tlongII
12-20-2011, 02:18 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/12/surprise_trail_blazers_look_crisp_and_polished_in. html
Nobody was ready to call it a Renaissance-era work of art.
But, all things considered, the Trail Blazers’ debut performance of the 2011-12 season wasn’t half bad.
The Blazers handed the Utah Jazz a start-to-finish beat down Monday night at the Rose Garden, winning their exhibition opener 110-90 before 19,997 at the Rose Garden.
“It was pretty good,” guard Wesley Matthews said. “I don’t know if I would say (it was) the best case, but we’ll take it. We won, we played well, it looked like we gelled well together. We still have some stuff to clean up, but that’s expected.”
In fact, it was expected that there would be a lot more to clean up.
Coach Nate McMillan had spent the better part of the last two days warning that fans should be ready for what many predict will be the cover-your-eyes norm in the early part of the NBA season: ill-advised passes, air balls, poor execution and dog-tired players. The consensus is this lockout-shortened NBA season will start out sloppy and continue so for an extended stretch of the early season.
But that wasn’t quite the case Monday night for the Blazers.
From the opening tip, they flashed athleticism, polish and a little pizzazz in debuting their new-look uptempo offense. The Blazers made seven of their first nine field goals and built a 20-7 lead in what seemed like the blink of eye as the Raymond Felton-led offense relentlessly pushed the pace and converted.
Throughout the early burst, the Blazers rarely let the shot clock tick down to single digits as they attacked the Jazz from all angles. They didn’t let up most of the night.
“I thought those guys did a good job of pushing the ball,” McMillan said. “The spacing was good, we had good ball movement. We should have had more points, but we didn’t knock down some shots. ... But I liked the start, especially on the defensive end of the floor. A lot of guys played well.”
Nobody is claiming the Jazz — who played without Paul Millsap — are a Western Conference contender. But considering the Blazers haven’t watched franchise cornerstone LaMarcus Aldridge go through a full practice yet and also just added three new free agents late in training camp, it was a solid opening.
Nicolas Batum has a theory about the pleasant surprise — it’s all about him.
“That was my 37th game on the year,” he said, laughing, noting that he played in France throughout the lockout. “That’s me. I bring everything.”
Batum did appear to be in midseason form, streaking for fast breaks, trailing in transition for out-of-nowhere blocks and shooting 5 for 8 from the field in finishing with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. But he was hardly alone.
All 13 Blazers who played scored and nine finished with eight or more as the Blazers flashed depth that the franchise hasn’t seen the last two injury-plagued seasons.
Matthews finished with 17 points, Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ Williams had 13 and Gerald Wallace added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Felton missed a couple easy layups, but looked poised and in control behind the wheel of his new team en route to nine points and four assists.
Newly-signed Jamal Crawford added eight points and seven assists for the Blazers, alternating between point guard and shooting guard.
The Blazers accumulated 15 steals, seven blocks and forced the Jazz into 23 turnovers in a variety of ways, from shot-clock violations to hideous passes. What’s more, no one complained about being fatigued in the postgame locker room.
“We’re not in game shape yet, but we’re almost there,” Batum said. “You can see that tonight.”
The Jazz certainly did their part to help the crisp Blazers performance. They heaved a couple air-ball three pointers, didn’t reach double figures in scoring until less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter and committed countless blunders. If anything, they showcased the sloppy basketball most are expected.
And the Blazers have their share of areas to work on. But, all in all, it could have been much worse.
“It wasn’t a bad showing,” Matthews said. “It was better than I thought and it’s only going to get better.”
Notes: Aldridge is scheduled to go through his first full practice on Tuesday. He participated in portions of practice over the weekend, but has been cleared to play in scrimmages and other portions that include contact. McMillan said the team remains hopeful Aldridge will play in the exhibition finale Wednesday at Utah. ... The Blazers struggled from three-point range — making just 6 of 23 shots — but made up for it by converting 37 of 54 two-point attempts. ... The Blazers improved to 34-14 in exhibition games at the Rose Garden. ... The Blazers visit the Jazz on Wednesday. ... Derrick Favors scored a game-high 25 points for the Jazz.
Nobody was ready to call it a Renaissance-era work of art.
But, all things considered, the Trail Blazers’ debut performance of the 2011-12 season wasn’t half bad.
The Blazers handed the Utah Jazz a start-to-finish beat down Monday night at the Rose Garden, winning their exhibition opener 110-90 before 19,997 at the Rose Garden.
“It was pretty good,” guard Wesley Matthews said. “I don’t know if I would say (it was) the best case, but we’ll take it. We won, we played well, it looked like we gelled well together. We still have some stuff to clean up, but that’s expected.”
In fact, it was expected that there would be a lot more to clean up.
Coach Nate McMillan had spent the better part of the last two days warning that fans should be ready for what many predict will be the cover-your-eyes norm in the early part of the NBA season: ill-advised passes, air balls, poor execution and dog-tired players. The consensus is this lockout-shortened NBA season will start out sloppy and continue so for an extended stretch of the early season.
But that wasn’t quite the case Monday night for the Blazers.
From the opening tip, they flashed athleticism, polish and a little pizzazz in debuting their new-look uptempo offense. The Blazers made seven of their first nine field goals and built a 20-7 lead in what seemed like the blink of eye as the Raymond Felton-led offense relentlessly pushed the pace and converted.
Throughout the early burst, the Blazers rarely let the shot clock tick down to single digits as they attacked the Jazz from all angles. They didn’t let up most of the night.
“I thought those guys did a good job of pushing the ball,” McMillan said. “The spacing was good, we had good ball movement. We should have had more points, but we didn’t knock down some shots. ... But I liked the start, especially on the defensive end of the floor. A lot of guys played well.”
Nobody is claiming the Jazz — who played without Paul Millsap — are a Western Conference contender. But considering the Blazers haven’t watched franchise cornerstone LaMarcus Aldridge go through a full practice yet and also just added three new free agents late in training camp, it was a solid opening.
Nicolas Batum has a theory about the pleasant surprise — it’s all about him.
“That was my 37th game on the year,” he said, laughing, noting that he played in France throughout the lockout. “That’s me. I bring everything.”
Batum did appear to be in midseason form, streaking for fast breaks, trailing in transition for out-of-nowhere blocks and shooting 5 for 8 from the field in finishing with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. But he was hardly alone.
All 13 Blazers who played scored and nine finished with eight or more as the Blazers flashed depth that the franchise hasn’t seen the last two injury-plagued seasons.
Matthews finished with 17 points, Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ Williams had 13 and Gerald Wallace added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Felton missed a couple easy layups, but looked poised and in control behind the wheel of his new team en route to nine points and four assists.
Newly-signed Jamal Crawford added eight points and seven assists for the Blazers, alternating between point guard and shooting guard.
The Blazers accumulated 15 steals, seven blocks and forced the Jazz into 23 turnovers in a variety of ways, from shot-clock violations to hideous passes. What’s more, no one complained about being fatigued in the postgame locker room.
“We’re not in game shape yet, but we’re almost there,” Batum said. “You can see that tonight.”
The Jazz certainly did their part to help the crisp Blazers performance. They heaved a couple air-ball three pointers, didn’t reach double figures in scoring until less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter and committed countless blunders. If anything, they showcased the sloppy basketball most are expected.
And the Blazers have their share of areas to work on. But, all in all, it could have been much worse.
“It wasn’t a bad showing,” Matthews said. “It was better than I thought and it’s only going to get better.”
Notes: Aldridge is scheduled to go through his first full practice on Tuesday. He participated in portions of practice over the weekend, but has been cleared to play in scrimmages and other portions that include contact. McMillan said the team remains hopeful Aldridge will play in the exhibition finale Wednesday at Utah. ... The Blazers struggled from three-point range — making just 6 of 23 shots — but made up for it by converting 37 of 54 two-point attempts. ... The Blazers improved to 34-14 in exhibition games at the Rose Garden. ... The Blazers visit the Jazz on Wednesday. ... Derrick Favors scored a game-high 25 points for the Jazz.