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October 8th, 2008 by Dwight Jaynes | Filed under Trail Blazers.The only thing worse than a dull exhibition basketball game is a long, dull exhibition basketball game.
I won’t linger over this one, other than to say it was very ugly. The Blazers chose to televise the game locally and it certainly may have been enough to cool off an entire city. Portland shot 36.9 percent from the field and had 26 turnovers against 22 assists. Defended poorly, too. The point guards combined for 11 turnovers and Travis Outlaw went 1 for 12 from the field.
And then the injuries. Martell Webster is out with a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal on his right foot. That may not keep him out too long — or maybe it will. Remember, that injury has some history with this franchise — it was the famous Bill Walton fracture, only on the other foot. Rudy Fernandez went down during Wednesday’s game with a sprained ankle, too.
And I’m just wondering about something else . . . Who were the hardest-working Blazers last summer? Who put in all that serious time playing ball, getting into shape and really getting ready for this season?
Channing Frye. He’s out with an injury.
Martell Webster. Ditto.
Steve Blake. Ditto.
Rudy Fernandez (played hard for Spain in the Olympics). Ditto.
Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t just be better for guys to take it easy during the summer. Sure, stay fit. Stay at your playing weight. But stay away from basketball for a while. It wouldn’t hurt a bit to take a couple of months off. With all these personal trainers and offseason conditioning programs and summer leagues and national teams — man, it’s a tough game to play 12 or even 11 months out of the year.
Tags: Channing Frye, Dwight Jaynes, Martell Webster, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw
I agree with you, but it’s sort of a double-edged sword. In professional sports, it’s a bit refreshing to see players excited/committed enough to train hard in the off-season…as opposed to strip clubs, dog fights, or moped riding. While their livelihoods are at stake here, it seems a shame to dissuade them from doing whatever it takes to push their game to the next level.
Our knees, ankles and feet have surely taken abuse in the past year…our character, on the other hand, remains strong. At least we have that…
I’m with you on not dwelling on this one. Simply put, if Brandon Roy had played the outcome would have been different. The turnovers would have gone down just by Roy having the ball in his hands.
I think the off-season work the guys put in is vital to this team being successful. All the greats did it (minus Barkley), and you have to be impressed in how the young guys come to work everyday. Injuries are part of the game, it’s a fact we have to live with. Remember that we aren’t talking Derek Andersons tooth ache, these guys want to play and put the work in to make this team better, not worse. If they get hurt doing just that, then I’m fine with it. In fact, I aplaud them for the effort.
Btw, I think we stole one in Batum. He looks awkward at times but he seems to be one of those guys with a nose for the ball. I really like him.
Also, Outlaw looks terrible with the first unit. First, he can’t throw the entry pass, which is a recipe for disaster when you have guys like Aldridge and Oden on the block. Second, he’s a gunner. He looks for his shot and does not create offense for anybody but himself. That’s fine, as a super-sub. I think that the team would be better off keeping him in the sixth-man role.
Lastly, how the heck do you not start Rudy? I realize that he has only played a couple of (preseason) games, but c’mon! The guy would be the perfect fit at the two. That means you would have to slide Roy to the three but that makes sense, doesn’t it? Most teams have their three gaurd him anyway, so what difference is it going to make. Its not like he has to bang around the paint anymore with Oden in the middle so his body should hold up a little better. Plus, he has the size to defend the position. To me, Rudy makes more sense then Outlaw in the starting lineup.
Let’s see how the team responds on Friday.
I like Rudy on the bench, it gives more scoring. He also works well with Sergio.
The execution was so poor last night. What happened to the wonderful chemistry shown by last year’s team? I suppose this is what happens with a team full of rookies…
I’m sorely missing Blake, Webster, and Frye.
At least Diogu had more than one rebound, which is slightly encouraging.