(Let’s see if I can get through these pre-thoughts without expressing my hatred towards the Jazz.)
And here….we……GO.
All jokes aside, this is it people. This is the beginning of the stretch run for Portland. Only nine games remain and after tonight there will only be three more home games. We find out during this nine game stretch what this team is made of. And more importantly we’ll find out exactly where (or if, I ain’t not no jinx) they’ll be playing in the post-season. The gap between the #5 seed and the #7 seed is non-existent. A loss will drop you [...]

We know there is quite the log-jam in the Western Conference playoff race. There has been for quite some time. As I write this on Monday afternoon, the gap between the #2 spot and #7 spot is 2 and 1/2 games. That means back-to-back losses—not even a streak—can send you tumbling all the way down towards Dallas. With 9 games remaining, Portland only has so much control of their own destiny. We’ll talk about this more this week but five of those games are going to be really tough, playoff-type basketball. Obviously for Portland to move up/avoid tumbling the Blazers [...]

On Friday, I talked about my favorite wins of the season. It was fun thinking back to all the good wins of the season, even though I temporarily blanked and forgot about how we beat the Lakers. There is a flip-side to winning and success and that is the agony of defeat. The Blazers have lost 27 times to this date and I’d like to say that around the majority of them have been acceptable. And by acceptable I mean I could rationalize them or realize that a W just was not in the cards. Sandwiched in between there were [...]

Just to piggyback on what Coup wrote about last night’s game. It took a long time (about 70+ games) but Portland finally went out, grabbed an inferior opponent and went to work like Beatrix Kiddo did on the Crazy 88’s in Kill Bill. Don’t get me wrong there have been some blowouts. But there’s also been a mixed bag of playing down to your opponent, a splash of desperate comebacks (successful and unsuccessful) and the sense of allowing  these teams to liiiiiiinger. Last night wasn’t the most beautiful basketball by any means, however it wasn’t about that. Last night, was all about taking care of [...]

That was…not the most competitive basketball game I’ve seen all year. The Grizzlies look like they’ve pretty much thrown in the towel on the season and are playing for summer (was it just me or did Mike Conley look miserable?). This is where I write that you can’t read too much into this game, but how much are we reading into any game this time of year beyond wins and losses. Blazers get credit for stepping on the visitor’s throats and never letting up, absolutely smashing on the boards (50-28) and keeping B-Roy below 35 minutes while getting Oden some [...]

The 18-53 Memphis Grizzlies in the Rose Garden during the final weeks of the season and a razor-thin division race. The rightful winner of the Northwest Division doesn’t lose this game. A legit playoff team doesn’t lose this game. That’s all I’m going to say. That, and the more we can rest the starters, the better. Enjoy your Saturday.

There is no arguing that last night’s win over Phoenix was a great feeling. Just a tremendous performance by the Blazers, a great atmosphere in the Rose Garden and a great viewing experience on TV from afar. I was giddy during the third quarter, texting people left and right and just soaking in the experience. I almost….ALMOST felt like a little kid again, when every win felt special. Or when the Blazers were just really freakin’ good, you take your pick. However it got me thinking…was it one of the top wins of the season?? Did I love it that [...]

Remember when the Blazers couldn’t beat the Suns? When there was always a barrage of threes looming in the third quarter or easy dunk after easy dunk as Portland could do nothing but watch? Remember how helpless that felt? That, my friends, is how the Phoenix Suns feel tonight. Helpless, tired, and on the outside looking in at the playoff race.
For tonight at least, that’s a great accomplishment. Chuck, Ernie and Co. were right about one thing during pregame, and that was that the Blazers would have opportunities to run and run and run some more with the Suns playing [...]

Tonight, the Portland Trailblazers will need to respond. They’ve had two days to recover from the hellacious 6 games in 8 days stretch in which they went 3-3. They also have had two days to stew in the sick of dropping a home game to Philadelphia. One in which both the defense and offense sputtered and left an overall bad taste in the mouths of nearly everyone. The task will not be easy. Their opponent in this national TV showdown: the Phoenix Suns.
If you will recall, the last time these two teams faced off Brandon Roy put on quite a show. Very [...]

I have no idea how I missed this yesterday, I sincerely apologize people. I’m kind of stunned so bear with me.Yesterday, Ball Don’t Lie’s 10-man rotation featured a very interesting look at Brandon Roy from the blog Monster on the Boards. The entry was entitled ”Roy Costs Team the Game, But Boosts his Superstar Status”
Groan.
The fan inside of me wants to rip this guy a new one. And I’m talking a 50 Cent type, “I’m going to take this way too far” reply. The blogger inside of me knows that almost never works out very well and will more than likely [...]