Yardbarker: Channing Frye

Greg on the Mic

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:21:46 -0500

I was in the front row directly across from Greg Oden and 7 other Trailblazers! This photo is after MB gave the mic to Greg to share a few words with the RoseGarden faithful.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Extending Coaches Edition

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:39:41 -0500

The big news today is actually no news. After his big announcement that he was going to make an anouncement about when he was going to have surgery on his pinkie, Kobe Bryant finally said that he isn't going to have surgery on the pinkie finger. He is going to bear the pain and put off the surgery so he won't miss any of training camp. While on the one hand this is admirable that he doesn't want to win time, this guy is such a prima donna. Why didn't he just say I am not going to have surgery instead of making an announcement that he was going to make an announcement. Talk about a media hog. Coaches are getting rewarded for their successful seasons. It doesn't get any more successful than winning a championship and Doc Rivers was given a 2 year extension through the 2010-2011 season. Maurice Cheeks was also rewarded for the Sixers' success last season with his second contract extension in seven months. Details were not released, but it is believed that the extension will keep Cheeks on the Sixers' sideline through 2010. The Sixers will have an even better roster this season and have been picked by some to unseat the Celtics as Atlantic Division champions. In good news for the players, the NBA has canceled development of their new composite ball and will be sticking with leather for at least the foreseeable future. The NBA introduced a composite ball at the start of the 2006-07 season but the players complained that the ball was slippery when it got wet from perspiration and some players, particularly point guards were complaining of tiny cuts left on their fingertips from the balls which forced the league to return to the old leather balls in January of the 2007. The plan now is to develop a two-paneled ball, rather than the current eight-panel model. They will introduce the two paneled ball in the D-League next season. Mario Chalmers won't be suspended for the incident that got him kicked out of rookie orientation last week. Chalmers' penalty will be a $20,000 fine, as well as the requirement that he repeat the program next year. Chalmers and Darrell Walker were caught with women along with evidence of marijuana use in their room at the rookie transition program, both of which were against the rules and got them kicked out of the program. Both Chalmers and Walker have denied using marijuana, but they now have that reputation to live down. Chalmers is back in South Florida and working out with the Miami coaching staff. The Orlando Magic are close to signing a point guard. They are looking for a third point guard to back up Jameer Nelson and and Anthony Johnson. Free agents Eddie Gill and Mike Wilks are said to be in the mix to fill the spot. The team is also likely to bring in another wing player and another big man for training camp. Amare Stoudamire is fired up for this season. He is in the best shape of his career and has been working hard in the offseason to make a difference for the Suns this coming season. He is talking about and working on his defense and has declared his passion for the game to be at an all-time high. He plans to be a ferocious defender this season, one that guys fear when they see him guarding them. The Suns could really use this type of defensive presence. They have had one of the top offenses in the league with their run and gun style, but could never get the stops when needed. With new coach Terry Porter, they may just be able to put it all together with a defense to match their offense. Look out for the Toronto Raptors this season. They already have one of my favorite non-Celtic players in Chris Bosh, and they traded for Jermaine O'Neal this summer. Their GM is talking about moving Andrea Bargnani to small forward and putting out one of the tallest front lines in the league. Bosh, Bargnani and O'Neal would form a triple towers that would force some matchup nightmares for other teams. The Knicks are still pondering the deal with the Grizzlies that would allow them to finally dump Zach Randolph and move one more step away from the Isiah Thomas era in New York. The hold up is that the Grizzlies want a first round draft pick along to take Randolph off their hands and send Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric to New York. The Clippers would have taken Randolph off their hands earlier but wanted a first round pick to do so and the Knicks nixed the deal moving the Clippers to bring in Marcus Camby instead. Still, it seems as though the deal is going to get done as Darko was quoted on a Serbian website saying it was 99% certain that he was going to be a Knick. Mike D'Antoni has a way of filling his rosters with European players one way or the other. The summer injuries and surgeries continue as the Trailblazers have announced that forward Channing Frye will be out of action until at least November after surgery on Monday to remove bone spurs from his left ankle. Frye was expected to enter training camp as the backup power forward to LaMarcus Aldridge but that plan will have to wait awhile now. The Blazers have quietly gone about building a very talented young team, partly with help from Danny Ainge's desire to dump his lottery picks. They are going to be a dangerous team. Danny seems to be getting them back though with the signing of Darius Miles who could not only possibly help the Celtics if he is healthy, but eat up a good portion of the Blazers' cap space if he plays in 10 games this season. Heat guard Jason Richards is going to miss the season with a torn ACL. Richards was signed as an undrafted rookie who was expected to Marcus Banks and rookie Mario Chalmers at the point. Seems like the Heat may be in for some point guard trouble. Marcus Banks has been a bust at every stop so far and Mario Chalmers is off to a rocky start by getting thrown out of the rookie transition program. Dwyane Wade is high on Chalmers and would like to see him start. Seeing that Banks is their only other option at this point, that might not be a bad idea. The Heat have made 2 offers to restricted free agent point guard Chris Quinn and he is expected to be signed by the team and could challenge for the back up spot. With 16 days left until training camp starts, there are 17 Nets players at their training facility working on conditioning, chemistry, and skill development since no supervised scrimmages are allowed as yet. Eduardo Najera who is running his basketball camp in Mexico and Stromile Swift who is aiding hurricane relief efforts in Louisiana are the only players not already working out for the team. This team may be young and there are a lot of questions surrounding them, but they have the hunger that the Celtics had last season and that could make them dangerous. One of the questions facing the Nets will be how Yi will fare after a grueling summer playing on the Chinese National team. He seemed tired last season and seemed to run out of steam and it remains to be seen how he will fare in a season after playing in the Olympics.

Team Preview #16: Portland Trail Blazers

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:37:00 -0500

Rudy Fernandez vs. Jerryd Bayless and a Greg Oden poll... LAST SEASON The Blazers had a 13-game win streak in December and boasted a 22-13 record at one point, but finished at an even .500, which wasn't bad considering they lost their prized #1 pick before the season. If you've wondered why Portland hasn't been a haven for fantasy stars in recent years, just look at their pace factor under Nate McMillan: 87.9 in '07-08 (29th), 88.3 in '06-07 (29th), and 87.6 in '05-06 (28th). As a result, the Blazers ranked 27th in scoring, 25th in rebounds, and 23rd in FG attempts last season. OFFSEASON MOVES Key Additions: Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Ike Diogu, Nicolas Batum Key Losses: Jarrett Jack, James Jones, Josh McRoberts, Darius Miles The Blazers were busy on draft day, as they traded away Jack, McRoberts, and their #13 pick (Brandon Rush) to Indiana for Ike Diogu and the rights to Jerryd Bayless. Kevin Pritchard has said that Bayless is "like Jack on steroids," so he sounds like a pretty solid replacement (for now or down the road?). In college, Diogu dominated the Pac-10 like few power forwards have done before him, but he's yet to blossom in the pros. He's still only 24 tho, so if he finds his niche and lands in the right situation (is his 3rd team the charm?), I could see him playing a productive role. Portland picked up a French forward with serious upside (Batum) later in the draft, and also received FOUR future 2nd round picks for Pritchard to play with. At small forward, the Blazers are going to miss the sweet shooting of James Jones, who signed with Miami over the summer. Fortunately, they're bringing in one of the most talented & seasoned European players to replace him in Rudy Fernandez. They've also signed swingman Luke Jackson, which is notable simply because he played college ball at Oregon. Darius Miles hasn't played since 2006, but he recently signed a non-guaranteed contract with Boston and Portland will be watching him closely. If Miles makes the team and plays in 10 regular season games, Portland will lose the $18 million (over 2 years) in cap space that they received when they waived him due to a "career-ending" injury. ROTATION / PLAYING TIME I would love to watch a preseason game or two before predicting Portland's rotation, but no worries… This team is led by Brandon Roy, the 24-year old who reps the Pacific Northwest to the fullest (born and raised in Seattle & a Washington Husky). He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a partial tear in the meniscus of his left knee earlier this month and is expected to be out 4-8 weeks, which sounds kind of scary at first, but Brandon sounds pretty optimistic in this recent interview. If he's good to go, he'll average 37-38 minutes per game just like last year. In that interview, they also talk about Portland's tough schedule to open up the season, which pretty much solidifies Steve Blake as the opening night starting point guard if you ask me. He averaged 29.9 mpg last season, and I'll project him to play 30-32 minutes to start out '08-09. Jerryd Bayless turned some heads in the Vegas Summer League, but after watching Rudy Fernandez play in the Olympics, there's no doubt in my mind that the Spaniard will be the first guard off the bench for Coach Nate. I'll project Rudy to get 16-20 minutes right off the bat backing up both Roy & Blake, which leaves maybe 8-10 minutes left for Bayless & Sergio Rodriguez (more experience and also a Spaniard) to fight over. We'll come back to these guys in a minute. There's a new man in the middle for Portland, as Greg Oden is set to make his long-awaited NBA debut. I'll project 28-30 minutes for November-December, 30-32 minutes for January-February, and 32+ minutes for March-April. Backing him up is the veteran Joel Przybilla, who will see his minutes fall from 23.6 to well under 20 this season. Raef LaFrentz is their dusty secret weapon, but we can always reminisce about his last days in Denver (3 blocks & 1.5 threes per game before getting traded to Dallas!). At power forward, LaMarcus Aldridge should see 34-36 minutes of action, while Channing Frye backs him up. Diogu is the odd man out for now, but he's just one injury away from finding his role. At small forward, Martell Webster (21 years old, 28.4 mpg) and Travis Outlaw (23 years old, 26.6 mpg) will battle it out once again. Outlaw actually played a lot more power forward last season, but thanks to Mr. Oden, there's a squeeze on minutes. Long-time readers know that I'd prefer the gazelle to start, but McMillan said they needed Outlaw's scoring punch on the 2nd unit last season. With scorers like Rudy & Bayless (and even Diogu) now coming off the bench, that point is a little less valid, which is why I think the battle will come down to defense. My prediction? Webster will start on opening night and play 26 minutes to Outlaw's 22. But when Portland endures their first long losing streak, they will turn to T. Outlaw, who will seize the opportunity and play 28+ minutes the rest of the way. DON'T SLEEP ON: Rudy Fernandez If you're still sleeping on Rodolfo Fernandez, please click here. As you can see, the guy isn't afraid to attack the rim and he can score from pretty much anywhere on the floor. He has a weird quick release and likes to shoot off-balance, but just check the stats if you don't think his style is effective. In Spain's top ACB League, Fernandez played in 30 games last season and put up the following line: 21.2 points, 4.1 assists, 2.2 steals, 3.0 threes, 49.2% FG, 41.1% 3P, 91.4% FT Those are some very impressive numbers, especially when you consider that he did it in just 28 minutes of action. In the Gold medal game against Kobe & company, things were no different, as Rudy dropped in 22 points on just 13 field goal attempts in only 18 minutes! He also made some sweet passes, handled the rock well, and looked great moving around without the ball. DraftExpress gives Fernandez a Best-case comparison to Kevin Martin (I remember DX raving about Kev-Mart's offensive skills well before he was drafted by the Kings), and I think that comparison is SPOT ON. Rudy might not get huge minutes to start the season, but at some point during crunch time, he, Roy, and Outlaw are going to play together and something will click into place. Along with Aldridge & Oden, I imagine that being Portland's best lineup, but if you wait too long to see it, Rudy might already be gone in your league. So don't sleep! BE CAREFUL OF: Jerryd Bayless If any "fantasy experts" are hyping up BOTH Fernandez & Bayless to start the season, I suggest you call SHENANIGANS, because there's no such thing and it's not gonna happen. Yes, the Wildcat averaged an impressive 29.8 points in 4 Summer League contests and seems to be an explosive scorer, but he stands just 6-feet-3 with shoes on and sports an average 6-3 wingspan. This means that he's supposed to be a combo guard, but in those 4 games, he dished out just 5 assists to 15 turnovers. His 1.36 assist-to-turnover ratio in college wasn't much better, so I'm definitely not sold on Jerryd's point guard skills. Which means that he's currently just an undersized shooting guard. And the last time a 20-year old (Bayless was still 19 a week ago) undersized shooting guard had fantasy value as a rookie was ??? Blake isn't very flashy, but he's a dependable veteran PG who's going to get his minutes. And Rudy & Roy make for an extremely versatile backcourt duo, so unless Roy's knee gets worse and he has to miss some games, I think you can safely ignore any "Jerryd Bayless = sleeper" talk. ROUND BY ROUND TARGETS (Where you should draft these guys in an 8-cat Roto league with 12 teams and 14 man rosters) Roy: 5th - 6th Oden: 5th - 6th Aldridge: 6th - 7th Blake: 12th - 14th Outlaw: 13th - 14th Fernandez: Last round Webster: Last round (if you need threes) Bayless: Don't draft (but watch if Roy can't play) Click the link to vote on Greg Oden's fantasy ranking!

The Great Oden Practices! FULL CONTACT

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:28:38 -0500

He's back. The great mythical beast called Oden is out. They took the chains off of him, and let him out of his cage. His first victim…… Channing Frye. Poor, poor, Channing Frye. So once again the anticipation is at another all time high. Great article by the Blazers beat writer Jason Quick. Here are some blurbs from the article. For moments, it was awe-inspiring. Early in the workout, Oden took a long stride and ripped at the rim with such ferocity that the shot clock mounted on the backboard shook for more than five seconds punctuating one of his dunks. "I've got tingles," assistant general manager Tom Penn said from his courtside seat. Penn, for one, said Oden looked good Monday. "The important thing is he's moving well and he has the same explosiveness and athleticism as he did before the surgery," Penn said. "Everything is a dunk, Greg!" Demopoulos shouted. "Everything is a dunk!" Oden obliged, catching the passes in midair and finishing with mostly soft one-handed dunks. Occasionally, however, he unleashed a violent two-handed dunk, which raised the eyebrows of Demopoulos, Frye and Penn. "That's some nasty stuff," Penn said. "And we're not even going full speed." Please parents this is a warning, do not bring your children to any games this year. Something nasty, brutal, and violent will be going on, and children under the age of 13 should not witness such acts. Catch the full article at the link below.

Channing Frye the Silent Thunder

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:58:44 -0500

He had some of the worst gas in history on his flight from Portland to Illinois. But out of respect for his fellow travelers, he held it in. For hours. If we were outside in the woods or maybe at an all-guys party I would have tore a hole in the universe but I had to hold it. Too many people too soon and I knew it was gonna smell. As we all do, you just squeeze and hold it except the flight is 3:30 hrs long. I was in for it. I tried drinking more water. At the exact moment I felt my stomach really start to hurt and from me holding it too long, also giving me a headache, it was the last straw. There was no one in the seat next to me so I was gonna let it ride. I asked the stewardess for two blankets to tame the stinky beast that was about to be let loose on the world. I acted like I was falling asleep, positioning, and ... as if God had the best sense of humor ever, a man sits down looking at me straight in my eyes. I have to abort mission. Alpha bravo team cancel that operation. I knew he knew I was a basketball player just looking at me smiling wanted to talk about something so bad I could see his body language look for any opening. I wouldn't give him any. I put the two blankets over my head and fell asleep hard waking up to move around, adjusting my poor intestine, holding all that stinky air. I was mad. Here's the happy ending though: Eventually, painfully, Frye did arrive at Andre Iguodala's charity game in Springfield Illinois. And then he had an unbelievable shooting night and was named MVP. Whatever works, right? I'm thinking the Blazers should institute a no farting policy on the plane, and then watch Frye have a career year.

CHANNING FRYE - SILENT THUNDER

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:53:29 -0500

SILENT THUNDER

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:41:31 -0500

Create The Caption #242

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:24:46 -0500

(Usually) Everyday I'll throw out a photo from the AP or one of the bigger sites and you provide the caption. Hilarity ensues. I'm also adding a handful of links at the bottom of the page that you should check out each day.

Yesterday's Winners....

"Oh my god, oh my god, I think the one in the fanny pack likes me! Play it cool Tim, play it cool..."- Mez

"What's the difference between Crocs and Gators? Nothing, they both look ridiculous."- Pete

"Baby: "You've actually got a RECEIVER over there on the right, Tim...do you know what one of those is? No? OK then, run it up the middle again. (sigh)""- Anon

"I can see a football on the ground, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that Darren McFadden was cropped out of the photo."- Down Goes Brown
_______________________________________

Are you funny enough to create a caption for this photo of Tim Tebow hanging with Erin Andrews in Gainesville? (Sorry, I had to do it)

Daily Links:

Boston's Julie Donaldson Is Going To Get The Bad Character Treatment In Court (Boston Herald)
An Interview With Steelers Ownership (Modesi's House)
Ralph Branca Is Not A Fan Of Baseball Music (Bugs and Cranks)
Just Say No To Favre (Waiting For Next Year)
Channing Frye Gets Lasik (Real Clear Sports)
Don't Feel Bad About Sexson (Rumors and Rants)
Selling Your Fandom On EBAY (Lion In Oil)
Barry Bonds Just Needs A Mustache (Simon on Sports)
60% Of NBA Players Go Broke (All Balls)
Let's Vote Someone Out Of The All Star Game (Vegas Watch)

TOP 12 REASONS WHY THE US MENS BASKETBALL TEAM WON'T WIN GOLD

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:02:46 -0500

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool

12. Critical error of selecting four point guards and just three big men causes complete collapse of morale

11. Kobe's teammates just aren't talented enough

10. Refs in the medal round are from Iraq, Iran and North Korea

9. There's no way that Jason Kidd can defend Angola's Milton Barros one on one

8. Presence of Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski means that most of America will actually be rooting against the team

7. American NBA players curl into the fetal position when confonted with the horrors of zone defense

6. LeBron James and Jay-Z will be distracted by a rap battle with Sarunas Jasikevicius and Mister Sinister

5. Three point and free throw shooting always goes to hell when players have to shoot in metric

4. Can't hope to compete with Spain and Argentine's incredible "Fall Down And Cry Like A Little Girl For A Call" technique

3. USA Select team (Aaron Brooks, Channing Frye, Jeff Green, Devin Harris, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Jason Kapono, David Lee and JJ Redick) left their confidence shaken in warm-ups

2. Brutal every-other-day schedule will destroy NBA players who are used to their playoffs lasting six months

1. If things start going badly for the home team, they've got a very impressive bench

Kings Beat Blazers 103-86, Headband Style

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:32:28 -0500

The Kings, led by John Salmons took the season series 3-1 and handed the Blazers one of their more dismal road losses of the year, and Josh McRoberts made an appearance. Plus, in honor of Brad Miller undergoing surgery, the team wore headbands. Check out the pics in the comments.

I Don't Like Milkshakes, but I'll Take a Frye.

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:50:39 -0500

CHANNING FRYE I'll be the first to admit that this guy is definitely a stretch in terms of fantasy potential, but you gotta admit, the title was catchy, right? But seriously, Frye had the fourth best line of the night last night according to basketballmonster.com--and they know their stuff. So consider him wisely. Last night he put up 22 points, 11 rebounds 2 assists and 3 (!) steals in 38 minutes and led the Blazers to a 112-103 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers :-(

Kings Douse Blazers 96-85, Calling Out Odom

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:27:39 -0500

The Kings were hot, the Blazers were not. The Kings are playing with their newfound philosophy called "L.A. Energy." Treat every team like they're the Lakers. Plus, I'm calling out Lamar Odom's big mouth for calling the Kings a high school team when he can't back himself up.

Breaking down the Blazers playoff chance

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:57:51 -0500

Before the past two games, it seems as if the Blazers' playoff chances were dust in the wind. However, after the Blazers encountered the two different LA teams these past couple days and all of that turned around an in instant. Brandon and James coming back from injury for the Lakers game sure helped, as did some resurgent play of Jarrett Jack to silence the haters. Watching the team play against the Lakers yesterday resembled the team that mustered the great December run. Can the Blazers bring back the cohesiveness and consistency and make a playoff push? The odds are heavily stacked against them, but if they can follow these steps then the Blazers might make the playoffs for the first time since 2003. 1 - Stay Healthy If the team can stay healthy for the most part, the chances are far more likely for them to make the playoffs. Recently, the Blazers realized they aren't the greatest team if the whole team isn't together. As long as no rotation player suffers a major setback, the team should be fine. 2 - Bench Scoring With the whole team healthy, the rotation is set and everyone knows what minutes they will get. That makes it a lot easier to produce for this young team if they are in a familiar role where they feel comfortable. Jarrett Jack struggled since James Jones went down, mainly because he had to play more of an off-guard and slasher, rather than the point with the ball in his hands. Travis needs to keep up his sixth man of the year candidacy to provide balance to the white unit. Travis, James, and Jarrett are the most important parts of the bench, and if they play good the team plays good. I'd like to see Von Wafer show us some more of his arsenal after his strong performance in the Clipper game. Sergio and Channing aren't key cogs in the bench scoring, but when they play within themselves they can make the difference in a game without a doubt. 3 - Brandon and Lamarcus Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge are the two players that make this team what they are. Brandon needs the ball in his hands when the pressure is on for the Blazers to win. He is our most poised player, and also has the highest basketball IQ on the team. Lamarcus needs to consistently hit his jumper that he has shown great progress with this season, as well as toughen up and bang down in the post. 4 - Three point shooting The Trail Blazers have a great shooting roster, and the hot shooting is what kept them in the win column almost all of December. James Jones and Steve Blake are probably the two best shooters on the squad, as their percentages show, and they need to hit their open shots for the Blazers to stay alive in the chase. Martell has been inconsistent most of the season, but when his shot is dropping there is no stopping him. He needs to find his stroke and deliver if he wants to stay a part of this team. 5 - Tough defense Joel Przybilla is the only player on the roster that brings physical defense and hustle night in and night out. The rest of the team needs to rally behind the energy he brings and force turnovers and challenge shots. 6 - REBOUNDING! The main knock on this Blazer team is their lack of rebounding. Its been an issue all season, but when the team rebounds well the results are good. If Joel, Lamarcus, Channing, and Raef can all step in and be an interior force on the boards. Our wing players such as Brandon, Travis, Martell, and James are pretty savvy rebounders for their position and any bit they contribute helps greatly. 7 - Hope for a lower seed team to slip Pretty much what is said above. The Blazers have to play lights out to have a shot, and have to have Houston, Golden State, and Denver all play decently. If these teams continue on their good play as of late you can kiss any chances goodbye. 8 - Road wins The Blazers don't have a favorable schedule these last two months of the season. They face almost all the teams ahead of them in the standings in the western conference. The record away from the Rose Garden this season hasn't been that great for the Blazers, and the team needs to deliver on the road for any chance. They don't have to win every game, because with all the quality teams they're facing there is no way they won't have even a minor slip up. The team just needs to win the games they are supposed to, and fight hard every game. Now, with all this being said, let me repeat that the chances of the Blazers to make the playoffs are slim. It is likely they will have to win 15 or more to have a chance, and there are only 23 games remaining. 12 of the remaining 23 are teams in the playoffs right now, and 10 of those are western conference playoff teams. So the Blazers will have to play absolutely to their potential for this to happen. I posted the remaining schedule below for all of you to see. @ Golden State Phoenix @ Milwaukee @ NY Knicks @ Cleveland @ Minnesota @ Sacramento Minnesota Phoenix LA Clippers @ LA Clippers @ Seattle Washington @ Golden State Charlotte @ LA Lakers Houston San Antonio LA Lakers @ Sacramento Dallas Memphis @ Phoenix

NEW YORK KNICKS 2007-2008 MID-SEASON AWARDS

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:33:34 -0500

Check out who got awards for team MVP, Offensive player, Defensive player, Softest player, player that should be benched, etc, etc.

Nets, Mavericks, Blazers Discuss Three-Way Deal Centered Around Jason Kidd

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:49:28 -0500

Jason Kidd and Devin Harris are the biggest names rumored to be in the deal.