Trail Blazers vs Mavericks Friday, 04/13/12 AT 07:30PM

Around The World: April 13

04/13/12

Written by: DHawes22 / avg. rating: 5.0

April 13

Trailblazers.tv: Video: LaMarcus Aldridge Discusses Hip Surgery

Trail Blazers: LaMarcus Aldridge To Undergo Surgery On Right Hip, Will Miss Remainder Of Season
LaMarcus has a slight labral tear and will require arthroscopic surgery," said Acting General Manager Chad Buchanan. "LaMarcus' priority is that he's 100-percent healthy going into training camp this fall and we all feel this is the best course. He's had an All-Star year and his long-term health is the most important thing to consider."

Trail Blazers: Canales Coaches A 'Beautiful Game'
“I would love our basketball team to play like Barcelona does. I think they play beautiful soccer. I love watching them play, the passing, the passing angles, the give and goes, the spacing that they need,” Canales said. “There are the obvious differences - they have 11 guys on the field to our five, they have a goalie - but in terms of scheme and context I think it’s the closest thing to our sport.”

Trail Blazers: Preview: Mavericks v. Trail Blazers, 7:30 PM
"It's the kind of pressure that you like," said coach Rick Carlisle about trying to reach the postseason. "It brings you to higher levels and we embrace it. We embraced it last year in the playoffs and it got us a ring."

Trail Blazers: Statement from Trail Blazers Acting General Manager Chad Buchanan regarding Zig Ziegler
“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Ziegler would feel compelled to make such false claims and absurd statements. It is also unacceptable that anyone who claims to be concerned with the health and well-being of our athletes would disclose their personal information. Our medical and training staff is one of the longest tenured and most highly respected in the league. Mr. Ziegler’s comments appear to be motivated by his own desire for personal gain, which is not only irresponsible but also unprofessional.”

Trail Blazers: For The Greater Good
"While many Blazer fans are showing a high amount of concern, Aldridge doesn’t sound like this will affect him in the least. “This was very precautionary moving forward. Right now it’s nothing major, but if you don’t get it fixed, it could be something more serious. This is something that’s proactive.”

Oregon Live: Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks game preview
"Dallas, which is fighting for one of the final three playoff seeds in the Western Conference, is playing the second game of a four-game trip. It started with a 112-103 victory at Golden State Thursday night and ends Monday after a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz. ... Nowitzki, who ranks 10th in the NBA in scoring, has scored at least 1,000 points in 13 consecutive seasons. He's one of three active players — including San Antonio's Tim Duncan and the Lakers' Kobe Bryant — and 16 overall in NBA history to accomplish the feat. The 11-time All-Star ranks 19th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. ... During the Mavericks' loss to the Blazers last Friday, Sixth Man Jason Terry moved into fifth place on the NBA's all-time three-pointers made list. Terry now has 1,772 career three-pointers, including the second-most in the NBA this season (122). ... With Terry as the anchor, the Mavericks' bench ranks third in the NBA in scoring, averaging 40.6 points per game. ... Dallas has held opponents to 100 points or less in all but 14 games this season, which includes four overtime matchups."

Blazersedge: Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers Preview
"If the Blazers are to have a chance they'll need a monster game from Hickson plus plenty of shots falling for the guards. As we saw in Wednesday's game against Golden State, Portland's defense is suspect. The second unit is nearly incompetent on the defensive end at this point. That will require the Blazers to score enough to make up the difference. They'll also have to hope the Mavericks will sleepwalk through those bench shifts, not realizing they could probably score 80 against Portland's second-unit defenders."

Sports Illustrated: Amick: Blazers Interested In RFA G Eric Gordon
"The offers are sure to be even more plentiful this summer. Sources close to the situation said Indiana, Phoenix, Portland and Dallas are among the teams with interest in Gordon."

CSNNW: J.J. Hickson wants to stay in Portland, Blazers taking wait-and-see approach
“I can't get wrapped up in all of that. My agent will handle the business side,” Hickson told CSNNW.com. “I do want to let them know that I want to be here, but I'm just going to continue playing basketball.”

CSNNW: Kurt Thomas on decreased role and retirement plans
“I never would of thought we would have been in this situation,” Thomas said. “Before the season started, I saw a team who was right on the cusp of doing something special. But, that's how the league is. You never know.”

Ball Don't Lie: The New Orleans Hornets have a new owner: Tom Benson of the New Orleans Saints
"But at least they won't be run by David Stern, Stu Jackson, Jac Sperling and the rest of the NBA crew anymore. The Hornets will determine their own fate, as they couldn't during the Paul fiasco. With two likely lottery picks coming up in a deep 2012 draft, some financial flexibility in the offing (especially if they can move their largest remaining contract, belonging to center Emeka Okafor, either in trade or by using the new CBA's amnesty clause), a smart coach and GM at the helm and, at long last, the prospect of some stability in the weeks and months ahead, it's hard not to look at this as a good day in the history of the New Orleans Hornets."

Ball Don't Lie: Dwyane Wade now says he doesn’t want to be paid for the Olympics
"For Colangelo, and presumably the players, the Olympics are already a business. Introducing salaries would change the relationship between Team USA and its athletes, but it wouldn't necessarily change the ethos of the Olympics as they are actually experienced. For all the talk of Olympic ideals, in its contemporary form it's a multibillion-dollar corporation. Pretending that it's all about honor and integrity is naive."

Ball Don't Lie: Derrick Rose sits as C.J. Watson, Bulls ‘Bench Mob’ star late in OT win over Heat (VIDEO)
"While Watson's performance drew headlines, he wasn't the only member of the Bulls' so-called "Bench Mob" to come up huge. Taj Gibson scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and was a game-changer at the start of the overtime period. Omer Asik had just about the most dominant scoreless night you'll ever see, grabbing eight rebounds, blocking two shots and locking down the paint in just under 23 minutes of intimidating defensive work. Kyle Korver was locked in, hitting five of six 3-pointers and scoring 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a 27-foot bomb with 1:01 left in added time that put the Bulls up 10 and sealed the win."

DIME: The Top 10 Movie Performances By NBA Players
"A Spike Lee joint, “He Got Game” is often viewed as one of the better basketball movies ever made. Ray Allen turns in a great performance as Jesus Shuttlesworth, which makes it surprising that he has only acted in one other movie (“Harvard Man”). Perhaps Denzel Washington taught Allen a thing or two about acting but Ray definitely taught Denzel a lesson on the basketball court."

DIME: Video: David West Punches Out Cleveland’s Mascot
"Moondog wasn’t feeling too hot after dealing with Indiana’s David West. Of all the guys in the league who I might mess around with, David West is right there with World Peace amongst the people I’d avoid. He just seems like the dude who would go up to a mascot and start throwing Tyson haymakers and body shots. Poor Moondog learned the hard way. Hat tip to Trey Kerby of TBJ for alerting us to this grainy shot of West hitting the Cavs’ mascot with a one-two combo, followed by the body shot."

SLAM: Post Up: Bullseye
"When LeBron James hit a corner 3-pointer to give Miami a 2-point lead with 49 seconds left, the Bulls looked cooked. But a ballsy coaching move by Tom Thibodeau to take a struggling Derrick Rose off the floor (and a missed free throw by LBJ) opened the door for CJ Watson to make the shot of the night—a step-back three over Dwyane Wade to send the game to overtime. The shot was the signature moment of Watson’s great night—he had 16 points and 9 assists in 27 minutes. In the overtime period, the Bulls held Miami without a single made field goal, and rode Watson’s momentum to the win. Chicago’s bench outscored the Heat’s 47 to 7, inlcuding red-hot shooting from Kyle Korver (17 points, 5 threes) and a solid contribution from Taj Gibson (11 points). Had Chicago taken the L, all the talk from this game probably would have centered around Rose’s abysmal 1-13 shooting night, which saw him finish with a career-low 2 points. And his lack of late PT—hell, dude didn’t take off his warm-ups in overtime—is still going to be a polarizing topic (would you have had the stones to pull him?) but Miami’s inability to close might be more salacious. LeBron led all scorers with 30 points, DWade had 21 and Chris Bosh had 20, but the Heat’s Big Three were essentially out-played down the stretch by Watson, Korver and Gibson."

ESPN: Daily Dime
"Throwback night! The old guy looked like the player of old, as the 35-year-old Duncan put up 28 points and 12 rebounds against the vaunted Grizzlies frontcourt. It was only the fourth time this season that Duncan has held game-highs in points and boards. "