Friday, May 17, 2013

Blazers Prospects

(Lillard and Aldridge from tumblr.com)

I want to say some positive stuff first.  I love Lamarcus, he says the right stuff, he's an all-star, he carries the offensive load on the Blazers.  I love Lillard stepping in right away and being a man playing a billion minutes a night all season long as a rookie, and oh ya, rookie of the year.  I love Wes and his 110% mantra even if at that only makes him a backup on any other team.  I love Batum and his potential and his highlights and his international success.  And...

...and I have this sense of impending doom, ya know?  We'll add pieces to make us better, and we'll get a little better.  But Aldridge is the perfect complimentary piece to a contending team, and I think he'll bolt when his contract is up.  Or worse, he'll demand a max contract and Lillard will demand a max contract, and we'll be filling out our team with sub-Miami level surrounding talent without Miami level superstars.  If the ultimate goal is a title, that's not gonna cut it.  I hope that Olshey is smarter than me and figures something out.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Seahawks Draft Summary

(5th round pick Williams tackling 6th round pick Ware, pic from seattletimes.com)

I couldn't find anything that summed up the Seahawks draft in a concise way, so I gathered some data and created my own.  I went mostly to fieldgulls.com and seattletimes.com for my info.

2013 Original picks

Round 1: 0
Round 2: 1
Round 3: 1
Round 4: 1
Round 5: 2
Round 6: 1
Round 7: 4


2013 Final picks
Round 1: 0
Round 2: 1
Round 3: 1
Round 4: 1
Round 5: 3
Round 6: 1
Round 7: 4

Players picked

2nd round, Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M
I had never heard of this guy, but that's not surprising.  He was ranked by multiple analysts as the best RB in this class, albeit with some character concerns.  The primary positive on Michael is his lateral movement and explosiveness.  He should be able to make the 2nd and 3rd levels miss.  It has been noted that this lateral quickness should also help his blocking ability   Adding any backup to Lynch is a positive in my opinion, he is amazing but ball carriers don't last forever.

3rd round, Jordan Hill, DT, Penn State
Lots of positive about this guy. Some descriptors are explosive, agile, straight line speed, relentless, stamina, sweet moves. So why the 3rd round?  Sometimes he comes out too high, and he doesn't seem to have great lower body strength which makes him a less than ideal run stopper.  Looks like he can be a play maker, but is likely not an every down DT.

4th round, Chris Harper, WR, Kansas State
I started my short and unsuccessful football career as a lineman, so I have respect for the less glamorous positions.  But lets be honest, it's the Russell Wilsons and the Percy Harvins that really get me excited.  So any receiver to add to the roster competition is good news in my book.  Harper doesn't rate particularly well on technique and route running.  However he is fast and large, and can get position on guys.  Maybe he'll be used in the back of the end zone while defenses focus on Harvin in motion with a Wilson read option?

5th round, Jesse Williams, DT, Alabama
The Seattle times claims Jesse is this year's steal a la Russell Wilson.  This is basically a quick "SparkNotes" summary of that article.  Let's see, he is a fast, run stopping giant.  He didn't start playing football until 15, so there is still room to grow.  The main concern is his surgically repaired knee, hopefully he got some APete magic.  He may get immediate playing time with last year's starter Branch gone.

5th round, Tharold Simon, CB, LSU
The first of 2 LSU teammates taken in this draft, Simon is know for his tackling and physicality.  This leads to great off the line slowing of receivers and excellent run defense.  He has some criminal history and a reputation for being flaky at practices, and he may struggle keeping up with sharp route cuts.  Overall, he is athletic enough to make an impact and possibly back fill a CB position in the future.

5th round, Luke Willson, TE, Rutgers
Unfortunately, not this Luke Wilson, who could have been drafted for his hilarious set of skills.  No, Willson with 2 Ls ran the 40 in 4.4 seconds, the fastest for a TE this year at the combine. Last season he had injuries, but before that he was very productive.  Hopefully he can heal up and use some of that athleticism to fulfill his upside potential.

6th round, Spencer Ware, RB, LSU
This is the second running back for the Hawks in this draft.  I personally love building some depth here.  I love Beast Mode, but running back is a short lived position so finding the next man up should be a priority, and spending a low round pick is ideal.  He's the type of runner who will run through you, not around you.  He is a big back from an SEC school that fits the mold of Seattle's current RBs.  He could potentially be converted to a FB.

7th round, Ryan Seymour, OL, Vanderbilt
He has played tackle, guard, and center over his career.  He is a strong guy getting 30 bench reps at the combine.  Vanderbilt used zone blocking like the Seahawks, so he should be able to plug in pretty well.  He is tough and quick, but lacks overall strength for trench battles.

7th round, Ty Powell, OLB/DE, Harding
Powell is from a small school but had great combine measurables  May be an athletic backup option for Avril and Irvin who are both trying out the OLB and DE spots.  He is raw with poor technique but is explosive and a big hitter.  He played some safety for Harding too, so he's gotta be pretty quick.

7th round, Jared Smith, DT, New Hampshire
Schneider sees a "Tough, Reliable, Smart" football player here.  He is a DT but the organization sees him having the ability to play somewhere on the OL if needed.  Not an excellent athlete, he may be a project for the Seahawks to develop.

7th round, Michael Bowie, OT, Northwestern State
Besides having a name that reminds me of the 1984 NBA draft, where the Blazers chose Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, there doesn't seem to be a lot to talk about here. He was a good OT at Oklahoma State before violating team rules and leaving the team.  So he comes with some risk, but is probably better than his last year at Northwestern State suggests.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Next Year

(picture from Oregonlive.com)
Uh Oh, 3 game winning streak.  The season is young and to be honest I couldn't be happier.  The Blazers are meeting their expectations!  In previous seasons Roy and Oden were expected to come back and take us deep into the playoffs.  That did not happen for a variety of reasons, primarily knee problems.  This year, we were expected to struggle while leaning on Aldridge and developing Lillard and Leonard.  So far Aldridge is our leading scorer and shot blocker, and Lillard is in a dead heat for the ROY award.  Leonard is developing slowly, but has some amazing highlights along the way.  They are meeting and slightly beating expectations!  I love it, feels good.  If the playoffs started today we would be the #7 seed.

Here's where I get scared.  We are clearly not contenders.  We also lose our 1st round pick in the next draft if it falls out of the top 12.  At this rate, that's going to happen.  Then we just have development of our young players and the bench.  That's is the next issue, our bench is our biggest weakness, they have the least points in the entire league.  I say we start giving some of them significant minutes so they will develop, or so they can be used as trade chips.  Our core of starters is clearly strong, but our bench players will determine the future.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

2012-2013 Western Conference

(from http://losangeles.cbslocal.com)

That is a scary sight.  So much for the collective bargaining agreement stopping the formation of superteams.  Regardless, here are my predictions for the 2012-2013 season Western Conference standings.

1. Lakers
2. Thunder
3. Clippers
4. Nuggets
5. Spurs
6. Grizzlies
7. Mavericks
8. Minnesota
---
9. Warriors (caveat - if Curry and Bogut play more than 70 games each, they make it as high as the 7th seed)
10. Jazz
11. Blazers (I could honestly see the Blazers lower than this even)
12. Hornets
13. Suns
14. Rockets
15. Kings

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

21 days

(photo from @pdxtrailblazers twitter feed)

So football season is here, that's nice.  I enjoy the once a week games, prepping for fantasy football competition with friends, and the highlight plays that Megatron and other big names provide.  But one day after the Thursday night game between the Cardinals and the Rams on October 5th, the Celtics will be tipping off the first preseason game against Fenerbahce Ulker Turkish club team in Instanbul.  A full season lies ahead of us following the abbreviated disaster of a season last year.  I will likely be even more NBA obsessed this year as the NHL looks to repeat history with another lockout, freeing up my time.

The picture above is from the Blazers twitter feed and has some of the only returning players from last year.  Even that picture is now outdated as Elliot Williams is out for the season with knee surgery, and his spot may be filled with the ever under-whelming Adam Morrison.  But AmMo would be one of many newly signed vets and rookies that promise to make the Blazers season interesting, as well as likely unsuccessful.  Either way I'll be watching and cheering in 21 days.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Lillard - Grain of Salt

(from blazersedge.com)

Lillard is putting up awesome numbers, against sub par competition.  The Blazers are looking for their point guard of the future aka pgotf.  This seems eerily similar to when Jerryd Bayless tore up the summer league.  Everyone was reeeally excited, myself included.  And I am currently excited that we have a player that is proving he can do well against not quite nba level talent.  He is already getting comparisons to Derrick Rose without having played a single nba game!

I hope that Speed Demian Lilliard is the next great league guard, but I am going to wait until the regular season.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Draft/Trade Thoughts


(picture from bostonherald.com)

Just had a crazy thought and wanted to write it down..  Luckily nobody reads this blog.

I think there is an unwritten rule that you never trade away proven all-star talent for draft picks.  However, what if the Blazers could get a total of three lottery level draft picks this year?  Our only three proven talented players by my count are Lamarcus, Batum, and Matthews.  What if we traded away 1 or 2 of these guys for additional picks?  The problem is that this also has to be worth it for the other team.

Scenario 1 - Lamarcus and Matthews for Anthony Davis/salary.  Trade a proven big and a starter for the #1 draft pick.  Who wins this trade at first glance?  I have no idea.  We lose a proven big about to enter the prime of his career as well as a a starter to the Hornets to pair with Eric Gordon.  I don't know if draft slots #6 and #11 are enough to put us over the top, so I'm OK with that.  We get someone in Davis who has the potential to be an amazing all-star for years to come, and he grows along with the #6 and #11 pick of a deep draft! 

Scenario 2 - Trade Matthews or Batum for somewhere between a #5 - #15 pick.  Batum would obviously bring a higher pick than Matthews.  Here we end up with 3 young talented players to pair with Lamarcus.  Who knows who will eventually pan out, conservatively 2 of 3 become starters.  None of our last couple drafts have turned out to be very good, so this scenario hedges on high picks and lots of them to turn our fortunes.

Both of these scenarios are in the OKC model of letting a young talented core grow together.  Based on last night's Western Conference championship game, I'm a fan of this scenario.  This is all likely moot based on Olshey's desire to "re-tool" vs. "re-build."  

Lastly, I would like to mention that I would mourn the loss of Aldridge and/or Batum, but don't tell me either of the above scenarios would not be exciting to watch unfold.