ETB’s Scribes of the NBA Interview Series – Dave Deckard of Blazer’s Edge

- The Season's Over -

ETB’s Scribes of the NBA Interview Series – Dave Deckard of Blazer’s Edge

August 13, 2008

Greg Oden Photo Credit: Icon SMI

You’re going to be hearing a lot about the resurgent Portland Trail Blazers in the coming years. There’s no better place to follow up on all that Blazers buzz than at Blazer’s Edge, a fantastic site “by Blazers fans, for Blazers fans.”

The main leader over there is Dave Deckard, who writes almost daily about anything and everything surrounding this resurgent franchise. Wondering what’s up with Greg Oden’s recovery from last year’s microfracture surgery? Looking for in-depth analysis of all these youngsters everyone’s clamoring about? Dave does a wonderful job of breaking it down and framing his thoughts in terms of how it all fits into the bigger Blazers picture.

Without further ado, we give you 10 questions with Dave Deckard as part of ETB’s ongoing Scribes of the NBA Interview Series. Enjoy.

Empty the Bench: The Portland Trail Blazers’ turnaround has been remarkable. The team has bodies stacked in spades at nearly every position. Does they need anything else other than time?

Dave Deckard: Time is the main ingredient, but there may be a few decorations yet to go on the cake. Among the most important could be a veteran presence to fill in the gaps our young leadership can’t. Brandon Roy is an amazing pro and the best kind of locker room presence you can imagine. The talent surrounding him has the potential to be awe-inspiring.

However, only one of the Blazers’ top eight rotation guys has been to the playoffs. There are certain lessons only experience can impart. Granted, the Blazers could go through a couple years of playoff runs learning those lessons but they’ll probably want to shortcut the process a little by adding the voice of someone who’s been there.

With Raef LaFrentz sitting on a $13 million expiring contract this year and the Blazers having the option to make a trade using that contract, or letting it expire along with others to create up to $25 million of cap space next summer, it’s a sure bet Portland will be dabbling in the market. The positions at issue are starting point guard and small forward overall. Look for some veteran acquisitions there.

ETB: Does Greg Oden as a franchise cornerstone make you nervous, or do you have confidence that this kid can stay healthy?

Deckard: The health issue is probably overblown because of past experience with other high-profile Portland centers. Oden has been keeping himself fit and is coming back in better shape than he was in before the surgery. He obviously will need some cardio work, but given a couple months of that and a solid rookie year adjusting to the league there’s no reason to assume he’ll be anything but fine. I’d be far more worried depending on Yao Ming at this point; there’s a track record of health issues.

ETB: What are your expectations for Rudy Fernandez in his first year in the NBA and with the Blazers? How about 3 years from now?

Deckard: Rudy should be able to hit shots right away. He’ll also be able to run the floor and finish with the best of them. He’ll have to adjust to the physicality of the NBA in several ways, and he’ll be surprised the first time he tries to drive the lane and gets clobbered. Ditto when he tries to run off of screens through the middle.

Most importantly of all he’ll need a lot of work defensively. He hasn’t seen players who can dismantle him like NBA shooting guards will. Those adjustments may put him a little lower in the rotation than some folks expect, but he’s quite quick for his size and you can’t teach that. That will give him a leg up.

Three years from now Rudy should have adjusted to the league and the team should have adjusted to him. He can be a powerful offensive force moving without the ball and the Blazers are an unselfish squad. That should make for a good combination. I would expect him to be one of the primary scorers off of Portland’s bench, averaging in the mid-teens at least.

ETB: Speaking of Fernandez, what does his arrival mean for Sergio Rodriguez, who was largely an afterthought in his sophomore season?

Deckard: Sergio’s future depends more on Sergio than on Rudy. The Blazers should up the offensive tempo now that they have an interior line that can defend and rebound. That would seem to open the door for Sergio to re-emerge. However, Sergio needs to work on the parts of his game which keep him on the pines: shooting and defense. Unless he can stay in front of his man and stick the jumper when he’s open he won’t get many minutes no matter how fancy his passing gets.

Much more from Dave Deckard on the Portland Trail Blazers after the jump…

LaMarcus Aldridge is the forgotten man in Portland ETB: Do you feel that Kevin Pritchard is the best front-office presence in the NBA? What move that he’s made in the past 2-3 years do you think will end up being his defining moment in shaping the current roster?

Deckard: I wouldn’t trade Kevin Pritchard for anyone right now. He’s managed the transition from basement-dweller to up-and-coming team brilliantly. It remains to be seen if he can shepherd the Blazers past up-and-coming into legitimate contention, but I wouldn’t bet against him.

Everyone will remember the Oden draft, of course, but that was largely a matter of ping-pong balls. Pritchard’s true defining moves were drafting Aldridge and Roy in 2006 (both from positions underneath what would have been expected) and moving Zach Randolph in 2007 to create cap and floor space both.

LaMarcus Aldridge Photo Credit: Icon SMI

ETB: Please give us a Cliff’s Notes breakdown of the recent trade with the Indiana Pacers that netted Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu.

Deckard: The Blazers needed someone to defend point guards. Jarrett Jack was a tough-nosed, big-bodied offensive player, but he didn’t bring the whole package. Bayless has all of Jack’s toughness and scoring, more athleticism, plus he can defend. He’s a tweener, but Portland can live with that because Brandon Roy can handle the ball as well as score.

The Pacers were going to draft Brandon Rush at 11, leaving Bayless to the Kings at 12 before Portland could grab him at 13. Kevin Pritchard arranged the swap instead, sending Jack and forward Josh McRoberts for the Indiana duo. The Pacers got their man plus Jack. The Blazers saved Bayless from the claws of the Kings.

ETB: Who is the most underrated player on the roster and why?

Deckard: It’s hard to say right now because the roster is still in flux. Most of the players are still developing and you don’t know who’s going to become important, but the guy who will get chronically underrated over the years will be Lamarcus Aldridge. Roy will handle the ball and the media with equal aplomb. Oden will be an unmistakable force of nature. But Aldridge has the smooth all-around game: inside-outside offense, incredible defensive range, speed, height, strength. He will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

ETB: The Blazers enlist a gaggle of young, athletic, versatile players. Break down how the rotations can match up versus some of the different styles of play found on one or two other contenders in the West.

Deckard: Right now the Blazers can’t match up with the contenders in the West because Portland is still young and finding itself. In another couple years this team will be impervious to anything thrown at it outside of injuries, however.

Oden can almost singlehandedly shut down the middle on defense. That leaves the rangy Aldridge, with his height and grace, to swoop in and kill shots as the second leg of the twin towers. Having Oden as the backstop will also allow the wing players to gamble and create more turnovers. Turnovers and rebounded misses should lead to more easy points–the one ingredient conspicuously missing the Portland attack thus far. All of our big men can outrun their opposing counterparts. Wings like Travis Outlaw, Fernandez, Bayless, and Roy can really finish. You will not want to see the Blazers running at you.

Failing that, between Oden in the low post, Aldridge from 8-20 feet, Roy and Bayless slashing, Outlaw breaking you down one-on-one, and Fernandez and Martell Webster hitting long balls the halfcourt offense should be powerful as well. Defense, rebounding, running, shooting, unselfishness, smarts, character, talent…t his team is set up to gel and stick together for a long time. Opposing coaches are going to have some seriously long nights trying to figure out how to deal with this roster.

ETB: Martell Webster vs. Travis Outlaw: whose cuisine reigns supreme?

Deckard: Martell is like Iron Chef Kobe. He’s a young guy with some skills, but he doesn’t quite put it all together like some of his colleagues. He’s a great outside shooter who is learning to put the ball on the floor and defend. His body is incredible–not at all your vision of the typical NBA jump-shooter, but he’s not broken out of his shell yet and some wonder if he ever will. His distance shooting harmonizes with the first unit which is why he remains the starter.

Travis Outlaw is like Iron Chef Morimoto. He’s avant garde, pushing the edge. You never know what to expect. He can score one-on-one with anybody, but he sometimes makes some horrible gaffes as well. His athleticism is through the roof but he doesn’t always use it to best advantage. He needs more anger and fire. He’s the first option on the second unit. The green light suits him well.

Neither one is perfect. Both will want increasing playing time as their careers progress. It’s probably a matter of which skill set the Blazers value more.

ETB: Which “Jailblazer” do you miss the most? Which story or, well, arrest report was your favorite from that era?

Deckard: Truthfully, not a one of them. The best player among them by far was Rasheed Wallace. His all-around game was masterful, but his technical foul sprees and media disasters made it hard to love him. I don’t think I’d give a plug nickel for all of the rest of them put together.

From the outside it can seem amusing, even “cool” in a counter-cultural way. But when that’s your team underperforming, providing public embarrassment, and driving away fans left and right it’s not pleasant one bit. Those years were the worst in franchise history and probably among the worst of any team in any sport. Imagine the Green Bay Packers killing off their fan base by trading their entire team straight up for the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s not a pretty picture.