News From Around The World: November 20

11/20/12

Written by: DHawes22 / avg. rating: 4.0

November 20

Trail Blazers TV: Trail Blazers Courtside

Trail Blazers TV: Just Casey

Trail Blazers TV: Sportlandia

Trail Blazers: On The Clock With Meyers Leonard
"Meyers give his answers to such questions as "Who's winning the Super Bowl?", "What's your favorite cartoon?", "What food item is a must for Thanksgiving dinner?", and more in this edition of On The Clock."

Oregon Live: Closer by committee: Blazers have options in late-game situations
"In my mind, when I take the shot, I'm going to make it," Lillard said. "But I'm not afraid to miss it either. I've missed it before, so I can live with not making it. I think you've just got to be comfortable with yourself. For me, if I miss the shot, I don't think any less of myself. I feel like the next one is going to go in. You just have to be comfortable with who you are and be confident in yourself."

Oregon Live: Blazers notebook: Unorthodox rookie rotation, Nicolas Batum dominating, Luke Babbitt perfect in shooting drill
"After what was no doubt the longest bell ringing of the season — a solid 10 seconds — an energized Triano shouted: “He hit 25!” to a slew of puzzled faces. Players and coaches ring the bell after players make at least 20 of 25 three-pointers in shooting drills or when they draw charges during scrimmages. But they usually only ring it for a second or two. It turns out Triano was celebrating a rarity: Luke Babbitt had made 25 of 25 three-pointers during a post-practice drill."

Oregon Live: NBA High-5: Blazers are among a large group teams hovering around .500 in Western Conference
"ortland -- which has won three in a row to get to .500 -- can do that in its next two games, Wednesday at Phoenix and Friday against visiting Minnesota. If the Lakers and Nuggets are the early underachievers (in relation to expectations and talent), then the Suns and Timberwolves are the other two archetypes of the West's big middle."

CSNNW: Batum's emotional trip to Africa gave him new-found perspective on life
“I feel like I have to do something,” Batum expressed. “I have to do something in my country. I found out that I'm more recognized in Cameroon than in France. These are my people. Batum is not a French name, Batum is an African name, from Cameroon. It was painful to see that and not have answers.”

ESPN Chicago: Lillard appreciates comparisons to Rose
"Very impressive," Thibodeau said of Lillard. "His skill set makes him very hard to guard. His ability to shoot the ball sets everything up, very clever in the pick and roll, plays with a lot of poise for a rookie. He's taken seven threes a game and if he gets a clean look at it, it's always a very good shot so that's up the drive and when you add in (LaMarcus) Aldridge and (Nicolas) Batum and (Wes) Matthews, it's a very explosive team."

NESN: Damian Lillard’s Emergence Is Exciting, But Blazers Must Re-Emphasize LaMarcus Aldridge’s Post Game
"Anyway, if voting for the top rookie happened today, there is a good chance Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard would beat out New Orleans Hornets center Anthony Davis for the honor. Through 10 games, Lillard averaged 19.0 points and 6.1 assists per game for the Blazers, who look like a potential playoff team. Six games into his campaign, Davis’ numbers of 16.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game were impressive as well, but his Hornets looked like the last-place squad they were, and playing the point for a playoff contender is one of the toughest jobs in the NBA for anyone, rookie or otherwise."

Blazersedge Via ESPN: Ford: Blazers GM Neil Olshey Scouts College Players At Maui Invitational
"A number of NBA GMs -- including the Celtics' Danny Ainge, the Jazz's Kevin O'Connor, Bulls' Gar Forman, the Warriors Bob Myers and the Blazers Neil Olshey -- were in attendance. Overall, they are seeing the same phenomenon here that they are seeing everywhere. This is a down season, talent wise, in the NCAA. "If Cody Zeller, Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel and James McAdoo are your top four picks, it's going to be an ugly, ugly draft."

Blazersedge: Transcript: Blazers President And CEO Chris McGowan Interviewed On Courtside
"The thing I've loved is how hard they play. The fans gravitate to that. I saw this in Los Angeles. When fans say they were there from stage one of going somewhere, to get to the mountaintop, it's so much pride for a fan to say, 'I was there for his rookie year.' Four or five years later, you're doing something special in the league. Absolutely, it's a great time to be a fan."

Ball Don't Lie: The Washington Wizards are still winless, as their coach wonders if he ‘might be dumb’
"As you'd expect, because Wizards fans are an Internet-savvy bunch that is used to years of futility, the memes have sprouted up. There's the Twitter feed "Wiz Win Last Night?" There's some semi-viral sad Wiz pictures floating around, and there are players that your typical cable analyst probably hasn't heard of chiding themselves on social media for missing what could have been a game-changing four free throws."

Ball Don't Lie: Dwight Howard says he doesn’t care if Deron Williams is still his friend
"Ugh, this is classic Dwight. Deron isn't even mad, because he found Brook, who was really just right in front of his eyes the whole time, and I heard they already picked out their matching outfits for the winter formal. But now Dwight's acting like Deron isn't his friend anymore, which is so wrong, because Deron just wants Dwight to be happy. So now he's going to hit Brook in the chest to start a fight for no reason? He even unfriended everyone on Facebook! Give me a break!"

Ball Don't Lie: Cleveland faces a frightening future without injured star guard Kyrie Irving
"Again, this doesn't mean that the Cavs have constructed their roster incorrectly, or that big man Anderson Varejao isn't playing All-Star level ball himself. It's just that Anderson (though his passing has been outstanding in 2012-13) can't be relied upon to score consistently in a pinch. Nor can Thompson, as he works his way into a career as a reliable banger. Nor can Alonzo Gee, a fine slasher at times that still only makes 40 percent of his shots from the field. Don't expect much help from former scoring type C.J. Miles, who hasn't even hit a quarter of his shots this season. And don't look for Daniel Gibson, whose productivity sank like a stone when Irving hit the bench during Cleveland's 2-8 start, to continue his fantastic overall shooting numbers (47 percent from the field, 45 percent from behind the arc) with Irving sidelined."

The Basketball Jones via Timberwolves PR Twitter: Rick Adelman has all the injury jokes
"Another great one from Rick: “We have banned knuckle pushups. Maybe we ought to get rid of bowling; we do have some knee injuries.”

SLAM Via Dallas Morning News: Dirk Nowitzki Aims to Play Again in Mid-December
"Asked if it was going to be mid-December before fans could expect to see him in uniform, Nowitzki said: ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping. It’s tough to really say how long it’s going to take until I get back. From the beginning, the goal is that the swelling has to be gone 100 percent and the strength has to be back 100 percent. And once that goal is reached, then I can obviously think about playing again. But I think we’re still far away from that. I guess after every surgery you have some ups and downs. You have some good days and you do a little more and you have a couple bad days. And there were tons of bad days there a couple weeks ago. But it’s getting better and that’s why we increased the workload starting yesterday. I guess you guys reported that already as I was doing a little elliptical and get a little strength back and do a little leg press on that leg and do everything I can to hopefully be back on the court back soon.’”

SLAM: Post-Up: West Coast Battles
"Denver beat Memphis at their own game last night, bullying them inside and taking advantage of their opponents’ mistakes. Denver dominated the boards, outrebounding the Grizz 47-33, outscored them 50-44 in the paint and scored 29 points off of 17 Grizzlies turnovers. Despite the statistcal gap, Memphis looked like they were going to grind out a win after Zach Randolph’s putback put Memphis up by four. The Grizzlies then turned the ball over on three straight possessions and Denver ripped off a 9-0 run headlined by Danilo Gallinari’s six points–including a three-pointer with 12.7 sedonds left to give Denver a four-point lead and put this one on ice. Denver’s win ended three three-game skid and Memphis’ eight-game winning streak."

DIME: Dwyane Wade Holds The Key To Another NBA Championship In Miami
"Wade has been injury prone since he won that title in 2006 with Shaq. In fact, he’s never played a full 82-game season in his career. At the time, you could’ve made a pretty compelling case Wade’s performance against Dallas in the 2006 Finals series put him on the short list – with Kobe Bryant – for best player in the world. But after his first title, Wade missed half of the next two seasons, and he’s had trouble staying healthy since. He also turned 30, embraced fatherhood and landed two All-Stars as teammates, including one of the best players in the history of the game."

ESPN: Daily Dime
"The Clippers have had the top-flight talent to be involved in the West championship conversation ever since they imported Chris Paul two offseasons ago, and they only added to it this past summer by acquiring a '90s all-NBA team to fill out their bench. But what they lacked was refinement. Sure, they could hang with some of the league's best, but it was mostly a result of their natural abilities or Paul's sheer will or, on occasion, their bench goons mucking up the game. Never was this more evident than when they were swept out of last postseason by the Spurs, who then-Clipper Randy Foye likened to a machine because of San Antonio's precision."

ESPN: Andrew Bynum's future in Philly?
"If the Sixers find out immediately just how severe these knee issues are, maybe that contract extension doesn't happen. In that case, they stay in the playoff picture for a couple of years with a budding Jrue Holiday leading the way, and they become major players in the 2014 offseason with tons of salary-cap space. It's not what coach Doug Collins wants to hear, but at least the organization isn't trapped under an "immovable" Amar'e Stoudemire-like deal."

ESPN: Fair or Unfair: Criticizing Bynum for getting hurt while bowling.
"Fair, to a certain extent. You can say he shouldn't have been bowling multiple times a week with a bum knee, but to treat this incident as an indication of a wider problem with Bynum's personality is silly. He has goofy hair and he had a goofy injury, but this doesn't mean he's dumb or irresponsible."

Trail Blazers: Weekend Plan: Specially Designed For Families And The Busy Nine-To-Fiver
"Built for the family-oriented fan with a busy work-week, the 12-game Weekend Pack maximizes the thrill-factor while keeping the competitions to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A smattering of Western Conference rivals and Eastern Conference visitors during one-offs and key home stands, you can get your hands on this schedule-friendly pack for as low as $11/game and $52/game in the lower bowl."

Trail Blazers: The Rivals Plan: Two LAs, Oklahoma City And The Return Of Roy
"The smallest of the four big ticket plans, the eight game Rivals Pack packs a big punch. You’ll be in the building and eating a corndog while others are wondering how to get their hands on a way to see the return of Brandon Roy and the sure to sell out L.A. Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder."

Trail Blazers: Why The Value Plan Makes 'Cents' For You
"The Value Pack starts at just $5 a game. That’s 12 games for as low as $60! Talk about some serious bang for your buck. But that’s not even the best part about this ticket plan. Four of the 12 games take place in the month of January. And there is absolutely no better place to be during an Oregon winter’s night than inside the raucous Rose Garden. Not to mention this pack gets you into the arena to see some of the league’s biggest names and brightest young stars such as Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, and Rudy Gay."

Trail Blazers: Big Games Plan: 12 Of The Biggest Games
"This game has it all. Season opener, at home, against the loathe-inducing Lakers, in Steve Nash's first game in purple and gold and it's on Halloween night! Any game against the Lakers at the Rose Garden is going to be a lively one, but the confluence of circumstances in this particular game sets the stage for one of the all-time season openers in Trail Blazers history."