Brandon Roy: Untucked (and he brought doughnuts!)

Minnesota Timberwolf (and trick-shot artist) Kevin Love has either coined a phrase or introduced me to a cliché. Asked about being a starter, Love (right, with Kevin McHale) answered, “I just have to keep fighting and working and bringing in my doughnuts and stuff like that.”

More on that later, but in case you missed the Trail Blazers' overtime, cardiac-arrest inducing game against the Houston Rockets, it ended like this: With less than two second to go, Brandon Roy hit a turnaround jumper to put the Blazers up by two. We won! But then Yao Ming immediately scored, was fouled, and hit his free throw. We lost!

But with .8 of a second to play, Roy— oh, just watch it.

Blazers win! Man, Roy really brought the doughnuts on that one. (This also reminds me that the next time I want to celebrate a moment of great import, I need to quickly untuck my shirt.)

Sacré Bleu! Nicholas Batum Is Infuriated

Nicholas Batum is hopping mad, and I don’t blame him. The Portland Trail Blazer hails from a country that understands the importance of an engaged citizenry. After all, the voter turnout for the French presidential election of 2007 was 84%! That crushes the usual U.S. voter turnout numbers, though perhaps this year will be an exception.

But based on an Oregonian poll of the Trail Blazers voting, perhaps not. The on-line version of the article doesn’t have these specifics of player preferences:
McCain: Joel Przybilla
Obama: Jarryd Bayless, Channing Frye, Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw
Decline to State: LaMarcus Aldridge, Shavlik Randolph
Foreign Nationals: Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodgriguez (Spain), Batum
Will Not Vote: Brandon Roy, Steve Blake, Ike Diogu

"Will not vote"? How about "Does not care"? Brandon Roy said he won't vote for personal reasons. And Steve Blake stated that he never votes, but that he always supports whomever wins.

Arg. The only thing curbing my shame for these guys is the fact that they’re both class acts… who both need to think a LOT harder about what it means to be a responsible citizen. To get the bad taste of disengaged millionaires out of my mouth, here's a highlight reel of Batum against the Spurs this weekend. (How much do you want to bet he voted last year?)

Spanish Portland

Highlights of Rudy Fernandez's Sacramento game are in, including an eerily familiar alley-oop from Sergio Rodriguez. Further, both oops are carbon-copies of the one the two Spaniards executed last night against the Golden State Warriors just before halftime.

In less exciting news, Fernandez sprained his ankle and left the game last night, starter Steve Blake is out with a strained hamstring, starter Martell Webster is out with a broken metatarsal, Brandon Roy didn't play as he's coming off knee surgery... but at least it looks like Channing Frye will be back for the season opener. Oh, and Greg Oden rules.