Dear John,

The Blazers did it again.

Love, single people who won’t have to get dragged to that movie (or smart boyfriends who built up enough points to get to skip this one)

Joking aside…how unreal has this season been? I have never been a fan of a team that just keeps surprising you with how gutsy they are. But the 09-10 Portland Trail Blazers keep finding new ways to overcome the odds. It’s funny when you look back to the beginning of the season, when we had all the talent in the world but lacked the type of heart that we had been accustomed to seeing from these Blazers. And now after everybody and their mom got injured, this team just goes out and fights its way to victories. Will this ever get old? Absolutely not. It’s also funny when you consider that this version of the Blazers will end up being the first Blazer team to sweep the San Antonio Spurs in a season since forever. And by forever, I believe the 1996-97 season. The impressive part about tonight’s win is they went out and beat a good Spurs team, in a not ‘must’ win situation but a ‘hey we really need this one’ win situation after getting stomped by Utah.

At this point it feels like a broken record…depleted Blazers team overcomes the odds to win a game. It’s just astonishing the amount of tough wins this team has had this year. And I’m not just trying to blow smoke around, it’s just blowing my mind. Tonight, Portland found another way to gut out another win. This time overcoming not only their depleted roster and their All-Star in dress clothes but a 10-point deficit against the San Antonio Spurs in the 4th quarter. Say what you want about the Spurs struggling but rarely do they blow leads in the 4th quarter, let alone one of the double-digit orientation.

First off, what can you say about LaMarcus Aldridge? (Calm down Coup, I’ll get to your boy in a second) LaMarcus Aldridge putting up 28 points/13 rebounds in 41 minutes definitely should get a lot of people to order a big, tall glass of shut up juice. It feels like he’s playing some of the best basketball of his career. I feel like that might be a bold statement, but I’ve never believed in LA as much as now. If there is one reason I wish we had no All-Star Break, it’s because of the way LaMarcus Aldridge is playing. You think about LaMarcus coming into his own with Roy returning to the lineup shortly and Batum giving us a spark and things are looking up (knck on wood).  It was great to see him just steadily play very well over the course of his entire game. His 6 points towards the end of the third were huge to keep Portland right there (before Manu went three-happy). Obviously the go ahead jumper was huge, but his other two baskets in the 4th kept the Blazers afloat.

Martell Webster? Gee whiz. 21 points, 6-for-9 shooting, 5-for-5 from the three point line. I should just let Coup right this paragraph to truly do it just, but very well done sir. For the first time in a very long time, when Martell was open for three I was hyped and ready to celebrate a make. I was not hoping the shot would fall, I knew it would fall. It was just good to see him with the kind of swagger he had out there. The hesitation was gone, it felt like all of his moves were made with aggression. Sometimes I questioned the purpose on a couple drives, but at least he was doing something. With me, I always want to see Martell do MORE than do less. I’m glad he did not just flounder out there. This was a huge game for his confidence, proving that he can play well with Rudy and Batum in the lineup and even play well with Batum in the lineup. Now it will be interesting to see what happens when we have the full Roy/Rudy/Martell/Batum/Bayless family playing together. Kind of a crowded van, eh?

I have to give props to the guy who will fly under the radar in this one: Andre Miller. 11 points, 10 assists, 0 turnovers in 35 minutes is a hell of a ballgame. I mean are you kidding me? Some of those passes were great. I really enjoyed him knowing when to push it and when not too. Also that veteran saavy and savoir-faire came out tonight. Key example was from the biggest play of the game, aka Martell’s three pointer. You can give a head nod to Martell for knocking it down or to Batum for making that pass. I give props to Andre Miller. It was clear the Blazers were trying to get the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge. Antonio McDyess did a tremendous job of fronting him and not allowing the entry pass. Miller, seeing McDyess fronting him realized two things: a) McDyess can’t help any penetration and b) he can use McDyess as a sort of screen on his defender. He did, got the penetration and kicked and the rest is history. Just an awesome play.

Other thoughts….I liked that lineup in the second quarter with Batum/Cunningham/Miller/Rudy. Things just feel so much smoother with Batum back in the lineup. We can run out more, the defense looks better. Dante Cunningham kind of showed me he has some glimpses of veteran Antonio McDyess with that mid-range jumper. I felt he gave some big minutes in the second, with energy on defense, his ability to run and that mid-range jumper can only get better. I was really impressed by him tonight. Juwan Howard almost became the goat with that turnover on the in-bounds. It would have been double as bad because he’s been playing basketball since I was an embryo. It’s pretty clear that Jerryd Bayless is hurting as he did not look like himself last night…Richard Jefferson’s goatee has to go.

The last time the Blazers were in San Antonio, they won one of the bigger shockers of the season — at the time — because it was the game after Joel Przybilla’s knee got lasered by the Death Star and little bits of sky were still falling all around us. But Bayless dropped 31 with Brandon Roy out, only eight players got in the game and the Blazers set the blueprint for how they were attain many surprising victories over the next month: shoot well enough to compensate for the inability to defend the interior and passing lanes.

Whether Roy plays tonight or not — and I hope he doesn’t simply based on the uncertainty — that blueprint remains the active battle plan. They almost caught a defensive break with the Tony Parker ankle sprain, but Parker is expected to play tonight so hopes of having limited penetration to deal with go right out the window, unless Parker plays on the sprain like it seems every point guard in the last two seasons has: like a Cinnabon on ice.

The Spurs offer a similar matchup problem for Portland to what Utah does, with a couple beneficial differences. The have comparable abilities to break down a defense with the trifecta of ball handling, passing and off-ball movement, but they score dramatically fewer points in the paint. That means that unlike against Utah, if the Blazers get a couple standout offensive games and work through their sets, they will actually have a shot to steal the win since they will not be beaten mercilessly in the middle.

Portland also has the athletic advantage that they didn’t have against Utah’s bevy of wings that backdoor you to death. Bayless has proven he can get by most anyone on San Antonio and there should be easy points to be had from Batum, Webster and Aldridge running down the wings.

You do have to worry about a couple rebounders, namely DeJuan Blair who is coming off a 20-point, 9-of-11 performance last night. I don’t think he qualifies for the leaderboard on basketball-reference.com, but if he did he would certainly be one of the best offensive rebounders in the lead with a 16.2 offensive rebounding percentage, perhaps the best. Possessions are always at a premium against the Spurs, and for Portland to be able to take advantage of their athletes they will have to secure the boards in single coverage. Think of it this way: any time you see a Portland player edging out on the wing readying himself for an outlet and someone like Blair or Tim Duncan secures the offensive rebound, think of that as a four-point swing.

Not going to spend a ton of time with this one since it was the second time in a week the Blazers got the Cable Guy treatment from the Jazz. Not to grind this point into your skull, but with the current roster there is no other team in the league the Blazers match up worse with.

That being said, the Blazers at least hung in there by working the ball around in their sets and only trailed by eight at the half despite allowing 60 points and an ungodly amount of points in the paint (62 for the game). And then the third quarter happened, which was like an old-school Mario level where you have to reach the finish before the spiked ceiling slowly pancakes you or the lava rises up to devour you and all your super mushrooms and turn you into plumber toast. Either way, you’re a breakfast food.

It didn’t take any crushing blow, either. The Jazz just methodically broke Portland down with dunk after free-throw after dunk, using a quick 12-5 run in the third to prove that they were the superior beings. Could the Blazers’ defense have been better? Sure. But when you allow the other team to shoot 29-of-35 (!) at the rim, the problems run a little deeper than some missed defensive rotations. Besides, the Blazers shot 9-of-29 from 16-23 feet. They don’t win when that happens, whether they can get stops or not.

27-12-5 with 15 free-throw attempts out of LaMarcus Aldridge has to impress even the most stubborn haters among you. He was physical in his own right, getting his body on guys to secure boards, drawing contact and running the floor. He looked like a player who knew that without him, the team would get utterly destroyed by Utah’s bigs. That happened regardless, but Aldridge at least gave Portland a true four-quarter lifespan. This was the Aldridge you want to see someday in a tough playoff series.

No need to linger on this one any more than that. The Blazers were expected to lose, they did, and it sounds like they may have avoided serious injuries to Jerryd Bayless and Nic Batum. Time for the Spurs. Or, as I like to call them, Los Spurs.

Just passing this along mid-day as it was passed to me. Apparently, Brandon Roy appeared on the radio on KJR in Seattle. From Chris Fedor of SportsRadioInterviews.com’s transcript of the interview:

On when he expect to be back in the lineup:

“I talked to coach today and he said he would like for me to get a practice in before I actually play in a game.  They come back Thursday and if I feel good enough to go Thursday night against San Antonio then I’ll definitely try and give it a try but I think a more realistic goal is Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers.”

So there is your answer for those who were wondering when Brandon Roy may be back, from the man himself. As long as he 100% I’m good with it.

Jay-Z once fascinated me by saying “Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don’t”. This was a reference to rappers beneath him, those who attempted to come at him but had come nowhere near the type of numbers he had put up. (No this isn’t VIBE Magazine). Well if you believe Jay-Z, things are not looking good for Portland tonight in Salt Lake City when they take on the Jazz. Here’s some numbers for you:

• Portland boasts a 2-17 record in Utah since 2001. That’s right they have dropped 17 of their last 19.
• Blazers boast an overall record of 8-30 in the Delta Center/EnergySolutions Arena since it opened in 1991. That’s just regular season too.
• Utah has not lost a home game since a January 4th loss to New Orleans.
• Exactly one week ago, the Jazz stomped Portland at home, opening up the game on a 21-2 run.

Alright let that sink in….moving on. This is a Jazz team that is absolutely on a roll. They are a win or two away from getting that extra attention that streaking teams get on SportsCenter. You know those handful of teams who may not want the All-Star Break to show up just because of how well they have been playing? I would put the Jazz in that category. They are winners of 11 of their last 13 and have found a way to overcome a rough start and threaten for home court advantage out West. As Coup illustrated last week, this team has always been a tough matchup for Portland. But now with our front court depth diminished, you can see how more problems will arise. And the Jazz exploited this fact last Wednesday, getting whatever they wanted in the pain early and often, setting a tone on a night where they ended up shooting 60 percent from the field.

The Jazz have their weapons. There is a reason they lead the league in field goal percentage (49) and it’s because of their discipline. Obviously Deron Williams (19 points, 9.7 assists a game) is a monster. The guy we have to worry about is Paul Millsap. He’s a Blazer-killer and with Boozer out of the lineup he has just turned into something unreal. In the last two games since being inserted into the starting lineup, he’s averaging 28.5 points a game and 11.5 rebounds. Good luck Juwan/Pendergraph/Cunningham. Another guy you want to watch out for is Mehmet Okur. His numbers are down (only averaging 12 points a game compared to 17 last year) but he still is a huge threat with his ability to shoot the ball from the outside and rebound.

Offensively, Portland is going to have to have great discipline. On Wednesday there was a little bit of settling early, almost a ‘wait and see’ vibe. There is a reason Utah was up 21-2. They were getting dunks/layups while we were missing jumpers or getting layups blocked. Portland has to be in attack mode from the start. Utah wants you to shoot jumpers, they will give that up. All of a sudden those misses turn into easy transition for them. LaMarcus Aldridge has to be ready not only for the physical play of Utah’s bigs, but for their defensive schemes. The Jazz did a great job of taking LMA out of a rhythm last week.

Keys to the game

Need a great start: If you take away that nightmarish first quarter from last Wednesday’s game, we actually won by 12. That means that while beating the Jazz is tough, it is not impossible. We will need a good start though. Digging ourselves a hole in Utah is a horrible idea. You know how quickly a 5 point lead can turn into a 12 point lead in that building. As a matter of fact if you remember all the way to our early-season visit to Utah we were staring 11-2 in the eyes in less than three minutes.

Protect the paint: Last Wednesday, Utah owned our soul like they were the Undertaker in the early 90’s. It was a dunk/layup fest early in the first quarter. The Blazers can’t allow Utah to set a tone like that, because as evidenced by last week it could be  rough night.

Don’t Let Utah Score 100: What is coinciding with Utah’s recent surge? They are scoring the ball a lot better. They have scored 100 points in 11 of their last 15 games and ended up winning 10 of those games. Get this stat: the Jazz are 17-1 at home when scoring 100 points or more. We need to make this a slugfest.

Beware of the Pick and Roll: Deron Williams attacking, Paul Millsap rolling, Kyle Korver/Okur spotted up. This would cause me nightmares. Let’s pray the Blazers packed their rotating boots.

Need balanced scoring/make shots: Last Wednesday, Rudy/Martell/Blake combined to shoot 6-for-28 from the field. That can’t happen if Portland wants to win in Utah. The win over Charlotte showed that when the bench is playing their butts off, there are few teams that can play with us. The bench needs to show up in a big way tonight. The second part….you can get good looks against this team. You just have to make them if you want to beat them.

This is going to be a tough one for Portland. I’ve been brainwashed because of all the L’s we took in Utah when I was little to just believe we can’t win so pardon my Negative Nancy impersonation. A focused effort on both ends will allow Portland to sneak out with a win. As long as we contain the paint, don’t let Kyle Korver hit a ton of threes and execute for good shots we actually have a shot. I think.