RipCityRevival's Blog

Jul 29

    I wasn't sure I had enough to write a blog until about five minutes ago. Maybe I was searching for a reason because I had some things I wanted to respond to and it was hard to hold my tongue, either way I found enough to write a blog on. 
    First, I need to respond to the post about Jarett Jack going to Toronto. He does make them a little deeper at the PG position, but frankly I don't believe this pushes them into the Playoff level. I don't believe that Bosh is that impressive. Something about that team is overrated, something that has been there a LONG time. I don't know if it is Bosh, Calderon, both or whatever, but they continue to under achieve regardless of who their coach is and which players they have on their team. I don't think that the acquisition of J. Jack and Hedo make this team that much better. 
    Next I wanted to respond to the post about the top International Plays of the Season. I am glad that Rudy's 5 point play received the recognition it deserved. I also agree that the play where Rudy steals the ball, passes it behind his back UP COURT to Sergio, back to Rudy, then down to Joel for the fast break lay in should have been on there. Wasn't that pass to Joel also between a defender's legs, or was that another play that SHOULD have been on the list. I get that there is an argument for every Spanish Connection to be somewhere on that list and they want to spread the wealth a little bit, but that play especially should have beaten out the Kirilenko play.
    Coach Nate says that, going into training camp, Blake is the starter at the PG position. This shows me how smart he really is as a coach. He sees what the rest of us see as far as Miller not being "that much" of an upgrade to the starting unit, but to the second unit he now becomes a deadly addition. The second unit is littered with outside shooters but doesn't have a whole lot of people that take it to the paint off the dribble. That is where Miller fits in the best. Getting into the paint and dishing it out to the open guy. That was what they were trying to groom Bayless to do, but now Miller does that already so he becomes a catalyst in that second unit. He also is more of a running PG than Blake, and a more controlled running PG than Sergio ever was. This tells me that Nate really doesn't have a team A and a team B. He wants the best team on the floor at a given time, not just the best players. I like this idea, we will see how well it works and how long it lasts.
    Finally, the Blazers released their preseason schedule which includes a game at the Memorial. I love the idea and I want to be there for it, but as much as it pains me to say it I think it should be a ceremonial game, it should be the last event ever in the Memorial Colliseum. There would be no better way to close down the old gym than to go full circle from where it started. 
    I have been against the Beaver's Park being at the Rose Quarter from the beginning, but I had no real reasoning behind it. I think they seriously need to considder Memorial Park and Portland Sports Museum as a possibility. It could be the home of our Portland Beavers, have a newer, better memorial to the veterans, and then also have inside the park a sports museum dedicated to all the professional sports teams of Portland's past including a section about the original Memorial Colliseum with a piece of the old memorial lit up in a glass case. I would much rather have that in place of the memorial than night clubs. This game against Phoenix will be an emotional game for all of us fans even though it is just a preseason game. It will be nice to watch basketball in the gym again.