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.

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Blogging the Blazers - Game 2

I was actually at Game 1, but the less said about that the better.

So tonight while I'm watching the game and recovering from a cold, we're going to give this game blogging a shot. Here we go...

7:11 Tip off – Batum makes a great defensive play on Artest. Nice block to get us going followed by an easy open jumper for Roy. Good start. Unfortunately, Artest hits a shot with Batum right in his face.

7:12 Blake looks aggressive and is being physical with Brooks. Nice drive peeling Brooks off and getting an easy lay up.

7:14 Blake sags off Brooks and get caught playing catch up. He’s got to stay in front of Brooks tonight to be effective.

7:15 Double team catches Artest off guard resulting in shot clock violation. Nice awareness from LA and he follows up with a sweet move on the offensive end. He’s so long he should be able to get a jump hook off over anyone.

7:16 Chill out Portland fans. Roy tried to take the charge but was inside the circle, Battier screened him legally and it was a good call.

7:20 Now you can get pissed. Blake and Brooks get tangled and Brooks was as much to blame but the call goes against the Blazers. Blake immediately hits a 3 to prove a point. He’s going to have to shoulder more of the burden to get us going.

7:22 YAO MISSED. OMFG YAO MISSED!

7:23 Out of bounds off Portland? You’re telling me that between the 6’8” Batum and the 7’6” Yao, the rebound get tipped out by Batum? Egregious.

7:28 What does Roy have to do to get a call? Just curious. It would be nice if David Stern would just write him a cordial letter explaining why full body contact from the defense isn’t a foul when he drives.

7:30 Holy crap, I just figured it out. Aaron Brooks looks like a cross between Chris Rock and the Joker. You could probably throw in a little Reese Witherspoon. Creepy.

7:34 Am I more surprised by the fact that Mutombo went down or that he lasted this long? Poor guy. I can’t explain it, but I like Mutombo. I’m not sure it’s even possible to dislike him. The Blazers are going to have to fight the “Win One for the Gipper” syndrome. Yikes.

7:40 Greg calmly hits two free throws after the wait. Smooth. And followed by a spectacular steal and dunk from Rudy. Woo!

7:44 Dagger from Roy! Everyone knows he’s going to drive inside as the clock winds down on the first quarter. Nice change of pace. Hitting the shot helps.

7:46 Yes! Both Oden and Joel in the game. Let’s knock some teeth out. Good drive by Travis results in easy jumper over Yao.

7:51. Yo Von. You know what happens when you go 1 on 3? You get your fro-hawk packed. Word.

7:59 Rudy and La work so well together, I’d like to see them on the floor together more often. Lineup right now is Blake, Fernandez, Roy, LA, and Oden. Scratch that, cheap foul on Oden brings Travis in.

8:07 Rocket have taken the lead off of good physical play and slow defensive rotations by the Blazers. We’re not finding the open men, we’re not pursuing, and our help D sucks.

8:08 Aldridge is keeping us in the game right now. Dude is on fire. This type of play is why he could be a superstar. Plus, he looks pissed. LA never looks anything. Still, Yao is sitting while the Rockets inch ahead. I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

8:14 What a sweet mini-run by the Blazers. That’s the passion, the fire, the uprise! Good defensive stretch to pair with that run and gun.

8:16 Statement time. 12.2 left and we’re coming out of a timeout. We must execute…eesh. Well, we got the drive, but Roy misses a difficult layup. At least the Rockets didn’t get a last shot as we head to the half.

8:34 What a way to start the half with Roy tricking Yao into taking a silly foul. But you’ve gotta hit the foul shot. Gotta.

8:36 If you have three players in the paint boxing out, and none of them go after the rebound, then what have you accomplished? A layup for Scola.

8:38 Why the hell do we start first and second quarters so cold? I swear it takes the team 6+ minutes to get rolling. That won’t cut it in the playoffs. You spot the other team a quarter’s worth of lackadaisical play and you will lose, period.

8:42 Scola is a greasy-haired douchebag. I just had to get that out.

8:43 Joel flops and buys a 4th foul on Yao. I don’t like it, but I’ll take it. Meanwhile, Roy blows down the lane for an easy layup. Gold.

8:45 Blake turns a bunch of grab-assery into a layup because he was, you know, paying attention. Amazing things happen when you pay attention.

8:52 It’s becoming more apparent that Brooks completely carried his Oregon team. He’s good. NBA good.

9:00 You know that quick 7 point lead? Gone. You know that momentum? Gone. It’s a one quarter game. Thankfully, it’s a one quarter game in which Yao and Scola have 4 fouls. So we’ve got that going for us.

9:04 That was a man dunk from LA. You could see extra mustard on that one. He still looks pissed.

9:05 You know that quick 5 point lead? Gone…

9:07 Flubbed oop on the offensive end and a foul on the defensive side. Pull it together Blazers. You’ve got this game if you don’t get tight.

9:12 What we need right now is effective passing and ball movement. Maybe it’s just me but that doesn’t scream Joel and Greg together.

9:14 We’re going to have to score close to 100 to win this game. There’s 7 minutes to go and we’ve got 81. It’s going to be close.

9:21 Good news, we’re hanging in there. Bad news, 5:30 to go and we’re in the penalty.

9:23 Good news, Roy is hitting shots and free throws. Bad news, Aldridge has 5 fouls.

9:24 That was the single most athletic thing I’ve ever seen Oden do. Literally leaps around Yao, grabs Roy’s miss out of the corner of the rim and backboard, and jams it home. Gorgeous.

9:27 I usually wouldn’t comment on a commercial, but they’re showing the players on the bus ride to the rally at Pioneer Square. What a scene. I don’t care if I have to lie, cheat, and steal, I’m there next year.

9:29 Greg fouls out. Joel has 5 fouls. Aldridge has 5. We better play solid D now while we can.

9:30 Blazers playing with real intensity now. Blake boxes out Scola. Roy hits a prayer three. Brooks gets forced into a turnover. Hammer that last nail in, baby!

9:32 Roy out jumps Yao for a rebound. That’s what your all-star does. Enjoy it, Portland. This one is special.

9:34 An Outlaw steal/dunk seals the game. I’m not necessarily the biggest Outlaw fan, but he always seems to make the big fourth quarter play. Awesome.

9:41 How does this sound? Aldridge - 26 pts, 12 boards. Roy – 39 pts, 7 boards.

9:43 Is Brooks for real? These threes are ridiculous! Every single one of them is shredding net. The game is still in hand, but I’m not as confident as I was at 9:34.

9:46 Rudy's free throws to ice it…YES! Portland is alive and kicking in the post-season. Rip City!

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