another re ed thread by the op
If experience was overrated, New Orleans will NOT sign a MLE contract to James Posey. And I'm also pretty sure that other teams chased after James Posey for the same reasons New Orleans did... for playoff experience.
Also, one of the reasons that I hate the lakers the most but respect them the most is because their most experienced player is not kobe, or any other player for that matter with the exception of derek fisher. He was pretty much the one who pulled the lakers to championships.
The Blazers do have unreal talent. The Lakers might have more at the top of the roster but the Blazers have talent from top to bottom. Just at SF alone they have Outlaw, Martell and Batum. Batum IMO is one of the top 5 rookies so far considering he is only 19 and has been starting and playing incredible defense. The Blazers will have a hard time getting minutes for all 3. Would the Spurs want Webster or Outlaw?
I can easily see Outlaw getting traded. I don't think the Spurs have anything we want though.
Portland needs to make the playoffs and win at least a couple of rounds before you can talk about elite... Sorry, but elite teams are not made in the regular season...
Lets see where they are come April and May.
Why am I not surprised to read that? You are assuming Oden stays healthy all season.
Portland = 1st round exit.
Not elite.
An insider on a Cavs board believes the only place LB goes if he leaves the Cavs would be Portland. NYK isn't a possibility unless they make themselves into an ECF contender he says.
Still a long season to go and it comes down to the leadership of Roy and LMA.
Sorry to be snide but...
Tell that to last years Hornets.
They made it to the second round and played a tough 7 games series against the defending champs... I'd say they've earned their stripes in the playoffs to be considered elite... now, take the Rockets for a team that's an elite wannabe...
Now, which one is Portland? We'll see...
not if they meet the rockets
http://trailblazerscentercourt.blogs...teresting.html
Sunday, November 30, 2008
This is starting to get interesting
It's hard to overstate how important it is to get a good start on a long road trip. A few weeks ago, a win going away in Orlando set the Trail Blazers up for what Nate McMillan has described as one of the best road trips of his tenure as Portland head coach. And now today, the Blazers, lead by the no-longer-slumping LaMarcus Aldridge, go into the Palace at Auburn Hills and get a 96-85 win against the Pistons to start this five-game east coast swing off right. Talk about your huge wins.
Aldridge took it to Rasheed Wallace, consider by many to be Aldridge's elder doppelganger, early and often, scoring 13 of his 27 points in the first quarter (the Pistons as a team only score 13 in the first). It's the third-consecutive game that the Blazers have come out and built a double-digit lead in the first period, and you can see how loose they play when they have success early.
The Pistons first unit was as bad (a combined -83) as the second unit was good. Guys like Rodney Stuckey and Amir Johnson got Detroit back into the game, but the Blazers, despite their youth, never panicked. They kept grinding it out and eventually went on to win by 11.
Brandon Roy, who continues to prove himself as one of the up and coming superstars in the NBA, finished with 19 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds and described the effort better than I ever could.
Said Roy: “It was a good win for us. We’ve really struggled on the road against good teams this year but tonight we had a really good focus and we’re able to close the game. Even when they made a run to get the game close, we did a good job of staying together and getting what we wanted offensively. I think that is a sign of us maturing offensively, not a lot yet, but we are getting better."
And you can't talk about this game without mentioning Greg Oden. G.O. pulled down 8 rebounds in that all-important first quarter, eventually finishing with a career-high 13 boards and 11 points for another double-double. But more importantly, Oden finished the game +26, which was the second best +/- of all players behind Nic Batum. Batum also finished up a great effort with 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in over 30 minutes, which is double his minutes per game average.
I've talked a lot during the podcasts about the Blazers winning the games they should win, but not yet having won the games that they shouldn't. Despite the recent success we've had in Detroit (save the beating they put on us in their house last season) I would not have penciled this game in as a win. But they got it, and to me, that's tangible proof that this team is well on their way to becoming an elite NBA squad.
By the way, that's four in a row
http://mikebarrettsblog.blogspot.com...tart-trip.html
Blazers Dunk Pistons to Start Trip
The key to a good road trip, as we always say, is getting off to a good start. And, particularly with a young team, getting off to a good start in a game is always a big key to getting a win. On Sunday, the Trail Blazers did both in Detroit. They outscored the Pistons 25-13 in the first quarter, lost the lead briefly in the fourth quarter, and then roared back to put the game away 96-85.
This probably goes without saying, but this was a very big win for the Trail Blazers. Any road win is a big, but it’s the timing of this win that makes it bigger than most. Not only did it come in the opening game of a 5-game trip, but came against a solid, elite team in the Eastern Conference.
The Blazers are now 5-0 against the east, 5-6 on the road, and 12-6 overall. You’re probably getting tired of this, but I’ll say it again- to have 12 wins after this point in this stretch of the schedule is fairly amazing.
Here’s something new. Leading into this game, it was Detroit saying that this contest would serve as a measuring stick for them. Rip Hamilton, among others, said that this was a chance for the Pistons to see where they’re at so far this season, as they knew it would be a big challenge. This sounds like a little thing, but that shows you how you’re being looked at around the league. Any win like this for the Blazers, in the last few years, has been seen simply as an “upset.” Not anymore.
Before the game, in our opening TV segment, we previewed the big matchup of the night- LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Rasheed Wallace. Everyone has spent time comparing the similarities between these two players, and Aldridge has always saved his best for this matchup. He got off to a blistering start in this game, scoring 13 of Portland’s first 25, and helped build a 14-point lead. Aldridge ended with 27 points, on 11 of 19 shooting. Wallace hit only one two-point field goal in the game, and ended with 11 points and one rebound.
Brandon Roy did his usual stuff in the second half, and was a big reason why the Trail Blazers were able to close the deal with a few minutes left in the game. Roy ended with 19 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
Perhaps the biggest story of the game was the play of Nicolas Batum. As big as his play was, the fact that he was given 31 minutes from Nate McMillan, was perhaps bigger. This seems to represent a bit of a change in philosophy about Batum, especially late in games. Bigger than his back-breaking bucket late in the fourth quarter, was the defense he played when he was shifted on to Detroit’s Rodney Stuckey. He also grabbed a career-high 7 rebounds.
Batum’s growth has been incredible, and he’s easily been the nicest individual surprise here early in the season. He not only got the late assignment on Stuckey, but also held Tayshaun Prince to 10 points, and only 8 field-goal attempts.
Also give credit to Greg Oden for controlling the middle in this game. He ended with 11 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Between Oden and Batum, two rookies, they grabbed 20 rebounds in this game.
The Blazers also shot 52 percent for the game, improved to 9-2 when shooting over 45 percent, are now 10-1 when leading after the first quarter, and are 12-2 when holding their opponent below 100 points. Portland once again out rebounded an opponent, 35-29 this time, and had 23 assists on 36 made field goals.
We had an interesting time getting to New York on Sunday night. We thought the snow in Detroit could be a problem, but it was bad weather in New York that kept us grounded, and on the plane, in Detroit for about three hours. Then, following that long wait, we had 162 mph crosswinds for the flight to NY. It made for a very bumpy flight. This stuff used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore.
It didn't seem to bother the players (other than Shavlik Randolph- his position of choice is the fetal, usually on the floor). After they watched a tape of the game on the big screen, I heard a lot of laughter coming from their section of the plane. They were watching the movie Tropic Thunder. In a very accomodating move, the players turned on the Spanish sub les, following a request from Sergio and Rudy, so they were able to easily follow the dialogue. It was probably one of those "you had to be there" moments, but it was actually pretty funny to see the slight delay between what was said on the screen, and their reaction to the sub les moments later.
Thankfully, due to the early start in Detroit, we got into our hotel in Manhattan about the time we would have for a regular 7pm start. The team will practice on Monday, and then will get ready to take on the Knicks on Tuesday night
how's batum playing?
He's playing great. Easily the biggest surprise on the team.
i saw him play in europe, i'm still pissed he didn't end up with the spurs
F*#k houston
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