Yardbarker: Joel Przybilla

Game 20 Preview: Heat vs. Blazers

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:15:03 -0500

Game Time: 7:00 P.M. Pacific TV: KGW Once upon a time, not so long ago, the Miami Heat were doing quite well. They started the season 6-1 and it looked like the old Heat were back. Then a couple things happened. 1. They started playing a better caliber of opponent. 2. The league remembered Dwyane Wade wasn't hobbled anymore and started defending accordingly. With opponents routinely topping 100 and Wade's field goal percentage fr...

Figuring It Out

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:05:14 -0500

Since yesterday's hubbub about players and coaches needing to "figure out" how to get out players--and particularly their offense--clicking that question has been posed via the inbox multiple times. I'm pretty sure everybody is reading too much into the situation. Show me a decent team that doesn't grouse after losing a couple of stinkers like that. Things will be said. Those things might or might not have deeper implications. It's d...

November Jersey Contest Winner

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:37:54 -0500

Our November Jersey Contest is in the books! We had a record number of players this month and I assume it'll only get stronger as the season progresses. You can enter the first game in the December contest right here. Our winner this month gets a replica jersey of their choice and also gains automatic entry into the end-of-season playoffs for the season's Grand Prize. If you finished strong but didn't win, don't worry. Those playoffs will be rounde...

Game 15 Recap: Blazers 106, Timberwolves 78

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:53:42 -0500

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP Eeet is not fair ve have to play these guys so much! There are many other teams in this league! Browse more photos » Ahhhh...what a difference a night makes. The team that was headed straight into the depths of oblivion 24 hours ago is now showing a bright spot or two. 9-5 was completely unacceptable. 10-5? Why that's pretty good. The game started...

Game 13 Recap: Blazers 87, Pistons 81

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:41:55 -0500

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP I started this game with a full head of hair. Browse more photos » Big Ben, Little Ben, what begins with Ben? "Ben" puzzled how the Blazers let the Pistons within ten. Tonight's game was an exercise in agony and ecstasy. More precisely it was an exercise in ecstasy then agony. But the Blazers won and that's the important thing. A loss aft...

BasketballGeek.Com: Przybilla is a Top 10 Defender

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:45:53 -0500

BasketballGeek.Com: Przybilla is a Top 10 Defender Ryan over at BasketballGeek.com has put together an individual defensive efficiency rating and Blazers center Joel Przybilla fares very nicely.

Blazers Training Camp Day 3 Report

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:38:51 -0500

Joel Przybilla catches a breather after a very physical training camp practice. The team opened practice up for an entertaining full court scrimmage today. More on that below. But first a few notes. Asked about the organization's salary cap situation entering the season, a team official expressed happiness with the current setup and also pointed out that the cap holds for Victor Claver, Joel Freeland and Petteri Koponen will come off the books once the sea...

Przybilla — I

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:45:08 -0500

Let me warn you first: Joel Przybilla is, without a doubt, my favorite player on the Portland Trail Blazers team. Sure, I like watching Brandon, but Pryzzy is my guy... He's big and he's strong. He has a mean streak, playing a position where a guy needs to have a mean streak. He knows his role and he sticks to the script, staying low to crash for boards and score points off easy putbacks. He's a master craftsman of the rebounders' art, an absolutely special talent at ...

The Przybilla File

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:10:15 -0500

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP 3 months ago: Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla looks back as he walks off the floor after an incident with Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer where both players were ejected during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, March 31, 2009. The Blazers beat the Jazz 125-104. (AP Photo/Don Ryan) Browse more photos » With all of the t...

Joel Przybilla's Granny Is Upset With David Stern

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:35:22 -0500

David Stern has had to put up with a lot over his 25 years as NBA commissioner, but he's probably never had to endure the wrath of a player's angry grandmother. That's about to change, courtesy of Joel Przybilla's granny, who has apparently vowed to write Stern every day until she gets a ...

Solid Work Blazers. Portland Tops Denver. 101-92

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:56:31 -0500

There won't be a full on recap tonight as I was unable to watch the game. The X-mas spirit has invaded Blaze of Love and it was a fantastic night with friends that doesn't happen all that often. So I apologize for not expressing my views on the game, but I do want to take the chance ...

Przybilla plays Godzilla

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:51:59 -0500

Przybilla grabbed a career-high 25 rebounds and added 14 points..... Say What????? 25 boards! http://www.boomshakalaka.org/2008/03/23/przybilla-plays-godzilla/

It is on YouTube! (Shaq takes out Przybilla) And Barkley says his peace!

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:50:34 -0500

I knew it! I knew it! Someone did post Shaq's Attaq on poor Joel Przybilla over at YouTube.com. However, since embedding the said video to other sites has been disable by the YouTube user, the link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3mkxZ8f4-Q) is the next best thing. Recap: Portland Trailblazers center Joel Przybilla basically got hurt in the second Heat possession of the game! It's an amature video from the bleachers section, but you can still make everyone out on the court (well, at least you can tell who Shaquille is among the group...he is pretty hard not to miss). Well, at the possession goes, Shaq received the ball on the right block and turns right into Przybilla--BAM! Offensive foul. Everything seemed to be ok at first with almost everyone running down court with an exception of a few Trailblazers. Then looking at the instant replay up in the Jumbo Tron, the ground must have been the last place that Joel Przybilla wanted to be in as Shaq seemed to get entangled with his feet and did one of those wrestling kamikazi dives towards Przybilla and bore down his full weight (well most of it) and the basketball on Przybilla's face--effectively knocking him out of commission for the next few minutes. Of course, that is not end of it as there are reports that Charles Barkley had said that if that had ever been done to him, he would have had executed some swift retribution. I'll leave it at that. You can see the first two minutes of the Miami Heat at Portland Trailblazers match up in the aforementioned video. And I am glad that Joel Przybilla is ok.

The Shaq Attaq

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:55:11 -0500

Now I've heard it all (wish I could say that I saw it...maybe YouTube has it somewhere)... Here is what Sun-Sentinel columnist and longtime Miami Heat beat writer Ira Winderman wrote about the Heat's recent match up against the Portland Trailblazers: Portland center Joel Przybilla said he still doesn't know what hit him when O'Neal stumbled into him during Thursday's first quarter, knocking him out when the force of the ball and O'Neal's 325 pounds hit him in the face. "He apologized for it several times during the game," Przybilla said, "but I told him I didn't remember." The Shaq Attaq!!! This certainly beats Shaquille taking down a backboard (April 23, 1993): Sports Illustrated wrote: "Shaq strikes again! O'Neal sends home a dunk so powerful it rips apart the backboard's support braces, causing the Nets-Magic game at Meadowlands Arena to be delayed more than 45 minutes. The backboard, stanchion and base all have to be replaced. "I just went up and dunked and it broke," O'Neal said. "It really came crashing down. The shot clock hit me in the head. It hurt a little bit, but not that much. I have a hard head. It could have been serious, but it wasn't." Or somebody's teeth (it was that particular player's fault...he tried to take a charge on The Shaq). The name of the player escapes me at the moment (I think it was A.C. Green...can anyone verify this?), but I do remember that player losing two of his teeth and then scampering on his knees trying to recover them underneath the goal support. After collecting his fallen white pearls, the player then sought immediate dental attention. Man! I love the game of basketball. But at 5'10 1/2, if I see The Diesel coming straight at me--common sense dictates (as well as a need for self-preservation) to run the other way. Sorry guys, just threw that last part in there. It's my little attempt at humor :)