Archive for March, 2011

This is what we’ve all been waiting for. Contending for a Playoff spot in March. As of this writing, the Blazers sit in the seven spot in the Western Conference with 16 games left to play. Sure we were all thinking Conference Finals this season; using March to lock up home court and April to rest the starters. Though the Conference Finals are now the wistful dreams of only the most deluded homers, this author unabashedly among them, Portland most certainly has both feet in the Playoffs. Count that as a positive In some ways, holding on to the seven [...]

When this season is over, hopefully following at least one playoff series, we’ll look back at the second week of March and have fond memories of one semi-great win in Orlando, and one hands down amazing win in Miami. We may even think that that was the high point of the year. We’ll likely forget that Portland then went on to drop two straight awful games in Charlotte and Atlanta. That’s how it should be. Forget about Friday in Charlotte. Forget about Saturday in Atlanta. That’s what we need to do as fans, and more importantly that’s what Portland needs [...]

Blazers: 37-28 Hawks: 37-28 Game Details: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA. 4:00 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 LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass) Projected Atlanta Starting Lineup: PG Kirk Hinrich (#6, 6’4″, Kansas), SG Joe Johnson (#2, 6’7″, Arkansas), SF Jeff Teague (#0, 6’2″, Wake Forest), PF Josh Smith (#5, 6’9″, Oak Hill Academy), C Zaza Pachulia (#27, 6’11″, Russia) What sunk the Blazers last night in Charlotte was their inability [...]

So that happened. And immediately following that happening, something else happened, something akin to a mini panic. If you watched the local broadcast, which I did, you might have mistaken Friday night’s game in Charlotte to a one-game playoff for the fate of the city of Portland. The way Mike and Mike finished their call made it sound like the Blazers dropping a game against a weak team that they should have rolled meant the end of the season, the final nail in the coffin on a demoralizing road trip, etc. Allow me to disagree. Yes, losing to Charlotte is [...]

Blazers: 37-27 Bobcats: 26-38 Game Details: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC. 4:00 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 LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass) Projected Charlotte Starting Lineup: PG D.J. Augustin (#14, 6’0″, Texas), SG Gerald Henderson (#15, 6’4″, Duke), SF Dominic McGuire (#5, 6’9″, Fresno State), PF Boris Diaw (#32, 6’8″, France), C Kwame Brown (#54, 6’11″, Glynn Academy) The Blazers may be at the high point of their [...]

So here we are, two nights removed from Portland’s biggest win of 2010-11, winners of four straight, seven in a row on the road, very possibly poised to make a meaningful playoff run, and there is one question that is on the minds of Blazer fans the world around: Should Gerald Wallace be a starter?

There is going to be plenty of talk following the Blazers’ win on Tuesday in Miami, and none of it is going to be about Portland. My guess is the national media will focus on the problems LeBron James and his cronies are having against teams over .500, about the problems the Heat are having finding their identity, about how they have the tools but they just can’t put it all together and a result of that is losing to inferior teams. Let them talk. Because for the most part all those things are true. Miami has been struggling against [...]

The Oregonian’s Jason Quick reported via Twitter this morning that the Blazers had signed head coach Nate McMillan to a two-year extension. The team confirmed the extension today, and you can read the full press release over at BlazersEdge. McMillan, in his sixth year as Portland’s head coach, was due to be a free agent this summer. What this move says to me is that Rich Cho believes the Blazers, despite underperforming the last two seasons due to a rash of injuries, are not as far from contention as people think. Committing to Nate for another two seasons goes right in [...]

Blazers: 36-27 Heat: 43-20 Game Details: American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL. 4:30 PM. TV: NBA TV. 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 LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6’11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6’11″, UMass) Projected Miami Starting Lineup: PG Mario Chalmers (#15, 6’2″, Kansas), SG Dwyane Wade (#3, 6’4″, Marquette), SF LeBron James (#6, 6’8″, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s), PF Chris Bosh (#1, 6’11″, Georgia Tech), C Erick Dampier (#25, 6’11″, Mississippi State) Another week of the season, another set of [...]

Say what you will about what it wasn’t: pretty, efficient, NOT heart attack inducing, but it WAS most definitely one thing. A win. At this point, at the very beginning of what could be a late season defining road trip, I don’t want to over emphasize how big beating Orlando in Orlando is. I will say this, though, Monday’s was as big a win as any of this season, and takes almost all of the pressure off Portland as they cruise into Miami for Tuesday’s game, which might just be the most anticipated game in the NBA. Luckily, non of [...]