Some random opening-night observations from a packed, and VERY loud Rose Garden:

• It’s almost always better to be lucky than good. The Blazers were pretty good Friday night, but they were lucky, too. You know, a great shooter like Michael Finley isn’t very often going to miss that easy little shot from the right side with the game on the line. And the Spurs aren’t going to shoot 55.9 percent from the floor, 56.3 percent from 3-point range and 93.3 percent from the line and lose very often, either.
• On the other hand, when you win the rebound battle 37-31 and have just six turnovers, you won’t lose often, either — and that’s what the Blazers did.
• Earth Wind and Fire played ONE song prior to the game and that was it. Granted, that group isn’t as hot as it was a couple of decades ago but still — that must have been a very expensive song. But, of course, there’s no salary cap on pre-game entertainment. Just think — if this team ever gets really good, it might just bring the Rolling Stones in for one song on opening night.
• On a night when you’re going to try to have a “red out” — all the fans wearing red shirts — it would be a good idea to hand out red T-shirts at the door. Let somebody put an ad on the back or something to pay for them, but it would redden things up a bit because a lot of people just didn’t get the message Friday night.
• Nicholas Batum HAS to play. He’s one of the best defenders on the team as a 19-year-old and has a real knack at the offensive end of making the proper decisions. You have to play him just to see how good he can be. I’m thinking now, he could be REAL good.
• Tony Parker cannot be stopped. But he needs to stop crying to the referees. He’s too good to act like such a baby.
• As the Blazers mature as a team, they’re doing a great job of not getting involved in any of that junk with referees. It’s going to get them a few calls along the way somewhere.
• Joel Przybilla on the floor for Portland’s final offensive possession? What was that about? If he even touches the ball, they’re going to foul him — and it looks, at least for the time being, he’s reverting back to previous free-throw troubles.
• Brandon Roy was Brandon Roy again. He fills up the stat sheet and at times, completely controls the game. He’s a maestro when it comes to tempo.
• I had no idea this guy Roger Mason is so good. Maybe he isn’t. But he was sensational Friday night.
• Mark this down. Fast break points: Spurs 2, Trail Blazers 14. You will not see the Blazers have seven times as many fast-break points as their opponents for the rest of your time on the planet.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Earth, Joel Przybilla, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, opening night, Portland Trail Blazers, Roger Mason, Rose Garden, San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, Wind and Fire

In sports, there’s nothing like the home opener, regardless of the sport. The lid-lifter, they used to call it in the old days.

Look for the media to be a little better dressed than usual. That’s a tradition started here many years ago and I’m not sure who started it. Coat and tie on opening night. Just because it’s kind of special. It used to be more obvious in the old days when the press sat courtside. In those days, I’d get emails or voice mails from people about my sartorial splendor — or lack of same — not only after the first game but anytime during the season. Everyone’s a critic. Nowdays, nobody notices us at our perch halfway up the bowl.

It’s a night to see what sort of fancy introduction the players will get, have a first look at the team during a counting game and this season, an added bonus — an appearance by Earth, Wind and Fire. Can’t beat that. The game’s sold out but available on KGW. Whether you’re there in person or via the tube, enjoy the game. After all, there’s only one home opener per season.

And don’t forget to check out the ties.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, opening night, Portland Trail Blazers

Well, a whole lot of things went wrong, obviously.

To begin with, not much of it had to do with Greg Oden. I would say when the game was in its meaningful stages, Brandon Roy was as ineffective as I’ve ever seen him. Kobe Bryant had him tied in knots and Roy really didn’t start to score until Bryant was off the floor. LaMarcus Aldridge wasn’t overwhelming, either. Too many jump shots and not enough post-ups. These are the two guys meant to carry this team.

But a lot of the problems at the offensive end had to do with the Blazer system. The Lakers’ defense just completely took Portland out of its halfcourt stuff. A lot of the time, Portland is an isolation team on offense and in this case the Lakers got so much help defense to the point of attack that the Blazers seemed to be playing one-on-three all night.

Good NBA offenses are predicated on moving both the ball and bodies. Movement is essential because 24 seconds isn’t very long when it comes to getting a good shot. If you don’t move the ball and your players, defenses lock in and you get stuffed. That happened a lot of times Tuesday night but it’s a problem a lot of teams can have and it’s usually quickly solved.

The underlying problem is that the Blazers are still way too dependent on outside shooting. They get virtually no fast-break points and not enough points in the paint. Without easy baskets, there’s way too much pressure on the halfcourt offense. Portland simply must quicken its pace and grab some of those easy points that are out there in transition.

On defense, it wasn’t all that bad, particularly when Portland got back in time to choke off the Lakers’ running game. Los Angeles forces an uptempo game and also takes the ball to the basket. At the end of the night, the Lakers usually get better shots than their opponents — it’s why they win a lot of games and why Phil Jackson is probably THE great coach of his generation.

This game was a combination of two things — how good the Lakers are and how overwhelmed by the situation the Trail Blazers were. But these games happen in an 82-game season. The Lakers will do this to a lot of teams. What you do as a pro player is just put that one in the mental trash can. Forget about it. And that’s one thing that’s probably harder for fans than players.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Kobe Bryant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Los Angeles Lakers, opening night, Portland Trail Blazers