He has been surprisingly consistent on defense. That would be a slower paced, good defensive line up. It may not be as exciting as option 1 but I like it.

I like the idea of Batum starting. I like the fit better than any of the other combinations. I like Travis being the man off the bench. We’re going up against a tough schedule early, I don’t think the difference between Outlaw/Rudy vs. Batum in the starting lineup costs us any of those games. And I think putting Batum out there will really help his game in the long run or hopefully, by the end of this year.

and one was from a Blazer fan. We had almost 700.

Jerryd thought the airball slipped out of his hands. (Or wanted to pretend it did.) After his incredulous look, he “dried” his hand on his shorts. Who knows.

about Bayles’ shoes!

to go to. Sergio had several steals and played decent defense on one of the best points in the league.

If Blake goes down with a long term injury – say the way Martell did – our PG situation will look thin and bleak if sergio gets traded.

Made it boring. Bayless got no respect at all. The Blaze video was funny with the Jazz monster.

that he wants to start and be a star in this league. If Nic is really outplaying him, rocky shoals ahead…

I was at the game today. Considering that todays starting five was totally different than last year, and its preseason blazers did fine. When Batum went down I was about to rip the seat out, but I looked around and there was allot of intelligent fans so I cooled down. Oden is not there yet and it might take 2-3 months before he gets in shape and starts to act faster when he gets the ball. He looks like he travels allot. I like Batum he is good defender. Sergio is getting better too, and no he is not getting traded soon cuz Bayless is still a rookie. I hope our starters can play next game to get a feel for each other before the regular season starts.

We got there early enough to watch Roy shooting free throw after free throw (I didn’t say making them) while Aldridge was shooting jumpers from just inside the three-point line. Then Brandon talked for a long time with someone on the edge of the court in jeans & white shirt who looked (from my distant view) sort of familiar but I couldn’t name. All the Utah players who were still out shooting would slap at his hand as they left for the locker room. Can anyone tell me who it was?

Roy returned to the bench in warmups but Aldridge switched to coat & jeans and sat on the end of the bench next to Oden the entire game. Rudy was in back behind the bench looking pretty spiffy and he stayed for the entire game (Roy did not.) Blake & Frye were together down by the coaches for the whole game and were often the first on the court to greet the players coming off the floor. There were too many players for the bench to hold so someone was often on the floor. I saw Bayless and Randolph both down there (to the floor, rookie!) and saw Travis in front of the bench and he waited until Hill moved to the floor and made a couple of other guys move down so he could sit next to Oden. I’ve never seen a player make others move so he could sit in a certain place.

I was glad to see Travis make a couple of good shots and Greg make a couple of good blocks, but the one that caught my attention was Nic – I really like that kid. I simply can’t see Bayless as a point guard which makes an incredible logjam at the 2 – but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and be patient. Sergio was OK which is a whole lot better than awful. Once after returning to the bench Rudy cuffed the side of his head. The Joel-Sergio hug after a made shot was funny.

I just read knickfan’s post above (welcome back!) and it seems to me that Greg is just out there moving around and not really playing. Almost like he’s expecting his size to be enough. Sometimes it is and that’s funny when I player comes up against him and realizes there is absolutely no place to go. But I’m wondering if he needs some more schooling in fundamentals. You know how it is, sometimes a really talented kid goes far on natural ability, but once they reach the NBA they are lost because suddenly their size or quickness or whatever no longer packs the punch it does at lower levels.

At what point do we make the move to cut Diogu and keep both Randolph and Hill? If Ike is really as bad as he’s been playing I think if I’m KP I go for it.

mmm, there seems to be some critical thinking going on here, I’ll just say thanks to ben for the rundown of the game, and good night to the rest of you, sleep tight.

It’s more about development.

For Rudy and “Rock” Batum, they’re both rookies from Europe; in addition,
Batum’s awfully young, and Rudy’s summer has been busier than any Blazer’s.
They deserve to be developed, and not thrown too early into a starting role,
even if their play and prospect warrants the reward aspect of starting.
(Starting pre-season games is fine; that’s a development role. I’m talking just about regular-season starts.)
I care more about where they get to as Blazers than how soon they get there;
in fact, I care that “there” is not the place for them in November of 2008.
The path toward there is.

Trout, on the other hand . . .

He’s been developed and extended and given major minutes and a plum offensive-focal-point role.
It’s very much sink/swim time for Travis, and giving him further “development” at this point
would be more spoiling him than starting him would.
As long as Martell is out (and remember, he WILL be back, so this is a temporary opportunity),
we need to put Trout in there as a starter, with major minutes and major responsibilities.
If he flounders like he did the first two pre-season games, the bench isn’t the demotion for him;
another team’s uniform is.

No more wait-and-see for Travis Outlaw.
In Martell’s absence, give him the starter’s burden with no option but to bear it.
In the words of a wise man something:
“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’.”

was really great tonight, easily the best i’ve seen from him. Nate agreed, saying on 95.5 after the game that he was impressed with Sergio’s D and pointed he basically shut down Williams for 20 minutes, and D. Williams is one of the best guards in the league. Antonio Harvey also offered that Sergio has really stepped up to the challenge this pre-season and this story is getting overlooked due to the other excitement of Batum, Rudy, and Oden. I agree that these four pre-season game should and improved Sergio who seems to posses a new confidence and attitude to go along with the improvements in his game.

A couple notes for those who weren’t able to see the game: Yes, Sergio really had FIVE steals and they weren’t the “make a risky gamble to poach a pass” variety, but instead were the results of him playing intense on-the-ball defense and constantly disrupting the Jazz’s offense—anticipating the next pass or move and getting in the way and just making it not fun for the Utah guards. It was really exciting to see this.

Also, Sergio absolutely BROKE D. Williams ankles on a play in the 1st half, no screen or nothing just a perfect crossover that had Williams totally turned around in one on one coverage, no screen needed, and Sergio got to the hoop and was fouled. (His free throws today—AYE! that’s another story).

and think it would be better for Portland’s offense if Bayless, Rudy, and Frye played on the second squad.

If Webster was healthy, he wouldn’t even be in the rotation. I know he looked good tonight, in fact, he looked really, really good. But he is so young and I know his jumper is not as reliable as it appeared tonight. I sure am excited a couple years from now though, this kid was a very nice pickup.

Also, Sergio>Bayless….. at least when it comes to playing point guard….

Blake, Roy, Udoka, Aldridge, Oden

That’s the sound behind Outlaw of Batum developing into an extraordinary small forward, perhaps becoming the lock-down defender McMillan has been looking for. Silky, quick, surprisingly tough for such a skinny guy, agile, showed 3-point range in today’s game, hasn’t had a bad preseason game. A different player from the one we saw in summer league. Appears to be an extremely fast learner. Comfortable on the floor. By the end of the game, looked better than Kirilenko! Not yet 20! Gots hops. And armmmmms. Good timing. There’s no way the Blazers are going to part with this guy. Today may belong the Webster, backed up by Outlaw. Tomorrow belongs to Batum. Maybe sooner than we thought.

Who is to blame for that? The lack of LMA in the game alone doesn’t explain it. This is an area where the Blazers should be strong especially on the defensive end, but it wasn’t. I think that’s a better reason for why the team lost this game than turnovers which were equally bad on both sides. Also, our percentage from two and three dropped quite a bit in the second half. Impressive was the number of blocks Batum and Shavlik got (3 each).

Oden doesn’t seem to be to into it right now. It shouldn’t matter whether it’s pre-season or not, he should still always have the same desire, especially as a rookie,

UW coach Lorenzo Romar was in the building, sitting about 8 rows in front of us. His daughter and wife have the exact same haircut. Literally, exactly the same. Awk-ward.

Coming from a girl, this isn’t awkward, it’s cute. I bet they are the mother daughter dua that are BFFE! :) Its only awkward if the Son and Mother have the same haircut
Sophia

Where do you sit? I kept running my binoculars along possible locations and found a few possibilities, but never a “that’s Ben!”

I notice they’ve moved the radio guys this season – it looks awfully crowded for the local crew. (I never saw them last year because the Jumbotron was between us.) I saw Mike & Mike before the game in their casual clothes – where do they sit on their off nights?