I must say, for how close this game was throughout, it all felt very underwhelming. Maybe it was just the low-def broadcast I was watching (which I’m fairly sure looks worse on a HD set than on any other) but that SLC crowd hasn’t quite found its groove yet. Then again, they know they don’t have Deron Williams, so you can’t really fault them. Other than Ronnie Brewer and Paul Milsap, there’s a more than a hint of unlikeability with this Utah squad (it’s a little early to start hating them, ok?). A win here over the PG-less Jazz would have been 10 times more important than anyone would have thought to give it credit for, until sometimes in mid-Febuary when the playoff chase is getting clearer everyone would have been saying ‘Man, good thing we beat Utah in November.’
Alas, it was not to be, as the Blazers O stagnated during the fourth quarter, despite the open looks still presenting themselves. We learned something about Travis Outlaw tonight, which is that the rest of the league is catching on to his pull-up jumper, and guys are starting to go for the Karl Malone strip rather than contesting the shot. Sometimes this is going to put Travis at the line, but good defenses have been playing the jumper, so he needs to start going to the hole. Of course, this would be easier if his ballhandling had visibly improved from last season.
The one thing that KILLED the Blazers, though: LaMarcus Aldridge’s lame 6th foul swiping at freaking Brewer on a post up. Really LaMarcus? I’m sure he was kicking himself on the bench after that, but you just cannot have your only post-up forward fouling out trying to strip the ball from a smaller player. If you are going to play help defense, LaMarcus, go for the block, please.
The effort was there, and it was nice to see the guys going after the boards, at least earlier on, with such gusto. Unfortunately, much of that hustle was negated by a couple turnovers the Jazz forced with some simple pressure in the backcourt when Portland couldn’t manage to corral the ball. But when you end up getting out-boarded by 3 (38-35) despite 16 boards from your starting center, you’ve got issues. LaMarcus has been showing some grit in the post so far, but he still needs to translate that onto the boards. I hate to say it, but until we get Greg back (and Martell, to a lesser extent) and Joel can lockdown the bench squad, we are always going to have trouble beating the Jazz. That’s just the way it is.
Nate is obviously still figuring out his rotations. Tonight he had Batum starting, then the second unit would come in, and for the final six or so minutes of the second quarter, Rudy would stay on the court and Batum would sit. This created the awkward problem of Roy defending 3’s, which led to a foul trying to front Kirilenko, but with Joel not much of a factor on offense other than setting hard picks, the Roy-Rudy backcourt just makes the most sense when you’ve got to score.
Steve Blake, of course, was the hero of the game, keeping Portland in the thick of things in the first half. You can’t count on three 3’s and 16 points from him every night, but as long as teams keep helping off onto Brandon, Steve needs to keep shooting, leading to more 1-on-1 coverage for Brandon, and the magical cycle just keeps on chugging.
Remember how well Sergio Rodriguez was playing even just a week ago? Apparently Nate doesn’t, because Sergio only played seven minutes, dishing three assists in the process.
Mostly, this felt like a 2007 game, with Rudy playing James Jones this time around. We cannot keep depending on three’s and long jumpers to keep us close with the Jazz. Martell Webster isn’t going to be there for 24 point quarters four games a year. Brandon Roy can’t win us games when we can’t get stops or crucial boards. And LaMarcus can’t keep sitting at the top of the key if that’s just where he was when the shot went up, especially when Boozer and Okur and Milsap are crashing the boards. It’s a rock-paper-scissors thing folks, and until the Blazers either get their rock back or guys add certain dimensions to their games, the Jazz will be giving them fits. Now’s a good time to remind you that Deron Williams did not play in this game.
Now, don’t take this as an overreaction to an early game. It’s pretty clear what the differences between these two teams are right now, and what the Blazers need to do to win. It’s entirely possible they will do those things, no matter what the status of Greg Oden is, but for tonight, SLC just gave us an efficient, workman-like kick in the pants.