Subscribe Feed (RSS)During that great Portland run late in the third quarter, I remembered something Rick Adelman used to say when his Blazer teams in the early 90s played a great game.
“We were really in tune,” he’d often say. “The guys were really in tune with what we wanted to do.”
That’s what I thought I saw last night. Man, there were times when Portland played together about as well as it has all season. Really solid. Some thoughts:
– Sergio Rodriguez is really stepping it up. He’s penetrating and finding people and you can’t convince me he doesn’t see the floor better than any Portland point guard. He had about three passes last night that were eye-popping and logged eight assists and just one turnover in less than 15 minutes.
– When Rudy Fernandez is on a roll like that, it’s something. I’ve said it a thousand times, but you can have all your dunkers in the world, for me the biggest excitement in basketball is when one of these pure shooters gets on a run where the basket looks bigger than the double Jacuzzi in my bedroom. I mean, that three at the end of the third quarter — was there any doubt?
– The officiating sure got better in the second half, didn’t it? Sorry, just kidding. Great to see Joey Crawford in the building for the first time this season. He’s old school but nobody controls a game the way Joey does. Alvin Gentry got banged with a technical foul so fast he didn’t know what hit him.
– You will never, ever see a game again where Greg Oden gets 1 rebound and Joel Przybilla gets 1 rebound. Ever.
– It kind of irks me to hear from so many people how much better Phoenix is now that it’s back playing a running style. What a bunch of BS. Terry Porter was right. This team can’t play that way anymore and it ought to be tightening down on defense. The Suns were giving up tons of open shots last night and that just doesn’t work. Plus, Portland nearly doubled them in fast-break points, 19-10. For the record, Porter had the Suns five games over the .500 mark. Gentry has them three over. And really, if Porter hadn’t slowed the game down early in the season, Steve Nash, Shaq and Grant Hill would all be on crutches by now from trying to play uptempo basketball.
– Portland still gave up a ton of points in the paint — 68. The Blazers aren’t where they need to be on defense yet, by any measurement. The Suns shot 50 percent from the floor.
– Forget about magic numbers. The Blazers are in. The Suns are out.
– Nobody noticed it much, but Nic Batum had another solid game. 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. I watch the kid shoot prior to the game and I can tell you, he’s going to be a very good shot-maker at some point. Right now, he’s not bringing it to the game all the time, but eventually he will.
– Oden had three terrific blocks and continues to find ways to score. Shaq’s a load, but Oden wasn’t afraid.
– Just wondering when Shav Randolph doesn’t dress down for a game like this, rather than Michael Ruffin. Randolph’s actually not bad and is bigger than Ruffin. Just wondering.
– I love how Przybilla stands up to Shaq. Love it. Man, it’s a shame two guys in the NBA can’t even stand nose to nose and tell each other what they think without drawing technical fouls. Good stuff. There’s too many hugs in basketball today and not enough of this stuff.
– Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were every bit as good as you’d want them to be. When they shoot and rebound well, Portland’s halfway home.
Tags: Alvin Gentry, Dwight Jaynes, Grant Hill, Joe Przybilla, Michael Ruffin, Nic Batum, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Shaquille O'Neal, Shav Randolph, Steve Nash, Terry Porter
Batum actually got a lot of praise from the TNT announcers. They even came up with “found money” for his offense. They told the story about Marty only playing 5 minutes and how well this guy has stepped up. I am loving his two dribble pull up jump shot. That is really going to make him an effective offensive weapon (added to his dunks and 3 point shots).
That last 6 seconds of the 3rd quarter was SICK!! If we had not given up 5 points in the last few seconds of the first quarter on Monday – we would have won that game too.
Go BLAZERS!!! (Get to go to my first game this season on Saturday)
I knew the game was over when halfway through the first qtr they showed Nash on the side-lines doing some stretching routine and looking like a 35 year old trying to keep up with a bunch of up and coming 20yr olds (well I guess Batum is younger than 20)
TNT replay of Pryzbilla in Shaq’s face after the “offensive foul, dropped ball” incident – PRICELESS.
Folks that are telling you how good Phoenix is are just plain nuts. That team is on the verge of falling off the cliff. They’re getting older and older and play worse defense every year. Big changes coming in Phoenix.
The Blazers are really zoning in. I hate that loss on Monday just because it made the job just a little harder and didn’t have to happen. I’m completely psyched.
I need to call out Nate McMillan for his pigheaded substitution patterns.
Down 21 points at the beginning of the 4th, Phoenix sent out a throw-in-the-towel lineup that looked like this: G. Dragic, A. Tucker, S. Swift, J. Dudley, R. Lopez. Garbage time, right?
Nope. McMillan played Brandon Roy for 6 1/2 minutes in the quarter, against the junior varsity, despite the fact the Blazer lead never fell below 17. Give Roy a rest! He’s got a chronically sore knee, the playoffs are coming up, and he’s the future of the franchise. My whole section at the Rose Garden was shouting, “Nate, get Brandon out of there!”
I have to agree with you about the Porter situation. On the surface, Phoenix may have the appearance of being good (scoring lots of points, recent win streak, etc) but in reality they are a pretty weak team.
They should have stuck with Porter through the tough process of trying to change the team dynamics, but instead they took the easy way out and went back to their old ways, even though they can’t win that way.
That move will catch up with them in the future. I think they will be a bad team for the next several years.
At least now we know now what the heck is up with that Red Fox beard that Roy is sporting these days.
p.s. Doug Collins is the best thing TNT has going for them. The man is great at what he does.
On the surface I agree with you about the Phoenix situation and how inneffectual their move back to the SSOL offense has been in actually turning around a franchise that wasn’t going anywhere.
But I would argue that the run and gun suns, whether D’Antoni or Gentry, are a “successful” team in that they are going to sell tickets both at home and on the road.
Only 1 in 30 teams is going to win a championship in any given year. 5-6 teams will actually have a legitimate chance at contending for the championship, the rest of the teams are just fodder. So if that is the case, why not try and sell an “entertaining” brand of basketball, I don’t think anyone would argue that watching SSOL is much more entertaining than say a grind em out Detroit team.
There are 2-3 teams that I buy tickets at the RG every year for, Phoenix, Golden State, and now the Knicks. None of those teams are considered contenders but when I buy those tickets I KNOW I will see an entertaining game.
Sure I like watching LeBron play, but watching a 89-81 defensive struggle with a few phenominal plays by LBJ is not nearly as exciting as an entire evening of fast breaks, hoisted jumpers and just 48 minutes of frenetic basketball.
Yes it is all about winning, but unless you are one of those 4-6 teams that KNOWS they are contending for a championship, I say you would be better off putting out an ENTERTAINING product on the floor, even if it costs you a few wins. Ultimately the Suns weren’t going anywhere this year whether they played lock down defense or just shot the heck out of the ball, but I will tell you they are 100x more fun to watch under Gentry than they were with Porter. And ultimately, as a fan, isn’t that what you want to buy, “Entertainment”?
Sometimes I think we put TOO much emphasis on winning, and we forget to actually notice if what we are watching is entertaining.
So I say more power to Phoenix, Nellie Ball and SSOL, they may not win any championships, but they have won me over as a fan.
Now go Blazers!
I was supposed to go to the game but sold my tickets. Boy do I regret it. That 3rd quarter was ridiculous. As it was, the TNT announcers, Doug Collins and Kevin Harlan were absolutely money all night long. It was a treat and a break from the Barrett and Rice monotony.
Total team effort. Nobody on the Blazers has the court vision of Sergio, and I don’t care if he can’t shoot, watching these young guys run & gun is a thing of beauty.
It felt like BRoy barely did anything last night and he ended up with 26 points and 9 rebounds in his sleep. That’s when you know you are a superstar in the NBA.
Maybe Ryan…
But you could make a case that with the players the Suns have — in a town that is basketball first, even though it has MLB and NFL and NHL — they’d draw no matter what style they play. And if they suck next season, no matter the style, their crowds will thin out. I think that’s reality in today’s world. It’s more about winning than anything else.
– Dwight
Pinch me I’m dreaming !
Did I see my beloved Blazers running and gunning again and again
last night ???
Why oh why does this team play so slow usually ??
The team we saw last night would be hard to beat by anybody.
That’s the team that beat the Celtics with similar style run and gun.Remember how they just beat the crap out of them ?
Oh how I love this team !
BAAAAAATUUUUUUMM is our future star. I can feel it.
I agree with all that you said, but the problem with Sergio is his defense. I guess against Phoenix it won’t be as glaring, but he has to step up here if he wants minutes. Also, while his outside shot has improved, he is still not there at an NBA level…
What I liked most about last night was we were finally making more of a concious effort at getting the ball inside. Outlaw, Oden, and LA were actually getting the ball fed inside. When they kept doing this, I about fell out of my chair in jubilation!
A good night where everyone contributed
You have a double jacuzzi in your bedroom?!
Dwight – Golden State is far from even contending, and haven’t all year, and they have been ravaged by injuries, yet they are 9th in the league in attendance.
Orlando has been in contention all year, and has an outside shot of making it all the way in the playoffs, yet they are 18th in attendance for 2009.
I truly believe “style” matters in the NBA. Yes winning is important, but if you are going to lose, losing with style is a much more successful business plan than losing with plod around defense oriented basketball.
The numbers I used were from http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance
Panama — yeah, because Sergio is the only guy on the team who can’t play defense, right? I hear it all the time about his defense, but come on — they allow penetration off the dribble, no matter who is playing. He’s no different, he just usually is smart enough not to foul the guy. I think it’s just a convenient excuse not to play him.
– Dwight
MOV –
Doesn’t everyone?
– dj
Dwight’s got game, son! Silver fox fur wall covering and mirrored ceilings…
Thread on Oden via j.a. adandane
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090327