tlongII
11-02-2010, 10:11 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2010/11/chicago_110_portland_98_blazer.html
CHICAGO – It was a brutal night in Chicago for the Trail Blazers, one in which nobody outside of LaMarcus Aldridge could make a shot, and one in which nobody outside of Armon Johnson appeared to play defense.
So after Bulls' stars Luol Deng and Derrick Rose ran the Blazers out of the United Center by way of a 110-98 loss, a curious notion surfaced from inside the Blazers' locker room on Monday.
The team's first loss of the season, surmised team leaders Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby, could be a good thing.
Roy, who scored a season-low 17 points after going 1 for 7 in the first half, said the team's 3-0 opening -- it's best start in 11 seasons -- had taken precedent over the way the team was playing.
"I think it's kind of good to get that whole 3-0 thing out of the way," Roy said. "Now we won't be playing to that, instead of playing to get better. We can put that behind us: The season has started now."
Roy's point was that the Blazers' victories over the Suns, Clippers and Knicks -- all by way of fourth-quarter comebacks -- had masked the team's flaws.
Eric Gordon had torched the team's transition defense, running coast-to-coast all night in Los Angeles. The Knicks exposed a lack of rebounding, hauling in 18 offensive rebounds that led to 23 second-chance points. And until a late-game freeze, Phoenix scorched the nets, hitting 56 percent through three quarters.
"We won those first three games, and we didn't play bad, but I don't think we played really good basketball," Roy said. "So when you are 3-1, with the chance to be 3-2, you get a little tighter and you might guard a little tighter. Losing kind of forces you to see what you are made of, and we have that opportunity (today)."
Camby, playing in his 15th NBA season, was just as eager to see what will transpire today in Milwaukee, where Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut and the 1-2 Bucks have been resting for two days.
"Now we have tasted defeat, and now our character is going to come out, and we will see how we can bounce back after a subpar performance," Camby said. "We know we didn't play well, but we really can't hang out heads too low because we get to go back at it in 24 hours."
Until then, a surly coach Nate McMillan will surely pound home the hideous videotape of a game where nothing went right outside of a marvelous performance by Aldridge (33 points, nine rebounds) and a late boost from the rookie Johnson (10 points and some dogged defense).
The Blazers missed all 14 of their three-point attempts while the Bulls shot a staggering 60.6 percent from the field, which included Deng's career-high of 40 points. Deng made 14 of 19 shots, most taken with such ease it appeared as if it were pregame warmups. Actually, he might have faced tougher defense then.
Rose, meanwhile toyed with the Blazers, keeping them guessing whether he would shoot, pass or drive. He did it all, whenever he wanted, finishing with 16 points (6 of 11 shooting), 13 assists and five rebounds. He did have six turnovers, but four of them were in the fourth, when he was being hounded by Johnson.
The transition defense was again sloppy, allowing a whopping 27 fast-break points, including one coast-to-coast layup by C.J. Watson that never featured a Blazers defender within shouting distance the entire play.
"Defensively, we are playing soft," McMillan said, practically hissing. "We are giving up layups, and this team shoots 60 percent from the field. There's no excuse for that."
Chicago (2-1) had not been an offensive juggernaut in its first two games, having made only 43 percent of its shots. And Deng was averaging only 11 points on 7 for 23 shooting. "I thought they had uncontested shots, we didn't contest shots like we needed to," McMillan said.
The only bright spot came after McMillan took out his starters with about 5:30 left in the game. With Johnson, Rudy Fernandez, Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham and Fabricio Oberto, the Blazers went on an 8-0 run against the Bulls starters to cut the lead to 101-92 with 3:59 left.
When Cunningham ran in front of a Rose pass, the Blazers had a chance to cut it to seven, or possibly six. But Babbit, playing in his first NBA game, traveled, and the Blazers never got closer.
CHICAGO – It was a brutal night in Chicago for the Trail Blazers, one in which nobody outside of LaMarcus Aldridge could make a shot, and one in which nobody outside of Armon Johnson appeared to play defense.
So after Bulls' stars Luol Deng and Derrick Rose ran the Blazers out of the United Center by way of a 110-98 loss, a curious notion surfaced from inside the Blazers' locker room on Monday.
The team's first loss of the season, surmised team leaders Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby, could be a good thing.
Roy, who scored a season-low 17 points after going 1 for 7 in the first half, said the team's 3-0 opening -- it's best start in 11 seasons -- had taken precedent over the way the team was playing.
"I think it's kind of good to get that whole 3-0 thing out of the way," Roy said. "Now we won't be playing to that, instead of playing to get better. We can put that behind us: The season has started now."
Roy's point was that the Blazers' victories over the Suns, Clippers and Knicks -- all by way of fourth-quarter comebacks -- had masked the team's flaws.
Eric Gordon had torched the team's transition defense, running coast-to-coast all night in Los Angeles. The Knicks exposed a lack of rebounding, hauling in 18 offensive rebounds that led to 23 second-chance points. And until a late-game freeze, Phoenix scorched the nets, hitting 56 percent through three quarters.
"We won those first three games, and we didn't play bad, but I don't think we played really good basketball," Roy said. "So when you are 3-1, with the chance to be 3-2, you get a little tighter and you might guard a little tighter. Losing kind of forces you to see what you are made of, and we have that opportunity (today)."
Camby, playing in his 15th NBA season, was just as eager to see what will transpire today in Milwaukee, where Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut and the 1-2 Bucks have been resting for two days.
"Now we have tasted defeat, and now our character is going to come out, and we will see how we can bounce back after a subpar performance," Camby said. "We know we didn't play well, but we really can't hang out heads too low because we get to go back at it in 24 hours."
Until then, a surly coach Nate McMillan will surely pound home the hideous videotape of a game where nothing went right outside of a marvelous performance by Aldridge (33 points, nine rebounds) and a late boost from the rookie Johnson (10 points and some dogged defense).
The Blazers missed all 14 of their three-point attempts while the Bulls shot a staggering 60.6 percent from the field, which included Deng's career-high of 40 points. Deng made 14 of 19 shots, most taken with such ease it appeared as if it were pregame warmups. Actually, he might have faced tougher defense then.
Rose, meanwhile toyed with the Blazers, keeping them guessing whether he would shoot, pass or drive. He did it all, whenever he wanted, finishing with 16 points (6 of 11 shooting), 13 assists and five rebounds. He did have six turnovers, but four of them were in the fourth, when he was being hounded by Johnson.
The transition defense was again sloppy, allowing a whopping 27 fast-break points, including one coast-to-coast layup by C.J. Watson that never featured a Blazers defender within shouting distance the entire play.
"Defensively, we are playing soft," McMillan said, practically hissing. "We are giving up layups, and this team shoots 60 percent from the field. There's no excuse for that."
Chicago (2-1) had not been an offensive juggernaut in its first two games, having made only 43 percent of its shots. And Deng was averaging only 11 points on 7 for 23 shooting. "I thought they had uncontested shots, we didn't contest shots like we needed to," McMillan said.
The only bright spot came after McMillan took out his starters with about 5:30 left in the game. With Johnson, Rudy Fernandez, Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham and Fabricio Oberto, the Blazers went on an 8-0 run against the Bulls starters to cut the lead to 101-92 with 3:59 left.
When Cunningham ran in front of a Rose pass, the Blazers had a chance to cut it to seven, or possibly six. But Babbit, playing in his first NBA game, traveled, and the Blazers never got closer.