Around The World: May 29

05/29/12

Written by: DHawes22

May 29

Trail Blazers: Mock Draft Database

Trailblazers.tv: Video: May 29 Pre-Draft Workouts

Trail Blazers To Hold Draft Lottery Viewing Party At Buffalo Wild Wings
"The Trail Blazers will hold an NBA Draft Lottery viewing party on Wednesday, May 30 starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Lloyd Center Buffalo Wild Wings location, as the order for the first 14 picks of the 2012 NBA Draft are unveiled."

Trail Blazers: Trail Blazers Enter Into Single Affiliation Partnership With Idaho Stampede
"This investment in the development of our young players will pay dividends on the court and we're excited about working with the Stampede,” said Trail Blazers President Larry Miller. "The hybrid partnership is closer in structure to minor league baseball with a parent club and affiliate relationship, so we feel this is an arrangement that will help us utilize the D-League system more effectively.”

Trail Blazers: NBA’s Final Four: My Impressions
"It is 19 straight wins for the Spurs now. THAT is simply unfathomable! They become the 4th team in NBA history to win their first 9 playoff games. And, of the prior three, two of them went on to win the NBA Championship. How far do you expect this series to last? Manu Ginobili was sensational. When he wasn’t scoring, he was setting up his teammates. They indeed got nasty on the Thunder. So nasty that they dumped in 39 points in the final quarter to win, 101-98. Gregg Popovich has cemented himself, regardless if they win another title or not, as one of the three best NBA head coaches ever. Only Red Auerbach and Phil Jackson are on my list. Good company for Pop, eh? "

Trail Blazers: The NBA Draft Lottery Explained
"First lets get into some definitions. The terms “lottery pick” and “lottery team” are interchanged regularly in discussion about the lottery but in fact have different meanings. A “lottery team” is one of the 14 teams who didn’t make the playoffs and is involved in the lottery process. (All playoff teams are seeded in record order of worst to best for the final 16 slots in the NBA draft.) A “lottery pick” is a player selected first, second or third in the NBA draft. This is because the drawing in the NBA lottery is to select the order of ONLY the first three picks, not the order of all 14 teams, a common misconception—though nine times out of ten when you hear anyone use the term “lottery pick” they’re talking about anyone drafted top 14. After the first three picks are selected the 11 remaining lottery teams are slotted into positions 4-14 based on their records beginning with the worst."

Oregon Live: NBA High-5: Controversy involving Rockets' Kyle Lowry could affect Blazers' pursuit of Goran Dragic
"Lowry added even more controversy by saying he has a problem with coach Kevin McHale, and said that he had to be restrained when he and the coach had a disagreement during a late-season game. "If things aren’t addressed coaching-wise, I guess I have to be moved," Lowry said.

CSNNW: 7-footers higlighted Blazers' first pre-draft workout
“I've been working on my skill set really hard over the offseason and extending my range, working my back-to-the-basket, just working on everything...But mainly the ability to change the game with my athleticism.”

CSNNW: Larry Miller on GM search: "We have to make a decision now"
“We have to make a decision now,” Miller said. “We've had three candidates, total, meet with Paul (Allen) and hopefully we'll have a GM in place pretty soon.”

Columbian: Big men shine in Blazers pre-draft workout
"I was missing a lot of shots that I usually make," said a grinning Zeller, admitting that it wasn't his best workout. "I gotta get settled in. Toward the end I was able to finish."

Rip City Project: A Couple (Additional) Off-Season Targets
"Like Rondo, Marshall doesn’t live to score, but gets off by setting up his teammates for open buckets. In 33 minutes per game, he averaged 9.8 assists and 7.1 points as a Tar Heel. Imagine what he could do with LaMarcus Aldridge in the post, and Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum running rampant on the wings?"

Blazersedge: Berger: Blazers Owner Paul Allen Meets With Neil Olshey
"Also, league sources say Clippers GM Neil Olshey met with Portland owner Paul Allen in London recently about the Blazers' GM opening."

Talk Basket: Multiple European Suitors For Joel Freeland
"The chances that Joel Freeland will continue his career in Malaga are becoming smaller. Three elite teams are reportedly willing to make an offer in order to break his contract. As it was reported by malagahoy.es, Barcelona, CSKA Moscow and Anadolu Efes have already made first inquiries regarding the possiblity of signing Joel Freeland. "

Ball Don't Lie: NBA players rank their favorite TV announcers, and we rank their rankings
"The good parts: NBA players, who typically age from 19 to 39, picked Hubie Brown as one of their favorite announcers. Which means that they're watching ABC/ESPN's second-ranked broadcasting team, in games that often fly below the radar, as they sit through their nights or Sunday afternoons off. And Hubie, who doesn't cater to anyone save for his own expectations of himself, is getting through to a generation of players watching games on a busman's holiday that clearly see right into the core of the greatest color analyst in basketball history, one that knows more about this game than all of us put together, and isn't afraid to share that knowledge."

Ball Don't Lie: Pau Gasol would reportedly love to play on the Chicago Bulls, because it’s nice to aspire to great things
"Would such a deal help Chicago? Of course, because Gasol's all-around gifts would fit in with any team that dared use him the correct way. Would it help Los Angeles? Depends on the return, though we're secure in pointing out that the team badly needs to deal Gasol. But what of the potential parts? And what of the payroll implications for Chicago and Los Angeles, two of the most profitable teams in the NBA that have gone either to great lengths to avoid paying the luxury tax they well can afford (Chicago), or dumping staff and players for pure bottom line relief even in the wake of signing a massive TV contract (Los Angeles)?"

Ball Don't Lie: Behind the Box Score, where Erik Spoelstra is working well with others
"It nearly goes without saying that Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is in a lose-lose situation. He hasn't exactly been set up to fail by being placed at the head of the bench on a team featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and eventually Chris Bosh; but if he wins the Finals every year? It's expected, and must be the work of the players. If he loses? A replacement looms, and it would seem a deserving switch. The same goes for his work during his team's trip to the Eastern Conference finals, because of course he and his Heat are supposed to dominate a Celtics team that can barely keep up, working with absolutely no bench and a fourth star in the Big Four whose ankles look like absolute rubbish at this point."

The Basketball Jones: Eleven factual tidbits regarding the NBA lottery
"The team with the smallest odds that actually won the draft lottery was the 1993 Orlando Magic, who had the 11th-best chance out of 11 teams to win. The next best team that beat the odds were the 2008 Chicago Bulls who had the ninth-best chance out of 14 teams."

The Basketball Jones: Chris Bosh had a great time on the bench last night
"Maybe it’s because he’s finally getting a chance to chill, like he’s always wanted. maybe it’s because he cut a good, honest fart and knows he can easily blame it on Eddy Curry without anyone batting an eyelash. Maybe it’s because he just thought of a new photobomb he’s going to pull off once he gets back on the court. There’s no way to know, but all of these seem like logical conclusions."

The Basketball Jones: Warriors entrusting lottery success to a tooth
"I hate to say it, but it sounds like the Warriors are screwed. One guy’s bringing some random coin, the other is bringing a huge tooth that helped him win the second-most important movie awards there are, while the Cavaliers are sending a swagged-out kid who won the lottery last year. Not only are the Warriors not getting the top pick, unless they find a cute girl who can distract Nick Gilbert from using his tricks to win the lottery, they’re not getting a pick at all. Such are the powers of bad good luck charms."

SLAM via Clippers: Vinny Del Negro Will Return As Clippers Coach
“The Los Angeles Clippers announced today that the team has exercised its option for Vinny Del Negro to continue as Head Coach for the 2012-13 NBA season. As usual, no contract terms were announced. The Clippers will hold a media conference call later today with Del Negro and Vice President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey.”

SLAM: Bradley Beal Workout
“I believe that I’m going to surprise teams because the main focus of my whole pre-Draft workout has been my ball handling,” a confident Beal said. “They say that I’m a little undersized for 2-guard, so I may have to play some point guard eventually. I think that a lot of teams are going to be shocked by my ball handling.”

SLAM: Post Up: Miami Starts Hot
"The turning point of the game came when LeBron James started guarding Rondo. LeBron took Rondo’s driving ability out of the game and forced the Celtics to move without the ball more. The Celtics depended on Rondo’s penetration to create shots for the whole team, and LeBron neutralized that threat. Combine LeBron’s defense with the Celtics’ fatigue, and you have a recipe for a collapse."

ESPN: Spurs admiration starts with Admiral
"I'm very fortunate in that I didn't have to deal with a star's ego," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I dealt with grown-ups, who had character and prioritization already set in their lives and their values, that sort of thing. "Timmy came along, David understood his talent and made it very easy for Tim to become the go-to guy. As Tim got older, he understood the value of Manu and Tony and was able to share that spotlight with them. I never had a talk, I never had a discussion, a meeting or anything with any of those guys about that. We just did it. The process kind of morphed along. It's because of their character we were able to do it."

Oregon Live via Sporting News: Report: Stan Van Gundy won't coach next season
"After experiencing plenty of turmoil due to the trade demands of Dwight Howard, Van Gundy intends to take a year away from the NBA and return for the 2013-14 season, according to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News."

Sports Illustrated via ESPN: Celtics’ Ray Allen may sit out game to recover from injured ankles
“It’s a tough call with him,” Rivers said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re trying to figure out a different minute rotation for him, maybe that will help him. We’re even considering sitting him for a game, getting him a longer rest and then playing him, and then sitting him for a game. We don’t know what the right thing is.”