tlongII
10-28-2009, 10:49 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/it_was_no_masterpiece_but_blaz.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/pac10/photo/odenaftergamejpeg-d51ba4c2d13e5e7e.jpeg
Greg Oden waves to fans following the Blazers' 96-87 season-opening win over Houston at the Rose Garden on Tuesday night.
Cover your eyes Trail Blazers fans, opening night was not pretty: A whopping 26 turnovers. Greg Oden scoreless until the final minute. Brandon Roy 5 of 18 from the field. LaMarcus Aldridge saddled with foul trouble all night. Joel Przybilla fouled out.
So how in the heck did the Blazers cruise to a 96-87 win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday in front of the 72nd consecutive sellout at the Rose Garden?
Travis Outlaw came out of a preseason funk to erupt for 23 points, Martell Webster did a little bit of everything and finished with 14 points, Andre Miller pin-pointed some pretty passes during the game's decisive stretch, and the interior defense of Oden and Przybilla was formidable.
It would be hard to call it pretty -- especially after a 20-point, third-quarter lead was whittled to six with two minutes left -- but at the same time it highlighted the beauty of these Blazers.
With all the much-talked-about talent and depth, the Blazers have a notable margin for error, as evidenced by Tuesday's flawed, but comfortable win.
"That's one of the strengths of this team, having so many weapons, being so deep in talent," said Aldridge, who scored the Blazers' first seven points before being benched with two quick fouls. "If guys go down, or guys get in foul trouble, we have guys who can come in and do the same job, if not better."
It was the ninth consecutive home-opening win for the Blazers, who took pleasure in exacting revenge against the team that ousted them from the playoffs last spring, even if the Rockets looked much different without injured Yao Ming and Ron Artest, now with the Lakers.
http://media.oregonlive.com/pac10/photo/drivewebsterjpeg-ef0136bb59ab32b9.jpeg
"We definitely wanted to pay those guys back," said Oden, who didn't score until he tipped in a miss with 58.8 seconds left.
Oden addressed the crowd of 20,403 before the game, thanking them for their support, and leaving them with one directive: "Get loud."
The crowd finally did during a second-quarter stretch that saw a game-changing flurry of defense, fast breaks and flashy plays. The stretch was keyed by a unit of Miller, Rudy Fernandez, Webster, Aldridge and Oden, and included two sterling passes from Miller: a lob from the three-point line to Outlaw which resulted in a dunk, and a zip pass to Fernandez, who cut backdoor and made a reverse layup.
Meanwhile, the Blazers had active hands, Fernandez slapping a ball away from Trevor Ariza, which led to a Webster three-pointer, and on the ensuing possession Miller stripped Kyle Lowry, then led a fast break in which he practically handed off the ball to a streaking Aldridge, who completed the fast break with a two-handed dunk.
All told, it was a 9-0 run and pushed the Blazers lead to 46-30. By the fourth quarter, the lead was 75-56 and the crowd was festive and stress free.
Sure, a crew of Houston reserves, including rookies David Anderson and Chase Budinger, on the court with Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry, got the Rockets within 89-83 with 2:19 left, but it never seemed in doubt.
It would have been hard to imagine such a drama-free opener when it was so sloppy, and so ... off.
But the defense was just good enough to hide some of the offensive flaws. Oden and Przybilla fiercely defended the rim -- Oden blocking five shots and Przybilla two -- and Przybilla and Fernandez drew charges. And there were just enough contested shots from the perimeter (Houston shot 37 percent) to allow McMillan to give the Blazers an "OK" rating on defense.
"It's still a work in progress for the guys," McMillan said about the defense. "But I keep telling them, we will always find some how, some way, to score. We just have to defend. So commit to the defensive end."
Indeed, the Blazers found a way to score on Tuesday. The biggest impact came from Outlaw, who played 33 minutes because Aldridge could never stay out of foul trouble. In the preseason, Outlaw was one of the team's shakiest performers, averaging 8.9 points while shooting 37.5 percent. But on Tuesday, he made 9 of 14 shots, including 3 of 5 from three-point range. He said afterward that he was never worried entering the opener.
"It was preseason," Outlaw said with a smile. "Preseason is where you fine tune your game."
Now, one game into the regular season, the 1-0 Blazers are still finding their way, working out the kinks, searching for a rhythm ... all the while leaning on their margin for error -- depth.
"Even in the preseason, when we weren't playing good, I had that feeling that we are a good team, we just have to put it together," said Roy, who finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. "It was kind of like that tonight. I felt we were struggling, but I looked up and we were up 18. I think that's why no one is panicking: Because there's a feeling that when we click, we can be up there with the top teams in the league."
http://media.oregonlive.com/pac10/photo/odenaftergamejpeg-d51ba4c2d13e5e7e.jpeg
Greg Oden waves to fans following the Blazers' 96-87 season-opening win over Houston at the Rose Garden on Tuesday night.
Cover your eyes Trail Blazers fans, opening night was not pretty: A whopping 26 turnovers. Greg Oden scoreless until the final minute. Brandon Roy 5 of 18 from the field. LaMarcus Aldridge saddled with foul trouble all night. Joel Przybilla fouled out.
So how in the heck did the Blazers cruise to a 96-87 win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday in front of the 72nd consecutive sellout at the Rose Garden?
Travis Outlaw came out of a preseason funk to erupt for 23 points, Martell Webster did a little bit of everything and finished with 14 points, Andre Miller pin-pointed some pretty passes during the game's decisive stretch, and the interior defense of Oden and Przybilla was formidable.
It would be hard to call it pretty -- especially after a 20-point, third-quarter lead was whittled to six with two minutes left -- but at the same time it highlighted the beauty of these Blazers.
With all the much-talked-about talent and depth, the Blazers have a notable margin for error, as evidenced by Tuesday's flawed, but comfortable win.
"That's one of the strengths of this team, having so many weapons, being so deep in talent," said Aldridge, who scored the Blazers' first seven points before being benched with two quick fouls. "If guys go down, or guys get in foul trouble, we have guys who can come in and do the same job, if not better."
It was the ninth consecutive home-opening win for the Blazers, who took pleasure in exacting revenge against the team that ousted them from the playoffs last spring, even if the Rockets looked much different without injured Yao Ming and Ron Artest, now with the Lakers.
http://media.oregonlive.com/pac10/photo/drivewebsterjpeg-ef0136bb59ab32b9.jpeg
"We definitely wanted to pay those guys back," said Oden, who didn't score until he tipped in a miss with 58.8 seconds left.
Oden addressed the crowd of 20,403 before the game, thanking them for their support, and leaving them with one directive: "Get loud."
The crowd finally did during a second-quarter stretch that saw a game-changing flurry of defense, fast breaks and flashy plays. The stretch was keyed by a unit of Miller, Rudy Fernandez, Webster, Aldridge and Oden, and included two sterling passes from Miller: a lob from the three-point line to Outlaw which resulted in a dunk, and a zip pass to Fernandez, who cut backdoor and made a reverse layup.
Meanwhile, the Blazers had active hands, Fernandez slapping a ball away from Trevor Ariza, which led to a Webster three-pointer, and on the ensuing possession Miller stripped Kyle Lowry, then led a fast break in which he practically handed off the ball to a streaking Aldridge, who completed the fast break with a two-handed dunk.
All told, it was a 9-0 run and pushed the Blazers lead to 46-30. By the fourth quarter, the lead was 75-56 and the crowd was festive and stress free.
Sure, a crew of Houston reserves, including rookies David Anderson and Chase Budinger, on the court with Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry, got the Rockets within 89-83 with 2:19 left, but it never seemed in doubt.
It would have been hard to imagine such a drama-free opener when it was so sloppy, and so ... off.
But the defense was just good enough to hide some of the offensive flaws. Oden and Przybilla fiercely defended the rim -- Oden blocking five shots and Przybilla two -- and Przybilla and Fernandez drew charges. And there were just enough contested shots from the perimeter (Houston shot 37 percent) to allow McMillan to give the Blazers an "OK" rating on defense.
"It's still a work in progress for the guys," McMillan said about the defense. "But I keep telling them, we will always find some how, some way, to score. We just have to defend. So commit to the defensive end."
Indeed, the Blazers found a way to score on Tuesday. The biggest impact came from Outlaw, who played 33 minutes because Aldridge could never stay out of foul trouble. In the preseason, Outlaw was one of the team's shakiest performers, averaging 8.9 points while shooting 37.5 percent. But on Tuesday, he made 9 of 14 shots, including 3 of 5 from three-point range. He said afterward that he was never worried entering the opener.
"It was preseason," Outlaw said with a smile. "Preseason is where you fine tune your game."
Now, one game into the regular season, the 1-0 Blazers are still finding their way, working out the kinks, searching for a rhythm ... all the while leaning on their margin for error -- depth.
"Even in the preseason, when we weren't playing good, I had that feeling that we are a good team, we just have to put it together," said Roy, who finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. "It was kind of like that tonight. I felt we were struggling, but I looked up and we were up 18. I think that's why no one is panicking: Because there's a feeling that when we click, we can be up there with the top teams in the league."