Subscribe Feed (RSS)Man, three big-time efforts in a row for the Trail Blazers. A few thoughts:
– When Brandon Roy comes out stroking that jump shot like that, he’s impossible to defend. His first quarter was suitable for framing.
– LaMarcus Aldridge continues his strong late-season run. He’s getting into the lane a lot more, which really changes the way you deal with him. I swear, that little right-handed hook in the lane, where he’s coming from the left wing, he can get that thing whenever he wants it — and he should want it about six times a game, at least. You can’t stop it.
– Nic Batum is going to be a VERY good player some day. Great hands and great feet. He’s setting up to be the perfect complement in the front court to Oden and Aldridge. I can see at some point in his career Batum becoming one of those rare guys who can defend all five positions. Oh, and he’s going to score a little, too.
– A friend of mine who has spent years working in NBA front offices was watching tonight and mentioned, “They didn’t run a single play for Oden all night. They don’t look for him, either.” Yet, the guy scored a point a minute. He had four offensive rebounds, and a couple of them were terrific — he came from the foul line to get one of them and from the opposite side of the lane for the other. All he needs is more minutes and more touches.
– I’m seriously still upset over what happened in the third quarter, when a foolish young official decided to dish out two technical fouls apiece to Joel Przybilla and Carlos Boozer, thereby booting them out of the game. For talking. Yes, just for getting in each other’s faces. I mean, what the hell has the NBA come to when you can be ejected merely for talking? Jim Pasero on Talkin’ Ball made a great point after the game — this kind of talking is GREAT entertainment. And it shows that the players are passionate and care about what they’re doing. There was NO danger of this becoming a physical altercation — it was just two players letting each other know how they feel about each other. But Utah ends up losing its best player and the fans are deprived of watching two good players go at it.
Referees need to be fined for such idiocy.
– The Blazers have suddenly developed the ability to come out and throw the first punch, be aggressive at both ends of the floor and really take charge of the game. But the true test awaits — can they take this on the road?
– One thing you can always count on in the NBA: coaches are so frightened of blowing a big lead, even late in games with the other team’s bench players on the floor, that they won’t take their stars out. Man, there wasn’t any need for Roy to even play in the fourth quarter. Nate McMillan was doing that in all three Portland blowouts during this home stand, to the point where fans are emailing me A LOT to ask about it. All I can say is, Nate’s not the only coach who does this. In fact, it seems like they all do. But if one of your starters gets hurt with four minutes to go and your team leading by 22, there’s going to be hell to pay.
Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz
Wow,great post Dwight !
Who could add to that ?
I have been a huge Batum fan from the start,he is fun
to watch. Reminds me of a young Pip.
Dwight said:
“NBA officials may upset you, but they’re the best in the world. Nobody studies harder than they do and is more analyzed.”
Still think so? Knock out the Jazz’s best player for no reason….
I wonder if the analysis if this performance will be checked against the Vegas line.
Larry, you’re an idiot. Geesh, I feel so much better now. Yeah — that ejection had a lot to do with the Vegas line. I’m sure the Jazz were 20-point underdogs and he wanted to make sure Portland beat the number.
Refs seemed fairly bad both ways tonight. If the game was closer fans from both teams very likely would have had a bigger problem about it, like Sloan did.
I like McMillian keeping Roy in a bit longer to be sure the Jazz don’t get close. I don’t think Roy was left in much longer than Williams. When Sloan took Williams out I remember Roy following shortly after.
I think it should be a policy to not call out officals by name in the broadcast. The ejections aside, the game was fairly called. Mike and Mike were calling out the female offical by name on several occasions. Every call an offical makes is against one team and favors another. That means someone is always upset. I worry that some nut job is going to send an offical anthrax or kidnap their kid due to some crazy grudge. I like Mike & Mike, but I wish they would turn up the professionalism a little bit.
You have to admit that if there is any talk about the officiating of a game, rather than the game itself, than the officials have not done their job. This is no exception.
The officiating was horrible. Boozer clearly grabbed GO and spun him around, but no call was made. The ejection of both players was an extreme over-reaction. Lots of missed calls on both ends of the floor.
With that said, I don’t mind non-calls as long as they are consistent, and that is not really the focus on the poor officiating here. The talk is about the ejections. What about the game?
For those of us watching the game on Comcast last night, we didn’t see the altercation between Joel and Boozer live when it was happening. Mike Barret gave us a radio-like play-by-play while we were watching a replay of some previous play that didn’t even deserve a replay in the first place. Lemme say this happens way too much during the Blazer broadcasts. We miss interesting live action because of the endless replays. As Jason Quick mentioned in his article a few days ago, the Blazers Broadcast team does a super job…and I certainly agree… but it’s very frustrating for this fan that the replays are OFTEN taking the place of what’s going on NOW on the court. Of course, we saw the Joel-Boozer jawing – on a replay – but that’s not good enough during a live broadcast. We should never miss live action when there are countless opportunities during the game to run replays. If I were the director in the truck, I’d reduce the replays by at least a third.
Now, about the game… While I am happy with the wins, these blowouts don’t leave much nail biting in the last few seconds of the games, do they?
The only team I really enjoy watching the Blazers blow out is the fLakers. Beyond that, I just want a win. Nothing sticks out more in my mind this season than the heroic shot BRoy made against Houston. Now that was fun!
Check that. After a little thought, a 4-game sweep of whoever the Blazers play in the first round would be nice to see too. The way the team is playing right now, it isn’t too far fetched to think it could happen.
LA is playing like we all wished he would form the beginning of the season. Had he played like this all year, he would be an All-Star.
BRoy is a freak of nature.
Nate should be in contention for COY.
Rudy, Batum, and no trades before the deadline all prove that KP is the man. And that is just this year alone!
Go Blazers!
I think the way the game was called fits right in with what Dwight said earlier about NBA games–they’re impossible to call, especially since we’re now unofficially into the time of the season where even more contact than normal is allowed.
It’s as so many people have said, all we fans can ask for is that refs call fouls the same way at each end.
I agree that the ejections were a very bad call, but it’s like one of the Mike’s said: we don’t know exactly what words were used. Maybe one of them threatened the other, for example.
This team is showing extraordinary growth in their mental game. Now they need to play four 48-minute games on the road and they’ll all need new uniforms to fit their egos when they get back home.
Agree about the ejections. When a ref gets that emotionally involved – maybe he is the one who should be ejected. Perhaps the refs will keep an eye out for people dropping the ball on Joel now?
WHAT A GREAT GAME!!! Nice to see Batum step up to fill in for Rudy. Greg looked great too. We have plenty of time to prepare for Oklahoma – so let’s blow them out.. and then go win some games in Texas!!
Pete,you nailed it !
I am so sick of missing a play to see a previous play.
Now if there is time,I just love to see a previous clip..but not
during live play !
Dwight – Sheesh, take it easy on Larry. It wouldn’t matter what the line was, if the ref had $ on Portland, he would benefit from getting Boozer out of there.
Before blasting me, let me just say it was a very bad call, but NO WAY was it a grand gambling conspiracy of any kind. (One would hope that any such conspiracy would be MUCH more subtle than that horrible display of judgment!!)
I don’t want to re-open the NBA officiating is rigged etc conversation that was out there after the Philly game, but I do want to make one statement about the officiating. I thought 2 out of 3 refs did let them play last night, some bad calls both ways, I can live with that, it was “playoff” basketball as Dwight had mentioned. My single issue is Violet Palmer. It is not because she has a woman, it is because she really looked incompetent last night. She made horrible, horrible calls against the Jazz and Blazers, not just bad but HORRIBLE. The other two refs did a good job of letting the game flow, she made calls that stopped the flow, it became the Violet Palmer show. Is she a good ref? I seriously have never really noticed her before, she looked way out of her league last night.
I liked the attacking mentality last night. Nic Batum is showing that he can be a very special player some day. Makes you wonder about the future a little with Rudy, Martell, and even Trout all playing the 3.
Jeremy: Maybe they shouldn’t call people out by name, but Violet was terrible last night. Even worse than usual. That “offensive foul” she called on Blake being exhibit A.
Matt — at that point in the game, no matter what the line was, it wasn’t going to be affected by Boozer’s presence. The Blazers were going to beat the number.
And really, Blazer fans are going to have to stop obsessing about the officiating at some point. It’s getting ridiculous. It’s all anyone wants to ever comment about.
– Dwight
Dwight, B-Roy did not even play in the 4th quarter of the game against the Grizzly game.
In the Jazz game I believe it was warranted. They reeled off 8 straight points in just over a minute. Brandon restored order.
It should not be about “what if they get hurt” it is about taking care of business and making sure that coffin is nailed shut.
Dwight – I understand your point. But if it was my money, having Boozer out doesn’t hurt as insurance, right? (i’ll let it go now – it is not even something I think happened here!)
Agree with you 100% on the fans’ focus on officiating. It is ridiculous and has been for a while. I don’t think it is limited to Blazer Fans though.
I really, really like Nate’s attitude about the refs. It seems his answer to poor officiating is always “So what? Overcome it.” I hope the team continues to heed that message. (We all would do well to take that advice in life let alone games.)
I think almost everyone that complains about officiating has never actually officiated a basketball game themselves. Let me tell you this, step into their role just once and you will have a whole different outlook.
I was a good basketball player growing up played a little college ball, and I always had a negative attitude about the officiating. Later on when I was done playing organized ball, I worked for a Boys and Girls Club and did a lot of high school and middle school officiating. I now have a completely different outlook on officiating.
Calling a game in real life is completely different than watching a game from home and calling out the fouls, ect. You people don’t realize how hard it is. They are doing the best job they can, so lay off. I only did high school and city league level, I can’t imagine having to officiate a game at the NBA level. Everything happens so fast and there is so much to watch for.
So all I can say is, until you guys step into their shoes for awhile, shut the hell up.
I have a similiar history as you CVD, I have officiated as well and I agree with you. All I am saying is that Violet Palmer is a incompetent or at least was last night. She missed calls all night both ways. Basketball is fast and it is by far the toughest to officiate. She was bad plain and simple last night.
CVD2312, good insight. It’s easy to be an arm-chair quarterback and point the finger. It’s the same with umping baseball, which I did for a few years. The perspective is a whole lot different when you’ve been in their shoes. You realize how foolish the conspiracy theorists are. It’s laughable. Don’t get me wrong, I was pissed last night when G.O. was called for a foul after Ronnie Brewer hooked him to get to the hoop. The ref was not in a position to see that. After I cooled down and came to my senses, I realized that the ref just missed the call. She didn’t try to screw G.O. over, she just missed it. It happens.
Watching Nic Batum develop has been a real pleasure. I expect to continue experiencing this pleasure for years. I wonder how long before we start calling Martell Webster “Martell Pipp”.
You youngsters out there can consult Wikipedia under Pipp, Wally for an explanation.
LaMarcus is starting to reach new heights in his game. He is maturing right before our eyes and is becoming a force in this league…I love how is is going after those boards
Roy was on fire, and was quite poised with great court vision
Pryz/Oden combo continues to dominate. Our twin towers really throw off our opponents offensive schemes
Blake played a strong game against one of the better point guards in the NBA…good solid effort
It was good to see the bench come out and respond without Rudy. They stepped up big against a heated rival
Lastly on the refs…yah it sucked that Boozer and Pryz got the boot, and maybe it was not needed ect…I am sure however, that ever since the Artest incidence in Detroit it has been drilled in the refs heads not to allow any kind of verbal escalation. If that is the case, don’t blame the refs, blame some of the unstable players
After the technical whirlwind, Przybilla got a standing ovation as he left the court last night. I glanced at his line: one point. ONE point and a few boards. But you knew it was more than that. He embodies the blue-collar heart of this team. Gotta love that.
Dwight:
I don’t think you’re really in a position to say that tossing Pryz and Boozer was a foolish move by the young official. You have absolutely no idea what was said on the court. Don’t you think after some of the things that have happened in the recent past (Ron Artest in Detroit ring a bell?) that the officials are probably making sure things are under control before they get out of hand?
The game was far out of reach, and there was no reason to let something stupid happen. I agree, from our perspective as spectators, it seemed unnecessary to toss them. But like I said, we have no idea what was actually happening.
CVD — perhaps you’re missing my point. They were TALKING. I don’t care what they were saying, it doesn’t really matter. One technical foul was enough. Fans were loving it. Two good players were taken off the floor. Just talk isn’t enough for that to happen and a veteran official NEVER would have done that.
– Dwight
Dwight:
If Boozer had said to Pryz “I’m going to knock your *ss out next time down the floor” do you think that would have warrented action from the official? I think so. You are wrong in saying that it doesn’t matter what was said. Usually heated words are followed by cheap shots or extremely hard fouls on following plays. When players get heated, they do stupid things sometimes. Like I said, the game was already out of reach, there was no need to let something escalate.
CVD — I hate to break the news to you, but “I’m going to knock your ass off the next time down the court” is nothing. You hear worse than that constantly. Saying it is one thing, doing it is another — and the guys who do it don’t announce a warning. Trash talking is a way of life in that league. Big deal. Sometimes, referees have to know what to listen to and what not to listen to. The best ones are a little on the deaf side.
– Dwight
The Jazz didn’t throw their bench in until after B Roy exited – this time i agreed with Nate’s choice to leave him in – as long as D Will was on the floor. normally i think he should pull him much sooner
Why is McMillan playing the franchise cornerstone long 4th quarter minutes in a late-season blowout?
Look at the game log. With the Blazers up by 21 points, Nate sent Roy in to play 7 1/2 minutes of 4th quarter garbage time. He finally sat down with three minutes left and Blazers up by 24.
Against Phoenix, too, Roy played almost 7 fourth quarter minutes in spite of a 20+ point lead. I thought Nate was catching on when he held Roy out for the whole 4th quarter against the Grizzlies. Guess not. Doesn’t the following sentence terrify you?
“And his [Roy's] left knee, chronically sore for as long as he can remember, is ‘aching’ lately.” –Canzano’s column, 3/25/09
Dwight–
I agree that we need to stop complaining about poor officiating, it’s all part of the game.
What we should be focused on is getting rid of Nate. Terrible coach, doesn’t know how to run a rotation and keeps his stars in blowouts for no reason!
Couple of responses to things people have said above:
Deron Williams is waaay better than Carlos Boozer, ask any GM.
The refs should be called out by name so that they have more accountability.
I was at the game, and besides the extremely quick ejections, it did become the Violet Palmer show.
Both teams could say they were screwed by the refs, and they would both be right. For the Blazers it was Oden breathing on someone, and for the Jazz it was Palmer making up for a no-call she missed the last time down.
One should never notice the referees more than the blowout over a division rival taking place in front of them.
Mike:
You’re joking, right? Nate has done a fantastic job this year. There’s always going to be some things you don’t agree with, but there is a reason why he is a top-5 candidate for coach of the year. There’s also a reason that Portland has improved to a 50+ win team from a 21 win team in 3 years, and its not only the players.
I am not one for complaining about officiating typically and i know Blazer fans do it a lot. Some of it is with good reason though.
We all know all stars tend to get the calls when they are on offense, Brandon hardly ever does, he was knocked to the ground on 3 straight plays driving toward the rim in the Cavs home game this year, no call…That got me talking about officiating…
The charge that was called in the Phoenix game against Roy was beyond defensible, I don’t care how fast the game moves you can’t miss that call, inexcusable. Whoever he ran into was directly under the hoop, not a toe was even touching the circle and our allstar gets called for charging? that got my attention…Particularly galling in the game after the Sixer game where Aldridge was planted firmly outside the circle before iguogo (you know who I mean) even crossed the 3 point line (and then lost his dribble for a moment and then collided with a stationary Aldridge) That call should never be made with 20 seconds left, that is a classic no call if not a charge. Say what you will about the Blazers in that OT, but it would have never got there with out that call…
Oden constantly gets manhandled by opposing teams, which is fine, he is a big boy, he can handle it, it just seems ridiculous to call him for touch fouls on the other end…I would say most of the calls Portland fans complain about on oden are reasonable calls, but a goodly number are outrageous…
These things dramatically effect the outcome of the game and NEVER seem to be called evenly…
I know it is tough, I do not expect perfection, just consistency and if you are going to blow a whistle with less than 30 seconds left in a game, you better be sure you are making the right call…
I’m already worried about next year and the Webster/Batuum debate. Will they be battling in training camp for the coveted starter’s role or does it go back to Martell because he was out injured and not demoted? This will be interesting to watch develop.
On Oden,
He is coming along nicely. Love the kid, he is just good people.
Once he gets the speed of the NBA game down, cleans up some of his footwork and positioning he will be a monster in the middle…
I love the fact that the Blazers never took their foot off the peddle…plan on crushing your opponent, make them take the game away from you if you are going to get an L.
I have always been of the mindset that you secure the game and therefore you leave your starters in a bit longer than you should. That being said I feel Nate does leave BRoy and LA in a bit longer than needed. At the same time though BRoy is a very smart player and I would bet Nate has had many conversations about when to expend energy and when to save energy. Last night, for example, right before coming out BRoy drove baseline past his defender. Normally, he would have aggressively attacked the rim, drawing contact and probably taking a hit. On this drive though he nonchalantly kicked the ball out to a teammate. I think BRoy is smart enough to conserve energy when he needs to. His being on the court is merely a stabilizing force that helps keep the game in check, and he can do this without really wearing himself out all that much.
As mentioned above, Roy sat the whole 4th against the Grizz. And by my count, it was 10 quick points, taking the lead from 29 to 19 that brought him back in. No one played more than 38 minutes (Roy finished at 34). We had two days off before and don’t play again until Friday. Relax…..
CVD –
No I’m not joking. Nate is a “Defensive Minded” coach, who can’t coach defense… And I see the win total as being held back to 50 not up to 50. With that team Dr.Dre could have got this win total and you’d all be on my side that he’s not the right coach. Nate would make a great assistant, but not a head coach, at least for the Blazers.
Mike, that is some bold stuff you are shoveling there. Win total being held back to 50? With the youngest playing rotation in the league? No way you are serious about that. Please, do yourself a favor and say you were just kidding. Otherwise, that is really a poor statement to make.
Just before the All-Star break there were tons of people on this blog, including Dwight, who were questioning Nate’s ability to coach this team. Now that the team has virtually assured themselves a playoff spot, and they are competing for the 2nd seed in the Western Conference, a lot of those people have given up the “Fire Nate” mantra and replaced it with a “Go Blazers” one.
Yes, I know there are still those out there, myself included, who don’t agree with how Nate is using Greg (or not using Greg to run the offense through), but can you seriously say that he doesn’t have this team running on all cylinders at the perfect time of the season. His one-on-one talks with LA and BRoy have them both playing like All-Stars. His management of Sergio and Jerrod has been masterful (on most teams, that would be a constant story for the beat writer). His ability as a leader to motivate, nurture, and manage this team is uncanny. Serious question here, but have you ever been in a true leadership position? Not an “Office Space” position where you had “as many as 4 people working under you”, but a real position where your decisions affected those who work for you.
Your argument is that Nate cannot run a rotation, but doesn’t the team’s record and their place in the standings despite their inexperience and their youth prove you wrong? But, hey, I guess all of those sportswriters who have him in contention for COY must be wrong. Good thing we have you to set us all straight.
I don’t get it, Dave in DC. Neither Phoenix nor Utah made 4th quarter runs that would have justified putting Roy back in. Look at the play by play game logs.
The explanation is McMillan’s overly rigid pattern of substituting players. Like clockwork–Memphis game excepted–Roy comes out at the end of the 3rd, and goes back in about two minutes into the 4th. But shouldn’t you be flexible when the lead is 20+ points and your star is a little beat up? Not to mention that there are some younger players who could benefit from a little burn.
Nate is a terrific coach. Success speaks for itself. But there are areas for improvement, and this is one of them.
Great take Dwight. Staying up for ‘Talkin’ Ball’ is becoming worth the extra cup of coffee in the morning. Pasero and you have quite Felix and Oscar vibe going. All I have to ask is what happened to all of the posters who proliferated the site with talk of doom and gloom when we didn’t move half the roster to get V. Carter or B. Davis? I’m not going to say I told them so yet, but it would have been a mistake to blow-up this roster in February…now we are seeing what this team can achieve. I’m enjoying the fact that Pritchard wasn’t consumed with this spring, but the playoff runs of the next 5+ years.