Man, the first quarter last night was a thing of beauty for the Utah Jazz — and basketball purists. The Jazz sliced and diced the Portland Trail Blazers, spread them out, isolated them and cut them up, laying them bare at both ends of the court in front of about 20,000 people.

Seriously, the new buzz words for the past several seasons in the NBA are cliches by now… all I’ve heard lately from teams is how they need to find players who can “create their own shot.” Yeah, well… I’m old-school. I admit that. But I remember when basketball was a beautiful team game –when it was systems that created shots. And that’s what I saw from the Jazz last night.

Jerry Sloan has never been coach of the year? What a joke. He’s one of the last holdouts who plays the game the right way, who has a system at both ends of the court and sticks to it — and makes sure his players do, too.

Did you see the Jazz just handing the ball to a player last night, asking him to go one-on-one to get a shot? And it’s not as if they couldn’t do that, either. Deron Williams could do it any time. But he works within a proven system that provides great shots for everyone — and Williams has no trouble getting his within that system.

Rick Adelman does this. So do Phil Jackson and Larry Brown. They understand that moving the ball, moving bodies and demanding that players be disciplined within a team framework is critical to winning basketball. For all you young people who think basketball is nothing but isolations and clear outs, who think you win by just handing the ball to your best guy and staying out of his way — well, get your hands on a video of last night’s game.

A lot of fans think that just because John Stockton and Karl Malone were in Utah so long running pick-and-rolls, that what Utah does is pretty predictable. But no way. Even in those days, the Jazz would come at that play in so many different ways, from so many different angles. You’d have to stop all sorts of back cuts, off-the-ball screens and player movement before they got to that play.

And you wonder why Malone and Stockton stuck around for almost two decades, playing in nearly every single game that whole time? Well, they were never asked to carry the same load that a Brandon Roy carries on a nightly basis — the task of taking the ball in the middle of the floor and constantly trying to beat multiple defenders on the way to the basket.

I get so frustrated with people who think that’s how you play winning basketball.

Look, last season the Houston Rockets ate the Blazers alive in the playoffs — and Portland came away saying it needed one more player, in addition to Brandon Roy, who could get his own shot. Meanwhile, the Blazers had been carved up by a team with NO players who could get their own shot but instead played a team game, stayed within a structured group of sets, ran plays, worked to get each other open.

Is nobody paying attention to this? Your system is supposed to get you shots, too — but it doesn’t happen here very much.

And at the other end of the court, well, it’s the same thing. For most of the first half, the Trail Blazers couldn’t get an open look. They had trouble getting to the basket and getting open threes. The Jazz got out to Portland’s guards while still being able to seal off the inside as well as anyone the Blazers have played.

Rudy Fernandez, Andre Miller, Martell Webster and Steve Blake combined to go 8 for 39 from the field. Jerryd Bayless was 5 for 12, but made that many only because he was relentless in his pursuit of cheap buckets late in the game when the issue was decided.

In the second half, things became a little more equal because Carlos Boozer left in the middle of the third quarter with a calf strain, right about the time Williams went to the bench with his fourth foul and Utah was pretty bad at the foul line. Besides, the trailing team, especially at home, always gets that run in the second half.

(By the way, it was a typical LaMarcus Aldridge game — great statistics at the end of the night but if you were watching the game, you wouldn’t like what you saw. For most of the night, Boozer just annihilated him. If he hadn’t gotten hurt, he’d have thrown Aldridge off the Broadway Bridge by the fourth quarter.)

But don’t let that obscure what happened in this game. The Jazz gave the Trail Blazers a very big lesson on how the game is supposed to be played. And it’s real important that everyone understand that.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Jerry Sloan, Larry Brown, NBA, Phil Jackson, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Utah Jazz

I got the idea for this post from sitting down the first night I got this year’s Pro Basketball Prospectus. By the way, that book is a must. Did you hear me? It’s a must if you’re any kind of an NBA fan. Most of you have already heard about it but I want to make sure you hear it from me: Buy this book!

And as far as Christmas gifts, it’s a no-brainer for anyone remotely interested in basketball at any level. It will give you insight into players and teams you heretofore haven’t even thought about and also tell you all about the new metrics being used to effectively evaluate teams and players. I’m a huge fan of the Prospectus books, having been a consumer of the Baseball Prospectus for many seasons and this is every bit as good.

And as far as a gift goes, it’s the best — it keeps on giving for months because it’s not a cover-to-cover read. It’s one you want to peck away at, reading here and there and digesting what you read. You have my permission to leave this post momentarily and buy the book right here, if you promise to come right back.

Anyway, I digress… What I read in the Trail Blazer section of the book, written by the renown Kevin Pelton, was this:

“Portland’s offseason strategy made it clear the team’s braintrust was deeply concerned about how the Blazers lost to the Rockets. Houston was able to hold the league’s second-best regular-season offense in check, rotating stoppers Shane Battier and Ron Artest on Roy — with plenty of assistance from a defense well-schooled in offering help. Essentially, the Rockets dared the other Portland players to beat them, and those role players were unequal to the task,

As a reaction, the Blazers went looking for another creator on offense who could relieve some of the pressure on Roy. . . . “

Well-stated, and true. We all heard the same things. And I think this was a total misconception about what the team actually needed. And it was a very big misinterpretation of what happened in that playoff series.

First off, the idea that you need more than one “initiator” of offense is kind of crazy. Of course, if you had another one, it would be OK — but it’s not necessary. What was lost in that whole summary of that series is that the Blazers lost to a team that had NO OFFENSIVE INITIATORS!

Prior to the series, Rick Adelman told me flat out, “Our problem, since we lost Tracy McGrady, is we don’t have anyone who we can give the ball to who can just get a shot when we need it. We don’t have anybody now who can do that. Tracy could. What are we going to do? I think it’s possible for different people to step up in different games and make a difference. We’ll execute our offense and see what we get.”

And the whole point is, without a man who can get his own shot — without, really, any great offensive stalwarts — the Rockets ran their offense to perfection and picked the Blazers apart, getting great shots throughout. It’s the way basketball was meant to be played — a team actually getting points FROM ITS OFFENSE, rather than just from an individual player going one-on-one.

And then watch Portland operate. I’ve been encouraged lately to see Portland getting a few, a scant few, points off pick and rolls and backcuts for lobs at the basket. Finally — a few buckets not coming from one-on-one play.

Watch Portland some night — well, maybe not tonight against the hapless Wolves but against a real NBA team — and see how many times they get the ball to Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge or Greg Oden and just let them go one-on-one. They work hard for their hoops — but are still vulnerable when other teams play solid help defense and run another defender at them.

It’s not just the Trail Blazers, by the way. It’s rampant around the NBA. Just because you happen to have a player on your team who can beat people one-on-one doesn’t mean you have to totally abandon sound offensive principles. It’s almost as if coaches have given in to players and don’t have the will to demand disciplined offense.

But it’s the reason there’s a pretty good gap developing between the really good teams in the league and the bad ones. The good ones defend that sort of offense with help defense — rendering such teams impotent.

The answer, of course, isn’t just in adding another one-on-one player. The answer is giving the team offensive structure that actually leads to points on a consistent basis. If you’re going to call pick and rolls, actually use the pick — and look for the man rolling toward the basket. Drive and dish. Set screens away from the ball and watch for the man who set the screen to roll open at the basket. Move without the ball, move the ball and move bodies.

Houston sliced and diced Portland with that kind of stuff last season in the playoffs and are still doing it. But for a team to execute in the halfcourt like that, it must be unselfish, disciplined and smart. The reward, though, is great — because you will find open shooters all over the court if you run your offense well.

Often, when I watch the Blazers try to execute against good NBA defenses, I’m reminded of the great line from Hall of Fame football coach John McKay, when he was coaching the horrid, expansion Tampa Bay Bucs. “What do you think of your team’s execution?” McKay was asked.

“I’d be in favor of it,” McKay deadpanned.

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Tags: Basketball Prospectus, Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Kevin Pelton, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Tracy McGrady

Surprise team in the NBA? Phoenix? Well, maybe. But at least the Suns have Steve Nash. It’s Houston, hands down. Even when losing, like last night against the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime, the Rockets have been impressive.

Can this team, which isn’t tall, isn’t deep and isn’t really all that talented keep it up?

In a word, no. It can’t. Teams like that — that are undersized every night and not very deep — usually wear down or get hurt as the season moves along. It’s the price you pay for going to war every night against the physical power that the NBA brings in almost every game.

The Rockets need to continue to shoot very well from the three-point line to continue their offensive success, too. I’m not believing that they can continue to do that. It’s very difficult.

On the whole, this team’s start is a tribute to Rick Adelman’s continued ability to make the best out of the personnel he’s given. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. If this team finishes at or above the .500 mark in the tough Western Conference, he should go straight to the Hall of Fame.

That’s not a .500 roster.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, NBA, Rick Adelman

ESPN poked its mic into the Houston huddle last night and caught Rick Adelman saying, “It’s not about them. It’s not about them. It’s about us.”

Later, on NBA TV during the post-game news conference, Adelman said, “It’s about us. It’s about playing our game. We just need to play our game and see what happens.”

Somewhere, Jack Ramsay was smiling, I bet. That’s was vintage Ramsay stuff. “Play our game,” was his credo — and I don’t know that people understand what that philosophy really does. It’s something that not only binds a team together but gives it confidence. It’s the glue that can give an underdog team the idea that it CAN win against any team playing with any style, as long as it sticks to the game plan.

Even if logic tells you that what the Rockets are throwing out there on the court against the powerful Lakers is a mismatch of gigantic proportions.

I’m not sure the world is ever going to wake up to what a great coach Rick Adelman has been for lo, these many seasons. He’s always had the underdogs. I could never quite convince Trail Blazer fans what a group of overachievers Adelman’s Blazers were. Some of the fans always felt Adelman was what was keeping those Blazers from beating Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and those Pistons, from beating Michael and Scottie and those Bulls, Magic and those Lakers.

Nope. They forget Portland’s miraculous win over Larry Brown, David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs in 1990. Beating the Jazz and Suns in years when those teams had every bit as much talent.

And then look at those overachieving Sacramento teams — coming within some very poor ref calls of jumping past the Shaq-and-Kobe Lakers with a bunch of guys who never had success before Adelman arrived or after he left.

Mostly Adelman has done it was a speed game and an intricate offensive setup, crafting a custom offense built on what his individual players do best. Nobody could ever have taken better advantage of Clyde Drexler’s unique talent for slashing and better hidden his lack of a dependable jump shot. Nobody better used Vlade Divac’s passing and leadership skills. Think about how well Terry Porter, Kevin Duckworth and Jerome Kersey were allowed to do what they did best — without exposing what they couldn’t do. Nobody else ever got Chris Webber, Rod Strickland, Ron Artest, Latrell Sprewell or Kevin Duckworth to play so well.

He’s never won it all, people say. But I’d submit he came real close to it — and with rosters that had no business, in many cases, competing at such a high level.

But this season in Houston is his crowning achievement. And with a team that is having to play at a pace and style that has never been what Adelman has liked. “We have no choice,” he told me during the first-round win over the Blazers. “It’s how we have to play.”

On offense, with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming out of action, the Rockets are a grab bag. “In the fourth quarter of games, we are just never quite sure where the scoring is going to come from,” he said. “With Portland, they have a guy they can give the ball to and just get out of his way. We don’t have that with Tracy gone. How well we do in the playoffs will probably depend on getting contributions from everyone in the fourth quarter.”

Somehow, Adelman and his staff have cobbled together a game. And they’ve leaned on their players’ unique integrity — playing hard and being unselfish. They get every ounce of talent out of this bunch — and maybe even more. I could be wrong but I think that’s what coaching is all about.

I heard Jeff Van Gundy during Thursday night’s game say, “Rick Adelman is a Hall of Fame coach” and it was a classy thing to say by the man Adelman replaced in Houston. And I think Jeff’s correct. Adelman’s ability to meld a disparate group of personalities and talents into a winning team is unique.

Now I don’t in any way expect Houston to go into Los Angeles Sunday afternoon and beat the Lakers. That’s way beyond what his roster is capable of doing. But the Rockets have done enough to prove their character and heart — and Adelman’s greatness.

He’s one of those people who never calls attention to himself and doesn’t do all the media stuff that could make him more well known. He’s not an ego guy. But I’ll say this, he’s one of those rare coaches who you see across the floor and just know — he can beat you with his team or he could beat you with your team. Take your pick.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Sacramento Kings

Hard to figure out where to start, but here we go, analyzing yet another opportunity wasted:

– This may be the only spot on the Web analyzing this game and not saying Portland’s struggling because it’s “young and inexperienced.” Come on, that’s such a lame alibi. This team lost by a single point. And it made enough mistakes to lose five games — and just wiping away a couple of them would have meant a win.

– Too many jump shots. You’ve heard it from Charles Barkley, Doug Collins, Jeff Van Gundy and the guy who picks up your garbage. Everybody knows it. But do you think that’s just a playoff problem?

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a problem all season! We’ve talked about it over and over. The Blazers, once in a while, have made consistent efforts to get the ball inside. But even when they have, it’s been mostly from dribble penetration — not a reliable method of inside scoring. And since the Blazers get virtually no fastbreak points. The result is that in a series like this one, they’re left outside because the Rockets won’t allow dribble penetration.

Portland’s playbook may have plenty of postups in it, but those plays aren’t being called. And haven’t been called all season. I still think running Roy off a couple of cross screens and posting him up is a great play that’s never called. He’s probably the best post player Portland has.

– Travis Outlaw shooting the biggest shot of the game? Seriously, not when it’s a three. A two, sure, that’s fine. Hell, when Michael Jordan needed a three, he didn’t shoot it himself — he passed to Steve Kerr or John Paxson, proven clutch three-point shooters. Once again, for the second game in a row, it should have been Rudy’s shot.

– On another huge shot, Portland does what it always does — runs a clearout for Brandon Roy. The Rockets did what they have done all series — run to the spot where they know Brandon will be. The Rockets block the shot AND get an offensive foul from Roy. Regular readers of this blog will quietly note how many times this season I’ve written that with big games on the line against good defensive teams, they’re simple not going to allow Roy to play one-on-one. It’s ridiculous to even attempt such a thing. Or if he does, he’s got to drive knowing he’s going to have to dump the ball off — drive and kick, Brandon.

– Yup, the Blazer post defenders aren’t getting a fair chance to defend Yao. I believe they are paying the price for beating him up in the first two games of the series. I would guess the Rockets sent tape of those beatdowns to the league office and officials were instructed to clean up the post play. And Greg Oden gets the usual Greg Oden fouls. It’s too bad but it started months ago. So much of the next offseason depends on Oden’s development. I hope he’s up to the task.

– Honestly, I don’t know if this would do any good or not. But Rick Adelman doesn’t leave the officials alone. Ever. Never has. Either does Gregg Popovich or Doc Rivers or Phil Jackson. I’ve covered coaches from both extremes — Adelman, Jack Ramsay and Mike Dunleavy never stopped yapping at them. Mike Schuler, P.J. Carlesimo and now Nate McMillan never said much to them. My thought is this: If it seems as if the other team is getting all the calls, yet they’re on the refs all the time — you better go get your saddle and mount up. You better start riding them, too. It seems every time there’s a cheap foul on Oden, the camera shifts to McMillan, who is just sitting there on the bench without a peep. At some point, I think he probably ought to take a technical foul.

– What’s up with the rebounding? It’s not as if Portland is a team that can’t board. It led the league. When you’re being outhustled for the ball, though, it has to do with effort and personnel. Who is on the floor? In critical times, are your best rebounders on the court? Are they giving full effort? If they aren’t, they better not continue to be out there.

– Yes, I guess I’m a real homer because I still fully expect the Blazers to beat the Rockets Tuesday night and send this thing back to Texas. It might even be a rout. And if that happens, my money’s on Portland to win at Houston, too. Just make a couple fewer mistakes — I don’t think that’s asking a lot.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Houston Rockets, Nate McMillan, NBA playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Yao Ming

Someone Tuesday asked Houston Coach Rick Adelman, who still has a home in Portland, what he thought abut the possible demolition of Memorial Coliseum. Remember, Adelman was the captain of the first Blazer team and coached two teams that played in the NBA Finals in that building.

“I hadn’t heard about that,” he said. “Oh, I think I remember — they want to put a minor-league baseball stadium there, right?

“Well, if they build one as nice as the minor-league ballpark in Sacramento, I think it’s a great idea. Be great for the city. That ballpark in Sacramento is just beautiful.”

When the questioner left, Adelman looked puzzled. “What, am I supposed to get all sentimental about that building, just because we won a few playoff games there? Or maybe they should keep it up forever and people can just drive by and look at all the pretty glass?”

Folks, if Rick’s not sentimental about that building, you shouldn’t be. And really, you SHOULDN’T be. I’ve said it several times, but anybody who wants the old barn saved from the wrecking ball just hasn’t been in it in a decade or so.

Well, actually, not many people HAVE been in it in a decade or so.

It’s incredible to me how process overwhelms logic in this town. ANY plan that includes keeping that building intact (and hey, it’s going to take many millions of dollars in upgrades to keep it open for virtually no bookings) is ridiculous.

I will say it one more time: Whether you put up a ballpark, an entertainment district or a 7-11, it will get more use than Memorial Coliseum. And it will be more comfortable inside, too.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Memorial Coliseum, Rick Adelman

A few thoughts about Tuesday night’s Blazer win over Houston:

– Brandon Roy can’t score 42 points every game. Well, actually maybe he can. But he made a real statement about the defensive prowess of Ron Artest — which isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

– LaMarcus Aldridge was terrific, back to his old self of mixing in some low-post activity with the 20-foot jumpers.

– A little too much one-on-one by Portland in the fourth quarter. Would like to see more ball movement because it appeared Roy was tiring down the stretch.

– Greg Oden made two great plays before fouling out in the fourth quarter — the put-back dunk of a Roy miss and knocking away the entry pass to Yao Ming that led to a Portland bucket.

– Yao was very reluctant to contest any of Oden’s shots. It’s a shame Oden didn’t get more touches in the regular season because he isn’t ready yet to be a go-to guy on offense. The team went into him three straight times in the second quarter — something that probably didn’t happen very often all season. NOW, they realize how important it is to get low-post scoring.

– When Yao was on the bench, Portland didn’t take the ball to the basket enough. It’s a must. I’m positive that will be emphasized as the series continues.

– When Dikembe Mutombo hit the floor with that knee injury, a very critical dynamic changed in this series. Either Yao is going to have to play much longer minutes or the Rockets are really going to struggle for about 15 minutes a game without a backup center. Often in the playoffs, 15 shaky minutes is enough to get you beat. Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry aren’t big enough to fill in at center and when Yao’s out Portland is going to punish the smaller Rockets.

– Portland has three chances to steal a win in Houston, but very often the first game is the best chance. The Rockets are trying to put a string of six straight first-round playoff exits behind them — jumping out to a lead on them Friday night would cause a lot of reminders of previous playoff failures.

– Nate McMillan really shortened his rotation. That’s fine, I just hope Roy and Aldrige can hold up.

– I fully expect Portland to get better and better as this series unfolds. At a certain point, the Blazers are going to wake up and realize that talent isn’t their problem against the Rockets. Execution is the only thing keeping them from winning the series. If the Blazers play the game the right way, bring the high energy level and don’t do stupid things, they’re going to win this thing.

– The Twin Towers, Oden and Przybilla, appeared for a couple of stretches. It worked fine, but I’d like to have seen more of it during the regular season. Sometimes you do things over the 82 games just for the sake of experimentation. Just to see whether it can work. More time could have been spent doing that and it would have paid off now.

– McMillan was using his coat to hide his play calls from the Houston bench most of the game. You don’t see that very often. Pretty soon in this league, we’re going to see players wearing wrist bands with plays on them, matched with numbers — and coaches will call numbers that players can check on their wrist bands for corresponding plays. Blue-32, red-44. . . HUT, HUT!

– A shame to see Mutombo’s career end that way. A great player, a great leader, a great teammate and by all accounts, a great man.

– Playoffs or not, the Blazers need to move that merchandise. I think that’s why we saw the team come out wearing those drab, gray, long-sleeved “Uprise” T-shirts instead of the usual warmup tops. When people see the players wearing them, they run to the counter and buy them. I guess.

– Portland must guard against a big emphasis on getting Yao in foul trouble. He’s probably not going to foul out of a playoff game, anyway. And seriously, if you just take the ball at him, he’ll often just throw his hands straight in the air and let you shoot it — he doesn’t want to foul. But a preoccupation with getting those fouls can lead to Portland getting away from what it needs to do on offense — spread the ball around and go to the boards hard. I think, over the course of this series, the fear factor of Yao’s defense will decrease.

– Something else related to that: It appears Rick Adelman didn’t want to play Yao long minutes, anyway. Even without foul trouble, he was on pace to play only about 34 minutes or so Tuesday. That will likely change with Mutombo out, but you have to wonder if there isn’t some concern about Yao’s ability to play big minutes. 

– At the start of this series, Adelman said, “Portland knows where it’s going to get its points in the fourth quarter. Brandon Roy will do that for them. We don’t have a guy like that. We don’t have anyone we can rely on to get his own shot. We’re never quite sure who that guy is going to be in the fourth quarter.” Man, so far they have that guy — it’s Aaron Brooks. Can he keep making those shots? I think he can if Portland keeps going underneath those screens and giving him open looks. That runner of his in the lane has been deadly, too.

– That was not a spring wind blowing through Portland last night around 10 o’clock. It was the entire population breathing a deep sigh of relief.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dikembe Mutombo, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Houston Rockets, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nate McMillan, NBA playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Yao Ming

As many of you know, I once wrote a book with the former coach of the Trail Blazers. Because of that, people often think we’re close friends — which we aren’t. I don’t see or talk to Rick much anymore and we were never close friends. I like him a lot, though, as a beat guy he treated me great. He’s one of the top two coaches I’ve ever covered.

He’s never been fully appreciated. I believe because of his sideline manner and what can be taken as a prickly relationship with the media at times, he often doesn’t get his due as a coach. He’s still dogged by that “he’s never won a championship” crap that was also whispered about other great coaches like Jerry Sloan. Come on folks, unless a Lebron James, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon or Kobe Bryant falls in your lap, how many are you really going to win?

But what he does do is get the most out of what he has. If anyone believes the Trail Blazers, for instance, should have won those NBA Finals battles against Detroit or Chicago, I’ve got news for you: the Blazers were in over their heads against those teams.

His Sacramento team had a one-year window to win it all but bad luck and shaky officiating did them in against the Lakers. Still, look back at that Kings team and tell me that it was laden with Hall of Famers. It wasn’t.

He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever seen at handling players like Chris Webber, Rod Strickland, Latrell Sprewell, Ron Artest and many others — guys who are said to be hard to coach. And he’s really good at taking a roster, examining what his players can do and then designing a system that maximizes their strengths and diminishes their weaknesses.

He’s had great offensive teams and great defensive teams. He can play slowdown — like he’s doing now at Houston — or run you to death the way he did with the Blazers.

And in the playoffs, he’s great at game-to-game tweaks and adjustments. At taking away things opponents have done with success against him.

He’s had an interesting career and there’s been one constant throughout — wherever he’s coached, he’s not been fully appreciated until he’s gone. At every stop, people didn’t realize what a great job he did until he was fired.

And then, too late, they realized what a great coach he is. More than anything else, Rick Adelman is what scares me most about a playoff series against the Houston Rockets.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman

Yes, I believe I’m about the only guy in town who believes the Blazers have an edge in this series. If you’d only forget about the regular-season games between these teams, you’d be able to visualize it a little better.

And that’s what you have to do. The playoffs are a different animal, as you’ll see soon enough. And as far as I’m concerned, you can talk about experience all you want, but it’s not as if there’s a locker room full of playoff success over on Houston’s side. Portland, from top to bottom, has better players than the Rockets. In a seven-game series, that’s going to show.

Just a few early thoughts about this matchup:

– This will be a very physical series. The Blazers are capable of wearing Yao Ming down. He’s going to have a couple of very big and strong defenders laying on him the whole series. And if the Blazers, with that size, choose to play in front of him — which he doesn’t handle well — he’s going to have some frustration getting his hands on the ball.

– The Rockets are going to be very physical with Brandon Roy. Trust me, if he’s tired now, just wait until Houston gets done with him. Ron Artest isn’t even close to as good on defense as he used to be, but he’s super strong and will try to manhandle Roy.

– Portland needs to get good shots and push the ball when it can. The Rockets are not capable of rolling up a lot of points. They don’t have a single player on their roster who can just go get his own shot the way Roy can. They have to keep a lid on the tempo and keep Roy from going off.

– Houston has nobody who can guard LaMarcus Aldridge.

– Rick Adelman is very tough in playoff series, when he can zero in on an opponent’s weaknesses. He’s got a tiny bit of Dick Motta in him — if he finds something that works against you, he’ll run it 100 times in a row until you stop it.

– The Blazers have improved through the course of the long season as much or more than any other team in the league. This isn’t the same Portland team we saw even a month ago. The Blazers are getting better and better the longer they play.

– It’s going to be difficult for Portland to get to the basket. Houston will defend the 3s and the basket area and allow you the medium-range jumpers. The Blazers better not be too anxious to take those shots.

– The best thing about having homecourt advantage is that if you slip up and lose a home game, you have to win only one on the road to regain the homecourt advantage. If Houston loses one at home, it has to win twice up here — and good luck with that.

– It’s been a few years since you’ve seen playoff games, Blazer fans. Remember this — everyone always thinks the team that won the last game is going to win it all. People jump on and off the bandwagon in a hurry. But it’s a long series and you can’t overreact, either way, after just a game or two. Goofy and unpredictable things almost always happen. Luck will play a part somewhere along the way, you can count on it.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Ron Artest, Yao Ming

Just a few things to keep an eye on:

– The Rockets are not playing real well right now and have been struggling to find points. This is not a team with a lot of great offensive players, other than Yao Ming. Ron Artest still thinks he is a scorer but he’s never been a great shooter. Aaron Brooks has not been consistent. The others are mostly role players. It’s important that Von Wafer isn’t allowed to get it cranked up in his off-the-bench role. He’s probably the best shooter they have from the outside.

– Rick Adelman’s teams always do a good job of keeping you from getting to the basket. They wall off the paint and make you take medium-range jumpers. He’s always liked his players to take personal responsibility for their defense, though — and this is a very good defensive team. I do not believe Artest is anywhere near the defender he used to be. The big thing with him is that you can’t let his bumping, talking and overall demeanor distract you from what you’re trying to do. At this point of his career, he’s more talk than talent at the defensive end. Shane Battier is the solid defender you have to worry about.

– The Blazers should get second-chance baskets. They should also keep the Rockets from getting them.

– This could be Adelman’s best coaching job. These guys, when you break them down, really aren’t as good as their record indicates.

– Houston has lost two straight. Stretching that streak to three is going to be extremely difficult. Portland has won four straight games by 20 or more points. Stretching that streak is going to be next to impossible.

– I’ll say the same thing I said when the Blazers last visited Texas: It isn’t necessary to win this game. But Portland must keep it close. Take it into the final minute with a chance to win. Show themselves that they can win down there. Another blowout loss to these guys on the road would kind of cancel out all the good things of late.

– Three big words: Possible. Playoff. Preview.

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Tags: Aaron Brooks, Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Ron Artest, Shane Battier, Yao Ming