Chris MannixofSports Illustratedhas a nice feature piece on Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, which focuses onhis dependability. -------------------------- The quiet, unflappable 25-year-old has always been dependable. At Seagoville High he carried his team to the Texas Class 4A quarterfinals, the Dragons' best showing in 19 years. As a sophomore at Texas he was the Big 12 defensive player of the year and helped the Longhorns advance to the Elite Eight in the 2006 NCAA tournament. He turned pro after that and was selected second by the Bulls, who shipped his rights to the Blazers for No. 4 pick Tyrus Thomas and forward Viktor Khryapa. The 6'11" Aldridge was a starter at power forward by his second year and since then has averaged at least 17 points and seven rebounds each season. This year, with Portland hampered by knee injuries to guard Brandon Roy (34 games missed) and center Greg Oden (out for the season), Aldridge got off to a pedestrian start. "[My mom's cancer] didn't distract me during games," he says. "But it wore me down mentally because of how much I was thinking about it all day. After a while I told myself that I was going to turn this into a positive. I was going to use it as motivation to make the All-Star team for her." --------------------------h/t: @pdxjay-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

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As noted byLaMarvelousinthe FanShots last night, San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan suffered a fairly serious left ankle sprain. The Spurs officially confirmed on Tuesday that Duncan would not travel on the team's upcoming three-game road trip, which includes a Friday game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Duncan is expected to miss an extended period of time but the team noted that "a timeline for his return has not yet been determined." The Blazers also face the Spurs in San Antonio on Monday. Speaking of ankles, Blazers center Marcus Cambywill not playTuesday night against the Washington Wizardsaccording to the team. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Rudy Gay is out for the rest of the season apparently. Tough break for the Grizz but their still a formidable team and they still have some pretty solid wins without him. Rudy apparently needs shoulder surgery now. I hope the surgery goes well and he gets healthy again.

Tim Duncan sprained his ankle in the 1st quarter of the game against Golden State and did not return. He is expected to be out for two weeks. I think this will make it easier for the Blazers in the coming week. Does anyone think that the Spurs have the personnel to beat the Blazers anyway?

From Rachel Bachman, an interesting writeup about the intersection of sports, business, and the environment: --------------------- "The Portland-based Green Sports Alliance, launched Monday and backed by the leaders of the nation's largest sports leagues, aims to make leagues, teams and facilities more earth-friendly. Representatives from teams owned by Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, who also owns the Seahawks and co-owns the Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer team, initiated the concept of an inter-league alliance to reduce sports franchises' impact on the environment. The organization's other founding members are the Seattle Mariners, the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the WNBA's Seattle Storm." ----------------------- The GSA will be based in Portland, and will work with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the National Resources Defense Council, Portland State University, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

Matt CalkinsofThe Columbianwith a guaranteed-to-make-you-chuckleinterviewwith Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Armon Johnson... -------------------- Columbian: You took five shots in three minutes against the Cavs, and when Nate (McMillan) was asked about it after the game, he smiled and said "Armon’s going to get up shots." Are you trying to prove something out there, or are you just an aggressive player? Johnson: Man, I’ve been sitting on the bench the whole game! What you want me to do, go in there and pass it around? I know Coach didn’t put me in to just go in there and go through the motions, he wanted me to be productive. The last time I went into the game against Indiana, I didn’t take any shots, I just passed it. And when I went to the bench and asked him what he saw, he said he wanted me to be aggressive. I remembered that when I went into the game the other day. I didn’t want that to happen again. -------------------- And this genius... -------------------- Johnson: That phone records all of this? Columbian: Yes. Johnson (into phone): Yay yay! -------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Alex KennedyofHoopsWorld.com reports波特兰开拓者可能interested in free agent cent Earl Barron after his contract wasn't picked up by the Milwaukee Bucks. -------------------- The Milwaukee Bucks won't extend Earl Barron's second 10-day contract. The New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers are interested in him. The Knicks and Blazers have had conversations with Barron's camp. The center nearly signed with New York before joining the Bucks. -------------------- The Blazers worked out Barronback in Novemberand he was linked to the team againin February rumors. The Blazers now have one open roster spot after theylet center Jarron Collins gofollowing the expiration of his second 10-day contract on Sunday. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Interesting article talking about how straight numbers don't tell the whole story on Portland's offense.

The Portland Trail Blazers went 3-1 last week, taking care of the Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers at home, but losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on the road. The Blazers posted solid improvements in the various NBA Power Rankings and playoff projection models, climbing into some top 10s and settling into the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.Marc Stein:Blazers improve from No. 10 to No. 8John Schuhmann:Blazers improve from No. 12 to No. 10John Hollinger:Blazers improve from No. 13 to No. 11Jeff Sagarin:Blazers improve from No. 12 to No. 11According toHollinger's team stats: Portland improved from 14th to 12th in offensive efficiency, remained at 15th in defensive efficiency, improved from 20th to 18th in rebound rate and is once again the slowest team in the NBA when it comes to pace. Over atBasketball-Reference.com, theirplayoff forecasthas the Blazers in the Western Conference's No. 6 seed, now with a 94.3% chance of making the playoffs (up from the No. 7 seed and 85.6% last week). The New Orleans Hornets (86.5%) are No. 7, the Memphis Grizzlies (71.9%) are No. 8 and the Houston Rockets (28.9%) are No. 9. Hollinger'sPlayoff Oddshave the Blazers in the No. 6 spot, with a 93.2% chance to make the playoffs (up from the No. 7 seed and 84.9% last week). The Hornets (83.8%), Grizzlies (66.4%) and Rockets (42.0%) are 7-8-9. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter