For some reason, at least from what I can recall, these past couple of years or so, we don't play AT Portland til Spring time. I don't know why we don't ever play earlier in Portland. Cause it was like this last year, then I think the year before that, then there was that year when Kobe hit two buzzer beaters (I think 2004). Hmmm...
The positive side of this is that the team will hopefully have several months of playing together with Greg Oden under their belts before the Lakers show up in Portland. I like the odds of continuing the Blazers' domination of the Lakers at the Rose Garden with that extra time and experience available.
I could not agree more. The more time the Blazers have to gel, the better. Hopefully next time LA will roll in thinking it will be like last time, but, it will not.
Sometimes I feel like the Blazer fans make more out of the Blazers/Lakers rivalry than there is going right now. On the BBF NBA general page, they were talkin' about what fan base you don't like, and a Laker fan said the Blazers because they think they have a rivalry with us. Kinda embarassing, lol... I think it is somewhat true though. Sure we don't like the Lakers, but I think the same goes for almost every team.
THAT'S OK. It will make the game that much more important when it's down the stretch. Playoff atmosphere!
Considering most Laker fans now are bandwagon fans who didn't come on til 2000 or so, I bet they've only seen Portland really be a threat for that one year. And then they saw Ruben's "Kobe stopper" days, and then the Jail Blazer era and wrote us off. With the Sonics now gone, we don't really have that nearby rival although I never considered them too much of a rival in recent years because we were both bad.. Looking at history, I'd say our biggest rivals now are the Lakers and Jazz.
For Blazer Fans, LA is our rival. They've fucked with us for too long. It all ends now, or to be more precise, March 9th! Whether LA perceives us as their rival, I could care less.
Its never a good day, when the Lakers have to go to the Rose Garden. This year will be different. Everyone and everything will hype the Bynum/Oden matchup. Meanwhile, Kobe and Pau will sneak into the game and bring home a W. But seriously, how many in a row have we lost there? 19?
Neither team has ever been able to gain more than two victories from the other in any season for the last 11 seasons, and keep in mind that we play them three or four times every year. I believe the record between them over that span is exactly even.
Don't forget, we also host the Lakers in the Rose Garden on April 10. I already have my tickets for that one. That's game number 79. So, it will likely have play-off implications - possibly for both teams. Should be a play-off intensity and atmosphere. BNM
I'm already predicting it will be the loudest crowd in Rose Garden history. I've heard louder crowds at the MC, but the two loudest crowds I've heard at the RG were game 6 of the Dallas series (when the Blazers came back from down 0 - 3 to force a 7th game) and the last quarter and a half of the 76ers game last December. That was game 13 of the 13 game winning streak when the Blazers came back from 12 down midway through the 3rd quarter to win by 25 - including Outlaw's poster dunk on Rodney Carney. BNM
