More Saturday Night Impressions

The crowd was deafening.  You could hear two years of frustration being exorcised from them. I was up on the lower 3rd deck at the corner in 322. At times I wanted ear plugs.

I managed to E-bay center court seats for this one, and let me tell you...it was awesome! I can't talk today because of the shouting, but it's an additional price I'm willing to pay to witness the NEW Blazer's coming-out party.

Thoughts from the scene:

1. It's nice to see the Blazers crowd actually getting into it even when we were down by 16. I'd been to a few games in the past where the 100 level was sitting on their hands.
2. Jamal Magloire needs to learn how to pass the ball. I counted at
   

least two turnovers in the first 90 seconds. He had some nice defense at the end when it counted, but I'm forced to wonder if the climb out of the hole would have been easier without him in there. It seemed that Coach McM saw it the same way when Zach went to center and Travis brought his rebounding ability into the paint instead of on the perimeter guarding threes.

3. Zach needs to stop thinking so much when he gets the ball. Once it's
in his hands he should be able to see if he can score, make a move to
score, or pass. All too often it looked like he was pounding the ball while thinking of what move to put on the defender. To be fair, he did manage to make something out of nothing on more than one occasion. I was screaming for him to pass out of the double-team and he would split the defense and flick in a nice hook or finger roll. My advice...use the force. Shoot or pass, but don't diagram the play in your head.

4. Maybe it was the inspirational speech by the Blazer ticket holder
Minnie (I think that's here name) when she compared Travis Outlaw to Clyde Drexler and mentioned how she loved Blazer come-backs. Conspiracy theory alert! Travis lived up to the hype in that game. My advice to Travis: Enjoy it, bask in the glow of a job well done, and DO IT AGAIN! Success is addictive, and I hope he becomes a junkie. Anyone who can score 18 in offensive put-backs and broken plays is a stud, but an All-Star does it every night.

5. Execution. Hit and miss. There were times when they seemed at a
loss. Other times they played together perfectly. In the begining players were just standing around waiting for something to happen, and later, they were all swarming around without the ball. Something good happened on just about every play when they did that.

6. Officiating. So-so. A couple offensive fouls on Zach were
questionable, and a few no-calls on Roy's penetration. Evened out with a few defensive 3-second fouls.

7. Blazer dancers. Nice. Don't tell my wife.

Martell Webster and Brandon Roy were hot.  Don't tell my husband.