It was a treat to be able to catch the Blazers on Christmas, since they were the late game on TNT's national broadcast. I settled in amidst the wrapping paper and half-empty mugs of various nog and grog, hoping to see Portland's Dozen work for their 14th straight Xmas win (although lord knows when the last one was). Sure, Dallas is another one of those Tier Two teams in the West, and with Josh Howard back from injury they were on fire. But hey, this was a Rose Garden game, and in that second contest against Denver a light seemed to go on that if they play an aggressive game, they'll get both the calls and the respect of the opponent (and in the NBA respect means giving you the freedom to pick your shot because the defender needs to be ready for anything.)
Alas, it was not to be, and afterwards I was significantly frustrated with the execution in key sections of the game--they'd be going along pretty well and then POOF! someone would do something really, really dumb or fail to do something really, really easy. I was mad. I was mad at Oden, I was mad at Travis, and for the first game I was REALLY mad at Nate McMillan.
This morning I'm still disappointed by the loss, but I've recalibrated my review of their effort and what it means for judging the team's true level and prospects for the rest of the season. If you had told me in October that Portland would be able to body up on Dallas, frustrate them and take their best players out of their rhythm (and literally the game), but would fall short at the end, I'd have said "Well yeah, that's about what I'd expect--and face it, last year's team might probably have not even stayed competitive throughout."
That I'm steamed about the loss and the way they lost, is testament to the team's strong improvement and the new expectations on their season. 41-41 was a great result in 07-08, but for the youngest team in the NBA (if you don't count Raef LaFrenz) suddenly that looks unacceptable and a serious shortchanging of their potential. That doesn't help in the moment, as I watch Steve Blake leap into the air and only begin contemplating what to do with the ball when he's already on the way down--for the third time--but a little perspective does salve some of the wounds.
Everybody's got Blazer Fever in Portland these days, including the folks at Willamette Week. The Christmas Eve edition features a cover story on a present sent from New York, that everyone involved seems to agree will likely soon be returned sometime after the holidays. On merit and the long term needs and future of the franchise it makes sense, but based on the mutual love affair between 6'11" forward Channing Frye and his adoptive new city, it will be a damn shame if and when he packs his duffel for the last time and takes a paycheck somewhere else:
When the Portland Trail Blazers traded for Frye last year, it was a finishing nail in the coffin of the old “Jail Blazers” image. Gone were all the bad-character guys who had soured the small-town love between the franchise and the biggest city in America with just one major-league sports team.
And now, 18 months later, the Blazers are winning with a roster packed with good-character players. Yet Frye, just three years removed from being a promising, 6-foot-11 rookie standout, has hardly played this season.
None of which is particularly unusual in a league where players come and go faster than Allen Iverson can break your ankles with a crossover. But Frye, through his offbeat sense of humor and evangelistic love for his new home city, has quickly become a part of Portland’s fabric in a way very few pro athletes ever accomplish.
He is, for fans more concerned with local art and cuisine than with Brandon Roy dropping 52 on Phoenix last week, the face of the Blazers. He’s the guy they see regularly cracking jokes in the Portland press, eating with his bulldogs Milton (also known as “Fat Boy”) and Lily at the Tin Shed on Northeast Alberta Street, or hanging out in the Pearl on First Thursday.
And the love is mutual. “This is where I want to spend the rest of my life,” Frye says. “But, at the same time, if you ask me the question, ‘Do I think this is the place for me in the next five or six years?’ I’m saying definitely not.”
As hoped (by me at least), I was able to watch virtually all of the home end of the Blazers' back to back, home and away double dip against Denver last night. As I understand it, last night's game looked similar to Monday's tussle in Colorado, with the notable exceptions ultimately being a supportive crowd and a win. Brandon Roy was not held under double digits as he was Monday, but in neither game did he control the action on the floor as usual. Overall, I think the Blazers have to be pretty pleased with themselves to earn the split against the team they are most closely battling right now for the division lead.
From ESPN's recap (whose highlight reel took all of five seconds to 1) call Batum "Bait-em" and 2) get the score wrong), quotes by Joel Pryzbilla and Chauncey Billups that amply explain the feel of Game 2:
"After last night, where they kind of took it to us and beat us up, this is a really big win for us," said Joel Przybilla, who had 19 rebounds and 10 points. "We're going to be battling with this team all season for the division."(snip)
"We knew these two games would be playoff-type games," said Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups, who added 17 points on 4-of-12 shooting. "They cracked up to be just that."
No doubt fellas, no doubt. I bring up Joel's comments for a couple of reasons: first, because without a doubt the Beige Primate earned the star of the game, picking up a double double that featured 19 tasty rebounds. He also faced two must-make situations at the foul line, one with the Blazers up by 3 and 2:40 to go, and even more crucially with just a minute left and a 5-point Portland edge. The 53% career foul shooter (though he's much better this year) calmly drained all four easies, and didn't even make it look hard.
Secondly, as the primary big man on the team still, Pryz knows when an opponent is trying to out-physical the Blazers off the court. It's been a noticeable problem since Boston, but until Oden comes into his own I think everyone knew that toughness and physicality would be one of the issues the Blazers would need to confront if they were to step up and become a playoff team.
Well, here I am in Northern Virginia, finally. I was supposed to arrive Sunday evening, but you know the story with the weather and the various strandings around the region. We had to drive to Seattle to get out!
While I was on the plane to Long Beach, I was able to capture updates on last night's Blazer loss to the Nuggets in Denver, then read through the recap at Blazer's Edge and tried to catch any relevant clips. (It sure would be nice if the NBA could put together chronological 5-min videos like the NFL does on Comcast).
I don't feel too capable, therefore, in presenting a recap based on my thoughts about the game--given that I didn't see any of it live. (And a good thing, too--apparently Rebecca Harlow was to blame!) To get a solid review, as usual check out the boys at Blazer's Edge.
Tonight since I've got access to broadband, I'm watching a pirate feed of the game at the Rose Garden (snowdrifts in the B-roll footage!), so I'll hope to find some time to get up a look at the pair of games in context on Christmas Eve. In any case, it being the holidays and all, hopefully you've got somewhere else to be, virtually speaking--because it will be otherwise a little light on content this week.
So happy holidays, go Blazers, and check back for a look at the Denver games. Right now Portland is up 5 at the half, but have looked mostly terrible doing so and were up 12 shortly beforehand. (We'll call that "bonus coverage.")
My ever-growing tendrils into the Blazer community have snared a little treat for tonight: a ticket to the game at the Garden against new jersey retiree Terry Porter and the Phoenix Suns (link is BE's preview.) It will be my first game of the season, hopefully not the last--and it will give me an up-close, IPD (In-person Definition) view of the action.
Speaking of jersey retirements, they're doing another one tonight, #30. Hey wait, isn't that TP's number? Isn't #30 already hanging in the RG's rafters now? Yes, but 70's Blazer Bobby Gross also wore it, and is one of the lucky dozen players to have a championship ring from his time with Portland.
Bob wasn't exactly the prequel to TP, but he was also a point guard and one of the regular guys on those 70s teams, sort of like the Brooklyn Dodgers of old, embraced by the community as one of their own despite being a high paid pro athlete. That's about all that's driving the retirement, however, because his career 9/4/1 stat line is not exactly dominant. To give you an idea how pumped up the diehards are, at BE they've got two stories with hits on the name--and both are in the context of "Terry Porter and Bob Gross."
Still, it will be nice to re-live the memories from the short-shorts era, which I'm actually old enough to remember. I had only recently moved to VA, and before I switched over to following the Bullets in closer proximity, I did the best I could to keep up with Rip City as they marched to the Finals. I remember riding in a car somewhere, going nuts in Game 6 as the B's completed the amazing comeback from 0-2, taking down mighty Dr. J (in his first year with the NBA, after the ABA merger) and the 76ers.
Tonight is another chance for Portland to figure out Nash, O'Neal and the Suns, who have won 11 straight. This is about as good a time as any to take a shot at breaking the skein, so I'm looking forward to the evening. Let you know how it goes after it's over!
Finally. It was somewhat of a strange game for the Blazers tonight. They did things they don't usually do well, very well, and stunk at some of the things they had been known favorably for. In the end they put together all the right pieces, showed high energy and good teamwork, and smothered a clearly exhausted Kings team at the Rose Garden, 109-77. (And I'm sure you all want to know this before anything else: Ike Diogu was Chalupa Man with his second made free throw in garbage time, perhaps his first CM as a Blazerballer.)
If it seemed like an oddly played win, I hate to say it--but maybe that's because for the first game in a long while, Portland's young squad did all the little things right. Sometimes in a blowout you can afford to be sloppy and still just overpower a cold shooting team with a hot streak. But the Blazers were not shooting at all well from the field tonight, until the Kings got behind and were simply too tired to chase or care after that.
Instead of sweet but fickle three point shooting and the cost of O-reebs for transition D, the Blazers went old school and did the basic things. That has to excite you as a fan, especially as they address the very problems we'd been discussing the last few games, and really the whole season even as the Blazers have done such a great job so far.
{What went right, which is pretty much everything except shooting, below}
I hope you did as the Blazers hopefully did, and cleared your mind this weekend of the ugliest part of the 2008-09 season, now safely past. Given that it's the first three-day break between games in eons, this is really the first chance we've all had to catch our collective breath, review what's happened so far with a more retrospective eye, and look forward towards the easier part of the season and the building playoff race in the West.
To that end, who better than the boys at Blazer's Edge to get us back up to speed? It's a special night tonight; more on that in a bit. First and foremost however, you should know that Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw and Nic Batum are all probable tonight from their various injuries, and should play.
With half of Sacramento's scoring punch out the team should be easy pickings for the Blazers. The first time the two teams met they were, as the Blazers won 117-96 behind impressive efforts from Steve Blake and Lamarcus Aldridge. The second time the Blazers were not so dominant, eking out a 91-90 victory due to awesome rebounding and the combined scoring of Roy, Blake, Outlaw, and Fernandez. If you're noticing most of those scoring names come from the smaller positions you're correct. Despite the Kings' big-man defenders all but inviting to be dominated the Blazers have yet to put together a stellar frontcourt showing against Sacramento. Instead we've depending on outplaying their backcourt while their centers get free for jumpers. This is exactly what the Kings want you to do. Our superior talent, top to bottom, has yielded victories, but the Kings aren't just going to roll over and let us take the game. We need to impose our will in the paint instead of getting into a shoddy-defense shootout with Sacramento.
{two more strong and topical columns to talk about, below}
Well, I'm done using Firefox 3.05 for composing posts; on my (admittedly laptop Vista) PC the thing is a crash machine, and unlike 3.04 if it crashes it no longer saves what's in the text entry boxes. So after an hour's dilligent dissection of the increasingly disconcerting Blazer play in December, encapsulated in the 120-112 loss to the LA Clippers, you'll never guess what happened! Grrrrr....
But surely you don't pay me to grouse about equipment failure; you want insight! entertainment! and copious steaming piles of dropped knowledge. That's what you pay me for. Heyyyy, wait a minute--you don't pay me at all! You'll get my incoherent meta ramblings, and you'll like it.
If you want the most complete analysis of the game, as usual you need to check out the game reaction and media row review from the guys at Blazer's Edge. Dave's game reac is a little brief for this one, given his own equipment problems in reporting the game, but he did get to see the epic fail at the end, and Ben's media piece is complete with comments from Nate (who was surprisingly calm and semi-upbeat. Probably thinking about his bed and smiling).
By now you know the usual suspects of a Blazers loss--failing to get back on D after a miss or even an involved make, a slow step to cover the low post and an uneven job preventing offense from the block, poor perimeter shooting and a troubling tendency to become Brandon Roy and the Four Suspended Animatees in the fourth quarter.
It's one thing to watch guys like Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh drop hooks and short jumpers over Oden and LaMarcus, but for a variety of reasons it's an ugly thing to watch Z-Bo do it. On the other hand, Oden was great on the glass, and offensively his shot was working better. LaMarucs was also good on the boards, and hit a variety of jumpers but bogged down late trying to man up down low as the sole alternative to Roy going all the way.
And the ballhawking on the boards had its own cost, since it was part of the reason easy baskets transpired so often down on the other end. The smalls in particular--guys like Sergio and Rudy, but also Bayless, Blake and Batum were caught napping at various times.
The team now gets some much, much MUCH needed rest, off until Tuesday at home for their third tussle against the Kings of Sacramento, so watch for your favorite Blazer in a snowball fight outside the practice facility this weekend.
Ok, maybe I'm being just a TOUCH optimistic by suggesting a perfect, undefeated season for the Blazers this year. But you'd be less popular around here than Sarah Palin at a gay barista's convention, if you were to mention out loud that you don't fully expect the team to make the playoffs this year. Anticipation could not be higher, and if you're finding yourself insufficiently crazed for tonight's season opener against Kobe and the archrival Lakers, get thee hither to The O's preview section.
And hey, how about some news on the Opening Night front? One day after announcing that rookie Nicholas Batum would replace the injured Martell Webster as a starter, coach Nate McMillan thought better of tossing his French Surprise into the lights and spectacle of a nationally televised first game against one of the league's marquee teams. Travis Outlaw will get the chance to show what he can do in extended minutes instead.
GO BLAZERS! The wait is finally over. Show us whatcha got, boys!
Sure, sure--it's only preseason, it's the first game of preseason, and the Sacramento Kings are not exactly Celtics West. But fans of the Blazers have been waiting to see Greg Oden play someone besides his own teammates since about June of '07, so forgive us if we're champing at the bit for action. We're also pretty stoked about European phenom (and Olympic silver medalist) Rudy Fernandez' arrival in Stumptown. And to see the result of the Blazers' maiden court effort with their shiny new parts--a 110-81 wipeout of the Kings at the Rose Garden--can't help but excite the crap out of us for the regular season.
It took all of two minutes for Oden to make his presence felt, slamming home a dunk and setting the crowd afire. But Fernandez didn't need very long to nearly catch up to Oden on the Anticipatory Delirium meter, making dazzling passes and moving with fluidity on the hardwood. You're going to hear a lot of "Rudy, Rudy!" if you go to a home game this year.
Think I'm exaggerating the importance and value of a single exhibition? John Canzano at The O agrees with me that while it may not count in the standings, it definitely counts in other ways. We've suffered too long through previous wastoid teams, we've waited long enough to see the new players, and we've definitely waited long enough to head into the season feeling like Portland has a playoff team.
The players feel pretty good about things, too. Take a listen:
Declaring that it was time to "set wins and losses aside," Phil Jackson said Wednesday that he would temporarily suspend the Lakers' 2008-2009 season and seek to delay the Lakers' season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, so that he could return to New York to help to forge an overhaul of the NBA Referees Association, which has been mired in scandal since allegations of bribery against former official Tim Donaghy came to light last season.
Kevin Pritchard rejected the call by Mr. Jackson, the Los Angeles Lakers' head coach, to delay the game, and Blazers officials noted that Mr. Jackson only made the offer after the Blazers reached out to their opponent asking them to issue a joint statement calling for increased transparency of the Referees Association's internal processes during the coming season.
The maneuvering came as the referee scandal continued to dominate headlines in the wake of Mr. Donaghy's reporting to a Federal holding cell in Florida on Wednesday. Wednesday evening both Mr. Jackson and Mr. Pritchard, the Blazers General Manager, accepted Commissioner David Stern's invitation to meet with him on Thursday to address the issue.
Phil Jackson's a real, honest to Magic hero! Way to put league first, Phil...
This took too long to get up: best wishes to everyone in the Kevin Duckworth and Blazer families, who are dealing with the sudden loss of the big man known as Duck, who collapsed while volunteering for the team on the Oregon coast Monday. The cause of death is not yet known.
I missed his time in Portland, but I was a Bullets fan for the time he spent there, and he was as beloved there as it seems he was here. The NBA.com site has a nice obit:
A second-round draft pick of the San Antonio Spurs out of Eastern Illinois University in 1986, Duckworth was only 14 games into his NBA career when he was acquired by the Trail Blazers from San Antonio in exchange for Walter Berry.
One season later, the 7-foot center was thrust into the spotlight because of injuries to Steve Johnson and Sam Bowie. Duckworth responded by averaging 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, establishing himself as a pivot presence instrumental in Portland’s emergence as one of the NBA's dominant teams.
Duckworth remains the 10th leading scorer (7,188) and rebounder (3,327) in Trail Blazers history, compiling averages of 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 527 games with Portland. During his tenure, Trail Blazers teams compiled a record of 356-193 (.648). In 684 career NBA games, Duckworth scored 8,085 points (11.8 ppg), grabbed 3,945 rebounds (5.8 rpg) and shot 46.8 percent from the field.
“This is a devastating loss,” said Traci Rose, Trail Blazers Vice President of Community Relations. “To this day, Duck is adored throughout this state and remains a brother to his teammates and to Trail Blazers staff. We will forever miss our beloved 00.”
There's something about Portland and big men, and the love affairs they have with each other. It seems the Blazers come to mind first when thinking of Duck, but he's not even the most famous big man; that would be Bill Walton. And this fall the city will hold its collective breath, poised to fully embrace Greg Oden as the next hometown hero. And that's really the connection between them, not their height or even their hoop skill. It's that all three men are (were) gregarious, humble (for athletes), respectful and even appreciative of their cities, and perhaps most importantly LOCAL. Being a part of the community is the key. Duck stayed in state after he retired, with a series of other city experiences under his belt but a desire to return to the beautiful land. We're suckers for that.
WHAT:3-on-3 Basketball Challenge for Change WHO: New Oregon State Univ. Basketball Coach Craig Robinson (referee) Portland Trail Blazer James Jones (coach 1) Portland Trail Blazer Channing Frye (coach 2) Antonio Harvey, Voice of the Trail Blazers and former Portland Trail Blazer Oregonians who love basketball WHEN:Monday, April 28, 2008, 7:30pm WHERE:Self Enhancement Inc 3920 North Kerby Ave Portland OR 97227
{details, and why this is waay more than a celebrity basketball game, below}
Today I got a phone call from Senator Barack Obama. I was so nervous two days ago when I knew it was gonna happen and wanted to make sure he knew I had done my homework on him. I have a lot of respect for him and already had a really good feeling about him. As the time got closer, I got on his website, learned more about what he is about and brushed up on what I knew, so I got more comfortable with the idea of speaking to him one on one.
The conversation was quick - like two minutes but I got to talk to him like a real person. What I got from talking to him is that he is a real sports fan and he knew about the Blazers. He said that when I come back Brandon, LaMarcus and I will be a force next year. He also asked me about my knee, and he said he wasn't feeling my mohawk - lol. I laughed and explained to him that it's just a haircut to me and he told me he liked how I handle myself as a young man - "Thanks Mom." I did not talk politics with him. He talks about that stuff all the time and I'm going to keep learning more about the issues.
He is a very nice man and I am a big fan. I got the chance to go to his website (www.barackobama.com) and read up on some of his beliefs and there are things he is doing that I really support like his plan with education, civil rights, and health care. That's why Senator Obama is getting my vote.
This is clearly designed to motivate the Ohio voters, since Oden did tarry a spell there before finding home in Oregon. They probably still like him there...but now he's OURS, so lay off! As for Obama, good to hear that he knows his hoops and is drooling like the rest of us at the thought of Roy, LA and Oden anchoring the team next year.
So Oden IS a political animal of sorts, and is engaged in this year's election...any OTHER endorsements, perhaps more local? Shoot, he doesn't even have to endorse--I'd give a week's pay just for the photo op of Oden standing next to Steve Novick. Or maybe one of Oden lazily reaching up and touching the rim--and Novick hanging from it by the hook. The possibilities are endless, but that's the long and short of it. (Booooooo)
The Blazers guard, playing in his first All-Star Game, performed very well. He tied for West team-high honors with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire by scoring 18 points, and had nine rebounds and five assists. Roy's point total was the second-highest ever for a Blazer in the All-Star Game, behind Clyde Drexler's 25 points in 1992.
Roy's appearance sent his mother, Gina, into tears. Sitting with husband Tony Roy about six rows up from the court, she wiped tears from her eyes when Roy entered the game at the beginning of the second quarter. She cried again when her son made his first shot -- a 16-foot jumper just right of the free throw line.
"I never thought him playing in the All-Star Game would happen so fast," Gina Roy said.
Roy made his next three shots -- a reverse layup, a driving layup and a 24-foot three-point shot from the left corner. He finished the first half with a team-leading 11 points by making 5 of 7 shots.
"I wasn't relaxed, but once that first one goes down, you kind of get confident," Roy said. "I don't think the jitters ever went away. I was nervous, but I tried to be as relaxed as much as I could."
He got a lot of minutes, sure--but he also played setup guy for the circus stars a lot of the time, and also fed shooting guard extraordinaire Chris Paul a number of times and never got it back. He played defense almost like you do in a regular game, and contributed in any way he could. Some players you just know are going to be special. Greg Oden may be the missing piece and become a larger than life giant, but if there's a championship at hand for the Blazers, it will be carried on Brandon Roy's shoulders. And that shy kid from Garfield High in Seattle will never buy a beer in Portland for the rest of his life.
The NBA season lasts 82 games, and it's a grueling ride--particularly for young players used to a more manageable 40-odd game college schedule. But the Blazers are halfway through what is already a magical season, and after 41 contests stand at 25-16, good for tops in the West Conference's Northwest Division. Copy that mark for the 2nd half and you come up with 50 wins, essentially the benchmark for a good, playoff-worthy season.
Now stop. Go back and read that last sentence again, and ask yourself if you'd have suggested anything so crazy and deluded back in October, in those dark days post-Oden. Remember those days? Me neither. That hopeful collection of babes in the wood--the league's youngest team this season, and 3rd youngest EVER--has become a unit that almost no one wants to face. Boston, who entered the draft thinking they'd come away with Oden but regrouped to assemble a win-now Hall of Fame lineup and is dominating the East, sounded almost relieved to have gotten by the Blazers at home earlier this month--one of just five wins by a team over Portland since early December.
Playing an entertaining brand of team basketball that eventually produced sellout Rose Garden crowds, this Blazers team has already etched its name in parts of the team's record book, recording the second-longest winning streak in franchise history when it won 13 in a row in December. The Blazers piggy-backed that ride into a stretch where they won 17 of 18 games, tied for the second-longest one-loss run in team history. And they currently own one of the NBA's top home records (17-3), having won their last 12 games at the Rose Garden.
And they have done it with an endearing group of players whose character, work ethic and down-to-earth personalities have bridged a gap with a fan base that had tired of past stories ranging from drug use to violence to insubordination.
[T]he Blazers have become more than just the talk of the town. They have captured the curiosity of the basketball nation, as national publications such as Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal and ESPN.com have sent correspondents to this forgotten corner of the NBA to decipher exactly what is going on.
WILL: I have twelve big wins. SKYLAR: Not a chance. WILL: Yup, you're lookin' at lucky thirteen. SKYLAR: Bullshit. WILL: I swear to God. SKYLAR: Do you know all their names? WILL: 'Course I do, they're my wins. SKYLAR: Well... WILL:Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Utah, Golden State, Utah, Denver, New Orleans, Toronto, Denver, Seattle, Minnesota...
Philadelphia! Tonight's victory looked a lot like the others in The Streak, but with an unsually non-nail-biting finish. In fact, it appeared that once the Blazers 4th Quarter Magic would again be in effect, the 76ers folded. Portland went on an 18-0 run to open the quarter, following up on three points to close the third and come within one point of the then-leading 76ers.
So you do the math. Down one to open the fourth, up 25 at the end up the game--that's a 35-9 advantage in the final stanza, and frankly it surprises me in retrospect to see Philly with that many points. It was hard to remember they were actually there, the way the Blazers simply rolled over them at both ends of the court.
This was an emphatic victory, symbolized by a simply outrageous one-handed arcing dunk from Mr. 4th Quarter himself, Travis Outlaw. He was mostly awful for the first half, but as soon as the minute hand passed 36 he went eletric, draining shots from almost anywhere on the floor. I think the discussions about flukes are nearly ended; bad teams just don't do this. Sure, they might go on a run with some hot shooting--but the Blazers have won just about every way possible, with every conceivable lineup combination. This is a playoff team, and one I would fear facing unless I were San Antonio or Detroit.
Next up, Utah once again--although at the perennially difficult Energy Solutions Arena(??)--and then the T-Wolves and Bulls in short order. Can they get to 16 before coming back home? Who cares; it's gravy. Rip City IS back.
Congrats to the young men (and some older than dirt, like Raef LaFrenz) who are building a new version of Rip City down at the Rose Garden. After a very impressive looking victory over the Denver Nuggets in Colorado, the Blazers came home to play a dangerous (and favored) Hornets team, and ended up cruising to their eighth straight victory-- something they haven't done in at least five years. Brandon Roy is playing fantastic ball. They are officially the NBA's hottest team at the moment, and do very well at home while their road presence continues to improve. Plus, as we all argued for, they are pretty much nice gentlemen working hard and doing the little things right all of a sudden.
The Merc's Unpaid Intern has a full live blog of the action against New Orleans; it's a treat to read if you like hoop. I like it some, but dug the live blog. There's another good homer column at ESPN tonight; the team is the darling of their NBA page at the moment.
Keep it up, fellas. Make the playoffs without Oden and we'll still love you even if it comes out you ran a baby harp seal fighting kennel. (Well, maybe.)
RSS Feed: http://www.loadedorygun.net/rss/rss2.xml
Ok, maybe I'm being just a TOUCH optimistic by suggesting a perfect, undefeated season for the Blazers this year. But you'd be less popular around here than Sarah Palin at a gay barista's convention, if you were to mention out loud that you don't fully expect the team to make the playoffs this year. Anticipation could not be higher, and if you're finding yourself insufficiently crazed for tonight's season opener against Kobe and the archrival Lakers, 
This took too long to get up: best wishes to everyone in the Kevin Duckworth and Blazer families, who are dealing with the sudden loss of the big man known as Duck, who collapsed while volunteering for the team on the Oregon coast Monday. The cause of death is not yet known. 
