I’m giddy. Not just because of this upcoming season for the Blazers…but the NBA is back in my life. I’m sitting on the couch, food by my side and watching glorious NBA Basketball. It does not get much better than this I promise. Even if I’m switching between a slightly underwhelming Celtics/Cavs game and a Bucks/Bulls game. I’m just happy.
We’re about under 2 hours from tip-off at the Staples Center. I guess it’d be a good enough time to take a look at tonight’s contest. I, SJ will be guiding you through tonight’s festivities with a live blog of the game, followed up by some reactions after the game. My partner in crime Coup will hopefully join us for the second half but you’ll surely hear from him. This will be my random stream of pre-game thoughts.
Let me start everything off by saying this:
No possible result of tonight’s game could surprise me.
Yeah…I said it. There’s no result tonight that could surprise me, depress me or any of that. I could easily see the Lakers coming in and winning by 20. Don’t call be a Debbie Downer, I’m just being realistic it’s something that could happen. Think about it. The Staples Center is tough to play. Our guys are sure to have some nerves and excitement in this the first ‘real’ game. The Lakers are in full ‘Title or Die’ mode after coming so close last year. And they just went through a Mary J. Blige, No More Drama Training Camp. No Kobe antics means possible danger. They are a well-oiled machine, coming off a Western Conference title and looking for more. So yes a Laker blowout win is very much a possibility.
I could also see the Blazers hanging tough for three quarters and losing one of those classic ‘Blazer tough losses in LA’ type games. I could see the Blazers leading the whole way before Kobe takes over. I could see the Blazers blowing them out, leading the whole game. I could see everything happening and I guess that’s a good and bad thing.
Onto the game. These two teams match up very well. Both are athletic, both are team oriented, both have superstars, yada, yada, yada. It’s coming down to two things. Defense and the bench. I’d lean more towards whose bench packs a bigger punch. Odom, Sasha, Ariza and Farmar bring a ton of energy and can either spark a run or get run on. The Blazers of course have the infamous second unit…Los Conquistadores with Big Joel and Channing. One has to wonder if Travis’ starting could throw everything a bit out of wack. We will see. If the Blazers let the Lakers second unit go on a run and get the crowd into it….trouble is on the horizon. On the opposite side, if the Blazers second unit can get some points, silence the crowd, things will be looking great. The majority of this is common knowledge but I’m just saying.
I’m deathly afraid of what Kobe could possibly do. We don’t have a Kobe-stopper. Never really have and probably never will be. It will be interesting to see the Kobe/Roy matchup.
Kind of down on the whole Oden vs. Bynum thing. Sorry. I’m sure a lot of people are going to put oodles and oodles of attention on this….not I. Just doesn’t get me going.
It will be interesting to see if LaMarcus has gotten a lit more ‘banger’ in him as he goes against Pau. We know Gasol can get beasted. If LMA can combine that chip on his shoulder with a dose of beastiness….Rudy and Sergio will have to console him after the game. While wearing matching sweaters.
Will Batum melt under the bright lights? How many times will Bayless look completely disinterested on the bench?
At the end of the day, no matter what the result let’s just finally take a look at what we’ve got. This is game 1 of 82. And as much as I’d love to BEAT L-A, I would take a painful 30 point smashing in exchange for us clicking in January. When it really matters.