Feb 8th vs New York Gametime 3 pm Pacific Time CSN The Blazers play the Kinickerbockers for the second time this season. The Blazers visited the Big Apple on their big east coast tour on December 2, beating the Knicks 104-97. Video highlights from that game and a video recap can be viewed by clicking on this link. The Knicks travel to Portland after losing to the Celtics by ten points Friday night in New York. The Blazers return home after losing two out of three on an unimpressive road trip in which their only win was against a New Orleans Hornets team that was beating them until Chris Paul got hurt. Next they lost to Dallas in a game they should have won. And finally, Friday night got their hats handed to them in Oklahoma City in what I think was the worst loss this team has suffered since the opening night disaster in Los Angeles. Greg Oden had ZERO shot attempts in the first half. He isn't a guard and he isn't a magician, and he can't score if the guards don't get him the ball. He was being guarded by a journeyman power forward turned center by default, Nick Collison, who is much smaller than Greg. The jumpers our guards were firing up weren't falling and we fell behind by a large margin in the first half and were completely outplayed by the Thunder. Why in heavens name do we even have an asset like Greg Oden on our roster if we aren't going to use him? He wasn't in foul trouble in the first half either. No plays were ran for him. No one passed the ball to him. Rant over. I won't be mentioning this game again. Now for the Knicks, who have gone thru a stretch where the NBAs greats seem to be making a contest out of going to New York and seeing who can score the most points. Le Bron James scored 52 against the Knicks recently, after Kobe scored 61. Lucky for the Knicks they were able to hold Paul Pierce to 26 points Friday, but Ray Allen added 22 more and KG had 15, so the end result was still another loss for the Knicks who are currently in 4th place in the Atlantic Division with a 21-28 record. FYI, fourth is a nice way of saying next to last. The Knicks are still without Eddy Curry, who Mike D'Antoni fears may not be back this season. The Marbury situation remains unresolved, and the team seems unwilling or unable to play defense. Still, their coach seems to be able to put a positive spin on the many dramas that surround this club and keeps them running their Phoenix style fast break offense. For Blazer fans attending Sundays game at the Rose Garden, this means there is a pretty good chance you'll get your free chalupas. Projected starters Portland Trailblazers Sergio Rodriguez -PG Brandon Roy-SG Nic Batum-SF LaMarcus Aldridge-PF Greg Oden-Center Projected starters New York Knickerbockers Chris Duhan-PG Quentin Richardson-SG Jared Jeffries-Center David Lee-PF Al Harrington- PF
look at the knicks starting 5.... i mean if im being honest.... other then roy..who would you want on your team. duhon > sergio by a mile roy > richardson aldridge and lee...i mean its close harrington > batum any day oden > jeffries maybe? i mean considering collison beat the crap out of oden i dont know. our bench is better but that its. make it a 3 game losing streak
The problem is we jack up some quick jumpers that don't go in and fall behind because we establish no inside game. Live by the jump shot, die by the jump shot.
That is actually one of the more reasonable things I've ever seen you say, and I sort of agree. Sergio and Nicolas are backups right now playing as starters because we have no other better solutions. Nicolas is eventually going to be that starter for us later, but right now, he's good defensively but too inconsistent offensively. It's not his fault, he's just 19 or 20, and Travis can't start. We need Webster and Blake back..
heres the bottom line....and its kinda like with oden. Oden will be a good player but doesnt look like he will be a stud. Same thing with this core of players, they are good but not great. Its something nobody wants to admit but the truth. THIS TEAM NEEDS PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR..and if they cant make it i think its safe to say they arent as good as we thought. Last...ive said so many times. I dont see wht KP is waiting for on Outlaw and Sergio. We know they have no future with this team if we plan on "winning championships" and we know they arent gonna get much better. What are we waiting for? I just dont see why we dont make a deal? Im just curious what roys and aldridges will be if we miss postseason? It will be a fun listen.
Thanks to a friend, this will be the closest to the action of any Blazer game I've ever attended. Section 102 Row DD. Behind the Knicks' bench. Awesome. Go Blazers!
