On the surging Blazers, Duck and Beaver football and ex-Winterhawks heading for Seattle

Jusuf Nurkic (center) will be central to the Trail Blazers’ playoff chances this season

Items of interest swirling around the dusty brain of a sportswriter …

• Were you one of us who predicted the Trail Blazers to start the season 4-0?

Just kidding. Who was to know that Portland would be leading the Western Conference — joining 2-0 Milwaukee as the two unbeaten teams — after the first week of play?

Monday’s 135-110 dismantling of Denver at Moda Center capped a remarkable week for Coach Chauncey Billups, whose team proved that the preseason matters little. Who remembers the 0-4 exhibition record against NBA teams, including beat-downs by Utah (118-101), Sacramento (126-94) and Golden State (131-98) in succession?

Once things started counting, Portland muscled up. Damian Lillard has averaged 33.3 points, shot 40 percent from 3-point range and gotten to the basket almost at will. Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant have both won games with last-possession baskets — Simons against Phoenix, Grant against the Lakers.

Simons put on a shooting display for the ages, knocking down six straight 3-pointers in a 22-point third-quarter barrage against the Nuggets. Easy to forget the kid is only 23.

Talking about youngsters, it’s hard not to be impressed with rookie swing man Shaedon Sharpe, 19, who never played a game at the collegiate level, his last action being on the AAU level in Canada. The 6-5 Sharpe has great instincts and a decent shot to go with off-the-charts athleticism. He may have been a great find by general manager Joe Cronin.

Ditto for Grant, whom Detroit basically gave away after averaging 19.2 points for the Pistons a year ago. The son of ex-Blazer Harvey can fill it up — 17 points on .476 shooting and 50 percent on 3-pointers — and creates with a variety of moves to the basket.

For now, Josh Hart is starting at small forward, and if the 6-4, 215-pound Hart is a little undersized, he makes up for it with savvy and effort. Hart is averaging 11.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting .531 from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range.

Jusuf Nurkic waged battled with his old sidekick, Nikola Jokic, Monday night. Jokic, a two-time MVP, got in early foul trouble and played only 27 minutes, totaling nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Nurkic made only 4 of 12 shots from the field but contributed 13 points, 12 boards and six assists.

Nurk is averaging 11.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. The Blazers don’t need his scoring — it would be nice if he’d finish a little better around the rim — as much as his work on the boards and at the defensive end.

Through three games, Portland was fifth in the league in defensive rating at 104.2. That’s extraordinary improvement from Blazer teams in recent years. But Portland was only 25th in offensive rating at 107.1.

Both of those ratings will likely slide more to the middle as the season goes on.

Four games is a small sample size, but the results so far have been both surprising and promising. I picked the Blazers to go 41-41. They may be about to make me look very bad.

• Adam Silver is like a lot of us: He doesn’t like NBA teams tanking.

“We put some teams on notice,” the commissioner said in a recent interview. “We’re going to be paying particular attention to the issue this year.”

One of the teams in his reference is the Blazers, who staged perhaps the most blatant tank job in recent memory last season, losing their last 11 and 21 of their last 23 games while chasing a lottery pick.

So what is Silver going to do about it?

He says the NBA has considered the concept of “relegation” as used by international soccer leagues, who promote teams with the best records to a higher league and demote teams with the worst records to a lower league.

What lower league? The G League? Are you kidding?

Silver states the obvious: “It would so disrupt our business model. And even if you took two teams up from the G League, they wouldn’t be equipped to compete in the NBA.”

I guess he means trading rosters. The Blazers could send Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and company to the other Portland, taking on Chris Clemons, Denzel Valentine and the roster of the Maine “Celtics.” If the Blazers could win the G League title, they could be back in the NBA in no time.

The truth is, it’s subjective as to whether or not a team is tanking. We know the Blazers wouldn’t have passed the eye test last year, but are future teams going to be penalized for following suit? Are violating teams going to be relegated to No. 30 in the first round of the draft?

Local radio talk show host Dwight Jaynes mentions potential use of “The Wheel,” designed years ago by former Celtics GM Mike Zarren. Teams would rotate through each draft slot over a 30-year period (32 after expansion). There would be no reason to tank. Regular-season records wouldn’t matter. Every team would get the first choice when its turn comes up. Every team would get the last.

That would mean, of course, that bad teams would not be assured of top picks, and thus could stay bad, well, forever. Even so, it’s worth consideration. Next time I talk to Adam, I’ll bring it up.

• There’s an awful lot to like about Oregon football as we head into the five weeks of the regular season.

The eighth-ranked Ducks (6-1) lead the Pac-12 and rank seventh nationally in scoring offense (42.4 points per game). They rank first in the Pac-12 and fifth nationally in rushing offense (244.6), first and fifth in total offense (517.1) and second and 19th in rushing defense (110.6).

What is amazing about those stats is it includes Oregon’s woeful performance in a 49-3 dismantling by Georgia in the season opener. What a hole the Ducks dug themselves out of. What a job they’re done climbing out of it.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix is the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week

Bo Nix has come off the carpet in Atlanta to put together a terrific season. The senior transfer quarterback from Auburn, named Monday as Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, ranks second in pass efficiency in the Pac-12, having completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 1,809 yards and 17 TDs with only three interceptions. What I didn’t realize was how well he can run. He is fast and has scrambled for many a first down. Looks like he is a great leader, too. What a pick-up that was.

Bucky Irving seems smaller than his program height and weight — 5-10 and 194 — but the sophomore from Chicago is fifth in the Pac-12 in rushing with 536 yards. He is slippery, hits a seam quickly and has some jets.

If there is an Achilles heel, it is with the Ducks’ secondary. Oregon’s pass defense ranks 11th in the Pac-12 at 273.4 yards per game. Part of that is that opponents are behind and have to throw in catch-up mode.

Oregon should breeze through their next two dates with California and Colorado, though both are on the road. The stretch run — Washington and Utah in Eugene, Oregon State in Corvallis — will be more difficult, but it will be no surprise if the Ducks run the table to finish 11-1.

There are currently six undefeated teams and 7-1 Alabama ahead of Oregon in the battle for the four College Football Playoff berths. Some of those teams will likely get beat before the end of the regular season. All the Ducks can do is stay the course, win games and hope the chips will fall in their direction.

This year, CFP semifinalists will play in the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. Championship game is Jan. 9 in SoFi Stadium at Inglewood, Calif.

If CFP dreams die, there is still the chance to play in the Pac-12 Championship Game and earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks have played in the Granddaddy of them all four times since 2010, winning three.

• Oregon State is bowl-eligible for the second straight year, but the goal now is to add onto the win total and get to the best bowl possible.

The Pac-12’s other affiliated games include the Alamo Bowl (vs. Big 12 No. 2), Las Vegas Bowl (vs. Big Ten No. 4), Holiday Bowl (vs. ACC), Sun Bowl (vs. ACC) and L.A. Bowl (vs. Mountain West). After the Rose Bowl, the Alamo (in San Antonio), Las Vegas and Holiday (in San Diego) bowls will be the most desired locations for Pac-12 teams.

The problem for Oregon State (6-2 overall, 3-2 in Pac-12 play) is there are four teams ahead of them — Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA and Utah. If the Beavers win their last four games, they’ll come in at 7-2 and likely pass one or two of the teams on that list.

That’s a tall order, though, with a schedule that includes road dates at Washington and Arizona State and home games with California and Oregon. Three wins would mean records of 9-3 and 6-3 for OSU and maybe a shot at the Holiday or Las Vegas bowls. A split would mean 8-4 and 5-4 and fifth or sixth place in the conference standings. That could mean a berth in the Sun (El Paso) or L.A. bowls, the latter the Beavers’ destination last season. I doubt the Beavers, or many of their fans, are hoping for either of those options.

It may be that the Holiday Bowl would prefer not to have local teams Southern Cal or UCLA, which would mean far less revenue for the area’s marketplace. That might create an opening for the Beavers.

Other possibilities include the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, the First Responder Bowl in Dallas or the Gasparilla Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., named after legendary Spanish pirate Jose Gaspar. But you knew that. I was thinking it might be Sarsaparilla fueled by bean juice.

• Oregon State’s Nov. 4 meeting with Washington (also 6-2 and 3-2) in Seattle will be huge for both teams in terms of bowl positioning. Both teams have a bye this weekend. The winner will have a leg up on having a chance to catch the Pac-12’s top four and certainly to distance itself from the pack. No team in the bottom half has more than one conference victory.

The game stands to be a showdown between Washington’s pass offense and Oregon State’s pass defense.

UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr., a 6-3, 215-pound junior transfer from Indiana, leads the nation in passing with 2,934 yards and 22 TDs with only four interceptions in eight games.

Oregon State leads the Pac-12 in pass defense efficiency by a wide margin over USC (113.4 to 121.2). Opponents have completed a Pac-12-low 55.4 percent of their passes. The Beavers are second in the league in total defense behind Utah (350.1 to 350.9).

Oregon State running back Damien Martinez was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (courtesy Oregon State sports communications)

• Like everyone, I’ve been impressed with the production of Damien Martinez, the true freshman wunderkind who appears poised to join Ken Simonton, Steven Jackson, Yvenson Bernard, Jacquizz Rodgers and Jermar Jefferson as Oregon State’s running back royalty of the 21st century.

The 6-foot, 215-pound native of Lewisville, Texas, is closer in size to Jefferson (5-10, 210) than the others. Simonton, Rodgers and Bernard were smaller; the 6-3, 235-pound Jackson was a freak of nature.

Martinez is probably closest in style to Jefferson, now on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad. Both offer a mixture of burst and power, with excellent field vision that allows them to cut back and avoid defenders.

Martinez was said to be the most impressive of OSU’s running backs during spring practice, but once the season began, he didn’t seem extraordinary. His first five games were 11 carries for 40 yards, 4 for 18, 8 for 50, 5 for 14 and 10 for 23. That’s 38 carries for 145 yards, a 3.8 average.

The last three games, though, he has amassed 372 yards, carrying 3 times for 83 yards, 16 times for 111 yards and, in last Saturday’s 42-9 rout of Colorado, 22 for 178 and three touchdowns. That’s 41 rushes for a 9.1-yard average. Suddenly, it would seem, a star is born.

• Though Martinez is sixth for rushing yardage and average per game, he is not listed among the leaders on the Pac-12 website. Requirements to be listed are participation in 75 percent of a team’s games and 10 carries per game. Martinez has 79 totes in 80 games — one rush shy of qualifying.

The requirements are somewhere between unnecessary and ridiculous. If a player carries 20 times a game for three games and rushes for 600 yards before suffering a season-ending injury, he should be listed as long as he remains among the top 10 in yardage.

Another example: Oregon State’s Luke Loecher is averaging 45.7 yards on 23 punts this season. That should rank him among the top 10 nationally and in the top three of the Pac-12, but he’s not listed because the requirement is an average of 3.6 punts per game. Loecher is averaging fewer than 3 punts.

Loecher has punted in every OSU game this season. Why should he be penalized because he plays on a team that doesn’t punt often? The requirement is antiquated at best. Coach Jonathan Smith prefers to go for it on fourth-and-short from almost anywhere on the field. And he has plenty of company.

Only four players in the Pac-12 have enough punts to qualify. Loecher should rank third behind Arizona’s Kyle Ostendoorp, who also doesn’t qualify (47.0 on 19 punts), and Cal’s Jamieson Sheahan (45.8 on 38 punts).

It’s an easy fix. Require the player to punt on at least 75 percent of his team’s punts, no matter what that number might be.

Maybe the Pac-12 is following along with NCAA guidelines.  That makes it right?

Pull your head out, people.

• I’ll second the recommendation of the Beavers’ radio analyst, Jim Wilson, in regards to the use of do-everything senior Jack Colletto.

“The Jackhammer” worked his way onto the field mostly through stellar special teams duty during his first three seasons. Now, though, he is a huge contributor on offense and defense while still playing on four special-teams units.

The thought of an injury to Jack is anathema to Beaver Nation, as it should be to the team’s coaches.

Let somebody else run down and cover kickoffs, Wilson offers. I agree.

• Philadelphia baseball fans are coming out of the woodwork.

The Phillies, who hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2011 and finished third in the NL East, 14 games behind Atlanta, are on their way to the World Series.

The Phillies are this year’s Braves of 2021.

Former Winterhawk star Oliver Bjorkstrand is now playing for the NHL Seattle Kraken

• I’ll be in Seattle on Nov. 8 to watch the Kraken face off with the Nashville Predators at Climate Pledge Arena.

It’s a chance to watch Seattle’s second-year NHL team for the first time, but also a glimpse at some former Winterhawks.

Oliver Bjorkstrand is with the Kraken. Cody Glass, Ryan Johansen and Nino Neiderreiter are with the Predators. All are forwards playing regular shifts. Neidderreiter, a team captain, scored four goals in Nashville’s first seven games.

There are six other former Hawks currently playing in the NHL: Seth Jarvis with Carolina; the Jones brothers, Seth and Caleb, with Chicago; Matt Dumba with Minnesota, Kieffer Bellows with the New York Islanders, Henri Jokiharju with Buffalo and Adin Hill with Las Vegas.

Another 13 ex-Hawks with NHL experience are still playing professional. To wit:

Sven Bartschi: 282 NHL games, 66 goals, now playing in Switzerland

Derrick Pouliot: 213 NHL games, 8 goals, playing with AHL San Jose

Brendan Leipsic: 187 NHL games, 16 goals, now playing in Russia

Joe Morrow: 162 NHL games, 9 goals, now playing in Russia

Nic Petan: 154 NHL games, 6 goals, playing with AHL Iowa

Dennis Cholowski: 115 NHL games, 10 goals, now playing with AHL Bridgeport

Ty Rattie: 99 NHL games, 13 goals, now playing in Sweden

Taylor Leier: 55 NHL games, 2 goals, now playing in Germany

Tyler Wotherspoon: 30 NHL games, 0 goals, now playing with AHL Utica

Dominic Turgeon: 9 NHL games, no goals, now playing in Finland

Joachim Blichfeld: 8 NHL games, 1 goal, now playing in Sweden

Chase de Leo: 7 NHL games, no goals, playing with AHL San Diego

Joel Hofer: 2 NHL games, 1-1 record as goalie, now playing with AHL Springfield

That’s great representation from the Winterhawks, who have been one of the best franchise in North American major junior hockey for many years.

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