This one will be the hardest one yet, and the closest to "forensic fandom" that I've done yet. I'm in a place with very spotty internet, and I was/am unable to get the ESPN GameCast, much less a live feed or play-by-play. I'm cheating a bit by going through the game recap and game thread, but it's hard to get great insight when you're not following realtime. Well, just like CSI, let's see if we can piece it together... Home opener (!!!), and the first time HailBlazers had been to MODA Center... via Imgflip Meme Maker Lots of praise to go around tonight. Usually, when you allow a good team like the Spurs to shoot 50% from the field and win the turnover battle, you're not going to have a great night. Then again, it's not every night that the home team shoots like a combo of Kevin Durant/Steve Nash/Larry Bird (50% FG, 40% 3pt, 90% FT) and has the rebounding edge of the few misses that there were, so Good Guys Win. LMA had a very efficient 24 points on 17 shots to go with his 7 boards and 2 blocks, though only 2 were in the paint. Nic was ESPN's Player of the Game for his triple-double (more later) and Damian Lillard put together an easy 25/7/7 line on just 16 shots. The team cut back on turnovers (still a mildly-troubling 16), but also had a season-high 29 assists (which, as has been pointed out before, are easier to come by if your team is actually making shots after you pass them the ball). It remains to be seen if the awesome rebounding production of the backcourt so far (Wes, Dame and Nic) is a byproduct of Robin Lopez's skill in bodying up the opponents' best rebounder or sheer dumb luck through a small sample size, but good things generally happen when you're outrebounding the other guys. The Blazers opened it up in the 2nd, building an 11-point lead at halftime that was threatened, but never really in jeopardy. SAS whittled it down to a two-possession game a few times in the fourth, but each time the Blazers answered. But you knew that already. Portland attempted more FTs than its opponent for the first time all year, converting 17 of its 19 attempts while SAS only got 8 (and made 5). Nicolas Batum said the 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave him a triple-double against San Antonio was the worst thing he's ever done in his career. via Imgflip Meme Maker Look, it was brought up ad nauseum in its own thread, but Nic had played a heckuva game, and from the play-by-play didn't seem to be gunning for himself to try to get his during the 4th quarter. It was on his home floor, he wasn't showing anyone up, and from all accounts was a bit embarrassed that it actually went in. (And in some threads people were saying it was a 40-foot heave, but in the game log it was 27'. ) I feel like I mailed this one in a bit...sorry about that. I'll try to find a way to make them better without stealing content from the game thread or other posters. Or maybe I will, and just give credit where due, if I'm doing one of these post-mortems way after rigor has set in. So the first home game of the season is in the books, one quality opponent down, and a couple of days of rest before the Rockettes come to town. So until next time: Good Guys Win! Bad Guys Lose! [/URL]
Nice take! It's actually pretty interesting to see a take from someone that isn't watching the game. You do it well!
