Miller didn't improve the perimeter defense tonight. He wasn't worse than Blake, but he wasn't better either. As I noted, it appeared Roy made some mental errors on defense as well, so nobody escapes blame. Miller did setup plays that led to Oden scoring; I call them hockey assists. I do not recall Miller and Oden running a single pick and roll like many thought we would see all season. I think Roy can be criticized, but he clearly is still our best player. I have seen two games and I've been less than impressed with his shot, decision making, and team defense. I thought he made a couple great passes tonight, one to Greg.
I was right behind the Phoenix bench and that was not the explanation he gave Gentry and Nash. He kept saying, "I had a clear goaltend." over and over.
as much as i hate those regular refs they suck a whole lot less than these replacements..... we need replacements for the replacements!
That would have been good to know BEFORE I ate nacho cheese with my fingers. Good meeting you HCP and the other poster that was with you.
I'm positive that officiating NBA games is extremely difficult, and I hate Joe Crawford and Steve Javie (two of the most respected officials) as much as anyone, but I'd rather have them back that watch this crap. A friend of my spoke with Javie down at the Presidents Cup and he was optimistic that a deal would be reached. He also made some anti-Dick Bavetta comments that got a chuckle out of me. Again, this is all 3rd person, but I have no reason to believe it is made up.
i remember hearing something that all the refs were ready to accept what stern had offered them but stern said no or something? i havent been really paying attention to it does anyone have any semi recent updates?
That was my wife and my good friend Jeff who is a producer on our broadcasts! He recognized you from the picture you posted of yourself on here earlier!
I don't care if he missed it or not. He got free from his defender and his eyes lit up! The fact that he has the ability to attack like this again shows he is ready to help this team. He looked really good tonight.
What I got from going to this game was that Dwight Jaynes doesnt wash his hands after going to the bathroom.
*shudder* I'm writing this post to remind myself to call my friend (journalism major) and remind him "Never shake hands with Dwight Jaynes... EVER!"
Thoughts about last night's game: - The real star of the night, The old Memorial Coliseum, looked fantastic. I remember as a kid that they used to play games with the ring curtains down so you could see the city lights, I'm thrilled that they did it again. It was also amazing that, even with mid-court nose-bleed seats, we still had a better, closer view than the Lexus seats in the RG. Okay, nostalga trip over with. Tear the place down. - Bill Schonley. Yes, he's old, and he didn't keep up with the game action very well, but he still had a MUCH MUCH better grasp of what was going on than Harry Carey or Chick Hearn near the end of their careers. IMHO, he could pick right up and call games again for the Blazers if need be. It was surreal to hear him call action with the current group of players. You can tell he's got a hard-on for Greg Oden, too. It was an honor to listen to him call a Blazer game again. Glad that Wheels is secure in his own abilities enough to let Schonz have the spotlight one more time. - Andre Miller is good... really good. What he does, he does great. That being said, I don't think his style of play meshes with Roy AT ALL. One of them is going to have to adapt, and quickly, or this experiment will be a bust. - Greg Oden. He's back, bitches. He was DOMINATE for stretches of the game. A rebounding machine. Still needs to work on finishing near the rim strong, not getting blocked or stripped, but that will come with experience. Was VERY impressed by the big man. - Travis Outlaw. Schonz said there were a few people playing their way right out of the rotation (damn, Bill, been gone for 12 years, and pull out insightful shit like that? You da man!), and Trout was one of them. He had a horrible night. Looked like he wants to be traded. - Steve Nash, holy shit, so that's what an elite point guard looks like? 35 years old, and seems better than ever. Wow, he and Barbosa just MURDERED the Blazers in the 2nd half. Phoenix is back with an attitude.
A journeyman is Beno Udrih, Chris Duhon or Steve Blake. Miller has been a top ten point guard in the NBA for almost a full decade -- not necessarily an all-star but a very very good player -- as far as you being disappointed in him, what exactly is it about his performances so far that has you so distressed? All of the first hand accounts I've read about his play and just glancing at the boxscore make him sound exactly like the Andre Miller I know from the past ten years; a guy who gets it done and knows how to play the game of basketball. It's so easy to point the finger at the new guy as a way of explaining away the struggles of Brandon, but since none of us has actually watched the two of them play together, maybe just maybe, we should wait until we can lay eyes on this team before we make up our minds about what's going on with B-Roy.
The offense was ok last night except when the bench was in. The problem was defense, as it has been the last several games. Teams are running on Portland and the Blazers are not getting back. It is as simple as that. This team has never been a running team, and right now it looks to me like they are trying to turn that corner. I don't expect that corner to be turned overnight. I expect them to struggle. You will also note that Phoenix pulled out their lead in the 2nd half. Good running teams wear you down and open up the lead in the 2nd half when you run out of gas. They know Portland has a lot of players who do not make good decisions in the open court game (Outlaw and Blake being 2 of the major open court boneheads) and they took advantage of it. What do you expect when you play into their hands. The Blazers played at the tempo PHX was comfortable at and they lost. This is a no brainer. You control the tempo to your comfort level, you win.
Agreed. When you let a team like the Suns get their 2 strengths (fast breaking and 3 pointers) at ease, then Im not sure how you can except any other result but a loss. With that said Im actually surprised that the game was that close.
