Game 56 Recap: Blazers 94, Rockets 98
by Dave on Feb 24, 2009 10:28 PM PST
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If Portland's game had been any streakier tonight two cops would have chased it all over the field, thrown a blanket over it, and then hauled it off to spend a night in the hoosegow.
The Blazers started off the game in fine form with some good passing, screening, and scoring inside and out. We didn't let the fact that our jumpers were falling deter us from working the paint game. Brandon Roy in particular displayed the full 31 flavors of scoring plus he came out with all kinds of energy and drive. Halfway through the first period we were up 15-7 and looking fine. The only fly in the ointment came from whistles blown against us. Less than 5 minutes into the game every frontcourt player had one and Lamarcus had to sit with two. That left holes in the big man defense which Houston was quick to exploit. The Rockets sprinted into the lead until they, themselves were dealt a devastating blow with Yao Ming collecting his second personal with 3:16 left in the quarter. Portland is even now, right? In fact better than even because the Rockets need Yao more than we need Lamarcus and because our second unit is so mighty. WRONG! The Rockets' new lineup of Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola, Ron Artest, Von Wafer, and Avery Brooks proceeded to destroy us. They went on an 11-4 run in the final three minutes of the quarter while the Blazers just went limp.
The second quarter wasn't that much better as Portland struggled shooting and couldn't corral any offensive rebounds to make up for it. At least they didn't let the Rockets score over 30 again like in the first quarter. This time it was 29 and Portland went into the locker room down 17.
Game over, right? WRONG!
The Blazers finally decided to play some defense in the third quarter. They started by packing guys inside, denying the close shot, and gang-tackling underneath the boards. It was plenty effective as Houston never got on track and only managed 18 in the quarter. Meanwhile the Blazer offense went on another streak which we'll just simplify and call "The Batum". Starting at the nine-minute mark of the third and continuing for the next six minutes and change, peppered by the occasional Roy or Aldridge bucket, you saw:
Nic for three
Nic for three again
Nic dunks off a feed from Blake
Nic with the hat trick treyfecta
Nic lays it in...AND ONE!
Nic hits the free throw
Sick, Nic. Sick.
All of a sudden with two minutes left or so in the third Portland is back within 5. This is going to be a close fight from here on, right? WRONG! Yao Ming and Ron Artest take over the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth and Portland is down 14 again despite the French heroics.
So...8 minutes left, down 14, this game is really over now, right? WRONG! Back comes the defense. Back comes the rebounding. Roy, Aldridge...Roy, Aldridge...Outlaw, Outlaw, OUTLAW! A little under three minutes left, Portland down 3. The Houston crowd is getting nervous.
Who will take it down the stretch? Portland has the momentum. Portland has the quickness. Portland wins a ton of close games. It's got to be the Blazers, right? Perhaps with another miracle shot from Roy? Right? Right? WRONG!
Jumper...jumper...hey guys, you know this isn't the first quarter, right? WRONG! Jumper...couple of token layups during the foul shot parade...game over. Houston wins by 4.
The Blazers shot as well as the Rockets tonight. They shot as many free throws. They could have used another three-pointer but that didn't kill them. The turnovers were about equal. The back-breaker was Portland's inability to get offensive rebounds. Without those second-chance points and the resultant ability to score even when we weren't hitting we just couldn't produce enough points. That's no real surprise against Houston, though. Also the assists were way down tonight as we depended on individual heroics. That had a lot to do with Houston's defense too. The Blazers can with on individual efforts but they do win when the offense is more fluid. The lack of bench production from everybody but Travis didn't help.
Individual Observations
--Brandon Roy was all over the place tonight. This was as intense of a game as I've seen from him in a long time. He shot early and often but he was also scrapping for rebounds and poking at loose balls. And all of this happened pretty much from Moment One. I suspect we'll need more of that in the coming weeks. The Blazers need more hot starts like this. 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists.
--Lamarcus drew 10 foul shots which was fantastic. The Rockets had a hard time solving him. He and the rest of the Blazers also had a hard time solving Luis Scola though. 8 rebounds was OK. 2 blocks was great. 21 points was just what the doctor ordered. But those 5 fouls kept him from scoring the 25 we really needed.
--Steve Blake played 40 minutes and tallied 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He had trouble staying in front of Aaron Brooks. If that were a crime half the point guards in the league would be in jail though. He was playing as hard as Roy.
--Nicolas Batum's scoring stretch was one of the clear highlights of the night. He ended up with 14 points on 6 shots, going 3-3 from three-point range. He was just overmatched against Ron Artest, but that's to be expected at this stage. I'll be glad when Artest isn't a Rocket anymore.
--Joe Przybilla had 8 rebounds in 30 minutes but this wasn't going to be a game where one guy alone could do it underneath the boards. He did all he could against Yao and it was effective enough. The big guy didn't beat us, which was one of the reasons we were able to get close. Joel did the best defensive job against his counterpart of any Blazer.
--Travis Outlaw came off the bench and shot 7-14, mostly on "Travis Shots". It's hard to complain when 50% of them go in though. He added only 3 rebounds in 27 minutes and he couldn't help much with the opposing forwards either. Still, we wouldn't have been close without him. 15 points (but no free throws, which is the other drawback to "Travis Shots").
--Rudy Fernandez had a tough night, missing shots he usually hits and taking shots he usually passes up. He hit 2 of 6 for 4 points in 16 minutes.
--Channing Frye got into the game when Lamarcus had to sit because of fouls. He got to guard Yao Ming for a while and even though he fronted him bravely he really didn't have much of a chance with the size disparity. 3 fouls and 1 rebounds in 9 minutes.
--Shavlik Randolph also saw some meaningful minutes (albeit only 4 of them) and continued to impress with his hustle rebounding. He had 3 boards, 1 block, and 1 foul.
--Nate wasn't into playing back-up point guards tonight.
Final Thoughts
It's no surprise we lost. The Rockets are older, bigger, and have some near unstoppable talent. It may have been surprising we got it that close. The gap between these teams right now isn't huge and Houston is a full-on rooster while Portland's still poking its way out of the egg.
One take-away point here for the Blazers is that, drama aside, it's a lot easier to get those extra points with a little extra work and concentration in the second and third quarters than it is to make all of them up at the end like that.
Check out the Houston reaction at TheDreamShake
Check your Jersey Contest scores and enter tomorrow's game here.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
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Frikin Rocket fans...
Piss me off…
The Kings have the best bench I’ve seen. There are easily 14 guys on this team good enough for every bench in the league. Now if we could only get some starters, I’d totally jizz in my pants.
Kings fan
Dave, one thing that interests me is that you never note when Brandon and LMA have inefficient shooting games
For today’s game, Roy had a true shooting percentage of .485 (he’s at .573 for the season) and Aldridge’s TS% for tonight was .449 (he’s at .527 for the season). Now, I missed the game so I don’t know how much of this was Houston’s D and how much was Roy and LMA just missing shots— my guess is that the Rockets D had a lot to do with it because Battier, Artest and Scola are really good— but it strikes me as a pretty important game story when your two main scorers have very inefficient shooting games— doesn’t mean they played badly or took bad shots necessarily but its a huge factor as far as winning the game.
24 points is nice. So is 21— but when it takes so many shots to achieve it, its a problem. If Roy and LMA were anywhere close to their usual efficiency, Portland wins the game. This needed to be part of the recap.
Boomshakalaka
Only if
you go with the theory that they could have gotten better shots. Roy couldn’t have really. He did everything he could. Lamarcus settled a little too much but we’ve mentioned that a thousand times about him and this was not a game that stood out as being that much different in terms of shot selection for him.
Also the way you have described it would indicate that Roy and Aldridge were the main culprits when it may well have been that the people around them were unable to shake free or pass the ball well, forcing the two main guys to carry the game with whatever shots they could get.
—Dave
In other words
the stat you’re quoting gives you a number but doesn’t tell you whether that number was a cause or an effect. Tonight it seemed to lean more towards effect.
—Dave
but it still has to be mentioned
If they were the best shots we could get, you need to say “Houston did a great job forcing Roy and LMA into tough shots.” Shooting efficiency from your two main scorers is important. It needs to be talked about.
Boomshakalaka
LMA did miss a ton of open shots.
But who else would have taken those shots? One or two of those would have fallen and this would have been a different ball game.
Clyde the Glide >>> Jordan
Cliff the Stiff got mad at my brother who was trying to sell him a cellphone when my brother called him Uncle Cliffy. Apparently, he doesn't like that name very much.
by BeaumontTXBlazerFan on Feb 24, 2009 10:57 PM PST up reply actions
I think you are missing my point
I didn’t see the game so I can’t say whether they were good shots or bad shots. What I’m saying is that Roy and Aldridge had inefficient shooting games and that’s the thing that immediately jumped out on me when I opened the box score. Not blaming those two for the loss— just identifying a key stat.
Boomshakalaka
But here's the bigger point, at least as far as I can see
The stats I did mention—lack of assists, offensive rebounds, and bench production—were more significant than the TS% of our stars because those things helped force our stars into the position of taking those shots. To mention the relatively low shooting percentages would appear to put the burden on the shoulders of the guys who in many ways were least responsible for it and thus would tell an inaccurate story even if the stat was quoted accurately. In this game Brandon’s and Lamarcus’ TS% were not the story, nor the key, even though they ended up lower than normal.
—Dave
thanks for the response
I wonder how many games we’ve won where both Roy and LMA had a TS% below .500— I’m guessing not many.
Boomshakalaka
I would agree there
We need to be efficient as a team to win and they take a lot of our shots. Another huge key for us is rebounding. The combination of efficient offense and board control is how we’ve overcome our defensive deficiencies.
—Dave
yup
Oden being out kills us, as our offensive efficiency is predicated on second chances. He’s a ridiculous offensive rebounder.
by Cablinasian on Feb 24, 2009 11:15 PM PST up reply actions
And the attention that draws
frees up shots and lanes for others. It just bothered me not being able to move the ball more tonight. If the passing lane wasn’t occupied there were two defenders by the time the pass got there. In games like that seeing Travis Outlaw do his thing is almost a relief. But at the same time you know it’s like an addiction. This feels good now but it’s not necessarily good for you.
—Dave
this is my big lesson from the last few
Greg Oden is a crucial part of this team. He alters the dynamic whenever he’s on the floor, almost to the point of it being true when he’s only on it for about 12 minutes. Even those 12 minutes are so valuable, because they prevent things like Shavlik and Frye from having to cover so much, and give one more opportunity to not get burned when Travis’ guy goes flying by him to the hole.
I love Joel to death, we are an abomination on defense without his minutes—but the thing is that Oden can cover his defense some games, but Joel can never seem to cover Greg’s offense, and when Joel goes out without Greg to back him up, the team has serious trouble. When Greg goes out Joel is there. That seems to logically point to Joel as more crucial, and I guess if you have to pick one guy not to be in there, you’d still pick Greg—but not having Greg changes this team for the worse as much as not having Roy, LMA or Blake IMO.
being the epic nerd that I am I went back and checked...
Tonight’s game was the 6th of the year where both Roy and LMA were held to a TS% below .500 (not surprising— .500 is a low bar for TS%).
Surprisingly, we won two of those games.
The 6 were:
- opening night @ LAL (Roy .441, LMA .330)— L by 20
- @ Bos (Roy .413, LMA .468)— L by 15
- Cle (Roy .441, LMA .455)— L by 6
- @ NOH (Roy .276, LMA .483)— W by 8 (CP3 injury game)
- @ CHI (Roy .373, LMA .474)— W by 14— Outlaw and Oden go off
- tonight
Boomshakalaka
With the exception of Chicago
The rest are all very good defensive teams. Not shocking, but it makes you wonder if 1) they are trying to do too much in these games or 2) their teammates aren’t doing enough. I imagine it’s a bit of both.
"I saw him in the face" Sergio's quote on the latest alley-oop to Rudy.
by blazermaniac32 on Feb 25, 2009 5:05 AM PST up reply actions
Ifs are kinda iffy
just sayin’. Maybe if one or two of LMA’s fall and one or two more of Houston’s fall, the results is the same. Such are ifs.
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 7:02 AM PST up reply actions
Maybe it is just a matter of style....
…. but it sounds like you are now telling Dave how best to do his job.
I think you have point, possibly a good one. However it would a big difference, at least for me, if you had thought to present it as a question, rather than a statement. As in pointing out the low TS% and asking Dave how much that had to do with the result.
I love looking at the boxscore, particularly as I don’t get to see a lot of the games, or only parts of them on streaming vid. I also know that the boxscore can only tell me so much and occasionally be misleading. That’s a big reason I’m here at BE, because I know I can get an evenhanded and surprisingly knowledgeable recap of the game. What I don’t see doing is looking at a box after not watching the game and then criticizing the guy writing up the recap for missing a key point.
As I started out saying, I think it’s mostly a matter of style and not that you think you know better than Dave. I’d just point out that it sends the wrong impression.
hakkaa päälle !
I'm offering feedback
Dave should feel free to ignore me, or in his case to respond to what I said with his counterpoint. I had a good discussion with him last night on this forum. It was enjoyable. Sorry you missed it.
Boomshakalaka
Our offense flowed really poorly
We had 14 assists this game. The same number that Blake had in the first quarter of last game. Most of our offense was based around giving the ball to Roy , run an iso, if that doesn’t work give the ball to Trout and run an iso, etc. There just wasn’t much ball movement, and even when one of our iso guys got double teamed we did a poor job of finding the open man. Aldridge missed some shots that he usually makes, but for the most part we were just forced to take difficult shots because our offense looked more like a collection of individuals than a team.
thanks
that helps since I missed the game. While I imagine part of this was just bad play by Portland, Houston has to get some credit for this. Those guys really defend well.
Boomshakalaka
we started out the game by passing well
and were up 7 or 8 midway through the first. Roy and Aldridge (stupid flop by Scola for second foul) went out and the Rockets just ran away. By the time LMA came back in, he couldn’t hit the shots that he was hitting in the first.
I was encouraged by the second half defense. The guys really played well.
by Cablinasian on Feb 24, 2009 11:20 PM PST up reply actions
It was a mix. Portland doesn't play with as much energy on the road.
Nothing new.
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 7:02 AM PST up reply actions
Free Batum
Tonight he got 27 minutes, 10 more than his season average. Travis got the same number of minutes. Which might be a season first. About 25 for Nic every game is what the doctor McMillan should order.
Brandon is one of those quiet assassins. - Chris Paul
whos minutes
does he take?
I am starting the coalition to BRING BACK IKE.
Nobodies really, if he plays between 20 and 25
Travis can get his 27-30 minutes on SF and PF. Since Marty is out for the rest of the season, there is no minutes crunch on SF. Rudy/Roy play the rest.
Brandon is one of those quiet assassins. - Chris Paul
Give him more of Travis' minutes
I think Batum’s advantage over Travis on defense more than outweighs Travis’ advantage on offense. Besides, in a few years Batum could be better on both ends of the court.
well, on this night he took rudy's
which was by no means unjust.
ignacio
I'm starting to see a nasty trend on the road...
This can be seen in tonight’s game, the NO, OKC, DAL road trip, along with many other games on they have played on the road this season.
The Blazers seem to always dig themselves in a hole they can’t always get out of.
Starting three non-scorers will do that
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 7:00 AM PST up reply actions
Blake averages 11-12, that's fine for a non scoring PG
I think Batum can also score given chances, but tonight was iso from the get go. It worked for about 4 mintues and that was that. Once again, we didn’t start moving the ball around and getting good looks until we were down 15. Nothing changed from Q1 to Q3 except for that fact that our guys made the extra pass (to Batum) and our guys hit the cutter (Batum).
we missed oden
im not his biggest fan but it wouldve been nice to have a 7 footer. i wouldve liked to see joel and oden on the floor together like the celtics game. tough loss, but they played hard. no need to get too down.
I am starting the coalition to BRING BACK IKE.
*another 7 footer
I am starting the coalition to BRING BACK IKE.
It's been said before many times, but Yao is HUGE.
I’ve stood next to a guy Joel’s height — 7’1" — and couldn’t believe how tall that is. Yet when Joel was guarding Yao, he looked like a small forward.
Another 4th quarter comeback---almost!
Hey my first time posting here. I am totally addicted to BE, and I think Ben and Dave are awesome at analysis and giving us intelligent blogage.
Once again, the blazers were forced to mount a comeback from a weak 1st quarter. One more minute and it might have happened, but our luck ran out tonight. We have to do a better job of getting off to a strong 1st quarter on the road, and make free-throws! We definitely could’ve used GO tonite.
Last year I moved to Nevada, and have to watch most games online, and I have to say the the Houston broadcast team are some of the worst in league…embarrassing for houston. Makes me appreciate our Mikes.
Again, awesome blog—now we gotta try to do something tomorrow in San Antonio. Go Blazers!
I didn't think they were too bad.
Joel was flopping pretty badly so Bullard was right to call him on it.
I like Barrett, but have trouble following Rice. Maybe I should take up drinking again.
They acknowledged Scola's flops, too.
Let’s face it, it’s hard to love any play-by-play guys who aren’t constantly saying nice things about our Blazers.
by MiledAnimal on Feb 25, 2009 10:01 AM PST up reply actions
I went to the game tonight.
And the biggest crucial two points that comes to my mind that the Blazers miss, was the terrible blown layout by Rudy at the end of the first quarter. Hey guy, you were in the…get this…you were in the slam dunk contest. Yeah that’s right. I saw you look up at the scoreboard. I did too. I saw you had 3 seconds to make it half the length of the court. I saw that you were wide open. I saw that you could have easily sprinted and did a dipsy doo, off the backboard alley oop dunk, and still had time to spare.
That’s just what stuck out in my mind as I drove home from the game. Very frustrating play.
Clyde the Glide >>> Jordan
Cliff the Stiff got mad at my brother who was trying to sell him a cellphone when my brother called him Uncle Cliffy. Apparently, he doesn't like that name very much.
by BeaumontTXBlazerFan on Feb 24, 2009 10:56 PM PST reply actions
post your pics here!
saw ’em in the game thread, more people will see them here
"His name is Jeremiah Johnson and they say he wanted to be a mountain man." -Neil Everett
by SabonisBonus on Feb 24, 2009 11:02 PM PST up reply actions
The problem is all of those pictures takes up a heck of a lot of space!
People would have to scroll down quite a bit just to get past them.
Clyde the Glide >>> Jordan
Cliff the Stiff got mad at my brother who was trying to sell him a cellphone when my brother called him Uncle Cliffy. Apparently, he doesn't like that name very much.
by BeaumontTXBlazerFan on Feb 24, 2009 11:05 PM PST up reply actions
mmm
well they were great anyway! That scoreboard is very… Texan (HUGE). Too bad you couldn’t have watched a win though, there’s nothing like walking through the upset home crowd after your team takes one in their building.
"His name is Jeremiah Johnson and they say he wanted to be a mountain man." -Neil Everett
by SabonisBonus on Feb 24, 2009 11:10 PM PST up reply actions
what did you all think about bro0ks?
he is ridiculously quick, had 20 pts and distributed the ball well…
but if you really look at the box score, he was 8/20 with only 2 assists. Those are like A.I. numbers.
I was not all that impressed
But I don’t think this was one of his better games desipte scoring 20. However his footspeed is formidable and easily enough to foil any of our guards, which makes even a so-so game from him effective.
—Dave
We really needed Oden tonight...
I believe that if Oden would have been in the lineup we would have won the game. Scola was getting Offensive boards left and right and Oden would’ve been a big help down low.
Red Hot and Rolling
This was my take as well.
No doubt Oden is a big influence on our team. When he is playing though, it’s hard to see that. The old saying, you don’t miss something until it’s gone.
Clyde the Glide >>> Jordan
Cliff the Stiff got mad at my brother who was trying to sell him a cellphone when my brother called him Uncle Cliffy. Apparently, he doesn't like that name very much.
by BeaumontTXBlazerFan on Feb 24, 2009 11:40 PM PST up reply actions
Houston
has a seam of fallibility against the Blazers…Yao does not seem to have his best games against us and Brooks is young. Not like New Orleans and Utah and Dallas whose guards just slice us up. I think Houston might be our best shot to get out of the first round. Plus I think it would be a very competitive series. I know it’s early to talk about this, but if we can get as high as a 6 seed, I think we should pull for Houston to get to 3. Denver is going to come down…Of course to get a 6 seed we must beat out two of the three teams mentioned above: a tall order.
Ugh
I don’t like our matchup against Houston at all. They are strong defensively at both SG and PF, our two key players.
Of course, I don’t like many possible matchups. If we can hang onto the 4th seed and Utah is 5, so we get homecourt, I could go for that.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Utah.
Zoiks. So hard to win on their turf. And healthy, I think they are going to the WCF. But what are the alternatives? Chris Paul is lethal to the Blazers’ guards. And Dallas really seems to have figured us out. We’ll see how the next couple of weeks go, but Houston is my current candidate for best case first round opponent.
Oh wait,
Utah’s got to beat LA or SA to get to the WCF…
if fully healthy, it wouldn't shock me to see them knock off SA
I’d be mildly surprised, but not shocked.
Boomshakalaka
yup
i imagine everyone wants to be in the 2-3-6-7 bracket this year.
I only want Utah
if we get the 4 seed and home court.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
on paper I actually like the Dallas matchup
but they’ve owned us this year so who knows. I don’t hate the Houston matchup if Oden’s healthy. Honestly, no matter who we draw in the first round (assuming we make it— gotta avoid the jinx)— I’ll be picking us to win in 7 if we have homecourt. If we don’t have homecourt, I’ll be picking us to lose in 5 (if we draw LA or SA) or 7 if we draw anyone else.
Boomshakalaka
I like the Dallas matchup
minus Terry. I like that series a lot. Revenge for ending Sabonis’ career.
Karma
by Sabonis4Ever on Feb 25, 2009 12:41 AM PST up reply actions
Yeah, he's supposed to be back
Dallas will give us a lot of trouble.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
one thing i like about houston as a first round oppponent
is that i think it will be really enjoyable to watch. I never enjoy watching San Antonio methodically do their thing. So frustrating (I was a closet Phoenix fan). A series with Denver could be pretty fun too.
And we might have a chance
Who really knows how they will do? They are legitimately dangerous, but not a proven quality team in the playoffs.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
I like the idea of playing Houston or Denver in the first round
because the first round has been a glass ceiling for them. It partially negates the psychological edge they would otherwise have over us.
by MiledAnimal on Feb 25, 2009 10:07 AM PST up reply actions
If only there were 5 quarters...
We would win alot more games!
Clyde the Glide >>> Jordan
Cliff the Stiff got mad at my brother who was trying to sell him a cellphone when my brother called him Uncle Cliffy. Apparently, he doesn't like that name very much.
by BeaumontTXBlazerFan on Feb 25, 2009 12:22 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Real quick Dave
Its Aaron Brooks, not Avery, and you typed Joe Przybilla. Just giving you a heads up so you can fix it before the masses see it tomorrow. You can even delete this evidence comment.
Karma
I sped read this and was about to say the same thing!
Please, for the love of all that is holy, please stop using the following: "Book it.", "FTW", "Epic" & "Fail".
...no seriously--stop.
I felt that in the first and second quarters
a lot of bad bounces and a few bad calls kind of messed up the rythym of our team. If some of these things didnt happen we might have been able to keep it closer when houstons second unit was tearing us up.
It was frustrating to watch and I wanted to change the channle but I knew if we could just relax and get back to our game we could make a comeback.
Despite how ugly we played we were just inches away and at least 5 plays from being able to steal this game. Cant wait for our next 2 matchups with them.
Bad bounces usually means the other team is going harder, just sayin'
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 6:59 AM PST up reply actions
I dunno often bad bounces come when you are trying to hard and not going with the flow.
But for some reason Lamarcus seemed to go real soft in the first half of the game, not just his shot selection but his defense as well. You could tell he realized that and made an effort to play alot harder in the second half.
Hate to state the obvious
But we really could have used Greg out there tonight. Offensive rebounds. Another scorer, another player to spread out the fouls. Then again Houston would have been better with McGrady, so it’s a moot point. I hope the Blazers can learn something about what it means to defend for 48 minutes.
Blazers Prophecy.
3-5 championships in next decade.
You heard it here first.
Two plays stick out in my mind as difference makers
The Rudy missed layup at the end of the first.
And the Travis boneheaded play at the end of the third, instead of passing to Brandon for the wide open layup, he jacks up a foot inside the 3 point line jumper with two people in his face.
And all our missed freethrows.
Karma
Yeah, that Rudy layup...
…what HAPPENED, there. It might be as the Rocket’s TV announcers said, where Rudy just looked up at the clock and took his eye off of the ball and the basket. It was just a OOPH moment.
The positive to me, even though we lost, is that I think we can beat the Rockets in Houston, if we face ’em in the playoffs. We kinda sucked pretty bad a lot of the night and lost by 4.
It’s dumb that we gotta play the Spurs the next night. WHAT BRAINIAC THOUGHT THAT UP.
Mortimer
I assume he didn't think he had enough time to dunk it
And then he short armed the lay up trying to get it off in time.
Karma
by Sabonis4Ever on Feb 25, 2009 3:35 AM PST up reply actions
Either way
He proved that KP was wrong not to trade him at the deadline.
John Salmons woulda’ made that layup.
M—
Kevin Durant would have made that layup
Karma
by Sabonis4Ever on Feb 25, 2009 3:40 AM PST up reply actions
THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT FOR SURE
I only deal in actualities, like how KP actually messed up by drafting Rudy BUSTnandez (that flows off the tongue).
Amar’e’s detached retina woulda’ made the lay up though. That is FACT.
I bet Rudy was weighed down by having authentic Texas tacos and burritos before the game, like he grew up on. He bought $1,300 dollars worth of enchiladas from the taco stand outside the stadium and reports say he was stuffing his face with the food of his homeland up until tip off.
Will Rudy’s cravings for quesadillas thwart our attempts at a playoff run?!
Mortimer
Also the ridiculous non-call on Yao's charge and the subsequent foul call on Prz
The play was dead when Yao knocked Joel over. Instead Portland was penalized and Houston given two free points. Huge swing.
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 6:58 AM PST up reply actions
Neither looked like a flop to me ...
… even though the Houston announcers brayed about what a great call it was and how Joel should have had a T tacked on as well.
I’ll give them the benefit of being right on the call, as they were there, not watching on a small computer screen and have likely watched far more games than I ever will. And they get to be homer as well. But the call for a technical was way over the top. Pushed them into Idiot Announcer and Equally Idiot former jock Color Man territory.
hakkaa päälle !
Bullard's point
was that flopping should be severely penalized because it “ruins the game.” I think he’s right. We can’t get up in arms about Maggette’s performance and then turn a blind eye when Joel flops. Yao is a tall dude, but he’s not strong enough to knock Joel down with just an elbow. Do you know how hard it is to actually knock someone over when you’re not running at full speed (e.g. a tackle in football)? Have a friend stand with his feet shoulder width apart and then you try to knock him over with just your arm. At most, he’ll take a step back, but will stay upright.
First one wasn't a flop
Yao did the exact same thing that LMA did to Scola earlier. The second one Joel flopped, but it also wasn’t a foul on him, the ref was just mad because Joel said something to him when he got up.
So
Offensive Foul = No call
No call = Defensive foul.
Brutal possession.
I was just talking about that one play
And flopping when you’re fouled is when thing, flopping when you’re not is another.
but the whole point of taking the charge and not getting the block
is to not take that step back..
do that same experiment but hold your ground.. notice how much harder it is to stay upright..
"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum
but that is what he was trying to pull off
i mean, i’m not saying that you are wrong that joel was flopping.. he’s vet enough to see lots of flopping and know when you need to attempt to even the playing field..
but i’m just saying that if a defender does set his feet it is actually quite easy for the defender to get knocked over.. considering that trying to lean forward or shuffle your feet to counter balance could cost you the call..
"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum
That's the result of a bad rule interpretation in the game.
Basketball is officially a non-contact sport. If a defender is planted and the guy with the ball is slamming into him to move him back and causes him to lose his balance, that should be a no-brainer offensive foul. In reality, the refs expect you to hold your position, but the only way to do that is to slam back into the offensive player and constantly shuffle your feet to maintain your balance. At that point, both players are fouling each other. In the NBA, the refs then compare the two players’ star power and award a foul to the guy with the lower rating.
by MiledAnimal on Feb 25, 2009 10:17 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Exactly.
It has been a long time since I looked up the rule book, but under the original rules of the game, which I believe still apply in the NBA, a foul is defined as one player gaining advantage over another by contact. If ref’s officiated in accordance to the rules today, we would likely see most starters fouling out each game and 3 – 4 times the number of turnovers due to traveling.
This is not necessarily a criticism of today’s game, but it does point out the issues that arise from getting away from the rules and relying on the judgement of individuals. The ref’s can’t help but introduce doubt and controversy because being human, it is impossible to get it right everytime.
hakkaa päälle !
me either...yao plowed him down
and hacked the crap outta trav a few no-call times
"..[Travis Outlaw] could jump, grab a rafter, eat a sandwich, and then dunk.."
tmundal 12/30/07
the announcers do watch on a small computer screen like thing ....theres no way they see that clearly from floor level at midcourt
"..[Travis Outlaw] could jump, grab a rafter, eat a sandwich, and then dunk.."
tmundal 12/30/07
I thought Blake's somewhat hurried 3 attempt late in the 4th ...
… could have made a difference. But then in a close game, every missed shot takes on a seemingly inflated sense of criticality.
hakkaa päälle !
If LMA was hitting his normal percentage of jumpers..
…this woulda’ been a fine game for him. He was getting to the line, started out defensive rebounding well, was playing good ball denying defense on Yao… but he just couldn’t hit a jumper to save his life.
I think he hit only one.
He had to take those jumpers for the most part, with the worst one being when he got Yao isolated on him, and instead of taking it at the slow gentle giant and forcing him to foul him (Yao was getting fouls quickly that night), he settled for the jumper Yao was all too eager to give up. That was the only real mistake in LMA’s jumpers tonight though, as far as I can remember.
They just weren’t falling.
He was aggressive though, and playing tough. I like that he continued his good play of late, more like a power forward than he sometimes was earlier in the year, and I hope he keeps it up. We’ll need it in the playoffs.
He’ll hit those jumpers next time. If he hits 1 or 2, we got a chance to win (and hitting 1 or 2 more than the 1 he hit ain’t asking TOO much, I think).
Frye was useless once again. He is painful to watch and worse than Outlaw in the boneheaded plays category. I still just feel sorry for him though, because he’s gotta be super rusty and it’s a contract year and he sure ain’t playing his way into a good contract from someone. Instead of becoming Juwan Howard-lite, he’s becoming Brian Cook Part Two: Electric Boogaloo, and that does no one any good.
Houston is solid as hell, but they just don’t worry me if we face them in the playoffs. As long as Oden is playing, that is. Yao is good but not dominant, and while Battier and Artest defend Roy as well as anyone in the NBA, Roy has elevated his game to a mostly unguardable level and will still get his— especially since I’ll bet dollars to donuts Roy is pretty special come playoff time.
They can’t guard LMA, with McGrady out they don’t have super reliable perimeter scoring or playmaking, and we got a lot of weapons to stop over a 7 game series— and I know we can do much better than we did tonight.
There isn’t any expected playoff team I’d LIKE to meet, but I wouldn’t mind the Rockets. Or the Jazz. Throw LMA on Okur and Oden on the Boozer, and you’re saying HOLA SENOR to the dos round-o.
Mortimer
Roy is pretty special come playoff time:
I agree with this assumption. Roy can pass shoot and drive and he does all 3 of these as good as players who specialize in only one of these catagories. There are games where a team will throw brandon off his game by giving him different defensive looks and by having a really good defender stay in his pocket the whole game. In a series I think while they may stop him for one game, he is going to figure them out and use his tools to throw these schemes back in the opposing teams face. His adaptability seems to be the type of attribute that transfers well into a playoff series where you will see the same defenses possibly 7 times.
I like our entire teams ability to score alot in a playoff series, I just worry about our abiltiy to defend in a playoff series. There are some teams that have the kind of players that will be able to take advantage of our players regardless of what we do defensivly.
Roy needs some rest
His minutes are WAY up this month. 40mpg will hurt anyone not named Allen Iverson in the long run. We need to jump out to more leads like the Clippers game so that we can play him 25-30 on some nights.
I counted three or four times LMA could have gone to the bucket and he settled for a jumper
And I wasn’t even watching that close because it was such a stinker.
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 6:57 AM PST up reply actions
At least two of those were in the fourth when I started actually watching
But hey we don’t want to stop the clock and go to the foul line. That’s silly. Jumpers!
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 6:57 AM PST up reply actions
I don't think LMA is comfortable driving to the basket like that
He should have done it when he had Yao isolated on him, but against a normal defender LMA isn’t comfortable putting the ball on the floor and going to the basket unless he has his back on the defender already, and he does a move he has practiced before.
Especially in the 4th, LMA wants to do something he knows he can do, and right now that is shoot the ball. I didn’t WANT him to shoot those jumpers when his jumper was so off that game, but we’d rather he do something we know (and he knows) he can do consistently well than put it on the floor and do something awkward.
He’ll learn how to put it on the floor better, he can develop that move.
1 or 2 made jumpers that LMA can normally make, and it’s no problem.
Mortimer
Artest was chasing Roy around the floor
could not stay in front of Roy at all…thats how he got elbowed in the teeth…he was two steps behind
"..[Travis Outlaw] could jump, grab a rafter, eat a sandwich, and then dunk.."
tmundal 12/30/07
I'd still rather have home-court advantage over them,
but I agree with you that we’d have as good a shot against them as anyone else in the West.
by MiledAnimal on Feb 25, 2009 10:21 AM PST up reply actions
because blake played 40 minutes?
Why did we keep bayless if he’s our future? I don’t think people pay to see sergio play but I know for a fact that bayless puts seats in the seats.
I just saw a Rockets team that wanted it more
Pretty simple. I also think that about the only chance we had to stay with the Spurs tonight was to go into the game with some confidence. Guess that won’t be happening.
Blazer Fan
I dunno some of you seem awfully optimistic after being dominated by a team right behind us in the standings
Portland was down by 18 points guys. This wasn’t a close game. It wasn’t a “Oh gee if one or two more jumpers from LMA fall…” kind of game. Portland was pretty much outclassed all night. I know it was a road game and I know the sky isn’t falling but c’mon. These are the games we can’t be getting behind double digits in constantly.
Blazer Fan
by leeroyjenkins on Feb 25, 2009 7:05 AM PST up reply actions
I have to disagree with you here.
In the second half it was a fairly close game and down the stretch it certainly was.
You are correct in it being a bad habit to dig a double digit hole in the first half. You don’t win a lot of those games. But they appeared to me to have fought back rather nicely. To the point that one or two plays going differently might have changed the outcome. That’s a close game to me.
hakkaa päälle !
Really?
We were down 5 late in the third quarter. We were down 4 late in the fourth quarter. This wasn’t because they let up, this was because we actually played. Things went their way in the first half and our way in the second half, they just got 1-2 more things to go their way in the first than we did in the second.
dude it was a two point game with 1:30 left
what planet are you on?
A few shots that usually go in fall and we had some officiating that didn’t suck and this was in the books…
Many if not most teams went through last years playoffs hardly winning a road game…
"..[Travis Outlaw] could jump, grab a rafter, eat a sandwich, and then dunk.."
tmundal 12/30/07
I'm not sure what planet I'm on
I’m in Hillsboro and the sun is shining. WTF? – Elgin
Since when do we need to ponder to froth? - jscot
Why didn't Bayless play more
Steve Blake was getting burned by Avery Brooks and Bayless would of done a better job staying in fromnt of him and in wearing him out on the other end. When you have a 2 gaurd that can distriburte like Roy you don’t need a classical PG…. didn’t Houston prove that last night?
Because
Nate wants to see how many losses people will say this. According to BE, the solution to every loss would be to play Bayless more!
well I am not saying that
Look we wouldn’t Vince Carter on a give away because he doesn’t fit into the long term plan… I don;t see how Blake is that much different. We should be playing Bayless especially on other 2 gaurds stuck inside 1 gaurds bodies like Avery Brooks.
I would want Vince Carter
30 minutes off the bench for him would allow us to battle the Lakers. Oh well, life goes on.
Also “Avery” Brooks didn’t do that great against us. 40% from the field is just fine by me.
“The Rockets’ new lineup of Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola, Ron Artest, Von Wafer, and Avery Brooks proceeded to destroy us. They went on an 11-4 run in the final three minutes of the quarter while the Blazers just went limp.”
Can anyone stay in front of CptSisko?!
I wish the Blazers perimeter defense would at least figure out how to keep fast PGs like Captain Sisko going baseline and not down the middle
"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum
No kidding
he isn;t even that amazing just quick. Kinda like Bayless.
biggest difference between brooks and bayless
is that Brooks really developed confidence in making that outside shot in big time college games and matured a lot more than Bayless has… add that to a good rookie year last year as a meaningful but small part to a Houston team that always seems to raise itself up when the stars go down..
When Bayless develops an outside shot, he’ll be outshining Brooks within 2 seasons.
"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum
his outside shot
wasn’t really falling last night…. oh well. Just shows you how much experience matters. I think it also shows you that for some guys staying in college is a better long term decision than taking the fast money. Also it shows you that we should be playing Bayless more…. whats was the worse that could of happened a loss is a loss. I would rather lose and give Bayless minutes and rest Blake a bit than lose and wear down Blake and give Bayless no experience.
I agree about Bayless
I like that Nate is pushing these guys to make every game a possible win.. and I don’t want to give up wins purely for the sake of development during a playoff push..
but Bayless is clearly a crucial piece moving forward and offers a unique set of skills on the team that can (when lightning strikes just right) be the entire difference in coming away from this game with a win or just really tired and heading into an even tougher game (unless Duncan is still out)
"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum
Anyone remember him as that tough guy from that cop/detective show before he did Star Trek?
I da man!
Sure. He played Hawk on Spenser For Hire
and in a spinoff, A Man Called Hawk. He does Tough Guy real swell.
Bayless guarded AARON Brooks
when he was in there and Brooks ran right past him each and every time down the court.
1 or 2 times?
You gotta let Bayless get in the flow.
plus Bayless was tearing him up on the other end.
Drove right past him and dished it off for an assist.
And let's be honest, that 4th quarter really was helped along nicely by our own Von Wafer
He accounted for at least ten of our points with his sloppy play.
Blazer Fan
It's kind of "funny" that Wafer
played thanks to Artest’s bloody lip. It seems like a good strategy: find the dude that’s killing you, give him a fat lip or any other facial cut because those are hard to stop. He goes out and then you rally.
by torsoheap on Feb 25, 2009 9:21 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
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