Around The World: April 23

04/23/12

Written by: DHawes22

April 23

Trailblazers.tv: Video: Trail Blazers 89, Grizzlies 93

Trail Blazers: Trail Blazers vs Spurs Preview
"Any time we get a chance to rest Tim (Duncan) and Tony (Parker) doesn't play that much, and we get away with a win, that's always a plus," said Stephen Jackson, whose 17 points were his most of his current stint with the Spurs. "As long as we take care of business and continue to build and not take steps back, we'll be all right."

Trail Blazers: Trail Blazers Fight, Fall Short At Grizzlies
"I think we just started playing harder on the offensive end and defensive end. In the first half, I think they kind of had their way with us," said Portland forward JJ Hickson. "Our half-time adjustment was to go out and match their physicality and come out with the mindset that they are going to let us play. Once we did, that got us back in the game. We just came up short at the end."

Trail Blazers: Hickson Impressive In Memphis
"Credit once again goes to Chad Buchanan and his staff for pulling off the trade on draft day that scored them a trade exception from Houston, which allowed them to grab Hickson off waivers despite being over the salary cap. So, even if this has worked out better than many of us had hoped, these guys thought enough of Hickson that they structured the Camby deal specifically with Hickson in mind. Don't forget that."

Oregon Live: 'Guys want to play hard' for Blazers interim coach Kaleb Canales
"The one thing I hope everyone notices is that we're battling for him," Luke Babbitt said. "Unfortunately, the last couple of games, we haven't really put up great fights. But what's been consistent ever since he took over is that everybody is fighting and laying it all out there. Even though we're eliminated from the playoffs and some people say we don't have a lot to play for -- or even the opposite, that we should be losing -- we're still fighting. And he's the main reason for that. Guys want to play hard for him."

Oregon Live: Portland Trail Blazers at San Antonio Spurs game preview
"After Sunday's victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Spurs have won seven in a row, claiming four victories against teams — the Los Angeles Lakers (twice), Phoenix and Memphis — in the playoff hunt. ... With Sunday's win, the Spurs are 27-5 at home. The 27 home wins are the most in the Western Conference and the second most in the NBA behind the Miami Heat (28). ... The Spurs played two sets of back-to-back-to-backs this season and were the only team in the league to sweep both sets. ... The Spurs have won an NBA-best 11 consecutive games twice this season. ... San Antonio has 11 players averaging at least 19 minutes per game this season."

Columbian: Blazers' Felton is tuning out his critics
“You can’t listen to what people say. Nobody knows me. But for somebody to assume something, or to write something down, to say that this person is like this, this person does that, I think it’s quite BS, but what can you say? You can’t say nothing to someone who writes because that’s what they do. There’s nothing you can really do or say about it. I’m not gonna lose no sleep because people are going to write good stuff about you, people are going to write bad stuff about you. Not that I like it. I definitely don’t. But what can you really do about it at the end of the day?”

Blazersedge: Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview
"The San Antonio Spurs (47-16) play the Portland Trail Blazers (doesn't matter-who cares) in their final home game of the season tonight. San Antonio has won 7 straight and an amazing 21 of their last 24. The Blazers couldn't win if you spotted them 15 points at the tip. The last two games they've started Hasheem Thabeet and Nolan Smith. The rotation includes heavy doses of Jonny Flynn, Luke Babbitt, and now Kurt Thomas. The only two guys still suiting up who played in Portland's regular rotation this year are Wesley Matthews and Jamal Crawford. If the Blazers somehow managed to beat the Spurs--now atop the conference and dogfighting with the Chicago Bulls for the best record in the league with a great chance to win out--it would be worthy of the greatest Nelson Muntz "Ha Ha!" ever."

CSNNW: Agent: Blazers made 'no offer' to Steve Kerr
"An unnamed source close to the situation told CSNNW.com that Kerr is seriously wrestling with the possibility of becoming the Trail Blazers' next GM and that talks between himself and Miller have been ongoing before the two met for lunch yesterday."

CSNNW: Preview: Blazers vs. Spurs
"Nicolas Batum on Saturday, said he expects to play today after taking the day off in Memphis to receive treatment on his left knee. If Batum is a go, most likely Jamal Crawford will be out according to Buchanan in a method to make sure the young core gets consistent run."

Ball Don't Lie: Metta World Peace apologizes, via Twitter, for his elbow to James Harden
"The worry is that this could be the start of something worse, for Metta. If his history is any indication, things don't usually go terribly for him and get better. He tends to follow one incident with another, worse, incident. For someone who has clearly turned his life around, for the better, all one can do is hope that he has the excuse-making out of the way, and that this is merely a blip in a well-intentioned career turnaround."

The Basketball Jones: Clippers kind of torn on whether or not to have Blake Griffin’s back
"This is exactly what people want to hear from the Clippers. If you foul Blake, you get fouled. It’s the 80s way and there is a huge subset of people who think that that’s the way things need to be. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth and all that jazz. This will certainly satisfy them, even though it’s DeAndre Jordan and he’s one of the smiliest guys in the league. I’m not saying getting fouled by a guy that big wouldn’t send a message, I’m just saying I have a hard time envisioning DeAndre Jordan as an enforcer and that it might be hard to decipher which of his numerous fouls is the one that’s supposed to be in retaliation."

DIME: Video: Reggie Evans’ Outrageous Flop
"His “skills” were on display last night against the Hornets with this embarrassing flop against Greivis Vasquez. The officials originally called this a flagrant 2 foul against Vasquez before reducing it to a personal. Just absurd"

DIME: Video: Metta World Peace Almost Kills James Harden With an Elbow to the Head
"The fallout from Metta World Peace‘s berseker elbow to James Harden‘s head yesterday afternoon will be far-reaching. Metta had been enjoying the best month of basketball that he’s put together in a very long time before this nonsense went down. On this morning’s SportsCenter, Ric Bucher theorized that the suspension Metta will face will be a minimum of 10 games. When you see the video, that level of punishment seems fair"

DIME: Daily Fantasy Basketball Diagnosis (Weekend Recap)
"Ty Lawson averaged 21.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 0.5 steals and 3.0 threes in two games over the weekend. He shot 58 percent from the floor and 100 percent from the free-throw line in this stretch, while averaging 0.5 turnovers per game. For the season, Lawson has been a top 25 stud, which is on the high end of expectations heading into this season’s drafts. He’ll be a stud again next season."

SLAM: Post Up: Take It To The Head
"Los Angeles rallied back from an 18-point deficit to force overtime, and Kobe Bryant put on a vintage display to carry the Lakers to a victory that could have post-season reverberations. Kobe scored 6 of his 26 in the second overtime, many coming on buckets with a ridiculously high degree of difficulty, plus had 8 assists and 6 boards on the day in leading L.A. back. Not to be forgotten, Pau Gasol poured in 20 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Kevin Durant scored 35 points, but needed 34 (!) field goal attempts to get there, and sidekick Russell Westbrook had a woeful 3-22 shooting night (14 points, 10 assists). The Lakers were down 11 with under 4 to play, but rallied like crazy, taking a 2-point lead on a Kobe trey before Westbrook tied things from the free throw line. Despite a motley crew around him (Jordan Hill back?), Kobe took charge in the OTs and the Lakers completed the biggest comeback of their season to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Thunder. And yet, as awesome as this game was in the end, it got off to a disgusting start, as Metta World Peace delivered a forceful elbow directly into James Harden’s face with 1:37 to go in the first half. MWP was apologetic, but Harden suffered a concussion, meaning both players’ futures are in doubt as we head toward the first round of the Playoffs."

ESPN: Power Rankings
"The season's final (sad) word goes to Blazers escapee Marcus Camby from the season's final Weekend Dime: "They might not want to admit it, but when I was there, my goodness, people (in the locker room) were saying, "Are we really snake-bit? Are we really cursed?" Doubts and talks like that came about."