Archive for March, 2011

As the telecast closed on Wednesday night’s unfortunate loss to the New Orleans Hornets, Blazer TV announcer Mike Barrett mentioned that although this was a big game, it probably wasn’t the biggest game of the season. I’m going to agree and disagree. I’ll agree that it wasn’t the biggest game of the season, basically because all that hyperbole probably needs to be stored somewhere deep, only to be brought out for games late in the post season. I’ll disagree, because Wednesday, like every single one of Portland’s seven remaining games, was a very very big game. Losing doesn’t spell doom [...]

Blazers: 43-31 Hornets: 42-32 Game Details: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA. 5:00 PM. TV: CSN. Radio: KXTG (95.5 FM). Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Andre Miller (#24, 6’3″, Utah), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Nicolas Batum (#88, 6’8″, France), PF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), C LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas) Projected New Orleans Starting Lineup: PG Chris Paul (#3, 6’0″, Wake Forest), SG Marco Belinelli (#8, 6’5″, Italy), SF Trevor Ariza (#1, 6’8″, UCLA), PF Carl Landry (#24, 6’9″, Purdue), C Emeka Okafor (#50, 6’10″, Connecticut) This time last week, the Hornets were as much in [...]

Anybody that thought Portland was going to walk into the AT&T Center in San Antonio and steamroll their way to a win probably doesn’t watch too many NBA games. I understand that when a team benches four of their starters, three of them perennial All-Stars, there’s an expectation that that team is not going to be as good as they would normally be. What needs to be remembered, though, is that every single player on that roster is a professional basketball player, and to think that a group of professionals, regardless if they average 35 minutes a night or have [...]

Blazers: 42-31 Spurs: 57-16 Game Details: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX. 5:30 PM. TV: CSN. Radio: KXTG (95.5 FM). Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Andre Miller (#24, 6’3″, Utah), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Nicolas Batum (#88, 6’8″, France), PF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), C LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas) Projected San Antonio Starting Lineup: PG Tony Parker (#9, 6’2″, France), SG Manu Ginobili (#20, 6’6″, Argentina), SF Richard Jefferson (#24, 6’7″, Arizona), PF Antonio McDyess (#34, 6’9″, Alabama), C Tiago Splitter (#22, 6’11″, Brazil) Today marks the second half of the last road back-to-back of the [...]

I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that it wasn’t the play of Russell Westbrook that gave Oklahoma City the advantage Sunday night, leading to the Thunder’s third straight win over the Blazers this season. Yes the former Bruin had the rare double dagger on two of OKC’s three final offensive possessions, but although Russ may have been the difference down the stretch, he wasn’t the overall difference maker. I bet you’re thinking I’m going to say the play of Kevin Durant put Oklahoma City over the top. Not a chance. KD had a decent game, [...]

Blazers: 42-30 Thunder: 47-24 Game Details: Oklahoma City Arena, Oklahoma City, OK. 5:00 PM. TV: KGW, ESPN. Radio: KXTG (95.5 FM). Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Andre Miller (#24, 6’3″, Utah), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Nicolas Batum (#88, 6’8″, France), PF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), C LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas) Projected Oklahoma City Starting Lineup: PG Russell Westbrook (#0, 6’3″, UCLA), SG Thabo Sefolosha (#2, 6’7″, Switzerland), SF Kevin Durant (#35, 6’9″, Texas), PF Serge Ibaka (#9, 6’10″, Congo), C Kendrick Perkins (#5, 6’10″, Clifton J. Ozen High School) There’s a decent chance that tonight’s [...]

This is why the Blazers have the best fanbase in the NBA.

What can be said about Friday night? Let’s start by looking at the stats. Portland gets out shot 51% to 47% from the field, and 48% to 27% from three. Against the best team in the league, those kinds of shooting stats might mean a loss. The Blazers make up the difference by grabbing 12 offensive rebounds, and those offensive boards lead to 10 more field goal attempts. Those ten extra shots at the hoop might be the difference maker, right? Here’s my answer, who cares. Who cares how Portland won. Really, they shouldn’t have won, so trying to look [...]

Blazers: 41-30 Spurs: 57-14 Game Details: Rose Garden, Portland, OR. 7:00 PM. TV: KGW. Radio: KXTG (95.5 FM). Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Andre Miller (#24, 6’3″, Utah), SG Wesley Matthews (#2, 6’5″, Marquette), SF Nicolas Batum (#88, 6’8″, France), PF Gerald Wallace (#3, 6’7″, Alabama), C LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas) Projected San Antonio Starting Lineup: PG Tony Parker (#9, 6’2″, France), SG Manu Ginobili (#20, 6’6″, Argentina), SF Richard Jefferson (#24, 6’7″, Arizona), PF Antonio McDyess (#34, 6’9″, Alabama), C Tiago Splitter (#22, 6’11″, Brazil) Tuesday’s blowout win over the Washington Wizards signaled the end of the part [...]

The home stretch starts as soon as All-Star Weekend is over; at least that’s how it seems if you’re following the national media coverage of the NBA. It’s this time of the season that the Playoff seeding begins to shake out, the best teams start to hit their groove, and for the last three seasons, when the Trail Blazers begin to dominate the home court. In 2008-09 and again in 2010-11, Portland has made the Rose Garden one of the hardest places for road teams to win over the final ten games of the season. The Blazers hit the first [...]