in a row at home. Oh! Forgot to say it before. All 82 Portland Trail Blazers games will be broadcast on the Trail Blazers Broadcasting flagship station, 95.5 FM The Game. Brian Wheeler, in his 12th season calling the play-by-play, and analyst Antonio Harvey, in his fifth season, will call the games, home and away. On television, KGW-TV and Comcast SportsNet will air a total of 75 Trail Blazers games with veteran analyst Mike Rice, in his fifth full season on television after spending the previous 15 years on the radio, and Mike Barrett, in his seventh, calling the action. Between KGW, Comcast SportsNet, TNT, ESPN and ABC, all 82 games will be televised for the third year in a row, and the third time in franchise history. In addition, all games will be available in High-Definition. Some key facts:

• We are 55-24 all-time against the T-Wolves, 30-10 at home and 25-14 on the road;
• After completing our second straight season series sweep last year, we have now won eight consecutive games vs. Minnesota, the longest current winning streak against any NBA team. We have taken six contests in a row at the Rose Garden and four straight meetings in Minneapolis;
• We meet the Wolves three times in November, including our visit to Minnesota just three days after the first meeting in the Rose Garden;
• The Timberwolves have failed to reach 100 points in each of the last 10 meetings between the teams, with us hitting triple figures five times in that span and winning nine of 10 games;
• Three of four wins against Minnesota in 2008-09 came by a margin of five points or less;
• Brandon posted team highs of 24.5 points (56.3% FG) and 6.5 assists in four contests vs. Minnesota last year, as LaMarcus added 15.0 points and a series-best 10.0 boards (4.8 offensive) in four games;
• In two appearances against the Blazers, Al Jefferson counted 26.5 points (56.4% FG) and 3.00 blocks. Six Timberwolves averaged double-figure scoring against us in 2008-09.

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Last edited by kibaxx7 on Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:02 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Nice win. Good to see Rudy playing well also

Go Rudy! He's the man!

Fantastically efficient game from Rudy. I'm not too good with him in my Warriors association, but I like him. While I look for a team to bandwagon this year with Portland likely out of the running, I'll at least have this to hold me over in the Blazers department. Keep it up.

great night for Rudy, nice win

Yup, Rudy good job, go and win 10 in a row!

Knocking down 7 from 7 out at the perimeter? That's incredible from Fernandez, he really is an explosive player, definitely somebody who you'd want playing important minutes off the bench scoring well, and that's exactly what the Portland Sim is doing for you. Great write-up as well, the last paragraph of the recap, although adding to the authenticity, might be a waste of time for both you to write and for the reader since it doesn't really add anything of value. Other than that, your write-ups are amazing, and fun to read as well!

I laughed at that Spurs stat as well, 5 points in the first quarter is pathetic.

Last edited by Lightning Strike on Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

A very efficient game from Fernandez. Keep it up. You're on the right track.

27 points on 10 shots. Nice.

craaaazy HOT game for Rudy, but a fluke more than anything else (compare his stats to last his Meh performance last game); still a wins a win - keep the streak alive man!

Massive game from Rudy, very efficient!

big game from Fernandez...