Cool story at West Albany High School. Saturday night Mike and his father, Duane Barrett, will be inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame together.

For those of you who don’t know, Duane Barrett was a very successful high school basketball coach for many years. Mike went 11-2 as a pitcher his senior season and was a first-team all-state pick. He also played two seasons of basketball for his father.

Congrats to them both — a couple of class acts.

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Tags: Duane Barrett, Hall of Fame, Mike Barrett, West Albany High School

We had the pleasure of having Mike Barrett on the panel of “Talkin’ Ball” last night and he had some insight into what’s going on at the Trail Blazer practice facility — not only from personal observation but from talking to some of the players who have been working out.

Most of the players are already on hand prior to the start of training camp and going at each other daily. A few players from other NBA teams are also on hand.

The big news is that so far, two players have stood out — Greg Oden and Martell Webster — two critical pieces for the upcoming season.

Oden, he said, is dominant and much better on offense. “He’s not trying to dunk everything,” Barrett said. “He’s shooting jumpers and he’s shooting the ball just about every time he gets it — which is what they want him to do. He’s shown some good moves around the basket. Everyone is very excited about how he’s playing. (Assistant coach) Bill Bayno has been with him in Ohio a good part of the summer and he deserves a lot of credit.”

Webster, only cleared for full duty a few days ago, has been spectacular. Barrett said, “I don’t think I’ve seen him stroke the ball the way he has in the past week — and he’s a great shooter. He’s moved well and played very well.”

Andre Miller and Joel Przybilla have not yet arrived and are scheduled next week.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Martell Webster, Mike Barrett, Portland Trail Blazers, Talkin' Ball

How popular is Rudy Fernandez? Mike Barrett and Scott Zachry tipped me off to this fan video on YouTube of Rudy’s wrap-around pass to Travis Outlaw during the fan fest. The bottom line of all this? The little 24-second video, without narration, has been viewed more than 211,000 times.

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Tags: Mike Barrett, Rudy Fernandez, Scott Zachry, Travis Outlaw