Subscribe Feed (RSS)I don’t think this win is anything to get too fired up about. Sorry, don’t mean to be a downer, but Portland didn’t play very well — it’s just that the Sonics/Thunder played worse.
And Kevin Durant? Look, I give Martell Webster all the credit in the world for hustling around and doing his best. Webster’s effort level this season has been among the best on the team. But Durant was awful. He missed a ton of shots he’s usually going to make. He was just out of kilter.
I loved the way Portland came out of the chute in this game. They ran halfcourt motion and moved the ball. They moved bodies. Heck, the Blazers even once scored when Steve Blake made a backdoor cut and got the ball for a layup — the first such thing I can remember this season. Wow — actually a basket out of an offensive set, rather than from someone going one-on-one!
Greg Oden was getting the ball early, feeling a part of things and it all looked great. But coach Nate McMillan, apparently following a predetermined substitution plan, lifted Oden and Blake at the six-minute mark and it kind of went south from there. Oh well — a lot of coaches do that. When you have a long bench full of guys who need to play, such things happen.
It was a win and in the NBA you shouldn’t complain about wins. But as I said earlier this young season, don’t always confuse poor shooting by an opponent with good defense. Some nights, they just miss shots. I was shocked, actually, at how poorly the Thunder played.
Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Nate McMillan, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Steve Blake
No disagreement here Dwight – a win is a win is a win, no matter how ugly it is. I thought Blazersedge had a good bit on last nights game:
“On the plus side the Blazers broke down the Thunder early by getting it into the lane. Greg Oden (a second mention!) had a couple of nice post moves which caused them to pay attention to him. Jumpers followed and after that cuts off of screens. This kept the Thunder wondering where the attack was coming from and led to a couple of sweet-looking halfcourt sets…the kind where the pass is as spectacular as the finish. That, combined with OKC missing a ton of otherwise makeable shots, gave the Blazers a 10-point lead after the first quarter.”
This is exactly why the Blazers need to get Oden active. He doesn’t need to score 20 points, he just has to prove that he could score 20 points and the rest of the team has an easier night.
Once again, Dwight, you say the exact same things that are going through my mind about that game. Thank you for being an appropriate mix supportive & critical.
Most importantly, thank you for telling the truth about what happens in these games, rather than trying to shape the way the fanbase thinks to affect the veracity with which we follow the team (like O-live).
You’re spot on, and on a roll. Keep it up.
A few questions, Mr. Jaynes:
1. Why does Roy continue to shoot so poorly? Double-teams?
2. What happened to Przybilla? Last year he was one of the most efficient centers in the league.
3. Is Aldridge going to be all right? Was he really going to get over ten rebounds last night if he had played the entire game (judging from his per-minute stats)?
4. What’s the best way Oden can cut down on the fouls? Is he coming down too much with his hand on opponents’ shot attempts? I haven’t watched an entire game this year but do recall last year that he (and Aldridge) were too focused on getting a block rather than just putting a hand up sky-high.
Again….. Oden is NOT the “key” to this team… Management is even starting to acknowledge this…
What are you talking about? The Blazers aren’t going anywhere without an inside scoring presence, and Oden seems to be their best option. Roy and Aldridge played great against Houston in the playoffs, but the Blazers still were bounced in the first round.
another myopic post from a non-Blazer fan. Let’s not feed the trolls kids.
Right on cue as usual… where are your other oden-ade drinking bretheren ???
This thread from Dwight wasn’t really even about Oden, so why are you bitching? Oh…that’s right, because you have no real interest in the team…all you care about is being a zit on Oden’s ass. Congrats.
hahaha…he doesn’t call himself bumpity for nothing!
The new normal is to get really excited when GO has a ‘huge’ game and scores a whopping 12 points on a team without a legitimate big man. I will get excited when Greg shows he can score 20 against a team WITH a center.
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[2]
Like I said….
As a former Seattle Sonics season ticket holder, I think that any win over the Sonics/Thunder is a huge win. I root for the Thunder vs. Boston, Utah, or Phoenix, but I hope that the Blazers KILL the Thunder by 40 points! If the Blazers can sweep the Thunder 4-0 this season, that will make my year (along with a Blazers home win vs. Boston). Even if the up-and-coming Thunder aren’t thought of as a good team, Portlandites should consider this as a win over the Sonics. I AM surprised at how poorly Kevin Durant played, since shooting is what he does well.
I thought the Blazers looked great last night!………………..uh wait, I still can’t watch the games.
Durant was the Blazers’ MVP last night. Dwight’s 100% right about this one– the Blazers got a road win on a back-to-back, so they’ll take it, but they’ve got lots of things to fix.
I’m sensing a subtext in your last several posts, Dwight, that you have some real doubts about the strategies McMillan is instituting. I’m looking forward to a post breaking down the performance of our coach. Its a little early, i know. but something tells me what McMillan is doing at the start of the season is the same he’ll be doing at the end of the season, regardless of results.
Why McMillan takes Oden out midway through the first quarter when he was feasting on OKC’s big people is beyond me.
I mean, this guy seems so hell bent on playing his rotation EXACTLY the same every game instead of adjusting to the flow of the game which is what coaching is all about. And notice too that Oden NEVER again received the ball in the post after the 1st quarter and NEVER again received a pass from Roy the rest of the game, period. That’s right, Roy did not make a single pass to Oden in quarters 2 through 4. I kept a count, and it was 0.
What’s becoming obvious with this team is that it needs a PG who will take it by the horns and not allow Roy to set up the offense. Because when he does, all this team gets are long jump shots or one on ones by Roy. That may work against the cream puffs during the regular season, but as Dwight has already pointed out, the good teams will simply not allow it. If anyone still needs proof of that, go back to the replays of the Houston series last spring.
That is because Oden is not the key to this team…. Nate knows it and so does management… The Oden experiment will be over soon…
Get some stridex.
you’re right…why would anyone want dunks, layups, and open jump shots when we can have fadeaway 20 footers and off-balance runners.
as long as this team ignores Oden’s development, we will be seeing more of the latter and plenty more first round exits.
Straight from Wikipedia:
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[2]
Yea it wasn’t a real solid win. Marty Marty is working his tale off on his defense in most every game.
That is why I found it so incredulous that in the last Houston game when Web played what? 14min? Then coach Mac said that the reason he pulled Web in favor of giving Travis 30+ was cuz of Webs poor defense. As opposed to what coach? Travis Outlaws steller defense? but I digress.
This game was not a real solid win. Durant was without a doubt off his game. There was however s few solid signs. As Dwight pointed out the start, the energy on D. I thought Blake was working his tale off on Westbrook to start as well. Granted in the end Westbrook got his but Blake came out on him with the proper attitude. There were a few real offensive sets too. Tho again in the end it mostly became Roy.
I have been all over Nate so far so I am going to give him his due for once as well. He even got a tech. I was glad to see that. It was over his BFF Roy and it seemed a bit staged? I mean Monty did not have to fight real hard to hold the wild man back or anything. Maybe I am wrong. But Nate was not wrong. Roy did get wacked big time across both arms.
So yea. It really was kinda a boring win. But there were some solid signs. The movement was nice. Rudy has not been great yet but that dude is always moving. The pick and roll/pop defense is still pathetic. Especially when it is Blake and Oden. Neither one of them seems to have a clue what the other or themselves is suppose to do. But heck it was a win. So it was a good game.
Yes, that pick-and-roll defense is brutal. It’s mostly the guards, though. They switch every freaking time. Luckily, the Thunder usually didn’t capitalize. Oh well. The help defense was a lot better, Webster was an animal and Oden was Oden – blocking and altering shots and generally controlling the paint. A good effort all around. Now, it’s Atlanta, another high-scoring team that will be undersized down low. Let’s see if the Blazers attack inside. They could if they wanted to.