NateBishop3

Guys,

Just a couple observations....

Nick Van Exel didn't practice the entire time I was able to watch. He spent the whole time on a stationary bike. Cheeks said he ran a little bit of the offense earlier, but that he wasn't seeing much action. Makes you wonder about his knee...

Richie Frahm was looking MONEY today. He couldn't miss from downtown. The guy was hitting everything.

Sebastian Telfair was looking somewhat intimidated out there. Of course, he spent a lot of the time that I saw guarding Darius Miles. Cheeks was running a lineup of Miles, Woods, Reef, Zach, and Theo. Not an easy matchup for Bassy.

Travis Outlaw is definitely looking better in practice. More aggressive. He isn't anywhere near making a significant contribution, but he's coming along. Although, with the number of small forwards on our team, it's not like there's a rush.

DA looks much healthier this year. He looks more aggressive on offense and defense. Hopefully this will carry over to the regular season.

I think Reef is going to be the early season pick for starting small forward. What Cheeks is saying just leans me towards this. He's talking up Reef at the three big time.

Also, Cheeks had a bone to pick with the media. Supposedly it was reported today that Ruben had a meeting with Cheeks and assistant coach Dan Panaggio after practice yesterday. Cheeks said they were simply talking about a movie.

Finally, Q avoided the media (which was to be expected). I also want to point out that a news crew from KATU was there looking to dig up some dirt on the pitbull scandal. They wanted to speak to Nash after practice, but he wasn't available for comment. I overheard the reporter tell a member of the organization that he was going to report "That the Blazers front office chose not too comment." I found this somewhat surprise...

That's all I've got for today. There should be more tomorrow.

HOWIE

Thanks for the insight Nate!

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ProudBFan

Thanks for the info, Nate. As usual, you're our best source of "inside info".

But it doesn't surprise me that Nash didn't want to comment on the pitbull issue. He released a statement to KATU yesterday saying that they were looking into it and if the allegations proved true, would take action. They probably don't have anything to report at the moment.

PBF

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B_&_B

THANKS FOR THE UPDATE!

STOMP

If I thought the Blazers were going to go through this season with a completely healthy DA and NVX, I'd be a lot more optimistic about their chances. Good to hear that at least Derrick seems recovered from the back problems he played through last year. When healthy, he's a decent starting 2 IMO. Being a Bay Area resident these days, I follow the W's enough not to expect that much out of Nick this year. I have hopes, but I've heard too many bad reports on his knees to get them up high. I wouldn't be surprised if his biggest contribution to the team was being a go to guy for the press... the guy is articulate. Oh boy

Is Travis filling out? How beefed up is Q?

Thanks for the glimpse Nate

STOMP

Siouxperior

Thnx for the update Nate!!

I have a few questions, when Telfair was not guarding DMiles, how did he look? Also, what about James Lang? Is he as "suprisingly athletic" as they say for his well....overweight looking stature?

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cimalee

Great Sermon Bishop

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Storyteller

Thanks again for the great information, Nate!

I'm intrigued by the "big lineup". Is Cheeks trying to give Darius more minutes by playing him at the point? I'm not so sure this is a better idea than the failed experiment of Woods at the point last season....

PorterIn2004

Cheeks amazes me with his attempts at spin-doctoring. That is, I'm assuming that someone who's good at spin-doctoring does it without it being much noticed. When he says something like, "I think we all need to spend more time talking about what SAR can do as a three as opposed to what he can't ...." I dunno. I mean we could talk about what Damon could do as a 4 -- take his man off the dribble, take him outside, etc. Or we could talk about how Stepania could have a field day dunking if he were running the point. Maybe I'm not being fair and this thing with SAR at SF will be fine but even so, Cheeks seems to always be saying something absurd to me. Another I heard today was "What situation? We don't have a situation here...." This was, I believe, in reference to both Patterson's whining and the pitbull story. If it were just Patterson I could maybe see it but I've gotta wonder what it would take for Cheeks to say "Well yes, I suppose we do have a bit of a situation here."

tlong

Does Damon look taller than Telfair when they stand next to each other?

gambitnut

Nate, an article in today's Oregonian said that Przybilla looks good and can do pretty much the same things as Ratliff, if not quite as good yet. Would you agree that he is doing well? Can we expect him to be a decent backup? Thanks!

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NateBishop3

Ok guys, I'm going to try to address your questions....

First, is Travis filling out? I'd say he's definitely gained some weight, but he's still VERY skinny. He could still afford to gain some more...

Telfair did the best he could against Miles. Obviously it's not an easy cover. But Telfair busts his butt on defense. It doesn't matter who he's guarding.

James Lang.... Yeah.... I don't think this guy has a chance in hell of making the team. He's over weight, he's slow, he makes bad decisions... Not gonna stick.

Cheeks said he might give Darius some time at the point, but not very much. He stressed that sometimes the lineups he has on the floor during practice are just coincidence.

Damon is about 5'8 in shoes, Telfair is about 6'1... That's just my opinion. I've stood next to both of them, and I'm about 6'1. Telfair is eye to eye with me.

As far as Przybilla goes, I haven't seen enough of him to comment yet. I've only been to one practice. I'll let you guys know more as I see him play more.

I hope that answers your questions. If you guys have any more, feel free to ask. That's what I'm here for....

Blazer Freak

Thanks Nate. I got 2 questions for you.

1) Have you heard anything more about Woods and teh pit bull?

and

2) Did Qyntel really add on those 15 pounds, and is he looking good in practice?

Thanks.

BFreak.

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Scout226