tlongII
12-20-2011, 12:19 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2011/12/canzano_utah_jazz_come_to_port.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/john_canzano_impact/photo/spjz1220jpg-d56a3f3f285c9c0a.jpg
The Blazers' Kurt Thomas sets a pick on the Jazz's Alec Burks during Monday's exhibition game at the Rose Garden.
They had a rotten time on the visit. They were whipped, tossed around, and finished off. Probably explains why the Utah Jazz slogged off the Rose Garden Arena court and headed through the tunnel toward the bus home with hardly a word.
Oh, Derrick Favors didn't look all that sad. He had 25 points and 12 rebounds. He smiled, a little. But his teammates looked like a line of souls who had just been sent home after an evening shoveling burning coal in an uncomfortably warm corner of basketball hell.
Portland clubbed Utah 110-90. But that look in the eyes of the Jazz players was all anyone needed to see. Because it said one important thing: Portland is no fun to play anymore.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but Jamal Crawford looks like a cat destined to spend the rest of his career in a Portland uniform. And Raymond Felton is terrific. And man, that Kurt Thomas looks like a nice little pick-up. And so you should call the Blazers ticket office this morning and place a playoff-ticket deposit.
Stop me if you can't handle the optimism. But the NBA preseason is already half over. By Wednesday, it will be done. And the Blazers have the pleasure of playing this lottery-bound Utah squad four times in the 66-game regular season. That's 6 percent of the regular season. Also, there are some other opportunities in the West with the Lakers in chaos and San Antonio aging.
The Blazers? As a nice little surprise? Maybe coach Nate McMillan finally gets a break. But ultimately, Utah had a lousy visit to Portland. That was caused by the Blazers scrapping, and blocking seven Jazz shots, and it made me think about something former Blazer Damon Stoudamire once said about the Blazers teams of the early 2000s.
Stoudamire said they were nasty. And no fun to play against. And that they took great pride in causing headaches for the opposing team. Opponents called in sick. Others didn't play hard against them. And I thought about that kind of psychological advantage as Gerald Wallace planted Devin Harris under the basket on the end of a fast break run, and Chris Johnson, Nic Batum and Thomas registered two swats each.
But through one game, this Blazers bunch doesn't play dirty or won't embarrass itself with a lack of discipline. It just knocks you down, smiles, then helps you up. Then, repeats that until you don't want to get up anymore.
The more long faces that come through the visiting tunnel at the Rose Garden this season, the better. This is a shortened season, too. I'm thinking the back-to-backs or the back-to-back-to-backs will play straight into the hands of a team that isn't much fun to encounter.
So, can Portland really become a bad time for visitors?
I've always wondered when visiting athletes came here, played an NBA game, stayed in a hotel, ate dinner, and then, left talking about how much they love this city if they were talking about the food and hospitality, or the idea that the basketball was pleasant. Can't imagine anyone on the Blazers asking for Kobe Bryant's autograph after a game this season. Can't imagine anyone letting an opponent with a clear lane to the basket have an easy one. In fact, Wesley Matthews, a former Utah player, said he wasn't going to eat dinner with his former teammates as he's done before.
"I forgot we were even playing them," he said, earlier at shoot around.
Faceless opponents around here now, see? A no-nonsense mentality, too. Ducks running back Kenjon Barner sitting court side on Monday? Hmmm, someone drops a "Win the Day" and brings out a new uniform combination and we'll have a full fledged operational change of procedure. (Chip Kelly needs a "TM" on that, quick.) But ultimately if you can be a lousy host, and make the house guests feel crummy, you'll go a long way in this league.
Crawford looked great in his debut. He declared after that he had butterflies when he stepped on the court. Gets them every game. "They go away after 30 seconds," he said. But Crawford seemed unusually interested in pleasing the good people of this city in his first opportunity to perform in front of them. And he did just that with seven assists in his 22 minutes.
Felton was very promising as well. Thomas, too. And never mind that the Jazz are in shambles. The Blazers did exactly what you'd expect a good team to do to a lousy team.
There was a looseness about the Blazers after the game. Wallace leaned in as Crawford was trying to explain to reporters that he's known for scoring first, and in a female-impersonation said, "Oh, Jamal, I'm your biggest fan." It went on and on, until Crawford asked, "Is Gerald going to do this all season?"
Oh, these guys were glad to be back on the court.
They made the opponent wish they weren't.
http://media.oregonlive.com/john_canzano_impact/photo/spjz1220jpg-d56a3f3f285c9c0a.jpg
The Blazers' Kurt Thomas sets a pick on the Jazz's Alec Burks during Monday's exhibition game at the Rose Garden.
They had a rotten time on the visit. They were whipped, tossed around, and finished off. Probably explains why the Utah Jazz slogged off the Rose Garden Arena court and headed through the tunnel toward the bus home with hardly a word.
Oh, Derrick Favors didn't look all that sad. He had 25 points and 12 rebounds. He smiled, a little. But his teammates looked like a line of souls who had just been sent home after an evening shoveling burning coal in an uncomfortably warm corner of basketball hell.
Portland clubbed Utah 110-90. But that look in the eyes of the Jazz players was all anyone needed to see. Because it said one important thing: Portland is no fun to play anymore.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but Jamal Crawford looks like a cat destined to spend the rest of his career in a Portland uniform. And Raymond Felton is terrific. And man, that Kurt Thomas looks like a nice little pick-up. And so you should call the Blazers ticket office this morning and place a playoff-ticket deposit.
Stop me if you can't handle the optimism. But the NBA preseason is already half over. By Wednesday, it will be done. And the Blazers have the pleasure of playing this lottery-bound Utah squad four times in the 66-game regular season. That's 6 percent of the regular season. Also, there are some other opportunities in the West with the Lakers in chaos and San Antonio aging.
The Blazers? As a nice little surprise? Maybe coach Nate McMillan finally gets a break. But ultimately, Utah had a lousy visit to Portland. That was caused by the Blazers scrapping, and blocking seven Jazz shots, and it made me think about something former Blazer Damon Stoudamire once said about the Blazers teams of the early 2000s.
Stoudamire said they were nasty. And no fun to play against. And that they took great pride in causing headaches for the opposing team. Opponents called in sick. Others didn't play hard against them. And I thought about that kind of psychological advantage as Gerald Wallace planted Devin Harris under the basket on the end of a fast break run, and Chris Johnson, Nic Batum and Thomas registered two swats each.
But through one game, this Blazers bunch doesn't play dirty or won't embarrass itself with a lack of discipline. It just knocks you down, smiles, then helps you up. Then, repeats that until you don't want to get up anymore.
The more long faces that come through the visiting tunnel at the Rose Garden this season, the better. This is a shortened season, too. I'm thinking the back-to-backs or the back-to-back-to-backs will play straight into the hands of a team that isn't much fun to encounter.
So, can Portland really become a bad time for visitors?
I've always wondered when visiting athletes came here, played an NBA game, stayed in a hotel, ate dinner, and then, left talking about how much they love this city if they were talking about the food and hospitality, or the idea that the basketball was pleasant. Can't imagine anyone on the Blazers asking for Kobe Bryant's autograph after a game this season. Can't imagine anyone letting an opponent with a clear lane to the basket have an easy one. In fact, Wesley Matthews, a former Utah player, said he wasn't going to eat dinner with his former teammates as he's done before.
"I forgot we were even playing them," he said, earlier at shoot around.
Faceless opponents around here now, see? A no-nonsense mentality, too. Ducks running back Kenjon Barner sitting court side on Monday? Hmmm, someone drops a "Win the Day" and brings out a new uniform combination and we'll have a full fledged operational change of procedure. (Chip Kelly needs a "TM" on that, quick.) But ultimately if you can be a lousy host, and make the house guests feel crummy, you'll go a long way in this league.
Crawford looked great in his debut. He declared after that he had butterflies when he stepped on the court. Gets them every game. "They go away after 30 seconds," he said. But Crawford seemed unusually interested in pleasing the good people of this city in his first opportunity to perform in front of them. And he did just that with seven assists in his 22 minutes.
Felton was very promising as well. Thomas, too. And never mind that the Jazz are in shambles. The Blazers did exactly what you'd expect a good team to do to a lousy team.
There was a looseness about the Blazers after the game. Wallace leaned in as Crawford was trying to explain to reporters that he's known for scoring first, and in a female-impersonation said, "Oh, Jamal, I'm your biggest fan." It went on and on, until Crawford asked, "Is Gerald going to do this all season?"
Oh, these guys were glad to be back on the court.
They made the opponent wish they weren't.