Blazers 93, Hornets 90

Ouch indeed. Why oh why did I change my initial projection? Basically I did not want to seem too optimistic, especially with the red-hot Hornets coming in. I really thought the Blazers should win...but I thought they should have won in New Orleans, too.

Portland started off curiously. With Aldridge, Roy, and Webster on the floor, they inexplicably went to Frye on the block. Blake was their next shooter. When they did go to Aldridge he produced 4 quick points.

Defensively, he was having trouble. The officiating was horrendous all night. Early on it favored the Hornets. There were some brutal, brutal calls and Aldridge ended up on the bench with 4 points and 3 fouls against Tyson Chandler.

Chandler, by the way, is the dirtiest player I have seen in a long, long time. He is forever taking cheap shots while running through the lane, while away from the ball, and any other time he can get away with it. His first Technical came on a bush league, punk play. He got called for a charge on Pryzybilla, an easy and obvious call for the officials. So with Joel sitting on the floor, Chandler dropped the ball on his head. It was a well-deserved T, one of many he will get this year, I am sure. He is also one of the whiniest players this side of Tim Duncan.

Meanwhile, with Aldridge on the bench, the Blazers ran three quick plays for Webster. He dropped in three smooth shots and was rolling. So the Blazers showed why they were 0-3 coming in...they played keep away from Webster. For the next few minutes the ball went to Frye, Przybilla, Blake...basically, anyone but Roy and Webster, the best offensive players they had on the floor.

A quick start faded down the stretch, though they still landed 26 on the Hornets. A lot of that came from Przybilla and his offensive explosion and Jarrett Jack coming out hot.

Then the second quarter came around. With Aldridge saddled with 3 fouls, Roy and Webster on the bench, the offense rested in the hands of Outlaw and Rodriguez. They were not up to it. Outlaw was cold, cold, cold. Rodriguez was a mess, heaving up 4 blanks and contributing turnovers at a frenetic pace.

Fortunately, the Hornets were fairly cold as well, though they did manage to match the Blazers first quarter total of 26 to take a 49-43 lead into the break.

The third quarter was huge for Portland. They got a few nice calls of questionable legitimacy from the officials...a nice relief after the brutality of the first half...and came out HOT. Webster was on fire, Roy was scoring, Aldridge was hitting. And they were competing HARD. Tyson Chandler seemed to be a focal point...they were tired of his dirty play. When he melted down and picked up his second technical, it was the Blazers biggest lead to that point, 12.

Shortly thereafter they crested at a 15 point lead...and then forgot where the offense was supposed to come from. Webster had 17...and would end with 20. Aldridge had a dozen...and would end there. And for whatever reason we got a heavy dose of Raef Lafrentz and Sergio Rodriguez.

All night they had problems with David West. On a night Stojakovich was a miserable 2-13 and Jackson was little better at 3-11, he stepped into the gap with a monstrous game, 34 points and 18 boards, 8 of them offensive, on 14-26 shooting. And he came up huge in the fourth, teaming with Chris Paul to pull them within 5.

But then Brandon Roy took over. He drove to the basket repeatedly, came up big on defense, and, at one point, with the clock running down, triggered a clutch try to build the lead to 7.

At the end of the game it was Jack going to the line again and again and again. Paul would score at one end, Jack would hit free throws at the other.

He finally had the game we have been waiting for. He was getting...and taking...his shot on offense, playing rugged defense, and ended up with 20 points.

It was a great night for Portland as they won their home opener, saw the stars shine, and turned back a surprisingly good Hornets team.

Oh, and as for my first prediction...Blazers by 4 -6 with a score in the low 90s. Final...93-90, though 3 of those Hornets points came on a buzzer beater 3.

Pre-view, Hornets at Blazers

The Hornets are looking good early this season, racing out to a 3 - 0 start heading into their Tuesday tilt with the Lakers. Blazer fans will note that game is just 24 hours prior to the Blazers home opener against those same Hornets, so there is some positive news.

The negative news is the Hornets seem set on playing defense. They went into Denver and shut down the high-scoring Nuggets, holding them to a mere 88 points on their home court...and over half of those came from Iverson and Anthony who put in 46 points on woeful 32.6% shooting.

The Hornets did not exactly shoot the lights out...they shot 38% as a team. Nor did they have a stand-out performer. Their leading scorer tallied only 17...but they have great balance as 6 guys made the dip into the double digit pool.

Portland struggled against the Hornets the first time they played but that was A) on the road, B) the middle game of a three game opening road stretch and C) sandwiched between games against the World Champion Spurs and the title-contender Houston Rockets.

Mentally, they should be more prepared at home for their home opener. With the Grizzlies on the horizon, there is no reason to "look past" the Hornets.

New Orleans plays a lot of defense and spreads the ball around on offense. Look for Aldridge and Roy to continue their hot starts to the season and Webster to keep looking for his shot. At home, the other guys might be a bit more comfortable. It seems likely Jack and Outlaw will play better at home than they did in Houston and add the scoring punch the Blazers need to be competitive.

Portland will come out jacked up from the home-opener festivities. It would not be surprising to see an 8 or 10 point lead early in the quarter, but New Orleans will buckle down and make up ground after that opening flurry...if the flurry ever occurs.

This will again be a defensive battle and it is doubtful chalupas are on the horizon for Blazer fans for this game, but they should still come away with a 4 - 8 point victory in the low to mid 90s.


Addendum: In light of the beat-down the hot-shooting Hornets laid on the Lakers, it might be time for a reassessment of the game tonight.

The Hornets were hot, no doubt, particularly Peja and his 10 treys and Paul with his assist machine rolling.

Against Portland they will be seeing a revamped line-up with Frye replacing Pryzbilla and Blake replacing Jack.

Pryzbilla backed up what I have been saying all along about him being right for this team; not only did he not complain, he agreed his move to the bench "is probably the right thing for this team". That is not an NBA attitude...most players insist on starting regardless of what the team needs. And the argument that Frye will work better in the starting line-up alongside Aldridge where he does not have to go inside and bang as much sounds good. It will also add a defensive presence to the second unit. At least, that is how the coaches are presenting it and I have to admit it makes sense.

Additionally, Frye looks for his offense a bit more than Pryzbilla who primarily scores on broken plays and offensive rebounds. Frye has better range and moves. Since Portland has had a hard time getting out of the box this year...well, under McMillan, to be honest, since this was a problem last year as well...this can be a positive move in several ways.

The other move...I am not a huge Blake fan. I do like that he wanted to come here and that his teammates like him. I just think Jack has a better upside. Blake will be what he has always been...a 2nd or 3rd tier point guard. The top guys run circles around him and the average guys match him. Paul is a top guy who will have another field day against Blake. Again, Blake has a bit more offense, at least so far this year, than Jack, so perhaps it will be a positive move.

Overall the Blazers are looking to start a bit faster which they will need to do against a red-hot Hornets team that I now slot as a slight favorite, maybe 3 - 5 points, over the wobbling Blazers. Ouch.

Blazers (0-2) v. Rockets (2-0)

It was the wife's' birthday so I had other things to do and did not see the game. My pre-view was pretty short and succinct...basically, in just one sentence, I predicted they would lose.

I was not surprised to see them lose...but I was surprised by the complete lack of offense shown. Roy, Aldridge and Webster had games close to average...actually, I would add Pryzbilla to that...but the rest of the team was pretty flat.

Aldridge and Webster were uncharacteristically off the mark, though had Aldridge made but one more bucket in the same number of attempts he would still have shot 50%. But once you got past those three players, no other Blazer scored more than 6 points.

When a team tries to solve this point deficit one way is for the most talented players to step up and have monster games. This relies on the point guards to recognize who is scoring and get them more shots. In this case, that means Roy (9-18) and Aldridge (7-16) were the threats. Give each of them another 8 - 10 shots and see what happens. Since I did not see the game it is not clear to me if Roy, Blake, or Jack was running things, but which ever one it was, they needed to get the ball in the hands of Roy, Aldridge, and Webster in shooting positions more often.

Though perhaps that is not fair...after all, those three guys did take almost 62% of the total shots and made almost 45% of them. But for the Blazers to take the next step and make that surprise appearance in the post-season that I still think they can take a run at, they need more consistency from their guys like Jack, Outlaw, and Frye. There is no excuse for Jack or Outlaw not to hit double digits, and for the 2 of them to combine for over 51 minutes of playing time but a mere 12 shots...what was going on?

I assume Roy and Aldridge took over and were taking the bulk of the shots as they tried to claw their way back. I wish they had taken over a bit more.

At this point both of them tend to be a bit too willing to pass when their teammates are unable (Jones, 0-4, Outlaw, 2-7) or unwilling (Blake, 3-3) to take the shot. In a game where 20 points was not attained in any of the first three quarters shot totals of 18 and 16 for your two best players and scorers are not enough, and with Jack and Outlaw not contributing, Blake was scoring but was not shooting much.

It was not as if Houston was setting the world on fire, either. They only totaled 89 points themselves with just three players in double figures. On a night where McGrady looked human...and beatable...shooting a woeful 8 for 23 from the field, they never really competed. The early hole was just too big to dig out of.

On the bright side, despite entering the 4th with a 16 point deficit (and a pathetic 46 points) the Blazers made a run to get within 8 deep in the 4th. That provides hope that they will not quit and will compete right up to the end, even when the shots aren't falling, they are on the road, and are up against a better team, which they were.

2 statistics really stand out to me:
First, the good. Roy, Aldridge, and Frye had positive +/- for the night. As a long-time hockey fan, I have a firm appreciation for that stat. Night after night Roy and Aldridge have positive numbers in those categories, even against world-championship caliber teams like the Spurs.

Then for the bad and ugly; Pryzbilla, 19 minutes, -20, and Green, less than 3 minutes, -9. Neither had anything that stands out...no huge turnover issues or foul problems.

Now, I am a big Pryzbilla fan. I think he fits the team very well. He rebounds (8 boards in 19:40 is pretty good), doesn't demand the ball when the more high-profile guys are shooting and scoring well, and is happy to do the "little things" like set picks and rotate the ball. Is Ming just killing him? How did he give up a point a minute? And he is the common denominator...the second highest total was Green's -9. That one is also a curious number. He took 1 shot in three minutes and had 1 steal. So I can only assume he had a hard time getting the offense started to give up 3 points per minute.

Overall, it was just one of those nights for the Blazers. They were beat by a better team in that team's building, had a rough night shooting and still were only down by 9 when the buzzer sounded. They are not "there" yet...but they are moving.

Blazers Versus Hornets

I was at a poker tournament so was unable to see the game, though I did get to listen to it a bit on the way to the tournament. Early in the game it was fairly evenly matched, but a few key events happened towards the end of the second period.

It was particularly the last minute and change on the first half that really caused the Blazers problems. They were very close, had a chance to tying the game when the Hornets threw in 5 quick unanswered points. The Blazers had whittled a 10 point deficit down to a manageable 2 or 4 points when a quick bucket and three pointer in the closing seconds suddenly jacked it back up to a discouraging 8 points.

Ironically, they were in better shape than they had been against the Spurs at the half where they took a 10 point deficit into the half. But this one felt worse because they gave so much of that lead to the Hornets in so short a time so close to the half.

I did not see or hear any of the second half but it seems like 2 things were going on. First, it appears the Blazers came out flat in the third period. It was their first sub-20 point period of the year. In addition to not scoring, they gave up a whopping 30 points. The 8 point lead ballooned to a routish 23.

The Hornets did not have any stand-out offensive performances, they just got solid contributions across the board with 6 players in double figures. Meanwhile, young guns LaMarcus Aldridge and Martell Webster struggled offensively and only Jones stepped up to fill the gap.

It was a disappointing game and will lead to a tough start to the season. But never fear, the Blazers will be back.

Just not tonight...they are outmatched by the Rockets.

What Could Have Been...

Motivated primarily by the "controversy" over whether the Blazers should have taken Durant or Oden, I watched the Suns at the Sonics. This would be a chance to see Durant in front of his home (for now) fans.

I actually think it is...or should be...less controversial now than it was at the time, even though Oden suffered a couple of unfortunate injuries. He has also made clear he is ecstatic to be in Portland, he wants to be with the team, and he wants to PLAY. This is a pick that Portland fans will enjoy for many, many years. Meanwhile, Seattle got the one man wrecking crew of Kevin Durant.

Of course, one man does not make a team. If you have doubts, check out the Lakers as they lose game after game despite having the talented Kobe Bryant. Here is a guy who can score, rebound, pass, and defend and his scoring is virtually at will...yet the Lakers are about a .500 team.

And Durant will not get some of the advantages Bryant does. If he travels, palms it, or charges, he is going to get called.

Durant is exciting to watch and, for the Sonics fans, at times frustrating. He has prodigious talent. He can run the floor, jump out of the building, drive on anyone, get his shot, and he sees the floor very well.

However, he also tends to play out of control at times. Sure, he can drive on anyone, elevate, and take a short shot inside the lane. But, at least at this point in his career, he often does it out of control and his shots can be a bit wild.

He is not afraid to take those shots, however. He will keep shooting, driving, and making things happen. Will it work? It does for Iverson. On nights when his crazier shots are falling he will be unstoppable and will be able to carry the Sonics to victories in games they should not even be within 20 points. When his shots are not falling, he will shoot them out of games they might have won. Kind of reminds me of Allan Iverson.

Even though Lewis and Allen are gone, he does have some help. Wilcox is a beast on the blocks and can cause problems down there. Collison will grind, Watson can get hot, Ridenour can create a little bit, and they love to run.

In fact, that is their plan for winning...just plain score, score, score and hope the opponents miss a few shots. The Sonics offense looks a lot like playground pick-up games with lots of players leaking out early, lots of creating their own awkward shots, and very little setting each other up.

Seattle's defense leaves a little bit to be desired. Against the Suns, who last year led the league in three pointers, they played a strange defense that left the 3 point shooters wide open so they could not defend the basket.

Read that last sentence again.

The only reason the Suns did not score 140 points was their shooters were ice cold. Time after time they would have 2 or 3 seconds to stand wide open, load up their shot...and throw up something that rimmed out. If you leave their 3 point shooters that open that often you are going to give up a LOT of points most nights. Of course, letting Marion and Stoudemire catch the ball in the paint with nobody around them will lead to a few highlights as well...

Seattle is in for a long year. They will score a boatload of points some nights but struggle terribly on others. They will play a lot of teams close only to fade in the 4th quarter. Durant and Green provide hope for the future but they look like a lottery team again.

Phoenix, meanwhile, is going to be tough. They have so many weapons...when Grant Hill is no higher than your 4th or 5th option...you can score points. They also have strong role players in Bell and Skinner, guys who will clamp down defensively. If anyone doesn't know how Nash improves a team they simply no nothing about basketball...and players like Stoudemire and Marion don't need a lot of help.

Nor can you relax against their second team as Barbosa and Diaw can explode on any given night and drop 15 - 20 on you in no time flat. They are fun and exciting to watch. At least twice less than 3 seconds expired between the Suns taking possession and finishing at the basket. You will need your track shoes against Phoenix.

But there are holes. Sure, they are a great 3 point shooting team...but they are too ready to dial from long distance when better opportunities present themselves. If they are getting open looks early they will stagnate, stop moving on offense and just pitch a tent outside the arc waiting for their turn to fire up a trey. If those aren't falling, it can take them a few minutes to get back in their aggressive mode.

Both teams will be fun to watch when they visit Portland. Phoenix because they are so good and entertaining and Seattle because Portland should win almost every game against them. Wow, I am starting to sound like Agent 0 here...

Preview: Portland Trailblazers Vs. New Orleans Hornets

This will be the second game of a season opening three game road trip. In the first game Portland played well but too many defensive lapses led to a loss in San Antonio. Well, that and frankly being the second best team on the floor that night...

New Orleans is full of hope. Last season despite injuries, a changing roster, and moving home games, they finished 39-43. This year with a settled home situation, a settled roster, and better health their more optimistic fans are talking of not just a playoff berth but as high as the 5th seed. While from the outside this appears a bit optimistic, stranger things have happened. I think the 41-41 projection more realistic evaluations have pegged them at even looks a bit iffy but it could happen with the continued development of their young players.

They do have reason for optimism. In Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler they have promising young stars to build on and there are some crafty, talented veterans mixed in. With the right breaks, they could see a nice improvement from last year.

The Starters

Portland matches up well. The projected line-ups look like this:

Center

Portland, Joel Pryzbilla, New Orleans, Tyson Chandler

Chandler only had 13 games with the Hornets last year and was overshadowed in Chicago. He has never averaged double digits in 6 years. Pryzbilla is a better defender and with Chandler's limited production, Joel will be free to roam a bit and help out. However, Chandler is a beast on the boards. Since Portland is already struggling there, this could be a problem. Statistically, this match-up will favor Chandler as he can be expected to ring up 15 - 18 points a night this year and is a better rebounder than Pryzbilla. However, any points the Blazers get from Pryzbilla are pure bonus. He is there to rebound and defend and some of the effect his defense has is not quantifiable by statistics.

Edge: New Orleans

Power Forward

This will be the marquee match-up of the game. For Portland we have the explosive Aldridge, capable of going for 30 and 12, more likely somewhere in the 20 - 25 point range. New Orleans counters with little known David West. He should be better known. Last year, despite injuries, he checked in at a shade over 18 points and 7 boards. Of the two, he is the more established but Aldridge is the more talented. This should be a good battle. This is Aldridge's break-out year and it is expected to be West's as well. This match-up could go either way.

Edge: Portland



Small Forward

Peja Stojakovich would be the man back when he was with that great-passing Sacramento team. He is still a talented shooter capable of going off on any given night, but night in and night out he is not the go-to guy anymore. He will be the third scorer for the Hornets, much like Webster will for the Blazers. Starting in pre-season, Webster has looked like a different player. He has a nice stroke going, he is more aggressive at taking his shot and making his own. Peja could provide some match-up problems as he is still a dangerous offensive player...but Webster looks lights out so far.

Edge: Draw



Shooting Guard

Morris Peterson

Brandon Roy is still troubled by his heel. He will still crush Peterson. The Hornets have big hopes and plans for Peterson. He simply is outclassed by the reigning Rookie of the Year. Roy is better offensively, defensively, passing, and rebounding.

Edge: Portland



Point Guard

Jarrett Jack is a fine point guard with a bright future. He will probably never be an all-star...but he will be a solid guy who runs the game, plays defense, and hits the open shot. But he will never be Chris Paul. Paul is a better scorer and passer. He could be an All-Star this year and some people think he will climb into the elite conversation with guys like Nash and Kidd. Perhaps, perhaps not. But he is still better than Jack.

Edge: Hornets





Bench

Portland has starter-quality back-ups in Blake and Outlaw. Some people think Frye is in there, I have not seen that yet. The Hornets counter with rookie Julian Wright and a cast of journeyman. If Blake falters the Blazers can bring in Sergio Rodriguez. Expect the second unit to make up ground.
Edge: Portland



Coaching

Both Byron Scott and Nate McMillan had lengthy careers as talented role players, with Scott the better scorer by far and McMillan better at everything else. They know the value of specialists and role players and both seem to be doing good jobs of guiding young nucleus's. Is it proximity and homer-ism that make me prefer McMillan?





Prediction: The Hornets are coming off a blow-out win over the woeful Kings while Portland had a good effort but lost in San Antonio. Post-game comments from Roy, Aldridge, and McMillan let us know the Blazers are not thinking they got a moral victory, they are disappointed they lost and think they could have won. I love that. They are not giving anything to anybody, they are out to win every game they can and believe they have a chance any game, anywhere, all season. Portland is too talented, too full of an eagerness to play and has too good of leadership in Roy and Aldridge to take the Hornets lightly. The Hornets may have a very good season but this game goes to Portland. Look for Portland to break the 100 point barrier and get their first road win of the season.

Game 1, Portland Versus San Antonio

McMillan elected to take the players back to the dressing room. I was driving home listening to the pre-game and in retrospect...good decision. The interminably long, boring ceremony made watching cars fly by at 3 m.p.h. seem exciting by comparison. On the bright side, it gave me time to get home in time to watch the start of the game.

Once the game started my excitement level changed. LaMarcus Aldridge showed some things. He came out aggressive, high energy, and showed he will take over games...if the Blazers let him. He scored early and often. And it was not give-me buckets, either. He went down on the blocks, showed patience in allowing the help defenders to be cleared out by Webster flashing to the open spot, made nice, controlled moves and finished.

Webster also showed something. He missed his first 2 shots. Last year, he would be done for the night. This year he wants to play. His third time with the ball he was on the foul line extended left above the three point line. He made a nice subtle fake to shake one defender, moved around a second and popped the baseline jumper for a deuce. Just seeing his aggression after a couple of misses was a huge positive.

Roy was not looking for his shot early but he did not need to. His dribble penetration was getting easy looks for Aldridge, Webster and...Pryzbilla? Joel came out scoring.

And the Blazers were playing right with San Antonio for about 8 minutes. Then the substitutions started. You could tell when Steve Blake came in. It was easy...just look for Parker laying it up uncontested at the other end.

Actually, that is not quite fair...one of his three fast breaks there were 4 Blazers back. He still laid it in and only a late block attempt by Pryzbilla even looked like they thought they should defend him, so I guess it was contested...

But that shift in the momentum of the game I do lay at the feet of Blake. He got his pocket picked, then through a terrible pass, then got himself trapped and made another horrible decision. It was a flurry from which the Blazers would never recover.

They briefly made a run when Sergio Rodriguez came into the game. He completely changed the feel of the game again, getting the Blazers into a faster offense that caused the Spurs some problems.

It was helped by Outlaw. He was doing a nice job of shaking defenders for that hanging jump shot he is developing.

By the end of the first quarter it was 29-26. Though they gave up 29 points, the Blazers defense was pretty good for the most part. A few lapses had led to the flurry of fast-break points that were the difference. Offensively, Aldridge and Pryzbilla carried them.

Early in the second period TNT did a piece on the draft and as they were talking about Roy and how emotionless he was, then they cut to him on the bench and started riffing on how he "still had no emotion". Maybe they think he is Tom Landry? Maybe that is how he can be introduced at games..."Brandon Landry Roy".

Meanwhile, the Spurs were riding their offensive star, Francisco Elson. It seemed like he was throwing down ferocious uncontested dunks whenever he felt like it. When it wasn't Elson dunking it was Brent Barry using his tremendous speed to get free for wide open threes. For those who may be unaware of Barry's speed, he has been known to outrun molasses in January...on a good day. It was unfortunate, because when the Blazers did play defense Elson was shooting far too much from far too close to the 3 point line and the results were good for Portland, not so much for San Antonio.

This quarter really showed how much better the Spurs second team is than Portland's. Channing Frye seemed lost on the court, getting beat on defense and showing nothing on offense. Jones was a non-factor...if not for Webster, the Blazers might have been blown away before Aldridge returned to the game.

When he did return, he showed he is a difference maker. San Antonio tried a variety of defenders on Aldridge and he scored on all of them, including Duncan. He also got caught defending Ginobli on a switch. Ginobli made a move across the lane for his little left hand runner and Aldridge stamped it return to sender. It was great defense by Aldridge on a faster player.

The half-time deficit was 59-49. The second quarter was not kind to the Blazers as they gave up more points (30 as opposed to 29) and scored fewer, just a 23 point quarter.

The third period was a good one for Portland. Their big three scorers...Aldridge, Webster and...Pryzbilla? all worked it, their defense stepped up to the plate, and they closed to withing 81-77. The 28 points were their best output so far on offense and the clamp-down to 22 points defensively, primarily against the Spurs starters, was encouraging. Webster was really stepping up to the plate. If he can continue to play with this confidence, taking the open shot, creating his own shot when needed, the Blazers are going to not just make the playoffs, they are going to make some noise when they get there.

The 4th quarter they struggled. When the ball went to Webster or Aldridge the Blazers scored or got good looks. Roy was not hitting his shots, though he still got into the lane virtually at will. Blake hit a couple shots, but defensively he was a liability. And Barry kept getting open for good looks, including a break-away lay-up.

How on earth does the slowest guy in NBA history get a break-away? I am still stunned by that one. No way did I see that.

After a very positive third quarter, they struggled in the middle part of the 4th. They kept making runs but whenever they would close within 3 or 4 points the Spurs would remind them who the World Champs were and bump it back to double digits or pretty close to it. For the 3rd time in 4 quarters they were outscored. But inside the last minute they were within 4. Despite having a rough game from the field, Roy was still contributing, breaking down the defense to give Aldridge an easy 8 footer inside the last minute which he made.

In the end, the Spurs at home on Ring Night were just too good for the Blazers and won 106-97. But there were a lot of positives.

When they fell behind by 16 to the World Champs on Ring Night in their house, the Blazers could have rolled over and quit. They could have let it become a 20 or 30 point blow-out. Instead, they fought their way back and made it a game. The Spurs may never have felt like they were in danger of losing...I do not think they led by less than 4 after the first period...but they never could let their guard down, either. They knew they were in a game.

Aldridge can score on anybody and will play a little defense. Pryzbilla had a surprisingly good offensive game, dropping in 13 points, mostly on dunks and free throws. But his real strength was rebounding and defense.He pulled down a quarter of the Blazers rebounds by himself, yanking in 10. And Webster will be a really good 2nd or third option.

Roy and Blake had rough games, but each showed flashes for long-term optimism. The other big problem Portland had was in-bounding. When pressure was applied, particularly when Blake was in the game, they struggled to get the ball inbounds. Also, on defense, they often lost their man and gave up too many easy lay-ups. But those things can be worked on and improved as they get used to playing with each other.

I was a little disappointed that with Blake playing poorly and Rodriguez providing the spark that we saw little Rodriguez and much Blake in the second half, though this may be because Blake was having a good game scoring wise. I think McMillan is an outstanding coach and have no doubt he has pretty solid reasons for that choice, so I will wait and see how this develops over the course of the season.

All in all, it was an entertaining game that shows a lot of promise for the season. The Blazers might be 0 and 1 but it won't take long to break into the win column. I would say until about game 2....

The game, rightfully, goes in the loss column.

On a sad note, former Blazer Ime Udoka was suited up and healthy but did not play, coaches decision. This is particularly disheartening since he was primarily a defensive specialist at small forward. As a fan of his both while a Blazer and when he was at my Alma Mater, Portland State, I want him to do well. If they are not going to bring him in to work against hot shooting Martell Webster (9-15, 21 points)...when will Ime play?