The city of Portland is at a crossroads. With a new apartment complex on every block and thousands of new residents flocking to the land of fair trade coffee and cruelty-free, artisan baked goods, the battle between Old Portland and New Portland has Rip City searching for a new identity. In an ironic twist of fate, as the City of Roses undergoes an extended facelift, so too does its basketball team. Gone is four-fifths of the starting lineup that won 50-plus
Just about every team in the Western Conference spent money in free agency. Some were trying to close the gap on the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Some were trying to jump from the lottery to the playoffs. And some were merely trying to keep pace in the arms race. But while some teams spent smartly and found bargains, others threw bad money after good, overreaching and overpaying for players who may not provide the expected bang for the buck. The Sheridan Hoops
The summer’s free agent market will not be as crazy as last year’s, when LeBron James left Miami for Cleveland, or next year’s, when Kevin Durant and his agent, Jay-Z, will decide where he will continue his career. In fact, this summer’s market could be a relative dud given the incentive teams now have to match any reasonable offer their restricted free agents receive. And with the influx of new TV money coming into the NBA, “reasonable” is a relative term. But
Terrence Jones could return as soon as Wednesday for the Rockets, who upgraded his status to questionable for the team’s showdown with Western rival Dallas. It’s the first time in months that the Rockets have changed Jones’ status from “out”. Jones, a third-year power forward from Kentucky, has missed Houston’s last 41 games with a nerve issue affecting his left leg. At one point, his mobility was so limited that Jones worried if his basketball career might be over. But Jones has
The three best records in the NBA belong to the Warriors, Grizzlies and Blazers. What do all three Western Conference teams have in common? Continuity. Besides for some minor tweaks, (Shaun Livingston, Vince Carter, Steve Blake and Chris Kaman) Golden State, Memphis and Portland retained their core players and have been extremely successful over the first quarter of the regular season. For Portland, now at 16-4 after Sunday’s win over New York, this is the third season the LaMarcus Aldridge-Damian Lillard-Nicolas Batum-Wes
All season, the Indiana Pacers have maintained that homecourt advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs, and their chemistry will give them a great chance to dethrone the two-time NBA champion Miami Heat. Are both slipping away? In the last two weeks, Indiana’s grip on the East’s best record has loosened considerably. And the Pacers’ big move at Thursday’s trading deadline, acquiring Evan Turner, illustrated that their belief in chemistry may have been overstated. [Read more…]
Where is the love? Why do so many pundits and taking heads consider these guys to be a flash in the pan? As Martin Luther King Day arrives, the Portland Trail Blazers have the second-best record (31-9) in a brutal Western Conference, along with the third-best overall record in the NBA. They have twice beaten San Antonio and Oklahoma City and come up victorious against Indiana, Miami, the Clippers and Golden State. Yet all of those teams continually garner more confidence from
BROOKLYN – Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts doesn’t run any crazy offensive scheme. He just tries to get the most out of his talented players. Often this season, that has meant letting his shooters shoot with the rest taking care of itself. So far, that has been a major key to the success of the NBA’s hottest team. It seems simple, but in a sporting landscape where coaches like to exert influence or control, sometimes giving individuals freedom can get