Joel Przybilla News

From Jason Quick of The Oregonian ... After a series of trades fell through this week, the Trail Blazers have settled on their next target: Utah power forward Paul Millsap.

In this file photo Hedo TA1 4rkoA Ylu puts up a shot between Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla .

Sharp-shooting forward Hedo Turkoglu is leaving Orlando for the Great Northwest, reportedly coming to terms on a five- year, $50 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Note: The following discussion is not about particular positions or individuals.

This is the third and final installment in my Draft Day Game Plan mini series. We've already discussed the Trail Blazers' needs at the point and the three... by Cameron Jerde 13 reads Preview/Prediction This is the third and final installment in my Draft Day Game Plan mini series.

I'm going to switch this up with more draft links and general NBA news this week due to a lack of Blazers news.

Since leaving Seattle for Portland four seasons ago Nate McMillan has helped turn this team with the worst record in the league in 2005-06 , to a second-place finish in the Western Conference this season .

Look, I can still play basketball. See??? This is me. With a basketball. Man, why isn't anybody listening? Browse more photos>> Today we shine the roster spotlight on Channing Frye.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming got away with everything possible against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Youth and inexperience are catching up with the Portland Trail Blazers. The youngest team in the postseason has struggled with Houston's Yao Ming to fall behind 3-1 in the playoff series with the Rockets and faces elimination Tuesday night in Portland.

Sorry for the lateness of this post, still playing catch-up this Monday ... As Nate McMillan put it in last night's postgame comments, "It's a one-game season now." Save for the Game 1 blowout, this has been as even a series as projected.

Connections: Rick Adelman still ranks as the second winningest coach in Trail Blazers history behind Jack Ramsay, racking up a record of 291-154 in the regular season and a 36-33 mark in the postseason a Adelman twice coached the Trail Blazers into the NBA Finals, qualifying Portland for the playoffs in all six of his seasons a Elston Turner also ...

APRIL 24: Center Joel Przybilla #10 of the Portland Trail Blazers battles for the loose ball with Ron Artest #96 of the Houston Rockets in Game Three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center on April 24, 2009 in Houston, Texas.

ROTATION: Starters -- Point guard Steve Blake, Shooting guard Brandon Roy, Small forward Nicolas Batum, Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Center Joel Przybilla.

As one of the foremost experts in coachspeak, I must tell Rockets fans that their team sounds like it's in a far better place entering tonight's game than the Portland Trail Blazers, and not just because the Rockets are up 1-0 in the series.

The Portland Trail Blazers believe they have a plan to slow down Yao Ming, one that involves mixing coverage and making it harder for the Rockets center to get the ball in the low post.

For many of the Portland Trail Blazers, last night's contest versus the No. 5 seeded Houston Rockets was their first playoff experience, and boy did it show... by Cameron Jerde 30 reads Game Recap For many of the Portland Trail Blazers, last night's contest versus the No.

The talented but untested Portland Trail Blazers are back in the postseason for the first time since 2002-03 and will begin their Western Conference quarterfinal series against a Houston team that was pushed to the fifth seed after a blowing a 14-point lead against Dallas in their season finale on Wednesday.

Travis Outlaw scored 21 points for the Trail Blazers in a 104-76 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night that clinched home-court advantage for Portland in the first round of the playoffs.

Long before going behind the Blazers locker room door on Monday night, where among other things I would learn the new nickname preferred by Brandon Roy, my day started in the office of coach Nate McMillan.