tlongII
12-28-2011, 02:17 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/12/blazers_22.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/oregonian/photo/2011/12/10390111-standard.jpg
Portland's Jamal Crawford elevates to shoot with Sacramento's Jimmer Fredette #7 defending as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Sacramento Kings at the Rose Garden.
How did the Trail Blazers, who seemed lethargic early in their game against the Kings, turn things their way, leading to a 101-79 victory at the Rose Garden on Tuesday?
Defense.
“We kind of settled down to our defensive scheme, how we wanted to play defense,” forward Gerald Wallace said.
Portland just smothered the Kings after halftime. Here’s what the Blazers did defensively in the second half: held Sacramento to 23.7 percent field goal shooting and 33 points; forced 10 turnovers; and had five steals and blocked seven shots.
That’s some big-time defending.
There’s a lot of optimism about the Blazers in Portland. I’ve had people who know sports well tell me they think Portland might reach the Western Conference Finals.
That might be much for a team that has only played two games, even if they won both. But the Blazers do possess a veteran-packed lineup with players who know how to play NBA basketball. You saw the difference Tuesday in the Kings, who certainly have talented players, but don't have a lot of experience.
“At this stage of our development, it’s very clear we got beat by a better team tonight,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “They were more together, more solid, at both ends of the floor. They were on the same page. We had our moments, and then we fell apart.”
Westphal said that once Portland was able to stop the Kings from penetrating, they were not able to counter and started to try to play one-on-one, basically playing into Portland’s hands.
All in all, it was a good win for the Blazers.
Others tidbits, notes and links from Tuesday’s game:
• Fatigue continued to be an issue for the Blazers, but they countered by going deep into their bench to defeat the Kings, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman reports.
• The Blazers continue to show versatility in how they can group players. During a big second-half run, they had a big backcourt of Jamal Crawford (6-foot-5) and Nicolas Batum (6-8), a serious contrast to the Kings’ second-unit guard pairing of Isaiah Thomas (5-9) and Jimmer Fredette (6-2).
The big Portland backcourt was grouped for a stretch with Wallace, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby.
“That is a long, athletic team that should be able to defend as well as run,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said.
McMillan also unleashed veteran big man Craig Smith, who gave the Blazers a strong eight minutes in the second half.
“We felt like we needed some beef in there and he came in and gave us a nice lift in there,” McMillan said.
• The man of the night was unquestionably Wallace, and the Rose Garden crowd serenaded him by chanting his name. It could be part of what the O's Jason Quick writes is the Blazers' big move to re-sign Wallace when his contract expires next summer.
If you want Wallace back and are looking for hopeful signs, read Quick's column.
• The Blazers' taller backcourt did mean starting point guard Raymond Felton was on the bench for key stretches of the second half. Felton said exactly what you hope a player would say about that.
"I don’t care man -- as long as we win the games," he said.
'
• For some reason, there were sparse boos for Fredette each time he touched the ball. Not sure why.
But Fredette also had some supporters in the crowd. Behind the Kings bench, one person held up a sign that said "Jimmer" next to another who had a sign that said, "Time." There also was a woman who had a sign expressing support for the Blazers and Fredette. Is that even legal?
There also was a sign, held up by a guy wearing a No. 25 Blazers jersey, that read, "Welcome home Travis," a tribute to former Blazer Travis Outlaw, who plays for the Kings. Outlaw had a rough shooting night, going 0 for 5 and scoring two points, but did chip in seven rebounds.
• The Blazers are taking Wednesday off before they return to action against Denver at the Rose Garden on Thursday. The Nuggets, who easily beat Dallas 115-93 in their opener Monday, host Utah tonight, so it will be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out.
Two members of last season's Blazers, Andre Miller and Rudy Fernandez, play for Denver, and it will be interesting to see how strong a reaction they get.
As for the Blazers taking the day off, well, they surely need it. If you saw the energy that Wallace played with Tuesday, you might be surprised by what he said about fatigue after the game.
"I was tired before I got here, I was tired at halftime, I’m tired right now," he said.
http://media.oregonlive.com/oregonian/photo/2011/12/10390111-standard.jpg
Portland's Jamal Crawford elevates to shoot with Sacramento's Jimmer Fredette #7 defending as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Sacramento Kings at the Rose Garden.
How did the Trail Blazers, who seemed lethargic early in their game against the Kings, turn things their way, leading to a 101-79 victory at the Rose Garden on Tuesday?
Defense.
“We kind of settled down to our defensive scheme, how we wanted to play defense,” forward Gerald Wallace said.
Portland just smothered the Kings after halftime. Here’s what the Blazers did defensively in the second half: held Sacramento to 23.7 percent field goal shooting and 33 points; forced 10 turnovers; and had five steals and blocked seven shots.
That’s some big-time defending.
There’s a lot of optimism about the Blazers in Portland. I’ve had people who know sports well tell me they think Portland might reach the Western Conference Finals.
That might be much for a team that has only played two games, even if they won both. But the Blazers do possess a veteran-packed lineup with players who know how to play NBA basketball. You saw the difference Tuesday in the Kings, who certainly have talented players, but don't have a lot of experience.
“At this stage of our development, it’s very clear we got beat by a better team tonight,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “They were more together, more solid, at both ends of the floor. They were on the same page. We had our moments, and then we fell apart.”
Westphal said that once Portland was able to stop the Kings from penetrating, they were not able to counter and started to try to play one-on-one, basically playing into Portland’s hands.
All in all, it was a good win for the Blazers.
Others tidbits, notes and links from Tuesday’s game:
• Fatigue continued to be an issue for the Blazers, but they countered by going deep into their bench to defeat the Kings, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman reports.
• The Blazers continue to show versatility in how they can group players. During a big second-half run, they had a big backcourt of Jamal Crawford (6-foot-5) and Nicolas Batum (6-8), a serious contrast to the Kings’ second-unit guard pairing of Isaiah Thomas (5-9) and Jimmer Fredette (6-2).
The big Portland backcourt was grouped for a stretch with Wallace, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby.
“That is a long, athletic team that should be able to defend as well as run,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said.
McMillan also unleashed veteran big man Craig Smith, who gave the Blazers a strong eight minutes in the second half.
“We felt like we needed some beef in there and he came in and gave us a nice lift in there,” McMillan said.
• The man of the night was unquestionably Wallace, and the Rose Garden crowd serenaded him by chanting his name. It could be part of what the O's Jason Quick writes is the Blazers' big move to re-sign Wallace when his contract expires next summer.
If you want Wallace back and are looking for hopeful signs, read Quick's column.
• The Blazers' taller backcourt did mean starting point guard Raymond Felton was on the bench for key stretches of the second half. Felton said exactly what you hope a player would say about that.
"I don’t care man -- as long as we win the games," he said.
'
• For some reason, there were sparse boos for Fredette each time he touched the ball. Not sure why.
But Fredette also had some supporters in the crowd. Behind the Kings bench, one person held up a sign that said "Jimmer" next to another who had a sign that said, "Time." There also was a woman who had a sign expressing support for the Blazers and Fredette. Is that even legal?
There also was a sign, held up by a guy wearing a No. 25 Blazers jersey, that read, "Welcome home Travis," a tribute to former Blazer Travis Outlaw, who plays for the Kings. Outlaw had a rough shooting night, going 0 for 5 and scoring two points, but did chip in seven rebounds.
• The Blazers are taking Wednesday off before they return to action against Denver at the Rose Garden on Thursday. The Nuggets, who easily beat Dallas 115-93 in their opener Monday, host Utah tonight, so it will be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out.
Two members of last season's Blazers, Andre Miller and Rudy Fernandez, play for Denver, and it will be interesting to see how strong a reaction they get.
As for the Blazers taking the day off, well, they surely need it. If you saw the energy that Wallace played with Tuesday, you might be surprised by what he said about fatigue after the game.
"I was tired before I got here, I was tired at halftime, I’m tired right now," he said.