The Blazers start this quarter with 78 points, which is a pretty good total considering they've played three periods against the vaunted Spurs defense.
I don't really like the look of Batum's three point jumper, but I love that he doesn't hesitate to shoot it when he's open. It also doesn't hurt that we have good offensive rebounders who create second chance points. If only we could improve at the same thing on the defensive end.
Free throws had better not plague this team this year.
Something that won't plague this team – even though it did against the Lakers on opening day – is open jump shots. Channing Frye just hit another one. When Oden comes back healthy and opposing teams have to focus even more defensive energy on our interior, we should start raining in mid-range and long-range jumpers all over the place.
By extending Martell Webster today, the Blazers ensured that they won't have to deal with the cap-hold they would have had going into free agency next year. By signing Webster to that deal, they might have a) locked up a good young player for a decent price b) signed a guy to a reasonable deal that will make him more attractive as part of a trade c) simply made sure that the cap hold wouldn't affect them next year.
Channing Frye just went past Duncan and dunked it. He also seemed to giggle a little bit as he slid around Duncan, as if he knew that he got away with something.
I hate seeing Sergio get frustrated. A frustrated Sergio is an ineffective Sergio.
That pass by Tony Parker was really nice. I think the Blazers are going to get some starters back in the game now.
I thought that was decent defense by Przybilla on Duncan, but that call will always go Duncan's way.
Brandon Roy just got to the rim on Duncan. He has to hit his free throws, but I love that he can drive against anyone. And he nails the first. I love Brandon Roy. Both.
It looked like Duncan was complaining about the foul they just called against Przybilla. That's hilarious.
Brandon Roy just took Outlaw aside to do some coaching on the floor. What a great player and leader.
Again Roy takes the lane.
I like that Aldridge is willing to take the three pointer and can hit it, but I don't think he should take it when he has someone near him like that.
Brandon Roy does not play like a third year player, helping Przybilla tie up Duncan to force that jump ball.
A great point being made right now is that all of San Antonio's three pointers in the fourth quarter have come on kick outs from dribble penetration. Portland needs to make sure they learn to do that better.
Did I mention that LaMarcus Aldridge is the guy I consider the top scorer for this season.
This is a big defensive possession for Portland.
I love that McMillan is trusting Batum to be in at the end of this game.
We need a good play here.
Good defense to end the night for Portland. That was a lot of fun.
Best sign of the night:
Everybody's
Scared of
Portland
Now
Friday, October 31, 2008
Blazers/Spurs (third quarter)
Portland is still the second youngest team in the NBA this season. Crazy.
I've been telling people that Aldridge would eat the league up this year. It looks like he's working his way toward that.
Tim Duncan is a great basketball player.
The announcers are claiming that Kurt Thomas flopped on that last foul call against Aldridge, but I didn't complain about it.
Pretty ball movement from Roy and Aldridge to get Outlaw a nice corner three.
Well done by Lincoln on that commercial. I just don't think you can go wrong with a tasteful David Bowie cover.
Joel Przybilla making his money underneath on that one.
Pretty play by Aldridge and Oulaw that resulted in Duncan fouling Outlaw on his way up for a dunk. I think he looks much better in this game than he did on Tuesday, which is making it harder for me to stick to my position that he should be one of the ones to go if anyone must leave.
Jon Barry just claimed that Roy was doing "what he does best – puts the ball in the basket." I don't know if I agree with that statement. Roy does way too many things well to claim that scoring is the thing he does best.
Holy crap Nicolas Batum is a great basketball player.
Brandon Roy will take whatever he's given. And the Spurs are giving him a lot right now.
Fast break points. We love those. Nicolas Batum. We love him. Too bad I haven't been blogging, because I was talking about him like this even before I got to see him play.
I've been telling people that Aldridge would eat the league up this year. It looks like he's working his way toward that.
Tim Duncan is a great basketball player.
The announcers are claiming that Kurt Thomas flopped on that last foul call against Aldridge, but I didn't complain about it.
Pretty ball movement from Roy and Aldridge to get Outlaw a nice corner three.
Well done by Lincoln on that commercial. I just don't think you can go wrong with a tasteful David Bowie cover.
Joel Przybilla making his money underneath on that one.
Pretty play by Aldridge and Oulaw that resulted in Duncan fouling Outlaw on his way up for a dunk. I think he looks much better in this game than he did on Tuesday, which is making it harder for me to stick to my position that he should be one of the ones to go if anyone must leave.
Jon Barry just claimed that Roy was doing "what he does best – puts the ball in the basket." I don't know if I agree with that statement. Roy does way too many things well to claim that scoring is the thing he does best.
Holy crap Nicolas Batum is a great basketball player.
Brandon Roy will take whatever he's given. And the Spurs are giving him a lot right now.
Fast break points. We love those. Nicolas Batum. We love him. Too bad I haven't been blogging, because I was talking about him like this even before I got to see him play.
Blazers/Spurs (second quarter)
I love Pop. That interview with him was classic.
This second unit is so much fun to watch on the offensive end. Rudy and Sergio are great together.
They just showed a replay of Batum's block of Duncan. This kid is brilliant.
BATUM IS UNREAL!!
Batum just got compared to Tayshaun Prince by Jon Barry. I've been saying it since the beginning of training camp.
Przybilla just got some love from the announcers, which is nice. He deserves it.
A miss by Batum, but it was a good jumper in the flow of the offense. Now that I'm actually getting to see him I like him as much as I thought I would.
Przybilla just earned a foul with good position, so I won't complain any more about what seems like one sided officiating.
Sergio just missed a three, but Rudy corralled the long offensive board. Sadly, LaMarcus missed another mid-range jumper. It'll come, but he's been missing a lot of them again tonight.
BATUM!!! (He picked up a loose ball, beat two Spur defenders, and then made the and-1 as he got fouled on the lay-in. Then he hit the free throw. Ridiculous.)
"This Batum guy is impressive." --a text I just received from J-Lew. I agree Lew, I agree completely.
It's good to see Aldridge getting to the line and hitting.
The only thing the announcers failed to mention when talking about why Travis Outlaw has improved so much statistically is that he's the Gatling gun. 1000 shots per minute.
Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are so great.
A funny disparity between the Blazers tonight and the Blazers on Tuesday is how young we looked in LA and how mature we look tonight. This is the way we need to look if we're going to have a successful year.
If we keep playing zone, we need to make sure we don't get beaten when they swing the ball around. We just got beaten again by a wide open three point shooter for San Antonio.
Brandon Roy is my favorite Blazer ever.
(Okay, Sabonis is still number one. But that shot, the composure, the defense he displayed earlier...all those things are the reasons he is ahead of Clyde and Rasheed on the all-time list.)
This second unit is so much fun to watch on the offensive end. Rudy and Sergio are great together.
They just showed a replay of Batum's block of Duncan. This kid is brilliant.
BATUM IS UNREAL!!
Batum just got compared to Tayshaun Prince by Jon Barry. I've been saying it since the beginning of training camp.
Przybilla just got some love from the announcers, which is nice. He deserves it.
A miss by Batum, but it was a good jumper in the flow of the offense. Now that I'm actually getting to see him I like him as much as I thought I would.
Przybilla just earned a foul with good position, so I won't complain any more about what seems like one sided officiating.
Sergio just missed a three, but Rudy corralled the long offensive board. Sadly, LaMarcus missed another mid-range jumper. It'll come, but he's been missing a lot of them again tonight.
BATUM!!! (He picked up a loose ball, beat two Spur defenders, and then made the and-1 as he got fouled on the lay-in. Then he hit the free throw. Ridiculous.)
"This Batum guy is impressive." --a text I just received from J-Lew. I agree Lew, I agree completely.
It's good to see Aldridge getting to the line and hitting.
The only thing the announcers failed to mention when talking about why Travis Outlaw has improved so much statistically is that he's the Gatling gun. 1000 shots per minute.
Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are so great.
A funny disparity between the Blazers tonight and the Blazers on Tuesday is how young we looked in LA and how mature we look tonight. This is the way we need to look if we're going to have a successful year.
If we keep playing zone, we need to make sure we don't get beaten when they swing the ball around. We just got beaten again by a wide open three point shooter for San Antonio.
Brandon Roy is my favorite Blazer ever.
(Okay, Sabonis is still number one. But that shot, the composure, the defense he displayed earlier...all those things are the reasons he is ahead of Clyde and Rasheed on the all-time list.)
Blazers/Spurs (first quarter)
I broke into some friends' house to watch the Blazers game tonight. Here are some thoughts while getting to see the game.
It looks like we decided to force the ball inside to Aldridge, something we should have done better in Los Angeles Tuesday night.
We look a lot more settled in this game than we did on opening night. Hopefully it was just the nerves. I wondered if it might have had to do with Oden and the pressure that comes with the hype, but I think it's more likely that the team is just more calm at home after working the kinks out in that big-time opener.
Speaking of being more comfortable, it looks like Frye is hitting his shot again.
Brandon Roy is so good.
They have been calling all sorts of off-ball fouls on Portland. Boo.
I LOVE Nicolas Batum. He just had a sweet offensive rebound and then got an assist on an Aldridge dunk.
RUDY! RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!
Sergio just drilled a three pointer. Beautiful.
Nearly the whole second unit is in, with Aldridge being the only starter still in the game.
The refs called another terrible foul against Portland. Boo.
Never mind. After watching it again, I have no idea if it was a good call or not. I won't whine just because it's against my team.
Rudy missed an open three to end the corner off several nice passes to swing the ball around really quickly.
Down 22-21 at the end of the first, but I really like what I saw.
It looks like we decided to force the ball inside to Aldridge, something we should have done better in Los Angeles Tuesday night.
We look a lot more settled in this game than we did on opening night. Hopefully it was just the nerves. I wondered if it might have had to do with Oden and the pressure that comes with the hype, but I think it's more likely that the team is just more calm at home after working the kinks out in that big-time opener.
Speaking of being more comfortable, it looks like Frye is hitting his shot again.
Brandon Roy is so good.
They have been calling all sorts of off-ball fouls on Portland. Boo.
I LOVE Nicolas Batum. He just had a sweet offensive rebound and then got an assist on an Aldridge dunk.
RUDY! RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!
Sergio just drilled a three pointer. Beautiful.
Nearly the whole second unit is in, with Aldridge being the only starter still in the game.
The refs called another terrible foul against Portland. Boo.
Never mind. After watching it again, I have no idea if it was a good call or not. I won't whine just because it's against my team.
Rudy missed an open three to end the corner off several nice passes to swing the ball around really quickly.
Down 22-21 at the end of the first, but I really like what I saw.
DirecTV
The DirecTV guy came by the house today with bad news. It seems that
my house is in a bad spot to pick up the signal, especially because of
a tree eight next door. So no DirecTV. The guy suggested that dish
network might get a better signal because their tower is in a
different spot or something like that. If not I'll just go with cable.
No matter what, my dream of league pass is coming true this year.
my house is in a bad spot to pick up the signal, especially because of
a tree eight next door. So no DirecTV. The guy suggested that dish
network might get a better signal because their tower is in a
different spot or something like that. If not I'll just go with cable.
No matter what, my dream of league pass is coming true this year.
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday, October 30, 2008
A podcast? More than likely.
Quick update: I should have DirecTV set up tomorrow. That means I
should also have league pass very soon. With those things happening
Stephen and I are planning our own podcast, which will be posted here
and in iTunes if I figure out how to do it.
should also have league pass very soon. With those things happening
Stephen and I are planning our own podcast, which will be posted here
and in iTunes if I figure out how to do it.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Coming back soon
Double entendré? Yes please!
Sadly, my soccer team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention – unless it turns out that another league team did something illegal earlier in the year to disqualify themselves – which means that our season will be over after our game next Tuesday. I would love to make the playoffs, but I'm also excited to have a little more time to prepare for school and make sure that I'm taking care of all the school things that I've been letting slide a little bit. In addition, I'll be able to start posting more again, which is exciting. In fact one of the reason's it is exciting is that...
The NBA season is soooooo close now. Some more things that are coming back soon... ...Channing Frye at full strength
...Steve Blake at full strength
...Blazermania in absolutely full force
...Brandon Roy's habit of making other players (and executives) in this league look foolish
...Kevin Pritchard's habit of making everyone believe in his superiority as a GM to anyone else in pro sports
...the Larry O'Brien trophy to Portland (as I said back on November 2, 2008).
Sadly, my soccer team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention – unless it turns out that another league team did something illegal earlier in the year to disqualify themselves – which means that our season will be over after our game next Tuesday. I would love to make the playoffs, but I'm also excited to have a little more time to prepare for school and make sure that I'm taking care of all the school things that I've been letting slide a little bit. In addition, I'll be able to start posting more again, which is exciting. In fact one of the reason's it is exciting is that...
The NBA season is soooooo close now. Some more things that are coming back soon... ...Channing Frye at full strength
...Steve Blake at full strength
...Blazermania in absolutely full force
...Brandon Roy's habit of making other players (and executives) in this league look foolish
...Kevin Pritchard's habit of making everyone believe in his superiority as a GM to anyone else in pro sports
...the Larry O'Brien trophy to Portland (as I said back on November 2, 2008).
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