tlongII
10-28-2009, 10:50 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/10/canzano_the_nuggets_will_be_a.html
The game ended. The city exhaled. And the Trail Blazers toweled off in the locker room, and reflected, and understood that their fight is just beginning.
More on that in a bit.
First, it was Portland 96, Houston 87 on Tuesday at the Rose Garden. That's 1-0 with 81 to go. And there was nothing more evident in the first game of the season than the fact that we'll learn more about the Blazers in the second game than we ever could in the first.
The Rockets were undersized. Which explains why Portland outrebounded them by 18. But doesn't begin to explain how it was possible that Houston outscored the Blazers in the paint 40-24.
Said Greg Oden on one side of the locker room: "They did, really?"
Then, he squinted, shook his head, and said: "I know I sure didn't help."
Oden scored two points and had seven turnovers. It was awkward to watch, but he had 12 rebounds and blocked five shots. So what we had was exactly one-half the performance that you someday hope to get from the big guy. Again, the fight is just beginning.
"I came here to bring energy and keep playing," said Oden.
He gets another chance Thursday. They all do. Because the Nuggets will be bigger, tougher and more skilled than the Rockets. Denver will be nasty. It will scrap. It will hustle. It will throw elbows and bang bodies. It has Carmelo Anthony, and Kenyon Martin and a guy known best as "Birdman" around the league. So what we have Thursday feels as much a mixed martial arts event as it does a basketball game.
The Rockets had no true center. They didn't compete for stretches in the second and third periods. They hustled, but lacked the ability to give the Blazers a figurative punch in the face.
Denver will come in swinging. And the Northwest Division reigning co-champions won't back down should the Blazers get ahead, which makes what we're about to witness a wonderful litmus test for the team in red and black.
Not tough enough?
That was the knock on the Blazers in the last postseason. The Blazers acknowledged it after losing the series. The front office attempted to address the issue through free agency, adding tough veterans such as Andre Miller. And everyone pointed to the season opener (Read: Playoff Rematch) against Houston as an opportunity to see if Portland really has what it takes to win a tough series this season.
Then, the Rockets got off the bus and there was no Yao Ming, and no Ron Artest, and a 6-foot-6 center posting up against Oden. And what everyone quickly realized was this wasn't a test of grit as much as it was focus.
The Blazers had some strange lapses Tuesday. Which explains how they jeopardized a 20-point lead and had to hold on in the final few minutes. But if we're really looking to test Portland's 2009-10 season mettle we get that opportunity Thursday when the Nuggets and Blazers meet in the city's back alley to settle things.
We learn Thursday if the Blazers are tough enough.
Portland and Denver played tense preseason games against each other. These teams aren't friendly. And when I asked Martell Webster whether he expected a more difficult test than Tuesday or even the preseason games against the Nuggets, he said, "Yeah, this one counts."
Denver will bring the same attitude.
The season opener was joyful. The players broke a sweat. Fans screamed. The team got a victory. Everyone left happy. For fans, seeing the team shuffle onto the court before the game was like sitting on the porch, watching an old friend come up the driveway.
Good to see Brandon Roy smiling again. And his teammates running around slapping backs. But the Rockets aren't good enough, or tough enough anymore, to do anything but serve as the perfect opening-night patsy.
"They all count," one Blazers executive said as the team left the floor undefeated. And it's true, this is a long season, and there's so much in front of the organization we don't yet know about.
But we will learn so much more Thursday, won't we?
The game ended. The city exhaled. And the Trail Blazers toweled off in the locker room, and reflected, and understood that their fight is just beginning.
More on that in a bit.
First, it was Portland 96, Houston 87 on Tuesday at the Rose Garden. That's 1-0 with 81 to go. And there was nothing more evident in the first game of the season than the fact that we'll learn more about the Blazers in the second game than we ever could in the first.
The Rockets were undersized. Which explains why Portland outrebounded them by 18. But doesn't begin to explain how it was possible that Houston outscored the Blazers in the paint 40-24.
Said Greg Oden on one side of the locker room: "They did, really?"
Then, he squinted, shook his head, and said: "I know I sure didn't help."
Oden scored two points and had seven turnovers. It was awkward to watch, but he had 12 rebounds and blocked five shots. So what we had was exactly one-half the performance that you someday hope to get from the big guy. Again, the fight is just beginning.
"I came here to bring energy and keep playing," said Oden.
He gets another chance Thursday. They all do. Because the Nuggets will be bigger, tougher and more skilled than the Rockets. Denver will be nasty. It will scrap. It will hustle. It will throw elbows and bang bodies. It has Carmelo Anthony, and Kenyon Martin and a guy known best as "Birdman" around the league. So what we have Thursday feels as much a mixed martial arts event as it does a basketball game.
The Rockets had no true center. They didn't compete for stretches in the second and third periods. They hustled, but lacked the ability to give the Blazers a figurative punch in the face.
Denver will come in swinging. And the Northwest Division reigning co-champions won't back down should the Blazers get ahead, which makes what we're about to witness a wonderful litmus test for the team in red and black.
Not tough enough?
That was the knock on the Blazers in the last postseason. The Blazers acknowledged it after losing the series. The front office attempted to address the issue through free agency, adding tough veterans such as Andre Miller. And everyone pointed to the season opener (Read: Playoff Rematch) against Houston as an opportunity to see if Portland really has what it takes to win a tough series this season.
Then, the Rockets got off the bus and there was no Yao Ming, and no Ron Artest, and a 6-foot-6 center posting up against Oden. And what everyone quickly realized was this wasn't a test of grit as much as it was focus.
The Blazers had some strange lapses Tuesday. Which explains how they jeopardized a 20-point lead and had to hold on in the final few minutes. But if we're really looking to test Portland's 2009-10 season mettle we get that opportunity Thursday when the Nuggets and Blazers meet in the city's back alley to settle things.
We learn Thursday if the Blazers are tough enough.
Portland and Denver played tense preseason games against each other. These teams aren't friendly. And when I asked Martell Webster whether he expected a more difficult test than Tuesday or even the preseason games against the Nuggets, he said, "Yeah, this one counts."
Denver will bring the same attitude.
The season opener was joyful. The players broke a sweat. Fans screamed. The team got a victory. Everyone left happy. For fans, seeing the team shuffle onto the court before the game was like sitting on the porch, watching an old friend come up the driveway.
Good to see Brandon Roy smiling again. And his teammates running around slapping backs. But the Rockets aren't good enough, or tough enough anymore, to do anything but serve as the perfect opening-night patsy.
"They all count," one Blazers executive said as the team left the floor undefeated. And it's true, this is a long season, and there's so much in front of the organization we don't yet know about.
But we will learn so much more Thursday, won't we?