Toronto Raptors at Portland Trail Blazers 12/27/2008 Game thread

Well, he went against a doughnut team tonight, but I love that he played with some fire and made an impact on the offensive end!

 

Hey, don't forget he got one vote for ROY! What a joke!

 

He needs to take what he can get at this point!

 

Fucking Raptors.

 

So now JOneal is a doughnut? Please. Oden looked good. Period. He showed enough tonight to show he has skills on the offensive end. Will he continue to be inconsistent on the offensive end. Yes. But you can see he has the ability to keep on improving.

BtW how come no one is complaining about his weight anymore. Has he lost some or have you whiny little bitches moved on to other things?

 

Yes. O' Neal is not a true center. Are you saying that he is? That said, it was nice to see Oden not get outplayed by a team he should dominate. He played very well tonight.

 

I'm not sure but it looks like Oden might have lost a little weight. I do know his wind is a lot better then it was earlier and if he can stay out of foul trouble he will keep improving. It seems like once Oden gets in foul trouble early he gets in a funk and doesn't play well the rest of the game.

 

I would say at looking at the rosters JO'neal is the 2nd or 3rd best center in the east. Sad but true.

 

I took it as a warning, that if some guys didn't start playing better defense in the next couple games, there would be changes.

 

It was frustrating in the first half because toronto was nailing the 3's. a couple were wide open but the rest were contended. You can't foul a jump shooter so I thought they did a good job of forcing them outside and away from the basket. Bosh was just on fire.

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but I saw a big change in the second half. Much shorter rotation with Roy sitting out only a couple minutes and coming back in for LMA, keeping the key guys on the floor most of the way. Surprise, surprise, no big hole to climb back out of like with the platoon substitution in the first half. Amazing what happens when you maintain momentum.

 

The Blazers need to continue to work at getting the ball to Oden. They continue to miss him when he is open, and don't realize he is open when he is even coverd by a smaller player.

Roy was Roy. Quiet 20 and then drops a big quarter on you.

Aldridge played good, but if any part of his game needs worked on defensivly it is his scouting opponents. I noticed he let's the opposition get to their "sweet spots". He needs to scout more and force opponents to their week side.

I thought for a few minutes in the 2nd we might see Bayless. But not yet.....

 

I like this:
“It’s always good when you can play against somebody physical and I can hit him and he’s gonna hit me back and not do all that flopping stuff,” Oden said about O’Neal.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2008122722

 

Very pleased to see Oden assert himself and have success. A win in which all of the Big Three have excellent games (relative to where they are in their development) is exciting.

 

I loved that one sequence in the 4th where he blocked Jermaine, Jermaine got the ball right back, and Oden stayed right with him and denied him again! He actually showed some fire and determination.

 

Fun game tonight - especially the 33 point 4th quarter (Chalupas Baby!).

Oden was great tonight. He did a good job establishing deep position from the first possession and his teammates actually passed him the ball (in the 1st quarter, anyway). You could tell the focus was on getting him going early. It was also nice to see him drawing fouls on the opponent's big men rather than the other way around. 7 offensive rebounds was huge. He would have had even more, but on multiple occasions the Raptors fouled him to keep him from getting the offensive rebound and the put back slam. Watching Jake Voskuhl and Andrea Bargnani trying to keep him off the offensive glass was hilarious.

Speaking of Bargnani, the Blazers let him do the one, and only one thing he can do well in the first half - shoot the uncontested jumper with his feet set and his shoulders square to the basket. In the 1st half the perimeter defense was awful. Thankfully, the defense was much better in the 2nd half - holding the Raptors to 10 points in the 3rd quarter after giving up 57 first half points. For a while in the 2nd quarter it was looking like the Blazers were going to get beaten by Will Solomon and Andrea Bargnani the same way they were defeated by JJ Barea and Brandon Bass on Christmas. Neither Solomon nor Bargnani were factors in the 2nd half.

Of course, Brandon Roy just totally took over the game in the 4th quarter. He was just abusing Jamario Moon - Toronto's best defender. When it became obvious Moon simply could not stop Roy, or even slow him down, they started double teaming him. When the double teams came, Roy calmly found his open teammates and got them the ball. That 4th quarter was classic Brandon Roy. We are so lucky to have Roy (and Aldridge) from that 2006 draft. Gee, I wonder how many Raptors fans wish they could have a do-over on that 2006 draft. Toronto doesn't have a single SG or SF on their roster that's even an average NBA starter. They have a couple guys with one-dimensional skills, but nobody that's even average in all areas. If they had drafted Brandon Roy instead of Andrea Bargnani, they'd be a much different team right now. Roy epitomizes everything they lack in a perimeter player.

Right now, Toronto looks like a lottery team. Once you get beyond Bosh, Calderon and O'Neal, they've got nothing. As mentioned, they don't have ANYONE decent at the 2 and 3 and lack quality back-ups at the 5 and 1. They simply aren't a very good team. We should beat them by double digits at home. Glad to see the guys taking care of business and getting the win.

BNM

 

Parker and Kapono could find a home on any team, but I get your point.

 

Yes, as a 9th or 10th man, but neither should be a starter.

Anthony Parker: PER = 10.1

Jason Kopono: PER = 9.4

BNM

 

What's disappointing is seeing the boxscore afterwards and he is only credited with one block. Bullshit!