Game One Recap

by Dave on Jul 6, 2007 9:12 PM PDT in News

The starting lineup tonight was Greg Oden, Lamarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster, Sergio Rodriguez, and Stefano Mancinelli.

Everybody wants to know about Oden so we'll cover him first. You're going to look at the stat line and be disappointed. Don't be. Despite the difficulties he still showed enough to make me pretty sure we're all going to come to love his game.

First of all I was watching the game from behind the stanchion and I will tell you he already has the rudiments of blocking out far better than many of the players who have come through here in the last decade. He's a big, physical specimen and he knows where to put his body. I don't think he's used to this level of physical contact yet and that's why you don't see the dominance but that will come. He moves his feet quickly and well. He's able to hold his position fairly well in the post. He is able to get up and down the court incredibly well for a guy his size. He's still a little raw but it is going to get better and when it does...when he harnesses the stuff he's got...watch out.

Here's a couple more things: First, Oden already passes 600% better than Zach did. Wow. He sees the floor and cutters well. It usually takes NBA centers years to learn that and once they do their offensive game opens up exponentially. G.O. seems ahead of schedule there. Ignore the passing turnovers. They will...well...pass. Concentrate on the fact that he already knows how to make those plays. Second, when Oden gets a putback dunk it reminds you a little of Shaq. He has such power. I guarantee you that sometime during summer league he's going to get a flying dunk that blows you, and this entire arena, out of the water.

Oden's big problem in this game was he was trying to block shots by extending his arms outward instead of straight up. That's a foul every time and he tried to block a lot of shots. Every young center does this when he first gets in the league. Don't let it worry you.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the real star of the game. La...mar...cus. WHOOOO! He looks bigger than last year. He's just as fast and he's beating people up and down the floor. His leaping is still there. His defensive rotations are smart. What's more, he's really acting like a captain on the floor, directing traffic and encouraging people.

Lamarcus' shot is falling from both mid-range and the post. He's getting exactly the kind of shots he'll get with the Big Boy team and he's making them. Just as I'm typing this he's out on the floor throwing down dunk after dunk on the break. This is not summer-league cheap scoring. This will translate into the show. He's arriving.

Here's the best news folks...Lamarcus and Oden are clicking together out there. They're running plays for each other, passing to each other, running the floor hard together, and helping each other on defense. When the two of them were out there together we really made hay. It looks almost like they're giving each other confidence. If this is any indication they are going to make one heck of a team together. And I mean special.

Outside of those two our big men didn't look that special. Joel Freeland is bigger than he was last year and he looks just about as fast. He has nice leaping ability and make an INSANE block of a dunk attempt that was every bit as good as anything we've seen from Theo Ratliff or Joel Przybilla. Unfortunately the rest of his game isn't nearly as consistent, None of the other big guys really registered but it's only Game One.

As far as the backcourt and smaller players it wasn't that special of a night. As usual Sergio had a few nice passes but overall struggled to keep the offense going. He inspires excitement on the break but not that much confidence. He did hit a couple of nice shots though. Taurean Green played really hard-nosed ball out there. He's only 6 feet tall though and he looks short. He has trouble when he penetrates even at this level of competition. Koponen looks like he could be a nice player. At least he has some fundamentals. He didn't get to show much though. Stefan Mancinelli is a legit 6'8" but he didn't get to show much either. Josh McRoberts, whose name always makes me wonder if you want fries with that, didn't get enough time to make a comment.

That brings us to Martell. He had a couple of nice plays...mostly shooting, though he had some nice rebounds too. But he's still drifting through most of the offense. I don't know if that's him not being assertive or his role in the offense being weak-side shooter and not much else. Whatever it is the cumulative effect is him once again disappearing on the court. When he DOES get uncorked he makes some exciting plays. He almost crammed a flat-footed dunk that would have brought the crowd to its feet. But most of the time even when he's getting the ball he's giving it right back up.

Team-wise we got outrun and we got baked on the perimeter on defense. We committed too many turnovers. We were fractured. But it's summer league. That will happen.

Ignore the scoreboard. It doesn't matter. What we found out tonight was that we have a ton of reason to look forward to the future but we still have a steep learning curve. We also have some shortcomings tailing over from last season. (That's to be expected...it was only a couple months ago.) If we expect the non-Lamarcus-and-Oden crew to be basically subs that's probably not a huge issue. If we're looking at Sergio, Martell, or any of the new guys to step up and contribute in prime time...well, they may not quite be ready yet. But then again, this is still way early in the summer process.

Side note: Sebastian Telfair was here but not suited up for Boston.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

P.S. Three things to add that I thought of or heard of when I was on my way home from the arena:

1. Because I am so exhausted after the long trip I took a large part of the fourth quarter typing the recap instead of watching (so I wouldn't have to be up late doing it). I was reminded after the game that Martell has a very nice fourth quarter so you should take that into account.

2. Petteri Koponen did not miss a single shot that anybody saw in warm-ups.

3. If you're upset about the loss, remember this: If we were a normal summer league team with all of our rookies and second year players present the starting lineup tonight would have included Jarrett Jack and Brandon Roy. Then we wouldn't have lost.

4. Ken from Vegas adds this: It looked like Oden took it very personally when people scored on him on defense. Good to see.

--Dave

Tweet Comment 34 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Summer League 1st game recaps

Thanks for the recaps. I watched the web cast, but it was very sporadic, video & audio. I did see G.O. hanging on the rim, after a dunk (frame froze right there for about 10 sec :)
G.O. seems to have a tendency to want to tear down a rim :)

From the 3 Capes of the Coast

by BlueBooYay on Jul 6, 2007 9:31 PM PDT reply actions

Thanks for the recaps also

I didn't get to see the games as video me and this computer don't see to get along well (minus youtube). So the interesting parts were Webster/Rodriguez. The blazers have to be looking for both to make incremental progress somehow. Whatever that increment would be judged would be well beyond me capability at this point. Aldridge/Oden I think are the obvious fun parts about this. But you expect those guys to be stars. Webster/Rodriguez are more important because they bring different single aspects both critical to the short term development of the team.

Who needs Greg Oden? We got Pete Carril....

by pookeyguru on Jul 6, 2007 9:42 PM PDT reply actions

Thanks Dave.

As sloppy and ragged as we looked at times, it makes me wonder if having Roy out there as a stabilizing force would make it easier for everybody to function more under control and get more out of the experience. I'm sure the staff has their reasons but I kept noticing how everybody outside LaMarcus & Taurean looked a little lost and we know Roy can settle and direct traffic.

Way too fun to be able to watch (sort of - feed was way frustrating), listen, and and get first hand analysis.

In Kevin Pritchard we trust.

by TP43 on Jul 6, 2007 9:52 PM PDT reply actions

Very Superficial things i took away from the game

Oden looked a little out of it, but he still affected the game. The attention he got whenever he touched the ball on offense was tremendous, it should really open up opportunities for other players.

Sergio was disappointing. I think we've all mentioned this before, but the only way he's truly effective (and even then, i'm not sure how effective he is in extended minutes) is when he dribbles the ball for a good portion of the shot clock. With players like Oden and Aldridge, we can't afford to have our PG over dribble. The only PG who can obviosly get away with this is Steve Nash, because he isn't human. I think people should honestly sit back and realize that Jack is the best option at PG out of all the prospects we have. He just has to limit his turnovers, make solid decisions, and make good entry post passes. We still aren't really built to run. I think Sergio is a very nice "change of pace" backup PG, and that's really what his role should be in the forseeable future.

Martell wasn't all that disappointing. He hit some 3's, that's really all you can expect from him. He obviously doesn't know how to play D, so as of right now it seems like he'll be a career backup. It's unfortnate that we had to spend a #3 draft pick (i know we traded down) on a career backup, even Green would have been a better choice. He's just as good of a 3 pt shooter, and has the ability to knife into the lane, and jump out of the building. The putback dunk he had was ridiculous.

No one else really played, I liked Green, if he had a consistent jumper, he could be valuable. As is, i'm not so sure if he's worth a roster spot.

Oden and LMA should be phenomenal on defense. My god, LMA was just a beast today. The shots he got today seemed like shots he'd get in a real NBA game, if he can hit that jumper with consistency and throw in all the fadeaways and putback points, he should be an absolute stud.

by ssa400 on Jul 6, 2007 10:04 PM PDT reply actions

It's still too early to tell much

from this game...but a few observations (that were also made by others)suggest that:

Roy is difference between us looking like a high school team and NBA team.
Aldridge is ready to break out...he beats everyone down the floor, has the low and high post game going. I still can't believe we got both he and Roy last year.
Oden is going to need some time before he learns how to play defense without picking up fouls. His offensive game will also take some time, but it will come. He's a fast learner so it shouldn't take long. Can't wait to see him play once he gets in NBA shape.
We really should be looking for a veteran point guard...Sergio and Green may be able to give some limited minutes, but are probably not ready for major minutes off the bench yet. Roy can back up Jack, but I don't think that is the long-term answer.

by JasonT on Jul 6, 2007 10:05 PM PDT reply actions

Koponen

Given your team's unsettled state of affairs at PG, d'ya think the Blazers might give the Finn some more burn tomorrow?

Of all the unknowns on Portland's summer league roster, he's the one I'm most curious about. Reportedly, Jerry West made a special trip out to Finland for the sole purpose of scouting this kid. Too bad he only got 3 minutes tonight.

by knickfan on Jul 6, 2007 10:21 PM PDT reply actions

i'm sure he'll get more PT

in future games.

i tried to watch him as much as possible for the 3 minutes (or whatever) he was in, and for what it's worth he seemed to have a pretty good feel for man defense.

by game sink on Jul 6, 2007 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions

I think Green played really well...

I think I heard that the blazers wanted to give Sergio, LaMarcus, Oden and Martell each 30 minutes for the first three games... Oden got 20, but the rest got 30, and Green also got 30, but he was the only one that wasn't one of those 4. He was also the first point guard off the bench. Not sure if that means anything. But it would definitely be good to see more Koponen.

by ranma on Jul 6, 2007 11:15 PM PDT up reply actions

We need perimeter defenders!

I want to see him play SG for 30 minutes minutes. Anybody know whether his defense is solid?

by ojala on Jul 7, 2007 5:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Perimeter d

Koponen, that is.

by ojala on Jul 7, 2007 5:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Oden

Some Oden observations:

He gets his body WIDE for the entry pass. This guy isn't going to have any problem getting himself open in the post.
Greg does not project a confident on court demeanor. Hopefully this will come in time.
Nice court awareness on offense. Not hard to visualize LMA and Oden being a devastating combination. Look for Oden to pick up an assist or two per game just on LMA cuts.
Greg needs to work on his body language. Completely engaging in interviews but looks disinterested on the court. He'll get lectured about this by his agent and PR people.
Like a lot of young bigs, feels he needs to block everything. Could learn from Olajuwan - you never knew when he was coming.
Very fluid running the court.

It's really cool to be able to watch the summer league games online!

by Engineering Problem on Jul 6, 2007 10:22 PM PDT reply actions

Another Oden observation

His passes from double teams all tended to be to LaMarcus on the dive to the hoop. The times he threw the ball away were when he was either in a different spot than usual or when the double team came from somewhere else. He's a willing passer and a pretty good one but he needs to learn to recognize where the double is coming from.

by jksnake99 on Jul 6, 2007 11:32 PM PDT reply actions

Yeah, but

If you're not yet comfortable with the offense and you don't know where guys are going to be, looking for the Smooth one is not a bad default setting. :)

I got my front court aLaMOde!!

by shenanigans on Jul 6, 2007 11:43 PM PDT up reply actions

My thoughts

I missed most of the first half, but here are my thoughts on the second.

LaMarcus will be one of the, if not THE, top scorers on the team. His outside shot is automatic from everywhere, his inside scoring is as deft as a Vegas dealer, and his foul shooting is very consistent.
Oden showed some good tendencies that will develop over time. One of them is his aggressiveness on defense. He will learn how to not get called for some of those fouls eventually, but look at him and Pryz to share minutes for a while as they both compete for the quickest to 6 fouls.
Green has quick hands on D and pushes the ball well. His ball handling is adequate, but his shooting is very poor. I'd be surprised to see him make the squad.
McRoberts seemed active on D and moved intelligently on O.
Webster needs to channel his energy throughout the game and not just for the last 3 minutes when the game is already decided. But it's certainly too early to give up on him. He's much more athletic than anyone gives him credit for and a much better rebounder than I thought. When he's on the floor you can afford to have LaMarcus covering a shooting 4 on the perimeter because Webster will defensive rebound.
No outside shooting on the floor except Webster did hurt the team. That will hopefully change with Roy and Jack on the floor.

by jamon51 on Jul 6, 2007 11:48 PM PDT reply actions

Quick Notes

*Keep in mind when you read the summer league statistics that they are far from accurate. The statistics crew here is, at best, amateur. Sergio Rodriguez had at least six assists, but was credited for three. Joel Freeland had a monster block on a Powe dunk attempt that brought people out of their seats, yet he is listed with zero blocked shots. Stefano Mancinelli was credited for going 1-for-1, yet he never took a shot. And Wayne Thompson, who used to cover the Blazers for The Oregonian and now does work for the Blazers, kept his own rebounding statistics and had Aldridge for 14 rebounds, not the 11 that were on the "official" stat sheet. Aldridge was also listed for three blocks, but Blazers broadcaster Mike Barrett and I could count at least four.

ROTUNDITYDOTNET

by damir on Jul 7, 2007 12:59 AM PDT reply actions

Agree with Quick's take

Aldridge had 4 blocks midway through the 2nd quarter.

Welcome Greg Oden

by junit3123 @ Blazer's Edge on Jul 7, 2007 1:11 AM PDT up reply actions

My Recap

I was there tonight and met the great Dave, here are my thoughts on the game

Aldridge is a star in the making, but we all knew that. The dude is so smooth, and he looks much buffer, especially in the shoulders and legs.
Martell Webster sucked for 3 quarters. He missed open j's. Gerald Green did whatever he wanted against him. It was awful. In the 4th quarter, he really lit it up. It looked like he was gonna go Reggie Miller towards the end, but he finally missed a shot.
Petteri Koponen (I hope I spelled that right) was crazy in warmups. He had some good handles and was making it rain out there.
Taurean Green My favorite player of the night. Yes he's crazy small. But he was all over the place. He played excellent defense, Rajon Rando fell about 3 times while being pressured down the court. He got orebs, drebs, steals. Excellent stuff. His only problem, he can't shoot. He bricked shots out there badly. I hope he develops a decent one so he sticks in the L.
Our offense was ugly. We would go stretches bricking jumpshot after jumpshot.
Sergio is exciting.. but a little wild and careless it seems.
Josh McRoberts A few good rebounds, and a alley oop pass from the 3 pt line to LMA.
Oden looked a little passive, a little nervous perhaps, but he can freakin jump. He had 2 sweet blocks. He will be a man in this league for sure.
Dave is the best looking blogger of all time.

Welcome Greg Oden

by junit3123 @ Blazer's Edge on Jul 7, 2007 1:19 AM PDT reply actions

LOL

I owe you a beer Friday night.

--Dave

by Dave on Jul 7, 2007 8:25 AM PDT up reply actions

That'd be awesome

Because I'm only 19 (turn 20 on wednesday) so since I can't buy myself one I'll gladly accept your offering lol.

Welcome Greg Oden

by junit3123 @ Blazer's Edge on Jul 7, 2007 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Hosers

awwww Junit, only if they had summer league in Canada eh? It would be bottles of Kokanee (one of my favorite brews) all around.

by WarEaglePDX on Jul 7, 2007 7:14 PM PDT up reply actions

Amendment:

I owe you a ROOT beer Friday evening.

--Dave

by Dave on Jul 8, 2007 1:08 AM PDT up reply actions

Observations

Long time reader, first time blogger....
NESN (New England Sports Network) carried the game live. I had looked forward to it with great anticipation, but found myself disappointed by what I saw. The game had the look and feel of a junior high basketball game--9th graders (Celtics) vs. the 8th graders (Blazers) with a high school player (LaMarcus) thrown in to even out the sides. Not much team basketball, but I guess that's to be expected with Summer League. At one point, the Celtics announcer said that the Celts had scored 30 some odd points without a single assist....Even the court looked smaller--perhaps it was all those additional lines....And then there was that Oden goaltend of a Celtic jump shot.

The Celtic announcers were very complimentary of the Blazer potential, and especially Roy, but their continued hype of their own obscure draftees was more than I could take; I turned off the sound midway through the third quarter.

I'm looking forward to better things to come.

.... The Celtics have had the Blazers' number over the last couple of years. Since I moved from Portland two years ago, I've seen both Blazer games in Boston. Despite dropping $300 for me and my family and driving two hours, we walked out of both games midway through the fourth quarter. The games were among the worst blowouts of either season. In the game two years ago Raef dropped 25. The Blazers even lost their home game to the Celts last year. I guess this is just a continuation.

by vermontjim on Jul 7, 2007 6:58 AM PDT reply actions

i watched on NESN too

who were those announcers, anyway? NBATV guys? i was hoping for mike an tommy, but alas.

by game sink on Jul 7, 2007 8:21 PM PDT up reply actions

Re: Celtic announcers

I don't know, but they did give an interesting perspective. It's not so much that they were down on the Blazers, in fact they were quite complementary at times. But they were such homers for their team that you were left feeling that with the players they have (such as Gerald Green) that any thoughts of missing out on Oden/Durant are way past....But I guess our perimeter defense allowed guys like Green to look like Durant.

by vermontjim on Jul 8, 2007 7:30 AM PDT up reply actions

I know,

it's crazy talk, but with the big three I think that the points will come.

So what I want most from the other two starters is minimal offensive breakdowns and solid perimeter defense. Ime and Jack are fine with me for now. I think that JJ, Roy, LMA and Oden would each be called a project on a top level squad.

So in the coming week I want to see those who might become important play a lot. If we have to replace Ime's 30 minutes with another SF defender, let's look for him. If we aren't sure that the project that is JJ will bear fruit, let's explore our options.

Since it is (for me) all about perimeter defense and depth in summer league, let me start with the blasphemous; bench LMA. Play McRob and Free almost exclusively at the 4 this week.
Then bench Stefano. Nice guy, but irrelevant, Martel goes 40 minutes and run those three PGS out at the two guard spots 30 minutes each and tell them they must play the best defense of their lives in the next seven days.

Or maybe play LMA 40 minutes and dominate, but never test drive Kopenen, Free and McRob, I don't know.

by ojala on Jul 8, 2007 8:00 AM PDT up reply actions

Oden will look better

I've seen enough of Oden's play to know last night was an aberration. It wasn't the skill level that was the problem, it was the speed/effort level. He was so obviously tired. Let's hope he starts feeling better quickly, I want to see him dominate at least one summer league game. I think he will.

Sergio was the major disappointment for me. Some of those passes were truly awful. And the defense, c'mon Serg at least give an effort.

Webster though silent most of the game showed some flashes near the end, let's see if he builds on that. The guy has the tools, I'm just not sure if he possesses the mind.

LMA is awesome. Just an all-around excellent player - I'm so glad we picked him over TT. Can't wait to see him in real NBA action this season.

T. Green could make this team if he keeps up the effort and eventually becomes a halfway decent shooter. His effort was fantastic.

McRoberts needs more playing time.

I agree with you all that throw B Roy out there last night and the game has a completely different outcome. It's looking to me like B Roy and LMA are going to take this team wherever it goes.

Still, despite the loss I had a great time watching the stream.

by leeroyjenkins on Jul 7, 2007 8:08 AM PDT reply actions

absolutely giddy

I'm still just tickled pink with our team. I got goosebumps again reading about Oden and his current skills combined with his potential....WOW.

Dave, Do the "late" games start at 10pm eastern time? Or is it 10pm Vegas time? It looks like i'll only be able to make the last two games since there isn't one on Friday, but i'll try to be there for the dinner! my current plans have me leaving San Diego around 10 am or so(which means vegas around 3-5) Last thing: How is the arena seating? Are they selling out, or would it be safe to just get tickets when i get there?

written by the Blazer Thoughts artist formely known as "Scott R"

by saregister on Jul 7, 2007 8:34 AM PDT reply actions

10 p.m. Eastern

7 Vegas time.

The arena was full-ish but not sold out. I think you'd be safe getting tickets when you get here. You may want to buy both at once though.

--Dave

by Dave on Jul 7, 2007 9:41 AM PDT up reply actions

Observations

General observations:
--A bit disappointed to see the Celtics get more offensive rebounds than Portland. Felt that we should have had a much bigger rebounding advantage.

--Celtics were more athletic than the Blazers and used that to their advantage.

Aldridge was the man last night. He reminded me of Rasheed Wallace with his high release. Loved to see his confidence on the court.

Oden-Boston's gameplan was to take it at Oden aggressively in the post, and Powe/Davis did so very well. The one play that summed up Oden's performance last night was at the free throw line, when Powe grabbed an offensive reb OVER Oden and then easily put it back in the basket OVER Oden. Once Oden learns how to properly position himself better with his feet defensively, he will be a beast. As a very young bball player who has dominated his competition based on his incredible athletic ability, he will have a lot to learn about technique (pryz will no doubt help in this area).

Green-Tough and intense defense. Would like to see him shoot a bit better. If he doesn't find a roster spot with the Blazers, he'll catch on somewhere else.

Webster-Nice rebounding effort...otherwise, a fairly uninspiring performance. He needs to show improvement over last year and I didn't really see that last night.

by VegasNed on Jul 7, 2007 9:47 AM PDT reply actions

to be honest

I didn't think Oden looked that bad at all. The guards weren't helping him out much. He tried to kick it back out to them, and they consistently missed every shot. So when he tried to shoot, he tended to force it. Considering that he's ill right now, I project great things with him and Aldridge in the furutre.

Additionally, considering this was the first game, I don't want to make too many judgements generally. I do have some thoughts on Webster, though. Webster seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, but it appears that he's either trying too hard and forcing it... or that he's trying to let the game come to him too much and not exerting his will. This guy should start every game by going hard to the rim, when people have to guard him as something other than a 3-point specialist his game will open way up. And as for defense... I have no idea, let's hope that last night's showing had something to do with guarding super quick guys like Rondo and Gerald Green. It will take a while for him to figure it out, but remember how young he is also... he looks to be in great shape, I hope to see that translated into quickness particularly on defense.

by wilbjammin on Jul 7, 2007 10:18 AM PDT reply actions

Great comments by everyone...

You people leave me with little to add. Martell was Martell for three quarters and Reggie Miller for one. If he ever gets consistently aggressive...

I liked the fact that Oden is at once dominating and yet unselfish to a fault. Oden and Aldridge appear to truly enjoy playing together. I had a couple of Boston guys sitting behind me and they were ooohing and awwwing over the pair's defensive blocks.

The one thing that no one has commented on, probably because you had to be there, was the buzz. There was palpable excitement when Oden was announced. For the first time in a long time I had chill-bumps. This is going to be a fun ride.

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I didn't realize just how dominant Aldridge was last night. It seemed to me a quietly dominating game. To my mind, this is a good thing. I consider Duncan to be a quietly dominating player, you know?

The other thing I haven't seen mentioned, the juicy tidbit, as it were, was that Danny Ainge was sitting courtside with Doc Rivers and... Sebastion Telfair.

It was also great to see Brandon Roy on the Blazer's bench and in the Blazer's huddles.

by ken @ Blazer's Edge on Jul 7, 2007 11:42 AM PDT reply actions

Crap, forgot to mention...

it was great to meet Junit and his girlfriend, and to see Dave (and his friend/photographer, Dave) again. We're all wearing Blazersedge shirts, come up and say Hi. And be there Friday night at Chapalas.

by ken @ Blazer's Edge on Jul 7, 2007 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions

I'll chime in with...

I thought the team looked as if they were trying very very hard to run their offensive plays while not knowing them very well rather than just playing basketball and doing the fundamentals like pick and rolls and back door cuts. Nate mentioned that there were plenty of times the wings missed opportunities to dump it down low because the wings were looking to do something else, and I think that was a symptom of being narrowly focused on running plays. Watch for them to flow better offensively and show their individual talents better as they loosen up.

Oden looked like he has very quick feet and a firm grasp of rebounding position. He also looks like he "gets" passing when double teamed and now it's a matter of learning how to better execute it.

T. Green looked more effective than Sergio, but that's not saying all that much.

Webster looks like he still doesn't have confidence in his ball handling skills, which I think is the primary reason he disappears and gets rid of it so quick. Reminds me of Outlaw before the 2nd half of last year.

The perimeter players looked very slow on their feet defensively which resulted in lots of fouls by the bigs.

Look for LMA and Oden to beat their guys down the court repeatedly during the regular season for easy baskets.

For the most part it was the same old "Brick City".

I look forward to tomorrow's game and am thankful people figured out how to get around the nba.com blackout and shared that information with the rest of us for the webcast.

by jon @ Blazer's Edge on Jul 7, 2007 1:35 PM PDT reply actions