Wednesday, January 24, 2007

MId-week update

I was fortunate to watch the overtime of the Blazers win against the Timberwolves tonight. What stood out?
  1. Zach Randolph, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Brandon R-O-Y all made pairs of clutch free throws at the end. It's not that I don't expect this from all three of them. In fact, that may be the most amazing part. I do expect all three of those guys to make clutch free throws at the end of games.

  2. I'm sure a lot of people will talk about this play, but when Portland was down 96-93 toward the end of overtime Zach rotated over to help on Kevin Garnett. It was good, quick help. When KG passed out of the double he found Mark Blount under the hoop. I thought it was a bucket, but Martell Webster was there to frustrate Blount and force him into a travel. Two instances, on one play, of guys doing the "little things" that are so important. Why make a big deal about it? These two guys aren't known for their defense, and "little things" take on even more meaning with 45 seconds left in overtime.

  3. The line for Sergio Rodriguez was disappointing to me tonight, because I always want to see high assists and low turnovers. Sure, I like seeing guys score points--how would we win without 'em?--but what I really want is Sergio to elevate the passing game of the whole team. Having said that, I'll take 18 from Sergio off the bench. He really does keep showing more and more of the aspects to his game that will make him a fantastic NBA player.

  4. I still hate Jamaal Magloire. I don't have a follow-up to that.

  5. It will be interesting to see what happens when Travis comes back. People coming back from injury this year have messed with the team when we had good things going, so this could play out like that. Or it could be more like when Jack just came back from the concussion. Sure, it was shorter, but maybe the team has reestablished the right sort of chemistry to hold through another shift in playing times and roles. Hopefully.
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I have class every Thursday night, so I won't get to watch the Ducks play the Huskies tomorrow night. Aaron Brooks doesn't get to play in that one, so it could be a little rough. But we've played through other injuries already this year, so maybe missing the potential POY will show how tough the team is.

1 comment:

Lewis said...

Carlton, I'm confused. Why did Aaron Brooks have to sit out his 2nd game of the 2 game suspension last night for an elbow against Washington in the Pac-10 tournament last year? That ruling doesn't make any sense to me. Was he suspended both Washington games this year? If so, that is a joke of a ruling. Please explain. Sorry, I probably should know the answer to that question, but we get little Pac-10 info over here in WV.