Mike Rice & Mike Barrett are hosts. Guests tonight will be Juan Dixon, Steve Kerr (who likes the trades the Blazers have made), Monty Williams and Pete Pranica. Rice wants to ask Pranica about previously being threatened by Bonzi when he's on. The Blazer schedule is out and it doesn't look too bad (better than last season). They'll have 9 road games and 5 home games, with 7 in a row in Nov. Games will be against the East. Previously the East used to mean easier games, however, that's not the case anymore. 22 of 41 home games will be on a Sunday or Friday, which should fare better for selling tickets. October 10th is our first expedition game. Portland needs a backup PF and Rice thinks that could happen. Regarding Rahim: They don't know if finalized with NJ. They said that SAR did the right thing by saying, "Don't bad mouth me around the league". Either sign him or let him move on. Juan Dixon was on and when asked if he has taken his honeymoon yet, the answer was No. However, signing the Blazer contract was the best honeymoon they could have! He was asked about his feelings regarding how Wizards treated him and he said he has no hard feelings against the Wizards. They have a new coach, going in their own direction. Mike said that a lot of teams pursued him, so why Portland? Dixon said that he hit if off well with Nate and Nash during dinner that first meeting. He wants to be part of a young team with talent and likes the direction this team is going. He's looking forward to showing his leadership abilities, on and off the court. He feels they will be like the Bulls were last year. He said he wanted to go somewhere where he was wanted and they made him feel like he was top priority and it made him want to sign with Portland. Dixon went on to say they made him feel like they could use his skills and he will work extremely hard to get better this off season and help the Blazers win games this year. Coach told the guys he would like for them to come together right after Labor Day and Dixon will be there. It's exciting to see the guys dedicated to working hard and getting a jump start as early as Sept. Dixon is now working out 3 times a week on improving his strength. They are laughing about how at age 26, he's a veteran. Juan said that hopefully the young guys will follow his lead, because he's going to be a good role model, lead the right way, and be a great teammate. He said hopefully they'll all go into the trenches with him every night, working hard and trying to get better. Rice said that it looks like the team will work very hard; This present roster has an average age of 23.8, three years of experience, and 50% of present roster did not attend college. Dixon said the team was hungry and has a great upside. Good chemistry - sky is the limit for them.

     Barrett said that it looks like Juan Dixon is the starting #2 guard. Rice said that he doesn't think they would want to start Martell Webster at the #2, and they probably don't want to go to Miles and Outlaw early (by early he means Sept. pickup games & Oct. exhibition games) at the #2, so Dixon will get a heck of a chance to start at the #2 guard position. We'll see a lot of competitiveness because Nate will make players earn their keep. Everyone knows nothing will be handed to them. Regarding DA, NVE, Damon, it was an easy decision letting them go because they would have expected the minutes. Now, no one "expects" the minutes; they'll have to compete for them. Practice during Sept. will be exciting to watch as they battle hard for their spots. Rice said it's important that Theo and Darius come early to blend in with the younger guys. Mike Barrett points out a notable point on the schedule. In January the Blazers have an 8 games home stand, which is only the 2nd time in Blazer history. The only other time was in the early 1970s.

     Steve Kerr is on now. Question: Do you like what Portland is doing from the hiring of Nate McMillan to the new players, and were you surprised? Ans: Yes, surprised because Nate was in Seattle for 19 years, but feels it was a great time for Nate to take this job - there is nowhere to go but up. "It's a community that absolutely loves it's team and the fans are desperate to fall in love with the team all over again." For Nate, the timing was right. Kerr said he always felt it's one of the best jobs in the league because of the great community support, only team in town, and Paul Allen will spend the money on the organization. Kerr said this is the beginning of the rebuilding project because Nate is a great coach. Steve said Charles Smith has the longest arms he's ever seen. He played pickup games with him in San Antonio. He has great anticipation. However, Smith got injured. But Kerr said he's glad Smith is back. Rice is discussing how trying to match another team's talent level can hurt a team's chemistry, like when the Blazers tried to bring in whoever to match up with the Lakers (and it ended up hurting the team). He's relating that to Houston now. They have Bob Sura, Charlie Ward, David Wesley, Moochie Norris, Tracy McGrady, and maybe Mike James & John Berry will be back - and they're talking about bringing in NVE or DA. or Finley or Allen Houston, to make sure they have more talent than San Antonio. "Is this a bad thing?" Rice asked. Kerr said well, it hurt the Blazers - we gave up Jermaine O'Neil for Dale Davis to guard Shaq, and brought in Shawn Kemp. This was not the right fit. Dangerous move. Dallas did something similar when they brought in Antwan Walker and Jamison and changed the makeup of the team and struggled. When making desperate moves to catch the top team, a team can actually lose ground below other teams they are competing against. You have to have a plan and add a piece here or there, but gradually. No quick fixes and expect it to work. Kerr feels the Blazers are on the right track and will win more games than last year, but not be able to take the next step of being a playoff team. The West is a strong conference. But he does reiterate that it's a good team. He went on to say how impressed he was with Travis Outlaw last year - very athletic. Also, Zach has great talent. Question: How much difference does a good coach make in the NBA? Ans: Huge! Nate has a very strong presence on the side lines. He has an established reputation and commands respect. He'll be worth a lot of victories for the Blazers. Kerr was asked about Bonzi making it in Sacto. Kerr said he's a talented guy but he's had his issues in Portland and in Memphis. He feels if a guy has more than one chance and it (problems) continue, then it probably won't go away. With Bonzi, you get a talented, strong #2 guard, who can be disruptive for a coach and for a team. Ha ha - they were discussing how a guy like that always finds a home in the NBA. Kerr said if you're talented enough, but that he (Kerr) was never talented enough, so he could have never gotten away with that behavior.

     John Nash is on vacation back in Florida, but has e-mailed Courtside that tomorrow they will decide for sure whether to finalize the deal for SAR. They are discussing the power struggle between Thorne and Nash, such as give me back the first round pick and then we'll finalize the trade

for SAR, and Nash will NOT do it. Of course, this ticks off SAR. He's a "good guy" who has never been in trouble in the NBA. This knee business is about a H.S. operation that never gave him any trouble. It's just a little scar tissue that is irrelevant. SAR is saying he doesn't want to be anywhere, where they don't want him. Let it go. He's healthy enough to play and will move on elsewhere, but he is NOT damaged goods. He doesn't like them flunking a physical just so NJ can work out a new deal with Nash. He doesn't want to be caught in the cross fire. They are saying good for SAR for standing up for himself. SAR put the pressure on the Nets and now the deal will be settled tomorrow.

     Monty Williams (new asst. coach) will be on shortly. He's only coached one year but it was at "the magic place", San Antonio, per Rice. San Antonio's first game of the season will be against Denver. They'll get their rings that night and will beat Denver. Then Denver will return home (0-1) and play the Blazers. That will be a tough game for us. But then the Blazers will be home for 5 games against the East. Monty is on now. Said it's a honor and pleasure for him to be a part of this team. What does he bring to this young team? Ans: He's learned a lot under Popovich. He played for him for 3 years, worked under him for 2 years as coach. He learned you don't want to mess it up and you don't skip steps. That was Pop's motto. You give due diligence when it comes to work. Grg's expertise was player development thru hard work. How does Monty fit in to this? He wants to get better with hard work, better at player development, better at X's & O's, and just improve on all facets of coaching. Rice asked him about when Monty was coaching the Spur's summer league team; did he have any idea at that time that he would be an Asst. Coach for the Blazers? Ans: No, he didn't, but there were some rumblings going around. He said he learned the best job is the job you have at the moment, so that is what he focused on. Rice is discussing how defense will be emphasized. X's & O's on offense will have to be figured out, i.e., will they run? Be a half court team? Will they get the ball into Zach? Distributing minutes will have to be figured out. This is a young coaching team, but they will work hard to figure it out.

     Barrett asked Rice how many games does Portland win next season? Rice said the Blazer's agenda is completely different than teams like the Rockets, who expect to win 50 games. The Heat is another team with high expectations, but has too many changes; setting it up for a fall; too many chemistry problems; too many burdens on the team and the coach. Too many players - "Why are they bringing in him? Why bringing in him?...etc." It's too much; now everybody expects too much. The Blazer's strong point is going to be chemistry. Like the Sonics last year. Seattle will probably hurt in that area this season, because Nate insisted on good chemistry and they lost him. Rice said he feels the Blazers will win from 30 to 40 games next year; average 35, and for a team with an average age of 23 in the West, he thinks that's an excellent season.

     Discussing Amnesty, Rice felt they used it on DA to add another player? Can we rebound without adding another player? Now with the Luxury tax in our favor, they could add another piece. If they do retain that first round draft pick from NJ, you can always use it in a trade: A couple of draft picks and another player can net you a good return. An e-mailer wonders how Nate will allot playing time? Will he go with his best 7-8 players or will he play 10-12? Rice thinks he'll play 10-12, they all have to get some minutes in. What about Zach? He's way ahead of his schedule on rehab. We'll have to wait and see how he feels. This is an exciting team and Rice doesn't feel like players like Miles will get the 40+ minutes. Last season only about 8 players played lots of minutes. But Nate's philosophy is you play hard, you play some minutes. What kind of minutes will Ruben get? What position? Nate said the #4, but will he be a better #4 that Khryappa? At that position, there are a lot of players and Ruben thinks he's better than the young guys. He thinks he'll help the Blazers will games. Rice is saying that is another reason why they got rid of DA, so there will be more available minutes.

     Pete Pranica is on now. Memphis had a great season last year, making the playoffs, but has since blown up, getting rid of Bonzi, Jason Williams, James Posey, likely Stromile Swift, Earl Watson. How has this gone over with the fans? Ans: Fans are NOT happy, but it's a business. Stromile made it clear he wanted to go elsewhere. "Bonzi could be sweet one night or ejected after 30 seconds into a game the next night. Some guys just don't understand what it is to be a professional." Either Bonzi was going to change or be gone. They want their guys to have class and be professional. What about Damon? Jerry was looking for professionalism, and veteran leadership. One of the 3 or 4 youngest teams in NBA last year and they're inexperience showed in the playoffs. Damon has grown as a person and solid basketball player. He'll be their lead PG. Bonzi was quoted as saying at his press conference with the Kings, "Fan just know what they have read or saw on TV and that's not really me. I know what type of person I am and all I can do is show you. I want to show the people of Sacramento the REAL Bonzi Wells, the person I am and the person I've grown to be." Pranica said it's like Larry Brown, "This is my last job." ha ha. Rice said, "You put Bonzi on the bench and he's not going to be a happy camper and he's not going to bring chemistry to your team if you don't play him." With the Kings, he'll be the starting #2 guard and get 35 mins. a game. But Bonzi is a one-on-one player and that doesn't fit into Rick Adelman's system, so that's going to be a question. His other problem is he would settle for 25', 3 point shots, miss them but keep hocking them up, then get mad when he got pulled from the game.

     Regarding SAR and him being upset for NJ labeling him as damaged goods, he took it personally and got very upset. Jason Kidd, Lawrence Frank, and Rod Throne all called SAR to say they were sorry and try to build on a relationship. But flunking him to try and get back a draft pick was very unfair to SAR. Also, it is getting late for SAR to try and secure another deal. This was a high school injury that has no affect on him and has never cost him one game. Thorne is trying to do "damage control" now. Wrapping it up: Rice is hoping that the veterans don't get injured. We've got enough veterans who know how to get themselves ready for the season. We've got a nice mix between veterans and young players. They'll be working hard all of Sept. to get a jump start on the season. There is talent on this team who can run the court. Well, that's it for Courtside tonight, folks.

-BBfan4life