Blazer Game Blog – Game 5

Hey, the only game they’ve won this series is the one I blogged. It’s obvious what I need to do to help the team…make random remarks about nothing in particular and pretend like I know something about basketball.

Just a little change of format to mention first; times posted correspond to game clock in the quarter. Onward!

Q1

11:02 Nice aggressive move from Steve Blake. He misses a shot but follows and gets the board. He surveys the options and chooses to take it right into Brooks drawing the foul. This will help the cause a lot tonight.

8:09 Inconsistencies showing already on defense. I’m still amazed that our defenders can’t stay home. We’re not necessarily getting screened, we’re just getting lost. Over-committing on help D without keeping an eye open for movement in your zone might have something to do with it. Frustrating!

5:27 Dear LaMarcus, please please pretty please get a goddamned hand in Scola’s face. Because playing 6 feet off him isn’t working very well. Mmmmkay, thaaaaanks.

4:09 Blazers are finally starting to play the game instead of the calls. Good things happen when you just bear down and play your style of ball, zebras be damned.

1:29 Blazers forgot to crash the boards again. This has been a 2+ minute stretch where there isn’t a white shirt to see in the paint after the shot goes up. If we’ve learned only one thing from this series we need to get on the offensive boards.

Q2

11:08 Wow, it's Outlaw sparking the action on the boards. Do you think someone has a “listen fucker” talk with him?

9:58 Blazers are finally making the Rockets take some poor shots. Result? Three straight Rocket’s possessions ending scoreless. And as we might have expected, Outlaw’s zeal on the boards seems to have sparked his shooting touch.

6:43 Rockets run fueled by…guess…that’s right, fouls! We have two guys over 7 feet tall. Put your arms up and keep them up. That’s all you need to do! Good news is that Outlaw may force Mike Rice to shave his head (assuming the bet is still on). The man looks like he’s been rebounding with authority for years, instead of deciding that tonight would be a good time to pick up the art.

4:07 GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH! Aldridge, take it inside. Fuck already. Seriously.

3:45 Is Yao some evil villainous mastermind? The only explanation I can muster for not picking up a clear foul during that one-on-one against Outlaw is that he kidnapped the families of the refs and threatened to kill them if they blew a whistle against him. I know, it’s farfetched. He probably just told the refs that he did this.

1:38 As it’s been mentioned before, Scola is a greasy-headed, cross-eyed, douchebag of epic proportions. Believe that.

0.12.2 Roy makes a really smart move to cut off Brooks. Recognizing that Brooks has his head down, Roy slides over to take the charge. Blazers have a chance to add to a 5 point lead before half. Travis has been hot….

0.0.7 But instead our All-Star finds a path to the basket as so often has. Good performance overall by the Blazers, but we’ve have got to keep the intensity up. To keep the Rockets from celebrating on our floor, Q3 can’t have its usual slow start.

Q3

9:12 Roy isn’t making shots. Time to get the rest of the team involved, especially considering you’re getting decent shooting nights from Aldridge, Outlaw and Blake.

8:38 On cue, monster drive from Aldridge for a thunderous two-handed dunk. It’s obvious how much this affects Houston’s D because on the next possession 3 Rockets try to cut off Aldridge as he drives to the basket. An incredible pass to Pryz ends with another dunk. This is what we’ve waited the entire series for! Timeout Rockets…

6:53 Just noticed that we haven’t heard a peep from Artest all night. Dude faded quicker than William Hung. Oh, yes, I just went there.

4:54 Rockets are ratcheting up the defensive pressure since the Blazers took the double digit lead. We’re taking poor shots and not getting to the rim…and here comes Roy with a driving layup to break a scoring slump.

3:31 Can we please set a screen with a little body behind it? What the hell is up with these namby pamby screens? Knock someone down!

2:28 Pryz is doing a nice job fronting Yao. It helps when he’s gassed and the Rockets can’t afford to take him out. Will this be the difference down the stretch?

0:1:5 A three from Aldridge? With Outlaw, Rudy, and Roy on the floor, there is no reason this should be our final shot. I’m actually a little speechless about the epic failure there. Plus the fact that we had our usual slow Q3 start shooting only 33% and allowing Houston to shave the lead from 7 to 2.

Q4

9:45 The Blazers have to keep going inside. The game might as well be called if we resort to 17 foot jumpers.

7:25 Someway, somehow, the Rockets have fouled enough to put us in the penalty for the rest of the game. Mind boggling.
6:33 Von Wafer manages to get stuffed by the backboard. The bottom of the backboard. Fail.

4:50 Never underestimate the rally factor of seeing an opponent getting stuffed by the blackboard. Blazers on a big run to go up by 11. And now it's Oden fronting Yao, playing good defense, getting blocks and boards...it's a beautiful thing.

1:25 I’m impressed with the poise the Blazers have played with. They’ve been tight in this series as fourth quarter winds down but they are really getting after it now. A Joel block seals the deal with about 55 seconds left. It looks like the jitters might finally have worked themselves out. The big question, obviously, is can we translate this to the road? Right now, though, just savor a solid win by your team, Portland.