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Jan 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) is defended by Portland Trail Blazers small forward Gerald Wallace (3) and small forward Nicolas Batum (88) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. Golden State defeated Portland 101-93. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

In the early part of Wednesday’s game there were a few moments when I thought Portland was going to do the unthinkable, and get a win in Oakland. The Blazers looked sharp in the first two quarters, moving the ball around, finding open shooters, making open shots. It looked very possible that Portland’s struggles in Oak-town had come to an end.

But then something happened, and that something was named Stephen Curry. The Blazers will watch the tape of this game, as they should since there were a lot of good things to see like the aforementioned ball movement and a lot of bad things to address such as slow defensive rotations, and they will get on themselves for letting Curry get open too many times in the third quarter. It’s true that Portland helped when they probably shouldn’t have, and drifted away from shooters way way too much, but most of the damage Steph Curry did very likely couldn’t have been stopped.

Curry is that kind of special player who can get super hot, and when he does you have to try and keep up on the offensive end, because you probably aren’t going to stop him. Sure Portland could have limited the damage by defending David Lee a little better–although he ended up open a lot because the Blazers were sending two defenders at Steph and he can pass almost as well as he can shoot–and not letting any other Warrior score at all, but Portland lost on Wednesday night mostly because when Curry was streaking, and hitting every thing he tossed up, the Blazers couldn’t buy a bucket.

If you took only the first, second, and fourth quarters of Wednesday’s game, Portland outscores Golden State 73-70. Certainly not a safe advantage, but a lead nonetheless. The Warriors’ burst and the Blazers’ bust in the third quarter was very clearly the difference.

And what happened in that quarter that turned the tide in Golden State’s favor? In my opinion, what happened was that Portland went away from their game, and tried to out-shoot the Warriors. The Blazers have shooters, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, but they don’t have anybody like Steph Curry. The Blazers got their points in the first half by getting to the rim. When Curry went off, they tried to match him. It didn’t happen. By the time Portland tried to go back to their inside game, Golden State had a decent sized lead, and with it enough momentum and energy to focus their defensive intensity. What you don’t want to do when you’re playing a team like Golden State is give them a reason to play defense.

Portland didn’t play badly, though. In fact, I felt they played better in Oakland on Wednesday than they have in a while. Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, Jamal Crawford, and LaMarcus Aldridge all had decent offensive nights. Marcus Camby continued to crash the boards like a man half his age. Raymond Felton’s play continues to be unimpressive, but for the short term I think the Blazers are a lot more likely to stick with him and try to make it work than go out and try to make a trade to bring somebody else in.

A lot of Blazer fans are going to point directly to Portland’s inability to execute at the end of the game. I think a lot of that can be attributed to tired legs. No doubt people will also be a little peeved by the fact that the Blazers can’t seem to beat a bad team. I feel the same way, but everybody that’s watched Portland at all in the last few years knows they almost never beat the Warriors.

I know it sounds like I’m letting them off easy, the best teams in the league beat up on the worst teams and these losses are going to count for something when it comes to Playoff seeding, but I do believe the Blazers can be forgiven for this loss. None of these guys have played three straight games at the NBA level, and although they clearly played with a lot of effort Wednesday night it did seem like it just wasn’t there at the end. Also, Golden State had given up a big lead in front of their home crowd in their last game, and played like a team that needed a win.

At the end of the season, I firmly believe the Blazers will be at or near the top-four seeds in the West. Golden State won’t. I understand that that’s a ways off, and losing against bad teams never feels good. But even bad teams have good nights. As fans we can take a level of solace in knowing that it took a great game from Stephen Curry and a very good game from David Lee for the Warriors to topple the Blazers. That hasn’t always been the case at ORACLE.

The Blazers get a shot at redemption against the Suns at home on Friday.

Couple of quick things:

• Gerald Wallace continues to not play well on the road. Crash had six points, shooting 3-of-9 from the field. He did have some nice stretches on offense, although there was more than one time that Wallace made a nice spin move to the rim in the post, then missed at the rim. Gerald’s really got to figure it out away from home.
• Nicolas Batum has not been extended by the Blazers. Nic’s agent is saying they will shop him around before coming back to Portland. Before everybody goes into total panic mode, remember he will be a restricted free agent, so any offer made can and will be matched by the Blazers. I guess not any offer will be matched, but it’s hard to imagine Portland lets him go. The NBA is a business, after all, and it’s a bad business decision to spend two dollars on something you think you can get for one. Nic’s value will now be determined by the market. The market is going to be healthy, but I think the Blazers are ready to go the distance if that’s what it takes. Wednesday, Nicolas had a very good game: 16 points, 5-of-8 from the field, and two very nice chase-down blocks.
• Minutes watch: 30:09 for Raymond Felton. Raymond shot 2-of-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from deep, but had seven assists and only one turnover. One of the problems Portland has right now is they don’t really have an alternative to Felton. I think there’s plenty of room for improvement with Ray, but I do agree that Portland might be better off with somebody else at the helm. But like I said, they’d have to go out and get somebody, and I don’t think shaking up the roster is the right move at this juncture. The Blazers would likely have to trade Ray, or package somebody like Jamal Crawford or Craig Smith, a role player with some value. I wouldn’t trade either Smith or Crawford, and if you trade Ray straight up for a point guard, you better be totally 100% sure that guys isn’t going to be worse.
• Standings watch: Portland came in Wednesday in sixth, one spot ahead of Memphis, and two spots ahead of Dallas. Houston, Dallas, and Utah lose, the Lakers win, and the Clippers lose. Portland and Memphis switch spots, the Lakers climb to eighth, and Dallas and Houston drop out.

Box Score

Standings

Blue Man Hoop

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Jan 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) shoots against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Monta Ellis and the Warriors have had their way with the Blazers in Oakland for a very long time. Photo courtesy of SF Gate.

Blazers: 11-7 (4th Northwest Division)

Warriors: 5-11 (5th Pacific Division)

Game Details: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA. 7:30 PM. TV: KGW Radio: KXTG (750 AM)

Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Raymond Felton (#5, 6’1”, North Carolina), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), PF LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass)

Projected Golden State Starting Lineup: PG Monta Ellis (#8, 6’3”, Lanier HS, Jackson, MS), SG Stephen Curry (#30, 6’3”, Davidson), SF Dorell Wright (#1, 6’9”, South Kent Prep HS, Lawndale, CA), PF David Lee (#10, 6’9”, Florida), C Andris Biedrins (#15, 7′, Riga, Latvia)

I fear that I’m about to start sounding like a broken record here, but this is a very important game, and not just because Portland needs to win out to match my predicted 11 wins for January. This is an important game because the Blazers need to prove they can beat an inferior team on the road, this is an important game because Portland needs to to show that three games in a row isn’t too much to overcome, and its an important game because the Blazers have only won once in the last 12 times they’ve played in Oakland.

The Warriors are not a good team right now, in fact they are second to last in the Western Conference, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Golden State plays the kind of game that Portland has trouble with, they push they pace, they take a lot of shots, and they try to create steals. The Blazers faced a much better version of the Warriors Tuesday, and did well. Unfortunately, Memphis is also a much more disciplined team than Golden State, and playing loose lends itself to the Warriors’ style. Meaning that as the Warriors flies off the rails, they are a lot more dangerous.

This game is going to be a lot like Monday’s game, minus the home court advantage for the Blazers. What Portland needs to do is figure out a way to play their kind of game. A more measured, well paced game, that includes a significant amount of half court offense and defense. Golden State can’t defend Portland in the half court, and they can score on the Blazers in half court sets, or at least, scoring in the half court isn’t what they do best.

What they do best is run and shoot. The Blazers need to limit turnovers, thus keeping a lid on the total number of fast break points. If Portland continues to cough up the ball on Wednesday the way they did Tuesday, they are in for a long night.

Another thing the Blazers need to do is try to make the Warriors make mistakes. This is a young team, with a first year coach. When they lost to Memphis at home on Monday night, they basically gave the game away in the fourth quarter. Down one, with no timeouts and no shot clock, the only shot Monta Ellis could get was a heaved corner three that barely drew iron. They make a lot of bad plays. If Portland can play tough defense, and make Golden State work, they should be able to get the Warriors to play themselves into a hole, or maybe even out of the game.

I’ll leave it at that, this is the third game in three nights, and I’m sure everybody is having a little blog reading fatigue.

Couple of things to watch for:

• Gerald Wallace: I say it every night. Gerald Wallace is key. Again, Golden State doesn’t have the personnel to stop him, so he should be able to get anything he wants at any time. That being said, Crash has had trouble in his last few outings, and got worked over pretty hard in Tuesday’s win. I think tonight might just be Gerald’s big breakout game on the road.
• Will somebody step up, and where will they come from: These Blazers are going to be tired. Somebody is going to have to bring some energy, and very likely it’s going to have to come off the bench. I like Nicolas Batum, it could also come from Craig Smith. However, there’s a possibility it will come from an even less likely source. Nolan Smith has looked ready to have a coming-out kind of night, and you never know, third game in three nights coach Nate McMillan might finally reach back and lift Elliot Williams off the end of the bench. An athlete like that, he most definitely is not tired.
• Can Portland take advantage of this team: Golden State has to know that they’ve had Portland’s number the last few years. Maybe they will overlook the Blazers. It’s unlikely, but any time a team thinks they’ve got a win in the bad because of the historical record, they are vulnerable.

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Marcus Camby set season highs in rebounds and blocks in Portland's win over Memphis. Photo courtesy of the AP.

It seems like it’s been a long time since Blazer fans have had something to feel genuinely positive about. In fact, just this morning I was listening to Ryen Russillo on ESPN’s NBA Today Podcast talk about how after two-plus weeks the Blazers were the popular pick to come out of the West, and now here we are, not quite at the end of January, and they aren’t even in the Playoff picture.

Of course it’s too early to say a team is either a contender or a bust (unless you’re talking about the Thunder, contender, or the Wizards, bust), but it does seem like since that early hot start the attitude towards this Portland team has been a combination of negativity and qualified optimism. Negativity when they drop winnable road games and get a shooting clinic from the Orlando Magic; qualified optimism when they beat the Sacramento Kings but have to leave their starters on the floor up until the final minutes of the game’s final quarter.

Rejoice, Portland fans. Tuesday’s win is just about as close to a total positive as you are going to get. Memphis comes in as one of the hottest teams in the league, can match up pretty well with Portland, and plays the kind of turnover producing defense and up-tempo offense that can be a killer for a Blazer team that hasn’t taken good care of the ball as of late, and relies very heavily on long and mid-range jumpers. Tuesday’s game could have very easily gone the other way.

It didn’t. And it didn’t not by luck, or because Memphis took the night off. Tuesday, Portland won because they delivered a balanced scoring attack that started out working the ball inside and getting good looks from in close, because they played defense, at least matching the defensive intensity–if not the execution–of one of the best defensive teams in the league, and because they rebounded.

The Blazers won the battle of the boards 50-to-39. Marcus Camby led the way with an astounding 22, but everybody pitched in. Gerald Wallace snagged 11, LaMarcus Aldridge had six, and six other Blazers had at least one. The extra effort to crash the glass helped negate some of the damage done by turning the ball over, something Portland did 20 times.

Offense wins games, though. And Tuesday Portland looked nearly as fluid on offense as they have all season. They worked the ball inside to Aldridge, who was on fire in the first quarter hitting 5-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line for 14 points, and they also attacked with their wings.

There aren’t a ton of teams that have one guy that can defend Aldridge one on one for a full 48 minutes (or the 31:22 which he played for the purpose of accuracy). Memphis tried a bunch of different looks throughout the night. Rudy Gay was the most successful, although his tactic was to play behind LA then foul if LaMarcus got a spin on him towards the hoop. The least successful was Marreese Speights. Aldridge primarily beat up on Speights with his outside shot, but also took him down low a couple of times. Gay’s defense worked because with his length he could challenge the outside shot both when LA faced-up or spun away from the hoop. Marc Gasol had a couple of sequences on LaMarcus too. At least once, LA took the ball outside, isolated Gasol, and just drove by him. You know it’s a good night for the Blazers when LA has a different tactic to deal with each defender he sees.

As for the wing play. Wesley Matthews, Jamal Crawford, and Gerald Wallace were looking to put the ball on the floor and get to the hoop more Tuesday than they had in awhile. Gerald attacks by default, but Crawford and Matthews sometimes play like they need to be convinced. Wesley especially can benefit from driving on nights when his shot isn’t falling. Tuesday, Wesley was 3-of-9 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep, but he did hit six free throws. He needs to keep getting in the lane and keep getting to the line, and maybe that way he can shoot himself out of this extended slump.

Crash didn’t score too much Tuesday, but he had at least one lay-up. At some point it might be nice to look at HoopData and see if Gerald’s best games are when he scores two lay-ups for every jump shot. I know there are nights when he can knock down threes and long twos, but in my opinion, Wallace should be trying to score at the rim every time he touches the ball.

Crawford is a bit of a tricky call when it comes to attacking. He isn’t as big as Wesley Matthews–bulk-wise–and he isn’t as bulky or as tall as Gerald Wallace, so his shot is the most likely out of those three to be blocked at the rim. In fact, Tuesday night, Crawford had a possession when he shook his defender with a crossover (I think it was O.J. Mayo but I can’t be sure, whoever it was ended up on their backside), only to have his lay-up attempt sent away. I still like the idea of Jamal attacking the rim though, primarily because he is such a great free throw shooter. If Crawford is going to be as helpful to this team as he needs to be, helpful enough for Portland to live up to some of that early hype, his efficiency needs to improve. The best way for him to do that is by getting more free throw attempts. Crawford, though, loves his jump shot, and he very rarely looks to drive to the rim as his first recourse. Tuesday, Jamal scored 15 points to lead a productive Portland bench, but he took 13 shots. By comparison, LaMarcus Aldridge took 13 shots and led all scorers with 23 points.

The Blazers have now completed stage two of the three stage gauntlet that is their first back-to-back-to-back–or as Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm so aptly dubbed it a b3b–with easily the most difficult stage yet to come. Portland travels to Oakland tonight to take on Golden State tomorrow, a team they almost never beat in a place they almost always lose. The Warriors have a lot in common with the Grizzlies. They like to get out and run, they’re driven by strong guard play, and they have a tendency to make costly mistakes or play themselves out of a game.

If the Blazers can play Wednesday the way they played Tuesday, they’ll be in pretty good shape. I think going 3-0 on their first b3b might begin to make up for their 2-4 roadie.

Couple of quick things:

• Gerald Wallace took a beating Tuesday night. He got hit in his bad hand, and at one point got leveled by Marc Gasol. I have no doubt that Wallace will go in Wednesday’s game, but I expect he will be pretty sore.
• Coach Nate McMillan once again hesitated to clear his bench, waiting until Memphis skipper Lionel Hollins rotated in his garbage time guys. Nate’s choice to sub, or not sub, has become a point of contention on Twitter, and a bit of a running joke in Nate’s post game media debriefing. I tend to agree that Nate could pull his starters a little earlier every now and then. But I see the point of keeping them out there too. A game is 48 minutes long, and it’s never over until it’s over. Nate isn’t intentionally trying to wear his guys down, but he also isn’t about to give up a comeback in the final stages of a game. One thing he might think about, though, is that his end of the bench guys–at this point that’s Elliot Williams, Luke Babbitt, and Chris Johnson–aren’t getting a chance to run that much because there aren’t that many practice days with this schedule. When those guys did get in Tuesday night, they did not look great. Chris Johnson had a nice dunk, but other than that it was pretty disorganized. There might come a time this season when one or more of those guys has to play, it might help them to get just the smallest bit of meaningful game time action prior to that point.
• One more note on the young guys coming in at the end. If you look closely at the box score you’ll notice that Portland finished with 97 points, three shy of the good stuff. Nolan Smith had a look at three for the chalupa, passing up the chance to give Luke Babbitt the almost unheard of back-to-back chalupa bucket, but it clanked off the rim. The Blazers did get the last possession, but with no shot clock on and no defense, Elliot Williams made the grown-up decision and didn’t put up a shot. Another sad day in Blazer-land.
• Craig Smith had another nice night. 3-of-8 from the field 2-of-2 from the line, eight points in 13 minutes, punctuated by a throw down on a run-out feed from Jamal Crawford. If Portland can get eight points for every 12 to 13 minutes of court time for Rhino they should be very happy. I know that it won’t take too much more for Craig Smith to be a fan favorite, greeted by a standing ovation every time he checks in. Get to the fan shop now, because in a week I bet they’ll be out of Smith #83 jerseys.
• Minutes watch: 2:42 for Luke Babbitt. The only Blazer not to score, and the only Blazer not to attempt a field goal. I know it’s mean to pick on Luke, but, Nate has shown he’s a lot more likely to play Luke in regular game time than Elliot Williams. Luke looks lost when playing with the starters and regular bench players. With the last guys on the roster, I expect him to play with a little more confidence. Let’s be honest, he is the leader of Portland’s garage time unit, seniority rules. Next time Portland is at the end of a blowout, and Babbitt is on the floor, I would like to see him demanding the ball.
• New thing here, not sure if I’ll do it every night, but I thought about it since even this early in the season every game changes Playoff positioning. Standings watch: Portland came into the game in 9th place in the West, Memphis in 4th. With the win, Portland jumps to 6th, Memphis falls to 8th, Dallas bumps up to 7th, and Houston falls out of the race.

Box Score

Standings

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Follow Tony Allen on Twitter (@aa000G9) it's worth it. Photo courtesy of the AP.

Too bad we won't see Bryant Reeves tonight. We can all imagine though. Photo courtesy Hall of Fame Memorabilia.

Blazers: 10-7 (4th Northwest Division)

Grizzlies: 10-6 (1st Southwest Division)

Game Details: Rose Garden Arena Portland, OR. 7:00 PM. TV: CSN Radio: KXTG (750AM)

Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Raymond Felton (#5, 6’1”, North Carolina), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), PF LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass)

Projected Memphis Starting Lineup: PG Mike Conley (#11, 6’1”, Ohio State), SG Tony Allen (#9, 6’4”, Oklahoma State), SF Rudy Gay (#22, 6’8”, Connecticut), PF Marreese Speights (#5, 6’10”, Florida), C Marc Gasol (#33, 7’1”, Barcelona, Spain)

Let’s talk about tests. Portland has had a few tests already in January, and for the most part they’ve done OK. Oklahoma City on the road was a test: Passed. Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers both at home were tests: passed those too.

They’ve also failed a couple of tests this month. Winning in Detroit to finish their first long road trip at .500: FAIL. Staying undefeated at home: FAIL. Tuesday night is a two-part test, or to be more accurate, the first part of a two-part test.

Memphis is on fire right now. They haven’t lost since January 10th. One night ago they came from 20 down in Oracle Arena to beat the Golden State Warriors. Two weeks ago the Grizz weren’t in the Playoff picture, as of Tuesday night they’re fourth. If the Playoffs started tomorrow, they’d have home court advantage.

But Memphis is beatable, and not only that, they too are stepping on the court facing a pretty big test. In the course of ripping off seven straight W’s, the Grizzlies have only defeated one team over .500. And that team, the Chicago Bulls, were playing without their star player, Derrick Rose. Memphis must feel like they’ve won the scheduling lottery, and they are about to be asked to make good.

Portland still has only lost once at home. They have an advantage playing in the Rose Garden. They don’t get as sluggish when shots aren’t falling, they play better defense for whole possessions, and they have the ability to catch fire and blow up the scoreboard.

To beat Memphis, the Blazers have to do two things. First, they have to defend the entire floor. Against the Kings on Monday Portland gave up a lot of open looks. They didn’t go in because Sacramento, as a team, can’t really shoot. Memphis can. Defending the three and the long two is going to be just as important as keeping Marc Gasol from getting easy lay-ups.

Second, the Blazers have to score. The Grizzlies are a good rebounding team. They aren’t as good without Zach Randolph, but they’re still pretty darn good. Portland has to get open looks. More importantly, they have to knock down those open looks.

Both the Blazers and the Grizzlies are on the second night of back-to-backs. Portland stayed at home; the Grizz probably got into PDX at or around midnight last night (don’t quote me on that I’m just guessing based on how far it is from Oakland to Portland and what time the GS/MEM game ended). The Blazers should be a step fresher than their opponents.

Here’s the caveat. Portland plays tomorrow night too, making the reverse trip that Memphis made last night after this contest tonight. The Blazers have to see that Golden State game in their rear-view and know that Oracle is not a place they ever win. Saving their energy for tomorrow’s game might end up costing tonight’s. And then, of course, there’s no telling what tomorrow will hold. Portland needs to win tonight and do it without thinking about tomorrow. That’s the test.

Here’s what I’m watching for:

• Portland’s bench play: Memphis is strong at the starting five, but without Darrell Arthur (out with an injury) and Shane Battier (took his talents to South Beach) their bench is a bit thin. Portland has gotten solid play as of late from Craig Smith. He should be able to continue that tonight. There’s no telling if Jamal Crawford can string two games together. And Nicolas Batum needs to play better, or at least shoot a few more times than once. If Portland’s bench beats Memphis’s bench, the Blazers win.
• Nicolas Batum: I know I just mentioned him, but he needs to be brought up again. Nic didn’t have a great game on Monday. Blame it on the problems with his mother if you like. Personally, I don’t care. He needs to play better. I’m not blaming him, not at all, but when he gets in he needs to get involved. The team can’t win without him.
• Marc Gasol versus LaMarcus Aldridge: My guess is they won’t face each other too much directly, but this is one of those times when LaMarcus has a chance to have a statement game against one of the guys coming up behind him in the West and getting a ton of positive heat. The younger Gasol is a scorer, but I don’t think he can outscore, or outplay LA.

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Jamal Crawford led all scorers with 26 points Monday night, giving Portland a much-needed win over the Sacramento Kings. Photo courtesy of the AP.

It might not have gone how everybody wanted it to go. Portland exploded in the second quarter to build a 20-point first half, but with a minute and a half remaining on the game clock in a for-sure win LaMarcus Aldridge, Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton, and Wesley Matthews were still on the floor. Not exactly what Blazer fans wanted to see.

But at this point we all know the story, winning the present game is more important than preparing for the next game. So at the end of the night, that’s why coach Nate McMillan was reluctant to get his bench guys on the floor. This team needs a win, no matter what.

How did the Blazers blow out the Kings? Well not very effectively. Portland had a pretty balanced scoring night, so there was no failure to get it done on the offensive end. The Blazers’ problem was mostly defensive. Portland had trouble keeping Sacramento from scoring late in the game, but mostly because the Kings couldn’t knock down a deep two or a three, at least the guys in Kings’ jerseys not named Jimmer Fredette or Francisco Garcia.

During their dismal road trip, the Blazers gave up a lot of open shots because they were slow on rotations. Sacramento isn’t the kind of team that is going to kill you with their jumpers, but Portland started the season with a lot of good lock-down perimeter defense, and lately that strategy has seemed to loosen up a little bit. Strong D on outside and elbow shooters is going to be a key against the Blazers’ next two opponents. Memphis and Golden State both have their share of gunners, and I guarantee they won’t shoot nearly the number of air balls chucked up by the Kings Monday night.

I’m not going to go all negative, there were a lot of things Portland did well Monday. Against a better team, a team that requires 48 minutes of sharp play and not 20-25, I imagine the Blazers will be able sustain a higher level of basketball, not slipping into the type of play that kept the Kings in the game, albeit down by at least 10.

Two players that stood out in my mind Monday were Jamal Crawford and Craig Smith. Crawford is almost built for the kind of game that Monday turned into. He’s a streaky shooter who isn’t afraid to let it fly from anywhere, and he never backs down from a one-on-one match-up. The Kings don’t play a ton of team defense or offense, in fact if you were paying attention to Monday’s last quarter and change you probably noticed that Sacramento played better when they started moving the ball. Jamal got plenty of chances to go head up with a single defender, and he took advantage of it. Crawford set a new Blazer high with 26 points, hitting nine of his 18 field goal attempts.

The key for Crawford, of course, is getting an efficient offensive night against a good team and on a night when he doesn’t get 18 shots. Jamal isn’t likely going to have a 9-of-9 night, but if he can get in the neighborhood of 20 points on between 10-and-15 field goal attempts, that would be perfect. To do that he’d have to take far fewer contested jumpers, and he’d have to try harder to get to the free throw line. Crawford is automatic from the stripe. He needs to start taking advantage of that.

And then there’s Craig Smith. It’s hard to talk about Rhino without sounding like a deluded fanboy homer who doesn’t know anything about actual basketball that isn’t happening a block from his front door. But…he’s amazing. Or, let me qualify that, he’s been playing amazingly well for what he is. And what he is is Portland’s ninth man; the last guy in the regular rotation, second to last if you count Nolan Smith. But you know what else Craig Smith is? A hard-nosed scorer, a banger on both ends, and the kind of big man that you can’t foul too much because he usually makes free throws. You know what else he is? A very very effective second unit staple.

Here’s why: Rhino isn’t afraid to have the ball run through him on offense, meaning that when LaMarcus Aldridge is off the floor Portland doesn’t have to launch jumpers to get points. And here’s another thing. There was at least one sequence on Monday when the ball was entered to Craig Smith against DeMarcus Cousins–a guy who John Hollinger says is both awe inspiring and cringe inducing although I see much more of the latter and hardly any of the former–and Sacramento sent a second man to double. The first time it happened I think Rhino got a bit confused, taking on both defenders and turning it over, but if the double is going to start coming on the reg it means that Portland’s second unit is going to have open shooters. Jamal Crawford and Nicolas Batum are two very good shooters when nobody’s guarding them.

Not a lot of teams are going to double Craig Smith, but they will see that that Rhino is where Portland goes when he comes in for LA. If he can be aware of that double early, and pass out to stretch the defense, the Blazers’ second five is going to have some big scoring nights. Rhino finished with 10 points, hitting 4-of-8 from the field. Listing his stat line is really what makes me feel like a know-nothing. But I don’t care, I love Craig Smith.

The Blazers kick off their first back-to-back-to-back with a win. They didn’t get a ton of rest for their starters, but if you turned over to NBATV following Portland’s win, you saw that Memphis-Golden State went down to the wire. It didn’t go into OT, but the Grizz had to fight all the way back in the fourth quarter to get their seventh straight win. Memphis travels tonight, Portland doesn’t. There’s a really good chance that Tuesday night is going to be a trap game, but for the Grizzlies, not the Blazers.

Couple of quick things:

• Everybody is going to be complaining about Nate McMillan not pulling his starters until way late, but hopefully they got over it some when Luke Babbitt came on and got the Chulupa bucket. Babbitt’s play has been atrocious, although it’s not fair to really judge him since he’s played so little, so maybe hitting a shot and getting a standing ovation will change that. Oh yeah, following the game, Luke Babbitt was trending on Twitter (via Blazersedge).
• Marcus Camby strained his groin in the second half, and was held to just under 13 minutes. Camby missed three games on the road with an ankle sprain, so my guess is that he was held out because by the second half this one was over.
• Sean Meagher from OregonLive had this tweet about University of Washington alum Isiah Thomas. I wouldn’t be against seeing Isiah in a Blazer jersey. I know that he was one of the more outspoken Twitterers during the few hours we were all trying frantically to figure out what was true and what wasn’t re: Brandon Roy’s retirement.
• Minutes watch: 18:43 for Nicolas Batum. Not Nic’s night. Zero for one from the field and two rebounds. No doubt a lot of that came from Jamal Crawford dominating the ball on the second unit. Nicolas had a couple of good games on the road, now is not the time for him to disappear.
• But seriously? How great is Craig Smith?

Box Score

Standings

A Royal Pain

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Craig Smith had another nice game, and is proving to be a key element of Portland's second unit. Photo courtesy of the AP.

DeMarcus Cousins and Paul Westphal had probably one of the worst player/coach relationships in recent memory. Westphal get the heave because of it. Photo courtesy of Dr. Jay's.

Blazers: 9-7 (4th Northwest Division)

Kings: 6-11 (4th Pacific Division)

Game Details: Rose Garden Arena, Portland, OR. 7:00 PM. TV: CSN Radio: KXTG (750AM)

Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Raymond Felton (#5, 6’1”, North Carolina), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), PF LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass)

Projected Sacramento Starting Lineup: PG Tyreke Evans (#13, 6’6”, Memphis), SG Marcus Thornton (#23, 6’4”, LSU), SF Francisco Garcia (#32, 6’7”, Louisville), PF Jason Thompson (#34, 6’11”, Rider), C DeMarcus Cousins (#15, 6’11”, Kentucky)

I hesitate to call any single game a “must win,” mostly because that implies that that one game is more important than any other game. I’ve said it before, but it can be said again, every game of the season matters. Every game is a “must win.” That being said, there are certainly some games that are much more important to win than others.

We hope that you get a late January game against the Sacramento Kings, and it’s not that big of a deal. That maybe even the playing of the game is mostly a formality. In my opinion, that’s not the case at this present moment. The Blazers return to the Rose Garden for the first time in over a week having completed a less than outstanding road trip. Portland finished 2-4, as you well know, very easily should have finished 3-3, and if they could have held a fourth quarter lead they would be coming home 5-1 (Detroit was the only game the Blazers didn’t lead in the final 12 minutes).

Losing four on the road doesn’t make Portland a bad team. But, here’s the thing, if the Playoffs started today, the Blazers would be on the outside looking in. Portland will make the Playoffs, but falling from first in the West a little less than a month ago to ninth as of today is a long way. The Blazers need to get on the right track. Winning is the way to do that. And more than that, losing to one of the worst teams in the league–for the second time in two games moreover–is not the way a good team does business.

This is Sacramento’s second trip to the Rose Garden, and this time around they look a bit different. Head coach Paul Westphal is out, Keith Smart is in. That’s a major change. Chuck Hayes is inactive with a dislocated shoulder, Marcus Thornton and John Salmons are sick and listed as questionable for tonight’s game. Those are smaller differences, but will have a bigger impact on this game.

The Kings are coming off an embarrassing loss to the red-hot Memphis Grizzlies, a team that has now won six straight and vaulted into the fourth spot in the Western Conference, a game in which they surrendered 34 points in each of the game’s first three quarters. Portland is going to be able to score on this team, there’s no doubt about that. But this group of Kings is going to looking to save a little face, so don’t expect them to just let the Blazers have easy looks at the basket. Hopefully Portland’s free throw shooters will show up, because I predict their going to be spending a lot of time on the line.

The Blazers will have to look out for the same thing they had to look out for Saturday in Detroit. This is a bad team that’s used to getting overlooked. Teams like that have an innate ability to see and then take advantage of their limited opportunities. If Portland gives the Kings an opportunity, they will take it. The Blazers are not a bad team. In fact I expect at some point in the next month they’ll go on a run of wins, but if they manage to shoot themselves in the foot once again, and drop another game to a team at the bottom of the table, it might be time to rethink some things. Hopefully it won’t come to that.

Couple of things I’m going to be watching for:

• As always, Gerald Wallace: Now’s the real test for Crash, can he continue to play well at home after having struggled so much on the road? Gerald is going to start tonight, even with his sprained finger, and hopefully he comes out playing like he has something to prove. Wallace started the season in All-Star form; his inability to carry that form over to away games will probably keep him from getting selected. Regardless of All-Star nods, Gerald needs to find some semblance of consistency. Also, it’s a pretty safe bet that if Crash had played Saturday Portland would have won, he’s that important.
• Can the Blazers get a big lead/avoid a big deficit: NBA announcers always say that playing close games against bad teams in inadvisable. Said bad team begins to believe that they have a shot at winning, thus they try extra hard instead of giving up. Here’s another thing to avoid when trying to win against an inferior opponent: don’t get down by double digits. If the Blazers can get ahead by a lot the Kings probably won’t work too hard to get back in the game, but if they get down by a lot, it could be another long night. I know Sacramento’s main scorer probably won’t be playing, neither will one of their primary secondary scorers, but any team can get hot any night of the week.
• How will the home fans respond: The Blazers need to take care of home court, especially if they are going to lose two away games for every one they win. Hopefully the Rose Garden will be hyped, but there’s a possibility that since it’s the Kings it will be a smaller, possibly less enthused crowd. Regardless, Portland has  to figure out a way to find some energy.

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Nicolas Batum got the start for an injured Gerald Wallace in Portland's disheartening loss to the Pistons. Photo courtesy of the AP.

I won’t waste too much time on this one. First off, it’s Saturday night, and I don’t recommend that anybody waste a perfectly good Saturday night reading about a perfectly bad Portland loss. Secondly, this loss was like all the losses on this road trip, and to an extent like all the games on this road trip, it came down to the Blazers’ inability to execute.

Plain and simple, nine times out of 10 Portland beats Detroit. They have the advantage at every position, they have a deeper bench, basically they’re just better. That one time the Pistons win because they take advantage of their opportunities.

Saturday, Portland let Detroit build a lead, a lead that ballooned to nearly 20, and then did just enough right to not lose. The Pistons had some pretty good stretches, especially during a second quarter where they outscored the Blazers by 12. A few guys that you don’t expect to consistently deliver on offense, Jonas Jerebko and Rodney Stuckey, came up big, Greg Monroe grabbed a couple of key offensive rebounds, and down the stretch Detroit never let Portland get the game tied or take the lead. When you give up a huge lead, but still win, keeping that last one-point advantage up there on the board is paramount.

And that’s why it’s so hard to win when getting down big on the road. The trailing team has to play basically perfect basketball to get within striking distance. The leading team just doesn’t have to miss every single shot. Portland ended up having to work very hard just to get back in the game. The last night of a six-game road trip isn’t the best night to have to come with extra energy, especially when your opponent hasn’t won any meaningful games all season, you’re expecting to get the win, and they’re guessing you’ve already moved on to the next game.

So 3-3 would have been nice, but Portland will have to take 2-4. It will be a long play ride home. Sacramento is next, they got absolutely trounced by Memphis Saturday, and is exactly the kind of team the Blazers have not been able to deal with in the last few weeks. They’ll have the advantage of being at home. Hopefully that will help.

Like I said, I’m keeping it short, enjoy your weekend, try to forget about losing to the worst team in the league in a basically empty arena.

Couple of quick things:

• Gerald Wallace sat out Saturday with an injured finger. He’s struggled on the road, but clearly Portland is better with him on the court than without him. Gerald was in uniform, and could have played. I guess you can take the loss if it means he’ll be healthy for the next one.
• When Portland misses threes they really miss threes. The Blazers shot 3-of-20 from deep. One or two more going down, and Portland would have been victorious. Everybody missed from behind the arc, but Nicolas Batum (1-of-7) and Wesley Matthews (1-of-5) led the way.
• Rodney Stuckey wasn’t even supposed to play, strained groin, but he had himself a pretty nice night. The Eastern Washington alum went 8-of-15 from the field for 28 points, and added four rebounds and five assists.
• Raymond Felton’s numbers were good: 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, nine assists, and only two turnovers.
• Minutes watch: 18:16 for Craig Smith. Again, solid first shift from Rhino: 4-of-7 from the field 2-of-2 from the line, 10 points. Earning his minutes. Now if only Portland could win.

Box Score

Standings

Life on Dumars

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

My favorite Detroit Pistons' logo. Image courtesy of LogoTypes101.com.

Blazers: 9-6 (4th Northwest Division)

Pistons: 3-13 (5th Central Division)

Game Details: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI. 4:30 PM. TV: CSN Radio: KXTG (750 AM)

Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Raymond Felton (#5, 6’1”, North Carolina), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), PF LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass)

Projected Pistons Starting Lineup: PG Brandon Knight (#7, 6’3”, Kentucky), SG Ben Gordon (#8, 6’3”, Connecticut), SF Tayshaun Prince (#22, 6’9”, Kentucky), PF Ben Wallace (#6, 6’9”, Virginia Union), C Greg Monroe (#10, 6’11”, Georgetown)

It’s not uncommon to hear those individuals closely involved with the NBA–coaches, players, color commentators et al.–say that every game matters. That no single game can ever be overlooked. It’s true up until a team is mathematically eliminated from the Playoffs or has secured their final seeding regardless of future wins or losses. At this point in the season, the Detroit Pistons have not yet been officially ousted from the post season. They too have 50 games yet to play. It’s unlikely that the Pistons will finish 53-13, but anything is possible.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Detroit does have something to play for, every night of the week, until they decide they don’t. The first full month of the season is too soon for even the most woebegone franchise to scrap it.

We all know what Portland has to play for. Consistency on the road. The Pistons are a bad team, but they’re an NBA team nonetheless. The Blazers are coming off a good win, not a great win, and a pretty outstanding performance from LaMarcus Aldridge. That, however, is not enough for this team to be satisfied.

In Toronto, Portland had a chance or two to get a bona fide blowout. They were unsuccessful in that regard. In a perfect world, I would say that getting that legit, 20-point, LA sits for the fourth quarter win should be the Blazers’ goal on Saturday evening in the Motor City. Realistically, that outcome is easily within reach. But I’m not ready to say that Portland will be able to make good on that kind of promise. I know I’m sounding like a bit of a pessimist here, but look at it like this: Detroit is right now on a four-game losing streak, having dropped games in succession to Golden State, Houston, Minnesota, and Memphis. The Grizz have sneaked into the eighth spot in the Western Conference (the current top eight in the West does not include the defending champion Dallas Mavericks), but the Warriors, the Rockets, and the Timberwolves are all probably heading to the lottery.

On the horizon for Detroit are games with Oklahoma City, Miami, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, four of the best teams in the league. Portland comes as the hinge-point between four bad teams and four great teams. The Blazers can be grouped with the latter collection of teams, but they aren’t quite at the level of the Thunder and the Heat, and lost to the Hawks on this very trip that ends Saturday. If I’m the Pistons, I’m looking at this game as the chance to avoid turning a four-game slide into a nine-gamer.

The Blazers need to prepare for the possibility that their opponent might think of this game as an opportunity to get a win they don’t deserve.

At this point, Portland’s game plan should be pretty simple. Feed LA early, establish an inside game, then, when the Pistons start sending two or three defenders to help in the post, get the outside shooting going. That’s the offense in a nutshell. Defensively, the Blazers need to get Detroit to turn the ball over, and they need to make those turnovers into baskets. In 16 games, the Pistons have not gone over 100 points a single time. This is an offensively challenged team. If Portland can get out and score early, they’ll have a pretty good shot at controlling, and thus winning this game.

The Blazers have a nice little stretch coming up to finish out the month of January. Following Saturday’s game the team returns to Portland for a home back-to-back Monday and Tuesday with the Sacramento Kings and Memphis–two very very winnable games–and then finish their first back-to-back-to-back the next night in Oakland. The Blazers always have trouble with Golden State, especially in California. But that team has struggled to find its way early, dealing with injuries to Steph Curry and Kwame Brown. Portland closes January at home against the Phoenix Suns and in Salt Lake City against the Jazz. Utah is a surprise early, but the Blazers should have a good opportunity to exact some revenge when they get the Suns on their home court.

A favorable projection is that Portland finishes this month by beating Detroit, Sac, Memphis, and Phoenix, and splits their two remaining road games. But I could push it so far as to say I think they can win out. This team HAS to be frustrated with the way they’ve played on this trip, and they have to believe that they are good enough to compete with the top tier teams in the NBA. There will be no better way to prove that than finishing out the month with a nice little six-game burst of wins. How’s that for not being pessimistic?

One quick note before I give you a couple things to look for during tonight’s game. I’m going to say it now, hopefully before anybody else does, the Northwest Division is the best division in the league. OKC has the best record in the West (notwithstanding their loss to the Wizards), Denver is the second-best team record wise in the conference, and Utah and Portland are five and six respectively.

Every division has one or two teams at the bottom that throw the entire division’s winning percentage off. In the Northwest it has historically been the Minnesota Timberwolves. Not so much anymore. I’m not totally sold on that team, but they are no longer one of the worst teams in league. Friday night, they played and won a sloppy game against the Clippers at the Staples Center–a Clippers team that didn’t include Chris Paul who sat with an injury and lacked Mo Williams at the end due to ejection–that finished with a pretty amazing deep game winner from Kevin Love.

The TWolves have a long way to go, but they’ve got some really nice pieces. I apologize to Ricky Rubio for saying that he lost Eurobasket over the summer. He looks like he could be a real player at the point guard position. Darko showed up in the win against LA, Wesley Johnson and Wayne Ellington have developed into serviceable wings, Derrick Williams has some work to do but he’ll get there too. Luke Ridnour plays like Luke Ridnour.

Minnesota will have to jump at least two teams to make the Playoffs, which I don’t think they’ll be able to do, but by not being as bad as they were last year, when they finished dead last in the NBA with a record of 17-65, they’ve helped the Northwest Division to the best win-loss record in the league at 48-27. The Central Division is the only other division to have a winning percentage over .500. The Southeast would be there too if they didn’t have to deal with Charlotte and Washington, teams with a combined record of 5-25.

OK, back to the game. Here’s what I’ll be watching for Saturday:

• What kind of game LaMarcus Aldridge has: Teams in the NBA are great at scouting during the season. Scouting has probably improved over the years as much or more than any other element of the game. Detroit’s advanced scouts will already have prepped Lawrence Frank on the dangers of LA, but there’s no doubt that following one of his best performances as a professional, he will be the focus of the Pistons’ defensive schemes. There isn’t really one guy that can stop LaMarcus on the Pistons’ roster, but guys like Greg Monroe and Ben Wallace can certainly bang him around in the low post. LA will be seeing double-teams all evening, so he’s going to have to be able to find shooters, and those shooters will have to find their stroke. I imagine we’ll see another good game from LaMarcus, probably not a 30-20, but this is another team that is very thin at the front line, and LA has shown thus far that he can get it done inside and outside. If Detroit tries to force LA to beat them with his jumper he will. If they try to bully him in the block, they’ll likely have to reach deep into their roster due to foul trouble. The only thing I’m worried about is LaMarcus coming out and trying to do everything on his own. We’re in new territory here. LA is on his way to becoming an out-and-out star. Dealing with that change is going to be the next step for him.
• Can Portland finish this team off if they get the chance: The responsibility of stepping on the throats of an opponent, in my mind, falls more to the shooters and the second unit scorers. I’m looking for Wesley Matthews, Jamal Crawford, or Nicolas Batum to have a big evening, or at least make a couple of run extending threes. The Blazers need to get a convincing road victory to end this trip on a high note.
• Gerald Wallace, once again: It’s never too late for Gerald Wallace to start playing well on the road. Wallace is scoring 20 points per game at home and eight per game on the road. That needs to change. Like LA, the Pistons don’t have one player that can guard Crash. If, at any point in the evening, Wallace is one-on-one with matchstick thin Austin Daye, he has an obligation to take him hard to the hole. Same with Jonas Jerebko or Tayshaun Prince. In fact, Detroit probably has, pound-for-pound, the skinniest collection of small forwards in the league. Gerald Wallace should be looking at that and thinking about how he’s going to make them pay.

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

LaMarcus Aldridge had probably his best performance of the season leading the Blazers over the Raptors in Toronto. Photo courtesy of the AP.

As we all know, in the last week and change wins have been hard to come by. No doubt we all wanted Portland to hit Canada’s largest city with the force of the storm currently filling the lower Willamette Valley with rain/river water, claim a much needed blowout victory against a lesser opponent, and get some rest for weary legs.

Friday, the Blazers had a chance to run off the court three quarters in, but couldn’t slam the proverbial door on the Raptors. On their way to a 94-84 victory, Portland had to play all 48 minutes. It wasn’t ideal, but right now a 21-point lead ending in a 10-point victory is solid. Anything that isn’t a loss is solid.

If Mike Rice is to be believed–and I’ll leave you to make that decision on your own–getting out of Canada is next to impossible, meaning the Blazers won’t arrive in Detroit for their Saturday match-up until very very late at night, which may adversely affect their chances in that game. The Pistons are another bad team. Portland has struggled thus far in 2011-12 against bad teams.

So, if not getting to rest the starters combined with having to deal with overly enthusiastic customs agents leads to a poor performance in Mo Town, beating Toronto by double-digits might just be the highlight of this basically highlight-less road trip.

So let’s talk about this game then, shall we. Friday’s win began and ended with one guy. LaMarcus Aldridge. According to the 2011-12 NBA.com survey of the league’s General Managers, LaMarcus is the fourth-best power forward in game, behind Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, and the vanguard of what’s next for the NBA Kevin Love and Blake Griffin. My own opinion in this matter is so totally biased (both because I am pro LaMarcus and anti-Love) that it’s basically irrelevant, but I have to say that I think LA is at least as dominant and easily as good as both Love and Griffin. He’s a tough cover for anybody, he can score both inside and outside, and he is top-tier when it comes to basketball IQ.

LaMarcus’s major knock, and something that I agree with, is his rebounding. Friday LA took a big step towards addressing this hole in his game to the tune of 23 rebounds. LA’s performance (which according to the wise and well-traveled Casey Holdahl was the first 33-point, 23-rebound, 5-assist game in Blazer history) won’t change the minds of everybody out there who believes that LA can’t rebound, but it might influence a few people who may otherwise be on the fence. Most importantly, it may make LaMarcus think of himself as a rebounder. If LA gets it in his head that he can influence the outcome of a game on the glass, he can very easily jump from number four at the four spot to number two, maybe even one.

Friday isn’t the kind of game we should expect every night out of LaMarcus, but it is the kind of game we should see from him when he’s playing against less talented big men. Toronto had no answer for LaMarcus, and he made them pay inside with strong lay-ups and dunks, and outside with 15-footers, the element of his game that is only matched or bettered at his position by Dirk.

After LaMarcus, the accolades are there, but not quite as glowing. Raymond Felton had a nice step-up game. His 10-point third quarter kept the Raps from extending their second half run that turned this into a game for a couple of minutes. His shooting was much better overall, 6-of-9 from the floor 2-of-4 from deep, and only turned it over twice. An effective Ray Felton is a necessity, basically because there’s nowhere for Portland to go should they decide his ineffectiveness is killing the team’s chances.

The only other player for Portland to reach double figures after LA and Felton was Jamal Crawford, and four of his 10 came at the line in the game’s final 40 seconds. The Blazer scoring was balanced, even if it wasn’t outstanding. Nicolas Batum had nine, Gerald Wallace and Wesley Matthews each had eight, Craig Smith had seven. The contributions have to increase from Wallace and Matthews, Nicolas probably needs to get more than six field goal attempts. I’ll take anything Rhino gives.

Crash’s continued inability to show up on the road is frustrating. It’s mitigated to some extent by Portland winning, but if the Blazers are going to do something this year that they’ve done only once in the last three seasons, and by that I mean win an away game in the Playoffs, Gerald Wallace is going to HAVE to be a factor. I’m sure it will come eventually, but right now, it’s just not there for him.

I’m not going to harp too much on Wallace’s recent short comings. Like I said, getting the win is more important than any one guy blowing up the box score. Plus, Wallace had 10 rebounds on Friday, and didn’t try to take over the game when it clearly wasn’t his night.

It’s hard to go crazy about this game in much the same way it’s hard to really pick it apart for things that didn’t go well. It’s a good win, even if it’s a nondescript win. Road struggles are the name of the game right now in the West. The road records for the Lakers, the Clippers, and the Spurs are 1-6,  1-3, and 1-5. Those are all Playoff teams, and they’re playing much worse than Portland away from home. A 3-3 road trip for the Blazers won’t feel like a successful trip, especially considering that Portland led in the fourth quarter every night, but it very easily could be worse.

Portland and Detroit go at it in the Motor City Saturday at 4:30.

Couple of quick things:

• Marcus Camby returned to the lineup Friday night. Cam doesn’t do much on offense, but his rebounding is as important as any element of Portland’s game. In 27 minutes Camby snagged 10 boards, and I could be wrong but I think all of them came in the first quarter.
• Jerryd Bayless was not in uniform for Toronto Friday night, sitting out with an ankle injury. Due to the lock-out shortened schedule the Raptors won’t be playing in Portland this year. Because Bayless was traded to Toronto after the Raps made their 10-11 trip to the Rose Garden and before the Hornets made theirs, he won’t make his triumphant return to the city where he played his first game until some time in the 2012-13 season. At that point I wonder if anybody in Portland will even remember who he is.
• Minutes watch: 8:50 for Craig Smith. I’m not sure what the Blazers expected to get from Rhino when they signed him. I would say that beyond a shadow of a doubt he’s exceeded expectations. Smith does one thing, he hustles. Recently he’s been doing another thing too, scoring. In those eight minutes and fifty seconds, Craig Smith scored seven points, shooting 2-of-3 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line. Smith isn’t going to lead this team in scoring ever, but for a fourth front court player, he’s exactly what Portland needs.

Box Score

Standings

Raptors Rapture

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Marcus Camby returned to the starting lineup Friday, looking good in 28 minutes as the Blazers out rebounded the Raptors 55-to-40. Photo courtesy of the AP.

Canadians love basketball, just not as much as hockey, or Canadian football, or curling. Photo courtesy of Fanster.

Blazers: 8-6 (4th Northwest Division)

Raptors: 4-11 (5th Atlantic Division)

Game Details: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 4:00 PM. TV: CSN Radio: KXTG (750 AM)

Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Raymond Felton (#5, 6’1”, North Carolina), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), PF LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass)

Projected Toronto Starting Lineup: PG Jose Calderon (#8, 6’3”, Villanueva de la Serena, Spain), SG DeMar DeRozan (#10, 6’7”, USC), SF James Johnson (#2, 6’9”, Wake Forest), PF Ed Davis (#32, 6’10”, North Carolina), C Amir Johnson (#15, 6’9”, Westchester High School, Los Angeles, CA)

Well here we are. That time of the season when Portland’s play has fallen below expectations, execution has stalled, losses are piling up, scrutiny is intensifying. We seem to find ourselves in this situation on the regular in the last few years. So what does this team decide to do when things are about to reach critical mass, endangering the entire endeavor? Call a players-only meeting, of course.

We were here last year too. That player’s only meeting came in the midst of a six-game slide that saw the Blazers dip under .500. This player’s only meeting comes on the heels of another game in which Portland led in the fourth quarter, only to lose, and seemed to mostly address the salient fact that all these Blazers just like each other too gosh darn much.

I can get with that. The problems the team has been facing during this road trip stem from a failure to make plays down the stretch, and some of that comes from accountability. If everybody’s too busy being nice to one another, then there’s nobody to lay the smack down when things fall apart at the end of games.

There’s a difference, though, between this season’s player’s only meeting, and last season’s. In 2011-12, LaMarcus Aldridge is the leader of the team, not Brandon Roy. So maybe part of calling the meeting was for LA to flex his newly found leadership muscles. Another key difference: Last season, the Blazers’ rough patch included losses to the Nets, the Wizards, and the 76ers. This year’s 76er team is much better than last years; the Nets and the Wizards are still the Nets and the Wizards. Those were tough losses to teams that were not very good.

Portland’s suffered a couple of bad beats since reaching the top of the Western Conference, but Orlando, Atlanta, and San Antonio are all Playoff teams. Dealing with the issues that have kept this team from winning before they’ve dropped games to the bottom dwellers of the Eastern Conference is a proactive decision. Getting out in front of trouble is always the best way to go.

Which brings us to Friday afternoon’s international match-up with the Raptors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Raps aren’t quite as bad as they come, but they are one of seven teams with fewer than five wins. Toronto is win-less in their last six, dropping games to a couple of bad teams (the aforementioned Wizards and the 5-10 Kings) as well as few good teams (Atlanta, Indiana, Chicago), and one team that is bad now but still might turn out to be good (Boston).

The Raptors were absolutely annihilated by the Celtics, ending a five-game skid for the Celts, and now back at home, Toronto is hurting for a win. Portland is too. By all accounts the Blazers should win this game. Toronto is not a good team. But if we’ve learned anything from the last four games, winning on the road, even playing well on the road, is a lot to ask at this point.

How should Portland do it? Forget about the last four or five games. Forget about the fact that a dismal road trip can end at even if they can only beat two teams that have already lost a combined 23 games. Forget about the struggles of Raymond Felton, Jamal Crawford, and now Wesley Matthews. Forget about all of it and just play. I promise you that if Portland comes out on Friday and just plays and doesn’t try to over think things or get ahead of themselves, they’ll win no problem.

If, however, they start the game tight, try to force shots, have eight or nine guys try to win it on their own, they will, once again, be in trouble. When Portland goose egged on the road in late November/early December of 2010 it felt like this team had rolled right up the cliff’s edge. At the time Portland had once again been stricken by injuries, they couldn’t get anything going at all, Brandon was just starting to show signs that his career wasn’t going to last much longer.  I remember preparing myself for the possibility that Nate McMillan might be cut loose, and that I would be covering a lottery-bound team.

That Blazer team turned it around. This Blazer team isn’t even close to being where that team was. Like I already said, having a player’s only meeting now shows that this team thinks highly enough of themselves and of their potential that they want to stop this trend in play before it gets any worse. My prediction is that at the very least, Portland makes good on coach Nate McMillan’s plea to play harder. Making a conscious decision to stop being nice and start being real might be just the right thing to get the Blazers back to winning and play themselves back into the picture.

Here’s what I’m going to be watching for:

• The returns of Marcus Camby and Nicolas Batum: According to Joe Freeman, Marcus Camby and Nicolas Batum will be back in the lineup Friday. Camby missed the last three games following an ankle sprain in San Antonio. Batum played less than 10 minutes in Atlanta after getting gouged in the eye by T-Mac. Camby’s presence has been missed, although Craig Smith has made a pretty good case for himself with a couple good offensive nights, and against an undersized Toronto team, Marcus should be able to dominate the boards on Friday. Batum could have really helped Portland in Atlanta. Hopefully he won’t show any residual tentativeness when he returns. He’s been the Blazers’ lone highlight on this trip. Nic deserves a chance to finish what he started.
• Nolan Smith: Nate McMillan has said that Nolan Smith played his way into some burn with a pretty decent evening in Atlanta. McMillan has mentioned Nolan before and then not played him, but I bet we see him in Toronto pre-garbage time (should it get there). My guess is inserting Nolan in the rotation is a combination of two factors. One is definitely Nolan’s play–when put in the game he doesn’t play shy and doesn’t make too many mistakes–but I think it also might be a bit of a move to make Raymond Felton tighten up. Nolan isn’t going to take Ray’s starting spot anytime soon, but if Felton knows there’s one more option at the point guard position he might start playing a little bit better.
• Will Portland be able to find that next gear: I’m looking at Gerald Wallace here. LaMarcus is the leader of this team, but Wallace very often sets the pace. There isn’t a single guy on Toronto’s roster that can handle Crash one-on-one. If he can find that spark that lit up the LA Lakers, and find it early, the Blazers will cruise. If Wallace doesn’t show up, Portland should still be able to win, but it won’t be as easy.

email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject