| In the obvious burnout/lull period after such an historic and exciting election, I've lately been drawn to something newly developing: the coming of age for Oregon's only major sports franchise, into not just the top-character squad we had hoped for (verily demanded), but a highly competitive, potentially dominant set of new young stars and surprising role players. The growth and optimism for the near future was high before the season, but the team has responded beyond anyone's expectations, much more quickly than anyone could have predicted. Already a team with deep cultural roots in the Beaver State (particularly in the Willamette Valley), something is developing that--while early--could return us to those previous magical days when the Blazers won their only title, and Portland was proudly known as Rip City. So I'm going to start covering the team and their path to the playoffs a little more than before, trying to check in after most games. This is starting to look like something special, and if they do what it looks like they might be capable of, I want to cover it. Before I go on, let me disclaim and recommend. I am not a basketball expert; I've never played the game on an organized basis. I grew up cheering the Blazers' only title from northern Virginia, where I became a big fan of the Bullets during their own glory years around the same time in the 70s. I came back to Oregon and was disgusted at the chumps that had infested the team. Now I'm smitten, and I certainly understand the game well enough. But if you're looking for a deep understanding of the minutiae that are making the Blazers click, I'm not the guy. That would be Ben and Dave, the twin towers at Blazer's Edge. Now THOSE guys know their ball, and they do both previews and lengthy, detailed recaps with every game. The open threads for each half are positively packed with hundreds of comments during the game as well, to keep you company. So any serious interest in the Blazers this season should start with BE as your main weapon of information. But if you still want more, or you're a little more casual in your appreciation, I'll try to provide my own relatively educated take. {that take on today's sentinel win, below} |
Today the Blazers had an early (noon PST) start in Detroit, the first game of the last road trip on The Opening Schedule of Death, six-plus weeks of hell that includes 16 of their first 24 on the road--against teams like New Orleans, Utah, the Lakers, Phoenix (twice!), Miami, Orlando, Boston...it looked ugly, and it was. The first five games was deemed the hardest start to a season in NBA history, given the slew of 50+ win teams they had to face. That kind of thing can be soul crushing for a young team, one that saw success last year and was hoping to add and adjust to the piece they thought might take them to the mountaintop eventually, Greg Oden. Could they weather such intensity, hang on to their confidence and begin making their assault on the league after Christmas in a long season? After a 1-3 start, it looked as if it would indeed be a bumpy ride. Coming into the Garden was Houston, another tough Western Conference team that the Blazers would likely be battling for one of the playoff seeds in the bottom half of their bracket. As you may have seen at LO, that game ended with an amazing 8 points scored in the last 1.9 seconds, topped by Brandon Roy's three-pointer with .8 seconds left to win the game. Since then the Blazers have gone on an East Coast swing in which they won 3 of 5, but fell to a solid Hornets team. They then bounced back and forth between home and away games, staying perfect at home but losing games in Phoenix and Golden State. At that point, things were certainly looking better than expected, but facing the league's elite the Blazers still looked overmatched. The turnaround appears to have come with two games between those losses--one in Sacramento, one at home against the Bulls--in which Portland not only beat two better-than-average clubs but simply squashed them. The Bulls were being talked about preseason as the Blazers of the East, a young team that might step up in 08-09. They didn't step up in Portland, as the Blazers started off 30-13 after one and just kept pushing their high-dollar kicks onto Chicago's neck from there. The final was 116-74, and it wasn't that close, if you can believe it. Portland then followed that up with a 21-point win on the road against the Kings, which was nearly as impressive for a team which struggled mightily away from home last year. After the Suns loss and a 1-point win at home over the Kings again, it seemed perhaps they had returned to earth again, with two more home games left against the Heat and Hornets before starting the killer roadie with the Pistons. And the Blazers responded, blowing out the Heat by 38 and then taking advantage of a somewhat tired New Orleans squad and coming away with the +15 win. Those were both quality home wins, and in each case the Blazers controlled the opponent's game-changing star (Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul, respectively) while not getting rattled when it became crunch time. Still, the Heat are not what they once were, and as I said the Hornets were at the end of a road trip and on the 2nd half of a back-to-back, so it's a situation where a good team should take advantage of that fatigue. The Blazers did, but with the Pistons coming less than two days later, I think league observers likely held judgement. They may yet hold it until after the Celtics and the completion of the road swing, but there's little doubt now that attention must be paid. Jumping out to an early double digit lead, the Blazers players were simply better than their Detroit counterparts and muscled out what may be their most impressive win of the season, 96-85 at the Palace. I don't say lightly that they were better, considering that I'm talking about players like Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. But they were. Roy uncharacteristically failed to reach 20 points (19) and didn't lead his team in a single major category, but nonetheless carried the team through their stretches when the Pistons threatened, repeatedly rescuing the second unit with a run to reassume control. Allen Iverson was a major part of the Pistons game as he has been lately, but was defended extremely well in the paint and finished with 9 pts on 2-9 shooting. Greg Oden also had a strong game, picking up his 5th double double, setting a personal best for rebounds (13, including a ridiculous EIGHT with minutes left in the 1st quarter), adding three blocks and changing several more shots. Tayshaun Prince was often trying to help the overmatched Kwame Brown against Oden for a fair part of the game, and faced up Oden when it was his turn with the ball, but finished with just 10 points, 3 boards and 2 assists. For a guy who's having a great year on offense so far, that performance is a big Feh! and another feather in the young Oden's cap. But the most striking difference--and one that has to feel the best to Blazers fan who suffered during the Dark Ages of the last few years--has to be the battle between the recently-struggling LaMarcus Aldridge and former Blazer Rasheed Wallace. Sheed is nominally a center, but with Kwame already occupied with Oden and Prince a bit too small for the 6'11' Aldridge, he and LMA found themselves tangled up for much of the contest. In the end, it was a return to excellence for LaMarcus and a satisfyingly frustrating night for Wallace. He is a bundle of contradictions--can hit the long 3 but not really the midrange, is big and aggressive but is not much of a defender, and puts up the numbers of a winner while always seeming to carry a loser's tag. Wallace was on the floor for 39 minutes, more than any other Piston, yet was just 4 of 12 and had a single rebound the entire game. For a guy that averages nine per, someone was keeping him off the boards. For part of the game that may have been Pryzbilla, although he played just 17 minutes and had only a couple of bounds himself. So too, it seemed that all of Wallace's step back threes came with Prizz too uncomfortable to defend that far out. LaMarcus plays 90 feet, however, and was able to nusiance the otherwise nonchalant Wallace into misses and general offensive irrelevance. On the other end, Aldridge was dynamite and Wallace was pathetic. Leading all scorers with 27 and players with 40 minutes, LMA just made Wallace and the rest of the Pistons look impotent to stop him. He showed all kinds of range, hitting short baseliners and deep twos from the perimeter. He grabbed three offensive baords, and really--this cannot be underestimated--he intimidated Rasheed. Now, as I said if you're a smart and tough player you can do this to Wallace...which says what about LaMarcus, then? Wallace eats lesser chumps for breakfast, but he's not a championship player because championship players can take him. Is LaMarcus a day in, day out championship player? Too early to tell--but he took Wallace, took him repeatedly, and took him with authority. For a player who was in something of a slump just as his team was rising to an early peak, this was an important opportunity for Aldridge to step up and show a larger audience that he can play his size. Boy, did he come through. There are more challenges along the way, but today the Blazers took on an elite team playing in front of home cooking, and outplayed them 100% honestly and convincingly. Holding court at home is one thing, beating good teams as they swing tiredly through the West Coast is also one thing but a different thing--but beating a good team convincingly on the road is a different thing entirely. Henry Abbott at ESPN.com noticed, and asked even before the Piston game whether they're for real. As evidence, he cites the network's Hollinger Power Rankings, which now show the Blazers at #4 and still climbing. I have to agree with him--it may be Thanksgiving, but it's beginning to feel more like the magic of Christmas. |
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