Game 8 Recap: Blazers 104, Heat 96
by Dave on Nov 12, 2008 9:15 PM PST
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PrintAha! Another win! If this keeps up, where are we going to put them all?
Seriously, folks, this is a really, really good thing. As Mike Barrett pointed out the other night, there hasn’t been an opening schedule like this in the history of the NBA as far back as they’ve been tracking. 5-3 with a cushion going into
General Observations
I was getting all tingly in the first quarter just because our game plan and execution were so dang good. Honestly, one of the reasons I hate losing (besides the obvious) is because I know I’m going to read a half dozen posts and forty-plus comments speculating whether Nate cost us the game somehow, even if NBA teams routinely lose games in the same way. Yet when there’s a win, even a well-executed one (for a young team, at least) comparatively few people stop and acknowledge the coaching staff. We came out in this game with the obvious directive to go inside, both in the post and off the dribble, and to rebound the ball. We did exactly that against an undersized, undermanned
A couple of notes from the first period:
--One of the ESPN commentators suggested the Heat might want to throw a zone defense out there to protect the middle. The way we were playing tonight it wouldn’t have mattered. That inside-out game was working so well we just would have nailed a jumper or found a cutter when the zone collapsed. This is a major difference between this year’s Blazers and teams past. We need to keep that up all season.
--Did anybody catch the Blake-to-Rudy fast break? That was the first time I’ve ever seen Blake run full-out, I think. People often say Nate doesn’t like the fast break offense. I didn’t see him complaining…
We tightened up in the second quarter, staying out on the perimeter and letting
Near the end of the quarter Dwyane Wade had an enormous block on Travis Outlaw. Outlaw was near the three-point line on the right side and went up with a jumper. Right at the apex of his leap (and you know the altitude Travis gets) Wade just rose and snuffed him. It was scary. I remember worrying that Travis had just jumped the shark, as that well could have rattled the younger Travis into passivity or shot-launching. More on this later.
The third period was back and forth. Nicolas Batum had a great stretch in there playing the transition game. Greg Oden saw some time also but was playing too slow and too far outside to be effective.
That’s when it was go time.
Overall the Blazers won the rebounding battle, got nobody in foul trouble, shot 7 more free throws than the Heat in their own building, and forced 17
Individual Notes
Brandon Roy played a superb offensive game tonight. I mentioned earlier today that if you give him and the team time his play will look smoother. We saw some early returns on that promise tonight. He connected with most of his shots early, which helped. He also drew Wade-like fouls, which really helped. He ended up 6-13 for the game and 11-13 from the foul line for 22 points with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers. When he and Wade went mano-a-mano they basically took turns scoring on each other. There are worse outcomes when playing
Lamarcus Aldridge, through his post play and his offensive rebounding, was the catalyst for the early surge. The Heat didn’t have anybody who could stop him. He looked comfortable with his back to the basket even though his jumper wasn’t falling tonight. The Blazers attack you in waves and Lamarcus is the first guy on the beach. Tonight he gained us a ton of ground. Aldridge finished the game with 14 points, 7 rebounds (5 offensive), and 4 steals. The low rebounding number can be attributed to
Rudy Fernandez shot extremely well tonight, hitting 7-11 shots, 3-7 three-pointers, and 8-8 free throws for a game-high 25 points. He helped carry the team through the latter part of that fourth quarter, hitting a reverse-direction jumper above the free-throw line that was like a dagger in the Heat’s heart. He also got his daily sweet alley-oop from Sergio. Just like taking your vitamins, kids.
Nicolas Batum had 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 block in 15 minutes but he changed the character of the defense and the tempo of the game through his play. He ran superbly in transition. As the ESPN guys said, he has a ways to go yet. The distance between making occasional great plays in 15 minutes and making every play right in 36 minutes is enormous. Nevertheless you are starting to see indications that someday he could be our full-time starter in a Bruce Bowen kind of mold. I like this kid more every time I see him.
Joel Przybilla had his usual 10 rebounds plus a block. He even hit 3-4 shots tonight for 7 points, although I still cringe every time the ball goes near him on offense. Heck, I cringe to see him in the lane on offense setting up as if to receive the ball. But nobody boards like he does. He was wasted on defense a little tonight with
Steve Blake had a serviceable 8 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes. He hit 2-4 from distance. But he lost some of his fourth-quarter minutes tonight to…
Sergio Rodriguez, who took great care of the ball and single-handedly foiled that vaunted backcourt defense of the Heat. They tried to play up on him, even tried to trap him a time or two. It didn’t work. He just dribbled out of it. That’s his specialty. The Heat didn’t catch on until very late that it was smarter to let him go after he got past them than it was to bring another guy over to cut him off. After he broke down the defense off the dribble he made mincemeat of it with his passes. He played credible defense, kept active, and didn’t have a single moment where he looked bad. He even hit a step-back jumper off of a drive with 7:00 left to go in the fourth. The situation was right for him and he responded. 2-2 field goals, 1-1 from distance, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover in 19 earned minutes.
Travis Outlaw had a rotten shooting night at 4-13 and scored 10 points. You didn’t notice the misses too much, though, because the shots he hit were at opportune times to quell
Channing Frye got 11 minutes and hit 2-3 shots. The squeezing down of his role may have begun. He looked good when he played, however. This was a team he was well-suited to play against.
Greg Oden played 16 minutes. He had one nasty spin dunk and a couple of other nasty (for a different reason) short attempts. He wasn’t moving that well still although to my eyes he has visibly lost weight. His rebounding is fairly stationary at this point, though to his credit when he boxes a guy out he stays boxed out. He just doesn’t have the motion or energy on the glass right now. He did garner 2 blocked shots which gave a glimmer of things to come. He also committed 2 turnovers. He didn’t look all that pleased to not be playing much but he was used correctly tonight given the circumstances (his and the team’s).
Final Thoughts
We couldn’t have started this trip better. The quality and nature of the wins makes you think we have a chance to play decently in
Check out the Heat reaction over at PeninsulaIsMightier.
You can check out the Jersey Contest scores and enter for Friday’s game at the game form site. [Update:] There is some kind of glitch going on with those whose scores are recorded as "60". Your score in the indvidual return is correct. For some reason it's not showing up correctly in the scoreboard. We're working on this and it should be fixed by Friday.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
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Can we now all agree that Rudy
can create his own shot?
by ColoradoBlazerFan on Nov 12, 2008 9:22 PM PST reply actions
i cant believe people thought that he couldnt
watching the olympics should have been enough proof…as well as all of amlmarts clips from last year.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 12, 2008 10:05 PM PST up reply actions
I thought I was going to read again: "It is a learning curve for him, he has to make adjustments,..."
Sergio + Rudy = 16
Sergio + Bayless = 16
Batum 8+8=16
Wait, I read it again!:
Fernandez wasn’t the only one holding back on compliments for himself. Coach Nate McMillan was rather blase in his postgame address to the media in describing Fernandez’s play, saying he still needs to learn the NBA game while bringing up his two turnovers.
I think this is the kind of stuff that feeds the paranoia of some people. Now they´ll ask why Nate didn´t talk about Roy´s 3 turnovers or his missed jump shots, or they will wonder about what Nate might have said, for example, if Oden or Bayless would be playing at Rudy´s level.
Rudy skills are not to the detriment of Roy´s ones and vice versa and Nate is doing a great work coaching this team but he´s not a genius as a speaker. I still think, no inside information of course, that Nate is trying to contain his Spanish players´ desire to play how they would like to do instead of how Nate wants them to do, which is in a system made for Roy, and that´s what he has in mind when he talks about Rudy.
Sergio + Rudy = 16
Sergio + Bayless = 16
Batum 8+8=16
I don't know..
If I were Nate I wouldn’t praise to the media the achievements of my players because this is a team work so Rudy is nobody without his teamates. This is valid to others Roy, LMA etc. They are nobody without the helping of their teamates. Whenever someone asked him about a particular player he should say fine but the team is the most important not a particular player.
At least this is how european coaches speak when someone asked them about a particular player. Team is above a single player.
Agreed amlmart.
Nate isn’t going to gush about Rudy until he plays exactly the way Nate wants him to play. And that sort of restrictive guidance makes me sad. Let Rudy be Rudy! Sure he has much to learn yet about the NBA game, but to bring up his 2 turnovers after the game he had is a shame. Come on Nate, give credit where credit is due. Even Roy was heaping the praise on Rudy, stating how he loves watching the things that he does (that by the way is a good sign for the team!)
I am surprised to find myself saying this, but IMO Sergio is now (and will certainly be later) a considerably better defensive player than Blake. Quickness counts and Sergio has it in spades over Blake.
In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not of Spanish descent.
Yes
I find Nate so inconsistent in his comments and also on what he puts out on the floor….He should well understand that this team needs players like Rudy & Batum…and also maybe even Bayless and Sergio…You need to put different looks out on the floor and continue to keep the defense honest and off-balance…..
Nate’s style is way too predictable and if he doesn’t change, it will hinder the teams chances considerably….He still got caught in the land of jump shots several times in this game…..
Rudy has been one of the main reasons for this teams recent positives …right up there with Roy and LA…he just does it in a different style of play…..it gets results ….so let it fly
TwoDeep on Sergio
> I am surprised to find myself saying this, but IMO Sergio is now (and will certainly be later) a considerably better defensive player than Blake. Quickness counts and Sergio has it in spades over Blake.
THIS is the thing that will get playing time for Sergio on Nate’s team. Sergio has the legs and reaction time for it, especially in 15-20 minute appearances. – Elgin.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
TO's
i remember one TO wasn’t nescessarily a sloppy one. rudy found greg under the basket, but greg just wasnt ready for the pass. i cant remember he other one…i think it might have been after roy got stripped and then rudy did but stole the ball back.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 8:30 AM PST up reply actions
I'm not sure if this is the turnover you're describing
One Rudy pass into GO that led to a turnover looked like a bad pass at first. But on the replay you could clearly see that GO had caused the turnover by slowing down. It was a patented Rudy between-the-defender’s-legs pass that led GO as he cut to the hoop. The problem was that GO didn’t think he was open, so he slowed down.
Of course, GO WASN’T open in a conventional sense. Like the rest of the team, GO will have to adjust to playing with a guy who can consistently “thread the needle” with his passes. This goes for the Nate too: I think that when he sees that replay, he’ll recognize his error: at most Rudy was responsible for ONE turnover last night.
So maybe it’s not so much that Rudy needs to learn the NBA game as that Rudy’s teammates—and coach—still need to learn the EUROPEAN game!
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
"This goes for the Nate too"
Geez: the Hurryup’09 needs to proof read more carefully.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
amlmart1 says
> Rudy skills are not to the detriment of Roy´s ones and vice versa
But there’s only one ball out there. They said the same thing when we traded for Wilt – between me and West and Wilt, someone’s game needed to change. Luckily, Wilt became a league-leading assist guy, and we kicked ass, especially after I retired and Jim McMillian took my spot.
But that was then, and this is now. Our Spanish correspondents were right on when they said that the Blazers, especially Roy, need to make room for Rudy. Dude is amazing. He is a sixth man of the year and rookie of the year, all in one. – Elgin.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
Elgin Bayor
was absolutely my favorite player back in that time (I’m growing weary of the currently popular and over-used “back in the day” term). If you’re going to steal an NBA player’s identity, you have chosen one of the very best.
Nate only complements players when they exceed his expectations
The fact that he sounded only slightly impressed with Rudy’s play today means that his expectations are high.
it's not all Nate
It says right up front that Rudy didn’t exactly pat himself on the back either. Is that a sign that Rudy doesn’t think he can play with Rudy?
He was probably disappointed because he only got one block. He likes blocks.
If you go back and look at Rudy's shots...
he made seven. Here’s the list
1. 3:45 in the 1st, fastbreak dunk off a pass, assist Steve Blake
2. 0:13 in the 2nd, stand-still catch-and-shoot in the right corner, assist Brandon Roy
3. 11:34 in the 4th, catch and shoot at left wing three-point line off of a screen set for Sergio and a botched Miami switch, assist Sergio Rodriguez
4. 10:52 in the 4th, alley-oop dunk off of a cut down the right baseline, assist Sergio Rodriguez
5. 8:00 in the 4th, wide-open catch and shoot at the left wing three-pointg line off of penetration by Sergio, assist Sergio Rodriguez
6. 4:16 in the 4th, 18-footer at the right elbow. This was one of two unassisted buckets for Rudy tonight. The play began with Roy at the top dribbling. Rudy was at the right baseline three-point line with nobody guarding him. Roy drew attention by dribbling, causing the defense to sag, then passed it to Rudy. Daequan Cook ran hard to close on Rudy. Rudy gave a half pump fake, making Cook commit, then took one easy dribble diagonal left and shot. Though the fake and dribble killed the recorded assist, the open look happened because Rudy was originally open and the defense was scrambling, not because Rudy beat a defender off the dribble.
7. :44 in the 4th, 21-footer at the top of the key. This is no doubt the shot that’s eliciting the comment. Rudy came across the key, left to right, after receiving the ball from Outlaw high on the left side. He was again defended by Daequan Cook, who cut low underneath Outlaw and caught up to Rudy midcourt, still at the top of the key. Another defender planted to stop Rudy’s progress that way. Rudy reverse spun, then elevated for a straddle-footed 21-footer that was spectacular not only for its clutch timing but because of the difficulty of the shot itself, which was considerable.
Sum total: 5 of Rudy’s 7 made shots tonight were explicitly assisted and not off of the dribble. The 6th would have been the same had Rudy shot instead of giving a short pump fake and moving one dribble left. Only the 7th shot could have any claim to being because of Rudy’s dribbling prowess. That shot would be difficult to repeat and would not be considered a great look under most circumstances. (Had it missed the commentators would have said the Blazers didn’t get a good look.)
Compare this to two things. First, Brandon Roy’s shots tonight, most of which came off of the dribble and many of which involved deep penetration. Second, Rudy’s shot attempts in the Orlando game. Those which involved creating off of the dribble, including a couple that looked like the one that hit tonight, hit the rim so hard it screamed.
This is not to say that either Rudy’s style or Roy’s are superior to the other. Both are unselfish players who can do a little of everything. But Roy is way beyond Rudy at creating his own shot at an NBA level just as Rudy is beyond Roy in moving without the ball to scoring effect and hitting open catch-and-shoot jumpers.
In any case, were someone thinking Rudy’s best game isn’t off the dribble tonight’s shots would not be convincing evidence…not until he’s hit a bunch more like that on a consistent basis plus gotten penetration as well.
It was a great shot though. Real dagger.
—Dave
In the Orlando game
he missed two (!) off-balance shots that he tried to create himself. He also missed the one drive that he had to lift over Howard, and a perfectly good mid-range jump shot from behind a screen. Prior to that he had rarely tried to create his own shot inside the 3 point line in previous games. I think it was very premature to conclude he can’t create his own shots based on the two examples from the Orlando game.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 12, 2008 10:36 PM PST up reply actions
That's exactly what I'm saying
The data that we have about his NBA creating ability on the dribble is that he doesn’t favor doing that compared to moving without the ball and catching and shooting and when he does do it he ends up with a difficult shot. How is what you’re saying showing different than what I’m saying? He doesn’t try to create off the dribble…he’s not been successful when he has, at least not compared to the success he’s had with other offensive means.
Again, compare this to Brandon Roy’s game if you want to see the difference. Brandon creates off the dribble very well. He, on the other hand, has had to work hard on his jump shot. There is no question Rudy’s stand-still jumper is better. There is no question Brandon’s ability to create off the dribble is better.
—Dave
And really
nobody’s concluding that he can’t get his own shot necessarily or won’t be able to with time. But the original question and the context of the reply was: “Can we now all agree that Rudy can get his own shot?” To which the answer is: “There’s little evidence of that and what evidence there is isn’t that supportive of the thesis, including tonight’s shot in some ways.” At best you have to say the jury’s still out and is not likely to convene a verdict soon since both Rudy and the Blazers seem to concur that the majority of his shots right now are best taken in other ways and that plan is meeting with riotous success.
—Dave
He creates his shot without the ball, isn't that creating a shot?
He gets even better looks than when someone beats another one off the dribble
creating your own shot is one on one with the ball.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 8:33 AM PST up reply actions
I can't figure
Why we are making such a big deal out of this….Rudy makes plays and discussing how he should get it done is irony at best…..this guy has been so valuable to this team, putting limitations on him is absurd……The team needs his style of play and Rudy is smart enough, he will learn from his mistakes……Nate cannot continue to hold back players ingenuity and creativeness, it will be a big mistake……his offense is way too bland and predictable without it…..
this is a blog site
its a healthy discussion. theres nothing wrong with analyzing the play of the team and the decisions of the coach or management. we should be happy that we have a team worth discussion, or that the discussion is something positive, rather than what they did off the court.
the more we know about the team by discussing and seeing in games only helps us understand why kp makes certain picks or trades for the players he does, or why nate uses certain plays or lineups.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 10:58 AM PST up reply actions
No problem
I like to have open discussion and they are part of a fan blog….I was trying to emphasize the fact that Nate needs to let Rudy, be Rudy ( and we need to also) He doesn’t have a perfect game, but he has so many upsides, I thought the discussion should have this stirred into it…. I tried to explain my view, so as to not let anyone think I was just taking pot shots….
The thread raised a question (in my mind) and so I chose to enter in by arguing my point of view….it’s just my point of view like everyone else and was not trying to be offensive….
nah
didn’t think you were being offensive. theres still a lot to rudy’s game that i’ve seen from dkv games that rudy has yet to show. i’m not sure if that is by design from nate or if the better competition of the nba has taken away those parts of his game.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 12:13 PM PST up reply actions
There's ability and desire
I’m saying it’s too early to conclude much about Rudy’s ability to create jump shots off the dribble. There obviously isn’t enough of a sample size to judge ability yet. But I’m also not ready to conclude that he doesn’t have a desire to create those shots. I think he has purposely been emphasizing 3-point shooting to fit in as a wing in Nate’s 3-guard offense. As he gets a chance to play more of a traditional shooting guard in a 2-guard offense, I think he will try to develop his own shots more.
Clearly Roy’s strength is in being able to create his own shots off the dribble and drive to the basket, while Rudy has an exceptional ability to move without the ball and catch and shoot. But Nate commented earlier tonight that he had encouraged Rudy to be more aggressive in creating shots, so I don’t think we have seen everything Rudy has to offer after only 8 games.
BTW, I’ve been amazed how quickly Rudy has adjusted to the NBA 3-point shot. I think we tend to forget that he is shooting 3’s from a longer distance than he did in Europe, and is shooting with a different ball. I’m guessing that he initially focused on getting that 3 point shot down and now he will begin to display more moves because he has earned credibility with his teammates and he has Nate’s encouragement.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 13, 2008 12:09 AM PST up reply actions
I think the NBA 3 was well within Rudy's range before he came over
If you look at highlights from when Rudy was playing in Spain, you will see some shots that are well outside the 3-point line. A few of the shots that he made must have been over 25 feet from the basket.
I agree
he took some shots from farther out, but they don’t put too many of his misses in the highlight films. It’s not like he was routinely stepping back an extra 3 feet in Europe. Look the Olympic games and you will see he was toeing up to shorter 3-pt line when he could.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 13, 2008 12:22 AM PST up reply actions
agreed
after watching a few dkv games last year, rudy didn’t seem to shoot such a high volume of threes till he got here. its most likely due to the role nate has set for him as a wing player.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 8:35 AM PST up reply actions
Rudy was #1 in the ACB league last year in 3-pointers per game
Last year Rudy took 9.9 3-point shots per pace-adjusted 40 minutes. So far this year Rudy has been taking 8.4 3-point shots per pace adjusted 40 minutes.
I do think that Rudy is spotting up for 3-point shots more this year, while last year he was handling the ball more and he took many of those 3-point shots off the dribble. However, having Rudy handle the ball a lot and take shots off the dribble is actually a recent phenomenon that has occurred in the last 1-2 years as it became very clear that Rudy was the best player on DKV Joventut. Prior to that, Rudy mostly played off the ball like he is doing for the the Blazers. Rudy isn’t really changing to fit in, he is just reverting to his original style.
Rudy doesn't have Roy's deadly crossover or hesitation moves
because of that he isn’t able to get a good shot against skilled man-to-man defenders as easily as Roy can.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that he can’t get his own shot though. Rudy is good at finding the “gaps” in a zone defense and using his quickness to penetrate through those gaps before the defenders can react. Rudy is also adept at using screens from teammates to get his own shot. He might have trouble getting past the first defender, but if you give him any sort of advantage Rudy will do a good job of taking advantage of it.
I think that there is a good chance that Rudy could learn how to break down his man off the dribble as he gains more experience. In Spain it wasn’t that important because he was mostly playing off the ball (although he did take on a lot more ball-handling duties in the last 1-2 years), and because teams generally used zone defenses rather than man-to-man defenses anyway. Now that Rudy is in the NBA where man-to-man defense is more common, there is more incentive to develop a nice cross-over move.
ummm
there is no heat reaction. In fact, there wasn’t a single miami heat fan posting on tonight’s game.
Right
Dave’s point exactly. :)
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Even if he wasn't trying to make it
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Shanghaied
freakin cool verb Dave.
I've made eye contact with Chris Dudley....twice.
by RoodiePhirnandizz on Nov 12, 2008 9:24 PM PST reply actions
I've never been so happy to lose 2 bucks
Shame on me for betting against the ’Zers
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
i refuse to adopt this new "word" as you call it
This thread needs more COWBELL!!
by Zaron5551 on Nov 12, 2008 9:53 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
-1
Spanish Main: The point of departure for enormous wealth in the form of gold, silver, gems, spices, hardwoods, hides, alley-oops, assists and three pointers.
by LaughingJon on Nov 12, 2008 11:07 PM PST up reply actions
ooooooooh
Dave is wrong.
I like the boldness of that statement
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 12, 2008 10:02 PM PST up reply actions
Dave is right.
MIAMI is wrong.
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
LOL
Were it possible to use strikethroughs in the title bar I’d strike it through and leave it up to commemorate the moment for you. As it is, correctness trumps the need for your celebration and my embarrassment. But for the record… Lo, I am shamed.
—Dave
Someday
Perhaps I will teach you to mold reality to your own statements.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
just mold reality to what you know is right, dude
after all, you are ruler of the world or something, aren’t u?
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 13, 2008 12:02 AM PST up reply actions
Not yet
Reality is still mouldy um, being molded.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Greg did look like he lost weight
I wouldn’t mind playing Oden 25 minutes tomorrow just to run him into shape. He needs to do about 1000 windsprints. Until he gets into shape, he’s not going to be contributing much. When he does get into shape, look out!
WWKPD?
Perhaps he can do windsprints
on off days to get into shape, rather than messing up the team rhythm for it. Or we can get him a Darius Miles exercise bike to ride during his bench time.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Getting in shape should take a couple weeks.
Lots of sprints at practice and 15-20 minutes per game should be the norm for the next few weeks.
He didn't get hurt!
That was a big plus for me. He will play himself in shape in due time.
"Another win! If this keeps up, where are we going to put them all?"
We will need to get an extra room for them.
That extra room is called “playoffs”.
And when Greg Oden has his first monster game, we WILL look back at tonight
and know that this tentative first full game was crucial in setting up his inevitable breakout.
He has to get a certain number of games (1? 3? 7?) out of the way for experience’s sake,
to get a knowing comfort zone to his in-game play, before he can truly be unleashed.
This game, and probably more like it, must happen now so that they can STOP happening as soon as possible.
And I despise the Heat arena noise (music, sound effects, and announcer), all of it
to cover up those EMPTY SEATS FOR A NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAME (don’t think we don’t see them, Miami!).
Just an exaggerated embodiment of all that is wrong with the modern NBA arena experience.
I mean, just SHUT UP already. Play has resumed.
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
And, Houston is CREAMING Phoenix.
16-point lead with 6 minutes to go.
If that holds up, we’ll be tied with Houston (and owning the head-to-head tie-breaker for now),
a half-game behind Phoenix, one game behind Utah, and oh GAWD I don’t wanna talk about THEM. Or HIM.
And a half-game ahead of Denver ad New Orleans.
Basically, there’s a top dawg, and then the next six teams, and we’re right there in the middle of those tightly bunched 2-7.
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
great game
but what was up with lamarcus missing a bunch of in-close layups/dunks. is this something to do with that neck problem?
"It was like some sort of crazy torture in the movies. How do people do that so long without taking a breath? I think my ears are still ringing."
-Adrian Peterson, describing Autzen
no
Aldridge is soft at the hoop!
That is just plain it. At one point, he had the ball, poised to dunk, then “shot” (more like shot-putted) the ball towards the hoop and missed. Then again, when he did try to dunk later, he missed also.
M, period. Fresh, comma.
LaMarcus just had a bad night
Every player has a bad night sometimes. If this becomes habit, it’s something to worry about. But he’s fine, consistency will come in time.
LaMarcus played good D all nite
And that is more important than a you tube slamma jamma
by southern oregon on Nov 12, 2008 10:36 PM PST up reply actions
i'd chalk it up to the neck
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 12, 2008 10:03 PM PST up reply actions
He had a rough night shooting from point blank range
For sure. He’s on my fantasy team, so I notice when Aldridge misses… I think he was just having a “wonky” night on the offensive end. It happens.
can anyone
do a stat for our ppg and opponents ppg without the l*kers game included? i think it would be more accurate
by my count....
Not including the opening night loss, the Blazers have outscored their opponents 700-696.
LOL i laughed when i saw Wade dunk over travis
"All our holes," says shooting guard Brandon Roy, a surprise All-Star last year in his second season, "are holes that Greg is going to plug."
Travis got body-banged from the side as he went up.
By LaMarcus, of course.
But their simultaneous rim defenses collided on the way up.
The overhead-shot replay really showed it well.
(Not to take anything away from Dwyayne Wyayde; he’s smart enough to anticipate that collision,
and I bet he did just that when he decided to make that strong drive the way he did.)
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
lol when i saw wade block TO's J
it is the providence of knowledge to speak. it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. - oliver wendell holmes
LOL...And One!
Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Victor Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
"Switzerland is a place where they don't like to fight, so they get people to do their fighting for them while they ski and eat chocolate." - LD
This was a good night
Dave said it perfectly when he said this was a “professional game”. They took care of business.
Brandon and LMA were a bit off tonight at times, but that’s ok. They got through it. The team played within their boundaries pretty well. Even though there was a mid-game lull, the passion showed back up in the fourth.
As a nice bonus, the most controversial people did well: Sergio had a big boost tonight, there was nary a complaint against Nate (he even stayed on top of Greg’s minutes and handled him well), and Blake came back in time for the game-clinching three.
This is the best I’ve felt in a few about a Blazer win. It was a nice night. Something good before a long day tomorrow.
Blake
How big is that that Sergio played an outstanding fourth quarter, and Blake came in cold and hit a bone-crunching 3 at the end of the game? That is totally awesome, for me.
We might have a very cool two-headed point guard system coming up. And Bayless will be there in case any of the four guards in front of him have injury problems.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
Good game for Oden
When I heard he was go for tonight, my first thought was “It will be a successful night for him if he comes out of the game healthy.”
No; I’m not being facetious. At this point, given all of the talk of him being “injury prone,” the durability issue had to have been uppermost in everyone’s mind – including Greg’s. For him to go out, play some meaningful minutes in a bona fide, regular season NBA contest and then live to fight another day is huge for him. Everything else right now is really just gravy.
Now, I’m sure that there will be those who think this is setting the bar absurdly low. But accomplishments are really beside the point at this stage. It’s more about taking baby steps. Given all he’s been through, his first steps are to get over any psychological hurdles he may have, such as the nagging fear of another injury. Once he’s gotten over that, then he can start building up his stamina. He can then move on to polishing up his defense and rebounding technique. And finally, incorporate some basic offensive moves into his repertoire.
This process could take months. During that time he will undoubtedly hear a lot of the same idiotic commentary that we viewers were subjected to by the ESPN announcers tonight; stuff like “He just looks really awkward out there.” Well, duh. But while you and I understand the stupidity of such comments, it’s more important that Oden and the Blazers learn how to deal with them intelligently. I hope they don’t succumb to the temptation to acclerate the process of Oden’s development in order to keep pace with media hype and expectations.
by knickfan on Nov 12, 2008 9:58 PM PST reply actions 8 recs
+1
nice analysis of the Greg sitch.
I've made eye contact with Chris Dudley....twice.
by RoodiePhirnandizz on Nov 12, 2008 10:07 PM PST up reply actions
+1
The hype machine just needs to shut off… Let the kid play and find his way. He will figure it out.
by david1978pdx on Nov 12, 2008 10:16 PM PST up reply actions
rec
Only quibble — he doesn’t actually have to wait until he’s built up his stamina or polished up his defense and rebounding to start working on his offensive moves. He can work on these all at the same time.
But the key thing is that he gets out there and plays some. As he said at one point last year, “It’s just basketball.” The kid is a basketball player, and once he gets into just playing basketball, everything will come.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Also it would be nice for him to develop a nose for the ball while rebounding
Or at least show that he’s acquainted with the ball. Or has some passing interest in it. Right now he’s sort of treating it like it’s a blind date set up for him by his dad as a favor to a business client.
—Dave
Which is dumb
Blind dates can work out really well.
Actually, I’m not as concerned about that. I remember those drills where we weren’t supposed to rebound the ball. We were supposed to box out the offensive players so effectively that they couldn’t get to the ball before it hit the floor on the rebound. If the ball hit the floor, we won the drill, if they could even touch it before it hit the floor, they won the drill.
I would rather he focus on technique and boxing out than just going to get the ball, to start with. The going to get the ball will come naturally as he gets more fit, but habits of always boxing out will serve him well always.
Wasn’t part of the problem in this game that they were trying to keep him drawn away from the basket so he couldn’t dominate defensive rebounding? If so, he’s going to have to regain quickness and athleticism before he gets high rebounding totals in that scenario.
It will come.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Nah
As I posted elsewhere, GO’s problem last night was simply his conditioning. In his college days, he not only blocked out his man, but displayed a nose for the ball. He was extremely quick and active. And last night he was all over the place during his first couple of minutes on the floor—getting rebounds, deflections, and even beating everyone to a loose ball. It was afterwards that he appeared to have no clue where the ball was or how to position himself to get it. That’s fatigue.
Why am I so certain? Well, for one thing because I recently tried to play full court hoops myself after spending a couple years on the couch, and the way GO played last night is exactly how I played! (Er, well, except for the thunderous, basket shaking dunk; those were never my specialty.)
In my playing days, coaches always remarked on my nose for the ball. But after a couple minutes running up and down the court the other day, I was too busy gasping for breath to do ANYTHING. I thought I was going to die. It was a helpless feeling; my legs just turned to jelly. My ability to rebound and get to loose balls lasted like 2 minutes. After that, getting the ball was about as possible for me as being selected Obama’s new Secretary of State. It was all about SURVIVAL.
If you review a recording of last night’s game, I think you’ll see that GO was in the same boat. Give him a few weeks, and he’ll be a different player. As people say, there’s being in shape and then there’s being in basketball shape. The ONLY way you get in basketball shape is by playing hoops. Thank goodness GO is finally out on the floor doing just that.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
That's setting the bar absurdly low.
"I’m glad Sergio played well in pre-season, but he should be getting killed for whining. He ain’t that important to the country of Spain, let alone the Trail Blazers." --Mortimer Pritchard
+1
Well stated. Now, for a string of games where Greg doesn’t get hurt, during which he gets mildly grumpy about not getting 36 minutes a game, and proves to Nate that he needs to be in the starting lineup. – Elgin.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
Agree with most of your praise
except for Travis’s defense on Wade was pretty bad. But it’s not really a fair assignment for Travis. Batum did a remarkable job for a rook on him, I’d have played him more, except I’d also have given him an earful for his two bad three point attempts.
by howlingfantods on Nov 12, 2008 10:06 PM PST reply actions
Those were open looks that he should take and will make
by southern oregon on Nov 12, 2008 10:11 PM PST up reply actions
exactly, i want batum to be comfotable enough to shoot when he's open
This thread needs more COWBELL!!
Oh. Hey. I just realized.
Red jerseys in consecutive road games, both wins.
What did we wear in our three losses?
I remember black at L.A.; what about Phoenix and Utah?
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
Looked it up.
Black in Phoenix, Utah AND L.A.
Do we have a new superstition? We’ll find out Friday . . .
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
can't change it now until we lose on the road again
so, its red again on friday. if we don’t win, then go black for the next roadie.
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
Just read a study that says the team in Red wins more often than the other team.
Just sayin’.
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 12, 2008 10:51 PM PST up reply actions
About Greg Oden.
I notice Dave uses the following phrases in writing about Greg Oden tonight:
“He wasn’t moving that well still…”
“His rebounding is fairly stationary at this point…”
“He just doesn’t have the motion or energy on the glass right now…”
I have italicized some words at the end of each of these statements. What I notice is that with the use of these qualifier words Dave leaves open the possibility (the hope? the expectation? the certainty?) that Greg’s abilities will change and improve at some point in the future. But why use the qualifiers at all? Why not just say “His rebounding is fairly stationary.” Or “He doesn’t have the motion or energy on the glass.”
The answer, of course, is that Dave and most of the rest of us (me included) badly want Greg to be that dominant center we envisioned. And maybe we participated in building expectations up sky high, so now we just can’t bring ourselves to admit that maybe our projections were off the mark.
Oden’s play tonight was disappointing. Again. It’s more than a matter of him being out of shape or him being a rookie or him needing to build up his confidence. A player who is not in game shape or who has little experience in the NBA can still show quickness and energy and hustle on the boards. But we’re not getting that from Oden. Frankly, he seems unfocussed and lackadaisical out there. There is something fundamentally detached about his game. The other thing that strikes me about him is how far out of playing shape he is. He gets tired very quickly. Even given his recent injuries and the limitations those injuries have placed on his exercise regime, he should not be getting gassed so quickly.
Great game for the Blazers. I hope they continue working Greg into the lineup slowly. And I hope they keep giving minutes to Channing. That dude’s top of the key jumper is money every time. Channing is a key to our success.
We cannot put up with this flagrant lack of accountability anymore.
Wrong
What you’re interpreting as “unfocused and lackadaisical” play is simply being out of shape. If you recorded the game, go back and look again. During Oden’s first couple of minutes out there, he was very active, very quick off his feet and in getting to the ball. During that brief stretch, GO had a block, a couple rebounds, a couple of deflected rebounds grabbed by teammates, a thunderous dunk, and a couple of altered shots.
It was all downhill after those couple of minutes, as GO got winded and started to get very sluggish out there. Also, it didn’t help that the Blazers inexplicably started centering the offense around posting up GO, whose post-up game is obviously a work in progress.
But extrapolate those opening two minutes over 35 minutes and you’ll have a general idea of what the future holds for this kid. In other words, the implication of Dave’s qualifying words is correct: Greg Oden IS simply rusty and out of shape. Those issues won’t disappear overnight, but disappear they will. GO is going to be dynamite—whether or not he ever develops a polished offensive game—and all the nay-sayers are going to feel very silly.
Oh, and speaking of polished offensive games: Bill Russell never did develop one. And he won a championship or two. Look it up.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
What about the 2nd half?
After an extended rest from his first stint, he looked inactive as soon as he stepped onto the court in the 2nd half . It struck me as kind of strange.
I agree Oden will get better. It’ll take some time.
BINGO, BANGO, BONGO
I feel you guys are underestimating just how tough it is to get into basketball shape
As I posted above (in response to a comment of Dave’s), when you’re out of shape, playing basketball devolves into SURVIVAL. You get gassed almost immediately, and once you hit that wall, it’s a helpless feeling; you can’t do ANYTHING. I thought that Nate left GO on the floor way too long in the first half, and as a result he didn’t have anything left when he went back in the second half.
When you’re in shape, you can play to exhaustion, rest awhile, then return with fresh legs and energy. But when you’re out of shape, you don’t bounce back like that.
The good news is that GO is FINALLY out on the court. He won’t work himself into shape overnight, but it’ll happen. Fortunately, with the team playing so well with Joel—and even with no center at all on the court—GO can gradually build up his endurance over the next month or so.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
Yuk, yuk
Seriously, last night proved the point I’ve made all along regarding toughness. That is, that GO alone won’t solve the Blazers’ problem in that department. If you review last night’s game (assuming you recorded it), you’ll notice several occasions where GO effectively boxed out the biggest guy on the opposing team. But GO’s teammates stood around and let other Heat players get the rebound. Rebounding is a team effort, and just as Joel has often looked like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike (rebounding-wise), so will Greg Oden. Unless the other guys get after it, that is.
Having said that, both Trout and LMA have shown more interest in rebounding lately. And skinny Rudy Fernandez consistently gives up his body trying to board. That’s a big reason the Blazers have won four straight.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
I am not worried about Oden.
Rudy Fernandez and Nic Batum bring enough excitement and promise to this team to make me happy and the Blazer’s noticably better than last season. Add to that another year up the learning curve for the rest of our guys and I see nothing but positives.
hakkaa päälle !
+1
When he first came to town, we all got together in Pioneer Courthouse Square and bowed down to him.
It will be a while before he is that kind of player. At the moment, he will need to inch carefully toward that level. Soon enough, he will be making great strides toward that level. – Elgin.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
oden will be a long time coming
my hope is that injuries won’t get in the way of oden’s said development. while i agree with you knickfan on WHERE he could take baby steps in the right direction, i think the WHEN is a season or two out from being a top offensive option (or a dominant AND SMART defender) not the week or three or ??? that i hear projected for conditioning.
speaking of conditioning… i think it would be a good thing for oden to be loosing the weight that people seemed to have noticed. in his year off i heard of a minor rift in the orginization as far as how hard to have him hitting the weights. on one side there was the notion that he should be bulking up to bang with the bigs and be able to withstand a full season (and playoff run), and on the other was the idea that he should be kept lean and fast, closer to where he was in college.
i know that nate’s starting line up is geared toward the old-man half court pace of b roy, (read: big oden) but i’d rather see him running like a young shaquille than a current shaquille. D Howard was killing us in transition in Orlando…with a healthy and lean oden we too could have a dearth of easy buckets in transition, something we seem to have a hard time finding with the spanish connection on the bench.
and speaking of… big ups to rudy for the one hander on the highlight reel to go with another ROY preformance. 4 point play anyone?
it is the providence of knowledge to speak. it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. - oliver wendell holmes
Blake was a pro
He entered the game with 44 seconds left after sitting on the bench the entire 4th quarter, and sank a 3 pointer to seal the win.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 12, 2008 10:43 PM PST reply actions
+1
Agreed. Just remembered in the timeout Nate asked him if you’re ok. Blake responded with hell yeah brosky!!
Blake is schweet
he’s the NBA player i wish I could be…
Hard workin’ white guy who isn’t as athletic as everyone else, but knows how to get ’er done
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 12, 2008 10:54 PM PST up reply actions
yep
I don’t think anyone really dislikes Blake. If you were going to use a word to decribe him, one might be “solid”. The guy is solid and will not make many mistakes. Everyone would love to have this guy on their team.
Rule #1 of nitpicking is to get it right.
Whooo...Blakie with the dagger 3
"Switzerland is a place where they don't like to fight, so they get people to do their fighting for them while they ski and eat chocolate." - LD
Dadgum.
Even our token white guy is ripped.
Giving [Batum] the freedom to go for steals is going to be like giving a redneck six boxes of ammo and a quarter mile of empty Bud cans. - Dave
by Cablinasian on Nov 12, 2008 11:55 PM PST up reply actions
Um....
Perhaps Joel might have something to say about that comment.
Rudy is just a token, too.
We have a bunch of guys who can play, and most of them are ripped. They inherited varying amounts of melanin from their parents.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
funny thing is
Rudy looks like a slouchy young math professor. Doesn’t look like an athlete.
We cannot put up with this flagrant lack of accountability anymore.
What's funny is that I have a math professor who doesn't look unlike Rudy.
Giving [Batum] the freedom to go for steals is going to be like giving a redneck six boxes of ammo and a quarter mile of empty Bud cans. - Dave
the homegrown american white guy
is a minority in the nba…especially compared to the foreign white guy.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 8:40 AM PST up reply actions
Trade him
we can’t win with him.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
-1
I’d like to have Billups. But we don’t. I hold out hope for the Blake/Sergio two-headed point guard tandem. – Elgin.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
I'm a big Blake fan
and think we can win a championship with him at the point. I don’t know if we will, because I expect Bayless to be our PG in a year or two.
I’m just making fun of all the people who want to trade this guy and that guy. It seemed best, after he just nailed down a win for us, to say we should trade him in this thread. That’s all.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Roy and Rudy - first chemical reaction!
They played much better together tonight. We got the first taste of what those two could be cooking up and serving to the NBA for a long time to come.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Nov 12, 2008 10:53 PM PST reply actions
don't get me started
pretty soon I’ll be using complex chemical analysis methodology in talking about rudy
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 12, 2008 10:55 PM PST up reply actions
muahhaha
I've got a plan......we lob up a bad shot that Dwight can block, but we do it in such a way that it hits either Rashard or Hedo in the head knocking them out for the game.
--Magnum
by prezofdeath on Nov 12, 2008 10:55 PM PST up reply actions
I....................... must....................... not......................... go........................ there........................ nnnnngh!
Please get thee to an internet urban dictionary!
"I’m glad Sergio played well in pre-season, but he should be getting killed for whining. He ain’t that important to the country of Spain, let alone the Trail Blazers." --Mortimer Pritchard
Nice win...
Oden looked great the first 3 minutes he played then he just looked gassed the rest of the way. Rough as guts offensively and he has a lot to learn about where his spots are and what to do when but I believe he’s going to be a quick learner.
It almost looked unfair the whole first quarter. After that it seemed balls were just not quite bouncing their way but they played through the adversity whereas the last few years they would’ve folded. Nice to see.
It was particularly gratifying to hear the ESPN announcers during the last few posessions summing up the game as just being a tough one for Miami to win against a team such as the Blazers. How many years since we’ve heard anybody say that about the Blazers?
And hey, for those of us who saw the game, we’ll always be able to remember watching Oden’s first NBA basket.
Great night.
Spanish Main: The point of departure for enormous wealth in the form of gold, silver, gems, spices, hardwoods, hides, alley-oops, assists and three pointers.
Yes
I must admit I was particularly tickled pink when I heard the announcers talk about the Blazers being a difficult team to play against for the Heat. It is an especially refreshing thought considering that just last year the Heat were considered a title contender at the beginning of the season.
by premthegrem on Nov 13, 2008 12:12 AM PST up reply actions
Antone hear Wheels call of Nicolas dunk?
BATUUUUUUUUM – SHAKA LAKA!!
Love it!!
Game ball tonight goes to Nate. Very well coached game.
I had to wake up at 0145 this morning to catch the game.
Due to the internet feeds not taking off right away I didn’t get to see the first 6 minutes of the first quarter. After watching the last half of the first quarter, I had this warm feeling take over me – You know what Rob? We’re going to win this game! I was so sure of the win that nothing Miami did bothered me a bit. I felt like we were pretty much in control of the whole game and never really let things get out of hand. It wasn’t a laugher by any means, but it was our game from the start. It was a good feeling to have and a great confidence building game for our guys. Congrats!!
Great game tonight!
The scary (exciting) thing about our beloved blazers is how they are going to look by the end of the regular season. The maturation of Mr. Oden and watching Roy and Rudy learning to feed off of each other is going to make the rest of the league shake with fear and/or drool with envy.
If you have nothing constructive to say about someone, I prefer that you say nothing at all.
"If Jumping to conclusions, Kicking others when they do not do well and Launching into senseless tirades were Olympic Events, some people around here would be Medal Contenders". Me
Dave:
I agree with all you said except for your statement that a win in New Orleans would be “beyond unbelievable.” Yes, the Hornets are a fine team. But they got blown out by the Lakers tonight in their OWN BUILDING! Now the Lakers did handle the Blazers on opening night. But that was in LA. And that Blazers team—jittery and uncertain—wasn’t the same team we’ve seen lately.
In short, I think the Blazers have a perfectly good shot at beating the Hornets on Friday. And this from someone who’s fond of downplaying the chances of wins against tough opponents.
Of course, on some level you may be deliberately underrating the Blazers’ chances vs the Hornets. But that’s so last season. Last year, “negathink” was a valid strategy for helping our team win difficult games. But this year, I don’t believe there’s a team out there—outside of last year’s finalists, that is—that the Blazers don’t have at least an even chance of beating on any given night.
Sure, there will be dry spells ahead—stretches of games when the Blazers’ youth and inexperience shows, when outside shots refuse to fall, and when the team loses confidence. But the days of us fans downplaying the team’s chances based on the difficulty of the opponent and/or the schedule are over, IMO. Fans of playoff teams don’t think that way, and night after night we’re watching a playoff-caliber team in those Blazer uniforms. Barring a serious outbreak of the injury bug, this is a 50+ win team.
There: I said it.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
Hmm
I’m with you on 50+, obviously, but I’m not sure I buy the “even chance” theory. On the road against elite teams, even other elite teams (which we aren’t quite yet, but might be in a month or two) don’t have an even chance.
I would put it at less than a 20% chance that we win in N.O. It could happen. It would be pretty unexpected.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Ha, you're both right
Given the average fan’s reality skewing bias a “less than a 20% chance” = “an even chance” and I’m thinking hurry’s point was that it’s time to start implementing the average fan bias rather than the expectation tempering reality check.
Spanish Main: The point of departure for enormous wealth in the form of gold, silver, gems, spices, hardwoods, hides, alley-oops, assists and three pointers.
Thanks for bailing me out, LaughingJon
No doubt “even chance” was a little over the top. Realistically, the Blazers have maybe a one in three shot tomorrow. The road is tough for everyone; even the Lakers struggle to win in certain buildings. Wink, wink!
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
LOL
Doesn’t do you any good. I’ll remember and throw it in your face someday. I’m rude that way.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
not really a blowout
the hornets got close in the 4th quarter.
I agree with you that we have a shot at winning the game, but it’ll be way tougher than the last two.
I hope we catch the Hornets snoozin'.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
Gonna nitpick a little because that's what I do
I don’t like LMA’s comment of ‘Just one of those nights…’ What he really meant to say was ‘I just didn’t feel like playing that hard tonight.’
Miami has no bulk inside and STILL LMA WAS SHYING AWAY FROM CONTACT
C’mon dude. Great players don’t have ‘Just one of those nights’
And Travis was pretty awful last night despite getting a few rebounds.
On the other hand, the rest of the guys were pretty good and it was a good win.
Blazer Fan
Yeah
I think he was tired. I know that LMA is oneof the hardest working players on the team. I think he wasn’t dripping w/ confidence or cockiness would be a better word b/c lately his shot has not been falling. Maybe he feels uncomfortable playing down low and it throws him out of his rythm ? I dont know. At least we won. Hopefully he takes a nap .
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
against orlando
his post game was better than his midrange game.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 11:00 AM PST up reply actions
I don't think it was a matter of not wanting to play hard
He’s just trying to downplay the fact that he’s playing injured. I bet he’d rather say “Just one of those nights” rather than “my neck has been killing me and I can’t turn my head so my defense is subpar and my shooting stinks.” I’ve heard him minimize pain before — he doesn’t want to sound weak.
Great Win!
This was a team effort, and it was just incredible to see each weapon in the Blazer arsenal get a chance to fire successfully. Strong defense, rebounding, points in the paint, and crisp ball movement. Nice work, guys!
Nate, I think this was the best coaching I’ve seen from you since you came to Portland. Thanks.
If you say "basically" at the beginning of a sentence, you probably also put ketchup on everything you eat.
by CosmoPlavix on Nov 13, 2008 8:48 AM PST reply actions
Dave you are personally attacking me
Honestly, one of the reasons I hate losing (besides the obvious) is because I know I’m going to read a half dozen posts and forty-plus comments speculating whether Nate cost us the game somehow
Kidding.
Nic looked awesome huh? Yeah he did I got about 18 text messages saying "that dunk was for you SOPHIA! " Thanks Dave, thanks alot.
I love how aggressive Brandon was. LaMarcus was playing very well against Beasley and I think that is important, b/c he doesnt have a lot of SF/PF guarding him and I was nervous as to how LMA would respond . I cracked up watching Beaz guarding Oden a couple times – his body was horizontal. Oden looked great. I am just so happy he was playing and he was effective , he draws the double/triple and passes back out to Rudy or Travis and the rest is BUCKETS!!! Either that or he gets fouled and he is an awesome foul shooter.
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
Great Game
This was a great win. We looked like a lot of really good teams have looked against us the last few years. We showed we were better to start the game then just toyed with them until the fourth then put them away.
My only complaint about the game was that when Oden came in we almost immediately switch to trying to dump it down low to him on every possession. This stopped the flow of the offense and Miami came back on us. At this point I don’t think Oden is ready to deal with the double teams he was getting every time he touched the ball. I would much rather they just let him play a similar although slightly expanded role to Joel. Once he has gotten his feet wet you can start working on expanding his role and running the offense through him.
Brett Pill - Lord of the double.
Fun game, amazing moments
Rudy ROCKED this game. Everyone had their moments tonight, and I get chills when I think about what this team can accomplish this season if we stay healthy and motivated. I love that we have so many go-to guys on this team. Seeing Blake hit that 3 was great…he was so darn proud of himself. Everybody has really stepped up their game this season and once Greg is in shape and dominating the boards…we will be unstoppable.
Here’s to going 5-0 on the road and 53+ wins (I am a total homer, I know).
Rudy for ROY
Campaign 08-09
"Rudy is not everyday a shooter." ~Rudy Fernandez
The Blake to Rudy fast break
Was a thing of beauty – I loved seeing Steve push the ball like that. Also, every time I see Nic on the court I get a mini man-crush. He could be the real deal for us – the next Tayshaun Prince-like player in the NBA.
I recorded the game on my HTPC last night
I’m wearing out the hard drive rewatching that fast break over and over and over again. Woo!
do you record all the games?
i bought a dvd recorder but there has been some moments where it has crapped out on me. i’m looking for a new solution
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 11:01 AM PST up reply actions
I'm only able to record the games on TNT or ESPN
I don’t have a Media Center PC with an OCUR tuner, alas, so I can’t record 179 (Comcast Sports Net) without resorting to some weird cabling shenanigans.
i wish they had PMing on this site
i kinda wanna pick your brain a bit on what kinda computer to build to make it a dvr.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Nov 13, 2008 5:53 PM PST up reply actions
If you want cable card access
(e.g. recording premium digital content) you need to buy a computer from someone like Dell or HP (the Dell XPS420 is the current ‘budget’ favorite). Make sure you get a Digital Cable tuner when you order. If you decide you don’t need digital cable, then you can build an HTPC yourself for a lot less.
You actually don’t need a huge amount of horsepower for a decent HTPC. My HTPC uses a T7200 laptop CPU in an AOpen MoDT board with 2GB RAM, an ATI Theater 650 Combo (for analog & clear QAM), a 750GB SATA drive for storage and an HD 4350 HDMI card. Does 1080p with no stuttering. I’m running Vista with TV Pack 2008 and looking rabidly forward to Windows 7 Beta.
by DonkeyShins on Nov 14, 2008 11:11 AM PST up reply actions
Defense against Wade
Dave mentioned that he thought Outlaw did a good job on Wade in the fourth. Outlaw did play defense on Wade a little but it was almost exclusively Roy defending Wade in the fourth. Outlaw guarded Wade on 6 possessions. Three came before Roy returned in the 4th and 3 at the end of the game. Here are the results:
1. Uncontested 18 footer, missed.
2. Outlaw picked and switched off him, Miami turnover
3. Wade played off the ball, Chalmers drives and is fouled
4. Outlaw picked Roy defends on a Wade 3pt miss
5. Wade dunks on Outlaw
6. Wade inbounds to Cook who misses a 3.
What struck me about the defense is that we always switch on the pick. No matter how far out or how weak a pick it is we switch. Last night it left Aldridge one on one with Wade multiple times. On the other end, when Roy was being isolated, we would set the pick and Wade would go around it and pick up Roy again. We seem to do this against all the best players and it gets us killed.
Brett Pill - Lord of the double.
The most unbelievable stat of this young season so far
is that the Blazers have committed the fewest TO’s per game in the league. Someone please tell me how in the world the second-youngest team in the league, incorporating THREE new regulars (Oden, Rudy, Batum) into the rotation – okay, two and a half given how little G.O. has played – is averaging 11 turnovers a game against some very good defensive teams (look it up on ESPN’s team-by-team stats). And 5 of 8 games on the road!
My first thought is to credit all that Nate has done to coach this team how to play basketball “the right way.” Much as that occasionally feels a bit like a straightjacket to me (it annoyed me that McMillan commented on Rudy’s two turnovers after this game), I think we’re seeing the results of his emphasis on fundamentals in that stat, and of course on the court. One of several reasons I’m extremely pleased with our boys so far this season. I know low TO’s alone don’t define a good team (Boston at 17.3/game is second-worst!), but you sure give yourself more of a chance to win when you aren’t giving away possessions!
While we’re on the topic, I also have to say I’m extremely proud of Sergio’s improvement in this area.
especially when you facor in
that Rudy has to throw the ball out of bounds once per game to remind his teammates, “I can pass better than you can cut, so get to work on your cutting.”
"I saw him in the face." – Sergio, when asked about how the latest Rodriguez-to-Fernandez alley-oop came to be.
Perhaps he was aiming for Sasha Vujacic
I mean, heck, it worked well for Odom in the LA/Portland game.
I'd rather see
a turnover on a fast break going to the hoop for a slam dunk than see someone cast off a one on one jumper with no rebound or try to force feed a double teamed Oden…..then having the other team transition to the other end for an easy two….You don’t get turnovers when you play “robot ball” like Nate wants……..turnovers can be tit for tat in so many ways and because of that, the turnover stat is often misleading…..like a lot of stats are……
The 76-77 Blazers turned the ball over more than any other team in the league….But they were a high flying ultimate fast break team…a team that took chances in order to get an easy hoop and keep the defense on it’s heels…..They simply ran the teams right out of the building and often turned the ball over 20 or more times and still were winners all the way….
Fast break, free wheeling, teams are pure entertainment and the NBA is all about entertainment….
If Nate could get his team to play good, hustling defense they could offset turnovers by getting stops at the other end….
If everyone is satisfied with little or no turnovers, then they must become satisfied with the blandness that a controlled offense provides….For me, it is very difficult to watch an NBA game all the way through, if all they do is play a half court offense….simply boring…..
by 67 on Nov 13, 2008 5:50 PM PST up reply actions
where will we put them?
The amazing (and thank you) Dave said:
> Aha! Another win! If this keeps up, where are we going to put them all?
I have room for 75 up here on the shelf. Not trying to be greedy or anything. – Elgin.
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
More Dave
> Nicolas Batum had 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 block in 15 minutes but he changed the character of the defense and the tempo of the game through his play. He ran superbly in transition. As the ESPN guys said, he has a ways to go yet. The distance between making occasional great plays in 15 minutes and making every play right in 36 minutes is enormous. Nevertheless you are starting to see indications that someday he could be our full-time starter in a Bruce Bowen kind of mold. I like this kid more every time I see him.
Even after Webster returns, he’ll have to get some minutes. Just wait until his 21st birthday, he’ll really be good. – Elgin
All the kids who played the blues would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide. - Richard Palmer-James
+1
the future of this team is not just Roy, LA, and Oden…it’s a five man team and having versatility and diversification out of your 12 players is what will eventually get them to the levels of the top ten teams….The role players will always be positive assets on any good team….and defense wins championships…look at Boston, L.A.,San Antone……LA will win it all this year…due primarily to good defense….
when he turns 21 I can "accidentally" run into him at the bar
at the “brasserie” on 9th downtown.
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
Hurry up
I heard a story the bartender in the hotel he was staying in Portland has thrown an eye on him. Though I guess he has a house or apartment now.
yeah I was kidding.
I dont even like the brasserie unless they change their menu. I think Nic is really cute. I dont have a whole lot going for me though so its all just one huge dramatic and totally un happen -able fantasy. He’s just a nice hunk of eye candy that happens to play super awesome defense.
:-)
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
+1
I got amazed this summer after the Olympics when I started posting here I learned Portland had acquired Batum. He is the best european player of his generation.
Better than Rubio?
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
No better than Rubio, there i nobody in Europe right now.
Rubio is younger than Batum. Batum was born in 1988 while Rubio in 1990. So Rubio belongs to 90 generation while Batum th 88. Different generation.
Just in case all of you wantr some update of Rubio, I am attaching an interview done one week ago to Rubio.
http://acb.com/redaccion.php?id=53079
He is curently into the injury list because of a strike he suffered in the Olympic final against USA. His wrist was damaged. He thought he could health by resting but at the end of September he had to go into surgery.
The most interesting thing he said about NBA was
“No pienso en el ‘draft’ de 2009, no es un tópico que vaya diciendo. Pienso en el presente, siempre he dicho que si piensas en el futuro, el presente no va a salir bien. Además, no sé si me apuntaré al ‘draft’ de este año, de 2010 o nunca”, . Into english “I’m not thinking the draft of 2009, It’s not just a saying. I just think in present. I have always said that if you think in the future the present will go badly. Moreover, I don’t know if I am going to put my name down for this year draft, 2010 draft or never”.
It would be great for KP if Ricky is not to be chosen in Draft so just in case Portland wanted him, POrtland would have chances to contract him.
ESPN-Wade on Rudy
Duane Wade played against Rudy in the Olympics, and commented on that fact – and stated that he wasn’t surprised by Rudy’s. play. Bottom line is the NBA all-stars were believers in Rudy before the rest of us. Like Mac, they never had any doubt that he could play – and they don’t seem to have much doubt that he’s going to be a very good player.
Getting Roy and Aldridge was a real coup for KP, but how about Rudy? KP watched him for 5 years, wanted him badly, and got him for $3 million and a low draft pick. And for that, we got a bona fide NBA starter. Not a single analyst I’ve found thinks differently. Put him in there with Rose, Beasely and Mayo – because that’s where he belongs.
When Mac said he stayed up all night diagramming plays after first seeing him play in China – he wasn’t kidding.
I also remember KP, unable to contain his enthusiasm, indicating that Rudy could well start, and then backing off a little.
They knew. All of them. The NBA Olympic team, Mac and KP. Now, everyone else is finding out.
What amazes me is how every other team and every other scout over-looked him. His production per minutes played is better hands down than Rose, Mayo or Beaseley. It looks to me like it’s only a matter of time before he duplicates his Europeon numbers of 20 ppg.
Which is why ESPN has him at the top of the rookie heap.
What fun watching this team. I know we like to micromanage, critisize, and the like. I can’t help but wonder where we’ll be in another 25 games when Webster and Oden are back, in shape, and contributing.
Easy
In 25 games, we’ll be at home against New Orleans on January 2nd.
That’s me, always helpful.
We’ll win at least 14 of those 25, and then be ready to roll in January/February.
The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.
Nice post
And agreed about how annoying Nate’s comment was. Maybe he wants to keep Rudy from getting a big head. But that was ridiculous.
As I posted towards the top of this tread, at least one of those two turnovers wasn’t even Rudy’s fault. He threaded the needle between a defenders’ legs in leading GO as he cut towards the hoop. But GO, thinking he was too well-covered, slowed down.
Rudy will make plenty of mistakes. But last night, he played a practically perfect game of basketball. I don’t think it would kill Nate to acknowledge that!
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
I dont see the problem with Nate's comment
Here it is
Learning. Getting better. Still learning the game. A very talented player, but still learning the NBA game. Early, he had a couple turnovers trying to do some things a little too fast. But you know, he made some big shots, some big plays. I think the more time he spends on the floor and learns what we want to do he will be a really good player.’’
He calls him a very talented player learning the NBA game. He calls plays for him, and gives him big minutes. Sometimes he plays too fast, which I agree with. Nate also says he made some big shot and big plays. With more experience he will be a really good player.
What is wrong with what he said? or how he is using him. All of the anger over this is bafflilng.
This is Jack burton from the PorkChop Express and I'm talkin to whoever's out there.....
Rudy
But last night, he played a practically perfect game of basketball. I don’t think it would kill Nate to acknowledge that!
Rudy – the Mary Poppins of the Portland Trail Blazers (“practially perfect in every way!”
Oden???
Oden has a long way to go…he has no spring in his step and looks very sluggish and awkward…..
Hope he is only an out of shape 20 and not actually an in shape 40….Can anyone verify his birth records? or….He may have one of those rare genetic dis-orders, where he ages rapidly?…..kinda like dog years vs people years …. (Nah, that would make him 140….and he would have gray hair…..)
Hope he turns into a ball player soon (yup. we all agree he’s a presence and maybe even a force)…..but , we can also agree, he ain’t getting any younger
Well...
if the Blazers can now just go 5-3 10 more times… they’ll be 50-30 and going to the playoffs!!!
And that’s after playing the hardest part of the schedule!!!!!
"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"
by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Nov 13, 2008 2:17 PM PST reply actions
Did anybody else think that Trout would never be blocked on his jumper?
Props to Wade.
"Brandon Roy is your favorite restaurant" - Dave
Batum has blocked Trout's jumper a few times
During practice, obviously.
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