Given that the game was a blowout and I spent a lot of time caught up in the chaos of Terry's jersey retirement, tonight's recap will be a little different from usual.
Check back tomorrow for some video and transcribed audio from Terry's pre-game press conference. For now, be sure to check out the pictures i posted earlier and enjoy these abbreviated random game notes from tonight.
- Brandon Roy had fluid drained from his left knee prior to the game. He says he feels no pain and that it was no big deal. After the game, he said he felt "fine." Brandon said playing with the splint on his right pinky was "weird" and that he was making a concerted effort to get to the free throw line (15 of 15 tonight, crazy...). Brandon was very, very happy after tonight's game.
- Brandon described the team's defense as "active" and said he can't remember them playing that well on defense except against Chicago and Miami.
- Brandon made an interesting comment when asked about what the team needs to do to continue this type of performance. He said the focus was on "consistency" but then he went on to describe "our type of basketball" as relying on "12 guys playing well." Tonight, thanks to the blowout, all 12 guys actually did play.
- Rudy Fernandez, uncharacterically, was out early warming up, taking mostly 3s. Everything Rudy does is unique. Today, he was wearing a gray cutoff t shirt over his red/black/white warmup jacket along with two pairs of socks. Only Rudy.
- The Blazers dancers choreographed a dance to "Bust A Bucket" in Terry's honor. That was an unexpected treat. It had kind of a "Beat Street" vibe to it.
- Frye was out working on his shot before the game (not that it showed tonight). He was also working on some pick and pops, where they seemed to emphasize that he keep eye contact with the dribbler as he faded to find his pull up spot. This involved a lot of intricate backpedalling. Looked trickier than I expected from up close.
- How bout Greg's dunk?
- Brandon came out for some jumpers pregame. Coach Dean was feeding him the ball and he started off like 1 for 4 from about 18 feet . Dean said, simply, "wrist." Brandon nodded, was careful to snap his wrist a bit more on his follow through, and promptly hit 6 of his next 7, most all net. Good professional basketball players are finely-tuned machines.
- On the scoreboard throughout the game, the team highlighted some of the great moments of Terry's career. These included a 7 three pointer game against Golden State and that great flying lay up against Seattle. They also got testimonials from Rick Adelman and Clyde Drexler. Rick joked about Terry's "old body" and Clyde called Terry "perhaps the greatest point guard to ever put on a Trail Blazers uniform" and said it was "about time" Terry got his jersey retired. Amen.
- Prior to the game, old Dukies Shavlike Randolph and Sheldon Williams had a meeting of the minds. Of course, Sheldon's mind has a larger surface area.
- After the game, LaMarcus was signing autographs for Terry Porter's kids. And the cycle continues.
-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)
