Nic Batum had 3 rebounds and 2 assists but missed both of his shots in 14 minutes. He did help keep Andrea Bagnani quiet though.

Just last month he was busy keeping Tony Parker quiet. This dude can seriously guard 1-5. Love it.

he’s alive!

people were getting worried!!!

I’ve often thought Blake and Paxon play a similar game.

no blazers practice tomorrow.

there will be a shootaround tuesday morning.

looks like they earned a day off after the great road trip.

We’re 7-1.

The east is currently winning the season series which hasn’t happened in a while.

15-7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

came out earlier this eve, if anyone is interested

LaMarcus and Oden really stepped forward with their offensive intensity down low today. I really think they tried to be bullies underneath to show the Celtics they were tough, but sort of forgot the point of being tough was making shots and then drawing defense for your perimeter guys. Today they intimidated with their play, not with their bravado. Greg favors dunking on Bosh’s head, is what he favors! And LMA schooled Bosh a couple times as well, plus kept him from going wild on offense and helped out with O’Neal (some). It was really the finding of the short-to-mid range turnaround for LaMarcus that made him so effective tonight. When that’s off, feh.

Live I thought he got away with a blatant push, but on the replay there actually isn’t too much of a shove. Calderon just kind of got off balance, and Blake helped the cause ever so slightly. Good no call.

The Blazers were tired at the end of a long trip and the Raptors were inspired. That’s a difficult combo to overcome.

You certainly nailed most of the highlights, Dave. But I think you understated the role GO—in combination with LMA—played in this game. When the Blazers drafted GO, they envisioned he and LMA comprising a Robinson/ Duncan-esque twin towers combo that would dominate the paint at both ends and run the floor. Tonight I felt we saw the first real glimpse of that vision becoming reality. In particular, those two blocked or intimidated a LOT of shots tonight. They badly outplayed Toronto’s own imposing Twin Towers duo of O’Neal & Bosh. To me, that was as important—or more so—than Rudy and Blake’s heroics.

And the pivotal play of the game—in Barrett & Rice’s opinion as well as my own—was when GO shoved O’Neal under the hoop (without getting whistled), grabbed the offensive board, then dunked it in O’Neal’s face while delivering an “accidentally on purpose” elbow to Bosh’s head. In the aftermath of that play, O’Neal was holding his knee in pain and Bosh was headed to the locker room for stitches. And the momentum of the game had shifted in the Blazers’ favor.

I still feel the Blazers need a “Maxsap” off the bench. But if GO can stay out of foul trouble and play like he did versus the Raptors, a lot of the Blazers’ toughness deficit will be alleviated. He doesn’t have to slug anyone; all he has to do is play with abandon, and opposing players will get out of his way.

he seems completely engaged on the bench, not sulking. He was talking to Martell about the plays after MW’s short stint, in on the time outs, and celebrating every Blazer basket, especially the last. He seems to have a healthy ego, no matter how rough his play has been recently. I hope they keep him around.

yes Rudy secured the rebound that went to Blake, but looked like Brandon was to one who slapped it out. He missed the layup but did not give up on the play

Wow, great shot by Blake and last stop by LaMarcus! No idea why the game went so late out in Toronto, eh? But it sure was a…what? A replay?

And had to go back to the locker room/bench at least twice after he caught Greg’s elbow on his forehead.

Rip City is now the second best team in the ENTIRE WESTERN CONFERENCE!!!! I seriously doubt even the most optimistic fans would believe that they would be 15—7 at this point in the season. And to think that they are just gonna keep getting better is terrifying.
L*kers fans should enjoy this season, because I think that it will be the last time they can root for a number one seed for the next say, decade or so.

I had a feeling Toronto would finally start missing some shots and their intensity would fade. I think I was correct.

The Basketball Jones should be good tomorrow.

a championship or if it’s going to be a few years.

Right now I remember all of them equally. The Blazers only had one win to feel really good about, the Detroit game which they battled for.

The other three wins were all games where they fell way behind and just managed to survive. Of course, a good team wins close games, and wins are wins, but I’d like to see them win (or lose) by playing up to their potential, not falling behind and struggling back.

1. He played 28 minutes and he was the most active yet on rebounding and defense. I though he had more elevation while rebounding today. He had 5 offensive boards and kept several others alive. He made good decisions playing off-the-ball defense and didn’t foul every guard that made a move to the basket. He moved his feet quickly and set up correctly to draw an offensive charge (learned something from Joel).
2. He got credit for only 2 blocks but that could have been 4-5 blocks with other scorekeepers. In any event, he stopped several other baskets that weren’t credited as blocks.
3. He wasn’t huffing and puffing nearly so much as he has previously despite playing 28 tough minutes. I remember KP saying it would be the middle of Dec before Greg got his conditioning back. That’s starting to look like a pretty good estimate. It will be interesting to see where he is when Phoenix comes to town on Dec 18, after he has had a few home games and some days off to rest at home.
4. He finally showed some speed getting back to successfully contest that breakaway layup. He didn’t get credit for a block (hard to tell if it was or not on the replay) but he clearly caused the miss.
5. He got deeper offensive position on a few plays, although not all. That is some progress.
6. He continues to take the hook shot (and made one tonight). Despite his relative lack of success so far with that shot he needs to keep taking them and to perfect that shot. It is important that he sets up in a deeper position (point 5 above) for that shot.
7. He had the energy to hang in for 2nd efforts tonight. The one-handed dunk (when he nailed Bosh in the forehead) after JO blocked his first attempt was a good example.
8. He continues to make about 2 of 3 at the foul line, but I think that will improve to above 70% as his conditioning improves. He seems to miss more as he tires.

On the negative side he still reaches out instead of up too much on defense, but I think he can fix that within another 20 games or so. A good example was the nice block he had that got negated by his foul for reaching over the player first. He footwork is still atrocious (re: the traveling call he got while backing down and sometimes while trying to execute his hook shot) and although I hope he improves I’m not expecting too much this year. He still needs to learn to pick and roll (he is awful at it and it should become a bread and butter play for this team). And most importantly right now, he needs to learn to take care of the ball and not get it stripped or blocked when dunking. I think he needs to keep the ball in closer to his chest with his elbows out (and use a gentle rotation of his body to keep the Bosh’s away) and learn to make an occasional fake to get his defender in the air or at least off balance before some of those dunk attempts. He also needs to learn to use his pivot foot under the basket.

I had hoped that GO would arrive with a lot more basketball skills, but it is what it is. He can still contribute immensly to this team this year, and in time develop into one of the best centers in the league. I still hope the Blazers will hire a personal “Big Man” coach to teach him (Robinson or Hakeem would be my fantasy coaches) but perhaps they want to wait until the off season when there is less pressure on him.

Travis Outlaw played 22 minutes and hit 3-7, including 2-4 from distance, for 8 points with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. He wasn’t as far out there with his offense as he has been the past couple games but he’s still random on far too many of his self-made shots for my taste.

I was noticing on the bench during a timeout that Travis was really huffing & puffing – I’m wondering if some of his performance issues may be related to his asthma getting a bit more aggressive?

…playing 15 out of 22 on the road. This is freaking fabulous. And to finish off a 5 game road trip 4-1……this really is special.

I do hope fans realize just how well this team is performing, even though they are not even close to reaching their potential. Yeah, the Celtics blew them out. Bog deal. That just provided Nate with teachable moments, and gave the team a bunch of film to study. It was a great reminder that even though they are doing well, they have a long way to go.

It was a reality check or sorts. This is a young team that still needs a lot of growth. It WILL come…..and I still think it’s coming sooner rather than later.

In Roy I trust.

Do you believe the Refs helped us win the game? There were at least 3 fouls on BRoy on his last drive, If the refs would have called one of them and BRoy shot free throws. At most we would have tied the game. Remember BRoy isn’t as great on three throws as he is going to the rim. As it turned out we got the rebound and three pt shot made by our number 1 pt guard

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