I watched the 4th quarter and it was great to see. Jarrett Jack's 3-pointer, and Travis Outlaw's jumpshot at crunch time really fired me up. I also thought it was profound to see an NBA team double-team a rookie late in a game to prevent Brandon Roy from hurting them. That level of respect says it all. Plus, you have Nate over on the sidelines with the demeanor of a coaching legend. He could play a coaching legend in a movie. Of course, the announcers did point out Houston is 1 and 11 without their two stars but who cares? They came roaring back in the last 7 minutes but were left short, and the Blazers came up big in a truly likable way.
When Roy went out in the 4th the lead just evaporated, and when he came back, everyone got right back into a groove. The league is full of great college players who sit on the bench as rookies or seem to lose their composure in adjusting to the NBA. It's partly the schedule but I think a lot of it is just getting used to the money. Imagine the weird strain of suddenly being a millionaire. Many lottery winners lose it. The thing I'll always remember about this season is the composure of Brandon Roy. He's not overly wowed by himself and the situation. He not only seems like a 6-year vet, but he seems like a mature 6-year vet. His stats are great for a rookie, and his talent is awesome, but his sense of who he is, and how he's managed to keep it together is what makes this live up to the hype. Now let's hope good karma will work on a ping pong ball.

B-Roy certainly makes a good case study supporting the contention that the vast majority of these young guys should stay in college for a few years before they enter the NBA. Obviously, some kids like Lebron James for instance were stars from a very young age and going on to earn millions was completely expected for several years before it happened. I doubt college would heavily influence someone like a Lebron James who is way beyond his years in terms of basketball ability and was in the media spotlight way before his NBA career started.

What impresses me most about Brandon Roy is that achieving excellence as a person and as a basketball player is way more important than the money. The years between 18 and 21 play a huge role in the development of a young man's self perception, and it is highly probable that his years at UW played a big role in him becoming such a great ball-player, but also in him not being just another big headed spoiled brat millionaire pro athlete.

Ugh! The Blazers again? Can't they please just go away.

No, they can't. Can you?

So what's the current prognosticatin'? Is Zach tradeable? Are we going to move him?

I hope we're done shelling out $84mil contracts to PFs just because they can score. That's so 1999.