Blazers - Minn. Game Thread

A couple of things I noticed in this game;

The first thing I noticed is that with Steve Blake having a rough first quarter, that Nate sat him down pretty much the whole second quarter except for a minute or two.

The second thing I noticed, is all the players that would be guys that would want that SG spot in the "3 guard lineup" played very well. Like extremely well. Both Rudy and Webster lit it up, were active on D, and even did some playmaking.

 

I think the best part of Oden's block on Flynn was Flynn fell over or lost his balance afterwards, but it coincided with Oden blocking the ball back into him. Watching it at full speed, live, it made it look like the force of the block knocked him over.

 

Well said. It was nice to see Rudy find his range again.

 

Yea I have been waiting for that all season, hoping he wasn't hurt or something and covering it up. Now I want to see him establish some consistency and back it up with a few games in a row of production.

 

I like seeing him more active on offense too, but I would like to see him settle down just a bit. Last year it seemed like he only stood on the 3 point line unless Sergio was in the game. Now he's definitely driving, slashing, and creating, which is more like the Rudy I saw in the Olympics.

 

Yea I noticed a few times last night he made a dart to see if they could get a back door lob. It just wasn't open. He was definitly a big piece of that 2nd unit that tuned up the wolves in the 2nd quarter though. I think one of the scariest things I think about is Rudy passing to Joel. I love Joel as a player, but he just isn't very good at catching and finishing, unless the pass is completely perfect. That pick and roll is the play they are running though, and Joel is usually our only big in with that 2nd unit.