With an aerial bombardment worthy of Sarah Palin, a suddenly rejuvenated Martell Webster and the rest of the Blazers went Wolf-hunting on a reliably bad Minnesota team that has now provided 30% of Portland's wins this season, blowing them out this time by the greatest margin at 28, 106-78.
It ended up a laugher, and in contrast to the previous two games the team did not tighten up when their control of the game was threatened. More interestingly, it was the first game for the return of the original starting lineup, which effectively demotes Andre Miller to the second unit and re-hires Martell for the reinstated small forward spot--and for the forseeable future, it looks like the new "regular" lineup.
It also means Brandon Roy moves back to his familiar two guard slot, and for a variety of reasons not least of which is Star Treatment, that's important. A series of unenthusiastically supportive statements from the generally very honest but positive Roy has made it clear he was at best in adjustment during the three-guard experiment. To get a sense of how important it was to him, here's what he told Blazer's Edge after the game:
Brandon Roy, on the other hand, looked as happy as he did the day he signed his max extension, practically gushing over the return to the original starting lineup. "Of course I like it, I'm back to my natural position," Roy said. He later added, "I wish we would have stuck to it a little longer" earlier this year. Sounds to me like those statements we heard this week about Roy not grasping his role found the right set of ears.
His on-camera interview with the Blazers broadcast team said similar things, related to having Blake as his feeder and a shooter like Martell to dish to. If decisions like this were based purely on matchups, such as those where the opposing three is one Roy could easily handle or when the Blazers three is misfiring, I think you might see it come back (and you still might, regardless). But McMillan would be a fool to change it back for any more than a single game without touching base with Roy, and I think Roy's first reaction would be "Nawww..." The three guard threw him off, and if your star is not being maximized in the system it's not a good enough system on an ongoing basis.
{more, after the NBA highlights vid with some sweet material}
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