"The Blazer"- Since the 2004-2005 season

[Mark.]

Right well if rumor is to be correct it could only be a few days till i get Live '05, although on the flipside it could be up to two weeks. However with a the Masters of Dynasty beginning to unveil their works of art i thought i had better start out as well.

I'm going to try to stay with this one (and if you know me from the 2004 thread, you will know that staying with a dynasty is not one of my qualities).

Anway ill be starting out with the Portland Trail Blazers.

I'll be presenting this as if from the point of view of a Magazine devoted to the local team.

So without further delay I present to you............ "The Blazer" your un-official magazine devoted to following the Portlant Trailblazers from the 2004-2005 season onwards.


Sorry about the lack of pictures, i was thinking about using some 04 pics, but since I might have the game soon I thought I would wait.

For the first season I won't beincluding any NLSC players since I want to get straight into it and won't be sure about the patching side of things for a start. But any interest should be voiced to me via PM.

[.]

Is the name of the thread suposed to be 2004-2004?

[-BHZMAFIA-]

nice start, can't wait to see how you turn around the jailblazers. they should become a more discipline team

[Wormy10]

Is the name of the thread suposed to be 2004-2004?

I noticed that too

[gifted]

wow seems very interesting. can't wait!

[Mark.]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I fixed the mistake, thanks to Kobe4mvp for pointing that out.

Should have some more post cranking soon, still waiting for the game though.

[cocobee]

Great Start! "The Blazer" is very catchy. I know this will be another quality dynasty.

[Mark.]

Ok i couldn't wait till the game arrived, so i'm doing a preview with some 04 pics.

So enjoy Issue 1 of "The Blazer"

Season Preview

The Blazers come into the 2004-2005 season with a squad that hasn't really changed since 2003-2004.

Subtractions

The main loss was of Center Dale Davis, but this should open up some more playing time for Vladimir Stepania and Joel Przybilla.

Additions

Sebastian Telfair



The extemely talented Telfair brings outstanding ball skills and a great scoring ability, especially driving to the basket. He will need to get stronger and improve on his jumper to establish himself.

Bassy has a huge amount of potential, however he is going to be competing with two established point guards (Van Exel and Stoudamire) for court time. Telfair is going to have to work hard for his playing time.


Nick Van Exel



Nick the Quick brings experience and brilliant scoring ability to the Blazers, trading Dale Davis was deffinately worth Nick, Van Exel can play both guard positions and he is a great cluthc performer, he may not be the best defender but he has been around long enough to know a lot of the tricks in the book.

With Van Exel and Telfair the Blazers have bolstered thier back court, in a lot of teams Nick would be starting but we expect to see him playing off the bench at either guard position, this is really a good decision by the coaching staff as Nick played great as sixth man in Dallas.

Key Players this season

Zach Randolph



While Zach has been loggin up the minutes practising over the summer, the big question is going to be wether he has matured enough to lead the Blazers this season. After last season, where he earned the MIP award, nobody doubts Randolphs scoring ability, however he has been known to think for himself first, he needs to focus more on leading the team rather than himself for the Blazers to suceed.


Shareef Abdur Rahim



Many questioned the Mid season trade that bought Rahim to Portland, the Blazers already had a great young power foward (Randolf) who was showing vast amounts of improvement, and Randolf was not giving up his spot for Rahim. However Rahim calmly did his job wiht out a complaint and contributed well coming off the bench to rest either Randolf or small foward Darius Miles.

But this changed over the offseason, Shareef openly questioned the Blazers motives involving himself, and suggested that he should be traded. The Blazers management has not yet made a concerted effort to move Shareef, so at this point it looks like he will still be a Blazer for the start of the season.

We expect to see Rahim either in the same bench role, or playing at small foward. Both situations Rahim is not happy with. While Rahim is not a born leader the Blazers will need him to be contributing to his full ability this season.


Darius Miles



Having never lived up to his true potential in either LA or Cleveland, Miles continued his travels in 2003 and joined the Blazers. He was given a starting job and did not let the coaching staff regret the decision. While he still has not shaken the "Inconsistant" label, Miles had a great season with Portland, and gave glimpses of what he is truly capable of. With his great leaping ability and athleticism to go along with his great ballhandling, defensive and playmaking skills, all Miles needs to work on is his shooting to become a major threat on the court.

But with the posibilty of Rahim starting at small foward, Miles is going to have to work for his playing time. And if his minutes go down we may see his imprvement come to a halt. However with the big contract Miles signed this offseason we should still see Miles playing a considerable amount of time.


Projected Starters and Bench Rotation

C: Theo Ratliff (PF)
PF: Zach Randolf (C)
SF: Shareef Abdur Rahim (PF)
SG: Derek Anderson (PG,SF)
PG: Damon Stoudamire (SG)

6th: Darius Miles (SF, PF, SG and even possibly some PG)
7th: Nick Van Exel (PG,SG)
8th: Richie Frahm (SG)
9th: Joel Przybilla (C)
10th: Sebastian Telfair (PG)
11th: Ruben Patterson (SF,SG,PF)
12th: Qyntel Woods (SG,PG,SF)

IR
Viktor Khryapa (SG,SF, PF)
Travis Outlaw (PF,SF)
Vladimir Stepania (C,PF)


Season Prediction

The Blazers are really an unknowen commodity, we wouldn't expect to see them fall last in their division, but neither top. The best guess would be 3rd in the division and possibly a playoff berth. But it all depends on wether the team can work together.


Trade Rumors

Sources have given information that the Blazers could be looking to ship Rahim to Boston. The most likely player that Portland would be looking at would be Ricky Davis. However the salary difference is too much, and other players would have to be included.

Also the Blazers appear to be looking to ship one of their point guards, while Stoudamire seems to be staying, Van Exel could be looking at an early departure. No teams have been linked with a deal yet.

I just finished and im bloody tired, so there are bound to be errors all over the place.

[Matthew]

Managing all those players should be interesting. Darius at pg? lol... id love to see how that experiment works. I'll be reading

[Mark.]

Cheers for the reply dude, yer on Hoopshype.com they have him as being able to play all postions except Center, he does have pretty good handles for someone his height though.

[Fresh8]

Nice work man! thats the spirit for starting early... i couldnt wait either!

good luck

[-BHZMAFIA-]

all i can say is that presentation was perfect and very realistic. i like the fact that u are tryin to do a realistic deal by gettin rickyD

[NNpF]

This is looking awesome, good luck and it will be interesting to see Darius Miles play PG.

[ilya]

in my blazers franchise, i traded shareef and przbylla for lewis and scrubs from seattle.
worked out good for both teams.


telfair is better than i thought too. very fast, good slasher.

[Mark.]

in my blazers franchise, i traded shareef and przbylla for lewis and scrubs from seattle.
worked out good for both teams.


telfair is better than i thought too. very fast, good slasher.

Yer that was one possibility i was thinking bout, but i want to get D-Miles starting so im gonna go for a Center, or a SG, the good thing about Ricky D, is that he can come fof the bench, behind either D-Miles or Derek Anderson.

Anyway, games delayed another 2 days so i can't see myself getting it till tomorrow or the day after.

[Mark.]

Prepare yourself guys, the game just arrived at my doorstep.

However I am home only for a free period, i have to go back to school damn it.

But tonight all bball madness will break loose.

[Mark.]

News Update

Przybilla cut to make way for Bell

Only a day before their season opener against the Magic, the Blazers announced they had cut third string center Joel Przybilla to make way for second year Point Guard Troy Bell.

While Bell has a lot of potential, it is unlikely he will play many games, let alone minutes. Przybilla may not have been a often used player in the Blazers rotation, but he was a body to throw in the paint in the case of Ratliff or Stepania getting injured.

The only justified reason for the change is the possibility that the Blazers may be looking to shift one of their 3 other point guards in the near future.


While Bell will be happy he's back on a NBA squad, he won't be happy about the lack out court time he will find in Portland

[Mark.]

Enjoy Issue Two of "The Blazer"

Fighting for Position

Randolph and Reef are fighting for position, in two ways. First they are doing what every player on the Blazers has been doing, fighting for a good position in the league, but also (especially Abdur Rahim) they are fighting for postion on the court.

While Shareef did request a trade, he still wants court time to prove his ability to interested teams, and in many similar situations the player can find his minutes slashed considerably until a deal is struck. Reef knew this and has been doing his best to prove the Mo-Cheeks that the Blazers need him on the court.

With Darius Miles injured during the second game of the season Shareef hasnt had to fight for his minutes as much, but is still making the most of every minute out there.

With the support of the orgaisation behind him, many would expect Randolph to feel he has no need to prove his place in the team, and simply sit back and watch Shareef go at it. But it seems that Randolph wants the Blazers management to have no doubt they made the right decision in making him the future of the Blazers.

Both Reef and Zach have been impressive over the first 5 games of the season, with Rahim scoring 31 and 21 in the last two games and averaging and healthy 21.4ppg, and Randolph playing more consistantly than many would expect averaging a double double with 34ppg and 12.8rpg.

Injuries

Injuries have already become a problem for the Blazers. First only two games into the season, Darius Miles went down with an ankle injury that put him out for 11 dats and 3 games.

Then during practice a day after the 5th game of the season, Abdur Rahim went down with a sprained right ankle which put him out for 2 weeks.

During both games 3 and 4 Zach Randolph has had to sit out for at least 10 mins each time, for a niggling arm injury.

5 Game Recap

(note: Games 1 and 2 were played on All Star difficuty, then game 3 onwards were played on Super Star difficulty)

Blazer Starters for Beginnning of season:
F: Darius Miles
F: Zach Randolph
C: Theo Ratlif
G: Derek Anderson
G: Damon Stoudamire

Game 1 Vs 0-1 Orlando Magic

This game was very pleasing for the Blazer coaching staff, every player was doing his job perfectly. A great defensive effort held the magic to just 11 points for the first quarter.

The Blazers held on to their lead and never looked like letting go, going into the second half up 70-48.


DA had a feild day scoring 27 points against the Magic
The rest of the game gave coach Maurice Cheeks a chance to have a look at his bench players and see hot they would perform, as well as trying out different combinations.

Final Score: 116-92 Blazers Victory

POG: Theo Ratliff 14p 16rebs 2blks 1stl 3ast 25mins

Key Stats

Portland
Randolph 24p 9rebs 2blk
Abdur Rahim 20p 10rebs 2ast 2stl
Anderson 27p 12/25 3rebs 5ast
Stoudamire 11p 3rebs 10ast
Miles 14p 10rebs 2ast

Orlando
Francis 29p 4rebs 3ast
Cato 14rebs 4stl
Howard 14rebs
Hill 19p 8rebs


Stevie was the only bright spark for the Magic, knocking down 29.

Game 2 @ 1-1 Utah

(Sorry poor notes for this game)


Frahm shot 3/4 from 3 point range.


Woods brought hustle and determination off the bench.

Final Score 124-101 Blazers Victory

POG: Randolph 19p 9/23 17rebs 1blk 2stl

Key Stats

Portland
Abdur Rahim 17p 6rebs
Frahm 13p
Stoudamire 14p 7ast 3stl
Anderson 19p 6rebs 4ast 3stl 8/10
Miles 18p 8rebs 3ast 2blk 22 mins (Injured 2:35 left in 3rd Q)

Utah
Boozer 13p 15rebs
Kirilenko 20p 6rebs
Giricek 28p
Arroyo 20p 4ast

Game 3 @ 1-1 Houston

The Rockets came out with some effective fast break offense to supprise the Blazers into so key defensive mistakes and scrappy turnovers, to lead going into the 2nd 24-23.


T-Mac was stunning on the break for Houston.

The Blazers managed to pull together some brilliant offense breaks and defensive stops behind 21 points and 5 rebounds from Randolph to take a 60-41 half time lead. Despite Randolph increasing his point total to 32, the Rokcets managed to come right back into the game to trail by 2 81-79 at the end of the third.


NVE pulled of a brilliant circus shot during a 2nd quater run.

The fourth was closely contested, but some great shutdown defense saw the Blazers miss their last 3 FG attempts to lose the game by 4.

Final Score: 106-102 Blazers Defeat

POG: McGrady 29p 10/16 3rebs 6blks

Key Stats

Portland
Randolph 43p 11/20 12rebs 5ast 3blk
Abdur Rahim 18p 7rebs
Stoudamire 14p 3rebs 5ast 3stl

Houston
Ming 14p 5/6 9rebs
Lue 14p 9ast
Taylor 13p 5rebs

Game 4 VS 0-2 Chicago

The Bulls took the advantage of some weak rebounding from Portland to take a 30-28 lead into the second. Chicago continued the dominance on the rebounds, and thanks to 23p and 7rebs from Antonio Davis took a 68-48 lead into the third.

The Blazers managed to sort out their rebounding woes to establish a run which bought them to within 3 at the end of the quarter. Randolph suffered an arm injury early in the Q.

The fourth saw a fast pace up and down game but the Blazers showed they wanted the game mroe and took a 4 point victory at home thanks to a great clutch 4 point play from Reef.


DA helped the Blazers comebakc during the third to take a exciting home win.

Final Score: 119-115 Blazer Victory

POG: Abdur Rahim 31p 12/20 2/4 3pt 5rebs

Key Stats:

Portland
Randolph 14p 10rebs (26min)
Ratlif 14p 14rebs 4blk
Anderson 22p 5rebs 4ast 2stl
Stoudamire 18p 14ast
Stepania 12p 8rebs

Chicago
Curry 11p 17rebs 2stl 2blk
Chandler 12p 14rebs 3stl
Gordon 22p 8TO
Davis 29p 9rebs

Game 5 @ 1-1 Boston

Despite 7 rebounds from Theo Ratlif, the Blazers found themself down 24-23 at the end of the first. The deficit increased by 2 in a 2nd quarter that saw Randolph injured for the 2nd time in 2 games. The Celts led 52-29 at the half.

The 3rd saw Makr Blount foul out and the Blazers take the lead 75-73 going into the final period. The Celtics showed far more composure to take out a scrappy win by 9.

Final Score: 105-96 Portland Defeat

POG: Pierce 28p 10/20 4rebs 5stl 5TO 3ast 2blk

Key Stats

Portland
Ratlif 12rebs 3blk 3ast
Randolph 29p 14rebs 4ast
Abdur Rahim 21p 7rebs
Anderson 19p 4rebs 3ast
Stoudamire 10p 6stl 9ast

Boston
Davis 28p 1stl 2rebs
LaFrentz 10p 16rebs
Payton 17p 6rebs 2reb 3stl


Stats Update

Team Leaders

Points:
Randolph 24.0, Rahim 21.0, Anderson 19.2

Rebounds:
Ratlif 12.8, Randolph 12.4, Miles 9.0

Assists:
Stoudamire 9.0, Anderson 4.0, 3 tied 2.8

[trubucksfan]

Great start the magazines always look great and the recaps are pretty good 2 kkep it up

[Jay-Peso]

Nice to see a few dynasties up and running along side the NBA season. Nice work and keep it up

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Good start on the dynasty, nice pick up with Troy Bell too since you might end up trading NVE or Damon.

[The Future]

wow great t-mac pic man! great dynasty!

[Beast_03]

awesome dynasty man great




___________________________
MANU,CHAPU,DELFINO FUTURO.

[Beast_03]

awesome dynasty man great




___________________________
MANU,CHAPU,DELFINO FUTURO.

[Mark.]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

A little update on the trades i was looking at, i still can't work a trade with boston because LaFrentz is injured and i need him to be in the trade for salary reasons.

However i may have found a trade ofr NVE, his salary seems to match up with antonio davis' and davis has a rating a point lower than NVE, i will get a message back soon from the Bulls to say wether the trade has gone through.

Also i'm gonna change the first mag cover in my first post it really annoys me for some reason.

So any feedback on the trades, any ideas of where to send Shareef if i can't get a boston trade to work, i was thinking maybe to Minny for Kandi and Wally