Game 2 Preview
by Dave on Apr 21, 2009 12:39 AM PDT
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PrintOver the last three days I've read a lot of people's thoughts on how the Blazers need to adjust for Game 2 of this series after the Game 1 blowout. People have written asking what we can do, what we can change, how we can tinker with things to get a better outcome. Now, called upon to do a preview for the second game, one question comes to mind in response to these ideas, suggestions, and queries:
What exactly did we do in Game 1?
I'm a sensitive, fairly thoughtful guy and I understand the problems with comparing sports and military actions, but I'm going to use this metaphor even so because it encapsulates neatly what I'm trying to say. The first game of this series was like a bunch of guys going to war with a battle plan, but the other guys have automatic weapons and our guys guns all jammed at once. When that happens the plan is pretty much out the window. It never got executed. You just duck down behind the best cover you can find and try to figure out how to make it through.
You can debate that we should try a flanking motion or maybe come in with a different weapons loadout but the reality is that none of it would have mattered Saturday night. That means the first, and maybe the only, thing you really want changed for this evening is to have enough firepower to put up the fight you need to. If everything jams again no plan will make a difference. If everything goes smoothly then your original plan probably wasn't a bad one. You go in with that and adjust from there.
There's no magic substitution, no savior off the bench, no fancy wrinkle to the pick and roll that's going to make up 30 points. You either execute the game that brought you here, adjusted for this particular opponent, to the best of your ability or you concede that you just can't match up with these guys.
You want to know what the approach is? Re-read the series preview here.
Synopsis:
- Rebound
- Push the tempo for precious easy buckets
- Move and reverse the ball on the Rockets' defense if you're stuck in the halfcourt
- Don't be afraid to take an open shot
- Somebody besides Roy has to score
- Mix up your coverage on Yao, including going with LaMarcus on him, fronting him and then trying to outrun him to the other end
- In case we didn't mention it, rebound...especially when you go small
- Involve Yao in the pick and roll
- Don't be afraid of any Rocket besides Yao going one-on-one. That's to your advantage. Eventually they're going to miss.
There's more, but those are the basics. And as you see, nothing but involving Yao in the pick and roll even got off of the launching pad on Saturday. The game plan hasn't changed because the game plan wasn't executed. The Rockets had a freaky night where that last point didn't hold true and that messed things up. If they can do it again tonight, more power to them. I'll still take my chances.
The only thing I'd add is this: If you don't burn for this game--if you're not willing to give out everything you are as a basketball player for every rebound, possession, defensive stop, and drive--then the Rockets are going to take this game and with it probably the series. They know what time it is. They've learned from a half-decade of futility. They're not going to give it up to you. You have to take it. And if you have any designs on taking it, it has to start tonight.
I will also say this: The series is not over. And anybody who has read me for more than five minutes knows that I'd be saying the exact same thing in reverse had the Blazers won by 30 the other night. We said from the outset that Games 1 and 2 would be the most important games of the series, Game 1 for the percentages, Game 2 for how the Blazers reacted.
Also not that the comeback stories for Portland this season have not been confined to the 18 or so games we won gaining ground from behind. Every single thing the Blazers have tried to do for the first time this year they have failed at. Every single time afterwards they found redemption in those exact same circumstances against those exact same teams. They are quick studies and deceptively resilient.
I do not know whether that will happen again here. The level of competition is higher, the time frame for adjustment shorter. As I just said, Houston knows what's what and will be watching for any sign of an uprising. Their Death Star might not be fully operational, but it's damn close and coming back on them will be damn tricky. But that doesn't mean it's impossible.
The focus is narrow. One game. Not even that really...one quarter to start with. Play a strong opening period and go from there. It's perfectly possible to imagine the Blazers losing again tonight and taking a long march down to Houston with heavy hearts. It's also possible to imagine some announcer saying, "Everything that went right for the Rockets in Game 1 has turned around on them in Game 2. This series is just starting!"
We'll have to see.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
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Fronting Yao
No idea why the Blazers didn’t front Yao from the start of Game 1.
See: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6154063.html
Boxscore: http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200812080MEM.html
Yao was completely neutralized in that game by Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol’s fronting defense. Maybe the Blazers coaching staff failed to get tape of this game because they forgot that Memphis still had an NBA team. Understandable.
This guy might be smarter than Nate McMillan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcvEP2wCywM
There’s a reason I call for McMillan’s head and dream for the day in which Jeff Van Gundy is at the helm. I dealt with McMillan’s poor coaching decisions in Seattle and, well, I don’t like dealing with them a second time. My hope is that he learns from the mistake of having his team improperly defend Yao Ming, although the fact that he made it in the first place upsets me.
While I can’t exactly call for coach’s head given his steadily improving record I did lol at this video. NBA where Tudor houses are in
the background.
by NateMcMillan's Suit on Apr 21, 2009 1:16 AM PDT up reply actions
You should send your resume to Paul Allen.
Think how much money he could save with you filling the dual roles of coach and GM.
hakkaa päälle !
AK1984 is over-the-top again,
but c’mon, he’s hardly the only BEdger who thinks he knows more than KP and Nate.
by MiledAnimal on Apr 21, 2009 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions
I never said he had to be the only candidate.
Oregon is an At Will employment state. Anyone who is interested should submit a resume.
Just think of the comic relief KP and the rest of the organization might get out of it.
hakkaa päälle !
It's no big deal, since his snippy remarks do give me a chuckle or two now and again.
Regardless, nobody can deny that it was a coaching error to not front Yao Ming on Saturday.
I think Dwight Jaynes
believes he can coach circles around Nate McMillian, as well
Nate and his staff aren’t the kind of guys who throw their players under the bus…but I did see a comment earlier to the effect that “we called for a double on Yao in game 1, but it didn’t happen”
If players miss assignments (over and over) is it bad preparation, or the players’ lack of BBIQ?
(I’ll let KP answer that question, on draft day)
Obviously, commoners like you and I would be an epic failures as NBA head coaches.
Jeff Van Gundy, however, would most likely do a substantially better job than Nate McMillan.
meh...
hard for crumpled little white guys to get respect….no offense…never was impressed with him in NY…far from a preoper personality match for Portland IMHO…
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
Sacramento :)
That stop and go by Roy is straight sick. I'm calling him "The Flu" from now on. - Wendell Maxey
The coaching failure wasn't the idea of playing Yao straight up.
Plenty of defenders have played him effectively that way.
The coaching failure was that there didn’t appear to be a plan b or a plan c after Yao came out blazing hot.
by howlingfantods on Apr 21, 2009 8:09 AM PDT up reply actions
Lesson in Figurative Language...
Hey Dave, I love your stuff man.
However, if the comparison has “like” or “as” in it, it is thereby labeled as a simile. If the comparison links to thinks together without using the aforementioned words, it becomes a metaphor. Thus, your militant “metaphor” is, in fact, a simile due to the phrase, "the first game of the series was “like”, etc., etc.
just sayin’, I am an english major and am quite abrasive if my literary devices are misused.
love the material though, especially the wit. keep it coming.
by rippingthecitty on Apr 21, 2009 1:55 AM PDT reply actions
splitting hairs like a stone tool.
a simile is a metaphor like a rose is a flower. or in Dave’s case like kung-fu is a martial art.
by WagonBanded on Apr 21, 2009 7:19 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Good point, rippingthecity. Now let's look at your comments:
- You wrote thinks instead of things.
- In that same sentence, you should have omitted the preposition to between links and thinks.
- You should have put a comma after stuff in your first sentence.
- Two consecutive et ceteras is redundant.
- You did not capitalize the start of the last three sentences.
Dave is among the best writers on Blazers Edge. If you want a target, go after jscot. That guy’s prose is littered with literary faux pas.
by MiledAnimal on Apr 21, 2009 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions
He wasn't going after me
and he’s technically correct to boot.
Everybody will be more smiley and happy after the win tonight, right?
—Dave
I'm not grumpy because of the loss. I'm always like this.
Rippingthecity wasn’t the target, just collateral damage. I used him as an excuse to pound on jscot while he’s gone.
Huh Dave, funny that you smacked me for standing-up for you. Next time you’re on your own, buddy!
This might be a good time to remind folks that you prefer BEdgers not correct each other’s writing. Could you please add that we should not correct our own writing either? Folks not correcting themselves would probably reduce the number of comments by 25%.
Okay, maybe I am still a little grumpy about game 1…
Touché
thanks for the re-corrections of my corrections, MiledAnimal. I ask for a little grace, as it was
2:30 or so in the am and I was quite beside myself, anxiously awaiting tonight’s game. I will point out that I did preface my correction with total props to Dave and his writing, that’s why I come here.
…
and I was still grumpy about game one. i admit it. so now, all i ask of the blazers is that they get the friggin’ rockets tonight so we aren’t left to arguing semantics regarding figurative devices.
RIP THIS CITY TONIGHT!
by rippingthecitty on Apr 21, 2009 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions
We're in this together, rippingthecitty...
Hey, there’s two t’s in the city part of your name!
Confession: I like it when english majors correct someone’s comment. It’s something I have to restrain myself from doing, so I secretly enjoy seeing someone else do it. I just thought it was too funny that you were nipping at Dave when your own comment was chock-full of tasty booboos.
Change of subject: It amazes me that everyone is nervous and excited about these playoff games when I’m feeling so little emotional impact other than irritation, which is pretty much my default setting anyway. Do all of you to get a life or am I really that jaded?
You forgot to mention
rebounding…
I have my P.h.D in unreliable hyperbole.
by Eat Politicians on Apr 21, 2009 2:07 AM PDT reply actions
did the 60% shooting of the rockets account for the discrepancy in rebounds?
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
Nicely said, Dave.
You pretty much nailed it IMO.
When the Blazers tuck tail, they do it behind Brandon. And there is comfort there, but no victory.
They must take punches and flounder if need be, but fully try to get the ball moving, to attack the offensive boards to run them in to the ground.
And I don’t just mean in transition. I mean press them in every phase of the game.
And Brandon, I know you’re the man. But please, no sauntering with or without the ball. And please please ignore the refs. You’ve got plenty to focus on in your opponent.
The rockets can only play worse
I just don’t see how it would be possible for them to play any better. Everything went right for them and if the Blazers are lucky maybe they used up all their good karma, so to speak.
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
I think that's a dangerous assumption.
Yah, it’s not likely that Yao’s gonna be perfect from the floor. And yes, it’s also likely the Rockets won’t shoot 60% from the floor again or hit all those tougher fade away shots they hit on Saturday.
But is it impossible? Not at all. Not all of the Rockets played as well as Yao and Brooks. The Blazers need to think less about what the Rockets are doing and more about the way their offense is moving. This is a team that Portland should be trying to outscore. The pace on Saturday was exactly what the Rockets were looking for. That has to change, and it has to be the Blazers that initiate that change.
Less one on one play, more ball movement.
Fewer jump shots off the dribble, more cuts to the basket.
More fast breaks, more running, more aggression.
If the Blazers take care of business on that end, the Rockets’ game plan will be disrupted and the momentum will swing back in Portland’s favor, regardless of home court. I’m not saying home court doesn’t matter, but it matters a hell of a lot less than the level at which the two teams involved are playing at.
Yes! Yes! In the face!
yeah, I was tying to stay happy about the whole thing
if I get into the gritty details of how everything went wrong I’d just be sad. So instead, I’ll go with the Rockets were blessed by the basketball gods because they sacrificed a life chicken in the name of Spalding.
"It’s a good ol’ fashioned Rip City beat down!"
Heh, don’t keep relying on the Rockets getting cold.
We still have Won Wafer and Carl Landry who had TERRIBLE games. Yao didn’t even play the fourth quarter.
I have to admit, I was SHOCKED that the Blazers didn’t front Yao
it's not a matter of the Rockets getting cold
it’s a matter of them not shooting 65% through three quarters, with less than thirty points in the paint.
draft dejuan blair
Game 2 for the taking. Rockets have locker room issues.
On the Rockets forum it’s mentioned that McGrady will be at Game 2 and the last time he made an appearance as a spectator they lost badly to Chicago.
Adding fuel to the fire McGrady named the Lakers as his pick for winning it all this season in a radio interview. I think he’s still officially their team captain!
http://sportsradiointerviews.com/2009/04/20/tracy-mcgrady-is-foaming-at-the-mouth/
The plan gotta be the same that in Regular Season
The key is the mentality and the focus. NO FEAR
You smell it? You smell it? Playoffs son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of Playoffs in the morning.
The pressure is on Portland!!!
Houston did what they wanted to do, get one game in Portland and take away home court advantage.
It is up to Portland, to do the same, win tonight and one in Houston and two more here.
hg
NEVER NEVER NEVER walk into a combat situation without a gernade.
We wen’t with just one, Houston had 4…AND an automatic weapon ;)
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
Opinion is split on the effectiveness of grenades.
I know guys that think they are pretty useless and others that want to carry as many as they can. Without having used them, the best I can determine is that they can be effective in a confined space and are useful in clearing rooms, but that they are nowhere near as effective as years of movies would have you believe.
Grenades tend to blow up and away. You can escape much of the blast radius by dropping to the ground. The velocity of the fragments is also nowhere near that of a bullet. Body armor is pretty effective at protecting you from them. During the Hill fights around Kesanh, Marine rifle companies more than once engaged in close combat fighting as Vietnamese troops pentrated their lines and over ran fighting positions. The Marines relearned trench fighting tactics last used by their grandfathers in WWI, like the effectiveness of their entrenching tool as a combat weapon and the usefulness of shotguns. They also developed a couple of new tricks, one of which was to pull the pin of a grenade, Yell out “Grenade!” so their buddies knew what to do and then drop it next to them and drop and curl up into a ball with their backs to the grenade. The vests took most of the frag. Well, actually, the enemey took most of it. The what hit the Marines was mainly in their extremities.
I took two things away from those stories. The first was how deperate the fighting had to have been for those guys to come up with that technique. The other was on the effectiveness of grenades.
hakkaa päälle !
I'd rather use a proxy than a grenade.
Can’t we rent the Lakers or Cavs for four games?
by MiledAnimal on Apr 21, 2009 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions
"Don’t be afraid of any Rocket besides Yao going one-on-one. That’s to your advantage. Eventually they’re going to miss. "
From my point of view, the lack of team defense is what gave Houston all the open looks.
Yao destroyed the team defense
That’s the key. Hold down Yao to mortal levels while still managing to cover most others.
Personally I want Artest or Brooks taking all the shots. I’ll live with that. Portland could still lose that way, but the chances are better.
—Dave
Not a bad analogy Dave.
I’d just tweak it a bit.
It wasn’t so much that only Houston had automatic weapons and the Blazer guns jammed. Both sides came into the fight pretty evenly armed. However the Rockets were both veteran troops and got a bit lucky in that their opening salvo was right on target.
Portland, being a rookie unit then did what most people do and started taking cover or trying individually to fight back, with all of the training and tactics forgotten. Once Houston had gained that initial fire superiority, they had the upperhand and never let up. It takes veteran troops to survive an action like that.
hakkaa päälle !
That's not really true. Houston got off to the hot start
and the Blazers were ice cold to start. But when Brandon heated up and they started trading baskets, the team had serious life; it was our utter failure to change up our defensive schemes to disrupt their flow during this critical stretch of the mid to late first quarter where we lost that game.
by howlingfantods on Apr 21, 2009 8:11 AM PDT up reply actions
The rockets are giving us respect(bull)
Artest, Yao, are telling us what they want us to here. Portland will play more physical. Portland will front Yao more the next game. Adelman “I don’t expect Brooks to shoot as well the next game” Houston will come out tonight with a whole different set of wrinkles to throw at the Blazers, you can bank on it. There is noway they would talk about how they thought this and they thought that if they were not thinking about playing us with an entirely different strategy. I like the gamesmanship Houston is showing its how great playoff coach’s do buisness. Adelman is in top form and has his players playing the game before the tip.
Expect the unexpected, Im thinking a whole different set of starters are going to try and establish the flow of this game. All of Portland has stop Yao on there minds, Don’t give Brooks the open tre. Im not buying what Im hearing and reading for one second.
Go Blazers
I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team.
""If I'm playing this game to get media and attention, I shouldn't be here," Aldridge said. "I'm here to play basketball, and do what I can do to help this team win."
Rick sure has gotten smarter in the last 20 years
I remember the 90-92 run with Clyde & crew, Portland was known as a “dumb” team that got over by their athleticism. Adelman was a player’s coach but not a great game strategist, etc
My how the worm has turned. I do like RA’s humility, though. He’d be just as happy (but lighter in the wallet) coaching at a small college and not having to do all the post-game interviews
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FRONT YAO!!!!!! Let Artest take the open jumper, I don’t care!!! Yao may be good, but he turns it over ALOT!!! Eventually when they see they can’t get Yao the ball, they will forget all about him. And when they start missing (which they will eventually-hopefully) push that baby up the court!!!!!!!!!!! I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YAO MAKE 100% OF HIS SHOTS IN THE 1ST HALF EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nobody should be making 100% of their shots unless they play for the Blazers. I still believe that the Blazers can take this series.
I've been at several games...
where the crowd turns ugly against the refs. I was at that Philly game where there were some “questionable” fouls and the crowd started chanting ‘steve javie sucks’. I don’t participate in these chants because the crowd CAN get called for a technical foul and because refereeing is a two way street. There will be bad calls that will go for and against the Blazers. Probably most will go againt the Blazers because they have younger players that don’t have as much star power as other teams and are playing in a smaller city. Houston is a bigger city with a lot more people so Houston has a lot more star power. This is the one thing I hate most about the NBA. But in the end, I say leave it up to the coach and players to voice their opinion on the call. If they play their best game those ticky tacky fouls won’t matter. One thing I like about the blazers is they don’t whine much about the fouls so I think we should follow suit.
reffing isn't supposed to have to do with STAR POWER
that is the most rediculous excuse for poor work I ever heard….contact is contact period…if these guuys do the “star power” bs it means they are biased and thats not acceptable…Officiating is difficult and mistakes will be made…but deciding that stars don’t foul or that any time a star gets touched it IS a foul is an assinine approach and destroys the integrity of the game
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
I didn't say that reffing had everything to do with star power
it’s just that when there is a tough call, let’s say Joel took a charge from Kobe Bryant, 9 times out of 10 who do you think that call is going to go against??? Joel. Period. The Blazers didn’t lose game 1 because of bad reffing, they lost it because they sucked big time.
agreed...but the star power thing DOES exist and needs to go
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
Definitely it does.
Maybe one day the Blazers will be at the top of the league like the Cavs and Lakers and they’ll get those kind of calls. I once had a boss that told me that he thought the refs got paid to keep the games close… if that’s true they weren’t doing that in the last game.
but if the refs ever let Roy and Oden get away with stuff when they're vets
you’ll be OK with that, right?
Believe you me, I’ve been singing the “small market blues” for 30+ years. The Blazers just have to be “that much better” than the star-powered teams and when they do finally win it all again, it will be that much sweeter
No I still won't like it
I like consistency….the refs shouldn’t even THINK about who’s who…just watch the bodies, the ball, the lines on the floor and the color of the uniform
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
Anyone else see this and think ...
…. Canzano was once again stumped for something to write about and, after perusing BE, picked up on some of the comments posted and decided that’s his story?
Personally, I think he’s full of it as usual. Fans call out the refs all the time, in every city. There is nothing “bush league” about it. The only charge that can be leveled is that it is pretty useless to blame the ref’s, as that is more often an excuse as it is an accurrate assessment of the cause of the defeat.
hakkaa päälle !
Give John a break.
It’s not easy to find enough human sacrifices to feed the insatiable maw of Blazer Fan three times a week.
Keep your eyes on Scola and Battier, Houston is talking way to much about Yao and Brooks. Its like they are trying to effect the defensive strategy towards them and get Portland to forget that there are five players on the court that can hurt them.
This is alot of fun
I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team.
""If I'm playing this game to get media and attention, I shouldn't be here," Aldridge said. "I'm here to play basketball, and do what I can do to help this team win."
I guess the familiar strategy
of “letting a dominant player (Yao) get his while striving to slow down the rest of the team” is no longer “in”? Houston can win if it’s mostly Yao shooting but we can’t if it’s mostly Roy shooting? Maybe I just don’t understand this game.
I still think Brooks running free was/is as much a problem as Yao going off. Matter of fact, with two big centers on our team we are probably better equipped to guard Yao straight up than we are guarding Brooks with no super quick PG to employ. I have a feeling tonight Brooks will be seeing more than one on one defense. At least I hope so.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
I should have specified:
“no super PG to employ that is yet ready for the NBA”
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
how about a PG who sat on the bench too much all season to possibly be playoff ready?
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
Make your shots
And hope the refs call a foul when you charge the basket. The paint HAS to be where the action is. Rush the basket, breakup the defense, and either take a shot, get a foul, or pass it out to the perimeter once the defense is broken. That is where Rudy and Blake will be waiting for the tre.
Anyone else laugh their asses off when Rudy got the AND1 against Yao where he went down like a brick wall?
Go Blazers
Every time Outlaw fades away in a shot, a kitten dies. Save the Kittens, don't fade!
Not Bayless Then
Huh, every genius I’ve heard call into sports radio or comment on the OregonLive boards says that Bayless is the answer to us winning. But Dave makes no mention of that. How could all those people possibly be wrong!
Your points are dead-on. Thanks for bringing level-headedness and reason to the table, Dave. It’s why your the best.
Jerryd has the ability to do things that no other on this team except a healthy Roy can accomplish
but heaven forbid we try to do something with that talent – - -he might make a mistake and we’d get blown out by 30…..oh…wait….
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
I'm not wanting to slam on Bayless
Even though Brooks had a nice first game, I don’t know if I’d sacrifice offense for some potential defense (I’m not so certain Bayless stops Brooks any more effectively). But the real problem is that once you start changing things for someone the quality of Aaron Brooks, you might as well admit you can’t beat this team. He’s the third, maybe fourth best player on their team.
I’m simply more worried and focused on A) our pathetic, standing around offense and B) our non-existent interior defense. I’d rather have Brooks scorch Blake and Sergio all day long as long as it means they are getting the offense into motion (which they admittedly didn’t do in game 1).
my desire for JB on the floor had liitle to do with Brooks...Scola fouls like crazy Yao had 4 even Deke was hammerin people
i woulda loved to see someone who could drive score and get fouled…
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
Brandon's body is way too beat up to finish at the rim like he had been doin...he isn't elevating like he was
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
Gotcha
Bayless wiould definitely drive, but I doubt he would get the foul calls that you desire
Rookie treatment = the opposite of star treatment
To misquote Animal Farm: The NBA where…“some contact is more equal than others”
that is excellent
Tonight felt like the day you open the mail and receive an acceptance letter to your dream school: the University of Playoffs. - Ben Golliver, Apr 15 2009
Because a person is smart and people are stupid?
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21... I know...
by FibonacciSequence on Apr 21, 2009 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
Dave good words to get this party started
Lets go Blazers
There won't be clean officiating in the NBA until David Stern is forcibly removed by the US Congress in 2013 for fixing games.
by 123_G.O._RipCity on Apr 21, 2009 9:59 AM PDT reply actions
im trying so hard to stay positive
Go Blazers
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. - William Shakespeare
Roses are red
violets in bloom
Sophia’s in love
with Nicholas Batum
-Bow4Meow
we can do this!
man dave, sometimes i wish the whole team would sit in a circle, legs crossed, looking up at an overhead screen and reading your game previews and keys to the game. everything is so spot on. and your metaphors are awesome. kudos to you. i love the way you write.
GO BLAZERS!!!
Complete this sentence
If you don’t burn for this game—if you’re not willing to give out everything you are as a basketball player for every rebound, possession, defensive stop, and drive
Then you probably shouldn’t be on the TB’s roster during upcoming seasons. The playoffs aren’t for “deer in the headlights” kind of players. You either have “it” or you don’t
How do you feel about your team's execution?
“I’m in favor of it” —John McKay, coach of the late ’70s Tampa Bay Bucs
(but it could’ve just as easily been Nate’s response, following game 1)
Does anyone have a feed for tonights game...
I’m out of town and won’t have access to a TV with NBAtv. Any links to streaming broadcasts of the game tonight?
best of luck tonight!
GSOM’er wishing you best of luck tonight. The Blazers are “my team” for the playoffs this year since the Warriors were woefully short of playoff contention this year. I hope that the Blazers can make a good go of it!
Thanks. We won that game, so now
you have to check-in and bless us each time we are about to play.
by MiledAnimal on Apr 22, 2009 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions
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- Dwyane Wade’s hot pink pants: The kind of thing you can get away with when you drop 41
- Lamar Odom to New York? Dwight Howard on the move? For now, it’s all talk
