Dwight Jaynes

… most likely a very big name. Not sure exactly who yet, but I have a pretty good idea who the Ducks are going after — and you’d be shocked.

That’s not to say Oregon will be able to talk these people into coming to Eugene — or will be able to meet their price. I’m just saying, there is a real ambition here to go after a proven winner and a coach who can kick-start the program into high gear. And I’m not going to underestimate their ability to reach into the upper strata of the coaching ranks for the right guy.

Yes, money talks. But so do facilities — and a commitment to being the best. And oh yes, the whole Nike connection is going to matter more in basketball than any other sport.

The best description of what they are going to try to do down there is this — take a look at how Oregon went about getting its baseball program established. The Ducks went after, and signed, George Horton — who already had a national championship to his credit. There were plenty of rumors around about who Oregon was chasing at the time, but everyone underestimated the athletic department’s goals.

In fact, I remember being stunned that Oregon could have the resources to bring a coach of that caliber on board. I realize that while baseball coaches — even the best ones — come a lot cheaper than big-time basketball coaches, I think Oregon’s strategy here is the same: go try to find the very best and do your best to meet his needs.

And I think, in the long run, that is the right way of doing things. Coaching, particularly in basketball where just a player or two can mean an NCAA tournament berth, is a huge part of the equation for success. Why not try to get the best?

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Some people were upset with me that I didn’t blog on Friday after Portland won at Golden State. I’d called them out prior to that game, talking about how important it was to break that nine-game losing streak and get it turned around down there.

Then on Friday, nothing. Well, my bad. Should have at least filed a short blog entry congratulating them on the win. It’s been a solid week of taking care of business for Portland, which you have to do when playing those teams below you in the standings. Love the way they’re playing on offense right now — excellent ball movement while getting more players involved.

This is when they’re most dangerous on offense, when they aren’t just standing around watching Brandon Roy play one-on-one. Would love to see some more intensity on defense, with more attention to contesting shots, but I guess you can’t have everything.

And I’m sorry, but there will be days when I just don’t have time for blog posts. It’s the reality of having so many jobs right now. I appreciate your support and your patience.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers

My niece has been spending the last few days with her father, my brother Bruce, in Los Angeles at the Pac-10 Conference basketball tournament. That’s because she won a contest sponsored by Union 76.

And then she got four free throws at halftime of the second game last night and made the first one, barely missing a couple of others. There was $19,000 at stake for each shot, so she comes home tomorrow $19,000 richer.

Hey kid, can you loan your nice uncle a buck or two? Seriously, way to go, Jen!

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Tags: Bruce Jaynes, Dwight Jaynes, Jennifer Jaynes, Pac-10 tournament, Union 76

When you look at the James court memorandum and how it was written, it becomes a case that could be interpreted in so many different ways. I mean, it almost seems as if it was meant to be written that way, too. If anything, I think it took great pains to be soft on James.

“The defendant admits he grabbed the victim by her collar and pushed her against his car,” it says. Well, that could be a pretty violent act, I would think. But on the surface, the way it’s written, it seems to me that the writer didn’t intend to portray it that way.

Much the same thing could be said about, “Defendant caught the victim, grabbed her waist and they fell to the ground in the bark mulch.” I mean, it didn’t read, “The very strong and quick college football player chased the helpless young woman down, tackled her and threw her to the ground.”

One thing the document seemed to make clear was that there was a serious previous relationship between the victim and James. I’ve heard it portrayed as a stalker thing, where she’d been hounding him but the document seems to make it clear this was a couple who had been having a long-term, “intimate” relationship. And that she found someone else staying in his apartment. And that she was angry. That’s pretty easy to understand.

I don’t know how to figure out actually what happened. Not sure we’ll ever know. But you can rest assured that James ought to consider himself a lucky man. And with that, be very careful about his actions in the future.

In the case of Jeremiah Masoli, it’s pretty obvious by now that he’s missing all of next season not because of his illegal activity — the burglary — but the way he treated his coach. It’s pretty apparent that when the accusations came out, he lied to the cops and to his coach. I don’t find this all that surprising, actually — it’s what people often do when accused of a crime. The prisons, they say, are full of innocent men.

And while I understand Kelly feeling very betrayed by that, I’m not sure if his reaction to it doesn’t turn this thing into something very personal. And should it be that personal? I guess. Perhaps. Again, I’m happy I don’t have to make these sorts of decisions.

But Kelly has to make them — just as he is supposed to face the media when he makes them. The fact that he didn’t yesterday, that he made a statement and then turned the questions over to his athletic director, is pretty amazing.

Maybe the media should take that personally. Don’t think that some of them haven’t.

I’ve said this previously on radio and television and I’m not trying to be a wise guy. He needs a media coach — immediately. Often I find myself agreeing with what he’s saying, but I have a hard time getting past the delivery. He comes off defensive, combative, arrogant, cocky, brash — take your pick — at various times and it’s not serving him well. This can be fixed — at least to a point.

There are people out there who could help him. He makes more money than the president of that school, he’s the CEO of a major state-backed corporation, in a way, and he’s got to start sounding like one. Nobody does this better, by the way, than his athletic director, Mike Bellotti. Yeah, it’s why they had Mike carrying his water Friday.

But that isn’t sufficient. It won’t work in the long run.

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Tags: Chip Kelly, Dwight Jaynes, Jeremiah Masoli, LaMichael James, Oregon Ducks

Yes, I know — nine straight Portland losses in Oakland.

But if the Trail Blazers lose this one, I don’t want to hear a word about injuries or any other alibis. This game must be won against an obviously inferior opponent that’s also had its share of injuries. The Blazers should blow them away. Talent level? Not even close.

Look, there are important, tough-to-win games ahead. There is no margin for losing games like this one. And I really can’t imagine it happening, actually.

If Portland doesn’t win this game, folks, the spit is going to hit the fan. That’s all I’m going to say about it. This game is too important to mess around with. And a loss here, I’m afraid, indicates problems deeper than some injuries.

Doesn’t it?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers

Be interesting to see what happens when the justice system finally weighs in on LaMichael James and Jeremiah Masoli. And I think it’s prudent in these cases that people wait for all the facts to come out.

In the James case, when men are accused of assaulting women, it’s one of those crimes where they’re sometimes treated as if they’re guilty before anything is proved. And in some domestic violence cases, that’s needed in order to protect potential victims from their alleged abusers. It’s a sticky situation and I’ve worried all along that James could have been a target there instead of an abuser. But again, we really don’t know and I don’t think it’s fair to talk punishment until we really know what has happened.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t, as a coach, have suspended him when he was accused of the crime. I think the serious nature of the charge, and the fact that James put himself in that position to be charged in the first place, means you suspend him pending a resolution. Then reinstate him immediately if you find out he is innocent of wrongdoing.

When it comes to Masoli, I’d lean toward saying the same thing. I don’t think I’d kick him off the team unless I knew for sure that he actually is guilty of felony burglary — which he is charged with. Given that Masoli has a history of such crimes going back to high school, when he was involved in strong-arm robberies, I’d suspend him, too, pending the outcome of his trial.

And in Masoli’s case, if he’s guilty I cut him no slack due to the nature of his previous indiscretions. If his record was clean, I’d be tempted to go with a suspension of a few games — maybe take the position that this was some sort of fraternity prank gone bad, a momentary mistake that shouldn’t cause the complete loss of a kid’s future. But I’m not sure he’s now entitled to another chance.

I know this for sure — it’s not good to have your football team spread across the front page of The Oregonian in the off-season. That almost certainly always means bad news. And in this case, damage has been done by the behavior of a few players. The fact that these players are among the team’s best ones hurts even more.

And it’s all falling on Chip Kelly’s shoulders right now, fair or not. This is the part about being a head coach that being an offensive coordinator just doesn’t prepare you for.

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Tags: Chip Kelly, College football, Dwight Jaynes, Jeremiah Masoli, LaMichael James, Oregon Ducks

Frankly, not so well. At all.

They went into last night’s game having surrendered a cumulative field-goal percentage against of more than 50 percent over their last five games. They have not been playing good defense at all.

Yes, they “held” the Kings to 43 percent shooting last night, but seriously — I haven’t seen a team miss as many open shots in a while as the Kings missed last night. The Blazers didn’t close out on three-point shooters at all — but Sacramento couldn’t take advantage of those open looks and missed 10 threes, many of them wide open.

You can say that the recent injury to Marcus Camby had an impact on the team’s defense but really, not all that much. Camby has not played real well since he got here, folks. He’s blocking some shots but he’s a turnover machine. Considering how infrequently he touches the ball, his four turnovers last night were embarrassing, considering the team had but 11. And given the slow pace, lack of fast break points and points in the paint Portland has to live with every night, it can’t afford turnovers.

I expected better play from Camby but perhaps he just needs time. Heck, he’s been playing for the Clippers, where little things like turnovers probably don’t mean much.

There are other things going on right now that are disturbing. The Kings came out obviously trying to be more physical than usual. They attempted to push Portland around a lot and had intentions of ramming the ball inside all night. Word is getting around about the Trail Blazers’ lack of muscle and strength inside.

And the other thing that must be pointed out is that Brandon Roy is still not back to being Brandon Roy. He’s needing more shots than usual to get his points, isn’t getting to the foul line as consistently as he usually does and is missing a lot of free throws. All of that is uncharacteristic.

Some of it is that he’s probably not back to being 100 percent, physically. But another contributing factor is that teams are just not letting him play one-on-one as often as they used to. Portland’s offense has gotten so stagnant it’s beginning to seem as if every shot they take is off a one-on-one move by someone — and is usually contested.

That’s not going to work well, long term. All in all, I’m very underwhelmed by their standard of play at this point of the season. And once more, I’d remind you — don’t talk so much about who isn’t playing. Talk, instead, about who IS playing. And there is enough talent out there to be playing at a much higher level than what we’re seeing.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Marcus Camby, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings

I’ve been hearing it for days and sort of refused to believe it.

I expected Oregon (or rather, Nike) to have a big-name ready to go for this job. The behind-the-scenes manipulations have probably been going on for a long time.

I don’t know that there are too many people around here who are as familiar with P.J. as I am. I covered him during his time coaching the Trail Blazers and had an up-close look.

Let me say first, as a man, I don’t think they come any better. And he’s the best at working a room that I’ve ever seen. He never forgets a name, knows just the right thing to say and I believe, is a very caring person.

As a coach, I’m just not sure about him. He’s had a tendency wherever he has been in the NBA to get on players’ nerves. He’s a talker, one of those east-coast guys who has an opinion on everything and isn’t shy about sharing it. I found him usually very charming and bright.

But among the guys who played for him the feelings aren’t the same. He wore on them. They found him pedantic and often overbearing. Don’t forget, this is the man Latrell Sprewell tried to physically choke during a practice. And the story around that team was that there were plenty of other players who were rooting for Sprewell in that altercation.

I just don’t know about this hire. Will P.J. make the kind of splash that the Ducks are looking to make? I’m not so sure he would. He’d charm money out of people’s wallets for the program and make them feel good about themselves — but how good a coach is he?

Not sure. I’m not sure how good a coach you need to be at that level. A lot of college coaches are posers — they look the part but are exposed when you put them in a situation, like the NBA, where you actually have to coach players rather than bully them.

In college, it’s all about recruiting. That’s why John Calipari, a total failure at the NBA level, is so successful. The guy can get players onto campus like nobody else. Can P.J. recruit? I don’t know but he better be — and with the Nike muscle and new arena behind him, he certainly ought to be able to recruit.

It’s a fascinating idea that I still can’t quite come to grips with. And I’d love to see him succeed because I like him a lot. Can he succeed? That I’m not so sure about. And I’m not even convinced he’s the impact hire that I expected.

Is he a guy you’re excited about?

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Tags: Ducks basketball, Dwight Jaynes, P.J. Carlesimo, University of Oregon

I know now it’s not just me this bothers. I was in a room with several other people watching last night’s game when that fourth-quarter play happened, the one when Denver missed a shot and Nene held two Trail Blazers right in the middle of the lane while a teammate grabbed the rebound and scored.

It was right in front of the Portland bench but the camera shifted to Coach Nate McMillan and he stood stoic, arms folded and mouth closed.

Man, say SOMETHING. I guess he must subscribe to that old idea that if you don’t yell at referees, in the long run you come out better for it. I’ve heard the  concept but never have heard it from a basketball coach who has done any long-term winning.

There are times when you just have to say something — if nothing else but to show your players you have their backs. But often, you also have to show the officials you’re tired of having the calls go against you and you want to make a statement.

And that’s a statement that McMillan very, very seldom makes. There were a couple of plays last night that you just must rage about — just to show the officials you saw them, if nothing else.

It’s pretty frustrating when a coach does not do that.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers, Referees

Man, guard somebody. And at the other end, make some attempt at getting the ball inside. Does this sound like a broken record with the Portland Trail Blazers?

The aggressive team gets the calls and the Nuggets got more than their share all day long. And they ganged up on Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, making it extremely tough for them to operate. At the upper level of the NBA, this is how it works. It’s a playoff preview, too — because that’s the way any good team, given time to prepare, is going to play the Blazers.

And the Blazers don’t have enough ball movement and player movement to take advantage of it. That’s where the total frustration comes in. This is not a new problem.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Denver Nuggets, LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers