Aug
30
No, sorry ladies and gentlemen, no sign of a contract yet for the L-Train, but in an exciting 92-54 pounding of the Belgian Truffles (not their real name) Les Bleus and our boy Batum have moved on to play in the Eurobasket tournament.
Although I am glad they won, not so glad that Tony Parker is back. I wonder if he may be more of a hinderance to that team than a help. Since the return of Tony Parker, our boy Batum hasn't been producing too well. I have a feeling that it has become more of a Tony Parker show and everyone else cleans up his rebounds and puts the ball back in the hoop then really playing team basketball. Great, I'm glad they won, but really? In 18 minutes, Batum pulled out 8 pts and 2 rebounds on 4/5 shooting. That tells me he's shooting fine, but he's not getting the ball. I can't imagine the other teams are saying "lets guard the 20 year old NBA sophomore and let Tony Parker beat us." Parker, it isn't time for you to be a hero, just play team basketball. Get your head out of your rear end on fast breaks and start looking for your team mates instead of looking for what circus shot you are going to use trying to split the defenders at the rim.
Atleast we get a couple more weeks of hoping he gets a chance to show his stuff. Eurobasket officially kicks off on September 7th. I can't wait to follow that and keep you updated.
Apparently, Oden is expecting to have a big year this year according to OregonLive.com/blazers. I couldn't really tell because the article was about a paragraph long. Maybe I missed a link that extended it out, but as much as I believe he's completely right, I want to see it, not hear it.
There is also a link there to a workout session with Travis Outlaw down in Starkville, MS. He looks pretty good, it appears they are working a lot on ball handling which will be key for him going into this season, although I would really like for them to work with him on grinding after rebounds. Stop teaching him SF skills, the guy needs to play PF. Put him where he can succeed don't set him up to be stuck on the bench.
Rip City appears to be waking up from hibernation. I am seeing jerseys being worn around town again, people are talking and getting ready for the season to begin. I am gearing up to put together a Blazer Chanters meet & greet so we can get the new chants and songs out to be used at the games. It should be a lot of fun. If you aren't a member of Blazer Chanters, check it out, the more we get there at the event the better this season will be. Best of luck to France, GB, and Spain in the Eurobasket tournament. I hope to see plenty of Blazer highlights coming out of there. We have certainly stacked the deck in our favor.