Not to look past the kicks and wizards, but the Celtics game is the true test.

New York and Washington must be put away… Portland can’t relax against these teams… each can creep up..

Ben – Can you explain your 1st paragraph? I read it and assume Dave’s TV was stolen???

in the starting line-up?

What about late in games?

Batum’s defense seems more legit… maybe the new martell will show us something we haven’t seen

" Batum is HOT"

:(

the blazers will still have to play hard to win, i dont want to see embarassing losses.

but yea the celtics will be the true test, if we can beat knicks/wiz we guarantee ourselves a winning road trip and we can give it 110% against the celts. remember last year we were the hottest team in the NBA and we lost in boston, lets have some revenge.

big game for league rep…detroit is in that upper cluster, and there was no reason for them to have lost except to be outplayed. They were, pretty much player for player. In particular I thought LMA came of age in figuring out he’s a big, at Sheed’s expense. On the down side, despite some good points I think this is the game where KP decides Outlaw may be expendable for the right price. Otherwise he’ll be fighting Frye for precious minutes after Batum and Martell’s.

I love what Ben and Dave add to the game, but this is turning into a special season and a rebirth of Rip City in Oregon, and I don’t want to let it slip by uncommented (by me). So I’m starting to follow them a bit more closely at Loaded O. Add your thoughts any time, accounts are like here, free. Why I think this was a statement game, over at LoadedO

(not to drive traffic away; this is still the first place for the Blazers fix!)

When are you going to start doing Media Row Reports for away games? Come on, The Oregonian sends like twenty reporters to a single football game, and isn’t the print media supposed to be dying off right now?

He’s actually got a good run in transition vs lumbering about to trip and fall face-first onto the floor run.

but apparently something messed with Dave’s reality and he got you to stand in for him.

Way to step up and knock down the three! This game was awesome from start to finish. Oh, I know there were a few nervous moments when the Blazers went temporarily cold but Detroit could not capitalize.

The best part of all 3rd seed! I guarantee that there was not one person in the whole world that would have placed us this high at this point in the season. Not even the biggest homer here at BEdge would have come up with this and really meant it.

They say if it sounds too good to be true it usually is…

Well this ain’t usually! Whoo Hooo!

I think he is too used to just easily wristing his dunks in the hoop with his long arms that it got blase’ to him and took it a little too lightly. its ok though. Greg got a free Reb and was fouled and made 2 FTs lol.

Big statement to the league. Way, way ahead of schedule to knock off New Orleans and then take down Deee-troit Basketball at the Palace. And the blowouts against Chicago and Miami are looking better and better after both those teams notched nice road wins in the last couple days.

Loved LMA’s game tonight. Took open jumpers when they were there within the flow, and went hard inside (right at Sheed!) when the opportunities were there. This was a huge game for him, and not just statistically. His confidence should and will continue to rise.

On league pass, even Detroit’s announcers were saying Batum is a mirror-image of Tayshaun. At 18 years old, coming from the opposition, that is VERY high praise. Assuming Martell comes back fully healthy, his injury and the resulting opportunity for Nic may (amazingly) turn out to be one of the big breaks of the season.

Greg played well. That’s exactly what the Blazers need from him right now. Don’t force the issue in the post. Kick in, kick out, keep it moving. Ben, you think commentators somehow see a comparison with Kwame? Basically what they have in common is that they were both number one picks at C, and neither one has put up a 30/20 game yet. Only one is among the lead leaders in PER at the position even though he’s coming off microfracture. (I know we’re on the same side here and that YOU weren’t making the comparison – but even the suggestion fired me up a little!)

What more can be said about B-Roy. He’s just sick. There is nobody in the league icier down the stretch. It really does seem like the only reason he doesn’t score 40 is by choice.

Second unit was the one not so bright spot, but they can’t dominate every night. Seems like the past couple games those guys have played better when incorporated piecemeal with the starters, rather than straight up line changes. It will be interesting to see if that continues.

“that was the best win of the season!” But for me, this win really was the best. Detroit is the most defensively aggressive team in the league at home, and they hit us hard. Pressing our perimeter players relentlessly. But still we weathered the storm and even flourished under the pressure. We haven’t seen a defense that tough yet and still be able to control the game. It was beautiful basketball. Kudos to our bigs for stepping up to Detroit’s ridiculous board crashing, and obviously the Natural for being dependably amazing…again.

what he did Today. The team follows Roy’s lead, hitting the big shots they need to make for us to be truly competitive.

… a week ago we had all sorts of people talking about how messed up Portland was. How Oden will not live up to being the top pick, how Aldridge is too soft, etc, etc. And that was after a win.

Now, three games later, we still see people trying to argue that Portland still needs to trade for players, in order to get better. Better than what?

The high point of my Thanksgiving holiday was easily getting to see three Blazers games on TV. Working up here in Seattle, I don’t have that luxury most of the time. And guess what? They not only won all three, they did so by double digit margins. Against two playoff teams from last season and against a team they had earlier lost to.

When are some of the fans here going to get it? This team doesn’t need a point guard. This team doesn’t need a SF. It doesn’t need a low post banger at PF. It doesn’t need a shutdown perimeter defender, an instant offense guy off the bench. It doesn’t need some wiley veteran to steady it. It most certainly doesn’t need a new coach. It does not “need” a damn thing, other than to have fans who appreciate it. Most do.

It would be so nice to start seeing people notice that the Blazers came out three games in a row and won the first quarter. In fact they did more than that. They pretty much blew the doors off their opponents. Does anyone understand what that does? Even when the other guy makes their runs to bring the score closer, Portland has given itself that cushion that almost ensures it can’t lose without quiting on the game. More than anything else – with the possible exception of Batum’s play (ok, and Sergio’s improvement) – watching how Portland came out to start the last three games is the most impressive and encouraging sight I’ve seen this season. Western Conference teams should be afraid. Very afraid. Portland is yet to start hitting regularly on all cylinders and they already have the 3rd best recond in the west.

I wouldn’t put to much stock in beating the Pistons at this point. They are obviously still trying to find out how to fit Iverson into their rotation, and have not exactly been setting the world on fire with their post-Billups record (6-6).

Additionally, and this is just as a fan speaking so please don’t pile on me, I thought some of the matchup decisions were a little questionable. Leaving Oden or Joel to guard Wallace like we did in the second half plays right into his hands. Sheed loves camping on the outside, so it draws our best interior defender to the outside opening up the lane. At the point I’m talking about Aldridge was taking a breather, so I would have expected Frye to be on the floor as a big who can defend the perimeter. Instead Sheed drilled a few treys, and Rodney Stuckey drove to the hoop – thank goodness it wasn’t AI doing that or he might have FINALLY got a fire lit under him and taken over the game.

I think the Blazers are the better team. I think the Blazers DESERVED to win. But a few things just disturbed me. Especially Rudy and Sergio both making some bad turnovers early.

But enough negativity! That was STILL a good win, on the road, against a quality team. And we Blazers fans have got a LOT go look forward to!!!