http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/portland_86_new_orleans_78_ald.html Turns out the problem – at least from the Blazers' point of view -- was the ball. "We didn't like the ball," Brandon Roy said. "As soon as the referee threw it to me I was like, 'What? This is a nasty ball.' It was just an old ball. Real old ball." The visiting team usually gets to pick the game ball, and Roy said Steve Blake told him that wasn't the ball he selected. In fact, the NBA has a new rule this season that requires the game ball to have a newly stamped "genuine leather" indicator. The rule was put in to prevent old, beat-up balls from being used. Roy said Friday's game ball didn't carry the required stamp. "We complained to the refs, but they said they were going to stick with it," Roy said. "So we told ourselves to try and play through it."
I guess that would make sense. I've never seen such crappy and horrendous basketball by two teams at the same time.
^^^Bah - I credit it to the Blazers' phenomenal team defense this year (at least according to the Mikes). It's so scary good it also shuts down our own offense.
This is a non-issue. Roy know this, he probably just couldn't think of anything else to say at the time. The Blazers won by 8, and it wasn't even that close.
I guess it's possible that the ball was partly to blame, but for chrissakes, why settle for so many fucking jumpers if the ball is so crappy?
I never thought I would bring up an Agent Zero quote... but I recall him saying something like "it doesn't matter what kind of ball you have. It is still a ball, it is still a hoop. No excuses" something like that.
I think Roy was right. Look at the pics of this ball. I looked at game photos from other games last night. Each other teams ball looks brighter, newer. You can visibly see scrapes, marks and scratches on the Blazer\Hornet ball, but not on the other game balls. And I could be wrong, but I think I can see the "stamp" that Roy was talking about on the Boston and Laker balls. You can see it on one of the CP3 pics, and it is clearly faded compared to the Laker\Celtic balls.
I'm not exactly sympathetic to "but the ball is old!" excuses, when the 90's Blazers made hay on a ball that was completely disgusting, the skull and crossbones ball. Though, the teams only played badly in the 1st quarter... they did seem to get used to it later. So maybe it's true.
I want that ball! I would pay money for it too. That ball forced the Blazers to take everything inside, only improving their points in the paint offense. I was so glad they couldn't shoot from the perimeter. It helped the Blazers to rely more on scoring in the paint, than falling in love with the outside shot.
A good craftsman takes care of his tools. Sounds like the refs were not good craftsmen, which is not a surprise given everything we saw from NBA refs in the last decade or so.
