Portland Trail Blazers Blog – Page 56 – NBA Blog

Houston lands 2013 NBA All-Star Game

Mark Berman of My Fox Houston reports:

NBA sources told FOX 26 Sports the Houston Rockets and the City of Houston landed the NBA All-Star Game in 2013. The game will be played at Toyota Center on Feb. 17, 2013. NBA All-Star week will be Feb. 15-17. The Rockets and Toyota Center also hosted the game in 2006.

Click2Houston reports:

The entire NBA All-Star Weekend will be in the Bayou City from February 15-17, 2013. Hilton Americas Marketing Director Janice O’Neill-Cox spoke with Local 2 Sports Wednesday afternoon, saying, “We played a key role in working with the league to make sure availability was in place. It’s a big boost for our city to land the game, and we’re excited about it.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: I don’t get why Houston is getting the game again. They just had it in 2006. Meanwhile, other teams haven’t hosted it in a long time. Also, Madison Square Garden renovations will be mostly complete in time. And the new Brooklyn Nets arena will exist by mid 2012. Unusual call to send the big weekend back to Houston so soon.

Patty Mills denies signing with team in Turkey

AAP via Fox Sports Australia reports:

A number of media outlets had reported that the Boomers star – after finishing his second season with the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA – had inked a one-year deal with the Anadolu Efes team in Istanbul.

Mills, 22, said his agent was in talks with a number of European clubs, including Anadolu Efes, but denied a deal had been signed.

“I want to make it clear I have not signed with any team in Turkey,” Mills said on Friday.

“I have received offers from teams, but I have not come to any agreements with any team there.”

Rick Adelman not rushing into his next coaching job

Chris Hagan of the Statesman Journal reports:

For the first time in five years Rick Adelman is going through his summer without an NBA coaching job, and for now he’s taking advantage of the free time.

“Right now I don’t plan on doing anything, just taking some time off,” Adelman said Monday at Illahe Hills Country Club in South Salem, hosting the 22nd Rick Adelman Golf Classic.

The event supports the Chemeketa Community College Foundation, which provides scholarships for Chemeketa student athletes.

“It’s a hard grind in the NBA and I’ve been doing it for 20-plus years,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to getting away from it.” …

Now back living in Portland, Adelman has been connected to a number of openings, including most recently the Minnesota Timberwolves and former Lake Oswego star Kevin Love. Still, the coach said he’s not planning on returning to the sidelines just yet.

“I don’t have any plans to next year, no,” Adelman said.

“They had me interviewing a couple of places that I never even went to,” he said. “It’s all part of it now. If you don’t have a job and you’ve coached in the league, the first thing that happens if a job opens up, they throw the same names out there.

“Sometimes you know things are happening, but until you hear from teams, I don’t believe a lot of things I read,” Adelman said.

Trail Blazers to honor Arvydas Sabonis

The Columbian reports:

The Portland Trail Blazers will honor former Portland center and basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis on Thursday, Aug. 18, following his 2011 induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Sabonis, who played for the Trail Blazers for seven seasons (1995-2001, 2002-03), is known globally as one of the greatest centers to ever play the game. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Aug. 11-13, before returning to the Rose City.

The team will honor Sabonis and reunite him with fans in a public celebration at Pioneer Courthouse Square at approximately 1 p.m., where Sabonis will be added to the Trail Blazers Hall of Fame banner displayed in the Rose Garden.

NBA Rookie Transition Program postponed

The NBA Rookie Transition Program, scheduled for August 9-11, has been postponed. The program, which provides first-year players with the skills and information necessary for a successful transition to the NBA, is run jointly by the NBA and the Players Association.

“Without a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union, we will be unable to hold RTP as originally scheduled,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. “This is an important educational program for our incoming players, and it will be rescheduled once the parties agree on a CBA.”

Blazers guard Patty Mills may stay in Australia

AAP reports:

Exciting Boomers guard Patty Mills is considering playing in the NBL as he weighs up his options during the NBA lockout.

Currently in a Boomers camp on the Gold Coast, Mills has been linked with Adelaide as uncertainty surrounds the next NBA season.

Officially the NBA season tips off in November – but the current lockout could last months and cause it to be scrapped.

The lockout has ensured Australia’s NBA star Andrew Bogut and fellow Boomers big man David Andersen will not feature in the Oceania Olympic qualifying series against New Zealand in September.

It also initially threatened Mills’ availability for the three-match series against the Kiwis.

But Portland-based Mills confirmed on Tuesday that he would suit up for Australia – but after that his future remained clouded.

Brandon Roy still working his way back

Many people have given up on Brandon Roy ever returning to his former glory as a star guard in the NBA. No one is happy about it. Brandon is a likeable guy and a player to root for. Hopefully those doubters are proven wrong, and B-Roy is able to ball out like he did before his knees became a real issue.

As for the latest on Roy, here’s Jason Quick of The Oregonian:

Brandon Roy said he had mixed results recently after resuming basketball drills. The bad news? He says he doesn’t have the same lift on his jumps as he did during his run of three All-Star appearances. The good news is that he has surprised himself with his mobility, and he has been free of pain and swelling. Plus, his knees feel stronger than they did during the season — in part because of the nearly three months since the season ended and in part because the January surgeries are even further in the past.

So where does all this leave him and his expectations for next season, when he will make $15 million?

Again, no headlines. No expectations.

“Wait and see,” Roy said. “I’m not going to put a limit on anything. People ask, ‘Are you going to come off the bench?’ Got to wait and see. When training camp comes, I’m going to work, and that way I will put myself in a position to give myself a chance. But I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m saying, ‘I’m going to come off the bench.’ Or, ‘I’m going to start.’

“I just want to go out there and play, and that way, Coach can say, ‘Wow, he looks this way.’ Or ,’Wow, maybe not’ … Then we will go from there.”

Until there’s reason to believe otherwise, I’m thinking Roy is best used as a Blazers sixth man, for solid contributions off the bench, with occasional flashes of brilliance here and there.

Read NBA fan opinion or discuss your own reaction in this forum topic.

Timberwolves to interview Rick Adelman for coaching job

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

According to league sources, former Houston coach Rick Adelman will be the fourth candidate to interview with the Wolves when he comes to town tomorrow to see David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor.

Adelman all along has looked like the dream hire who’d solve a lot of the Wolves’ problems, if he’s interested.

Well, it looks like he is now, at least enough to listen.

Why is he the best they can do with this hire:

– He has a track record, and a .605 winning percentage (945-616) in 20 seasons with Portland, Golden State, Sacramento and Houston. His Portland teams made the NBA finals twice and his Sacramento teams pushed the Lakers to the brink out West.

– Believer in a passing offense similar in many ways to what Kurt Rambis believes, he has shown a willingness for his teams to play fast. Those Kings teams with Bibby, Webber, Vlade were fun — and fast — to watch.

– Most importantly perhaps is this: He has known Kevin Love for years and his hiring would be a BIG step toward convincing Love to sign a long-term contract extension.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m an Adelman fan. I want this guy coaching my team. Though, the core Wolves parts are so young, they have a lot of growing to do before any real success is possible. They primarily need a skills teacher. And permission slips to see PG-13 movies.

Read NBA fan opinion or share your own views in this forum topic.

Timberwolves to interview Bernie Bickerstaff for coaching job

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff is scheduled on Friday to become the third candidate to interview for the Timberwolves’ head coaching job.

President of basketball operations David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor interviewed former Timberwolves guard Terry Porter on Monday and former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson on Tuesday. They are expected to interview Don Nelson and perhaps one or two other candidates this weekend or early next week.

Bickerstaff, 67, owns a .445 winning percentage (415-517) in 13 seasons as head coach with Seattle, Denver, Washington and Charlotte. He last was a head coach for the Bobcats in 2007, when his team went 33-49.

He also has worked as an NBA general manager and team president.

Billy Hunter tells InsideHoops that NBA lockout meetings may not resume until August

By Jeff Lenchiner

Wednesday evening in New York City I paid a visit to Dyckman Park for some streetball action. It was a big matchup of some top teams that has been anticipated for weeks, so the park was packed. Included in the crowd were rapper Jadakiss, Denver Nuggets forward Al Harrington, and the head of the NBA Players Union, Billy Hunter, among others.

Before the game, Hunter, bravely attempting to communicate as some top-notch rap music blasted from the park’s booming speakers at full volume, gave InsideHoops.com a very quick update on the current NBA lockout situation:

InsideHoops.com: What’s the latest?

Billy Hunter: We’re trying to find some way to re-open the negotiations. We’re not making very much progress. It looks like we’re going to be where we are, I would assume probably [until] August before we actually end up getting back together.

InsideHoops.com: How long might the lockout last?

Hunter: It’s unpredictable. It’s hard to say how long it’s going to go.

It sounds like NBA fans should not hold their breath waiting for positive developments just yet.