Its_asdf's Blazers dynasty: Sorry for the lack of updates

[Mark.]

Not a bad first game, your whole team played pretty solid

[Zoom]

Lost in OT. tough luck buddy!

[Anthony15]

About time for an update man Wow you lost even tho Dirk was out, JailBlazers do suck GL next game.

[Jugs]

DIS IS BS, u fukn lozt omg.

[funk99]

Last 2 games ive seen have been in overtime and the teams have been blown out. Great effort and tough loss

[Marquis]

well i feel your disappointment about the loss, i imagine you were already thinking about the victory.

And Roy must defend Terry in the last seconds of the game! Defend, not to stand and only watch!!

[Its_asdf]

Blazers Ship Randolph to Atlanta in 6 Man Deal
Blazers Seek New Direction with Williams

To Portland:

To Atlanta:



Monday, October 30, 2006


It was announced earlier today by Portland General Manager Steve Patterson that the Trail Blazers would be trading Zach Randolph, Joel Freeland and Raef LaFrentz to the Atlanta Hawks for Marvin Williams, Speedy Claxton and Lorenzen Wright. The day before, the Blazers played their first game of the regular season and fell in over-time to the Dallas Mavericks. "We were really pushing for this deal to be done during the off-season," explained Patterson. "Things got a little complicated, but in the end we still wanted to complete the deal."

Marvin Williams comes to the Blazers after spending only one season with the Hawks at the tender age of 20. Williams was a highly coveted draft pick; being selected as the second overall pick and was generally regarded as the most talented player in the 2005 draft. However, Marvin was played sparingly in his rookie season because there were not enough minutes to go around at the foward position for the 6'9 228lb Williams. He was forced to take a back seat to two other up-and-coming wing players, Josh Smith and Josh Childress. The Blazers management feel that this will not be a problem for Williams, who said during a phone interview after the trade that he was "Shocked but not angry that Atlanta would do this to him."

"I think Marvin was the centrepiece of this trade," said assistant General Manager Kevin Pritchard. "He's a very bright young kid that will only get better. I think that with Josh Smith and Josh Childress ahead of him in the depth chart most of the time really stunted some of his development that he could've gotten in his first season. He'll be logging plenty of minutes for us."

Portland seems to be rolling the dice on this trade, dealing away one of their go-to scorers (and biggest problem child) in Zach Randolph for an unproven lanky foward who still unsure whether or not he'll be capable of playing the small foward or power foward position. This does not bother either Pritchard or Patterson at all, who simply feel that it is up to Marvin to carve a niche on the team and that both foward spots are up for grabs. "With Randolph, I think it's best that we both move on," says Patterson. "He's gotten a bad reputation with us and hopefully moving to the Eastern Conference will help re-vitalize his career. Pritchard later adds, "This also opens up a lot of room for guys like Aldridge, Pryzbilla and even Williams to develop as well, although I see him as more of a small foward than a power foward."

Raef LaFrentz and Joel Freeland have not played a single game for the Blazers ever since being acquired from the 2006 draft, but both were well known for their soft outside shooting touch which Atlanta sorely needs. In return, Portland recieves seasoned veterans Craig "Speedy" Claxton and Lorenzen Wright. "Speedy is going to compliment our offence very well," says head coach Nate McMillan. "He defintely lives up to his name and he is the perfect floor general to help develop our younger guards like Rodriguez and Jack. Wright is also a banger that we can use off the bench if one of our big guys are tired, and I think that he can still play at a pretty high level."

Claxton signed with the Hawks during the off-season after having one of his best seasons as a New Orleans Hornet. In his brief one game debut as a Hawk, he scored 11 points and also added 7 assists. Lorenzen Wright also signed with the Hawks during the off-season, but played two very productive years in Atlanta from 1999-2001. Wright is past his prime, but is still capable of contributing a little offence and rebounding if someone goes down with an injury. He also has a 7.70 million dollar contract which will probably not be re-signed after it expires this off-season.

All three players should be ready to play in Portland's next game against the Houston Rockets.

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Marvin Williams (left) is a young wing player that should see plenty of minutes, while Speedy Claxton (centre), adds depth and lightning quickness to the Blazers backcourt. Lorenzen Wright (right), deepens Portland's inside presence and adds an expiring contract.

[Its_asdf]

Not a bad first game, your whole team played pretty solid

Yeah, but I'm still having some troubles adjusting to the shooting in the game. Roy and Webster missed a lot of open jumpers.

Lost in OT. tough luck buddy!

Thanks.

About time for an update man Wow you lost even tho Dirk was out, JailBlazers do suck GL next game.

Pretty much. But with Williams I think that the Blazers will stink even more, but hey, it's a rebuilding team so I think that it'll be worth it.

DIS IS BS, u fukn lozt omg.

FUK!

well i feel your disappointment about the loss, i imagine you were already thinking about the victory.
And Roy must defend Terry in the last seconds of the game! Defend, not to stand and only watch!!

You sure bet I was. I had the champaigne out already and everything.

Jack was actually guarding him and I went to double up on him with Magloire. Terry majestically broke out of the double team, split the defence and before I could take control of Roy it was too late.

[Mark.]

Nice trade, you sure got the better end of it You only showed us the updated Start %, what about the Playing time %....

I look forward to seeing what Marvin can bring to the table.

[CouchPotato94]

LYK OGM U IZ DA TRADED FER MAHRVEEN WEELEEAMS.

I would like to caress you.

[Ty-Land]

Nice trade - got rid of some big salaries and got some nice players back that have a bit of potential.

Are you looking to trade Magloire or Prys to get some mobility in that frouncourt. Those guys would have to be the slowest frontcourt in real life, and one of the weakest offensively.

[Jing]

You have done what many Trailblazer fans have been begging for during the past several seasons. Marvin is a pretty decent young player, Speedy.... is speedy, and I used to be a big fan of Lorenzen Wright. So big props to you for this trade.

[Jugs]

This isn't a dynasty anymore without Randolph

[BOSS]

Nice trade.
You obviously got the better deal in this trade.
Bringing in Marvin is a A+ from me.
That can now be the face of your franchise.
He will develop into a good player.
Along with Speedy and Lorenzen, they are good acquisitions and role players.

[cklitsie]

Shut up Jugs, you COCK CHOKING FAGGOT ASS BITCH.

Nice trade asdf (hey that's easy to type. ), not sure if Marvin is going to be better skill-wise than Randolph, but at least he's younger, has potential and wouldn't give off-court troubles in real life.

[Zoom]

Atlanta wouldn't trade away Marvin so soon, Speedy was only just signed, I don't give a damn bout Wright... but still, it's a good trade and I hope you get the better end of it

[Marquis]

yeah, if we looking for a realism, this trade was not so realistic and possible, for the reasons, that Zoom mentioned, but hey it is a game! Good luck turning Marvin into a great player and a future of Trail Blazers. Also you got rid of fucking LaFrentz' contract and got decent PG

[Cornerthree]

Aaahhh, Randolph was doing rebounds you know and was solid on offense, but if we look on the bright side, getting a pg was really good and that Roy will be more important on offense is good, so we can't call it bad...

[Its_asdf]

Wow, I have never had so many replies in my entire life. Thanks for the comments guys. I'm planning to recap a few games at once to quicken the pace of this dynasty, so bear with me for a few days.

Nice trade, you sure got the better end of it You only showed us the updated Start %, what about the Playing time %....

I look forward to seeing what Marvin can bring to the table.

Thanks. I think Marvin is a lot more flexible since he can play SF/PF, which allows me to bring Miles to the 2 guard and add some size to the starting lineup. I love having versatile players in my rosters so you can play around with the roster a bit, ya know?

LYK OGM U IZ DA TRADED FER MAHRVEEN WEELEEAMS.

I would like to caress you.

I am free from 6-8 pm.

Nice trade - got rid of some big salaries and got some nice players back that have a bit of potential.

Are you looking to trade Magloire or Prys to get some mobility in that frouncourt. Those guys would have to be the slowest frontcourt in real life, and one of the weakest offensively.

I think Magloire is useful for his expiring contract, and he's still a fairly capable centre so I think I'll keep him for the time being unless I'm getting another expiring contract in return.

Pryzbilla is also pretty good in the game as well. He's a nice shotblocker and he's good for smacking away a few of those point guard dominated drives to the basket. He's also not that unathletic. For a white guy.

You have done what many Trailblazer fans have been begging for during the past several seasons. Marvin is a pretty decent young player, Speedy.... is speedy, and I used to be a big fan of Lorenzen Wright. So big props to you for this trade.

Thanks man, I think it is a bit unrealistic from a talent standpoint since Marvin doesn't seem like he'll be leaving anytime soon, but I think Randolph is fairly reasonable.

This isn't a dynasty anymore without Randolph

I fucked yo mama in da face mofo.

Nice trade.
You obviously got the better deal in this trade.
Bringing in Marvin is a A+ from me.
That can now be the face of your franchise.
He will develop into a good player.
Along with Speedy and Lorenzen, they are good acquisitions and role players

I'm having a few troubles with Marvin though. He's still a bit slow for my tastes, so I think Roy/Miles are going to be the go-to guy for the time being until I up Williams' speed and quickness.

Nice trade asdf (hey that's easy to type. ), not sure if Marvin is going to be better skill-wise than Randolph, but at least he's younger, has potential and wouldn't give off-court troubles in real life.

Exactly. Miles was more problematic for the Blazers, but my infatuation with oversized athletic fowards is keeping me from trading him away. Perhaps maybe later on if I find a deal that gets me someone similar in terms of skillset in return.

Atlanta wouldn't trade away Marvin so soon, Speedy was only just signed, I don't give a damn bout Wright... but still, it's a good trade and I hope you get the better end of it

yeah, if we looking for a realism, this trade was not so realistic and possible, for the reasons, that Zoom mentioned, but hey it is a game! Good luck turning Marvin into a great player and a future of Trail Blazers. Also you got rid of fucking LaFrentz' contract and got decent PG

Like I said earlier, Randolph is a proven go-to guy that should compliment Joe Johnson's three ball shooting. LaFrentz and Freeland are interesting prospects since they can hit the long ball which is something that Speedy and Wright didn't bring. I personally thought it was fairly reasonable (with me getting the slight benefit of it of course), although I do think Marvin would be a lot harder to pry from the Hawk's fingers in real life.

[Gordon_#7_]

Give more time for Miles

[Zoom]

Like I said earlier, Randolph is a proven go-to guy that should compliment Joe Johnson's three ball shooting. LaFrentz and Freeland are interesting prospects since they can hit the long ball which is something that Speedy and Wright didn't bring. I personally thought it was fairly reasonable (with me getting the slight benefit of it of course), although I do think Marvin would be a lot harder to pry from the Hawk's fingers in real life.

I'm not dissing on you bro, just stating my opinion

But yeh, with Randolph, ever since he got back from knee surgery, he hasn't been that proven go-to-guy... so I'm just not too high on him. Sorry mate!

[Its_asdf]

I'm sorry if the updates are a little vague, I was in a rush and I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't had much time to browse NLSC in a while.



Claxton Leads New Blazers to a Win

Rockets (92) Blazers (97* F)



PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 30 (Ticker) -- After recently striking a big six player deal with Atlanta, the chemistry on the new-look Blazers looks like it won't be much of a problem anymore.

After trading away Zach Randolph, Raef LaFrentz and Joel Freeland to Atlanta in exchange for Marvin Williams, Speedy Claxton and Lorenzen Wright a few days ago, the Portland TrailBlazers looked like they needed no time to get acquainted with one another. Claxton scored a team-high 20 points as the team's new starting point guard.

"I felt very comfortable out there," says Claxton. "Coach really let me have a lot of the responsibility of running the offence and told me to just play my game and it worked out for us." When asked about his new teammates, Claxton was a little hesistant. "It's tough since I originally wanted to sign with the (Atlanta) Hawks and being traded from there almost right away, but I think that this situation will be just as good for me."

Marvin Williams, the Blazers' most highly-antipcated player out of the new faces on th team, had a mediocre game offensively, scoring 9 points on 2 of 9 shooting, but managed to provide a spark on the glass by grabbing 8 rebounds; 4 of them off the offensive end.

Another interesting development for the Blazers was moving Darius Miles over to the shooting guard position. With Randolph gone, Miles was counted on to deliver a bigger offensive contribution, and he did not disappoint by scoring 15 points in only 16 minutes. Miles also made a noticeable impact on the other end of the court, hounding Rockets' superstar Tracy McGrady into 10 for 26 shooting, but managed to score 24 points anyway.

"When Yao fouled out, we lost a lot of momentum and we had to lean too much on T-Mac," says the newly acquired Rocket and former Blazer Bonzi Wells. Wells finished with 13 points, including 2 three pointers in the fourth quarter that seem to have pushed the momentum in the Rockets favour after constantly battling back and forth through the first three quarters.

However, Yao Ming picked up his 6th foul mid-way through the final quarter and had to sit out. This allowed for Claxton to use his dribble penetration and reel off 6 consecutive points; all of them coming from the paint area. Portland maintained a small 2 point lead throughout the rest of the quarter, but in the end Houston was forced into intentionally fouling Marvin Williams twice in the final seconds of the game. Williams hit all four free-throws.


Claxton pulled down 5 boards depsite his small stature
McGrady's freakish length and athleticism was evenly matched on the defensive end by Miles
Roy continued to show off his arsenal of post moves
Wright with the monster jam





Miles Swats Away Hornets for Second Win

Hornets (83) Blazers (98* F)



PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 1 (Ticker) -- Portland seems re-vitalized after dealing away Zach Randolph, but the Blazers managed to get most of their offence going through one of the older faces on the team.

Darius Miles, currently one of the longest players to wear a Blazer uniform currently on the team, helped lead four players in double figures with 24 points on 11 of 16 shooting. Second year foward Martell Webster led the team with a career high 27 points, including 3 of 5 three pointers.

"We're proud of the way Martell has managed to handle himself out there," said Portland head coach Nate McMillan. "He took 27 shots this game, but it was not like any of those attempts were with a hand in his face. He missed a couple, but he got hot and helped us put away the game."

The turning point of the game was during the second quarter, when Peja Stojakovic was forced to sit out with three fouls. He would quickly pick up two more later on in the game, limiting his effectiveness even though he scored all of his 11 points in the first quarter. The Portland defence came out agressive as ever, relentlessly attacking Chris Paul and forced the Hornets offence to only shoot a terrible 21% in the second quarter. Almost all of the Hornets' 15 turnovers had led to a fastbreak dunk by Miles.

The blowout victory did come at a price to Portland though. Marvin Williams, who has only played in his second game as Blazer, collided in mid-air with Tyson Chandler on one play during the third quarter and appeared to have injured his back or his ribs. "This was a great blow to us," said Joel Pryzbilla, who finished with a team-high 14 rebounds. "None of us know how serious it is, but we're obviously hoping for a speedy recovery."

"He was going for a dunk and his elbow caught me in the side," recalls Williams. "Next thing I knew I had the wind knocked out of me and I was on the floor."

Marvin Williams was clearly in pain after his collision with Chandler
Mason showing the athletic ability that he is so well known for
Miles capped off a well-rounded stat-line with 2 blocks
Chris Paul could not deliver offensively without Peja
Wright drawing the fifth foul that took Stojakovic out of the game in the third quarter
Roy led the team with 5 assists
Webster faced a lot of double teams later in the game





Roy Explodes Against Charlotte

Bobcats (107) Blazers (116* F)



PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 4 (Ticker) -- With Marvin Williams out of the picture for the time being, Martell Webster and Brandon Roy took advantage of their new playing time.

Brandon Roy finished with a monster 34 point outburst, hitting 9 of his 21 shot attempts while also scoring the bulk of his points at the freethrow line. Roy also continued to show off his versatile play; grabbing 5 rebounds, handing out 4 assists and getting 2 steals. Martell Webster also had 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting in his debut as the team's starting small foward.

Many of Roy's teammates were not that impressed given his talent level. "He's such a great competitor," says fellow rookie LaMarcus Aldridge. "The first half of the game he went like 2-6 or something, but he just kept attacking and showing confidence in himself. He really is a special player to play with. What impressed coach Nate McMillan was not only his amazing ability to score, but his ability to play under control.

"It's amazing how much control he has for a rookie," said McMillan. "He only committed one turnover, and that shows that he hasn't even forced the issue this game. He makes it look so easier out there. He's really great at handling the pressure out there."

Charlotte managed to keep up the scoring pace with Portland throughout the entire game, but it was essentially a battle between Charlotte's swingmen, Gerald Wallace and Adam Morrison, against Portland's own Roy and Webster. Wallace finished with a team-high 24 points while Morrison, one of Roy's biggest rivals for rookie of the year, finished with 19. Brevin Knight also had 21 points and 7 assists, but picked up 6 fouls very early; mainly trying to guard Roy.

Roy played poorly in the first half, but made up for it in the second half by scoring 27 points, 19 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Roy also scored the final 10 points for the Blazers, capping off a 9-0 run to end the game in the final 2 minutes. 10 of those points came at the foul line. The other 2 points came from a monster dunk by Roy on Morrison.

Once again, the win came at a price. Travis Outlaw, another foward hoping to benefit from Williams' absence, was injured in the second quarter. Outlaw has not been a factor for the Blazers, and only contributed 2 points on 1 of 4 shooting so the impact of the injury to the team was not as big as the loss of Marvin Williams.

Jarrett Jack's 6 of 7 shooting night was overshadowed by Roy's monster game
Brevin Knight uses his size to squeeze past the Blazer defence
Miles showed off his point guard skills; dishing out 7 assists for Portland
The highly anticipated Roy Morrison match-up...
Okafor struggled offensively, but was his old self wreaking havoc in the post
Roy showed Morrison who the future Rookie of the Year is with this dunk
Wallace's frantic energy was too hard to contain around the paint
Webster celebrates after nailing one of his two threes


Injury Status on Outlaw and Williams

[Its_asdf]

Give more time for Miles

That's not actually a bad idea, he's not a very effective shooter, but if hes given an open look he's capable of knocking down even a few threes. Miles is also a fairly abusive high-flyer, so I can rely on him to get into the paint fairly easily.

I'm not dissing on you bro, just stating my opinion

But yeh, with Randolph, ever since he got back from knee surgery, he hasn't been that proven go-to-guy... so I'm just not too high on him. Sorry mate!

No need to apologize, I think I should be the one to if I worded it in the wrong way. I just think that Randolph is an extremely effective scorer and more proven than Williams, thats all.

I actually encourage a nice little debate now and then, so I'm actually glad that you aren't too big of a fan of the trade.

[Jing]

Wow... that hornets game... Red vs. Orange, must have been painful on the eyes.

Sadly Yao fouled out... otherwise I am pleased with the other games.

Finally updating

[Cornerthree]

Hey nice 3 W's in a row...

Really good stats man, what do I like the most is that Webster's doing the job...