Jim E provides this game recap in his diary. I pulled it up to the main page to make sure it got full exposure (though you all should read the diaries anyway...some of the best and most provocative conversation happens there). Many thanks to you Jim!
By the way, we're looking to do this all year long. If you go to a game, home or away, and have a recap you can send it to me by e-mail and we'll post it. We'd be especially interested and grateful to any of you who live in road towns, quadruply so if the game isn't televised!
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
By the end of the 3rd quarter, the lead was 2 points and rebounds had become even. Only 1 3-pointer in the quarter. The refs, one in particular, had started calling a Blazer foul on most Sonics possessions.
The 4th quarter sucked. The fouls became ridiculous, and the outside shots never fell. The loose balls bounced the wrong way. A 10-point loss. Turnovers will be big trouble for this team. Fast breaks will be rare and not pretty. And be ready for very long games with lots of foul shots - for the other team. On the other hand, shooting and rebounding are certain to be better than last year.
Player notes:
Jarrett looked just fine as the PG. 15 pts., 4 assists, 4 rebounds, only 2 turnovers. He was extremely active all over the court. Hit a 3, hit from mid-range, had some drives, chased down loose balls. Actually shut down the the Sonics PGs defensively for at least the first half.
Dickau came in a merely scored 9 points in about his first 4 minutes - 2 3s and and great drive with a foul shot. You can stop considering him "injured".
Sergio came in later on and hit his only 2 shots - 2 very confident 3s. Overall, I'd say PG is less a worry than most people have thought. Actually, the PGs were the best players for the Blazers tonight.
Roy played a lot and had great energy, but it was not his night. Could not finish on his drives, and took some questionable shots. And, not surprisingly, could not defend Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis. Roy played 1, 2, and quite a bit a 3.
Webster had the play of the night - ran along the baseline and crammed a monster dunk off a beautiful Dickau pass that no one saw coming. He was 1-3 one 3s. Otherwise, his night was quite miserable. He fouled out and had 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 0 steals.
Dixon shot poorly and accomplished nothing.
Zach was Zach. 20 and 7. But he also had 3 assists and 3 steals! Seemed much more mobile than last year. Actually passed the ball on several occasions. Sure, he also hogged it a lot and fired up some sad shots while everyone just watched. But not as bad as last year.
Joel was as expected. 9 boards, only 4 points. 1 block. Energetic. But they had him playing a very high post all the way out at the 3-pt. line very often. Supposed to set picks, I guess, but they kept passing the ball to him there. NOT a good idea.
Travis was only 2-8; had 5 rebounds. Did go 4-4 from the line.
Magliore came in and had 5 pts. and 2 rebounds in about 1 minute. But after that, he kept trying to dribble the ball, and got into trouble. Rebounding just disappeared for the team in the second half, but they had a 10 rebound advantage in the first half.
Not the start we wanted; the first half was such a tease with all those 3s. Oh well, on to the next one - wish we did not have to wait so long!