It’s showtime ladies and gentlemen it is showtime. The 2008-09 Portland TrailBlazers will debut. Not only that but they will do it in Los Angeles, at the Staples Center against the Lakers. The #1 rival to Blazer fans but a brief distraction to the Lakers. Blazer fans of course want blood, but this isn’t the end-all be-all. Despite the tons of people with Blazer-related Facebook statuses
7:52: The game has already started. Thanks TNT, thanks a freaking lot. Really needed to see that Sideshow Bob deseperation 3. Lakers are up 9-4. Oden is a beast. He picked up about 3 offensive rebounds and got fouled big time by Bynum. He’s a beast.
7:53: Roy dumps it to Oden in the post. He’s a beast. Oden gathers with Radmonovic on him in the post. He’s a beast. Jumphook barely grazes the rim…..He’s a beast? He’s got some work to do.
7:53: Oden has been limping ever since Bynum pulled him down. Doug Collins just pointed it out. That sound you hear from Blazer fans? You don’t hear one it’s dead silent.
7:54: Blake has been pushing it pretty furiously up the court so far so I guess we’re definitely out of the whole slow it down phase of the past two years. Still wonder what our identity is going to be. Fisher finishes with a floater over a jumping Oden and the Lakers are up 11-4 with 7:49 left in the first quarter. Pau apparently has 7. Good job LaMarcus???
7:58: Oden and Bynum are both looking like beasts who are rough around the edges. Both are 0-for-2. Roy is 0-for-3 to start. Kobe has yet to take a shot. *gulp*
7:59: Silently shooting my roommate the death glare to leave the Bulls/Bucks game and return to TNT or risk physical harm. It worked.
8:00: Outlaw misses a stepback. Big Joel is in for Oden. My heart stops as Outlaw has to guard Kobe but it worked out well. Aka he settled for a jabstep jumper. Super subs Odom and Rudy are in.
8:02: Someone investigate a possible glass lid on the rim. Kobe takes Blake to the basket easily. 15-4 Lakers. B-Roy then kind of jacks up a weird looking shot as if he was looking for a foul call. Hmm…
8:03: LaMarcus is still posting up and the good news he finally gets one to drop. The bad news the Lakers get a tip in from Bynum who got touched by no one. 17-6 Lakers.
8:04: Rudy and Blake clank open three’s. Channing Frye is in the game. Roy misses another jumper. Damn. Odom amazingly kicks it to Sasha Vujacic…who is on the bench. In his warmups. Classic Odom moment, count on that showing up on Basketbawful tomorrow morning.
8:08: By the way…6 points in nearly 10 minutes for the Blazers. Make that 8 as Big Joel gets a big tip-in and one of ANOTHER Brandon Roy miss.
8:10: Rudy with a nice slash to the basket to cut the lead to 19-10. Blazers are in the….2-3 zone. Trevor Ariza says forget that and nails a 3. Trevor Ariza zone-buster???
8:11: Rudy with a pullup jumper to make it 22-12 Lakers. He’s the only bright spot so far, instant offense. Sergio is in the game….say it with me…LOS CONQUISTADORS!!
8:12: Rudy is officially just gunning. Dang. Ditto for Odom. Double dang. OMG CHANNING JUST TOOK A THREE. Ya know…it was nice reading that he had improved on his stroke. But…I don’t want him taking too many more.
8:13: A Big Joel dunk makes it 24-14 to end the first quarter. Ugly, ugly, ugly first quarter for the Blazers. Just one of those nights where the ball isn’t going in the bucket. The looks have been great. But 6/23 in a quarter….yikes. 26%, it’s a credit to the Blazers that they are only down 10. Second unit has outscored the starters 8-6 with 4 a piece for Big Joel and Rudy. Roy is 0-for-6, Outlaw 1-for-2 and LMA 2-for-4. Oden and Bynum have still look rough offensively. Kobe….in Mamba mode.
8:16: Not sure how I feel about LeBron’s new commercial with everyone throwing powder everywhere. Dare I say but adidas is kind of owning the basketball commercial so far. I do know this…Lil Wayne should not be filmed throwing a white powdery substance in the air. Just not smart.
8:17: Nate’s thoughts: Smiling, need to calm down and shake off the jitters. Well. I guess I kind of saw this coming.
8:18: Sergio clanks a three-pointer. Blazers are apparently building a house for charity with all these bricks. Let me repeat…Big Joel is tied for our leading scorer.
8:19: Channing Frye jacks up another three, this time to beat the shot clock. But still. He took 10 three’s last year and he’s already taken 2. And Odom blows by him. The Buffet of Damn.
8:20: The old Sergio is back in the building. Tries a Spanish Connection with Rudy but it gets stolen which leads to a Pau Gasol, fingertip dunk. 6-0 run for the Lakers, 30-14 Lakers with 10 minutes left in the second. This has gotten real ugly, real quick. So glad I’m not shocked.
8:24: Rudy nails a big three to make it 30-17. The way the Lakers are playing the Blazers is giving me nightmares though, we might see a lot of defenses making us shoot.
8:27: Blazers are looking rough around the edges offensively. I’m not sure what the offense is but I’m seeing a lot of passing and standing and looking around. Why is Greg Oden not in the post? Why is he setting downscreens for LaMarcus to take one dribble pullups? Just curious.
8:28: Travis Outlaw is still instant offense though. 5 straight points for him to make it 33-22…and as soon as I write that, Ariza nails an open three from the corner.
8:33: My roommate turns to ‘I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry’ during a commercial. Death stare ensues.
8:35: Kobe over Roy to make it 40-24 with 4:17 left in the first half. Somewhere Stephen A Smith is laughing.
8:36: You know you’re getting beat up by the Lakers when Radmonovic is dunking. Down 20.
My friend A Steele: “This is sad”
8:38: Collins and Harlan try to make it sound like it’s a super suffocating defensive effort by the Lakers. This isn’t exactly Celtics-esque, they are playing good D but let’s no overhype it. Radmonovic 3 makes it 49-27 Lakers.
8:41: Quick Facebook check…and we’re back to the political statuses. And we even got a few Blazers sucks.
A Steele: “So many bandwagon fans it’s laughable. B-Roy has no idea what to do with Kobe staring at him.”
8:44: Roy gets his first two points..from the foul line. Yikes. Rough. Night.
8:44: Outlaw with a smooth, right then left layup. Jordan-esque? *ducks lightning bolt* Too bad we’re down 18.
8:45: Blake with a 3 and the Blazers are down 15. Blazers got the ball back, Blake could have pulled up but tried a lob. Silly guy.
A Steele: “BOOOO Blake! Shoot the ball!! At least we cut it from 20+ to 15.”
8:46: Doug Collins said this was a predictable first half. The Laker lead…maybe. But I’m not sure too many would have predicted the Blazers going 12-for-41 (29%) in the first half. Neither would anyone have predicted Roy not making a field goal (0-for-6). LaMarcus is 2-for-8, Oden is scoreless (0-for-4) in the field. Only bright spots have been Outlaw and Rudy with 9 a piece and Blake has hit a couple open jumpers. No need to panic, the Blazers just have struggled to get that ball to go in. I’m not willing to say the Lakers have shut down the Blazers (although Kobe has harrassed B-Roy) but I’d say the Blazers have missed some pretty good looks. Anytime 2 of the big 3 have no field goals you know you’re in trouble. 2-for-18 for the big three.
Text from my friend Jonny: “At least this will make the bandwagon fans shut up for a while”
8:51: Charles trashes Oden’s jumphook and says he has a lo
ng, long, long way to go offensively. He even says it will be ‘very difficult’ for the Blazers to make the playoffs. Well….
9:09: The Blazers are on a run, run, run right now. Cut the lead to 49-41. I don’t want to jinx it. But I expect Kobe to start shooting.
9:12: Sure enough Pryzbilla gave Kobe a shoulderblock and he responded with a three ball and a a layup. And he’s back at the line to drop in two more. 56-41 Lakers.
9:18: By the way Big Joel started over Oden. Ankle tweak?
9:19: And on cue…Cheryl Miller says Oden has an injured right foot and they are taking X-Rays. *groan* times 10.
9:20: Kobe nails a jumper in Roy’s face, he continues his struggles and Radmonovic drains a three to go back up 20.
9:23: Kobe just backs Outlaw down and pivots around him for a left hand layup. Ugh.
9:24: Channing jacks up another jumper. You know…when they go in he’s great but when they don’t…what does he bring to the table? Just thinking out loud…
9:26: This is going to sound ass-backwards but this is a great slice of humble pie for the bandwagon fans.
9:28: Ladies and gentlemen….Brandon Roy finally makes a field goal. Doug Collins with an excellent point that B-Roy never changes emotions.
9:30: Kevin Harlan “Bayless went from The Guy to A Guy” Well damn. Bayless sighting, lets see him.
9:38: LaMarcus and B-Roy are 6-for-24 as we start the 4th quarter, Lakers up 72-53.
9:42: Doug Collins with the ‘San Antonio has beaten Portland 12 straight times’. Awesome.
9:48: Rudy with a three to cut the lead to 16. Blazers went real small. Bayless, Roy, Rudy, Outlaw and Big Joel. Interesting Nate, real interesting.