Subscribe Feed (RSS)Nope, I don’t see that. This is when the Trail Blazers character has to shine through. You don’t quit when you’re down 3-1 in a series. Especially with a home game on tap.
Portland will play with more force tonight and I think you might see the Rockets not quite as sharp on defense. The Blazers might even get out and run a little tiny bit.
At some point tonight, the dam is going to burst and Portland will break through.
One thing, though — more minutes for Rudy Fernandez. I could not believe this morning that it was suggested Nate McMillan was pondering starting Travis Outlaw rather than Nic Batum. Rudy, yes — that’s the right move. But Outlaw? I’d be shocked if that would help.
It will be interesting to see if McMillan’s officiating diatribe from Monday has any impact. I would doubt it. He’s going to have to verbally jump somebody from the sidelines tonight — something he’s always hesitant to do.
You know what, folks — even if this team was positively getting screwed by the officiating every night in the series, it does players and coaches no good to be preoccupied with it. You have to just play. And certainly when you lose a game by a point, every player in the lineup can look at something he did that could have made up that single point — which has nothing to do with officiating.
Really looking forward to this game because I expect a very big effort from the home team.
Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Houston Rockets, Nate McMillan, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw
Re: officiating. It came to me last night that perhaps the philosophy of Reggie Miller applies.
Since there are many more people in China than Spain, it makes more cents to the NBA to have Yao vs Kobe in the second round than to have small market Portland.
I don’t get the preference for Outlaw. The guy still is only worth having on the floor when he’s hitting shots. His D is still awful, and his passing/decision making are atrocious. Rudy is at least his equal on D and is the far savvier player. Outlaw has looked utterly overwhelmed in this series, while Rudy’s looked sharp when he’s played.
Roy has to get his teammates more involved tonight. And establishing a post game is crucial. Could be Aldridge or Oden, but they’ve got to get into the post consistently. If Aldridge spends another night shooting nothing but 20 footers, it could be the end of the series.
I hope they start Outlaw tonight and he plays the game of his life. That way, he might get a little of his trade value back so we can get something in return for him this summer.
Outlaw has showed that he is better at PF than SF, which is great because if he plays SF we have a logjam. The problem is that he doesn’t fit what we need as a backup PF. We need a tough veteran banger. Thats the exact opposite of Outlaw. So…it’s time to package him this summer and hopefully tonight he can get a little bit of his trade value back.
I still don’t think many people see eye to eye on the “if it was a one point game, you can look at anything from the game.”
While this is a valid comment, it is also a skewed comment.
The reason it became a 1 point game was due to poor officiating. You can’t say a game + poor officiating = 1 point loss…. still means your team failed. Yes, you got the loss, but does not mean your failure.
With a total of 6 points making up the last two games and the rockets getting a large number of the calls, how much impact would be out there if the margin of referee error was minimal? We would of had a 10 point lead.
It’s a game changer. Making an incorrect out of bounds call on one player, taking 2 potential points from that player and calling a touch foul on the other end is the result of a 4 point swing.
To be there at the end of the game, down to 1 point – you can’t start pointing back to the players with 100% critique…….if the game wasn’t called 100% fair.
I agree with most everything you say except about who to start–I’m trusting Nate to make the best coaching decision. He’s made lots of mistakes but he’s also made lots of good decisions to lead this team to 54-29.
I agree with you and everyone else who wants to see more of Rudy. The guy has been “on” for weeks now–why not use that?
I’ll be very disappointed if the Blazers don’t bring a very big effort tonight as they saw what happened last game when Houston brought it in the 4th and they didn’t.
I remember one time when Dr. J and the gang had Larry and company down 3-1. The Celtics came all the way back so it can happen.
Most times the team that’s behind in the series says the right things and plays well for around 3 quarters, but they’re waiting for the roof to fall in on them. They’ve got their lockers cleaned out in their minds before they even take the floor.
If that happens to the Blazers I will be surprised. I sense we have some young lions here. Few things in sports are as fun as when a team has enough of losing. When each individual looks inside and says, “I’m not putting up with this anymore.”
If it happens to everyone at the same time, a mighty force erupts like 1,000 warriors running into battle yelling at the top of their lungs. But it has to be real – not people telling themselves all the cliches. It has to be when you’re so focused that you barely hear the Rose Garden crowd and you tap into that basic instinctual rage to win.
We have yet to see the Blazers really go off in this series. Tonight would be a damn good time to start. Go Blazers.
It’s pretty simple, Dwight. Nate sees the game defensively and you see it offensively, matchups-wise. If he starts Rudy, then Roy will draw Artest and Brandon will get posted up, just like Batum has in the first possessions of the last few ballgames (hence, the early exit for Nic in favor of Outlaw…) Nate doesn’t want Brandon getting into early foul trouble so he may start Travis to guard Artest.
You’ve already mentioned how Adelman likes to play the “matchups” game, and he will make sure Artest gets the ball in the post against any skinny wing player the Blazers send out there. Travis is the best defender that Nate has to counter this (which didn’t need to be, if Pritchard had pulled the trigger on a deal at the deadline, but I’ve covered that in previous posts)
Good point marc about Outlaw having success to increase his trade value. This is how Blazer fans “should be” rooting, for all the players. Not all the players will stay around forever, and when it comes time to deal them, you want KP dealing from a position of strength
I agree with you, Dwight: I’m just hoping to see a wee bit more of a running game tonight. For much of the previous four games, we’ve been subjected to a lot of what Houston is good at doing: slow, plodding methodical play. It’s akin to watching draft horses pulling manure carts. Our Blazers are not like that at all – they’re young thoroughbreds. Let them run. It’s about time we saw a great quarter-mile race. Go Blazers!
If the dam bursts, I like our chances Thurs in Houston. I still believe the team has more talent; it just has not executed a full 48 mins in unison (that includes Game 2). We get glimpses of playoff caliber play in fits and starts, so we know it can be done. If they can get into a rhythm tonite and tap that momentum, this could very well start a nice little run that brings it all down to Saturday.
Larue — there is NO scenario where Travis is the best defensive player Nate can call on. Rudy is a superior defender to Travis, who frequently gets totally lost on defense. And anything Portland to further encourage Artest to think he’s a scorer is a fine idea.
– Dwight
I don’t think this is about viewing the game through “offensive” prism versus a “defensive” one, as mentioned above. It’s about imposing your will on the other team. If we start Rudy, Artest does become a bit of a matchup problem on one end, but you know what? Rudy’s a matchup problem on the other end. Mismatches are a two-way street and you have to be confident that yours will trump theirs.
All of Nate’s substitutions feel reactionary, like he’s plugging holes in a dam to keep it from breaking for 48 minutes. To me, it comes off like we’re scared of losing more than we’re trying to win. We have more talented guys then they do – we just need to play like it! Put ‘em out there and go **** up the Rockets!
“there is NO scenario where Travis is the best defensive player Nate can call on.”
Sure there is. Outlaw is the only defender with size that Nate can put on Artest. When the game starts and Batum is guarding Ron, what does Houston do? They dump it into the poast and Ron backs Nic down and either gets a lay-in or FTs.
(And who can forget the play where Ron-Ron backed Brandon down, scored the “and 1″ and flexed to the crowd?)
But when Nate puts Travis on Artest, Ron drifts out to the perimeter and shoots 3 pointers.
Size matters.
Now, we agree that Outlaw is not a great defender, especially when it comes to rotations and situational recognition. (I was all over Blazersedge with trade proposals last February begging KP to make a deal and bring in a veteran forward with playoff experience for just this kind of contingency.) But if Nate starts Rudy against Houston, Roy will have to guard Artest (unless you want him guarding Scola and Aldridge on Ron? Let’s not go there) and Artest is going to “abuse” Brandon just like he’s done to Batum.
For now, we’re stuck with Outlaw as the “power small forward” option. But when Artest goes to the bench, THEN Nate can play your 3-guard lineup and Rudy can get his shots up
“It’s about imposing your will on the other team. If we start Rudy, Artest does become a bit of a matchup problem on one end, but you know what? Rudy’s a matchup problem on the other end. Mismatches are a two-way street and you have to be confident that yours will trump theirs.”
This is the playoffs, not the regular season. History is not on the side of teams that “go small” and try to “impose their will” on the bigger opponent. Ask yourself this…how many championships has Mike D’Antoni or Don Nelson won with their strategy of creating quickness mismatches? No, my friend. Defense and rebounding win games in the playoffs, the game is slower and bumping/grabbing are condoned.
I think the Rockets were the worst possible matchup for Portland in the west, because their roster negates the Blazer’s regular-season rebounding advantages and forces Portland to play a tempo that they don’t like.
It’s not all about coaching, the Rockets have the right players to counter everything that Portland does well. That’s why I was pissed that Portland drew Houston in the first round, and why I (objectively) picked the Rockets to win the series in 6
larue –
Ron Artest is shooting 38.3% for the series. He can get the ball all day for all I care. He hasn’t been, and isn’t going to be an offensive factor in this series. In fact, the more he shoots, the better it is for Portland.
Do you seriously believe that we’re in better defensive shape when Travis guards Artest instead of Roy? The play you describe was 1 play. Big deal. How many points did Travis give up when he drifted away from his man and his man cut to the rim for a layup, dunk or offensive rebound?
Roy is the infinitely better defender. And there’s just no scenario where you’re not better off with Rudy than Travis. Rudy only has to guard Battier, which is not a tough draw for him.
Going with Rudy over Nic does not constitute “going small” Rudy’s 6’6”. Brandon is 6’6”. We lose 2 inches at SG/SF against players who aren’t going to be big scorers for Houston anyway. And on the offensive end, we immediately become a smarter, better shooting, better passing, less confused team with Rudy on the floor. It’s a no brainer.
The reason the Blazers are down 3-1 has little to do with “bad matchups”. Portland has huge edges at the PF, SG spots. Houston has a pretty good edge at PG. It’s a draw at SF. Houston has a slight edge at Center, but with the bench, it’s not that big of an edge. Portland’s bench has a huge advantage.
The reason Portland is down 3-1, is that their execution/preparation has been awful, and they’ve got too many players that have looked way too scared and tentative. Portland’s problems are mostly themselves – not the Houston Rockets.
“Portland has huge edges at the PF”
You lost me there. No one in their right mind would advocate trading Scola for Aldridge. But in this series, the 29 year-old Argentinian has outplayed the younger Texan. A lot of this is due to the attention that Portland has to pay to Yao, but the PF combo of Scola/Landry/Hayes has more than neutralized whatever advantages LaMarcus should’ve had “on paper”
So, basically you and Dwight are saying that with better coaching decisions and preparation this roster of Blazers would beat Houston in a 7 game series? Fire Nate McMillian and bring in Jeff van Gundy, is that the answer? Blame the coach, blame the refs, it can’t that be the matchups stink or maybe the players (outside of Roy and Rudy) really aren’t as good as everyone thought? At least not yet, anyway
Changes will be made to the roster, that goes without saying. The only way to find out who the real “keepers” are is to put them through some playoff adversity, that’s when the men are seperated from the boys
And the Rockets have had more “men” show up in this series. The Blazer boys have had their rites of passage re: the NBA postseason handed to them, courtesy of Houston
larue – I’m not in practice, or in the locker room, or in the game huddle, so I don’t know if it’s coaching, or the players simply not executing what the coaches are instructing.
I totally agree that *in this series*, the Aldridge / Scola outcome has been a draw, or (at least until last night) an edge to Scola, but I still believe that Aldridge’s talent far outstrips that of Scola.
Regarding your comment of:
“And the Rockets have had more “men” show up in this series. The Blazer boys have had their rites of passage re: the NBA postseason handed to them, courtesy of Houston”
I couldn’t agree more. The Rockets have played mostly up to their potential, and have executed far better. If the Blazers play anywhere close to their own potential, and take better advantage of their own matchup advantages, I think they own this series.