Media Row Report: Blazers 107 Nuggets 96
by Ben Golliver on Dec 26, 2009 12:53 AM PST
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PrintAn abbreviated report tonight. For the who, what, when and why of tonight's 107-96 Portland Trail Blazers victory over the Denver Nuggets, scroll down or click here for Dave's recap.
Random Game Notes
- The Blazers' fourth quarter defense was superb as Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless and Steve Blake once again played together down the stretch. The Blazers held the Nuggets to just 20 fourth quarter points and limited JR Smith to 6-16 second half shooting and held Carmelo Anthony to 2 of 6 fourth quarter shooting. Impressive stuff, made easier by the second-half absence of point guard Chauncey Billups due to injury/precaution. Down the stretch, the Nuggets looked to shoot early in the clock and over the top of the Blazers' defense and were not rewarded. Tonight's win reminded me a bit of November's home win over San Antonio, when Tony Parker went down and the Blazers cruised to a double-digit victory. A slower start this time around but the same edge in execution on both ends of the floor when it mattered.
- It's no accident or coincidence that Brandon Roy puts on his best shows when the lights are brightest. His biggest explosion -- 52 points against the Phoenix Suns last year -- came on national television. Tonight, he had 41 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal on Christmas, the biggest non-All Star Weekend event of the NBA's regular season. After the game, Roy said it was a statement performance brought about by months of preparation. "I was focused tonight. Last year I felt like I didn't prepare this team to go into a Christmas day game. I thought we had a letdown. I took it personal all year. 'If we get another game on Christmas I'm going to make sure I'm ready.' And even today I woke up, opened presents and then I was back in my room, saying, 'hey, I've got a game tonight.' And that was my approach for the entire day. I wanted to play well tonight and I wanted this team to get a big win tonight.."
- What did Brandon Roy's son get for Christmas? "Guitars, basketball hoop, golf clubs, bunch of toys," Roy said smiling. "A bunch of toys I had to put together, I still got some work to do tonight.."
- With vet Juwan Howard playing such heavy minutes (29.5 mpg during the current four game winning streak) and rookie Jeff Pendergraph back from injury and contributing, promising rookie Dante Cunningham has played just 32 minutes total over the past 9 games, earning a DNP-CD tonight despite being one of just 10 healthy Blazers. After the game, I asked Cunningham how he's adjusting to life back on the bench. "It's just day to day, you know. You just gotta take it in stride, you really can't get down or something. I just go out there every day expecting the best, preparing for the worst." Has Nate McMillan talked to Cunningham about what he wants to see or what the rookie might need to improve? "I mean, not really," Cunningham said. "I just go out there and continue doing what I'm doing. Shooting jump shots. Everyday getting better doing something... You gotta keep that game mentality, game shape."
- LaMarcus Aldridge, the subject of scorn in some circles for his supposed lack of toughness and less-than-expected rebounding numbers, wore a shirt today that read "Seeking No Popular Applause" on the back. Interesting.
- Patty Mills, Rudy Fernandez and Greg Oden (and maybe others too?) had "Get Well Soon" signs in their lockers. Oden's had a picture of him on it with a band aid taped over his left knee. Well-intentioned, sure. But it made me wince.
- Martell Webster confirmed that he is the latest Blazer on Twitter. Here's his page. Webster plans to update his followers on his life and activities with his foundation.
Nate's Postgame Comments
Proud of the way you're playing?
No doubt. This team is playing basketball the right way. They're playing together and they're playing 48 minutes. Tonight 26 assists by these guys. You know defensively we tightened up. The weakside we ran a lot of different schemes early. We felt we wanted to just keeping Carmelo in front of us but I thought it was enough to just keep him guessing. As far as defensively what we wanted to do. We had to clean up our rebounding, they really pounded us the first half on the boards. We're much smaller without our centers. I thought our guys tonight did a good job of coming back and helping on the boards in the second half. Offensively, I thought we did a better job of moving the ball in the second half. Brandon was hot but we didn't have a lot of ball movement in that first half. We got better movement in the second half and it opened up some offense for Bayless and Blake and those guys.
Brandon's Game
He was good. He looked fresh. He was making some tough shots. He was getting to the basket. The defense started to commit and trap both he and Bayless, which opened up some opportunities for other guys. And it was just a matter of those guys giving up the ball. I thought Bayless made some mature plays late. When they tried to trap him he got it to Howard and Howard was able to make the right plays. Brandon, he wanted this game. He really did. We knew, you know, when we got back that he was going to play and he came out tonight, he was aggressive, he looked fresh, we just played off of him.
Blake
I thought he did a great job of just reading and getting to the open spot. Denver does a lot of zoning, they trap and they zone. You've got to move but you've got to move the ball also. Tonight, late in that fourth quarter, 33 point fourth quarter, you don't get that if you don't have good ball movement. I thought Bayless and Roy, those guys who were playing with the ball did a nice job of giving up the ball. Blake got himself open. When he's spreading the floor like that and knocking down his shots it just opens up our offense.
You're playing with guts, determination...
It's all of that. I think Howard has really stepped up and kind of been that veteran leadership we need. He's not allowing these guys to give in to all the adversity that we've been facing. He's playing good basketball. Our guys are feeding off of that. Bayless has stepped in and has really given us a lift. Coming off the bench as well as starting. The rest of the team is just playing good basketball. Now we're starting to see guys play up to their potential. Brandon is playing at his level. Jeff, we needed another body, a big body, he's given us some good things. Miller got off to a good start tonight. We've got guys playing well and we're going to need that. It's still a huge challenge for us. We've got this home stretch that we want to take one game at a time. We've got to come out with that type of business approach.
Did you think Howard had this much left?
We looked at him and we thought experience. We thought he would be a guy, if somebody, if we didn't need him until February, he would keep himself ready. If somebody went down late in the season he's a pro that would keep himself ready. It happened sooner and he's playing good basketball. We don't win this stretch of games if Howard is not doing what he's been doing.
You said this stretch was going to be hard. You've played well.
It was. But we got hot at the right time. We started to come together at the right time. Because those are tough teams, some of the toughest teams in the league, and we've been able to win this stretch of games. But again it's still early, it's a lot of basketball to be played and our guys, we just keep doing what we're doing. Guys stepping up and playing.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
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This just serves as further proof that brandon is a selfish person in giving us this christmas win on national tv while injured.
by tevisthe4th on Dec 26, 2009 1:10 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
=P Way to troll, bro
This means Brandon knows when to put the team on his back and dominate. When the lights are on bright, NOBODY outplays Brandon Roy
Brandon Roy - The Savior Of Portland Basketball
by rise_stand_resist on Dec 26, 2009 10:24 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Pendy looks good
With the toughness he is showing he could end up being that extra inside player we seem to be looking everywhere for….and to think he was on the roster the whole time albeit he was hurt. KP could be coming through yet again.
I thought so too
Really important to have someone like that against that physical Denver front line.
by Chadillac5000 on Dec 26, 2009 1:42 AM PST up reply actions
No question, Paragraph made a statement tonight.
That was like a poem
It was beautiful, man.
#52 by Mortimer on Dec 17, 2009 10:35 PM PST
He indented them
OK...so girls in movies where guys wear hockey masks have a better survival rate than the average Blazer player. - Dave
KP
All I can say is wow…. I Like Cunningham and Pendegraph. But, Look at the guys he has goten. Bayless in a draft day trade. How he got Webster, Aldridge… Everytime I think I have my mind wrapped around how good f a job he has done, something else simply wows me
by Hermistonmelons on Dec 26, 2009 7:12 AM PST up reply actions
Don't think KP drafted Webster (or even lobbied for him)
KP wasn’t responsible for Webster (I believe he lobbied for CP3 or Deron. W.) – he wasn’t the GM or the de facto GM at the time….
by blacknoiseNW on Dec 26, 2009 10:36 AM PST up reply actions
Has Dwight Jaynes already suggested to trade Cunningham because he could quickly get dissatisfied with his reduced role?
I mean, he could start on some teams…
Dwight Janes is an idiot
Hmmm..Dwight, notice how your phone has not been ringing as far as someone looking for a BBal General Manager? All this “He won’t get minutes and willbe disgruntled talk” I thought would of been put to rest with our injuries. Depth is important.
Cunningham was playing a lot early. Houston game he comes outwith a huge Bandage over his right eye and doesn’t hit shots. I have never heard what the Bandage was about, but he hasnot been hitting shots since. As thin as we are at SF, he would be getting playing time if he could contribute right now
by Hermistonmelons on Dec 26, 2009 7:15 AM PST up reply actions
The band-aid was because he and Webster collided in practice.
He had to have quite a few stitches.
IMO, the reason Dante is not playing is because Nate is playing the 3 guard line-up to give JBay playing time and keep BRoy in the game. The both of them has been a scoring duo, therefore I wouldn’t look for a change soon.
I would like to see JBay and BRoy play together without the 3 guard line up to see how that would work out. Dante could play the three then.
hg
Thanks
It’s the first I had heard. I know he hasn’t hit many shot in limited time since.
I agree on Brandon and Rex with various combinations. It would be entertaining. Hmmm… I also would think throw a few chances with Fernandez, Roy and Bayless
by Hermistonmelons on Dec 26, 2009 6:33 PM PST up reply actions
Dante could play the three
Cunningham is not ready to defend SFs on the perimeter. The Blazers see Dante as an undersized 4 o play in a small lineup. Take away Greg/Joel, and now DC is less valuable
It’s Pendy’s time to shine right now, because his bulk is needed. DC will eventually become the more-valuable player of the two rooks, but neither guy will beat out LMA and/or Batum and become a starter for Portland
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I see Cunningham as a replacement Outlaw...
undersized PF that can create mismatches with his athleticism/outside shooting.
I see Pendergraph as a replacement Przybilla…defensive banger/rebounder (if a little undersized).
Let's do it for the big men!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
I agree re: Dante-Travis
But I hope Joel never needs to be “replaced” unless he’s hurt or until he retires
Pendergraph can bang like Przy, but he’s never going to alter shots like JP01
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I'm so proud to be a blazer fan right now. This team is playing phenomenally given the situation.
"Rudy is not everyday a shooter," Fernandez said. "He's defense. He's passes. He's assists."
I am in utter disbelief. This was a fantastic win.
Everything about this game made me happy. What a Christmas present. Thank you Blazers!!
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
great win!!!
Fun to watch Roy play his game. Bayless plays great off of him and blake hits his shots. If that was consistent we would have a great shot. Great play all around, everybody gave great effort. All athletes know what ‘gut check’ means and i really think this team gets it. Play On.
Billups out for 2nd half
that hurt. But by no means should we downplay this victory a bit because nobody is more deserved to use injury excuse than the Blazers right now.
by iverigma2 on Dec 26, 2009 3:02 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Santa Roy
This christmas Santa was played by a 6’6 All – Star from the University of Washington. He outshined Kobe & Labron. He brought jubilation to the locals and showed the nation that this is his house!!!
Thank you Santa!!
"With the first pick of the 2007 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select: Greg Oden from Ohio State University"
by nuggz503 on Dec 26, 2009 5:17 AM PST via mobile reply actions
All I could say after the Spurs game was WOW. Now all I can say is UNBELIEVEABLE.
It was said earlier that it doesn’t really matter who the role players are as long as we keep the core of LMA, BRoy and at that time Greg together. When BRoy had to sit out a game and LMA had to sit the first half with foul trouble and JBay took over that seemed to change the identity of the team once more. That seemed to take pressure off Andre, Martell and Steve to have to score big numbers to make up for Rudy and Travis. Whether that was it or not all three of them are playing much better team ball.
What else can you say about Pendy and Howie? They are not Joel and Greg, but they sure working their tails off trying to fill the hole that they left. They bring the same toughness that we got from Joel, and although they can’t block shots as good or rebound as good, they can make their presence felt on the inside.
I think once Pendy gets the feel of playing, he will start getting more put backs and even some post ups.
It can’t be said that the big change is BRoy, because we won big time with him on the bench. In fact, like the Boston game last year, we seem to play better as a team with him on the bench because the rest of the role players can’t sit back and let him pack the team.
It has seemed to me last year and this year it was either BRoy played great or the rest of the team played good, very few times did both happen at the same time until about the last eight games of regular season last year. It seems as though that is starting to happen again this year only much earlier.
We can look at last year’s season as a whole and say it was a darn good year. But we had good and bad times last year also.
A great win last night
hg
once Pendy gets the feel of playing, he will start getting more put backs and even some post ups.
Put backs, yes. But Jeffs back-to-the-basket game is mechanical and he doesn’t have the kind of explosion that will prevent his shot from being blocked. (Here’s hoping he can finish better than Ike Diogu, at least…) Face up jumpers from 5-15 feet, with his slow-loading “lean back” release. Pendergraph’s best chance at scoring is to get the ball when he’s wide open, let’s put it this way…he’s more of a threat than Przybilla, at least when he’s more than 3 feet from the rim
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
another awesome win
as far as LMA, um you keep claiming you want to be an All Star, so you better start worrying about what fans think of you.
to jscot, I didn’t even have to jinx this one
Blazer Fan
Ill take 13 boards form LMA over 20 points any night...
I thought he played well.
by OmoriumVerum on Dec 26, 2009 7:22 PM PST up reply actions
Fantastic win to watch
I was not expecting a win.
Birdman is a #$#$ he puffed up his feathers after a block and taunted the crowd for a couple of seconds. I think i actually like him. Yeah, he’s dirty #$#$ but he’s into the game and CARES. He thrives off the negative energy from the crowd. The blazers could really use a player like him… but dear god the hair…
In regards to aldridge. I was a staunch defender of him, but I get tired of him not making efforts on defense. I’m not looking for stops, just effort. Multiple times a player he was guarding went to shoot the ball… Aldridge would raise his arm with elbow bent. When the shot went off, instead of RAISING the hand and straigthening the elbow to attempt a block… he LOWERED his arm altogether. Like playground ball when you know the other person doesn’t really care about defense because they’re tired, or just want to get back down to score. I know he does good things for the team, but that REALLY bothered me. It was a continuation of what I saw out of him the last time I was in town, except that had him starting to run to defend a guy and then deciding he was to far away to run to and just sort of stopping/walking over.
Aldridge could be a star, but for whatever reason he doesn’t pick up that intensity. The scoring doesn’t bother me. He was playing a different roll tonight, but that lack of defense/effort does. It’s those little things that make the difference in big games and it’s the habits you learn and you play with that determine how you play in big games.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
Overall though
I thought the rest of the blazers played with heart and effort and that was a HUGE improvement over the last time I was in town and watched the Griz have their way with us. That disgust has been cleansed by the wonderfulness of this win.
I don’t hate aldridge… but I really want someone to talk to him about effort. Dude needs to show up 48 minutes on both ends of the court.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
13 rebounds sounds a little like effort to me
jus sayin’
" Welcome to the Bedge....where good, is never good enough"…Rudiculous
by 92wastheyear on Dec 26, 2009 9:10 AM PST up reply actions
12 of them were defensive rebounds too
" Welcome to the Bedge....where good, is never good enough"…Rudiculous
by 92wastheyear on Dec 26, 2009 9:10 AM PST up reply actions
good point
but those simple little things still matter to me and seeing it up close and smelling thatt armpit and then NOT have him swing to make up for that offensive odor… grrr…
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
I like rooting against Birdman
but I have to admit – I have to give him some credit for making it fun
by blacknoiseNW on Dec 26, 2009 10:39 AM PST up reply actions
I saw a sign with his picture that said
“Merry Christmas….freak”
" Welcome to the Bedge....where good, is never good enough"…Rudiculous
by 92wastheyear on Dec 26, 2009 10:41 AM PST up reply actions
Not many have the charisma to be "fun to hate"
but Birdman definitely has his niche….
by blacknoiseNW on Dec 26, 2009 10:44 AM PST up reply actions
Indeed
I don’t like calling people freaks mostly…but the dichotomy of the Merry Christmas and the insult struck me as funny
" Welcome to the Bedge....where good, is never good enough"…Rudiculous
by 92wastheyear on Dec 26, 2009 11:16 AM PST up reply actions
Being a "freak" is part of his game
He obviously intentionally plays it up.
#52
exactly
I definitely respect him as I hate him and perversely like him.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
he had a sweet stat line
0 FG attempts, 0 points, 5 blocks, 20-something minutes.
He was fun to root against. haha.
Aldridge played 42 minutes last night
and with Pendy and Howard basically shut down Nene and held Martin to an average game. Aldridge didn’t get many looks simply because Roy was all world (playing 45 minutes). 13 rebounds, also. This is another typical ‘find someone to hate on even though we won’ post…
Let's do it for the big men!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
thanks for brushing me off
obviously what i say has no merit and aldridge is really a defensive god.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
It wasn't a brush off.
Aldridge plays great on ball defense. Opposing players don’t get around him too often and have to shoot over him which is exactly what I’d rather see since most bigs don’t have the outside shot that Aldridge has. He slaps a lot of balls away and he also gets a lot of deflections on passes in his vicinity. He doesn’t foul out of games and rarely gets in foul trouble. I would say his only defensive weakness is in shot blocking and defensive rebounding. He gets a few blocks but not Oden-esque by any means. He is getting much better at defensive rebounding since Oden and Przy went down.
Your comment focused on his defensive effort which was really a comment about how he closes out on a shooter and interpreting it as lazy then shifted to cutting on his intensity and effort in general. I disagree with you and in the context of what Dave mentioned regarding the X-mas day game in his preview, you still found it OK to slam a guy with no real merit behind it.
Let's do it for the big men!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
This is some rose glasses.
Aldridge’s length lets him bother shooters but he’s not particularly good in the post. Synergy numbers back this up, as Ben wrote a while ago.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
He's on the mark though.
What is it with the love for players on other teams and the constant fault finding of our own guys?
You would prefer Chris Anderson to LaMArcus Aldridge? I’m betting Mark Warkienstein (sp?) is wishing you and not KP were GM of the Blazers right now.
It is no wonder that LA is wearing that t-shirt.
hakkaa päälle !
Birdman is easy to negate
Take the ball at him and let him get a couple blocks early. The rest of the game he’ll go crazy looking for blocks, and forget all about blocking out on the boards. One rebound against a team without a center.
And he’ll mug for the crowd when his team could have had a five on four break.
He may not be in the kind of trouble he used to be (thankfully, and good for him), but he’s still a head case.
#52
Aldridge does not need to score a lot when Roy, Bayless, Miller, Blake, Martell, and Howard are all contributing
the way they were the against Denver. As for rebounding = 13. As for defense, their bigs did not kill us.
Aldridge’s responsibilities have changed somewhat since Greg and Joel went out. And I think he has done a great job with it. Could he play better, yes. But his effort level is still pretty good right now. Our effort level in general is better than it has been in a long time. It is just great to see. Maybe more of it will wear off on LMA.
#52
The blazers could really use a player like him
That was one of the reasons why I advocated making a deal for Jeff Foster, during the offseason. Foster isn’t a shotblocker like Anderson, but he definitely has the ability to “get under the skin” of his opponents
Most of LMA’s blocks come when the opponent is bringing the ball up into the shooting motion, (below the neck area) similar to Karl Malone. Aldridge has very good hand-eye coordination and isn’t afraid of jamming his fingers when slapping at the ball
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Aldridge has been working hard all things considered
But with everybody playing the way they are LMA doesn’t really need to explode and have a career game.
Brandon Roy - The Savior Of Portland Basketball
by rise_stand_resist on Dec 26, 2009 10:27 AM PST reply actions
the offense is more guard-dominated than traditionally for the Blazers
but I like that they take what the defense gives – and the defense isn’t going to give Aldridge a lot of good shots in the middle. He is going to have to play off the guards. He took a few too many long J’s, tonight – but the guards also found him at the rim a few times.
by blacknoiseNW on Dec 26, 2009 10:42 AM PST up reply actions
one thing I'd like to see him do more of though is to make a quick move
when LMA catches the ball on the block, he pretty much always waits for the double team to come, then makes the efficient, if predictable, pass back out of it. And they are pretty much always doubling him, which makes sense.
What I’d like to see him do at least sometimes is to make a quick move to the basket as soon as he makes the catch, rather than just holding the ball and waiting for the double team. Gotta mix it up a bit.
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
I would agree with this
" Welcome to the Bedge....where good, is never good enough"…Rudiculous
by 92wastheyear on Dec 26, 2009 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
For whatever reason, the guard always runs off of him after passing it to him.
He has to wait for the 2nd defender to clear before making his move. That’s why you see that hesitation.
I’d like to see him set up deeper in the post. He tends to post up in the 8-12 ft range instead of on the block.
I also like his up and under move when he does get it on the block. Almost unstoppable…unless they call a weak offensive foul on him like last night.
Let's do it for the big men!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
makes the efficient, if predictable, pass back out of it.
I remember reading a stats-based post which said that LMA’s passes out of a double-team rarely led to made baskets (this contrasted with Oden, who is already a better ball distributer when doubled) Since reading the criticism of LMA’s passing skill, I have noticed he rarely looks over the defense and finds the player who’s man has “left” him to double down on LMA. Aldridge almost always tries to pass the ball “back out” to the player on the perimeter who threw him the entry pass. This creates nothing but a loss of shot clock
LMA has got some work to do, to become a multiple-threat post presense. The good news is, he has no “competition” on the Blazer’s roster (unless Miller/Roy are posting up smaller guards…) so LMA should get plenty of in-game “practice” during the remainder of the season
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I like the zone defense we play too
Even though we were sort of forced to play zone our guys seem very comfortable doing it. We’re forcing a lot more missed shots and turnovers with our zone than we ever did with man-to-man.
Brandon Roy - The Savior Of Portland Basketball
by rise_stand_resist on Dec 26, 2009 12:38 PM PST up reply actions
Even with all of the injuries
This season has been one of the most enjoyable to watch to this point. This team is doing things the right way and playing with guts and determination. I love these guys.
quite the impressive win streak that I didn't see coming
The Blazers are 7-3 in their last ten, picking up two games on Denver, now. They are 8-4 starting with the H@#$%on game, with 8 of those twelve games on the road – and hard road games at that.
1) Houston – W
2) @ NY – L (not so bad in retrospect, eh?)
3) @ Indiana – W
4) @ Cleveland – L
5) @ Milwaukie – L (in OT)
6) Sacramento – W
7) Phoenix – W
8) @ Orlando – L
9) @ Miami – W
10) @ Dallas – W
11) @ SA – W
12) Denver – W
There isn’t a “gimme” in that entire list. Even Indiana would have a winning record at home but for the Blazer loss. Sacramento is no gimme win, these days.
Not a lot of teams can win 67% of their games in a stretch like that – under any circumstances.
If you would have told me we'd be 20-12 right now
I’d take it, with the injuries its simply remarkable.
"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely
I predicted 23-9 at this point
but I didn’t predict all the injuries. I am very pleased with what they have been able to do despite all the injuries. – Elgin
OK...so girls in movies where guys wear hockey masks have a better survival rate than the average Blazer player. - Dave
the NY loss was still bad
not necessarily because we lost, but because we didn’t show up really.
I remember right befor the Phoenix game, people were saying we would be lucky to win 2 of our next 6 – and many thought 0 was a real possibility. Honestly, did anyone see 5-1 happening?
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
I'm not even sure this team did
Even had Pryz remained healthy.
"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely
I didn't
Once again Portland pleasantly surprises me
Brandon Roy - The Savior Of Portland Basketball
by rise_stand_resist on Dec 26, 2009 12:47 PM PST up reply actions
nobody saw this coming
that’s what makes sports so cool, and betting on the NBA a fool’s errand
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
No kidding about Sacramento
The Kings have come alive these days because Westphal is doing the Nate McMillan move — BENCH BENCH BENCH.
Brandon Roy - The Savior Of Portland Basketball
by rise_stand_resist on Dec 26, 2009 12:37 PM PST up reply actions
The next stretch is similar in difficulty.
Lets hope they can keep up their overacheiving.
Keep the faith.
This is true.
And I hope that the home crowd will pull in more wins than the eventual emotional letdown will lose us.
Keep the faith.
The next stretch isn't anywhere near as difficult
The next five games are against teams with losing records. Four of those are at home.
Memphis could be difficult, they are playing well, and they have enough size to really trouble us. But the first three, especially, we should win.
#52
"made easier by Billups' absence"...are you serious?
Ben – I admit that your statement is factual and legitimate but considering the MASH unit on the Blazers’ bench (or behind it rather) is that really even worth mentioning? Come on.
Billups certainly would have given us problems
But he always has. I don’t think the outcome would be any different though.
Brandon Roy - The Savior Of Portland Basketball
by rise_stand_resist on Dec 26, 2009 12:36 PM PST up reply actions
Denver kind of reminds me of us last year
Awesome at home, absolutely horrid on the road. Except for their win against us the first week of the year, the Nugs don’t have a single good road win.
"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely
They also won at San Antonio
which this year doesn’t count as a great performance, but most teams would consider it a good road win.
#52
I agree! Less is definitely more with this young team.
LMA is totally focused and knows what to do: EVERY LITTLE THING.
Blake is no longer expected to start, run the team, and prove himself every game. He’s got a specific, important, role and is thriving in that role.
J-Bay has his opportunity with Outlaw and Rudy out and is showing why he is one of the Blazers’ top 3 guards AND 6th man of the future. He is BALLIN, and making good decisions.
Andre has his first and 3rd quarters, plus more down the stretch if the game warrants. He knows by now what Nate wants to see and he’s been excellent lately. Andre hasn’t said “peep” this year—-he’s been a total pro. He and Juwan have obviously been a nice yin and yang for how professional vets handle themselves—-each with a different personality but both ready to play and make their teammates better.
and Nate’s calm demeanor has totally payed off. These guys are playing as clutch during this stretch as any Blazer team has in quite a while. If they keep this up Nate has GOT to get some coach of the year run. I would laugh and enjoy reading all of the angry comments on here if that happens. HEHE.
I'm just not crazy about player nick names...
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Dec 27, 2009 8:51 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
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