a question from game #3.

Guy in the office: Finally, our backcourt gets going! I love our guard rotation right now. Speed. Grit. Shooting. This is the best three guard rotation we've ever had. Know what I'm saying? They are going to put up points!

You: Easy there, happypants.That's a pretty bold statement - especially since they've played a whopping three games together. You seem to be pretty interested in scoring, so let's see how a rotation of Felton / Matthews / Crawford compares to some other great Blazer guard trios.

Season	Guard Trio	Combined PPG	% of Team’s Total PPG
1970-71	Petrie / Barnett / Adelman	55.9	48.4%
1981-82	Paxson / Ransey / Bates	46.1	42.0%
1984-85	Paxson / Drexler / Valentine	46.7	40.4%
1992-93	Drexler* / Porter / Strickland	51.8	47.7%
2011-12	Felton / Matthews / Crawford	42.9	40.4%

*Drexler only played 49 games for the Trail Blazers during the 1992-93 season.

After only a three game sample size in which Felton / Matthews / Crawford shot a combined 40% from the field (below each of their averages from last season), it looks like they stack up pretty well against the greats. It is safe to assume that their shooting percentages and points per game will increase as they begin to shoot better, which could bump them past the best scoring three guard rotation in Trail Blazer history of Petrie / Barnett / Adelman. However, breaking down the 56.0 points per game that would be needed to claim the top spot evenly, each guard would be responsible for 18.7 points per game. I think Petrie / Barnett / and Adelman are safe. Kind of cool that they are not only the highest scoring three guard rotation in Blazer history, they are also the first. Talk about setting the bar high from the start.

Guy in the office: Hmm... I still think this year's backcourt is the best three guard rotation we've ever had.

You: Oh yeah? Why?

Guy in the office: Crawford and Matthews have tattoos.

You: Walks away.

IN-GAME QUESTION: free throw guy.

Lady behind 'Free Throw Guy': OMG! Sit down! You are the most annoying person in this city! Am I right?

Entire Rose Garden crowd (and the viewers at home): Yes.

Just like that.

BONUS QUESTION: the most ridiculous thing you've seen in a long time.

Heat fan in the office: Have you seen the new Heat intro video? It’s so sick! Best video in da game, hands down. 

You: Shut the &*$! up.

a question from game #2.

Guy at the bar: Wesley Matthews SUCKS! Dude is shooting 8 for 28 so far this season! That’s just TURRIBLE (trying to imitate Barkey – annoying the s*** out of you). When is Nate gonna start Jamal? You know it’s coming. I bet Jamal starts by the 10^th game. You heard it here first!

Pictured: Wesley Matthews the Physics grad student at NC State
Not pictured: Wesley Matthews the Trail Blazer

You: Sigh. Yeah, Wesley hasn’t shot the ball particularly well these first two games, but that’s a pretty tiny sample size. Hell, he shot 37% in the first two games last season, then shot 50% over the next four games. Watch for him to bounce back against Denver on Thursday. His worst back-to-back outing last year was when he shot 5 for 22 on December 27th and 28th. What did he do the next game (and also after a one day rest)? Oh, just put up 30 in a win against the Jazz. He’ll be fine.

SPECIAL QUESTION: hey! let's bring up sam bowie again!

Guy at the bar: You guys drafted Sam Bowie and Greg Oden! What a terrible franchise! You do know that you could have drafted MJ (he will call Jordan ‘MJ’ because he is a total a**hole) and Durantula (see last parenthetical comment), right? (Takes drink of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, looking rather pleased with himself.)

You: MJ? Marc Jackson was one of the better centers to come out of Temple, but I would hardly label the franchise ‘terrible’ for passing over him. What about your front office? Why did they draft ______ instead of ­______ in ­­­­­­­______? (See chart below to fill in the gaps according to their favorite team.)

Team	Drafted	Passed On	Year
Atlanta Hawks	Marvin Williams	Chris Paul	2005
Boston Celtics	Norm Cook	Alex English	1976
Charlotte Bobcats	Adam Morrison	Anybody Else	2006
Chicago Bulls	Olden Polynice	Reggie Miller	1987
Cleveland Cavs	Vitaly Potapenko	Kobe Bryant	1996
Dallas Mavericks	Samaki Walker	Steve Nash	1996
Denver Nuggets	Nikoloz Tskitishvili	Amar’e Stoudemire	2002
Detroit Pistons	Darko Milicic	Dwayne Wade	2003
Golden State Warriors	Joe Smith	Kevin Garnett	1995
Houston Rockets	Ed Ratleff	George McGinnis	1973
Indiana Pacers	Rick Robey	Larry Bird	1978
LA Clippers	Michael Olowokandi	Dirk Nowiztki	1998
LA Lakers	Ken Barlow	Dennis Rodman	1986
Memphis Grizzlies	Hasheem Thabeet	Stephen Curry	2009
Miami Heat	Harold Miner	Latrell Sprewell	1992
Milwaukee Bucks	Joe Alexander	Brook Lopez	2008
Minnesota T-Wolves	Corey Brewer	Joakim Noah	2007
New Jersey Nets	Dennis Hopson	Scottie Pippen	1987
New Orleans Hornets	Cedric Simmons	Rajon Rondo	2006
New York Knicks	Tom Riker	Julius Erving	1972
OKC Thunder	Danny Vranes	Larry Nance	1981
Orlando Magic	Reece Gaines	David West	2003
Philadelphia 76ers	Leon Wood	John Stockton	1984
Phoenix Suns	Ed Pinckney	Karl Malone	1985
Sacramento Kings	Ennis Whatley	Clyde Drexler	1983
San Antonio Spurs	Johnny Dawkins	Mark Price	1986
Toronto Raptors	Rafael Araujo	Andre Iguodala	2004
Utah Jazz	Rich Kelley	World B. Free	1975
Washington Wizards	Kwame Brown	Pau Gasol	2001

See? Nobody’s perfect.

Note: No matter how badly you want to defend Sam Bowie’s career (he did average 15 and 10 for the Nets in ’90), don’t do it. It’s Jordan they’re talking about.

a question from opening night.

Guy at the gym: I checked the box score this morning (I do it every morning, it’s kind of my thing), and I noticed that Elliot Williams didn’t get any run. Dude’s got mad hops! Dude needs to be out there! Dude’s better than that Dukie dude they drafted.

Keeyaaaaiiii!                       Photo by Mark Weber

 

You: Stop saying ‘dude.’ Why did you need to box score to tell you Elliot Williams didn’t play – don’t you watch the game, SuperFan? No, Williams didn’t ‘get any run’, but if you’d been paying attention, you’d have expected that. I think Williams will get some playing time this year – probably in spurts. Armon Johnson was the back-up PG for the entire month of November last season before Patty Mills usurped his minutes. Don’t be surprised if the same thing happens this season with Smith and Williams. Nate has a history of giving a young guy a chance, then yanking the chair out from under him when he racks up 6 turnovers and 1 assist, while not recording a single point or rebound. Be patient, dude.

Guy at the gym: But Nolan is a point guard and Elliot is a shooting guard. Those are different positions. You do know that, right?

You: And you do know that wearing two collared shirts at the same time does not make you look cooler, right? Don’t worry about that. Jamal will be running the point for second unit a lot more than you think. And your 'Dukie' comment? You do know that Elliot played for Duke as a Freshman, right?