tlongII
11-14-2009, 07:57 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/portland_86_new_orleans_78_ald.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/aldridge5jpg-253ab7772750a84c_medium.jpg
LaMarcus Aldridge shoots over the Hornets' David West in a matchup of an All-Star and an All-Star hopeful.
NEW ORLEANS -- Before the season started, LaMarcus Aldridge said he was starting to feel a little ridiculous talking about his annual goal to make the All-Star Game.
As he discovered during the past two seasons, talking about it doesn't equate to making the February classic.
What can get him to his goal are nights like Friday, when Aldridge carried the Trail Blazers through a game-breaking third-quarter run with a flurry of jumpers and inside grit that pushed the Blazers to an ugly 86-78 win over the New Orleans Hornets.
Aldridge finished with game-highs of 20 points and 13 rebounds, outdueling his counterpart David West (15 points, 10 rebounds), who was chosen instead of Aldridge for last year's All-Star Game.
Aldridge said he was aware of the All-Star significance of his matchup with West but it didn't occupy his mind.
"As a player who has wanted to go the past couple of years, I think about it, but I don't focus on it," Aldridge said. "It's a team game. If we keep winning like we are, then we will all prosper."
The Blazers (7-3) are already prospering, off to their best start of the decade. They have won five in a row and have won four consecutive road games for the first time in the Nate McMillan era, and the first time since January 2004.
The funny thing is, the team doesn't yet feel like it is fully clicking. There has yet to be one player on fire, and every night it seems a different player steps up and carries the team.
At first on Friday, it didn't look like anybody would step up and have a good game for either team.
The Hornets (3-7) were playing their first game under interim coach/general manager Jeff Bower, who replaced fired coach Byron Scott on Thursday. The Blazers braced for an emotional and energetic start from the Hornets, but it never came, as New Orleans opened the game missing 20 of its first 23 shots.
Even with their horrible shooting, the Hornets trailed only 11-6, as the Blazers were just as bad. Portland started missing 16 of its first 20 shots. The score at the end of the first quarter looked like a middle school game: Portland 14, New Orleans 12.
Turns out the problem – at least from the Blazers' point of view -- was the ball.
"We didn't like the ball," Brandon Roy said. "As soon as the referee threw it to me I was like, 'What? This is a nasty ball.' It was just an old ball. Real old ball."
The visiting team usually gets to pick the game ball, and Roy said Steve Blake told him that wasn't the ball he selected. In fact, the NBA has a new rule this season that requires the game ball to have a newly stamped "genuine leather" indicator. The rule was put in to prevent old, beat-up balls from being used. Roy said Friday's game ball didn't carry the required stamp.
"We complained to the refs, but they said they were going to stick with it," Roy said. "So we told ourselves to try and play through it."
It wasn't until Aldridge took over in the third quarter that the Blazers were able to break away.
Leading 37-33 at the half, the Blazers went immediately to Aldridge, who played only the opening 10:32 of the first half because of two fouls. Aldridge said the coaching staff told him to be ready to carry the team at the start of the third because he had rested the entire second quarter.
On the first possession, Aldridge did what McMillan has wanted to see more of this year: a hard drive to his right, finished off by a driving right-handed hook shot. It went in and the Blazers were off to a 9-0 run.
When New Orleans scrapped back to 46-38, Aldridge put the game away with four consecutive jump shots to give the Blazers a 54-40 lead.
"I was fresh," Aldridge said. "And I was ready."
The only remaining drama came when the Blazers let a 16-point lead get down to 72-63 with seven minutes remaining. That's when Aldridge went inside again and scored while being fouled by Emeka Okafor. Aldridge missed the free throw, but Andre Miller got the rebound, and Greg Oden rebounded a miss by Roy and the Blazers were back in control, 76-63.
"I think our defense kept us in the game," Aldridge said. "We knew if we kept playing defense, our shots would eventually fall. And they did tonight."
In the process, Aldridge might have taken one step close to getting an All-Star nod. Not that he is worried about it.
"I think, of course, he wants to make it, but he also understands at the same time that he wants to play within the team," Roy said. "I always tell him, first we have to win, because we don't get enough exposure to get voted in, so we have to win and then people will take some notice to what we are doing. Just play your game and that stuff will come."
Notes: Oden finished with 12 rebounds and three blocks, scoring eight points after missing his first five shots. ...
Joel Przybilla also had three blocks to go along with 10 points and eight rebounds. ...
New Orleans guard Chris Paul sprained his left ankle with 40 seconds left in the third quarter and did not return. Paul, who landed on the foot of Przybilla, was having a forgetful night, shooting 1 for 8 from the field with three points and eight assists in 31 minutes. In the last three seasons, Paul has suffered a game-ending injury, including a groin injury last season and a thumb injury the year before. ...
Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic shot 1 for 7, which came on the heels of an 0 for 8 performance in the previous game. ...
Martell Webster, who changed his uniform number this season to 23, said he endorses LeBron James' campaign for the NBA to retire No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan. The Cleveland star said he will change his number to 6 next season in honor of Jordan. Webster said he would gladly change, but he said he would not go back to his original number, 8. ...
The Blazers had 60 rebounds, the most in a game since grabbing 62 at Boston in December 2004.
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/aldridge5jpg-253ab7772750a84c_medium.jpg
LaMarcus Aldridge shoots over the Hornets' David West in a matchup of an All-Star and an All-Star hopeful.
NEW ORLEANS -- Before the season started, LaMarcus Aldridge said he was starting to feel a little ridiculous talking about his annual goal to make the All-Star Game.
As he discovered during the past two seasons, talking about it doesn't equate to making the February classic.
What can get him to his goal are nights like Friday, when Aldridge carried the Trail Blazers through a game-breaking third-quarter run with a flurry of jumpers and inside grit that pushed the Blazers to an ugly 86-78 win over the New Orleans Hornets.
Aldridge finished with game-highs of 20 points and 13 rebounds, outdueling his counterpart David West (15 points, 10 rebounds), who was chosen instead of Aldridge for last year's All-Star Game.
Aldridge said he was aware of the All-Star significance of his matchup with West but it didn't occupy his mind.
"As a player who has wanted to go the past couple of years, I think about it, but I don't focus on it," Aldridge said. "It's a team game. If we keep winning like we are, then we will all prosper."
The Blazers (7-3) are already prospering, off to their best start of the decade. They have won five in a row and have won four consecutive road games for the first time in the Nate McMillan era, and the first time since January 2004.
The funny thing is, the team doesn't yet feel like it is fully clicking. There has yet to be one player on fire, and every night it seems a different player steps up and carries the team.
At first on Friday, it didn't look like anybody would step up and have a good game for either team.
The Hornets (3-7) were playing their first game under interim coach/general manager Jeff Bower, who replaced fired coach Byron Scott on Thursday. The Blazers braced for an emotional and energetic start from the Hornets, but it never came, as New Orleans opened the game missing 20 of its first 23 shots.
Even with their horrible shooting, the Hornets trailed only 11-6, as the Blazers were just as bad. Portland started missing 16 of its first 20 shots. The score at the end of the first quarter looked like a middle school game: Portland 14, New Orleans 12.
Turns out the problem – at least from the Blazers' point of view -- was the ball.
"We didn't like the ball," Brandon Roy said. "As soon as the referee threw it to me I was like, 'What? This is a nasty ball.' It was just an old ball. Real old ball."
The visiting team usually gets to pick the game ball, and Roy said Steve Blake told him that wasn't the ball he selected. In fact, the NBA has a new rule this season that requires the game ball to have a newly stamped "genuine leather" indicator. The rule was put in to prevent old, beat-up balls from being used. Roy said Friday's game ball didn't carry the required stamp.
"We complained to the refs, but they said they were going to stick with it," Roy said. "So we told ourselves to try and play through it."
It wasn't until Aldridge took over in the third quarter that the Blazers were able to break away.
Leading 37-33 at the half, the Blazers went immediately to Aldridge, who played only the opening 10:32 of the first half because of two fouls. Aldridge said the coaching staff told him to be ready to carry the team at the start of the third because he had rested the entire second quarter.
On the first possession, Aldridge did what McMillan has wanted to see more of this year: a hard drive to his right, finished off by a driving right-handed hook shot. It went in and the Blazers were off to a 9-0 run.
When New Orleans scrapped back to 46-38, Aldridge put the game away with four consecutive jump shots to give the Blazers a 54-40 lead.
"I was fresh," Aldridge said. "And I was ready."
The only remaining drama came when the Blazers let a 16-point lead get down to 72-63 with seven minutes remaining. That's when Aldridge went inside again and scored while being fouled by Emeka Okafor. Aldridge missed the free throw, but Andre Miller got the rebound, and Greg Oden rebounded a miss by Roy and the Blazers were back in control, 76-63.
"I think our defense kept us in the game," Aldridge said. "We knew if we kept playing defense, our shots would eventually fall. And they did tonight."
In the process, Aldridge might have taken one step close to getting an All-Star nod. Not that he is worried about it.
"I think, of course, he wants to make it, but he also understands at the same time that he wants to play within the team," Roy said. "I always tell him, first we have to win, because we don't get enough exposure to get voted in, so we have to win and then people will take some notice to what we are doing. Just play your game and that stuff will come."
Notes: Oden finished with 12 rebounds and three blocks, scoring eight points after missing his first five shots. ...
Joel Przybilla also had three blocks to go along with 10 points and eight rebounds. ...
New Orleans guard Chris Paul sprained his left ankle with 40 seconds left in the third quarter and did not return. Paul, who landed on the foot of Przybilla, was having a forgetful night, shooting 1 for 8 from the field with three points and eight assists in 31 minutes. In the last three seasons, Paul has suffered a game-ending injury, including a groin injury last season and a thumb injury the year before. ...
Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic shot 1 for 7, which came on the heels of an 0 for 8 performance in the previous game. ...
Martell Webster, who changed his uniform number this season to 23, said he endorses LeBron James' campaign for the NBA to retire No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan. The Cleveland star said he will change his number to 6 next season in honor of Jordan. Webster said he would gladly change, but he said he would not go back to his original number, 8. ...
The Blazers had 60 rebounds, the most in a game since grabbing 62 at Boston in December 2004.