The Blazers at Houston — another biggie
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.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | April 5, 2009
Aaron Brooks, Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Adelman, Ron Artest, Shane Battier, Yao Ming
This stretch run is really fun. 3rd huge game in about a weeks time. Win and go 2 up on Houston for home court. Lose and it’s all tied up again.
Go Blazers!
Hopefully, I can shave my beard tonight. It’s driving me crazy!
Jeremy….really?
Really?
Puleaze my Blazers,please win in Houston !!
I am so excited for this wonderful team.
They deserve every bit of accolades they get and deserve even more.
That article from what’s his name about Thunder’s future being brighter is just pure nonsense,and I am a really good fan of the
Thunder.I watch all their games and think they have an exciting young bunch but no way even close are they going to be superior.
The Portland Trailblazers will win today and give us the joy WE so deserve with all our blood,sweat and tears and oh yeah,money.
Houston makes me nervous tho but Blazers really look like tough
veterans now ! Maybe it’s the beards..haha.
Thanks again Dwight for this wonderful blog ..
Is it getting even more fans than you thought it would ??
I completely agree about Artest. If you’ve watched any Rockets games lately, he is continually the last guy up the court on defense. Yao beats him down the court and that is ridiculous if you’re supposed to be one of the great defenders. Blazers should try to do some running.
Wow,Portland looks like bush league today..
If that’s who they match up with in the playoffs,it could be an embarrassment.
Go figure..one day a playoff tough team,the next day pushed around
like 98 pound weaklings.
Still want a first-round matchup versus Houston, Dwight? The Rockets don’t look like they’re gonna choke again this April
Best case scenario for Portland is to go into San Antonio and beat the Spurs, and hopefully climb over both Texas teams and finish 3rd in the WC
Could’ve used a deal for another veteran big man back at the deadline, eh? Channing Frye as the backup when Przybilla and Oden are in foul trouble…how’s that working for ya?
4 straight 20 point wins, then a loss and the sky is falling? It’s just one game folks, and they did get the news that they clinched the playoffs just before they went out to play this game…..maybe that caused a bit of a let down.
The truth is, it really doesn’t matter. The goal of this team was to make the playoffs and now they’re in, good for them. We should all be happy with the progress they have made.
GO BLAZERS!
They really manhandled Portland,kind of surprized me how badly.
I had posted a negative about Greg that got removed.
I suppose that not only Greg stunk,but couple of his sidekicks
as well in fairness.The turnovers were insane.
But..nevertheless it would have been nice to have had a big man
tonight. Joel out ? The ship sinks. Channing Frye ? Oh my god.
Well yes the sky is falling at least for tonight when you
picture Portland opening a series in Houston. Did it look promising to you ??
Remember,Portland barely beat them in Portland,it took that heave.
Memphis might make you feel better but they are not in the playoffs.
San Antonio will be gigantic to test the waters for the Playoffs. I see nothing wrong with being worried about losing
a game that Portland really needed tonight.
And the closer they get for the seeding,there is nothing more important that “it’s just one game”.
That one game could be the difference between opening in Portland or Houston.
Yao Ming was fanttastic !
Houston looked very, very,scary to meet in the playoffs.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, Portland does NOT want a matchup with this year’s Houston Rockets.
The Blazers do well against other teams that are athletic but aren’t lock down defensive teams. Moreover, they don’t perform well against intangible-type players.
Guys like Luis Scola and Von Wafer and Artest and Battier are all crafty, win with hustle and craftiness not overwhelming athleticism. And they all play tough, solid fundamental Defense.
For whatever reason, the Blazers don’t match up well with those type of players.
I should add that IF the Rockets still had McGrady in the lineup, it would be a totally different story. The Blazers would welcome a matchup with a McGrady-led Rockets team.
McGrady made that a more freewheeling, less disciplined, more erratic team. And that’s to say nothing of McGrady’s traditionally soft defense.
But losing McGrady for the season was classic addition by subtraction.
Yeah,agreed these guys were stellar !
Luis Scola,Von Wafer,Artest,Battier
Scola is a stud !
Wow 4 pts/0 rebs. Thanks Greg for another game worthy of a #1 overall pick.
Seriously though, has anyone every in their entire life seen a bigger foul machine that him? Un-freaking-believable.
Good game Oden !!! Great effort !!!
This seems like the best type of game for the Blazers to learn from. Hopefully – they will learn enough to figure out how to beat these guys in the playoffs.
This from the Houston newspaper message board :
“I thought Oden had Kelvin Cato written all over him when he was drafted and I now think the Blazers would be happy to have Cato instead. People talk about Brooks not getting assists…what about the former #1 pick that’s 7′ tall not getting any rebounds while playing just over 11 minutes!
4/6/2009 9:04:10 AM
Jaynes, are you experienced?
Then tell us things we don’t know, like:
-how it’s a mental game at this stage
-what kind of rumors/issues distract(ed) losers
-how a for-profit NBA prefers a LA-Cav’s Final (balls req’).
Explain how teams win, despite:
-youth
-lack of playoff experience
-lack of an established mega-star
-how a for-profit NBA prefers a LA-Cav’s Final (balls req’)
-inevitable bad calls & untimely TV timeouts.
In ’77, some upstart TrailBlazers, lacking any sense of propriety or respect for the established order of things, put Portland, Oregon on the map. I lived in Baltimore then. IMHO, the Blazers must now show the proper amount of disrespect to other teams. Kinda like your “All Rights Reserved” blog here. You piss someone off and they ask: “Who’s your superior?” You might say: “I have none. Few peers, and no superiors”. Go ahead respect Kobe, respect LeBron, but other teams…Oh hell NO!