Blazers Vs Nuggets preseason! (parking help please)

Nice to see a win, 40+ mins for Roy and Anthony says a lot about how the coaches wanted their stars to approach the last few warmups to the regular season.

 

Rudy wasn't hitting his shot much, but you're right he did look like he was contributing elsewhere

 

Nice line by Miller, 12 pts, 7 rbs, 7 asts on 6 of 13 shooting.

 

Have to think Buck Williams is really rubbing off on Aldridge getting him to play big and a littler nastier. Nice to have a big man coach back.

 

I just got back from the game. It was nice that both teams kept in starters the whole way. Game Report:

Aldridge: Thumbs up for the first quarter play. 6 points and 4 rebounds and he attacked the rim. Then he dissappeared for 2 quarters, but it wasn't really his fault. The team basically just went away from him. See the notes on Brandon Roy as to why. They went back to him in the 4th and he made a couple of plays down the stretch.

Brandon Roy: Started really slow but then you could tell he decided he was going to get himself going in the 2nd quarter, and even though most of it was from the line, he did. Because Roy was trying to get himself going, the team went away from Aldridge, and then seemed to forget about Aldridge for about 2 quarters. They would do this last year too. And the year before. I have no idea why it happens.

Miller: Played Millers game. Had some problems with Lawson. Made a big basket after Denver made a run in the 4th.

Bayless: Despite what sources had reported earlier in the week, was first guard off the bench, and when the 3 guard lineup was in the 4th to match up with Denver, was the guard of choice for McMillan to use to try and control Lawson. Some of his offensive play was erratic, but in general he was making the right plays. His outside shooting suffered for 3 quarters tonight.

Rudy: Played very well and made what I consider the play of the game. In the 4th Denver was on a fast break and could have tied and he came from behind Billups and tipped the outlet pass to Camby. That turned a sure 2 for Denver into 2 for Portland. It was a huge play.

Batum: Made at least 4 turnovers. 3 in the first quarter. He was telegraphing his passes and throwing lazy lobs. Holding the ball and not making decisions fast enough. He finally settled down when he started concentrating on defense, and played better in the 2nd half. But when the game was on the line, he was not on the floor. Some may say it was because it was pre season, but both Nate and George Karl were trying to win this game. So I think they went with their best closing units. Batum was not on the floor, at least not tonight.

Camby: Marcus-Camby! Clap clap clap!

Tonight I thought that the Blazers decided to come out and try to get the players who are going to be playing, all on the same page, and I thought they took a step forward in that direction. By end of game, Roy was looking like Roy from pre injury last year. Each quarter he got stronger. In the end he was guarding Melo, and doing a pretty good job overall. Camby helped in the rebounding department and sent a few shots back. Some of the same problems still exist. The offense stalled at some stages of the game. Some of that was due to an sudden increase in defensive intensity from Denver when they decided they wanted to try and win the game, and I don't think Portland was ready for it. But there were defintely still some clogs where the ball just stopped. One thing I did notice tonight, is it seems Roy and Rudy are learning to play off each other. In fact I would have to say everybody on the team looks like they are actively looking for Rudy. He seems a pretty popular guy to throw the ball to right now. It will be interesting to see how depth shakes out after Mathews comes back. All I know is, if Batum keeps making mistakes like he did tonight, he will be fighting for playing time.

 

Maybe. My suspicion is that it actually has as much to do with Aldridge having Bayno come work out with him all summer in Texas and actually helping him develop some counters that don't involve turning to the left and taking a step back, fadeaway 17 footer.

 

Hasoos: regarding Nic, he has a strained trapezius, so they sat him.

 

About our front-court: very good job from all 3 players, good defense, rebounding, shot-blocking and some timely plays on offense. Very good job! Now, there is still some concern about meeting bigger teams (like the Nuggets with their centers... Nene was the only Nugget with a plus-rating), but I think the solution to that is Joel who should be ready to play soon. He adds size and defense and is a team player and would fit in well in the front-court-rotation. I think we've reached a stage, after the Camby trade and with Dante's emergence and when Joel is healthy, that Oden is realy just a bonus for us.

About the back-court (in response to Nik and in general)...
I thought Roy looked good. Miller looked good when he had the ball in his hands - sometimes making excellent, important plays - but I think he could be best suited to being Roy's backup. Rudy looked very good: unlike Miller who just disappears when Roy has the ball in his hands, Rudy's 3-point shooting makes him a lethal weapon next to Roy. About Batum, when he left the game for Rudy in the 1st quarter is when we started winning, with our 3-guard lineup being very effective, so that's something I guess you can hold against him, but in the beginning of the 3rd his defensive intensity was amazing and gave us a really nice lead and I think he finished the game with a + before leaving because of (hopefuly mild) injury. Bayless wasn't very good but I think he tried hard and that's important and I think he has a place on this team, though maybe with less minutes when Mathewss returns.

4 player rotation inside: Camby, Lamarcus, Dante, Joel

6 player rotation outside: Roy, Miller, Rudy, Batum, Bayless, Wesley

Bonus player: Greg Oden

 

so i didn't see OR HEAR the game so how was the blazers defense? improved? hard to tell cause denver didnt have their bigs? solid down the stretch? anyone... anyone?

 

I'm not sure if it was just cold shooting by the Nuggets or their utter lack of size, but I thought the Blazers did a pretty good job of rotating, controlling the paint and making the Nuggets take contested jumpers. My guess is that the truth is probably somewhere between playing good defense and the Nuggets just having the misfortune to be missing all of their bigs.

 

This concerns me, I wish LMA and B-Roy had some more chemistry in the offense. I wish B would go to him first and then if nothing is there for LMA kick it back out so Roy can do is thing.

 

I am with you there. To me it is completely infuriating we so few replays on the jumbotron as well. The other thing about the jumbotron is when they decide they would rather show the junior blazer dancers on the jumbotron instead of a meaningful basketball or football game that is on another channel. I don't want to watch the junior blazer dancers. That hell is reserved for their parents and families alone. Little kiddie basketball game on the court, or a real NBA game that is being played right now? Not a real tough choice.

 

Seriously, what the hell is that thing for!

 

Well I would feel a little bit weird if they were playing porn on it during the game!

 

Based upon last night's results, good to see the Blazers will be making the playoffs again.

 

Portland was very physical for a change. Roy set the tone with his defense on Carmello, and that seemed to set the tone for the team. The team was playing very physical, especially working to knock guys off their spot using their hands, and they got called for a few fouls because of it. When Denver went to a 2 PG lineup Bayless did a good job on Lawson, even though he got called for quite a few fouls. Miller handled Billups, who seemed off his game tonight. (Billups made quite a few mental mistakes and missed quite a few open shots that he normally makes). The Blazers just never let him get going and that seemed to carry on through the evening. Once Batum settled down and started playing D in the second half, he played much better too. Rudy was playing the passing lanes, tipping balls, making some intangible plays happen. He also covered Lawson when Bayless got into foul trouble deep in the 4th. His tip to stop the Denver fast break late in the 4th that could have tied it, was defensive play of the game, even over Batum's steal from Billups, which I viewed as more of a bonehead play from Billups.

 

It took me a bit to figure out we were getting the feed for the RG. I was getting mad that they were showing replays when the game was still going and then it hit me duh.

 

I'm curious to find out how in the hell that feed got out?

 

Well of course I was streaming it off my phone!