Eric Millegan Actor, Bones Eric Millegan was born in Hackettstown, N.J. and raised in Springfield, Ore. He is a huge Blazers fan but has compassion for all 30 teams. He has previous blog experience, writing as "The Fan" for Oregonlive.com about his beloved Blazers. You can catch Eric as Zack Addy on FOX's new series "Bones" airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. Eric's other TV credits include guest spots on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and Sidney Lumet's "100 Centre Street." On film, he starred as Ed Simone in "On_Line"- Official Selection of the Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Cinequest Film Festival (Best Narrative Feature Award).

Joaquin Henson :  Nov 26 Martin comes of age Watching- and Listening- to the Blazers we keep coming back Hey there... I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to chime in about the Blazers' amazing comeback vs the New Orleans Hornets. Wow. Wow. Wow. And what a crazy game to follow. I was at my brother's apartment in San Diego and he didn't have NBA League Pass. I'm not sure the game was even available on it though. And so all us Blazer fans- who weren't at the game- had only the internet to help us follow the game. But what a confusion that was. At halftime, ESPN.com, NBA.com, & Yahoo.com all had different scores. One was 55-44. Another was 53-44. Another was 53-46. And as the game unfolded in the second half, the scores were all over the place. All three sites were describing different games. I'm serious. Like one site would say the score was 63-63 while another site would say it was 67-60. But the important thing was this.... the Blazers were no longer down 27. They had a chance to win the game. Eventually, one of the fans in Oregonlive.com's Blazer Forum called his Dad who was at the game and we had a real score. At that point, I needed to know what was going on in the game for sure. And so I buckled down and bought NBA.com's Audio League Pass. It was fun to listen to the end of the game on the radio with my brother. It reminded me of when we used to listen to Blazers-Lakers games on the radio when we were kids back in the old Magic Johnson-Clyde Drexler days. The ending did not disappoint. We won the game. Zach Randolph recovered from a scoreless first quarter to finish with 31 points, about half of that scored at the free throw line. His free throw shooting has been amazing. He's shooting over 90% and is #1 in the league in free throws made. As I type this, we are yet again down big at the beginning of a game vs Minnesota. We were down 30-14 when we played them a week and a half ago and we won that one. Now we're down 30-11. Against Seattle, we trailed by 12 before beating them in their home opener. And in our last game vs Dallas, we rallied from a 15 point 4th qtr deficit and cut it to 1 before losing. Oy, here we go again.... I have to tell you... even though we're down 19 on the road, I still believe we can win the game. This is a special team. By the way, LaMarcus Aldridge looked great in his NBA debut vs the Mavs a few nights ago. I'm very very excited about this team. When Roy gets back and he and Aldridge get used to playing in this league, we are going to become a pretty great team to watch. Oh boy, the Wolves just hit a three. Now they're up 33-11. I still believe. Go Blazers Peace. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 14 2006 8:48PM Zach Randolph- MVP! MVP! MVP! Free Taco Bell For Everyone! RIP CITY!!!! Oh my. The Blazers are back. The Blazers are back. The Blazers are back. There is nothing like beating the Lakers when you're a Blazer fan. It was so amazing. All the Lakers announcers talked about before the game was how they had to shut down Zach Randolph. Then the Lakers went out there and utterly failed to do so. Randolph was amazing! He is the real deal. Already ranked 6th in NBA.com's MVP Ranking! And the best thing about tonight's win was when he shot that three at the end of the game to feed the frenzied Portland crowd with Chalupas, which are won whenever the Blazers score 100 points or more. What a game. 36 points & 10 rebounds. And we win. Without Brandon Roy!! When he gets back and when he gets used to playing in this league, oh my.... we're gonna be for real. And then when we add LaMarcus Aldridge, look out! GO BLAZERS!!! Peace. KingSpeed P.S. Special props to new Blazers Stephen Graham who gave us a nice bolt of 11 points off the bench. Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 9 2006 12:51AM

I'm in love My Night at Staples They lost the game but they won my heart. I like these Blazers. I can't quite tell you why either. Can't quite put it into words though you know, in this blog, I will try. I could say that it's because of our rookie of the year candidate, Brandon Roy. The Blazers have never had a rookie of the year candidate for as long as I've been a fan. But Roy didn't even play much tonight and I still loved watching them. Why didn't Roy play? Lemme surf the internet and see if I can figure that one out. One sec. I'll be back. I'm back. He injured his heel? I had no idea. You don't get answers like that when you're at the game. Oh yea, did I mention that? I was at the game. Very cool. And I actually met Roy after the game. But I didn't have the courage to ask him why he wasn't in the game in the second half. Nor did I have the courage to ask Nate McMillan when I met him. Yea, that's right. I got to meet a bunch of these guys. It was really cool. I said hello to Jarrett Jack, who seems taller up close. I talked to Travis Outlaw who was very sweet and soft spoken. I also met Z-Bo, MVP Candidate (I believe! Send him to the All-Star game at least!) Zach Randolph. Very outgoing friendly guy. How did I get to meet all these guys? Because a couple of Zach's friends, Pete and Keef, sat behind me at the game and gave me passes to hang out and wait for the players to come out afterwards. Pete and Keef were hilarious. One of them just kept yelling "Get the ball to ZACK, give it to ZACK" on every Blazer possession. Our team listened and Randolph nearly matched his career high with 35 points. Randolph was awesome. And now that I know that Roy was only out because of a heel injury, I'm less worried. At least it wasn't because coach thought he sucked. There was a legit reason. And now I can rest assured that we would've won the game if he had played. Roy didn't seem worried. I told him that I believe they will do better than most people expect them to do (note: most picked us to finish dead last in the league and Vegas has us at dead last as a million to one shot of winning the title.) I told that to Outlaw, Roy, and Randolph. Outlaw said he hoped so, but Roy and Randolph both agreed with me that yes, there were going to have a better season than people expect. Much better. I think we might do even better than THAT. This team is special. Mark my words. This team is special. I brought a friend of mine to the game. She is from Springfield, Oregon but has never watched much basketball except when a game happened to be on, say if she was at a friend's house or something like that. She's not a basketball fan. Well, she wasn't. But after watching the end of the Blazers win against Minnesota a few days ago on my NBA League Pass and then watching the Blazers play the Clippers tonight at Staples, she has been won over. She said that she's actually going to watch more Blazers games. In a matter of days, she became interested in guys like Travis Outlaw and Juan Dixon and Brandon Roy and Zach Randolph. She says she likes the way they play as a team. She liked the way they talked in interviews that were shown during the win against Minnesota. And she especially likes the way they don't give up when they're down, that they play steady and keep playing steady no matter what the score is. It's true. These guys don't sluff off for a couple quarters only to attempt to flip the switch down the stretch. These guys work hard all game. I relate to them. Webster missed three straight free throws at one point in tonight's game, but man, was he pissed with himself about it! These guys care. And so I do. I told Travis Outlaw that I was a long time fan but that I was starting to lose faith the last year and a half and he said "I know, I know" but then I told him that now, I believe again and shook his hand. And that belief only strengthens my love for the NBA. I can tend to care less about the NBA if my team is sucking. But if my team is playing well, well then I care about a match-up between the Nuggets and the Hawks because I need the Hawks to win so that we can put some distance between us and the Nuggets in the division standings or so we can catch up with the Nuggets in the standings if they're ahead of us, you get the picture. I'm 100% won over by these guys. And they didn't even win the game. Go Blazers. Peace. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 7 2006 3:24AM

Go Blazers! Rip City! I'm so excited about my Blazers!!!! I missed the loss versus Golden State, but I watched both victories and they are soooooooooo fun to watch. I wish I had time to write more, but I had to just chime quickly before I go to bed. Roy is amazing. Zach Randolph is on top of his game. Travis Outlaw is becoming a real NBA player. And Webster can shoot. Dang. I know it's early, but I really feel that this is going to be a fun season. We may surprise people. Woohoo!! Go Blazers! I'm going to see the Blazers at Staples Center on Monday. I will blog more after that game. Peace. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 5 2006 2:55AM

Crazy Halloween a very spooky opening night Whoa. The MVP couldn't get a win vs a Kobe-less (and Kwame-less) Lakers. And the reigning World Champs got killed. By the Bulls. IN MIAMI. Amazing. You know, that's what I like about the NBA. You really never know for sure what is going to happen. I've watched hundreds upon hundreds of games. I've seen every possible come from behind victory. I've seen the incredible game winning shots. Tracy McGrady's 13 pts in 35 seconds. Kobe's 81 (wait, I missed that game. ugh). Anyway, the point is... sometimes I feel like I've seen it all and I feel like its hard to get excited about a game, but then I'm reminded why I love this game. The NBA is not boring. It is thrilling unpredictable drama that unfolds before your eyes and no one in the building knows what is going to happen next. I don't think anyone in Miami, including every player on the Chicago Bulls, thought that the game would be so lopsided. Amazing. And then the Lakers come back and beat a Suns team that looked like it was going to steamroll over them to the tune of 160 points and a resounding blowout victory. And this is just the beginning. I can hardly wait for tomorrow. My Blazers are undefeated!! I want to be able to say that for as long as possible, so Go Blazers! Let's get this season started with a road win against a division opponent in Seattle. And let's go Gilbert Arenas and LeBron James. Put on another scoring battle for us. And hey, Detroit. Show the doubters that you're still a formidable team even without Ben Wallace. Dwight Howard, pick where you left off last season and turn the Orlando Magic into a playoff team by getting a win against the aforementioned Bulls. Vince Carter-- dunk all over your former team and show us how fun the Nets are going to be to watch this season. And Surprise Team of the Year (we don't know who you are yet; If we did, you wouldn't be a surprise), surprise us! I get even more excited while I'm typing out this blog. And hey- what is up with the commercial in which LeBron dives into a swimming pool in a white suit? I love it. Weirdest commercial ever. Go Blazers. Peace. KingSpeed P.S. Oh wait, I wanted to say that I was really touched by the Miami Heat ring ceremony. It was fun to see Shaq get a 4th ring. To see Alonzo and Gary Payton get theirs even though I've rooted against them for most of their careers. It was an exciting start to the night. A 42 point blowout almost made me forget. Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 1 2006 3:13AM

2-3-2 To Eduardo and Rafael... and George Eddy The 2-3-2 is a special format for a special series. I love it. The Finals aren't like the previous rounds. And while it may SEEM like Miami benefitted by three straight games at home, don't forget that Dallas got the HUGE advantage of having both Games 6 & 7 at home. In this way the road team is at a disadvantage. The only way the road team can win the title in front of its fans is if it gets it done in a sweep or 5 games. Dallas had it pretty great when you really look at it. They had a 2-0 lead and if they had won just ONE of three road games, they would've had TWO chances at HOME to win the title. But Dallas didn't get it done. And that's why they're not champs. 2-3-2 has been the Finals format for years now. Jordan didn't have trouble winning titles with this format. Nor did Duncan. Nor the Pistons. Real champions get the job done. Peace. KingSpeed P.S. George Eddy- The best team absolutely won. The Heat won all their home games and they won a road game. Mavs did neither. Case closed? Hm... I sound like a Heat fan. It certainly was fun to watch them win. Wade was amazing. Posted by Eric Millegan - Jun 24 2006 3:13AM

Why Shaq's teams shoot more free throws in big games Because the opposition fouls them more Thought: I wonder why the Kings ('02) and Mavs ('06) whine about Shaq's Lakers and now his Heat getting more free throw attempts in big games. The answer is simple: Because they are COMMITTING MORE FOULS. I don't understand why they employ Hack A Shaq and then foul WHOEVER has the ball to keep the game alive down the stretch and then wonder "Why did they get more free throw attempts than us?" Oy. Because you intentionally sent them to the line over and over again! Also-- I think people freaked out about Dirk Nowitzki too much. He is a very good player, but some people (Ahem, Bill Simmsons) talked about him being the best forward since Larry Bird. Better than Tim Duncan or Karl Malone or even Kevin Garnett? No. I think Bill over-reacted to Dirk's 50 point game. The Suns had no big men and their team philosophy is to play a high scoring, fast-paced game. Anyway, that had been gnawing at me for awhile so I had to get it out. I still love Bill Simmon's hilarious columns and I congratulate Dirk Nowitzki for getting the Mavs to within two games of the NBA Championship. I close my little blog by not mentioning that I picked the Heat to win in 6. Peace. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Jun 21 2006 6:17PM

Riley to Texas for Title once again It occurs to me.... Pat Riley is in the exact same position he was in with the Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals. His Heat, like those Knicks, are going to Texas with two chances to win the championship. I can't wait for tonight's game. That last game was as good as it gets. KingSpeed P.S. How about my prediction that the Heat will win in 6? Lookin good... lookin good. Posted by Eric Millegan - Jun 20 2006 11:59AM

I hate predictions but the Heat will win in six My thoughts on the playoffs. The playoffs. Sorry I haven't written during the playoffs. There's been a lot to write about. A LOT to write about. What a great postseason it has been. And it's very hard for me to like a postseason that doesn't include the Blazers. Ugh. The Blazers. They get the league's worst record and wind up with what? The 4th pick. That's what John Nash gets for ruining the team. And now... he's gone. What a disaster. Hey, the 4th pick is still a high enough pick for us to make another mistake. Please PLEASE let us draft a good player who makes the fricking rookie game, brings some excitement to the Rose Garden, helps us win a few more games with his own might, and makes me happy to be a Blazer fan once again. But enough about the Blazers, let's talk about these playoffs. So much to talk about. How bout those Memphis Grizzlies? They secure the 5th seed by beating the Clippers and their reward? Being swept out by the soon to be Western Conference Champions. And the Clippers? Their 6th seed earned them home court advantage against a team I had forgotten existed until I just thought about it right now. And how about those Clippers? They won SEVEN playoff games. That is astounding. They were a Raja Bell three pointer from going to the conference finals! Hats off to the Clippers. But then, how about those Phoenix Suns? They survived through TWENTY playoff games. For a moment there, it looked like they might've had it in them to go the full 28, something no team in NBA history has ever done. Still, they played well enough to ruin the Hallway Series that all of us in L.A. were SO looking forward to. Man, I still can't believe it didn't happen. When Kobe hit that big shot in that amazingly entertaining Game 4, it really REALLY looked like there would be the first NBA playoff series to take place all in the same building. But Tim Thomas ruined it for us in Game 6, though Kobe Bryant DID have a shot at winning the series in that game and he just flat out blew it. And then, in Game 7.... don't get me started. Where were the Lakers? That game 7 ended when it began. Sad. And then what about LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. We were ALL witnesses for his incredible playoff run. Two game winning shots....err... lay-ups. A triple double in his first playoff game. And let's talk about those lay-ups. It's LeBron's go-to move. It looked like he could just zoom to the basket and get a lay-up whenever he wanted. That is until the 2nd half of Game 7 versus the Pistons. Somehow... his team was only able to score 61 points for the ENTIRE game. Terrible. LeBron dominated the first half and kept his Cavs in the game, but during the 2nd half, no one on either team could score. I remember thinking that the first team to make two baskets in a row would win the game. Then Lindsey Hunter did that and that was the end of the series. Also, don't confuse me for a Wizards fan after reading my last column, but let's again give the man some props. Gilbert Arenas was the best of the losers. He was astonishing in his first round playoff series with the Cavs. The problem was that LeBron was better. Gilbert was Dominique Wilkins to LeBron's Larry Bird. Now what about last year's NBA Finalists? Where did they go? Weren't we all positive that the Spurs and Pistons would return for a Finals rematch? I was. It was amazing to watch the changing of the guard over these last weeks. Manu Ginobili hit a three point shot to give the Spurs the lead in Game 7 in San Antonio with less than a minute to play. I thought for sure the Spurs had won it. They had come back from 1-3 deficit and then a 20 point deficit in the final game. I thought it was over. I was shocked to then see Dirk stand up to them and respond with a three point play. And then to watch Duncan come up short on hook shot after hook shot in overtime, it was something to see. I give Diop his due. And then the Pistons fell. And they were beaten by a guy that they could've drafted. Yep, don't forget it. Yknow... people keep saying that Dwayne Wade is the first of the young stars from the 2003 draft to reach the finals. That's hogwash! #2 pick Darko Milicic won an NBA championship in his rookie season! Yep. The Pistons made two straight NBA Finals appearances with Darko on the roster. This year, they traded the Human Victory Cigar and their good luck went with him. The Pistons lost to Dwayne Wade, a player the PISTONS COULD'VE DRAFTED with that #2 pick. Can you imagine that Miami-Detroit series if Detroit had Wade on their side? Wow. But I'm forgetting to talk about the real star of these playoffs. And that's Shaquille O'Neal. I love Wade. Love him. He's been amazing. Same with Dirk. Great player. By the way... don't the Mavericks seem angry to y'all? They play with a fierceness. An anger. Anger that people aren't taking them seriously or something like that. Anyone know? Okay, but back to my point. I love Wade. I love Dirk. More than likely, one of those two guys will win the Finals MVP. However, let's give a round of applause to Shaquille O-Instant-Trip-To-The-Frickin-NBA-Finals-Neal. I remember, back when I was in college in 1991. I was at Michigan and a Detroit paper- not sure if it was the News or the Free Press- was talking about the next year's draft and described Shaq as an "instant trip to the NBA Finals." That columnist was right! Shaq+Other Guys= Appearance in the NBA Finals. Kudos to Shaq. He's done it again, taking the Miami Heat to within 4 games of the promise land. Wait, wait, let me say one more thing. I'm sick of hearing about how Dwayne Wade is good because Shaq joined the team. Sure, he's better, but I want people to remember how good Wade was in the playoffs before Shaq arrived. Wade was an up and coming star in his own right. I want people to remember that. And well, that's the point. They're both good. Wade and Shaq. They're both winners. Okay... it's after midnight and I might not even be making sense anymore. I have to go to bed. Mavs are terrific team. Very deep. Would love to see Keith Van Horn and Stackhouse win titles. BUT.... I'm pickin the Heat. I don't see how I can bet against Riley, Shaq, Zo, Gary, Toine, and Dwayne going after that thing they all so badly badly want. I predict they overcome those angry Mavs and win the NBA championship. Go Blazers. Peace. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Jun 5 2006 3:25AM

M.V.P. my thoughts as the season closes Oh boy, I've been raring to write this blog. I've been so busy with "Bones"- we wrap shooting on the season finale next week- that I haven't had the chance to write down the many many NBA thoughts bouncing around in my head. Well, I'm back. Let's get started by addressing the title of my last blog- "The Knicks are Larry Brown's Phoenix Suns." What on earth was I talking about? Here goes. Sam Cassell has had an amazing career. He hit a game winning shot in the NBA Finals of his rookie year en route to two championships. The Rockets wouldn't have won either title without him. He grabbed the Nets out of obscurity and hoisted them into the playoffs in the late 90s. Not long after, he led the Milwaukee Bucks all the way to Game 7 of the conference finals. Then he took Kevin Garnett to the conference finals. Sure, KG was given the MVP award that season. But he never got out of the first round until Sammy came on board. This season, Mr. Cassell has taken the f***ing Clippers to the playoffs and has them in a position to get to the second for the first time in like... 30 years. And well, that doesn't really count because they weren't even called the Clippers! Say what you want about Elton Brand's MVP-like season, the Clippers wouldn't be where they are now without Cassell's leadership. When you really think about it, the Clippers haven't had a real point guard since Mark Jackson. That Clipper team made it to a 5th game in a best of 5 first round series with Houston, by the way-- remember them? Ron Harper, Danny Manning, Stanley Roberts, and Ken Norman. Their coach? Larry Brown. And here comes my point... Mr. Brown and Mr. Cassell have waved their magic wand throughout the NBA, turning losers into winners and in both cases, they led one of their many teams to a championship. Okay... follow me here... Cassell turned a lot of teams around, right? But in a short tour of duty with the Phoenix Suns in 1996, he was basically useless as a Phoenix squad that also included our reigning MVP Steve Nash and Robert "Six-Rings-And-Counting" Horry started the season 0-13. Remember that? Ainge took over in the middle of the streak and then Bob threw a towel at him. Good times. Needless to say, Cassell got shipped away to Dallas and then, with Jason Kidd on board, the Suns rallied and actually managed to recover enough to make the playoffs. So anyway, what I'm saying is that the Knicks have been Larry Brown's Phoenix Suns. The team he just couldn't save. The blemish on his otherwise impressive resume. OLet's move onto another subject. Overlooked MVP Candidates: Gilbert Arenas and Tim Duncan. Mr. Arenas has had the most quietly brilliant season for as long as I can remember. He played more minutes than anyone in the entire NBA and clocked 29.3 ppg (4th in the NBA), 6.1 apg, 3.5 rpg, and 2.01 spg (4th in the NBA) while doing for the second consecutive season something that Michael Jordan couldn't do: lead the Washington Wizards to the NBA playoffs. Prior to Arenas' arrival, the Wizards hadn't made consecutive playoff appearances since 1988. On top of all of that, Arenas' Wizards were 5-0 against the Spurs and Pistons this season. 5-0. Undefeated. Against the top two teams in the league. 2-0 vs Spurs. 3-0 vs Pistons. MVP voters had better recognize. Next: It's intensely bizarre that Tim Duncan isn't mentioned in most MVP discussions. Have we forgotten the best player on the defending champion Spurs who just secured a 63-19 regular season record, the best in franchise history?? I haven't. Pay no attention to his stats (but, by the way, keep paying attention to Gilbert's stats; in that case, the stats do matter). Sure, his numbers are down and he's not even the highest scorer on his team (Tony Parker, by a hair) but that is sooooooo besides the point. Without Duncan, the Spurs would be nowhere near the playoffs. Listen up. And I mean this when I say it: put Tim Duncan on ANY team in the league and that team would immediately becomes a championship contender. Hawks + Duncan = Very very good team. Tony and Manu would be at home watching TV commentators talk about how great Joe Johnson is. Am I wrong? Seriously, I'm right aren't I? Put Tim Duncan on the Knicks and all the problems are solved, right? You betcha. Hey, put Tim Duncan on the worst team in basketball- my beloved Blazers- and yes, that team would be a dangerous team in the playoffs. That's how good Tim Duncan is. And we all know it. Don't we? All of that said, my heart wants LeBron James to win. In three years out of high school, he has taken the worst team in the league- the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time of his arrival- and put them into the playoffs with homecourt advantage. And his numbers are unbelievable. They are probably the best overall numbers in the Association. Few players in the history of the league have put together season averages like he has. And to do it in his third year with no college experience is astounding. Sorry Kobe fans, but LeBron was better in this, his third season, than Kobe has been in any season in his career. (P.S. Yes, I'm still awed by his 81. Pretty amazing.) One more thing on this subject-- I've been reading a lot of message boards and sports columns about the MVP race and I can't stand the reasoning that the MVP Award should go to the player with the most pathetic supporting cast. By those standards, how did Larry Bird win the MVP, playing along side McHale and Parish? How did Jordan manage to squeak out MVPs when he had help from Pippen and Rodman? How did Karl Malone do it despite having Stockton to team with? How did Magic do it with Worthy and Kareem? If having bad teammates is the criteria for being deemed an MVP, then none of those guys should've won the award. ************* I saw my Blazers play at Staples Center against the Clippers and the Lakers last week. They played rather well, I thought. But they lost. Ugh. Worst team in the league. Worse than the Knicks. Man, does that suck. On that note, a Clipper-Lakers matchup is the second round is looking possible. That would be incredible. A 7 game series all in the same building. Is that unprecedented? Anyone? ************ Is there a Least Valuable Player award? Give it to Chris Webber. Or maybe Allen Iverson. I can't make up my mind. How on earth did those guys fail to make the playoffs together?? Mo Cheeks has some serious explaining to do. *************** They MUST change the rules for playoff seeding. This three division system doesn't work. NEVER AGAIN should a game occur in which the LOSER gets homecourt advantage in the playoffs. Peace out. Go Blazers. Watch Bones. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Apr 21 2006 10:34PM

The Knicks are Larry Brown's Phoenix Suns but first.... let me talk about my Blazers sucking Seriously. Blazers had a decent pick in the draft two years ago. And the Blazers won the #3 pick for the last draft. So how come NO BLAZER was in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge? How can you fail to make the playoffs AND miss the rookie game for two years straight? Is that a record? Seriously. Seriously. Seriously. Okay.... now that I have that out of the way.... no, seriously. Okay... let me vent on something else. Does anyone HATE this frickin six division system more than me??? I'm not sure that's possible. It rattled me a bit last season but I still welcomed the fun of something different. This year, I'm in a bad mood about the whole thing. Please please go back to the 4 division system. Wow. Am I getting old? I want things to be like the old days. Lakers and Blazers in the same division. Blazers in playoffs. And a guaranteed THREE seed for the 2nd best team in the conference! Look, even the old way was shady. But the new way is a disaster. Disaster. If the playoffs started today, the San Antonio Spurs would have the FOURTH seed in the Western Conference playoffs despite the fact that they have the 3rd best record in the entire NBA. How terribly backward is that? The three division system makes a mockery out of a regular season that doesn't need its help. I mean, what good is the regular season if not the opportunity to earn a top seed in the playoffs. And yes, if you get the best record in your conference, you get a #1 seed. That's still the same. But I'm sorry.... I don't think that the 28-26 Denver Nuggets deserve a #3 seed. And meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers are having a special season. Not a world beating season but a very very good season. If the playoffs started today, the best that they would have to show for their 30-21 record (7th best in NBA, 4th best in West) is a #5 seed. In other words, they'd end up playing the Spurs. And then, somehow, the Nuggets wind up with the inconsistent Grizzlies?? How is this fair? How is it that two of the better teams out West would face each other in the first round while the Grizzlies and Nuggets would battle it out as a "#3" vs #6 matchup? Seriously. What if the Spurs and Mavs tie for the best record in the NBA (could happen) but then the loser of the tiebreaker winds up with the #4 seed? That would be so bad. Bad for the league. Why does Denver get a better first round draw than the league's 2nd best team? Denver shouldn't get breaks. They should be thrown to the Mavs or Spurs while a nice team like the Clippers should be given a fair match with the Grizzlies. Okay, okay, okay... I'm getting too excited here. None of these teams have even made the playoffs yet. Getting head of myself, yes. But seriously. The 2nd best team in the entire NBA (if both the Spurs and Mavs passed the Pistons) could conceivably wind up with the 4th seed? That's ridiculous. Seriously. Seriously. Someone forgot to tell Kobe Bryant that he was supposed to drop 100 on the "even lowlier than the Raptors" Atlanta Hawks the other night. You know... call it selfish basketball if you'd like but if Kobe had scored 100, or even just his typical 81 points, the Lakers would've won the game. C'mon Kobe. I don't like you. But I like numbers. Put them up on the board. Hey. Does anyone know the right way to open that plastic packaging that is impossible to open? You know what I'm talking about? The packaging that Playstation 2 controllers come in. What is that? There is no right way to open it besides stabbing it several times with a knife or cutting through it with scissors only to reach in there and tear the plastic away risking the possibility of cutting oneself on the sharply cut plastic. Is there a right way to handle this dilemma of mine? Please email me at NBASpeedFan@aol.com with suggestions. The Knicks are Larry Brown's Phoenix Suns. Hmmm... I wonder if I even want to explain this. I'll first have y'all email me with what you think I mean by it. (Hint: Sam Cassell). Peace. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Feb 18 2006 5:25AM

Chris Paul vs Martell Webster frustrated I was watching the Blazers play at Golden State on League Pass several nights ago and the Warriors' television announcers asked the Trivia question: "What have the Portland Trail Blazers done in the past three drafts that no team has ever done before?" I took a stab at it and shouted out my guess at the television set. Later in the broadcast, they told us the answer was "Draft High Schoolers for three consecutive drafts." And so I was wrong. Bummer. My guess was "Suck." Man. We have so sucked in these last few drafts. Okay. Alright. Let me get this off my chest. Man, here it is. I don't know John Nash personally. I don't know his family. I don't know his friends. I hear that John Nash responds to fans' emails and in timely fashion. Sounds like he could be a pretty decent guy. All of that said, I think he needs to be fired. He will be fired, right? He has so terribly screwed over my basketball team. Now look, I know he didn't draft Outlaw but dangit, he did draft Sebastian Telfair and Martell Webster. Unbelievable. Gosh, see... I can't write right now. I can't find the write words, can't articulate how..... Listen, I am so A N G R Y about how John Nash fumbled the #3 pick in the NBA draft. That's right. We had the NUMBER THREE pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Do you know WHY we had the #3 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft? Because John Nash tore apart our team, traded talent for scrubs, fired our coach for trying to win games, and called it a season around March. I was miserable but if there was a silver lining, it was that we were going to get a really really good pick in the NBA draft. And yes, through the lottery, we earned the aforementioned #3 pick. Now, let me remind you that the 18-64 New Orleans Hornets were not as fortunate as my 27-55 Portland Trail Blazers. The hapless Hornets wound up with only the #4 pick. So follow me here.... John Nash then decided to something quite crazy. He decided to trade our #3 pick for the #6 pick and the #27 pick. He figured that he could still get who he wanted- Martel Webster- with the #6 pick. That #27 pick ended up getting traded to Denver for the #22 pick, Jarett Jack.... Okay look.... you all know what I'm about to say... I'm blabbering on here. WHY THE HELL DIDN'T John Nash draft Chris Paul??? I remember wanting Chris Paul. I remember everyone saying that we could get Chris Paul but that he would then take minutes away from Sebastian Telfair, our PG for the future. Ugh. Well, now Telfair is sitting on the bench behind Steve Blake and ouch, Jarett Jack while our top pick, Martell Webster, is.... get this.... playing in the N B D L!!! Hey, from what I've seen of Martell Webster, I actually think he's kinda cool. I saw him knock down a couple threes and dunk once, but that's besides the point. The guy has been shipped off to a developmental league because he can't hang with the big boys. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Hornets' #4 pick- Chris Paul- is tearing up the actual NBA, the real thing (and now the Hornets are a winning ball club and we're still trapped the basement). And so here is the actual point of my column. I thought it would be cute to use this blog as an opportunity to publicly compare Martell Webster's NBDL stats to Chris Paul's NBA stats and then perhaps to weep openly at the travesty of it all. Martell Webster- Fortworth Flyers. 7 Games Played. 0 Games Started. 39.7 FG%. 10.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.43 spg, 0.14 bpg, 2.14 tpg. Chris Paul- New Orleans Hornets. 44 Games Played. 44 Games Started. 43.4 FG%. 16.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 7.5apg, 2.27 spg, 0.07 bpg, 2.34 tpg. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Feb 5 2006 2:33PM

100 points Alert! Lakers at Bobcats In a few hours, the Lakers are in Charlotte (in real life, not my PS2). Yep, Kobe Bryant versus the worst team in the league. That's all. As you were. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Feb 3 2006 3:54PM

I am Kobe Bryant A night at the Garden. I am Kobe Bryant. Whoa. Okay. I've often thought Kobe was an arrogant jerk. Shaq must've stopped talking to him for a reason, right? Noooooo, no,no, no, no, no, I am not Kobe Bryant. And as a Blazers fan, it is flat out sacrilige for me to say that I am anyone, least of all Kobe, who plays for the Lakers. Nonetheless, in response to NBA.com's "Catching Kobe: Can you score 81?" challenge (see http://aol.nba.com/videogames/topkobe_060124.html), I've decided that for one night, in video game form, on my Play Station 2, on my 37 inch LCD high definition television.... I am Kobe Bryant. I am Kobe Bryant. And I am on the road with Smush Parker and friends. Not just any road. Broadway. Well, a block or so west of Broadway. The Big Apple. New York City. Madison Square Garden. Eight minute quarters. Pro Level. The goal? To score more than 81 points and lead my team to a victory over Knicks. Of course, this whole act has spooky resonance for me. Out of college, I lived in NYC for 10 years. New York was the love of my life. But the Apple wasn't feeding me. And so I had to leave my love to try L.A. and sure enough, L.A. has fed me. Los Angeles. The city where my Blazers were defeated in a horrifying 4th quarter collapse during the 7th game of the 2000 Western Conference Finals. And tonight.... through a Play Station 2 controller, I am becoming a Laker and returning to New York. 6:32 left in the 1st qtr, Knicks lead 5-2. Mihm leads Lakers with 2 points. Crawford points the way for the home team with 5 pts. I am charged with an offensive foul. I don't panic. After all, I am Kobe Bryant. And so I stay focused and I start to find my shot. I even find a circus shot in the paint, and suddenly, with 5:12 left in the quarter, I lead all scorers with 8 points on 4 of 5 shooting and my Lakers lead 10-7. My first made three point shot comes with 4:29 left in the quarter. I have 13 points and my team leads 15-9. My second three ball comes with an even 3 minutes left in the period and my Lakers lead 22-13. I have scored the last 20 points for the Lakers. And then, disaster! With 1:02 left, the refs make a b***s**** call and I pick up my second offensive foul of the game. Devean George subs in for me and I spend the rest of the quarter on the bench. With me on the pine, the Knicks stage a comeback but we regain the lead on a putback shot by some guy named Odom. At the end of the quarter, my Lakers lead 28-27. Crawford leads the Knicks with 11 points. I lead the Lakers with 24 points As the second quarter begins, the big issue is that I'm in foul trouble. There's only one solution. I must sluff off on defense and let those four other guys do all that dirty work. After Deaven George is called for goaltending with 6:40 left in the half, Phil calls timeout and puts me back into the game. George returns to the bench having tallied one rebound and two assists. My Lakers lead 34-33. But wait... there's a miscommunication at the scorer's table and now I'm unable to get into the game (what really happened is that me, Eric, forgot to sub Kobe in after the timeout). The Knicks score to take a 35-34 lead and then Phil has to burn another timeout. Okay, I'm finally in the game now with 6:25 to play in the half. I call for the ball and square up for a three pointer. Airball. It's okay, I think. I did that in the playoffs during my rookie year, but I bounced back to win three titles. I can bounce back here. Hey, I have 24 points and if it weren't my teammates and Phil's bumbling coaching, we'd be winning this game but look, if I have to carry these guys, then that is what I'll do. Baseline jump shoot. 5:58 to play. Splash. We trail 36-37, but I have my stroke back and that is what matters. Knicks take a 39-36 lead and so I come back down the floor with designs of tying the game. With three guys on me, I pull up for three. Airball. Again. Okay... okay... this is okay. I can't help but shoot another three with 5:17 left and lo and behold, it goes in. Knicks 41, Lakers 39. For the rest of the second quarter, I get my groove on and at halftime, my Lakers lead 53-50. I lead all scorers with 41 points. Crawford leads the Knicks with 15 points. I can't believe I only have 41 points. The refs have handcuffed me out there. I'm afraid to drive into the paint for fear that some Knick may pretend that he got fouled. On top of that, my three point shot just doesn't seem to be falling consistently. I've made only 3 of 13 attempts. And on top of all of this, I haven't shot a single free throw! Not a one. Are these refs out to get me? I think they are. Well, I'll show them. I'll show everyone. First play of the second half? I square up for another three. Brick. I don't know what is goin on with me. A minute later, I get charged with a 3rd foul, this time on the defensive end. What is up with these refs? I wasn't even playing defense! Okay, now I'm mad. I go on a huge scoring spree, knocking down shots from every spot on the floor, including 5 three pointers. By the end of the quarter, I have 70 points. Take that, refs! How do you like that? You can't hold me down. However, they were holding my team down. My Lakers now trail 82-89. Stephon... err....the self proclaimed best point guard in the game, ha ha ha ha ha, has also asserted himself and now leads his Knicks in points, 29, and assists, 13. I can't believe these guys are beating me.... err... us. Looks like I'm going to have to play defense. And so I do. Marbury drives the paint, puts up some soft stuff, I swat it, run out, get the ball back and drain a three with 7:41 to play in the game. 85-89. 73 points for me. But the Knicks retaliate and lead 94-85 on a three by Crawford. With 5:21 to play, I pull my team to within five points, 91-96. I have 77 points. Only four points away from tying my record. With 4:46 to play, I score and we trail 93-98. Only two points away from tying my record. The bad guys score on the other end. We're behind 93-100. But then, with 4:27 to play.... from downtown...... splash! I pull my Lakers to within 4 points and booyah, I've just set a new career high! Eighty THREE points. Jordan never did that. But enough about my accomplishments, there is a game to win. We trail 96-100. With 4:12 left, I hit a layup and my Lakers are only down 98-100. And oh yea, I have 84 points for those keeping track. This is fun. Madison Square Garden. Close game. Me scoring lots of points. Sweet. But I stay focused. It's not over. We get the ball back and I score another layup on a fast break. Score tied 100-100. I gotta give props to that young kid with the same initials as me. He played some nice D against the Knicks on that last possession. 3:53 left and I have 86 points. Hey Wilt! Are you startin to get a little scared? Knicks score. Knicks lead 102-100. But I don't blink. Boom! Three points! 103-102 and my Lakers lead. 3:35 left to play and I have 89 points. Remember when I was bricking all those threes in the first half? Well, we all knew they were bound to fall eventually. I'm now shooting 11-32 from the three point line for the game! Okay... back to that game.... 3:19 to play, 105-102 and I have 91 points! Take that, New York. And then.... woweee.... exactly three minutes left in the game.... SpLasH! Me for three! My Lakers lead 108-102! I have 94 points now. Not only does my team look good to win the game, but I just may have a shot at Wilt's record. Man.... the refs tried to stop me but they failed. Miserably. Knicks score and now we only lead 108-104. I respond with an easy drive to the basket. 110-104. 96 points for me. Marbury fires back. 110-106, my team. Ugh, I brick a three and then Q-Rich gets a fastbreak layup and it's only a two point game with exactly two minutes to play. Phil calls a timeout. When we come back, it only takes me nine seconds to find a spot on the baseline and drain an easy jumper. 112-108, good guys. I now have 98 frickin points. Man, if it weren't for the dang refs, I might have more points than the entire Knick team! And so we play good D, regain possession, and I create an easy layup for that Odom guy. He scores. And 1. See? I pass. But ugh.... Odom misses the free throw. We lead 114-108. If we somehow lose this game because he missed that shot..... oh man. Marbury now comes at me and I'm called for a blocking foul. My 4th foul. He makes both free throws. I want this game over and I want Wilt's record. Ball in my hands, I drive the baseline, put up a floater..... money. 100 points!!!! I've tied the record!!!!! Marbury makes two more free throws. We lead 116-112. Crowd going nuts. I pull for a three..... BOOM! There's a new sheriff in town!!! I have the new record for most points in a game. 103 points!!! Moments later, with the game in hand, I pull up for one more three point shot. At the buzzer. Boom. Crowd can't believe what they have just witnessed. Before their very eyes, I scored 106 points on 46-84 shooting, 14 of 37 from three point land. The refs gave me NOTHING at the line while trying to take me out of the game with ticky tack fouls. But I still prevailed. And thus did my team. 124-114. I am Kobe Bryant. And so there you go. Thanks to NBA 2K6, I was Kobe Bryant at Madison Square Garden for a night. In 30 minutes of play, I tallied 106 points, 2 rebs, 2 assts, 3 steals, 1 blk, 4 turnovers and my team won by 10. Beating the world is exhausting. I'm going to bed. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Jan 28 2006 6:05AM

January 22nd, 2006 where were you? I missed the game. Man, I missed the 62 point in three quarters game. And I missed the 81 point game. I love the NBA. I mean, I really really love the NBA. It just kills me when I miss something like that. Cuz man, I've seen it all. I've seen the comebacks from 20-30 points down. I've seen the incredible game winning shots. The thrilling playoff upsets. And I was right there in front of my TV when Tracy McGrady dropped 13 points in 35 seconds. On that note, wow, just think if McGrady played the whole game at that pace. He would've scored around 1100 points!! But I digress. It is rare that I see anything in the NBA that I haven't seen before. I've just watched too many games. But dang, man... I've never seen anyone score 81 points in a basketball game. And to think it happened only a few miles from where I live! So what was I doing when Kobe dropped four score And 1 on Canada? I was in my little Beverly Hills apartment watching Blazers/Mavs!! Blazers and frickin Mavs. The two teams that Kobe likes to beat on the most (see 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 & 2002 playoffs and then ask Mark Cuban for tapes of the regular season game where the Lakers came back from 30 down in 2002 and the aforementioned 62 point outburst last month). So anyway, I was watching Blazers/Mavs and I missed "The Kobe Game." Lemme explain that I wasn't able to start watching the 6pm game until 7:30pm and so, since I watched it from the beginning on tivo, that is why I was completely oblivious to the history-making circus at Staples. Yep, I was watching my Blazers score SEVENTY NINE points in regulation, thanks to a sweet lookin three pointer by Steve Blake, only to lose in overtime. SEVENTY NINE points. You know... people talk about team ball and blah blah blah, but look... if you have ONE player who can score 81 points, why not let him score? Screw team work. If one of my Blazers would've dropped 81 points on the Mavericks Sunday night, we would've won. As I've seen in the highlights of Kobe's barrage (thank you NBA.com for the 81 points in 3 minutes reel), they were mostly tough contested jump shots. And his team needed his scoring boost to recover from what... an 18 point deficit? The dude wasn't just going for a record. He was trying to win the game. And the fact that he sat in the fourth quarter of that 62 point game vs the Mavericks adds to his credibility. Was this bad team basketball? You know, I don't think so. The Lakers are undefeated when Kobe scores 80 or more. People say that true greatness is making your teammates better. Hey, Kobe worked out hard in the offseason and throughout the game on Sunday, he made sure he got the ball to the player with the best chance to score. Is that not the right way to play the game? Okay... so back to my story. I was watching Blazers/Mavs and my team lost and I went to bed. The next morning, I got up at 4:30am to go to USC to shoot a location scene for "Bones." While I was getting wired on the set, I noticed a copy of the Los Angeles Times. There was Kobe's picture and I thought "oh... I guess Kobe had a big game" and I looked down at the caption which began saying that he had scored 26 points in the first half. I was like... okay, that's what he's been doin lately. But then I noticed that this was not the sports page. It was in fact the front page. And so I grew curious. I unfolded the paper to read the rest of the caption which said that he had scored 55 points in the second half. I was confused. It didn't make sense to me. It didn't register. I was like... wait, he scored 55 points in the second half?? And then I unfolded the paper completely. And there it was. Kobe had scored 81 points. I was floored. Just floored. Probably the most surprised I've been about anything in months, maybe even years. I'm not just talking sports. I just can't think of a time where I was like "whoa, I didn't see that coming." 81 points in a game. 81. Wow. And I missed the frickin game. KingSpeed Posted by Eric Millegan - Jan 25 2006 2:11AM

I Miss the Jail Blazers I'm hurtin, Johnny. I'm hurtin. ISHAOSLKAHSKLAHGSKUASGUAKSGAU! Rasheed for THREE and the Pistons defeat the Heat!! That's what just took place on my 37 inch LCD high definition television. And it makes me so frickin mad. With a ring on his finger, Mr. Wallace is a major player on a team with an impressive 24-3 record. Meanwhile, Damon Stoudamire is helping his Memphis Grizzlies to one of the best records in the Western Conference. A week and a half ago, the teams battled each other through two overtimes in one of the more exciting games this season. At the end of the first OT, Mighty Mouse flipped an impressive pass to Pau Gasol for a game tying dunk. With about three minutes left in the 2nd overtime, Damon Stoudamire made a difficult running layup to give the Grizzlies a two point lead. Twenty-two seconds later, Rasheed Wallace knocked down a three pointer to put his boys back on top. It was a big fun game and the former Portland Trail Blazers were major players. As if I didn't feel worse enough already, Rasheed Wallace and the Pistons then thumped my Blazers the following night. I feel robbed. I miss the Jail Blazers. And it pisses me off that anyone cared that the media called us that. It was cool. It was something for journalists to write about. Look, there have been a ton of NBA players who have been arrested over the past few years. The idea that the Blazers had more problems than the rest of the league was merely something drummed up by media types because, as it would have it, Trail happens to rhyme with Jail. All of this hysteria ultimately led to a belief that the Blazers had to cleanse their image and get rid of the "cancer," as some put it. Those "some" looked foolish, though, when one of the cancers helped a team win a championship only MONTHS after the Blazers sent him packing. And you know what? Who cares that they called us the Jail Blazers? Nowadays, they don't call us anything. We're a losing team and we don't matter. It makes me so mad. Damon and Rasheed have taken their exciting brand of winning basketball to Tennessee and Michigan and us fans in Oregon are left with a farm team. Yep. A farm team. The Rose Garden has become a showcase joint where players like Martell Webster and Sebastian Telfair are being given the opportunity to show off their wares to other teams so that they can get the hell out of town and get paid. (It's also become a place where players can coast for millions of dollars earned by a few months of good play- I'm not naming names, but prove me wrong, guys. Prove me wrong.) Hey, I'd love to be a little less cynical but our very own GM predicted only 20 wins for this team, giving up before the season even began. Yo, I even miss Bonzi Wells. That guy was inconsistent as hell. He wasn't on every night- who on the current Blazers is?- but when he WAS on, he was awesome. And he and Rasheed had a special chemistry that I'll forever miss. Yes, the team was combustible but only because they played with passion. Bonzi and Sheed's Blazers frustrated us but they never bored us. They also set franchise records. No Portland Trail Blazer has ever scored more points in a playoff game than Wells (45). And no Blazer has scored more in a regular season game than Stoudamire (54). Okay, so Wallace has the record- league record, in fact- for technical fouls in a season, but he has proven time and time again that he worth that hassle. His Pistons currently have the league's best record and they wouldn't have it without him. And when they won the championship in 2004, his teammates and coaches all said that he was the difference. As I write this column, ESPN (the TV is on ESPN right now cuz after the Pistons won, I flipped the channel in time to catch the Oregon Ducks blow the Holiday Bowl) is talking about how good the Pistons are and they are showing clips of Sheed passing, dunking, and swishing threes. When, in the fall of 2003, the Blazers started to seriously consider trading Rasheed Wallace for players of lesser value, I wrote (in my column for OregonLive.com) that doing so would very likely result in 10 years of lotto. Despite my warning, the Blazers then traded him for a has-been-never-really-was center with shoulder problems and a player who loses whenever and wherever he plays the game of basketball. To make matters WORSE, they then signed the former, a Mr. Theo Ratliff, to a flat out stupid contract extension and then let the latter leave the team for nothing. In return for Rasheed Wallace, the Blazers wound up with 4.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 2.4 fpg, and a $33 million bill to pay for it. We've gone lotto for two years straight and a third year is looking likely with no relief in sight. In theory, we apparently tore up the team because that old group of guys wasn't going to win it all. Well, yo, these new guys aren't gonna win it all either. My money says that when the Blazers next win a championship, not ONE of the current Blazers will be on the roster, Nate McMillan won't be the coach, and John Nash won't be the general manager. Look. I haven't given up on the Blazers. I just can't help but feel that they've given up on me. Prove me wrong, Mr. Nash. Prove me wrong. KingSpeed P.S. Splash, I hit a three and scored my first points in the NBAE two Sundays ago. We lost the game, which sucks, but I'm glad to have that 0-fer monkey off my back. Peace. Posted by Eric Millegan - Dec 30 2005 1:57AM

Clipper Calculus gonna see them play the Cavs tonight Y'know the old expression about the NBA- "any team can beat any team on any given night"? It's true. In the 2001-2002 season, Shaq and Kobe's Lakers got swept by the lowly Bulls (remember? Shaq was so frustrated he almost killed Brad Miller). And Jordan's Bulls didn't lose many games from 1995-1997, but they did lose twice to the lowly Raptors (remember how amazing Damon was in those games? 31 pts and 10 assists in the win his rookie year. 31 and 13 in the win the following year- yo, he didn't win ROY for nothin'). Heck, the Charlotte Fricking Bobcats beat the Indiana Pacers by 32 points just last month. As Dikembe Mutombo would say during his Nuggets' inspiring run in the 1994 Playoffs, "anything can happen" in the NBA. Well, when I was in college, my college buddy and I would note how y'never know when the perennially terrible Clippers are going to "surprise the Jazz." It seemed to happen a lot cuz I remember us checking the ticker on Headline News and noting the big Clip win and being all "Yep. As usual. Par for the course. Once again, the Clippers surprise the Jazz." We wondered aloud "how come the Jazz never see them comin'?" In 1992, sure enough, the Clippers met the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs where they were able to win both of their home games to force a game 5 in Utah. But that was it. The Clippers were out of surprises. And when the Clippers met the Jazz, yet again, in the first round of the 1997 playoffs (those Clips slipped in with a 36-46 record), Utah was ready for em. No surprises. Boom, boom, boom. Sweep. And the Jazz advanced to the NBA Finals and then Steve Kerr... well, that's another story but the point is, the Clippers do sometimes surprise us all and go to the playoffs. I forgot to mention the 1993 Clippers as well- they pushed the Rockets to a game 5 where they only lost by 4 pts! Ah, those Clips. Mark Jackson, Ron Harper, Ken Norman, Danny Manning, Stanley Roberts. But even Larry Brown couldn't get those guys to the second round. And now, it's 2005 going on 2006 and the Clippers are lookin to surprise us again. Considering that they have only had two winning seasons (both of them under the guidance of Larry Brown- isn't he a genius?) in the last 21 years, I think that the Clippers, off to a 10-5 start, are THE story of the season. And that is why I've decided to go see the "Paper Clips" play at Staples tonight. I also want to see LeBron. KingSpeed P.S. During the 1992 series between the Jazz and Clippers, I stayed up til 1am to watch one of the games while simultaneously attempting to study for my calculus final. The following morning, I overslept. Or maybe it was that, in my fatigue, I got confused about when the final was to start. Irregardless, when I woke up, I realized that in fact the final had just ENDED and so I leapt out of bed and ran to the building where the test had taken place. I had to beg my teaching assistant to let me take the final. There was some debate since it was possible that I could've gotten a copy of the test or answers from any of the students who had just completed the test. I convinced the TA that I had not made any attempt to cheat and he led me to a library to take the test all by myself. I was pretty damn good at calculus and had gotten a 4 on the AP test when I was 15 years old. But the Clippers and Jazz distracted me into a C. In the end, it didn't matter. I became a professional actor and got a television series on FOX. Posted by Eric Millegan - Dec 3 2005 5:26PM

East vs West, Zoran, Raef, Are the Clippers for Real? ... and more Frankie Muniz & I play each other to a standstill Okay, okay. Let's blog again. It's been awhile. Being in a TV show and buying furniture for my apartment has consumed a lot of my time. But, I'm still passionately in love with the NBA and I'm glad to get back on track here. Oh, by the way, I'm playing for the Rockets (wearing #7) in the NBA Entertainment League. We've played two games already. In the first, we played the Warriors and pretty much dominated them though we only won by 4 points. In the second, we played the big-time-celebrity-laden Lakers (Frankie Muniz, Justin Timberlake, Ice Cube, Snoop, among others) and we got killed. I think we have a pretty good team and we just didn't come out with enough energy at the start of the game. I expect us to bounce back against the Suns this Sunday. It's an 11am start time, so we'll need to really get our blood flowing during warm-ups. As for my contribution so far, I feel like I'm playing pretty well despite not scoring a single point or grabbing a single rebound. I'm boxing out, I'm challenging them for rebounds, and I'm running up and down the court and playing energetic defense. No one has made a shot when I have a hand in his face. Mostly, we've played zone but when we went to man in the 2nd half, I shut down Frankie Muniz. To be fair to him, he shut me down as well. I think I need to work harder under the boards and actually grab some of those offensive rebounds that I've been challenging the opposition for. I also probably need to work harder to get open for shots. I'm a good shooter but I'm not putting myself into places where my teammates can find me. I'll let you know how the next game goes. Back to the real NBA. Here's what's been bouncing around in my head: 1) Was Planinic's full court shot vs the Utah Jazz one of the coolest I've ever seen? Absolutely. Go here (the Nov. 9 entry) if you haven't seen it: That's a chest pass. That's a full court chest pass into the basket. Unbelievable. 2) Despite the fact that the Spurs' recent championship victory, has the Eastern Conference become the more dominant conference? Yes, I think so. Solid teams are rising in the east: Bulls, Bucks, Cavs, Wizards all promise to better than they've been in the past. Out west, many teams are wearing down. The Lakers and Kings are no longer what they used to be. The Timberwolves are no longer what they never were. The Suns made too many changes to their roster (and identity) and now, with Amare injured, it's hard to imagine them getting off the ground this season. In my opinion, there are only 4 serious contenders for the 2006 crown: Spurs, Pistons, Pacers, & Heat MAYBE the Mavericks, but only because there's less competition in the West this year. (P.S. Keep an eye on the Warriors. They're not a contender, but they could make a little noise in this falling conference). 3) Are the Clippers for real? Okay. I left them out above so that I could dedicate a whole paragraph to them. Ummm... okay. "Are the Clippers for real?" is a question we all ask ourselves each fall. Some say yes, others say no. The some is always wrong. But now, Sam Cassell has arrived, and this year could be different. Cassell is a winner. In his first two years in the league, he won back to back championships in Houston and he was a major player in doing so. He turned New Jersey into a playoff team. And he turned Minnesota into a contender. Heck, the Wolves might've won the championship in 2004 if he hadn't been hurt. Now, he's in Los Angeles and it's hard to ignore him. Sure, he could get hurt again, but if he stays healthy, then okay, maybe he's not this year's Steve Nash, but it's possible that he could get the Paper Clips into the playoffs. If I have to root for a home team while I'm living here in Los Angeles, this is the team I'm going to pull for (except when they're playing the Blazers). 4) For that matter, are the Wizards for real? When they scored 137 points against the Sonics, I dismissed them as a fluke. But when they scored 110 points against the champs, well, then I had to take notice. Nonetheless, I'm not yet ready to bet on them contending for the championship. It's early. They should make the playoffs, but even that won't be easy in the newly loaded Eastern Conference. 5) Are the Kings really headed to the lottery? Very very likely. Read my last blog (below) if you haven't already. 6) How far will the Lakers go this season now that Phil & Kobe are together again? Tough to answer. I talked to a Laker fan this weekend and he expects them to sneak into the playoffs at the 8th seed. And yet, I wonder they might accomplish a little more. The stage is set for Phil & Kobe to win the Coach of the Year and MVP awards respectively if this team soars to the tune of 55-60 wins, but I peg them at 42-48, first round & out; maybe second round if they draw the Northwest Division champ in the first. Lakers-Nuggets? Kobe, who has hit two game winning shots in Denver in the last year, could pull that off. 7) How amazed am I by what Raef LaFrentz did to Houston this past weekend? Very amazed. In the biggest fluke performance since my boy Darius Miles dropped 47, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks off the bench against the Nuggets in Denver this past April (after getting only 11 points, 2 rebounds, & 2 blocks against the Jazz in Portland two days earlier), Raef matched his career high in scoring with a game-high 32 points in a dominating performance in Houston this past Sunday. The more impressive feat, however, was that he made all 7 of his three point attempts in the first half. That's just incredible. And even more incredible than that, he didn't even set a record! Apparently, someone once hit 8 of 8 three pointers in a half? Please email me (NBASpeedFan@aol.com) if you know who that was. I feel like I remember Terry Porter once hitting 8 of 8 vs the Warriors but I don't remember it being all in one half. 8) Do my Blazers have a shot at being competitive this season? I'm going to watch the games and pray that the answer is yes. Watching them play so far this season, I am reminded that it's possible, POSSIBLE, that Zach Randolph and the aforementioned Darius Miles could develop into full-fledged stars this season. We also have a darned good coach. As a die-hard Blazers fan, I have no choice but to keep the faith that we'll be able catch the league by surprise and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2003. 9) Are the Pistons and Spurs heading back to the NBA Finals next spring? Yes. Next question. 10) Are the Knicks just off to a slow start or are they going to suck this year? I think they're just off to a slow start. Larry Brown always teaches his teams to play a certain way (they call it the "right way" but whatever) and they often get better as the season rolls on. I don't know if they'll make the playoffs or not, but they aren't going to be in the basement either. Last night, they showed evidence of improvement when they pulled off the remarkable feat of needing only 73 points to blowout the Jazz (62 pts) in Utah. Email me (NBASpeedFan@aol.com) with your thoughts. KingSpeed P.S. Re: NBAE-- Snoop was the dominant force in our loss on Sunday. He got a couple rebounds early and then did basically whatever he wanted to all game long. If we see the Lakers in the playoffs, we need to keep an eye on him. Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 15 2005 5:42PM

Abdur-Rahim + Other Players = Losing Speeding through opening night The debate rages on... if a team is up three and its opponent has the ball with less than 24 seconds on the clock, what is that team supposed to do? Play straight up defense and risk the team having an opportunity to make a three point shot and tie the game? Or commit an intentional foul, forcing the opponent to the line with an opportunity to only score 2 points? I've always been a firm supporter of the former but then the Sixers give up a Michael Redd three pointer to force overtime, my fellow Michigan alum's best game in a Philly jersey went to waste and I had to reconsider. Hm.... is it better to foul? In that situation, I can see how the Sixers might regret their decision not to foul, but then.....hm... I think I'm sticking with my position. When you have the lead, why foul and give your opponent free points? Plus, anything can happen. If they cut the lead to one, then the pressure comes back to you cuz you know they're definitely going to foul and you'll be pressed to make both of those FTs. Plus, what if TJ Ford hoists up some crazy shot right as the Sixers gun for the intentional foul? Three point play. It's a tough call. Let the debate continue to rage on.... and feel free to email me at NBASpeedFan@aol.com if you have a clear definitive opinion about this issue. I'm always interested in what people think. In other news... boy, it didn't take long for Shareef Abdur-Rahim to bring his losing brand of basketball to Sacramento, did it? Pre-SAR= Kings are a solid playoff team. With SAR= Kings get DRUBBED by some team in Oklahoma. Grizzlies couldn't win until that guy took a hike. Hawks still haven't recovered. Blazers probably won't recover for years. This guy might be the biggest loser in the history of organized athletics. Isn't there some stat about this? I think he actually has some sort of record. Hey Reefer, if you're reading this... prove me wrong. Prove me wrong. If you don't, Rick Adelman will probably get fired and that would piss me off. I like him. On second thought, it probably doesn't matter what you do, Reef-man. Rick will probably get fired anyway. That's what GMs do in the NBA. They fire coaches. Even when they get their team to the Finals two years in a row. Even when they win coach of the year. Even when they actually lead the team to a championship! New subject. Last year, that Canadian dude got the MVP Award because his team sucked without him. If he wants the MVP Award again this year (and I actually don't think he cares), he'll have to earn it by showing that his team does NOT suck with JUST him. Amare's out til February. Q and JJ are out for good. On opening night, he scored 30 points and nearly pulled out a triple double, sure... but his team still blew a 17 point lead at home. Irregardless, his drive-into-the-paint-then-fadeaway shot cracks me up every time. Whether it goes in or not. Congrats to the Bucks for taking advantage of the overtime period given to them by Michael Redd and, some may say, the Sixers' coaching staff. Congrats to the Hornets for seeing SAR in a Kings jersey and realizing that it was their night. Congrats to the Mavs for the solid road win (Dirk--- wow). And Congrats to former Mavericks Finley and Van Exel for getting in on that championship action on ring night. And finally, congrats to the guys who actually got the rings. --KingSpeed<===== my nickname henceforth Posted by Eric Millegan - Nov 2 2005 3:22AM

My First NBA.com Blog Speeding through the NBA (1989- present) I came into this league as a teenager in Springfield, Oregon. It was 1989 and Game 3 of the first round series between the Lakers and Blazers was on the television. We flipped the channels to it or perhaps my father, who wrote sports for the New York Times about 20 years earlier, turned it on. Clyde Drexler was dunking and the Blazers were looking good. They were probably gonna win this game. It's best of 5, I thought. Okay, so all they have to do is win this one and then two more? Sweet. This is doable. Well, they lost and the Blazers got swept. And yet I was hooked. As the 1989-90 season unfolded (with the addition of Buck Williams), I paid as close attention to the Blazers as I could. I remember listening to really exciting Lakers-Blazers and Sonics-Blazers games on the radio. And I remember that seasons' playoff run- sweeping the Mavericks, squeaking by the Spurs in seven games, and beating the Suns in six games before succumbing to the Pistons (damn Microwave!) in 5 games. Man, that Blazers team was sooooo sooooo good. Clyde Drexler. Terry Porter. Jerome Kersey. Buck Williams. Kevin Duckworth. And so my love affair has continued, disappointing finish after disappointing finish, but I've always stuck with them. Over the last 5 years, I've written a column as "The Fan" of the Portland Trail Blazers for OregonLive.com. I've now decided to end my tenure there so that I'll have the time to write this blog. I'll still be true to my Blazers though I am soooo frickin angry about the moves that they have made over the last 18 months (I'm still smarting from the trade of Rasheed Wallace-- unlike a lot of Blazer fans, I love the guy). This blog will be fun because I've always been a fan of the league as a whole and it will be cool to have the opportunity to share my observations about all 30 teams. I have respect for each team's story. When my Blazers come up short at the end of each season, I'm miserable. But I always respect what that year's champions had to overcome to win the title (with the exception of the 1998 Chicago Bulls; see "Refs Flub Up Shot Clock Calls...." below). All of that said, let me share, in no particular order, a little of what has impressed, amazed, and stunned me in the NBA since I jumped on the bandwagon in 1989 (It might be a bit slanted towards the Blazers, but hey, that's just the way I am): *November 10th, 1990 The Denver Nuggets scored 143 points against the Phoenix Suns and still lost by 30!!! Those were the days. Denver coach Paul Westhead's philosophy was to throw defense out the window and score, score, score. Over the course of the season, the Nuggets allowed their opponents to score 130.8 ppg. They also allowed their opponents to win most of the time. They finished with a 20-62 record and Westhead was fired a year later. *1995 Houston Rockets Won championship from the 6th seed. They won all four playoff rounds without homecourt advantage including a series against the Suns in which they trailed 1-3 and an amazing sweep of the #1 seeded Orlando Magic. Hakeem Olajuwon was unstoppable throughout the playoffs. Mario Elie, Clyde Drexler, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Kenny Smith, and Pete Chilcutt all hit clutch shots throughout the championship run. *72-10 When Michael Jordan and the Bulls were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in 1995, many people wondered if Jordan or his teammates would ever recapture the glory of 2 years earlier when the Bulls three-peated. In the offseason, they signed Dennis Rodman, the league's best rebounder and biggest distraction. As the 1995-96 season began, there were many questions: Was Michael still the greatest in the game? Would Pippen and Rodman get along? Would Rodman help the team win a title like he did in Detroit or disrupt the team's chemistry like he did in San Antonio? All they did to answer those questions was break the single-season record for victories in the NBA and claim the franchise's fourth World Championship. *Reggie Miller. Scored 25 points (8-8 FGs, 5-5 3ptrs) in the fourth quarter against the Knicks in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. 'Til then, no TEAM had scored even 20 points against the Knicks in the fourth quarter during the playoffs that year. Scored 8 points in the final 13 seconds of Game 1 against the Knicks in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals. *1994 Denver Nuggets The Sonics destroyed the 8th seeded Nuggets in the first two games of their 1994 best of 5 playoff match-up. In Game 3, the Nuggets blew out the Sonics in Denver. In Game 4, Shawn Kemp missed two free throws with the Sonics leading by 3 during the final seconds. Point guard Robert Pack responded with a game-tying three-pointer and the Nuggets won in overtime. In Game 5, the Nuggets rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to defeat, shock, and eliminate the Sonics in overtime. They almost repeated the feat against Utah in the second round. Trailing 0-3 in the series, Reggie Williams hit a buzzer-beating jumpshot in Denver to avoid being swept. Then in Game 5, Denver somehow found a way to win in Utah in double overtime. Miraculously, they tied the series 3-3 by beating the Jazz again in Denver. Their Cinderella run through the playoffs finally came to an end in Game 7 at Utah. *49-18. That was the score favoring the Portland Trail Blazers after one quarter in a 1990 regular season game against the San Antonio Spurs. Heading into the second quarter, Clyde Drexler nearly had a triple double and David Robinson was shaking his head in disbelief. *Horry Dunks on the Pistons in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals Yes, Big Shot Bob hit the game winner but, for me, the most thrilling play was a few minutes earlier when he surprised everyone in the building with a driving left handed dunk over the defending World Champs (P.S. Props to those Pistons for their 4-1 domination of the Los Angeles "Four Hall of Famers" Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals) *124-59. The unbelievable final score of the Indiana Pacers' 1998 regular season home win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The very same Blazers had defeated the World Champion Chicago Bulls in Chicago only two days before. *Refs Flub Up Shot-Clock Calls in 1998 Championship Game Game 6. Utah. Most people remember Jordan's steal and game winning shot when they think of that game. What I remember most is Howard Eisley's 3-point shot that was released before the shot-clock buzzer in the second quarter, but was discounted by the refs, and the Ron Harper's 2-point shot that was released after the shot-clock buzzer in the fourth quarter, but was somehow counted. The official final score of this game indicated that the Bulls had won by 1 point. When I do the math (based on the video footage of the aforementioned shots), I have the Jazz winning by 4 with a pending Game 7 to decide the 1998 NBA World Champ. A Game 7 we will never get to see......... *Larry Johnson for FOUR! Has there ever been a more improbable game-winning play? In Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, the 8th seeded New York Knicks trailed by 3 points at home against the Indiana Pacers when Larry Johnson was fouled by Antonio Davis while attempting a three-point shot that was..........GOOD! Johnson hit the free throw to complete the first game-winning four-point play in the history of the NBA. *Blazers 106, Lakers 77 I was there at the Staples Center for this one. What a beautiful game. Game 2 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals. The Blazers, led by Rasheed Wallace, Steve Smith, and Scottie Pippen, used a 20-0 third quarter one to squash the home team. It was the Blazers' largest victory margin in the postseason since their championship run in 1977. *Steve Kerr Hit the Bulls' title-winning shot against Utah in 1997. Owner of four straight NBA titles from 1996-1999, Kerr picked up his 5th in 2003. Kerr, at 37 years of age, hit four 3-point shots during a 23-0 Spurs run that closed out the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. *March 14th, 2002 8-0 runs happen in the NBA all the time, probably nightly, but no 8-0 run (that I've ever seen) has ever been as exciting as the one the Blazers put together on this evening at the Rose Garden. Go here and enjoy the ride: http://www.nba.com/media/blazers/DAL_PORT[1].asf Note Steve Kerr celebrating on the sidelines... and against the Dallas Mavericks no less. Book it. That's my first NBA.com blog. Posted by Eric Millegan - Oct 30 2005 8:41PM