7:13 – In a desperation attempt, I’m downloading and installing some program and about to follow some link….just to give you all a diary of a preseason game. When (not if) my laptop blows up I will hunt you all down, Beatrix Kiddo style.
7:18 – It didn’t work….BUT WE GOT A LINK!!! WE’RE IN THERE BABY!!!
7:19: 9-6 Golden State….and Oden is “too powerful” according to Barrett and Rice. As much as I want to rip them for homerism I have to say they are right. Pick and roll, Rudy dumps it to Oden who is swarmed by Biedrins and Harrington and he just spins, pivots, pivots, fights, dunks. Damn.
7:20: Golden State immediately went to double Oden who kicked it out and it was great ball movement. It ended with Bayless driving and getting blocked but still….with the talent on this team and Oden’s willingness to kick it back out. *shudder*
7:23: By the way while I can catch up…Roy is out, Webster is out. Oden, Rudy, Bayless, Outlaw and LMA are starting. Warriors go with Marcus Williams, Biedrins, Harrington, Maggette and Steven Jackson.
7:23: Barrett speculates Martell is out for 5 weeks. Mike Rice brings the somber tone. I..shrug my shoulders. Outlaw then celebrates becoming the starting SF by jacking up a contested fadeaway over Maggette. Awesome.
7:25: Oden picks up his second foul 5:51 in the first quarter and enter Big Joel who looks pissssssed. Get used to the foul trouble early on here people. Sergio comes in for Bayless and Turiaf is in for Biedrins.
7:27: Sergio finds LMA late on a fast break as I have flashbacks to Jarrett Jack….who by the way had 8 turnovers tonight. And yes Pacer fans that is your karma for the whole Jermaine O’Neal/Dale Davis thing.
7:28: I know this is pre-season….but this Warriors team is lightweight un-fun to watch. Clearly BD fueled that fire. Dan Dickau sighting by the way. Does anyone else remember when he dropped like 30 on the Blazers when he was with the Hornets?
7:29: LA RENAISSANCE! Batum is in. Rudy and Sergio semi play buddy ball for a second. Seriously.. for a second it was ‘ball fake drive and pass to the other Spanish guy’ until Sergio breaks in and shoots. My first look at the new found jumper, mid-range…clank short. Hmm.
7:29: Rudy makes a ridiculous fadeaway three from the corner with Jackson in his face. Dear…..lord. Remember when I said I needed proof that he could stick it? That’s all the proof I needed. It was a bad shot, a bad shot….and he got it off and swished it.
7:30: Corey Maggette smells blood in the water with Batum guarding him. I would bet Maggette can curl more than Batum can bench. He’s got 6 free throw attempts in the first 8 minutes. GS up 18-16 with 3:58 left in the first.
7:34: Side Pick and pop gives LMA a midrange jumper. Also, Mike Rice calls Nate the “perfect coach” for this team and says Batum has “a real chance to show what he can do”….uhh……ummm….ok.
7:35: First shot of Don Nelson who is sporting his ‘I can’t believe I didn’t leave….when’s my contract up??…. where’s my Scotch?’ look on his face.
7:36: Sergio tracks down an offensive rebound and finds a wide open Rudy who sticks it. I love that the fans have already started saying Rudy just as he shoots it. Spanish Connection….hmm….I want something better. I dub you….Los Conquistadores. Give it a while. Or tell me I’m an idiot, I’m ready for both.
7:39: After a Ronny Turiaf offensive foul for pushing off while trying to get an offensive rebound, Mike Barrett gets a semi-dig on Zach Randolph. Classy. Mike Rice says they think Channing will be ready for the season opener. Sad face, meet Ike Diogu. Ike Diogu, meet sad face. Make sweet music together.
7:40: I will give Batum this….he’s long, he tries and he’s active. Could possibly be a money defender. A lot of fouls in the quarter…a 30+ plus minute first quarter? Dang.
7:41: Bayless is in for Rudy. Blazers hold for the last shot of the quarter, pick and roll leads to a LMA jumper. He misses but Big Joel tips it in and the Blazers are up 27-26 at the end of 1. LMA has 10, Rudy has 2 three’s and Oden has 2 fouls.
7:45: Kevin Pritchard is joining Barrett and Rice to start the second quarter. Luke Jackson is in the building!!! And he makes an impact with a tough drive and finish.
7:47: Interesting combo with Sergio and Bayless in the backcourt. KP says the Blazers believe they have 4 options at every position and all he wanted to do was “give Nate options”.
7:48: Joel is having a mini Block Party by the way, swatting Harrington and and stuffing a Turiaf dunk from behind. Hell yes. Bayless is pretending it’s summer league and going to the line, his second trip in a couple minutes. Oden is back in.
7:49: KP says they are more than likely going to fill that 15th spot. Then he gives compliments to Steven Hill, Shavlik Randolph and Luke Jackson….before getting to Tatum and saying he “might not be an NBA player”. CUT!
7:50: KP on Hill “Doesn’t he just look like a Portland guy…if he was 6’2 walking downtown you wouldn’t notice.” Awesome. It’s so true…get that man some cargo shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt.
7:51: KP on Oden “He’s making good reads already” as they talk about double teams. Sergio slices in and scores in the paint.
7:54: Even when D-Wade isn’t making commercials…he’s still in commercials. He got his own ‘Where Amazing Happens’ spot, from childhood to now.
7:56: Travis Outlaw shows up and nails a couple free throws. So good to see you man.
7:57: Deon Dowell sends Oden’s stuff near the front row. Damn. Luke Jackson clanks an open three…then steals the ball…then almost turns it over. You can guarantee his heart jumped about 4-5 times.
7:59: KP, Barrett and Rice are all talking about Brandon Roy and making semi-lame jokes that they are chuckling at. Where’s Dave Chappelle to make a ‘old white men’ joke?
8:00: I like that Oden can make free throws. It makes Coup grin.
8:01: Oden gets doubled, muscles Turiaf but then just tosses a shot up. Coup “Why is Oden trying to finger roll?”..I dunno. Blazers hustle and get a couple shots up, Ike got blocked, Luke missed but then Ike got fouled. KP “Ike Diogu brings the beef”
8:04: DeMarcus Nelson sighting, he’s scored 4 in a row. Luke Jackson has missed like three
layups. You think Luke doesn’t see the light? He is trying to sow this job up NOW!
8:06: Oden picks up his 3rd foul…the camera goes to Big Joel who is looking in the direction of the coaches. No words so Big Joel puts his hand under his chin. And then the camera shows Shavlik doing the same thing. They planned that out.
8:08: Bayless picks up two quick fouls in a row and Sergio re-enters the game. Jerryd does not = happy right now.
8:09: This screen is so small on this laptop that I can’t tell Rudy and Luke apart. Speaking of which, Rudy drives and kicks to Luke who nails an open 3. He’s so happy. Marco “I Swear I Can Play Outside of Summer League” Belinelli hits a three of his own.
8:11: Oden with an offensive rebound and dunks it. KP loves the value of low-post scorers. And they like how Ike plays D.
8:12: Sergio…to Rudy….lob….Spanish Connection???? Rudy tries to go one hand and the crowd goes ‘aww’. I told you they’re Los Conquistadors not the Spanish Connection!
8:14: How Tony Luftman and Michael Holton get pay-checks amazes me. A-mazes me. Where is Rebecca Haarlow? WHERE IS REBECCA HAARLOW?
Blazers shooting 4/21 this quarter….of course I get the borderline summer league game while Coup gets the Rip City Revival. I’m not bitter or anything
8:18: Nate called timeout with 18 seconds left in he 2nd quarter. Sergio dribbled, dribbled, LMA sprinted to the top to set a screen…but Los Conquistadors made a Spanish Connection. Lob from Sergio, dunk from Rudy. And the crowd love
s it.
Coup – “Sergio is playing his way into the backup point guard spot as long as Rudy is in the second unit.”
I would have to agree to be honest with you. I love Bayless but Sergio’s chemistry with Rudy is going to take a lot of the pressure off of him. He can officially develop and contribute later on.
Coup – “I’m not counting on much from Bayless until the second half of the season…but he could really take off post All-Star break.”
Agreed.
8:33: Halftime and no Rebecca Haarlow??? What the bleep????
8:36: Oden posts, dropstep, dunks on umm….someone.. Entirely too easy as Rudy takes a charge on the other end. Coup likes the close off. I think Rudy looks a lot better on defense than he did during the Olympics.
Coup: “Remember he’s not guarding Kobe/LeBron/Wade all game.” Truth.
8:42: LMA gets away with the Chris Webber spin move and then drops a nifty dump to Oden who finishes a one hand slam. However Biedrins is scoring on him. I don’t like that. Bayless hitting an open three from the corner. I like that.
Coup: Oden within 8 feet of the basket = Dunk….put it in the math books.
8:46: Maggette drives left and gets an And-1. It’s weird watching the Warriors…getting to the line….and executing offense…Oden picks up his 4th foul. Big Joel returns.
8:48: Anthony Randolph just got a rebound and pushed it. Yeah shove that whole ‘Warriors aren’t running’ theory down your throat Rice.
8:50: Sergio obviously watched the Gold Medal Game and took Juan Carlos Navarro’s trademarked floater. Remember when we wanted Finland to replace him?
8:52: Marcus Williams hits a three to put the Warriors up 7 late in the 3rd quarter. And as soon as I give Sergio a compliment he tries to split a pick and roll and loses the ball. Groan.
8:55: Rudy finds Sergio on the break who feeds it to LMA who dunks. That woke the crowd up and they start a DE-FENSE chant in the pre-season. It wasn’t that loud but still. A stop leads to Batum finishing in the open court and getting fouled. 76-70 Warriors late in the 3rd.
8:58: Rebecca Haarlow sighting and I missed it. She interviews B-Roy and he likes the team playing with a swagger this year. Go ahead and say it…No one on the corner has swagger like us.
9:00: Batum has had a nice couple minutes here. Again…very active and very long. He’s gotten a few offensive rebounds. Big Joel with a Big Swat, open court to Sergio who takes it to deep and Dan Dickau takes a charge on. Very Jarrett Jack-esque.
Coup: You just gave me horror movie chills.
He’s gone no worries big guy.
9:02: Sergio drives and dumps to a backcutting Batum who finishes it with some French authority. Batum is smart.
9:04: Batum stays active and helps on another stop, Rudy drains a three from the corner…waived off he was out of bounds. The place was ready to come unglued…and this is the pre-season.
9:05: Very awkward sequence as the Blazers had the ball in the open court with 7.2 seconds left and struggled to get a shot off.
Coup: Our 7.2 second drill still needs a little work.
12-1 run by the Blazers to end the quarter and the Blazers are up 78-77. Sergio, Batum, Rudy, LMA and Big Joel put in work there at the end of the quarter.
9:09: MB and Rice pretty much came as close to ripping on someone as possible. The victim? Ike Diogu. It was tame but for the usual homers I was almost shocked.
9:11: Bayless, Ike, Batum, Big Joel and Sergio….not doing so hot right now. Golden State on a 10-3 run to start the quarter.
9:15: Rudy with a steal, passes to Outlaw who tries to dunk on Azubuike….somehow he failed. Damn. Dickau then jumps into the third row to save the ball. Boy he wants to make that team/doesn’t want to go back to Italy.
Coup: This is turning into a summer league game. Where’s Kamla?
Hells yes my friend. You know after Kamla came in 2nd to Katy Perry in the whole ‘taking over the world’ this summer, he really has disappeared. I mean he was all over everything.
9:17: Fun fact: Travis Outlaw hasn’t made a field goal in this game. A lot of Blazer turnovers, playing pretty sloppy right now. This is the pre-season though so that’s expected.
9:18: Brandan Wright has scored 6 in a row for the Warriors as they take an 11 point lead with 6:54 left in the game.
9:21: Nate goes with an interesting lineup: Bayless, Rudy, Luke, Outlaw at the 4 and Ike at the 5. Mixing and matching, let’s see how this works.
9:21: Apparently it works well….Rudy and Ike run the pick and roll, Rudy finds Ike who finishes over Brandan Wright and gets fouled.
9:24: Batum returns for Luke Jackson as the Blazers cannot stop Azubuike. He’s been all over the place this half. 16 points in 12 minutes.
9:26: At least tonight, good things are happening when Batum is in. For the third time…very active, very long. Two straight stops and Rudy nails a three to cut the lead to 6. Warriors up
99-93 with 4+ left in the game.
9:31: Dan Dickau and Marco pretty much kill the “winning” aspect with back to back jumpers but….more importantly. Rudy drives and steps on Sergio’s foot. How is that for a Spanish Connection? The fans chanted Rudy and he walked off the court. But dang…we don’t need this.
Coup: Damnit….I’m done. Forfeit the next 6 games.
9:35: Gotta love Channing and Big Joel perusing the box score on the bench. Or maybe it was Channing’s new blog post? Who knows. I’ll pick the latter.
9:36: More turnovers and it’s getting pretty ugly as the Warriors are up 110-95. Travis is having one of those nights, even though he almsot jumped out of the gym to block a shot. Remember last night when Coup said how great it was that we didn’t have scrubs? Tonight I wished we had scrubs.
9:38: Blazers go down by 15 tonight…more importantly we need Rudy’s ankle to be alright. He and Martell go down and….welp….Recap coming soon.