Steve Blake

Blake with the Steal! Video

Steve Blake — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 22:16:05 +0000

Steve Blake steals the ball from Jason Williams as the first half winds down in the Terps victory over Duke during the last meeting of the two at legendary Cole Field House.

Steve Blake: 10 years after Maryland’s national title.

Steve Blake — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:35:18 +0000

(Baltimore Sun photo by David…)

March 13, 2012|By Don Markus | The Baltimore Sun

Steve Blake has carved together what is now a nine-year NBA career by feeding the ball to a list of All-Stars – from Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas in Washington, to Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony in Denver, to LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland and, for the past two seasons, to Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles.

Though the lights are much brighter now and Blake, as a steady and much sought-after point guard, has parlayed his skills into his current four-year, $16 million contract with the Lakers, it is not much different than the role he played during his four seasons at Maryland.

Back then, the stars were named Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox. Blake, the scrawny kid from Miami, turned his ability to pass – as well as defend and hit some clutch shots – into a record-setting career for the Terps.

His total for assists – 972 – will likely stand in College Park for awhile.

“I love to pass the ball and I got to play in an offense and with players where I could get a lot of assists,” said Blake, who ranks fifth all-time in Division I and was the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to 1,000 points, 400 assists and 200 steals in a career.

“Our team was about sharing the ball and doing things together,” he said.

Blake, who was a year behind Dixon and Baxter, made his share of big plays along the way that led to the Terps taking part in the ultimate team activity – cutting down the nets at the Georgia Dome after their 64-52 win over Indiana in the 2002 NCAA championship game.

Among Blake’s personal memories was a big 3-point shot he made to help beat Connecticut in the regional final in Syracuse, N.Y., as well as a steal he made against Duke guard Jason Williams at Cole Field House that had his college nemesis “looking back at Coach K.”

Asked if it seems like a decade has passed, Blake said, “In some ways it seems like it was yesterday, but it also seems like it was a long time ago.”

While Dixon, Baxter and Wilcox, then a sophomore, all moved on to the NBA after that season, Blake remained as the leader of a Maryland team that came within his own in-and-out 3-point shot of making the Elite Eight the following year, losing to Michigan State.

Dixon, who played seven years in the NBA and briefly in Europe, is out of basketballl. Baxter, who played briefly with the Chicago Bulls, has played in several foreign countries and is currently on a team in Russia.

The only two remaining NBA players left from that Maryland team are Blake and Wilcox, who despite being a lottery pick (eighth overall by the Los Angeles Clippers) after his sophomore year in 2002, has been something of an NBA journeyman. The Boston Celtics are Wilcox’s fifth team in 10 seasons.

Blake has moved around himself – the Lakers are his sixth team and he played with the Trail Blazers twice – and could be on the move again depending on what happens to All-Star forward Pau Gasol. Blake, who was a second-round pick of the Washington Wizards, and played there and in Portland with Dixon, said he learned a long time ago “that this is a business.”

Many have said — and stats back it up — that Blake has had the most productive NBA career of any of his former teammates as well as many of his opponents, including Williams, whose career was cut short when he was involved in a motorcycle accident. As is his personality, Blake won’t make any such pronouncement.

In fact, Blake said, “You shouldn’t judge someone’s success on how long they’ve played in the NBA. We’ve all had successful careers. Juan played seven years in the NBA. Chris has played 10. Drew Nicholas has had a long career in Europe. Lonny is still playing over there.”

Blake also looks at how productive some of his former teammates have been who didn’t parlay their success at Maryland into an NBA contract – pointing to the work Byron Mouton has done in the community with disadvantaged youth.

“You should also be judged on what you’ve done with your life, your family and your friends,” said Blake, who along with his wife Kristen, a Maryland graduate, has three sons -– 5-year-old Nicholas, 3-year-old Jamison and 1-year-old Zachary.

Blake tries to stay in touch with his teammates and coaches. He returned this year for Maryland Madness when the NBA was locked out, sent a video for a dinner to honor former coach Gary Williams on the naming of the Comcast Center court in his honor, and even texted former assistant Jimmy Patsos the night Loyola beat Iona at Reitz Arena back in January.

“For me personally, my four years at Maryland is all about the relationships with my teammates, the coaches, even the fans,” he said. “We weren’t just a good college team, we all had some success after that. When you look back at what we achieved, it’s awesome. It was a great time to be a Maryland player.”

don.markus@baltsun.com

Steve Blake passes his way into record book.

Steve Blake — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:33:38 +0000

Don Ryan/The Associated Press

Blazers guard Steve Blake tied an NBA record for most assists in a quarter with 14 in the first quarter, tying the 1984 record set by San Antonio’s John Lucas. Blake had six points and 17 assists for the game.

It’s not often Steve Blake strays from his steady, fundamentally driven game, so you had to know something rare was cooking Sunday afternoon when Blake shoveled a no-look, behind-the-head pass to Nicolas Batum in the first quarter.

Batum caught the ball at the three-point arc and swished his shot, giving Blake one of a NBA-record-tying 14 assists in the first quarter.

“That’s uncharacteristic for me,” Blake said. “I don’t like to throw passes when I’m not looking at guys. So I was surprised I did it after I did it.”

Two possessions later, LaMarcus Aldridge caught a lob pass from Blake and dunked. That’s when Blake said he happened to look at the scoreboard, which revealed he had 10 assists.

“I said to myself that the fast break is working, let’s keep running,” Blake said.

Blake and the Blazers did just that, running over, and then past, the hapless Los Angeles Clippers 116-87 in front of another Rose Garden sellout. The Blazers (35-20) have won eight in a row at home and are 3-0 after the All-Star break, allowing them to creep within 1 1/2 games of Denver for the Northwest Division lead.

Blake finished with 17 assists — one off his career high — and set several franchise and NBA records. His 14 assists set an NBA record for the first quarter, eclipsing the old record of 12 set by Magic Johnson in 1984 and John Lucas in 1978.

Blake also tied the NBA record for assists in any quarter, set by Lucas in the third quarter of a game in 1984. He also broke the franchise mark for assists in a quarter previously held by Terry Porter (10) and the franchise mark for assists in a half, previously held by Porter and Rod Strickland (13).

“That was amazing to watch,” Brandon Roy said. “That’s one of those records that will be tough to break. I’m happy that he has it.”

TIME	SCORING PLAY	SCORE (BLAZERS-CLIPPERS)
Steve Blake’s first-quarter assists
10:22	LaMarcus Aldridge, 17-foot jumper	4-4
9:37	Joel Przybilla, 4-footer	6-4
8:18	Nicolas Batum, dunk	8-4
7:26	LaMarcus Aldridge, 16-foot jumper	10-6
7:01	Brandon Roy, layup	12-8
6:16	LaMarcus Aldridge, jumper	14-8
5:52	LaMarcus Aldridge, dunk	16-8
5:22	Joel Przybilla, dunk	18-8
4:43	Nicolas Batum, three-pointer	21-10
3:46	LaMarcus Aldridge, two-point shot	25-12
1:16	LaMarcus Aldridge, dunk	31-14
1:00	LaMarcus Aldridge, driving dunk	33-14
0:40	Travis Outlaw, driving dunk	35-14
0:07	Rudy Fernandez, two-point shot	37-14

Blake assisted on nine of the Blazers’ first 10 baskets, including a string of eight in a row, and they came in a variety of ways. Three of his first-quarter assists were the benefit of teammates hitting jump shots, but the rest were plays where Blake blended his two biggest strengths — court vision and accuracy. He zipped a 30-foot lob pass in transition to Batum. He threaded a bounce pass through traffic that Joel Przybilla caught and dunked. And he did the dipsy-do pass for Batum’s three-pointer.

“I was seeing the floor really well,” Blake said. “Guys were running the floor hard, which makes it easy.”

It became so obvious that Blake was onto something special that public address announcer Mark Mason started emphasizing Blake’s name more than the player who scored the basket. Which might be why the official scorers credited Blake with two generous assists near the end of the quarter after Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez each took several dribbles before scoring after taking a pass from Blake.

In fact, when Blake was recognized on the big screen for tying the NBA record, Aldridge and Roy razzed him on the bench for the home-court generosity of those two assists.

It was that type of night — a laugher on and off the court — as the decimated Clippers (13-43) played without Zach Randolph (suspension), Marcus Camby (ear infection), Chris Kaman (foot injury) and Al Thornton (foot injury).

Led by Blake’s passing, the Blazers had a 38-16 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, leading by as many as 32 points. It was so out of hand that Blake, Przybilla and Roy all sat out the fourth quarter, preventing Roy from getting his second career triple double.

Roy finished with 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in 33 minutes, and said he didn’t lobby coach Nate McMillan for a chance to play in the fourth.

“Nah, we’ve got a big week ahead of us,” Roy said, referring to road games at Houston, San Antonio and Minnesota. “It’s good to get rest.”

The Blazers are starting to feel better about themselves, and a big reason is the return of Blake, who played in his third game after sitting out 13 games with a separated shoulder. He said the shoulder is sore after the games, but during play it doesn’t bother him. Since returning, Blake has amassed 30 assists and committed just four turnovers.

“He does a lot of things people don’t see,” Aldridge said. “He sets the tempo for us, does a great job of getting guys in position to score. … That’s what Coach likes about having Blake — he has a good feel for the game.”

Part of that feel is noticing which players are hot, and early on, it was Aldridge. The 6-foot-11 forward, who historically has played better after the All-Star break, hit 10 of his first 11 shots and finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes.

Notes: Blake’s 17 assists are tied for the eighth highest in Blazers history. Strickland holds the record with 20, set in 1994 and 1996. … Blake said part of the credit for his record night should go to his second son, Jamison, who attended his first Blazers game. Jamison was born on Feb. 11. … The Blazers are 23-5 in the Rose Garden, the best home start since the 1999-2000 team went 24-4. That team won 59 games.

– Jason Quick: 503-221-4372; jasonquick@news.oregonian.com