Behind the Blazers Locker Room Door: San Antonio

[Darkwebs]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/04/behind_the_blazers_locker_room_10.html

I love these articles by Quick. They're very enjoyable to read and provide insight on the player's personality and interaction with each other.

 

[ABM]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

It was a fun read all the way around. These couple of portions stood out to me. Clearly, refreshingly, Nate's been a study in two different coaches....from the 'Sarge' days.....to now.

I remember thinking as I walked to the Memphis media room that the Blazers have a solid foundation in Roy and McMillan because the star and coach frequently communicate. Sometimes it's McMillan seeking out Roy, like that night. And sometimes it's Roy seeking out McMillan.

As it turns out, I was right about McMillan having something he needed to get off his chest with Roy in Memphis. As he has done so often this season, McMillan asked Roy for the pulse of the team. Why did he think the team came out so flat against Memphis? Was he riding them too hard? Were they too complacent about clinching the day before? Was there anything he could do?

Roy said he told the coach he felt the players were fine, they were just suffering from an indirect hangover from clinching.

"It's like the whole summer, preseason and season you shoot for clinching the playoffs,'' Roy said. "And now that we did it, it's like we took a deep breath and said 'All right.' It's like we had to find ourselves again.''

Roy told McMillan that he felt the Grizzlies game - during which the Blazers trailed by 18 in the first half - was a sufficient wake up call.

"I told him that I thought the second half of the game we realized that it's not about playoffs, it's about pride,'' Roy said. "Memphis kind of brought that back out of us, that attitude. They were coming at us. And we felt like, all right, we can't just cruise.''

According to the players, McMillan had a specific request to the players during his pregame address:

Have fun.

It was a pressure game. A lot at stake. But McMillan wanted to make sure the whole point of why they play this game, and why they fell in love with the game, is not lost amid the playoff seeding, the homecourt advantage, the national television audience.

It's all supposed to be about fun.

 

[Shooter]

Very interesting read. These guys seem just as close and genuine in the locker room as they do in interviews.

 

[ant]

Webster warns him that he crosses the privacy line with some of the tidbits he shares from the locker room...Quick says he'll do better, and then announces that Frye said he'd get a 36-hour erection if he took more than one scoop of Blake's energy drink. Why is Quick such an ass?

 

[ABM]

Frye said he'd get a 36-hour erection if he took more than one scoop of Blake's energy drink.

I'm wondering if that's why Channing heads straight to chapel?

 

[Shooter]

Great picture, ABM. Your grandson is a cute little fella.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Great read. I highly doubt there is a team in the league with better chemistry than ours. The guys all seem to enjoy each other.

I'd like to read more about Rudy in these "Behind the Blazers Locker Room" reports.

 

[Nikolokolus]

The Roy and Trav banter was pretty entertaining ... kind of makes me wonder if trading him for an 'upgrade' in the off-season would end up doing more harm than good (Plus, it needs to be said that Travis has been balling out of his mind the second half of the season).

 

[MAS RipCity]

I heart Travis

 

[Boob-No-More]

The win secured a 3-1 series victory for the Blazers over the Spurs, giving them a tie-breaker, and if the season ended today, the Blazers in the first round would host a Spurs team that has an ailing Tim Duncan and is without star guard Manu Ginobili.

This is incorrect. If the season ended today, San Antonio would win the SW Division and get the 3rd seed as they hold the tie breaker over the Rockets. The Rockets would get the 4th seed, as they hold the tie breaker over the Blazers and the Blazers would end up as the 5th seed playing, without HCA, against the Rockets in the 1st round.

BNM

 

[ABM]

This is incorrect. If the season ended today, San Antonio would win the SW Division and get the 3rd seed as they hold the tie breaker over the Rockets. The Rockets would get the 4th seed, as they hold the tie breaker over the Blazers and the Blazers would end up as the 5th seed playing, without HCA, against the Rockets in the 1st round.

BNM

http://www.nba.com/features/seedingprimer07.html

The top four seeds will be the three division winners plus the team with the next best record. Those four will be ordered by record (and tiebreakers if needed), so it's possible that two teams in the same division could hold the top two spots, with the other two division winners at Nos. 3 and 4.

 

[Boob-No-More]

http://www.nba.com/features/seedingprimer07.html

http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html

http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/4/9/828106/april-9th-playoff-seeding-update

Quick got it wrong. No surprise there.

BNM

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Webster warns him that he crosses the privacy line with some of the tidbits he shares from the locker room...Quick says he'll do better, and then announces that Frye said he'd get a 36-hour erection if he took more than one scoop of Blake's energy drink. Why is Quick such an ass?

I noticed the same thing reading that. In the exact same article Webster warns him that he can cross the line he writes that comment by Frye . . . one of the most open and quotable players on the team.

If Frye clams up when Quick is around, I don't blame him. For locker room talk, that comment is no big deal. For Oregonian readers like middle and high school Blazer fans . . . not the best playground talk to have assoicated with your name.

 

[alex42083]

Webster warns him that he crosses the privacy line with some of the tidbits he shares from the locker room...Quick says he'll do better, and then announces that Frye said he'd get a 36-hour erection if he took more than one scoop of Blake's energy drink. Why is Quick such an ass?

Yeah, the erection thing was kind of weird and out there. Don't know if I would've written that, but Quick has written about the Blazer players farting twice already in these things with Blake and someone else during Roy's postgame interview.

But they're highly enjoyable reads, and sounds like the players read them as well.

 

[mook]

Yeah, the erection thing was kind of weird and out there. Don't know if I would've written that, but Quick has written about the Blazer players farting twice already in these things with Blake and someone else during Roy's postgame interview.

But they're highly enjoyable reads, and sounds like the players read them as well.

Sounds like guys hanging out in locker rooms to me. You put more than four men in a room together for extended periods of time, and with every new guy who enters the average IQ drops 5 points, until there's nothing left but fart and penis jokes. Why fight it?

I thought Frye's joke about needing only the single scoop of energy powder summarized his stay here perfectly. It conveyed that he's a low-energy player who isn't getting much playing time, but is still a warm and funny guy that you can't really bring yourself to hate.

He's the second-to-last guy you choose in a pickup game--bad but fun to be around.

 

[alex42083]

Sounds like guys hanging out in locker rooms to me. You put more than four men in a room together for extended periods of time, and with every new guy who enters the average IQ drops 5 points, until there's nothing left but fart and penis jokes. Why fight it?

I thought Frye's joke about needing only the single scoop of energy powder summarized his stay here perfectly. It conveyed that he's a low-energy player who isn't getting much playing time, but is still a warm and funny guy that you can't really bring yourself to hate.

He's the second-to-last guy you choose in a pickup game--bad but fun to be around.

Of course those kinds of things are talked about in a locker room. I didn't have an issue with that. It was just reading it, and having a slight moment of pause and thinking, "Did Quick just write that?" Still kind of weird and out there to me.
But I laughed.

 

[THE HCP]

Quick's a jerkoff! He's already wearing out his welcome with these guys! There's no Rudy stuff cause Rudy stays away from him!

 

[Boob-No-More]

Shavlik won't talk to him either becuase Quicksand is the anti-Christ.

BNM

 

[BengalDuck]

Quick's best one yet. The stories brought a smile to my face.

 

[noknobs]

I heart Travis

co-signed

Glad he's on the team and love what he brings off the bench. Love his personality even more.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Sounds like guys hanging out in locker rooms to me. You put more than four men in a room together for extended periods of time, and with every new guy who enters the average IQ drops 5 points, until there's nothing left but fart and penis jokes. Why fight it?

I don't think Quick should fight it, I just don't think he should write about it.

I wonder how many kids are dicussing Frye's 36 hour penis erection today?

 

[mook]

Heh, they're too busy discussing fish sticks.

 

[PapaG]

Quick should forget about his burping and farting scoops, but really, that's what happens in a locker room.

That said, Martell's words made me think of how he will react next season when Batum beats him out as the starter (if Webster's still around). By all accounts, he's a very vocal guy and a "veteran", so it does make me wonder if he may potentially start to poison what seems to be a very relaxed team. It wouldn't be intentional, but sitting when one thinks they deserve to start can bring out the negative side in a player. As it is now, I imagine there isn't a single bench player, with the possible exception of Rudy, who deep down believes they should be starting, and the only way Rudy starts is to sacrifice length at the SF position, because Roy isn't going to sit behind Rudy.

Add in a Webster, who was handed a starting job and never really showed he earned it, yet is used to being a starter, and I can see a few drops of vinegar being added to the plate full of olive oil that the team seems to be now.

 

[Wheels]

Quick's a jerkoff! He's already wearing out his welcome with these guys! There's no Rudy stuff cause Rudy stays away from him QUOTE]


Interesting, it never even crossed my mind that there is no Rudy stuff.. there is some Sergio stuff sometimes though. Weird

 

[BlazerCaravan]

My gut tells me that Webster gets dealt in the off-season anyway, so hopefully the point will be moot by September. But you do bring up a valid (hopefully minor) concern.

 

[PapaG]

Quick's a jerkoff! He's already wearing out his welcome with these guys! There's no Rudy stuff cause Rudy stays away from him![/QUOTE]


Interesting, it never even crossed my mind that there is no Rudy stuff.. there is some Sergio stuff sometimes though. Weird

Quick has written about the Euro guys and how they view him. To paraphrase, in Europe, the reporters aren't given the access that the beat writers in the US are. So, as Quick put it, Rudy always seems to be thinking "what the hell is he doing in here?" whenever Quick is yukking it up with the US players. He then heads for the training room.

 

[Wheels]

My gut tells me that Webster gets dealt in the off-season anyway, so hopefully the point will be moot by September. But you do bring up a valid (hopefully minor) concern.

I really think we need to see him with this team before we deal him. He has some value with this team. even if it ends up being a Kopono like role (although I think the role will be more)

 

[Wheels]

Quick has written about the Euro guys and how they view him. To paraphrase, in Europe, the reporters aren't given the access that the beat writers in the US are. So, as Quick put it, Rudy always seems to be thinking "what the hell is he doing in here?" whenever Quick is yukking it up with the US players. He then heads for the training room.

Oh yeah good point I do remember that part, thanks

 

[mook]

My gut tells me that Webster gets dealt in the off-season anyway, so hopefully the point will be moot by September. But you do bring up a valid (hopefully minor) concern.

That basically is what happened with Jarret Jack. Nate gave him a starting job for lack of better options, and it seemed pretty clear to me that he was never going to be happy going back to a bench role player. We traded him for a pick (who was an upgrade and also much more likely to put up with his role for a few years.) So it's not without precedent.

Anyway, whenever I see Jack, Webster or Chris Paul, I die a little on the inside at what could have been. Even with the wealth of talent we now have. So I wouldn't be sad to see him go for a similar Bayless-type of acquisition.

 

[BrianFromWA]

My Webster Homerism knows no bounds, and I think that just about everyone will be very surprised when he gets on the floor.

If you thought Travis was a good deal contract (as I do), Webs' is even better, b/c it locks him up for less than MLE well into his prime.

I don't see him being traded until well after he proves he's not a help to this team, and has stagnated on his growth curve. I haven't seen any of that yet.