Fan Fest Review

This review is from the Oregonlive.com Blazer forum by StokedPDX

Ok...here's my attempt to analyze fanfest 2005.

Telfair-Looked great. Confident (of course), quick (of course), and making great decisions with the ball. Visibly bigger and was playing very strong. He hit a three, and had about half a dozen assists.

Zach-Looked ok. Looked to be going about %75 all night. He didn't look like he was necessarily "favoring" the knee, but every time he came off the floor he sat with the leg extended and took off the brace. He's obviously not comfortable yet, but he's not as bad as that clown Canzano made him sound. He rebounded well and made a few shots.

Darius-Still looked as if he wasn't trying, but I think that's just how he is. He played well. He made 3 or 4 18-footers and posted up strong a few times. He was effective, but monitoring his mood will be a tough challenge for any fan. He still looks like he could care less.

Joel-I was very impressed with Joel. He looked stronger and more composed down low. He was literally overpowering Theo (except for one time that he got tossed pretty hard). He was finshing down low and catching everything. He looks like he's primed to put up a very solid year.

Martell-Newsflash:this kid can shoot. Ok, not breaking news, but he is special. Not because of what he can do on the floor (which is alot), but because he has that special attitude. He has charisma, confidence, and brains. He will be a star. He shined during a pregame birthday presentation for Joel, Darius, and Juan. He is funny and easy to relate to. He'll have this town, and this team in the palm of his hand in the next few years. As for tonight's game, he has a money jumper, but still struggles to create for himself. Now, this could be because it looked like nobody had the option of looking to make things happen outside the team concept. Overall, great shooter with an extremely quick release and better than average athletic ability. Weakness: handles.

Clancy-Surprise of the night. He was an absolute beast on the boards. If he plays like that consistently there will have to be a place for him on the roster.

Viktor-Very active. Finally looks healthy. Was rebounding the ball and playing great defense. May make Ruben expendable.

Ruben-High energy, low effectiveness. Out of control most of the night.

Steve Blake-Suprisingly solid. Didn't turn the ball over and ran the team well. Jumper was off, but he could be a very effective back up.

Charles Smith-Started the game off impressively, but then faded into the darkness. He's solid and can shoot a little bit.

Juan-Nothing. He looked like he didn't have anything to offer. Couldn't make a jumper and couldn't defend telfair.

Outlaw-non-existant. If he wasn't in the program I wouldn't have believed that he played. He looks like he has no confidence. He was very hesitant offensively. I was very disappointed.

Ha-Did nothing to make me believe that he is anything more then a ten year project.

Theo-Played ok. Blocked a few shots, got some rebounds. Didn't play alot though.

Monia-Absolutely lost. He has no feel for the game right now. I didn't See him make a shot tonight. Including warm-ups. He's got a long ways to go.

J. Jack-Didn't play.

Overall, it was fun to watch, but it's hard to say what will come of this year. Nate is impressive. He stopped a three man weave before the game to focus his guys. They were throwing lobs and trying reverse dunks, so he clapped his hands together and made them huddle up. The intensity immediatley picked up after that. Telfair is great, Martell is the real deal, Joel is serious, and Zach is still doubtful.

And this one, from Blazerfan11

Ok here we go....got my autographs, Travis and Joel. They were both very nice, I told Joel he has to re-sign and he said that he wants to stay. Coach Nate ran the drills. He didn't wear a microphone like Cheeks had done in the past. The players seemed focused on what they were doing. Last year there was more talking and goofing around in between drills. Not the case this year.

Ok on to the scrimmage. Players that seemed to look better than last year were Joel and Sebastian. You can tell Joel trimmed down a bit, and he is moving very well. Sebastian gained the upper body muscle, and made great on court decisions with the ball. They worked the pick n roll together well.

Martell Webster will be starting sooner than later. He has such a great soft shooting touch. He got the MVP of the scrimmage. Dixon and Monya were very quiet.

Steve Blake actually made a good impression on me. He was all over the court defensively. And offensively he made good passes and didn't seem to turn it over. He really played within himself. Ruben on the other hand seemed out of control. He pretty much plated the 4 the whole time and never seemed to be too comfortable with that. Hopefully he will settle in with it.

Theo, Theo, Theo...had a awesome block on Joel early and came up flexing his shoulder, much like what we saw last year. Never really did much after that. Ha just needs more time, I can never get over just how big he is. Travis didn't play very well, to me he just needs to mature still. Sam Clancy was all over the boards. I hope we can keep him around.

Zach and Darius played well. It seems that they are really taking the whole team concept to heart. I'm looking forward to what is to come. Coach Nate sat on the end of one of the teams bench and never moved. The assistants were running the teams. It was nice to see Maurice Lucas there, he looked very interested in what was going on.