Not sure if any of you know about this guy, but he does great work. LOADS of old Blazers games to get you through the lockout!!

This Lockout really needs to end....

Remember old rage cage - Steve 'the Quick Punch' Blake

Marc SpearsofYahoo! Sports reportsthat Sacramento Kings rookie guard Jimmer Fredette, drafted out of BYU, is hosting two exhibition games in Utah in September. Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Nolan Smith is expected to participate. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Josh Robbinsof theOrlando Sentinel is rankingthe top NBA arenas. The Rose Garden, home of the Portland Trail Blazers, checked in at No. 8. --------------------- Positives: With apologies to MLS' wildly popular Portland Timbers, the Trail Blazers are the biggest team in town, and the Blazers' fans are some of the loudest in the NBA. It probably helps that the luxury suites between the lower and upper decks are higher off the court than in many of the newer arenas. . . . The Rose Garden has one of the NBA's most distinctive exteriors. It boasts a slanted, asymmetrical roof that, unlike St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field, actually adds to the building's beauty. . . . The arena has a diverse set of restaurants. . . . Keeping with the Pacific Northwest's environmentally friendly vibe, the building also is easily accessible by the city's mass transit system. Negatives: Not many. It would be better if the arena was located downtown, near some of the city's famed restaurants. But least it's not in the middle of nowhere, like The Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Detroit Pistons play. --------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Trey KerbyofThe Basketball Jones turnshis sarcastic wit towards Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who gavea rather grim viewof the lockout yesterday. --------------------------- It was bad enough when LaMarcus Aldridge was saying that the two sides are far away from agreeing on a deal, because that’s obvious since they can’t even decide when to meet to talk about it, but then he has to go and say that he’s OK with sitting out an entire season if it’ll get the players a better deal. I understand that that is a valuable negotiating tactic, but is also super sad and I just don’t want to hear it. We’re trying to have fun over here, trying to ignore the fact that our favorite sport doesn’t really exist right now, and LaMarcus Aldridge has to go and be Mr. Honesty. Such a bummer. Can’t he just say that there’s no way they’ll sit out a whole season and let us live in blissful ignorance? Why does he have to hurt us so much? I’m not crying. It’s just been raining on my face. --------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Interesting take on how andwhythe owners of the smaller market NBA teams can leverage to get what they want to create a "more favorable system".

Zach LoweofSI.com investigates波特兰开拓者是否大的问题man should be playing the four or five next season by comparing Portland's lineup combinations last season. ----------------------- Small lineups 1,406.28 minutes 114.6 points per 100 possessions 106.05 points allowed per 100 possessions Big lineups 1,470.59 minutes 108.1 points per 100 possessions 105.5 points allowed per 100 possessions The huge leap in scoring stands out. With Aldridge at power forward, the Blazers were a very good offensive team — a borderline top-10 scoring team. With Aldridge at center, they morphed into the best offensive team in the league, scoring at a higher rate than the Nuggets (No. 1 overall in points per possession) managed in the regular season. ----------------------- He goes on to lay out the caveats against going all small, all the time. A lot of food for thought. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

[Giant] Sim Bhullar has de-committed to Xavier and will instead attend New Mexico State. The plan was for Bhullar to spend one more season at Huntington Prep before going to Xavier, but he will be able to play immediately for New Mexico State. According to his sister Avneet, "Xavier is a great program and we are so appreciative of all the time they spent recruiting my brother, however, Sim has some unique clearinghouse issues that have forced us to really examine the best course of action for Sim's future. At this time we feel more comfortable going forward with New Mexico State due to their experience with Canadians and eligibility. We feel that New Mexico State provides Sim the best chance to get on the floor playing college basketball in the quickest time frame possible." Sim will join Canadians Renaldo Dixon (Toronto, ON), Tyrone Watson (Hamilton, ON), Daniel Mullings (Toronto, ON), Christian Kabongo (Toronto, ON), and Hernst Laroche (Montreal, QC) on the Aggies roster. Associate Head Coach Paul Weir is a Toronto native who played at York University. Via RealGM and Flagrant Fouls