tlongII
10-28-2009, 10:52 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/biggest_highlight_of_trail_bla.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/martyjpg-eb15e710939696d5.jpg
Webster skies for a dunk against the Charlotte Hornets two seasons ago.
Long after the Trail Blazers defeated the Houston Rockets in their regular season opener, rookie Jeff Pendergraph sidled up to his locker in the Rose Garden and hollered out loud:
“Duh nah-nah. Nuh nah-nah,” referencing the trademark SportsCenter jingle.
“That was a Top 10 play, baby,” Pendergraph said, motioning over at Martell Webster, who was answering postgame questions from reporters.
Pendergraph, who is recovering from offseason hip surgery, has been forced to admire his teammates’ accomplishments from the bench. And his favorite moment of the Blazers’ 96-87 Tuesday night win was Webster’s jaw-dropping one-handed dunk over Chuck Hayes that produced the Blazers’ first points of the third quarter.
Asked if he intended on tuning in to SportsCenter after the game, to indeed see if he had landed on the nightly Top 10, Webster scoffed.
“Nah, I really didn’t ever care about that dunk because of all the confusion that led to that,” he said.
Wait. What?
Turns out that one of the biggest highlights of the Blazers’ season opener was born out of chaos.
What the television audience and sellout crowd of 20,403 saw was this: Webster cut to the basket from the wing and LaMarcus Aldridge tossed a bullet pass to him in stride. Webster elevated, cocked his arm back and posterized Hayes with a one-handed finish.
But here is a firsthand account of what unfolded on the court from Webster:
“It was an isolation situation where I saw Aaron Brooks on Brandon (Roy), so I tried to clear out. And the whole time, I tried to clear out to the left and he’s telling me to clear out to the right, to the corner. So I clear out to the left and (Steve) Blake’s like, ‘Post up! Clear out!’ So I ran that way, and he was like, ‘No! Come back!’ So then he passed the ball to LaMarcus and I was just like, ‘Man, whatever.’ I didn’t even think anything about it.”
But the play certainly made an impression at the Rose Garden — and with Pendergraph.
“It was freakin amazing.” Pendergraph said. “He just cocked it back and mmmmmm.”
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/martyjpg-eb15e710939696d5.jpg
Webster skies for a dunk against the Charlotte Hornets two seasons ago.
Long after the Trail Blazers defeated the Houston Rockets in their regular season opener, rookie Jeff Pendergraph sidled up to his locker in the Rose Garden and hollered out loud:
“Duh nah-nah. Nuh nah-nah,” referencing the trademark SportsCenter jingle.
“That was a Top 10 play, baby,” Pendergraph said, motioning over at Martell Webster, who was answering postgame questions from reporters.
Pendergraph, who is recovering from offseason hip surgery, has been forced to admire his teammates’ accomplishments from the bench. And his favorite moment of the Blazers’ 96-87 Tuesday night win was Webster’s jaw-dropping one-handed dunk over Chuck Hayes that produced the Blazers’ first points of the third quarter.
Asked if he intended on tuning in to SportsCenter after the game, to indeed see if he had landed on the nightly Top 10, Webster scoffed.
“Nah, I really didn’t ever care about that dunk because of all the confusion that led to that,” he said.
Wait. What?
Turns out that one of the biggest highlights of the Blazers’ season opener was born out of chaos.
What the television audience and sellout crowd of 20,403 saw was this: Webster cut to the basket from the wing and LaMarcus Aldridge tossed a bullet pass to him in stride. Webster elevated, cocked his arm back and posterized Hayes with a one-handed finish.
But here is a firsthand account of what unfolded on the court from Webster:
“It was an isolation situation where I saw Aaron Brooks on Brandon (Roy), so I tried to clear out. And the whole time, I tried to clear out to the left and he’s telling me to clear out to the right, to the corner. So I clear out to the left and (Steve) Blake’s like, ‘Post up! Clear out!’ So I ran that way, and he was like, ‘No! Come back!’ So then he passed the ball to LaMarcus and I was just like, ‘Man, whatever.’ I didn’t even think anything about it.”
But the play certainly made an impression at the Rose Garden — and with Pendergraph.
“It was freakin amazing.” Pendergraph said. “He just cocked it back and mmmmmm.”