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The new key to this series. EDIT: Morning after clarifications

I might need a little leeway here, because I'm a little buzzed in my attempt to drown my sorrows away from this last Blazer loss.  I've been thinking this ever since about the second quarter of the game, though, so bear with me, and hopefully the spelling will be tolerable.

Star-divide

Throughout my years of watching the NBA playoffs, what seems to be self-evident is that success is all about exploiting matchups.  The most successful teams tend to be the ones who are most effective at utilizing their biggest matchup advantages throughout the game.  Witness tonight; Houston had two major matchup advantages, at PG and starting C, and utilized these to enormous effect.  Brooks and Yao flat out embarrassed Joel and Blake.  Obviously Brooks isn't going to shoot 60% from downtown all series, and Yao isn't going to be perfect from the field all series, but their domination of our guys seemed to be the main places that we got taken to the wood shed tonight.

 

The key for us to come back then being, where do we have a huge advantage over Houston.  It'd be tempting to say PF, but anyone who watched the game tonight would say that Scola was seriously undervalued as a force by Blazer fans.  For me, the one place that jumped out at me as a matchup overwhelmingly in our favor was the Oden-Deke matchup.  Simply put, every time Oden got the ball on the block against Mutombo, he was able to get FTs, at the very least, with a couple and 1's resulting there, as I recall.  We had exactly one efficient offensive player last night (no offense to Roy, who was a lion), and that was Greg.  I was absolutely flabbergasted we didn't feed him more (I know, sinus infection, yada yada).

My point being, Greg gave us an overwhelming advantage on the block against his counterpart, and we barely went to him.  This is going to be something that we need to exploit in order to win this series.  After that game, I have a hard time believing that will win this series without Greg putting up something like an 18/10 this series.  Obviously going to him a lot will cause Houston to put Yao on him, but I have a hard time believing that Yao could consistently guard a guy as strong as Greg without picking up one or two cheap fouls, which would have been enough to get Yao off the court early in this game, and allowed us to maybe put together a run before the end of the first half.  As good as Yao was, Greg nearly matched him at 6-7 and 3-4 on FTs.

The sky certainly isn't falling yet, but that was definitely a gut check loss, and when Nate goes back to re-evaluate, I hope a lot more Greg is in the prescription for game 2.

 

EDIT: Now that I look at this, I never meant to imply that we'd be able to beat Houston with similar output from all our players but with a greater Oden contribution.  We'll need much more from LaMarcus, Trout and the usual suspects, but based on his previous history with Houston, I just don't see LaMarcus dominating Scola like we'll need him to do if we're going to win through our normal offensive sets.

Simply put, I think Houston had us perfectly scouted down on offense.  doubling LaMarcus in the post right as he got deep enough to where he likes to make his move, and staying at home on Rudy and Blake all night.  Yao's early domination and foul took us a little out of our offense as we desperately probed him to try and get foul 2 on him with about 400 P&R's on every straight possession (which actually worked okay while Yao refused to really contest Roy in the first).  The one thing that seems to be somewhat immune to scheming right now is Greg's strength down low.  Either it forces Yao to play him and tires him out/leads to Yao fouls, or they have to start aggressively doubling him which'll open up things for Rudy and Trout outside.

And while Greg did get most of his numbers after the game was decided, I thought he looked just as good when we went to him in the second, we just barely ever fed him down there.

9 recs  |  Comment 60 comments

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This.
I thought that if Greg could do this, we had a shot.

I EMPHASIZED EARLY!

Greg really didn’t get involved till Yao had a rythm to the game.

Read what I wrote at the end. I called it.

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 18, 2009 11:25 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Congratulations man.

Then I rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes
Then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose

by Illmatic88 on Apr 18, 2009 11:29 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think it's beyond

just our centers going for 16 and 10 combined. I think we need Greg to go for that in addition to whatever Joel is giving us. It seemed pretty obvious to me that Greg was going to be a huge matchup advantage early in the second when we were still in the same, and yet we only went to him once or twice before we were down 20. That to me is inexcusable. The matchup advantages simply weren’t there for us any where else on the court, and yet we insisted continually running P&R’s rather than iso’ing Oden where he had a real advantage.

by Royster on Apr 18, 2009 11:31 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

LMA is the key

Yao and Brooks coming out of the stratosphere only turns the blowout loss in to a standard loss. We need “last month of the season” LMA to show up or we’re hosed.

by Gargen on Apr 18, 2009 11:30 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

well, I think that's pretty self-evident

but I think LA is the difference between a blowout and a loss. Oden is the difference between a loss and a win in my eyes. Even if LaMarcus puts up 20 and 8 this game, do we win it?

I don’t think so. But if we force it a little less to LA and he can manage to put up 15 on a semi-decent percentage, but we can get Greg involved early and get their C’s in foul trouble, I think that changes this game completely.

by Royster on Apr 18, 2009 11:33 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

It might work for a game

but Oden isn’t ready to carry the load for a series. I think it goes without saying that Greg’s offensive efficiency is due for a little “regressing towards the mean” as well.

by Gargen on Apr 18, 2009 11:36 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I agree to a point

but watching that game, there weren’t a whole lot of places chinks in the armor to exploit, and that was an obvious one. Greg is a matchup nightmare for the rockets, who don’t normally play a true back up center. They can’t play Yao 48 minutes a night, so we need to take advantage of the matchup when we can, since Deke is simply not equipped to guard a true center in the post anymore. Force them to bring Yao back in early and make him play big minutes against a powerful center in Greg.

I don’t expect Oden to match him, only to tire him out and put up some points for our second unit, which struggled mightily tonight since the rockets seemed determined to take away its two biggest threats (Rudy and Trout’s shooting).

by Royster on Apr 18, 2009 11:44 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Oden also needs to be more aggressive on the O-boards

There were at least 3 balls I thought he could get to, but Mutombo outhustled him.

by jksnake99 on Apr 18, 2009 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

to be fair

Mutombo was pretty solid on the boards all night. The only time I really thought he was exposed was when he was trying to defend Greg in the post. Hence the reason for this post’s existence.

Given that Mutombo has rarely played in the regular season, it’s obvious that Houston doesn’t think Hayes or Landry has a shot in heck at defending Greg back there, so their only two options are Deke and Yao, and given how awfully Deke did tonight, that list might be pruned down to just Yao. This leads to them either doubling Oden down there, opening things up for Rudy and Trout outside, or Houston has to play Yao way more against Greg, which will tire him out and force him out of his normal rotation. A tired Yao is a foul prone Yao, so that’s a good thing in my eyes.

The only real egregious rebounding effort that jumped out at me tonight was Frye’s nonchalance at paying attention to Scola late.

by Royster on Apr 18, 2009 11:58 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

and

Oden was in there with Outlaw and Frye.They combined for like 4 boards? Just pathetic.

by Odenrising on Apr 19, 2009 11:22 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Right

Oden blocked out Mutombo consistently only to watch their PF vacuum up the boards while Frye, LMA and Outlaw filed their nails or whatever it was they were doing that wasn’t blocking out.

"Death is not final," Gita says. "If any man thinks that he slays, and if another thinks that he is slain, neither knows the truth. The Eternal in man cannot kill: the Eternal in man cannot die. The soul in man is neither born nor does it die. Weapons cannot cut it; fire cannot burn it. .. What makes you think that you can destroy the soul?"

The Bhagavad Gita

by Idog1976 on Apr 19, 2009 1:07 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

true, but he needs some help

time and again there were 3 rockets going after that board, greg can’t block them all out and get the rebound, he routinely held off two of them, the 3rd guy got the board

Support families in crisis in Portland www.give10tell10.org

by PDXBuckeye on Apr 19, 2009 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I agree

If Scola continues to dominate that matchup, it will be a very short series.

by jksnake99 on Apr 18, 2009 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

right

that matchup couldn’t have gone any better for Houston tonight. I just have a hard time believing that LaMarcus winning that matchup alone would be enough to push us from the result tonight to a win.

by Royster on Apr 18, 2009 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

agreed

Outlaw and Rudy showing up for game 2 would be nice as well.

by jksnake99 on Apr 18, 2009 11:49 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

The effectiveness of Outlaw, Rudy, and Blake is largely dependent on LaMarcus

Rudy and Blake aren’t able to create a ton of offense for themselves, and while Outlaw can create his own shot he can’t do it efficiently enough to have much of an impact. To really get the outside shooters going, LaMarcus needs to establish himself in the post and force the Rockets to start double teaming him, creating open shots for other players.

by trk on Apr 19, 2009 2:47 AM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

Scola fouls a lot

and rarely draws a call, we got to recognize that a play through it

Support families in crisis in Portland www.give10tell10.org

by PDXBuckeye on Apr 19, 2009 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Scola averages nearly 4 fouls per game

so he gets called plenty. Last night was an aberration. There has been exactly one game all year where he hasn’t been called for a foul (his only foul came in garbage time). Even then, he’s been called for 1 or fewer in less than 7 games all year. I’d be shocked if Scola is officiated the same way for the rest of the series.

by Royster on Apr 19, 2009 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

igarauntee he commits many more than four a game

though, he fouled a ton last night, he had his hand wrapped up in more blazer jersey than is believable…

Support families in crisis in Portland www.give10tell10.org

by PDXBuckeye on Apr 19, 2009 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

getting greg the ball

will give lemarcus room to operate. greg is the key to this puzzle

Support families in crisis in Portland www.give10tell10.org

by PDXBuckeye on Apr 19, 2009 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Adjustments and exploiting...

Agreed completely. Exploiting matchups and not get exploited are the keys….

Houston got us good. Yao killed us inside, and we were exploited.

AB got by Blake and maily got some of his open looks from Yao.

So how do we not get exploited by Yao?? Biggest thing is to not let Yao get deep position. These are guarenteed 2 points. So a possibility would be to either front Yao, and have good weekside D, or play zone defense. I think you’ll see a little of both in game 2. That’s what’s great about playoffs is you get to see the strategy of the game play out in front of you…

I agree completely that Oden beasted Dikembe. And this is something to look for as the second units gets in to the agme. This should give us an advantage. Play an inside out game (should do most of the game), especially when the second unit is in.

We will see how the Blazers make the adjustment. We took one on the chin, but the idea is to get back up. We should take advantage of the learning experience and exploit and being exploited.

Game #2…

by JimmieG on Apr 18, 2009 11:32 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm a little less worried about the Yao situation

than most are.

Obviously we need to completely switch up our defense, but talking to my rockets fan friend tonight and ust watching the game, that game represented the peak of Yao’s abilities. When he has that baseline spin, in addition to the 20 footer going, he’s basically an unstoppable force. I would have liked to see a little more doubling to force Ron Ron or anyone not named Yao to beat us early, but if Yao is going to play like that all series, then we’re probably toast no matter what we do.

by Royster on Apr 18, 2009 11:39 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

not just going perfect

but how he did it. Going inside, hitting from deep. Almost every bucket was off an iso for him. Yao basically created and hit every one of his 9 shots. Hard to top that.

by Royster on Apr 19, 2009 12:20 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Forest through the trees.

It’s not about matchups. Our defense was adequate tonight. Houston shot the ball incredibly well. Make some adjustments, fine. But this series is about our attack. Offense.

We need to find and create imbalance in Houston’s defense. Not an easy job, but one that is going to require movement and energy. This has been our albatross all season long. When things begin to go our way, i.e. we are confident, we move the ball and involve everyone in the offense. When faced with adversity, specifically, an inability to get in to the paint, we tend to hunker down and play Roy ball. Slow it down and isolate. The exact wrong approach.

Passing (assists) and rebounds are what we should be focused on for game 2.

by Blazin' on Apr 19, 2009 1:26 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

If we win

It will be because of Roy, Aldridge and Oden all having a great series. This is the only way. If it happens, which I think it will, it’s going to be great.

Then I rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes
Then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose

by Illmatic88 on Apr 18, 2009 11:32 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

don't forget about travis and rudy

i think they are pretty important too, and blake and batum, and pryz, dude, we have to be firing on all pistons to beat this team, period.

by appel82 on Apr 19, 2009 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I want to see the twin towers

Greg and Joel on the court at the same time equals defense and rebounding. We need to roll out something new cause that stuff we tried tonite didn’t work.

by Jacksonville on Apr 19, 2009 12:24 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I could get behind this idea

for stretches at a time. In such a slow game, we’d force their hand abit.

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on Apr 19, 2009 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Exactly where we lost this game.

With just under 4 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter it was a 7 point game 46 to 39. Not too bad considering Houston was shooting lights out at about 80%. The half ended with an 18 point deficit, 62 to 44. Then the Huston Yao’s scored the first 6 points to put us down 24.

With 5.6 left in the 3rd Aaron hits a 3 to put us down 27. So the game was lost in about a 6 minute stretch. Of course it didn’t matter at that point as the Houston Yaohoo’s had this package wrapped and delivered.

But that doesn’t really tell the story. The only bright spot in this game (other than Roy) was the unstoppable Greg Oden. If the newfound Greg can keep that going off the bench, we just might still have a chance in this series. But then we’ll need to fix a whole host of other problems.

The Yaohoo’s had us scouted to a tee. We got our shots, 35 of 84. But half of them were fairly ugly looks at the bucket. No assists and bad shot selections…they knew what we wanted to do.
They were 38 of 65, 8 for 21 from downtown. Minus the 3’s and they were 30 for 44, unbelievable.

Not to pick on Travis, but when you take a 15 footer and there are 3 guys in your face, somebody is open somewhere. I think the Travis example is an enhanced version of what was happening throughout the game. For some reason we weren’t able to work it for the open shot.

Roy was in elite super-star mode on some plays for a few incredible drives, But even MJ couldn’t win without a team around him.

I don’t know the answer for this problem, but I think Houston D accounted for most of it. They simply shut us down.

GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"

by Blazer1342 on Apr 19, 2009 12:25 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

We played too slow

We never challenged them early in the clock. We let them set up and they were well prepared.

by Jacksonville on Apr 19, 2009 12:30 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I don't know what happened, we just couldn't move the ball.

That’s why I think they knew what we were trying to do.

GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"

by Blazer1342 on Apr 19, 2009 12:33 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

the crux

but that’s where we have to respond. We can’t back off and give that up to them. We need to keep trying and failing if necessary to reverse the ball to move the ball to find the seam to attack. That is my hope for how the Blazers will react to this loss: We now have nothing to lose, so lets take on the challenge of playing quicker than Houston.

by Blazin' on Apr 19, 2009 1:48 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Houston clearly came out to prevent transition buckets

we scored no fast break points because they weren’t there to be had, which was also a function of them missing almost no shots early (a lot harder to run off made shots). We’ve never ran just to run, only when the easy opportunities were there, and they weren’t there today.

by Royster on Apr 19, 2009 12:36 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Good point

It’s hard to run when you are pulling it out of the bottom of the net.

by Jacksonville on Apr 19, 2009 12:43 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I completely forgot that aspect,

did we even have a fast break?

Our free throw defense was atrocious. Some say this is fan based category, but that’s hard to buy, this is the Rose Garden. It must be some sort of statistical anomaly.

GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"

by Blazer1342 on Apr 19, 2009 1:23 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

That should be the 1st 6 points of the 3rd quarter
Then the Huston Yao’s scored the first 6 points to put us down 24.

GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"

by Blazer1342 on Apr 19, 2009 12:31 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

It seems that anytime the Blazers play badly is when there is no ball rotation on offense.

Way too many guys playing one on one. Dump it into LA and everyone stops. The double team comes, and instead of LA kicking it out to swing around the perimeter, he dribbles away from the double team. This doesn’t cause the defense to rotate because the ball is not moving.

Same thing happened at the beginning of the 3rd quarter in Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets. Instead of swinging the ball around to Trout or Rudy in the corner, the ball would go into LA and motion would stop. Luckily in that game they snapped out of it which led to a rout and Rudy breaking a record.

by BlazerBen on Apr 19, 2009 2:08 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

he's not a willing enough passer

and more guys besides rudy need to move more w/out the ball.

by appel82 on Apr 19, 2009 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

That only happened last night

This entire season LMA’s passing (even if it didn’t result in the direct assist) was one of my favorite things about him.

Same with Greg.

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 7:30 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I saw too little ball movement / too many iso's

Brandon vs Houston won’t do it…esp w/Brandon’s inability to elevate like he usu does…his quickness seems like a 7.5/10 lately as well

Frye had alot of fire to him – - – he came to play

Was hoping to see Bayless earlier – - needed someone else to be able to get to the rim…coulda used some RAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR on the floor…Blake’s lack of quickness was causing him to circle, Sergio couldn’t finish at the rim …

No energy…even when there was passing it was like wet noodle passing….crisp = fast = catch the d out of rotation…

Roy & co must realize that Yao doesn’t leave his feet to block a shot and stop deferring to him…Motumbo is a better shot blocker by far,,,

""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden

by LetsBlaze on Apr 19, 2009 10:33 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

The REASON why Oden looked good ...

… and the reason that Yao was good are the same. Refereeing changes in the playoffs. Every time there is a collision under the basket, if the ref does not see a meat cleaver in the offensive player’s hand, the defensive player is called for the block. That is why the (theoretically o.k.) strategy of Joel playing Yao one-on-one from behind did not work. Joel knew he was not going to get any cheap charges called on Yao and so had to give up ground, holding his position only when Yao actually jumped into him — and then Joel got called for a block.

It was not biased officiating, though. If the refs had called Oden’s offensive moves in the same manner they did for most of the regular season, Oden would have had about 18 charging fouls; as it was, Yao sat down with four defensive fouls after 2½ quarters.

Calls are different in the play-offs than they are in the regular season. Learning that, and how to adjust to it, is what the Mike Rices of the talkosphere mean by “playoff experience.”

by monkeysuncle on Apr 19, 2009 10:36 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

IF

we had been giving Oden more in the season the refs would be giving him even more leash now. We need Oden to get the ball to win in the playfoffs. He is the only guy who you really can’t push around. the more physical the play the better he is. Aldridge is not quite there yet.

by Odenrising on Apr 19, 2009 11:25 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

see, I disagree there

neither guy was really doing anything objectionable in the post. The was only one play Yao had where he turned into Joel and knocked him down that didn’t get called, but nothing Greg was doing was really anything that I thought was a charge. Yeah, Deke could have tried to flop like Collison did in our last OKC game, but he wasn’t barrelling into guys, just methodically moving them out of the way.

For the most part, Yao was just executing perfectly, Greg was just too strong. Deke played a total of 9 games all season, he’s just too far past it to guard Greg now, and apparently Adelman thinks Landry and Hayes are too small.

by Royster on Apr 19, 2009 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Here's what I would have liked to see last night

I would have liked Roy, Aldridge or Pryz to get into a little scuffle to let it be known that they’re frustrated with the the lack of calls. If the refs were going to let it be that physical, there was going to be a fight.

Instead of backing down and letting it stew, let it out. Pop somebody in the mouth and make the refs see the contact.

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on Apr 19, 2009 10:43 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

sorry Joel, you've been great

but it might be time for Greg to take the reins

by svlittle on Apr 19, 2009 12:16 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Hey what the heck was Roy was talking when he said he had some secrert tricks up his sleeve?

And Oden, once again, is a rookie, so non-stop fast break basketball is like fast-forwarding a song while he's trying to learn the lyrics.

by RipCity on Apr 19, 2009 1:32 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Apparently one of them is to run directly at Yao, Artest and Shane Battier.

Damn the defenders! Full speed ahead!

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 2:25 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

to lie and act like he got hurt

so he gets calls later, which worked, for a little while.

by appel82 on Apr 19, 2009 5:08 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

You did not just say that.

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 7:31 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

-98473298749283

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 7:31 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Dude

He took a knee to the head.

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on Apr 20, 2009 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Man reading the comments here I can see that Blazers did so many mistakes and stupid stuff.

They did not play any good offense. No defense on Yao or Brooks. LMA, Outlaw, Rudy, and even Blake did not do anything to help Roy. Not boxing out for rebounds. Not giving Oden the ball down low. Man so man dumb this blazers did.

And Oden, once again, is a rookie, so non-stop fast break basketball is like fast-forwarding a song while he's trying to learn the lyrics.

by RipCity on Apr 19, 2009 2:50 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

As you can see I dont have any words to describe it in the end.

And Oden, once again, is a rookie, so non-stop fast break basketball is like fast-forwarding a song while he's trying to learn the lyrics.

by RipCity on Apr 19, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

While I'm all for Oden taking over on offense,

I’d much prefer our team to play it’s usual offensive game rather than change up everything because of a loss. Brooks hit some shots he normally won’t hit, especially late in the game when every three he hit came off the dribble. The guy will naturally regress to his mean. The key for the blazers will be establishing low post offense through Aldridge like normal. That it didn’t happen last night probably had as much to do with the Blazers being caught off guard by the Rockets pristine offensive execution in the first quarter as anything. Also I’m sure Aldridge was just a little nervous. But remember what we’ve seen from this guy in the past 5-6 weeks. Even if that was just regular season play, he has been in beast mode for sometime.

On offense we need to forget about guarding Yao in the deep post and just work on denying him the ball. Batum, Outlaw, Frye and Aldridge must pull down 20 boards at a minimum between them if we are going to have a puncher’s chance in the series and we can’t let Yao get offensive boards at will. Force Brooks, Artest and Battier into off balance shots, deny Yao the ball and the houston offensive machine will grind to a halt.

by premthegrem on Apr 19, 2009 4:35 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

sorry,

On defense we need to forget about guarding Yao in the deep post….

by premthegrem on Apr 19, 2009 4:35 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I don't mean to completely restructure our entire offense around him

but when Oden is in, especially alongside the rest of the second unit, we need to run the offense through him. Houston has no answer for him, and they’re smart enough to not leave Rudy any open looks. We have an overwhelming advantage there, and we barely used it.

by Royster on Apr 19, 2009 5:42 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

The thing peop,le need to realize...

Is Houston took us out of our game.
You can forget the free and easy run of the regular season.
Houston has an answer for everything the blazers try to do on offense,
and we have little answers for them.

by MotoMan045 on Apr 20, 2009 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

The new key to this series.

“Winning game two.”

xoxo,

me

Pontiff of the Pryz for Prez Posse...

by timbo on Apr 19, 2009 5:56 PM PDT reply actions   1 recs

+1

I know less than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

by haildablazer on Apr 19, 2009 7:32 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

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Spring Into Junk - March 21st 2010
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Sched Ahead Daily Update, Games of 3/20
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Comparing the Thunder to the Blazers
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Joelconomic Junk Sat March 20 Anno Domini 2010
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Umm, has anoyone noticed the washington win gaurantees us a winning season for the third year in a row?
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Off-Top: I'm loving how those two Pac-10 teams punked those two Big East teams
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Sched Ahead Daily Update, Games of 3/19
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Taking Care of Business (3/19)

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FanShots

Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.

Recommended FanShots

Self explanatory
A fantastic piece of NBA journalism, even if it is about the L*kers.
Paul Allen and his Vulcan Advisor

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Good article on Roy by Marc Spears
Great LMA Interview by Brian Smith (Columbian)

Recent FanShots

In Your Face Bill Simmons!
Northern Iowa Defeats Overall Top Seed Kansas
Check Out the Spurs Schedule
the Next sam bowie
Wall or Turner? Ask LeBron, Kobe-- More praise for Roy
NBA.com LOVES BLAZERSEDGE
High School Phenom Jeremy Tyler Quits Maccabi Haifa
Duck News
Vote for 3 Blazers to be in the new NBA JAM

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SBNation.com Recent Stories

San Antonio Spurs guard Malik Hairston is fouled on a dunk attempt over the Golden State Warriors' Anthony Tolliver during the second half of an NBA basketball game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Friday, March 19, 2010. The Spurs beat the Warriors, 147-116. (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

Spurs Torch Warriors, 147-116, In Highest Scoring Game Since 1991

Atlanta Hawks forward Marvin Williams, looks for a shot against Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw, left, of France, during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at Philips Arena, Friday, March 19, 2010 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Johnson Does His Best Jordan Impersonation, Hits Winning Shot In OT

New Orleans Hornets forward James Posey, left, reaches in for the ball as Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony looks for a shot in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 93-80 victory in an NBA basketball game in Denver on Thursday, March 18, 2010. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) link

Nuggets Rout Hornets 93-80

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