LOL!!! I love sergio bashing! The guy is just not a good player. I just dont undestand why anyone thinks he has any chance of ever being good. His game is so limited. Sergios biggest problem is he thinks he is better then he really is. Someone needs to sit that annoying kid down and tell him hes a 3rd stringer on a bad team. I mean, I still laugh that SERGO demanded a trade. What a little puke. In all honesty... if i could choose between bassy and sergio.... i would pick bassy 100 times.
Harlow is too good for sergio. She only dates the top tier players on the team. Although.... i could see her making a play for Rudy. Sergio would have a better chance to start then get harlow.
you missed the joke entirely LaMarcus Aldridge... Oh there was a rumor that LA and Haarlow had something going on
Fun night. Oden looked very good, and Miller is clearly going to be a force for us. On a personal note, I caught a Wells Fargo parachute!
I'd estimate it at about 13 feet - just outside the left side of the key, a step or so in from the FT line. And your description is correct. He turned and faced up his man. When the defender backed off, Oden calmly knocked down the open shot. That little 12 - 14 foot jumper is a GREAT weapon for a big man. It keeps the defense honest, it is often open on the pick and roll and is one of the seams in most zone defenses. A big man who can knock down an open jumper from just inside the FT line is a valuable asset - specially if that same big man is a beast on the low blocks, at great defender and an elite rebounder. I was very impressed with Greg tonight. He still has a ways to go, but the progress was huge. He also had a great drop step (to his left) right around Hawes in the first quarter. The footwork was superb - like I remember from his year at Ohio State and his pre-draft workout videos. He sealed off and spun right around the defender like he wasn't even there. Great stuff. BNM
Yeah, I laughed when it looked like he was going to shoot it...kind of like "oh no"...then he actually shot it and it looked pretty decent...GO Greg! Miller also showed why he may actually fit in with this team just fine. The Blazers actually did run a bit with him in the lineup and he drove on a couple fast breaks as well. Unfortunately, with Roy cruising we didn't get a chance to really see the Roy/Miller dynamic tonight.
Wait, the Kings had glory days? When? I must have missed it. Were they in Cincinnati, or Kansas City at the time? BNM
Miller is an interesting player. He looks like nothing special - an old slow, out of shape guy and then BAM, he's by his man and at the rim. He seems to be able to get into the paint at will and does a great job getting defenders to leave their feet. That's a huge difference in styles between him and Blake and also explains why Miller gets 5 FTA/G to Blake's 1 FTA/G. I know they are supposedly competing for PT against each other, but I think Blake and Miller make a great PG tandem. They have completely different offensive styles and complimentary skill sets. Alternating between them will keep defenses off balance. Just when they get comfortable sagging back and trying to sop Miller's penetration, in comes Blake to knock down the open 3-pointer. Sort of like a pitcher with a 97 MPH fast ball and a GREAT change up. BNM
I just measured the exact same spot in my driveway and the distance from the center of the hoop to the spot where Oden's toes were located was exactly 13' 2". BNM
I went to the game tonight, sat in really great seats with BlazerWookee and here is what I saw... I went to Fan Fest also and I was one of the few who thought that Oden didn't look that good. He was plodding up and down the court and wasn't reacting or moving very quickly. Was he faster than last year? Yes. Was he as fast as a NBA starting center should be? Not even close. Tonight was a different story. Oden looked great. He had a couple of post up moves where he would fake one way and then spin the other direction. Really quick and in control. He missed both shots but, if I remember right, he was fouled both times. He's speed has really improved and he was vocal on defense. A completely different and improved Oden. Wow! Miller - he has that same change of pace, comes at you slow, then kicks it up a couple of gears and zips past his defender for an easy score that Roy does. He's also a better defender than I thought he was. The team is still not used to playing with him and not looking for the ball on breaks. LMA will no longer be called LaMarcus Aldridge. His new name is LaMaxus Contract. He looked great, his shot was smooth... But what impressed me most was his 1st qrt defense. You can tell he's really trying to become better in all areas of his game. The hard work in the off season shows. The Blazers can sign him now for less then max or sign him next year for max. Batum & Rudy - both look tired. A step slow. Both weren't hitting shots. Not a big deal. Webster - Sorry Spammy but Marty is going to surprise you this year. The dude has got an attitude. Was hustling all over the court. Playing defense. When the game was over I was surprised at how little he had scored because he was really active all game. There were a few times when our players would switch on the pick and roll and Webster would be matched up with the other teams pf or c. They would immediately try and get post him up down low and call for the ball. Webster would have none of this and wouldn't let those guys get to the block. I can't ever recall him bodying up a bigger player like that in years past. Outlaw - I like Outlaw but I was disappointed in what I saw tonight. He got long minutes at pf and besides hit a couple of 3's he really didn't do much. DUDE, crash the god damn boards. Rebound! There were a couple of times where instead of taking the ball to the rim he pussed a made a weak pass instead. His shot from downtown looks great but he hasn't worked or thought about working on other areas of his game. Disappointing. Bayless - Someone needs to sit down with him and watch tonight's game. You can tell he wants to play and contribute to this team so badly but tonight he was trying so hard that he ended up dominating the ball way too much and took the rest of the team out of their offensive rhythm. He was matched up against Sergio a lot of the time and it was like he was trying to prove that the Blazers made the right decision in keeping him and letting Sergio go. He needed to just relax and look to get the rest of the team involved. Instead it looked like he wanted to do everything himself. It makes you feel a little bad for him because you can see how much he wants to carve out a place himself on the team. Sergio - Poor little dude, made a few (typical for him) thread the needle passes. Still can't hit shots. I think he'll be a great player and all star many times over.... in Europe. Ime - not sure if our players have just gotten better or he's gotten worse but he didn't look that good. I'm not sure if he has a place on this team. Oh and Ime you owe me a Chalupa. Dribbling the clock out when we were 2pts away from free food. Damn you! Roy - didn't need much from him tonight against a team like the Kings. He had a few buckets that made you know he could have taken over the game at any moment if we had needed him too. Joel - looked like Joel! Battled, had a couple of nice baskets. Got a little worried when he took that shot to the nuts. Blake - Saw a different Blake tonight. Was a little more daring with the passes. Was more aggressive on offense. You can tell he wants to start and is trying to take his game to a higher level. There was more than once when he would look to pass the ball to LMA and or Oden when he was bringing the ball up the court but they were just looking to get to their spot on the court and wait for him to call a play. He should have bounced the ball off the back of their head so they would know to look for it the next time. In years past Blake would be the calming influence on a team of young and learning players, play steady, run the offense, limit turnovers. Tonight he looked like a player who was trying to push the team and force things to happen. It was a different Blake. I was impressed. Tonight, IMO the best lineup was Miller, Roy, Webster, LMA and Oden but the battle between Miller vs Blake and Webster vs Batum is far from over. I think the battle between Oden & Joel is over with Oden being the clear cut starter. All in all I would give the team a B- tonight. The Kings are no challenge. We have so many options and weapons on this team that it could take until Christmas until the players learn how, who and when to use them.
Great summary. Thanks for posting it. Agreed on Martell. He finally looks like a complete player, not just a spot-up jump shooter. He looked strong and aggressive. He also seemed to have good chemistry with Oden. It will be interesting to see how the minutes end up being divided between him and Batum. Rudy's shot was off tonight - really off. Not only were they not going in, his release looked horrible. What's up with that? One other improvement in Oden's game - he's a capable and willing passer. The box score only has him down for one assist, but I remember a couple more good passes where his teammate either missed a wide open shot, or got fouled after receiving the pass from Oden. BNM
Thanks, since it wasn't on TV I thought I would go a little in depth. Oden did have some good passes. He looked really comfortable out there tonight. Huge improvement over last year.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch this game, but I was watching the game summary on NBA.com. For me, it looks like Miller does need to start, same with Oden. The more they play together, the more they can get those "Sweet Spots" on lock. Gotta say I was impressed with Oden's game, from the highlights I saw. Looks way more energized. i wish I was able to watch the game though.
