Full-Court Press

Catching up with...the Portland Trail Blazers

The Mavs are in a position they likely wish they would have been in last season. No, not squeezing by and making the playoffs, but clinching with only a few games left, thus keeping them on their toes and forcing them to head into the playoffs speeding up instead of slowing down. For that situation, the Blazers are an ideal opponent for the Mavs tonight. Portland provides good competition and bring challenges for the Mavs, but they aren't going to make the playoffs and aren't good enough for the game to seem too important for the Mavs. The matchup can allow the Mavs to practice some more things against a worthy, albeit flawed opponent. The Mavs have taken two of their three meetings this season.

For more on Brandon Roy's return, LaMarcus Aldridge's emergence and Joel Przybilla's broken hand after the jump:

Catching up with...the Portland Trail Blazers

The last time the Mavs faced the Blazers, they got a little payback for and early season loss in Portland. It is a lone home game amid six road games for the Mavs while the Blazers are wrapping up a four-game road trip tonight...which have all been losses so far. The Mavs have won 14 of their last 15 against Portland.

Voters got it right
Second-year guard Brandon Roy was voted in as a reserve for the Western Conference All-Stars. He's having a sensational season and is showing all those dumb teams that passed on him in the draft just how dumb they are. He returned Monday after missing two games due to a death in the family and scored 15 points and dished out eight assists.

Jacked up
Jarrett Jack has had a rocky season for the most part. But, lately, he has had some strong games and is averaging has scored in double digits in five of his last six games. The one cog that has been missing for the Blazers this season is a point guard who can score when called upon. Steve Blake is a capable distributor, but doesn't draw defensive attention like a player like Jack can when he starts heating up.

Just outside the bubble
The Blazers are having a fine season, especially for a young team. Still, they are on the outside looking in on the playoffs in an incredibly tough Western Conference. If you stick their 28-23 record in the East, they are the 5th seed in the playoffs. Unfortunately for them, they are still about as Western as NBA teams come.

Burning question
Can they make the push and get into the playoffs this season?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Points running up

The Blazers are running with three players who can potentially run the point. Sergio Rodriguez, Jarret Jack and Brandon Roy all get some time at the position and the Blazers are obviously trying to get some kind of spark going being currently down by 18 points.
-Scooter Hendon

Roy held in check

Brandon Roy, who lit the Mavericks up for a career-high 32 points in their last meeting has a meager 2 points, 2 rebounds and 0 assists. The Mavs have done a good job keeping the ball out of his hands and forcing him into some tough shots. It wouldn't be surprising if the Mavs made him their key target for the game, knowing full well he the lynch pin to their offense. Even more surprising than his lack of scoring has been his lack of offense at all. With zero assists, other players are being forced to perform, and they aren;t nearly as good at it as Roy. Steve Blake and LaMarcus Aldridge are the Blazers' players of the game thus far and will need some contribution out of Roy if they want to finish with a chance.
-Scooter Hendon

Paul Allen is a pretty cool dude .... really

With Portland in town to take on the Mavs, here's a fantastic feature on the Blazers' owner, who is fanatical about his team but in a very different way than local hero Mark Cuban. Enjoy.

-- Garza, Mavs Lite

Catching up with...the Portland Trail Blazers

The Mavericks will face the Portland Trail Blazers for the second time this season and will be looking for a little revenge for their 91-82 loss in Portland earlier this season. The Blazers ran all over the Mavs and outhustled a Mavericks team that was still coming off the high of winning their previous game in Golden State.

Since their last meeting
After defeating the Mavs, the Blazers went on to win their next game against Detroit. Since then, the Blazers have gone 1-7, losing by an average of almost 10 points per game. Despite this, the Blazers are still third in Northwest division and are only 5.5 games out of first place in what might be the worst division in the NBA. With the Southeast division still in full-effect toilet mode, that's saying something.

Roy struggling
In his last three games, Brandon Roy has averaged 11.6 points and is shooting 29.7 percent from the floor. Roy is depended upon to carry a large part of the Blazers scoring load, and when he isn't on, the Blazers can struggle mightily. He did score a career-high 32 points on 11 of 17 shooting in his last game against the Mavericks. With the Mavs allowing their opponents' best scorers to practically score at will over the last four games, Roy could look to get back on track.

Entering a rough stretch
Tonight's game against the Mavs will mark the start of a three-game road trip that will bring them through San Antonio and Memphis. Unless they can play well and catch someone off guard, they could very easily be looking at a 5-13 record. But, like I said before, that isn't such a bad thing.

Video evidence

• These are real fans. Here's hoping they get another one of these.
• You've seen the silly Comcast commercial with Tony Romo. Here's the silly version with LaMarcus Aldridge.
• VAMOS GENTE!

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Brandon Roy tore the Mavs up

Amid the Mavericks playing their worst basketball of the year, Brandon Roy had a career night. He set a new career high in points with 32 from his previous career high of 29. He tied his career high in field goals made with 11 and set a new career high in three pointers made with 5 to go with only missed one attempt.
-Scooter Hendon

Getting to know the Portland Trail Blazers

The Mavericks will face off with the Trail Blazers at 9 p.m. tonight, and they'll see a refreshed, youthful squad that is very different than the Blazers of a few years ago. Known as the "Jail Blazers" for several years in the early-to-mid 2000s, it's obvious now that the Blazers are finally coming full circle in their efforts to start over and clean up their franchise image.

The final cog that helped that merry band of knuckleheads, Zach Randolph, was shipped out on draft day this year for what amounted to a bag of peanuts. They acquired Steve Francis (whose contract they quickly bought out) and Channing Frye, a young, slightly promising jump-shooting center while shipping Randolph off to basketball purgatory in New York, far, far away from rookie Greg Oden and all the other youngsters Randolph would have likely infected with his lack of hustle and defense had he stuck around.

That same day, they drafted Greg Oden, the piece they expected to carry their franchise for many years to come. With Brandon Roy handily winning the Rookie of the Year award last year and Oden vying for the award this year, things were looking rosy at the Rose Garden. Then the other foot dropped. Oden would undergo microfracture surgery on his knee and his season would be done before it started.

Now, they will look too develop their youngsters some more, with Oden always on the back burner and hopefully ready to play next season. Even without Oden, the Blazers aren't bad.

With LaMarcus Aldridge having a good season thus far, averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, they will have a player who is even more polished to pair with Oden in the post. Coming off a 30-10 game against the Grizzlies last night, Aldridge will be looking to repeat his strong night.

Brandon Roy is also having a fine season, averaging 18.4 points and 5.8 assists, and will be looking to score in bunches if the Mavs give him any space to work.

Quite possibly the most pleasant surprise so far this season is third-year player Martell Webster, who has been the Blazers most efficient and consistent player  after two disappointing seasons as a seeming draft lottery bust. The Blazers had been getting grilled for picking Webster with the sixth overall pick in 2005, but Webster's 17.2 points per game thus far is helping quiet them down.

Their point guard situation is also decent with Jarret Jack coming off back-to-back 20+ point games and developing into a solid player. Starting point guard Steve Blake is playing an efficient as always and provides a much-needed pass first game for some of the Blazers big men who sometimes have trouble creating their own shot.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Blazers have a lot to look forward to

Group Roy and Aldridge with Oden and another top pick and you have the best young core in basketball.

As the Mavericks head into the Rose Garden tonight to face the Portland Trail Blazers, their two main targets on the defensive end will be last season's Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy and 2006's second overall pick, LaMarcus Aldridge. If you've been paying any attention over the last few months, you already know that this season's No. 1 overall selection, Greg Oden, is out for the season while he recovers from microfracture surgery on his knee.

Portland fans were obviously sad to hear the news about Oden's surgery, but in the end, it may end up working out even better for them (assuming Oden can come back full-strength). Here's how:

Portland finished last season with the third-worst record in the Western Conference, in part due to Brandon Roy's injury, overall youth and the lack of a go-to guy (no, Zach Randolph doesn't count). Now, Randolph is out of town, and the team is developing but not ready to contend yet. They are currently 2-3, and if they can continue that pace, they should end the season with about the same amount of wins as last year, 32.

Obviously, this is a big "if," but if they can somehow luck their way back into the lottery and grab yet another top 3 pick, they could be an unstoppable force in a couple of years with two top picks (Aldridge and Oden) and a player who should have been a top pick if some NBA GMs knew anything about basketball (Roy). Even if they didn't luck into another lottery selection, they would still likely find themselves picking around the 10th pick, which would still help them shore up even more solid youth.

So, that would put the Blazers with:
PG: Jarret Jack, Backup: Sergio Rodriguez or Steve Blake
SG: Brandon Roy, Backup: Taurean Green
SF: 2008 pick?, Backup: Martell Webster
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge, Backup: Channing Frye
C: Greg Oden, Backup: Joel Przybilla

Take my word for it, that would be an incredibly formidable lineup and one that could scare the pants off some Western Conference teams in 2010.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd