News From Around The World: September 5

09/05/12

Written by: DHawes22

September 5

Trail Blazers TV: An Evening With The Schonz

Trail Blazers TV: Bill Schonely: 2012 Curt Gowdy Award Winner

Trail Blazers TV: Meet BlazerDancer Lindsey

Trail Blazers: Trail Blazers Partner With Banfield Pet Hospital And Portland Parks & Recreation To Renovate Chimney Park
"A total of 30 volunteers, consisting of associates from the Trail Blazers and Banfield, as well as local community members, will gather at 9 a.m. to make improvements to the park. Volunteers will plant trees, mend fences and spread new paw-friendly cedar chips. Additional amenities to the park include: a new water line for drinking fountains, double entry gates, a trash bin and two picnic benches."

Trail Blazers: Meet The BlazersDancers: Lindsey
“I’m really looking forward to dancing at games. I love to dance, that’s why all of us try out for the team, but I’m also really looking forward to talking with girls within the BlazerDancers. They all say that you become like a family and you become so close with the girls and you make friends for life,” Lindsay said. “I think I’m really excited for that. That’s why I love being on teams, the camaraderie. I’m looking forward to getting to know the girls and making life-long friends.”

Rip City Project: Portland Trail Blazers 2012-2013 Player Projections: Nicolas Batum
"It doesn’t seem like much of a jump on paper, but Nic Batum is going to have a breakout fifth season in the NBA. An impressive free throw and three-point shooter, the Frenchman will step into his role as the team’s wing scorer and give the Blazers that well-needed scoring boost. Expect him to step up on defense, guarding each team’s best player, and to be more crafty on offense, specifically in creating space to get a bucket."

Pro Basketball Talk: Who is going to win Rookie of the Year? Try Damian Lillard.
"But Lillard is very good — athletically and making decisions — and he is in a position to succeed with players around him. He’s my pick because he will impress and put up numbers. It may take a while for the casual fans and national columnists to catch up, but he will be the guy to watch."

Trail Blazers: Bill Schonely: Profile of a Portland Broadcasting Legend
"When the Blazers won the championship, there were block parties all over the place, you couldn't get anywhere," recalls a beaming Schonely. "I don't care where you went in this state or in this area, it was Blazermania time, Rip City time all over." He recalls the championship parade down Broadway as, "Nothing but people. It was incredible. The grandest thing I've ever been involved in."

Trail Blazers: Bill Schonely: 2012 Gowdy Award Winner
“I am absolutely stunned. This is something I’ve only dreamed about,” said Schonely. “To be included with the talented individuals who have won this award in the past is an honor I can’t begin to put into words.”

Ball Don't Lie: Amar’e Stoudemire unveils new Knicks home jersey on ‘Live! With Kelly and Michael’
"The jersey itself seems pretty cool — the previously rumored removal of black from the design takes a step forward by taking a step back, in that these appear to look more like the classic '70s and '80s Knicks unis than the staid late-'90s models that added black pretty much just because everyone else was adding black to their jerseys then. I don't particularly like how the piping on the shoulders stops before the armpits (you can see it most clearly on Strahan's right side), but maybe there's a reason for that, like stopping Raymond Felton from feeling too constricted. How sharp the road blues will look remains to be seen, though; I guess we've still got that to look forward to on Thursday, at least."

Ball Don't Lie: Ralph Sampson, Hall Of Famer
"Drafted first overall by the Houston Rockets in 1983, Sampson joined a team that wasn't miserable in terms of talent, just staid and without a lot of breakout potential. In players like Rodney McCray and Lewis Lloyd the Rockets featured a pair of wings that were solid enough, and around Sampson's age, but never in any real danger of making an All-Star team. Even in the loaded Western Conference, that's exactly what Sampson did during his rookie year — putting together perhaps his finest year statistically (21 points, 11 rebounds, 2.5 blocks in just 32 minutes a night, playing all 82 games) for a team that only won 29 games."

Ball Don't Lie: Allen Iverson would like to play in China, if not the NBA
"The China Basketball Association would be a terrific choice for Iverson, and not just because his infamous practice rant would combine with teams' attendance policies for some amazing tabloid stories. In his prime, Iverson was among the most popular players in the country, impressing Chinese fans with his toughness and perseverance despite being the smallest player on the court at virtually all times. Given the way that China has warmed to former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury, a player much less well remembered than Iverson, it's likely that A.I. would be an interstellar sensation if he chose to play in the CBA."

Ball Don't Lie: Don Barksdale, Hall Of Famer
"He's a rightful inductee, though. Barksdale was the first African-American to work as a member of Team USA's Men's Basketball outfit in the 1948 Olympics, the first African-American to become a consensus All-American selection (while at UCLA), and a member of the 1953 NBA All-Star team. Barksdale averaged 11 points and eight rebounds spread out over 28 minutes per game in a truncated NBA career that was cut short by injury."

The Basketball Jones: Jared Sullinger promised his mom he’d never get a tattoo
"However, if he ever decides to get a tattoo and still wants to keep things hidden from his mumsy, perhaps he could go the Kevin Durant route and get some nice business tatts. That’s a strategy employed by 90 percent of college aged girls who get tattoos on spring break, and it seems to work pretty well. I’m not saying he should break a promise to his mom and get killed for it; I’m just saying there are options."

The Basketball Jones: Video: Royce White’s draft night
"We’ve heard a lot about White’s battles with anxiety but watching him fight it on the biggest night of his life is incredible. At times, it seems like he’s elated, terrified and completely on edge, all at once. There’s footage of him getting on a flight to Houston, which is just about the most stressful thing you’ll ever watch on YouTube, but then there’s also scrimmage tape of White joking around with his college teammates while hooping on the day of the draft. It’s only eight minutes, but it really feels like you get a pretty good idea of what it’s like to be Royce White. He’s candid and eloquent about his fears and that just makes this whole thing even better."

DIME: Avery Johnson On The Nets: “We’re Not A Championship Team”
"Honestly, he’s probably right. Brooklyn will definitely be in the playoff mix, and that offensive trio of Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams will be very lethal. But most people expect them to fall to another one of the playoff contenders (Philly, New York, Chicago), or at the latest to one of the true contenders (Miami, Boston, Indiana)."

DIME via Pro Basketball Talk: Dwyane Wade Says Lakers Must Find Chemistry “Right Away”
“‘They’ll be great, but they have to make it work,’ Wade said with a tone that sounded something like a warning — perhaps because he’s speaking from experience. ‘Some people figure it out right away, some people take till mid-season to figure it out and some take until the next year if they figure it out. Obviously for them, they need to be successful as they want to be, they’re going to have to do it right away.’"

True Hoop: Mark Cuban pipes up for Chris Kaman
""Damp, Tyson, haywood, bwright all got better. ... Are we that good with our centers or do we just use them differently. Or do we recognize that a good player is only as good as they contribute to a team game." The Mavericks certainly have a lot of pride in their system, and now they have a title to back it up. Cuban gets to win a lot of these arguments. But the idea that the Mavericks can be really good with Kaman on the floor, and get markedly more production out of him than he has shown in recent years ... it's a bold call that flies directly in the face of most, if not all, of the publicly available evidence. If Cuban is right, then you'll simply have to tip your cap to Cuban, Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks.

Sports Illustrated: Is there hope for Tyreke Evans?
"Three years ago, Evans won Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists. But here’s the harsh reality of where his once-promising career stands now: He has thrived with the ball in his hands for his entire life, but he has been unable to do so against the world’s best players. Evans shot 37 percent out of isolations last season and 35 percent out of the pick-and-roll, both plays he used in high volumes, according to Synergy Sports. He’s a 25 percent three-point shooter, which is to say he is not a three-point shooter at all. He shot an abysmal 30 percent on long two-point jumpers last season; only three players — John Wall, Antawn Jamison and Corey Maggette — put up worse marks while attempting at least three such shots per game."

Trail Blazers: Weekend Plan: Specially Designed For Families And The Busy Nine-To-Fiver
"Built for the family-oriented fan with a busy work-week, the 12-game Weekend Pack maximizes the thrill-factor while keeping the competitions to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A smattering of Western Conference rivals and Eastern Conference visitors during one-offs and key home stands, you can get your hands on this schedule-friendly pack for as low as $11/game and $52/game in the lower bowl."

Trail Blazers: The Rivals Plan: Two LAs, Oklahoma City And The Return Of Roy
"The smallest of the four big ticket plans, the eight game Rivals Pack packs a big punch. You’ll be in the building and eating a corndog while others are wondering how to get their hands on a way to see the return of Brandon Roy and the sure to sell out L.A. Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder."

Trail Blazers: Why The Value Plan Makes 'Cents' For You
"The Value Pack starts at just $5 a game. That’s 12 games for as low as $60! Talk about some serious bang for your buck. But that’s not even the best part about this ticket plan. Four of the 12 games take place in the month of January. And there is absolutely no better place to be during an Oregon winter’s night than inside the raucous Rose Garden. Not to mention this pack gets you into the arena to see some of the league’s biggest names and brightest young stars such as Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, and Rudy Gay."

Trail Blazers: Big Games Plan: 12 Of The Biggest Games
"This game has it all. Season opener, at home, against the loathe-inducing Lakers, in Steve Nash's first game in purple and gold and it's on Halloween night! Any game against the Lakers at the Rose Garden is going to be a lively one, but the confluence of circumstances in this particular game sets the stage for one of the all-time season openers in Trail Blazers history."