We’re Getting There..

Is it not fitting that on a night when the 90 and 92 Blazer teams were honored–the two teams that defined Rip City–the 2007-08 version made another step in restoring it’s legacy. How can you not smile when Brandon Roy is saying “I want to be Rip City again.”

This has been quite the intriguing year. The emotional rollercoaster ride known as Oden that rocked the City of Roses. Having to stare at the roster and and analyze it until I could actually feel good about it. You all remember the 15 posts about ‘We’re going to be ok’. Then the season finally begins…I fawned over the Blazers performance at San Antonio. I shook off the expected road beatings at Houston and New Orleans. I hesitated to throw much praise after beating Memphis and New Orleans and really had to hold back after beating Dallas.

But we just beat the Detroit Pistons at home. Yes the Blazers just beat the Detroit Pistons and have shown they belong. A healthy Piston team that battled the entire game. We’ve just put 48 minutes together and defeated two of the top teams in the NBA. How on earth can I not be giddy right now? The crowd was roaring, Pryz was boarding, Sergio was penetrating, Outlaw was slashing and Jarrett Jack keeps scoring. I haven’t even mentioned our two rocks in B-Roy and LaMarcus who kept their composure and went at Sheed and co. Zero intimidation, zero backdown from this Blazer team.

At first I scratched my head when Nate said he was switching up the starting lineup. Why throw Frye in there? Now I see why…that second unit is a beast. A best full of hard work and energy. Coming off the bench you’ve got Przybilla, Outlaw, Jack (who is on fire right now) and Sergio. Instant O, energy almost everything. Plus an up and down guy like Frye gets a chance to either get it going or come out. I told Coup the one good thing about having three decent point guards is one of them has to be playing well. Blake had 8 assists, Sergio played much better than any box score can show and Jack..I don’t even get it. He is really something coming off the bench and providing energy and offense. I like it.

Coup texted me saying he thought we could go to the playoffs. I myself refuse to utter such words out of my mouth. Just like Coup doesn’t want to crown the Celtics (which annoys me to no end because they are really freakin good), I refuse to crown these Blazers. I have to see what we do on this 4-game road trip. Yeah we have beaten some good teams but we’ve done it at home. And yes granted we weren’t that great at home last year and its a step in the
direction…this is the test. 4 road games in 6 days. We’ll see how this young team holds up. The journey beings tonight At Denver then to Philly, Charlotte and Washington. Truth be told we can win all of these games and SHOULD win the last three. I’ll hold off on the super hype until I see what happens. Remember we are winless on the road and are a young and
inconsistent team. We’ve seen what happens when the second unit is firing on all cylinders…what happens when they aren’t and the crowd isn’t there to lift them up?

And even if we go 0-4 on this road trip..I’ll still be happy. We’re getting there people…we’re getting there.

-I will say this…Mike Rice and Mike Barrett make me want to vomit from time to time. From their entirely too pro Blazer stance to the idiotic things Rice says. I mean in a one minute span Rice managed to say the Pistons lost in the first round AND that Detroit had the best record in the East. Unbelievable.

-Another young team gets a big win. I’m looking at you Memphis. The breaking out of Rudy Gay, consisteny of Gasol and Mike Miller and the emergence of Darko has brought this team back up a level or two. Again, its too bad they are in that division because a steady diet of Houston, San Antonio and Dallas is no fun at all. Speaking of Houston…Tracy McGrady will not be denied this year. He is going off. The Rockets are going to live and die by their bench. Whereas the Celtics don’t need their bench to score, Houston does. The last two games the Rockets have been carried by the T-Mac and Yao show which can’t really happen if they want to stay in the elite.

-Kevin Durant’s NBA career is a mirror image of Adam Morrison’s right now. Until Durant learns that not every shot is a good shot and is put in better positions by his coaches he’ll continue struggling. He’s not really getting anything easy. I see the flashes but he’s definitely leaning more towards the Dominique/Chris Mullin path. Great players, great scorers, and I feel dirty comparing him to Chris Mullin. Gonna change that back to just Dominique and I still feel dirty saying that. Yuck. Hollinger and Simmons need to start eating their words ASAP.

-Drama in NYC? No freakin way. Now the reports is that Marbury is threatening to disclose info on Isiah. Now this is just getting nasty. By the way I told you all that Stern should have had cameras following this Knick team 24/7. What a missed opportunity. If people watch I Love New York, who wouldn’t watch this. If I was Marbury I’d be pissed if Mardy Collins was about to start over me. Mardy Collins? Just like Ron Mercer’s career was ended when 40 year old MJ pinned his layup on a breakaway..Mardy Collins career was ended when Melo knocked him out.

-Disappointed that Coup didn’t say a word about Chris Kaman when he talked about the Clippers in his surprises. Come on now the man is just an absolute monster right now. It’s almost as if he’s getting his AND Brand’s rebounds.

-Back to the Celtics…the media is starting to bug me. I want them to lose so they’ll shut up. I mean you keep talking about the Big 3…the key to the Celtics is everyone BUT them. Not too many people are talking about Tom Thibodeau and the much improved D. No one is talking about how Eddie House is actually making shots for a or that everyone has settled into their roles. Everyone knows their role and plays it. How rare is that in the L?