For how tentative and disoriented the Blazers appeared during Game 1, they were resolute afterward, providing guarantees that they won't be dominated like that again. First, though, Batum sat in front of his locker, stunned. Elbows on his knees, he had a far away look. Normally one of the quickest to dress and exit, Batum needed time on Saturday to absorb what just happened. "I don't know. I don't know,'' Batum said between long pauses. "We weren't aggressive like us. We let Yao kill us. Artest. Scola. Brooks ...'' He trailed off. Then it was as if he shook himself out of his funk. He became more animated, more forceful. "We can beat this team,'' Batum said. "We just have to play out game,'' Batum went on. "We tried to play playoff basketball - we tried to change our game to be more physical. But we have to just play our game. I think we can put it behind us, because that's basketball. It happens sometimes.'' Batum said the change he talked about was not scripted. The game plan was the same, but he felt once the Blazers entered the vibrant Rose Garden, their emotions got the best of them. "We have to relax,'' Batum said. And then, he lowered the boom. "We're gonna win Tuesday,'' Batum said. Wait a minute, I told him. Did you just guarantee a victory? Do you realize what you are really saying? "We have to win,'' he said, not backing down. "Nobody wants to go down 0-2. But everybody is going to be ready on Tuesday. We know now. We know we gotta be tougher.'' Across the room, Sergio Rodriguez was just as confident. "I think we can beat them,'' he said, unprompted. "We are going to beat them.'' Rodriguez said he felt the Blazers got caught up in the playoff hype. "I don't think we were nervous, but tense, yes,'' Rodriguez said. "The city, the crowd, they were ready. We were tense. These things happen. I think you can say everybody can play better than we did tonight.'' Good that at least a couple of guys (both Europeans) kept a level head and are ready for revenge Tuesday.
I thought it was interesting how it's somehow a tradition that we wear black shoes in the playoffs. Anyone know what that is? I thought it looked weird when I saw everyone wearing black shoes..
