PORTLAND, Ore. - The Blazers officials clearly got to Kings coach Paul Westphal as it relates to the Omri Casspi situation, and one can only imagine that the conversation went something like this...
Blazers rep: "Um, hello coach, this is (inaudible). Yeah, I'm just calling to make sure you're not thinking about leaving Omri Casspi in a suit for tonight's game like you did the other night against Oklahoma City. After all, he is Israel's first NBA player and that means we'll have a few hundred Jewish fans at the Rose Garden tonight who wouldn't ordinarily be there. Times are tough for us right now just like everybody else, and we really don't want to have to hand out refunds unnecessarily. Is he really that tired?"
Westphal: "Oh, good gracious. He's fine. We're playing him."
Or something like that...
Kidding aside, Westphal said at this morning's shootaround that Casspi will indeed be available to play tonight. The coach is still concerned about Casspi's energy level, but apparently not enough to give him another night of rest.
"I still think he's kind of worn down, but he'll have a uniform and we'll see how it goes," Westphal said at the Rose Garden.
I noticed a few fans wondering if Casspi was perhaps ill. And while I had heard nothing even remotely implying that was the case, I relayed the question Westphal's way just to be sure.
"Not that we know of," he answered. "There's nothing that we know about that is unrevealed. I'm being as open as I can be. His effectiveness has gone down a little bit, and I think it's because he's tired. Simple as that."
Point guard Beno Udrih will play as well, which we note only because he banged the inside of his right ankle in the last game and was a tad questionable for tonight. That means the starting lineup - No. 26, for those who are counting - remains the same. What a concept.
As for who is inactive, that would be Ime Udoka, Joey Dorsey and the injured Jon Brockman. You can bet that Udoka was the most surprised of the bunch, as he had become a Westphal favorite late in games recently and averaged 14.8 minutes in the last eight games. And those numbers even include a 30-second stint during that span.
We have plenty of linkage and good reads below, but I wanted to provide a bit of highlight reel action as well. Portland point guard Andre Miller - whose Sacramento ties I wrote about not too long ago - had a wicked dunk the other day...
Jason Thompson hadn't seen or heard about that dunk, so Udrih was kind enough to duplicate it for him after Tuesday's shootaround. OK, so maybe he didn't exactly duplicate it - he did a weak walkthrough version of it on the Rose Garden floor while in his socks. Although that makes one wonder: if people were surprised by Miller getting up like that (and they were), can you imagine if Udrih uncorked a similar slam?
From The Bee
'Casspi may need more time to rest,' By Sam Amick
From the Oregonian
'Marcus Camby will play against Kings,' By Joe Freeman
'Live Chat: Kings at Blazers,' By Oregonian staff
'Tyreke Evans remains ROY frontrunner, but...' By Geoffrey C. Arnold
GAMEPLAN
Kings (21-42) at Portland (37-28)
When: 7 p.m.
Where: The Rose Garden.
TV: CSNCA.
Radio: KHTK (1140 AM).
Kings update: The countdown is at eight. And, no, we're not talking about the number of wins the Kings hope to secure between now and season's end. That's how many games they have left until their five-game, eight-day trip that will be as tough as any getaway they have this season. Only two of the next eight games are on the road.
Blazers update: Nate McMillan wasn't trying to be funny, but there was something absurdly comical about the way the Blazers' coach summed up his team's latest injury Sunday: "Now, even our injured players are getting injured," he told reporters in Denver. He was referring to center Joel Pryzbilla, who was already out for the season with a ruptured right patella tendon but who re-ruptured it Saturday falling in his shower at home. It has been that sort of season for Portland, but the Blazers still have won seven of their past 11 games.
PROBABLE STARTERS
KINGS
No. Player Pos.
19 Beno Udrih PG
13 Tyreke Evans SG
20 Donté Greene SF
24 Carl Landry PF
31 Spencer Hawes C
TRAIL BLAZERS
No. Player Pos.
24 Andre Miller PG
7 Brandon Roy SG
88 Nicolas Batum SF
12 LaMarcus Aldridge PF
6 Juwan Howard C
-- Sam Amick
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