Victory #1

The Blazers are no longer Waiting to Exhale.

A refreshing victory over San Antonio. I’m kind of scatterbrained right now but I wanted to talk about the game while it’s still fresh in my head. This was a very encouraging win for the Blazers. Very encouraging in the sense that there is some major growth from last year to this year. Here is what I wrote after last year’s season opening loss at San Antonio:

The line between winning and competing can sometimes be very small, and last night there were different stretches in the game that really showed we’re ready to compete. Just not quite ready to win. A team like San Antonio they force turnovers AND capitalize on them in impressive fashion. They find ways to get rebounds, loose balls and all of the little things it takes to buckle down when it’s winning time. They are a machine and as great as we played, we just didn’t have the experience to win the game.

Tonight, the Blazers just found a way to win this game. After Batum’s weird travel in the corner (slash airballed three pointer), the Spurs rattled off an 11-3 run in less than 2 minutes, taking a double digit lead to 2. Just like that. But the Blazers answered. And everytime down the stretch when it looked as if the Spurs were about to take control, the Blazers responded. Jon Barry all night was trying to point out how this team was too young, but as we’ve stated before this team doesn’t play young. They played with poise and composure and just kept responding to every San Antonio threat. And that’s the building blocks of winning. This team tonight showed that it has what it takes to win games. And the best part about it is this is only the second game of the season. They can build on this. When it was winning time, Roy and LMA took over plain and simple.

This team is going as far as the Stepbrothers take us, and tonight was proof. Roy finally shook off his Spurs Struggles and looked like the Brandon Roy we all know. And LaMarcus…you can’t tell me he didn’t show flashes of early 2000 Rasheed Wallace. Except with potential for more greatness and a willingness to post up. I mean he had the fadeaway, the three-pointer, the midrange, the post…it was great to see.

A little worried about the defense. Can’t let a team come into the Rose Garden and shoot 55.9% from the field and 56% from behind the arc. Almost 56 percent? Yikes. I don’t care who you are but you let a team shoot like that and you’re going to lose more than you win. Also, it’s not like Duncan and Parker killed us in the 4th quarter. It was Finley, Mason and Udoka who did the damage. Partially because there was such a defensive focuse on those two, but also because of an inability to handle dribble penetration at sometimes. 19 of the 29 4th quarter points came from those three players. Hmmm….

More thoughts:

The Spurs will forever and always be the Spurs. Tonight confirmed it. I don’t care what else happens, you can never count them out as long as they have some combination of Duncan, Pop and Parker/Manu. I apologize for doubting them.
The Rose Garden is going to be a very, very tough place to play. The crowd just gets taken to a different level when Batum and Rudy are in there.
Speaking of Batum…I love his energy off the bench. He is such an Energizer Bunny. He’s going to a secret weapon for years to come. I like that he has a little fire in him. When he’s on the court, he looks as if he belongs. He doesn’t force anything and he books it on the fast break. We’re going to need his defense. Although Jon Barry falling in love with him made me want to hurl.
Jon Barry needs to never do another Blazer game. Ever.
Rudy didn’t have a tremendous game on the box score but managed to contribute. I like that.
Channing Frye nearly killed himself on a dunk bumping into himself. Awesome.
I actually dig Pop’s Castaway beard. He looks like a completely different person and he will remind me of Jigsaw whenever he shaves.

UPDATE: From Jason Quick’s article on the game, a significant quote from Channing Frye that furthur expounds on the point I was trying to make last night:

“Last year, I don’t know if we would have won that game. I think the maturity on this team is getting better and we’re coming together. I think it’s a testament to this team coming back from the (loss to the Lakers). To be honest, it was a really good win for us.