All I need to know about the Blazers I learned last night! And if you believe that than perhaps you would also like to know that I had a great sit down dinner with John Canzano and we settled our differences.
Ok, now back to reality.
It was great to be back in the Rose Garden, even if it was an empty shell of its self, watching the Blazers compete against another NBA team. It really isn’t possible to hear Mark Mason’s voice and not get chills down your spine and a little choked up.
The Blazers came out with the starting lineup from last year at the opening tip. And struggled to find a rhythm early, but after some aggressive drives to the basket by Nicolas Batum and a few smooth jumpers from LaMarcus Aldridge they found their way.
- Steve Blake was fired up and made some smart passes and got some easy buckets for Aldridge and Joel Pryzbilla. Blake was hard pressed to find his shot in the game only attempting 3 shots making just 1 and that was a wide open 3 pointer. In 17 minutes he finished with 3 points and 4 assists and seemed to be trying to do more himself than he did last year, perhaps feeling that his spot in the starting 5 is in question. That style of play is not what got Blake into the starting lineup and Blake would do well to be the style of Point Guard that Brandon Roy wants him to be.
- Brandon Roy was not looking to be aggressive or assert himself. It felt like his was more inclined to study his team, using this game as a film session of how to make everyone else better. You could really tell Brandon was studying teammate’s tendencies. Defensively, there was an effort level that was evident that Brandon intends to achieve his off season goals of being a better defender.
- Nicolas Batum is an improved player and last night showed that he has no intentions of being removed from the starting lineup. He was aggressive and got rewarded at the free throw line. Batum also had an electrifying blocked shot that brought the RG to its feet.
- Aldridge is Aldridge. There is no other way to explain it. You know exactly what you are going to get from him day in and day out. He is a jump shooting big man who isn’t a banger. He is good at what he does. He is great at what he does, but it’s what he doesn’t do that could be the biggest hangup on his contract, defensive rebounding. In fact, he is so offensively gifted that fans started chanting “Cut the check!” while LaMarcus was shooting free throws.
- Joel Pryzbilla was back and he brought his lunch pale with him. Pyz is in the same mold as LaMarcus in the sense that you know exactly what you are going to get from him day in and day out. You’re going to get everything you don’t get with LaMarcus and nothing that you do get. I get tired just watching how hard Pryz works for position.
- The first player off the bench was Martell Webster who was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd. Martell showed the rust that you would expect from someone who hadn’t seen game time in 360 days, but eventually shook it off and got into the flow of the game. Martell’s 30+ minutes last night was the most played by any Blazer, a sign that Nate McMillan really isn’t sure what he has with Martell yet.
Next into the game were Greg Oden and Andre Miller. Both came out and looked shaky to start but quickly got the jitters out and went on to exceptional performances.
- Oden's first touch was a post spin that left Spencer Hawes in the dust and the only option for Hawes was to grab Oden by the waist and send him to the free throw line which would be a recurring theme. It would appear that his time spent this summer with Assistant Coach Bill Bayno is paying off early as Oden was able to play 25 minutes and shot 12 free throws.
- Miller was fantastic. In fact the team was +9 while Miller was in the game. Fans that hadn’t seen Miller’s brand of basketball had to have been pleasantly surprised. Miller plays with a sense of control that is reminiscent of Terry Porter. Like Porter, he is not the best athlete or the best defender but he is a gamer. He flat out knows how to win, despite not being a legitimate 3 point shooter. Miller finished with 16 points and 5 assists in just less than 26 minutes of game time.
- Travis Outlaw came in and played like Travis plays. He made some great shots and missed some bad shots. There was something noticeably different about his game last night though. He played defense. He was out there guarding the 7ft Hawes often and doing a very good job. Granted Hawes isn’t going to lead the league in scoring ever but still the size that Travis was giving up was significant. Travis obviously wants to be in the rotation and last night he proved that he will play any position he has to for minutes.
-Rudy Fernandez is still a hearthrob. I was reminded often of how beautiful he is by my girlfriend and the hundreds of fans supporting I heart Rudy gear. From a basketball stand point Rudy was unable to get himself into the flow finishing with 1 point in 17 minutes. But something beautiful was taking shape in his game. He was starting the fast break. Running the team in transition very well. In the half court he continually fed the bigs in the post and cleared out so his defender was unable to double. It was nice to see that side of Rudy's game.
- Jerryd Bayless came out and performed the exact way that prompted the Blazers to go out and sign Andre in the first place. In about 5 minutes he came out missed two shots, drove to the hole and went to the free throw line a couple times. He committed 2 fouls and I can’t remember seeing him pass the ball. Enjoy the bench again this year. I’ll need to find a new favorite Blazer soon.
- Ime Udoka refused to run up the score in the final seconds to give the crowd Chalupas. That is not the way to win over fans who all want you to make this squad. Other than that he looked good and played hard for 12 minutes. His probable contributions to the squad should get him a spot.
It’s hard to dissect exactly what it all means after just 60 minutes of preseason basketball against a team that is inferior and one really can't pretend to know where the team is headed. I do know that Nate has a lot of work to do as this team should beat Sacramento by more than 12.
The NBA, where meaningless games getting fans excited happens.
- Kurt Valentine
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