Bombs Away: PSU's 12 threes helps Vikings take 58-35 lead into the break

In one of the more exciting games that this author has ever been privy to witness, the Vikings are playing perhaps as good as they possibly could and leading Boise State convincingly at halftime.

Just about everybody on the roster has hit at least one three pointer. Jeremiah Dominguez has three triples and Phil Nelson, Andre Murray and Kyle Coston each have two three pointers.

The Vikings got off to a scorching start, scoring on 12 of their first 17 possessions, including eight three pointers. Simply put, this is the team that Portland State fans have been waiting to see the entire season.

The Broncos have looked steady at times but unsure of themselves and without a strong offensive presence outside of junior guard Jamar Greene who has penetrated at will and hit shots from the perimeter with ease en route to 12 first half points.

As a team, the Vikings are 12 for 21 from three point land in the first half and shooting a scorching 65 percent from the field. More impressively, they have won the rebounding battle and have 16 team assists. The Vikings have also forced the Broncos into 13 turnovers leading to 23 points.

Quite the atmosphere here in the Stott Center if I may say so myself. Not only is the team playing superbly but the fans are cheering as if they know what they are doing... Its a good day to be involved in Portland State athletics. I can see Torre Chisholm beaming from here.

Oh yeah and one more topper: Greg Oden just walked in.

Jason Quick takes heat for honesty

As most of you know, Portland is a pretty small and tight sports media market. But recent comments on Blazers center Greg Oden by The Oregonian's Jason Quick, who covers the Blazers, have drawn the ire of Blazer fans and some local and national media.

Quick's comments, which can be heard here, have really upset some of the Rose City faithful and caused some strong reaction on national blogs like The Big Lead and Deadspin, as well as dominate the local, and obviously slow, sports media scene. Even Kornheiser and Wilbon brought the story up today on Pardon the Interruption.

I do not know Jason Quick, although his work is has been praised by everyone I know who consistently label him as "the best NBA beat writer in the nation".

What fans do not realize in situations like this, is that Jason Quick does not work for the Portland Trail Blazers. Although this market is small, and friendly it does not mean that there is only going to be one voice about every issue.

Sometimes it is tough to separate all of the media entities here. You have Mike Barrett being interviewed on Canzano's radio show, Dwight Jaynes doing post-game shows for Comcast, and Quick doing his thing every gameday on the 1080 the fan show.

Sometimes, especially when the Blazers are doing well on and off the court, the voices all sound unified and I think that confuses fans who might assume that all the media want the same thing the average Blazer fan does.

Jason Quick, just like Canzano, should not write or say what Blazer fans want to hear. He should be honest, ethical and fair.

In this incident, he might have chosen his words more carefully but what he said was honest and even the most die-hard Blazer fans know it.

Watch Oden on the court. He plays without passion and enthusiasm. When he does get an opportunity to dunk the ball, which is about the only good thing he is doing on offense right now, he takes his frustration out on the rim.

I do not know what the future holds for Oden.

But my suspicion is, at some point he will receive much harsher criticism than Quick's recent comments. If the Blazers continue to improve Oden will be spotlighted by national media either for the good or for the bad.

If he fizzles out with an injury or other problems the criticism will only get worse. Do you think Sam Bowie goes anywhere without people reminding him about his shortcomings?

I applaud Quick for giving an honest answer about a difficult subject. Furthermore Blazer fans should be grateful to have someone covering the team that does a good job reporting because if there was ever a need for someone to keep the organization accountable, it would be Jason Quick who would do it first.