Wake up Blazer fans:The Suns don't matter

The other night during the Blazers' matter of fact destruction of the hapless Memphis Grizzlies, a score flashed up on the scoreboard showing the final score in Jazz-Suns game. Utah won a close game in overtime. The fans went nuts. That was a very dumb reaction. 

The Suns are many things. Under Alvin Gentry they have returned to being one of the most entertaining teams in basketball. Their games generally include several exciting plays, numerous emotional peaks and valleys as both teams put on runs, high scoring, and a few spectacular defensive plays as their frenetic style leads to some very entertaining shot-blocking.

One thing they were not, are not, and will not be is a threat to the Blazers' play-off position. Oh, sure, the Blazers "magic number" deals with how many games Portland must win or Phoenix must lose to guarantee a Blazer playoff entry. So from that standpoint, watching Phoenix lose could be considered a good thing. But it is a mistake.

The Jazz are a different case entirely. Deron Williams is very entertaining to watch. They put up a lot of points, score inside and out, and have some solid defenders. They are also a team that is one-half game behind the Blazers in the race for playoff positioning.

With nine games left to play for the Blazers it might be tough to run down Denver or Houston, the two teams that are a game and a half ahead of the Blazers. Running down either of them would get Portland home court advantage in the first round, something they desperately need in order to advance to the second round. 

Of the two, Houston is the more likely. Denver has the easiest schedule of any of the teams fighting for the two through seven seeds and has shown all year that they are a worthy team. Houston has also shown they can play without Tracy McGrady and is the odds on favorite to retain the fourth playoff seed. That means if Portland stays in the fourth or fifth playoff slot their likely opponent will be either the Nuggets or Rockets.

Portland has struggled against both teams, but it is the Nuggets who seem to have the greater dominance. Thus  it would behoove Portland to stay in the fifth position in order to have the more favorable match up. In order to do that, they must stay ahead of two very talented teams:the Jazz and Hornets.

As a result, whenever Phoenix plays the Jazz or Hornets, the best interests of the Blazers are clear:a Phoenix win. Blazer fans need to wake up and realize their team is not only good enough to make the playoffs, it is good enough to put a good scare into any of the teams they are likely to face and even a first round win, while an upset, would not be on the level of the Mavericks-Warriors series a couple ago. Instead, it would be a minor upset at best.

But to enhance the likelihood of that, they need to worry about improving their playoff seeding, not about merely making the playoffs. Making the playoffs is not enough. They need to win a couple of games.

With that in mind, one thing is clear. As far as Blazers fans are concerned, the Suns don't matter. Finding ways for the Jazz and Hornets to lose games...and if possible, the Rockets and Nuggets as well.

Is it likely Portland will run down either team ahead of them, get home court, and win a playoff series? Nope. But it is certainly more likely than the Suns coming back and knocking the Blazers out. 

Instead of worrying about teams 6-1/2 games behind them in the playoff race, Portland fans need to wake up and realize the real goal. Finding a way to sneak into a home court advantage for the first round. 

Brandon Roy is better than (insert name of whoever takes the last shot for the opponents here) Part 25

Another home game against a sub-par NBA team. Another game won or lost inside the last minute. Another game where a shot is taken in classic buzzer-beating fashion. Portland has seen a lot of these this year.

Against Houston Brandon Roy sandwiched two insanely awesome shots around a nice and-one by Yao Ming to win. Against the Knicks he evaded the foul-to-give and beat three defenders to win the game. Against...well, short form; when Roy takes the last shot in a game decided by the final shot, look for the Blazers to win.

Yet in their last three home games, Portland has watched an opponent take a potential game-winning buzzer beater twice. Against Indiana, it was returning Jarrett Jack. His trey at the buzzer was much harder than people have made out; after pump-faking Travis Outlaw, he shot an off-balance, short-armed three thinking he was out of time that never really had a chance. 

Tonight, against Minnesota, it was Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves taking the last shot. Ironically, it was a failure on Roy's part that made the shot a potential game-winner. 

With eight seconds left, Randy Foye fouled Roy. He stepped to the line with a chance to give the Blazers a three-point lead. This would allow them to give up the two while defending the three and force the Timberwolves, who were down to their last time-out, to make a three against a defense designed to prevent just that. 

He missed the second free throw, however, and thus Minnesota could use the entire court. A two would tie, a triple win. They designed a beautiful play that got Randy Foye a great, wide-open look at a three. 

Every knowledgeable Blazer fan knows what I am about to say. If Brandon Roy or Travis Outlaw gets that look with the game on the line, the results are very, very favorable. Foye is the guy Portland traded to get Roy. Here is why.

In the post-game interviews, Roy was asked if he was nervous when Foye put that shot up. He gave a little chuckle and said something along the lines of, "Not really. I was close to him and could see it was off-line."

I'll take that answer. From where I was sitting, I thought it was in and, like the thunderstruck fans around me, held my breath as it sailed toward the rim, fearing it would drop. Of course, Roy had a better look at it than I did,  and his analysis was correct.

It also demonstrated why Roy is one of the premier closers in the game today. If that ball left his hand, there is a chance it would miss. But it would be unexpected. He is clutch and generally makes the shots that count.

The game should never have gotten to that point, though. Minnesota was coming off being thrashed by the Lakers the night before. Portland should have come out early, put them in a hole, and thoroughly demoralized them. Instead, it was Portland that came out looking like they were on the verge of being ready to fold and Minnesota that was loose. How loose?

Kevin McHale, the coach of the T-Wolves, was caught on the big-screen singing along to the pre-game introduction background music. (John Denver? Beatles? Some horrible song. Don't remember exactly what it was...but seeing him humming it as his players were introduced was hysterically funny.)

Four minutes into the game we had to double-check and make sure the shot clock was functioning as the score was an embarrassing 6-4. It was a ragged game with a lot of whistles. Technical fouls for Defensive three seconds, fouls, turnovers, fouls on out-of-bounds plays...it was ugly, ugly, ugly. 

A nice stretch towards the end of the quarter was entertaining and it looked like Portland was ready to run away with the game except for one small problem; Steve Blake was assigned to guard Sebastian Telfair.

You remember him? Star of a documentary, Blazer future at point guard, guy caught with guns in bags to start his problems and with no jump shot in his bag to exacerbate them in stops in Portland and Boston before going to Minnesota to throw up bricks?

Good defenders have been known to play several feet off him because the only way he is a threat is penetrating the lane to dish to open teammates. He shot close to or below 40% for years. 

But Blake has a way of making pedestrian guards look like All-Stars, All-Stars look like first-ballot Hall of Fame players, and Hall of Fame Players look like the greatest of all time. 

18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, seven assists and just one turnover. Telfair looked like an All-Star on this night. Time and again he blew by Blake to either create a great look for a team-mate or simply float it in to score himself. 

That penetration forced Blazer defenders to help which, in turn, forced them to pick up fouls. The need for mobile interior defenders led to long minutes for LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Travis Outlaw while limiting the minutes of Joel Przybilla. He is a superior rebounder and good interior defender, but is not mobile enough to cover the lane when quick, agile guards penetrate with regularity.

Coach McMillan saw this early and altered his rotation. He moved Aldridge to center, Outlaw to power forward, and Roy to small forward. This gave Portland a team that was undersized but long, agile, and quick. 

It was also a fairly effective team. Aldridge did a great job of rotating to cover the lane, as did Outlaw. Time and again the Wolves found themselves heaving up off-balance, contested shots against the shot-clock buzzer. 

And hitting them.

Over. And over. And over. 

They were hitting impossible shots. This was a night they played well over their heads. Portland played some of their best defense of the year. Every shot was contested. Every possession was a dog-fight. If Minnesota had any fast-break points at all, it wasn't over maybe two to four points. They had to scratch and claw for everything they got.

And to give them credit, they did. 

On this night, the Wolves played over their head and the Blazers played an average game. It showed as the game was decided in the final two possessions. 

There were several take-aways from this game. Let's start with Nicolas Batum.

On this night, he returned to the early-season form he displayed. He was aggressive in looking for his shot, getting up seven shots and going to the line four more times in a shade under 23 minutes, also picking up six rebounds, three assists, and adding a blocked shot. 

Scoring 12 points on seven shots was nice, but more importantly, his willingness to shoot changed the complexion of the game. When Batum gets the ball and instantly rotates it to the next player it forces the Blazers to play four on five offense. Conversely, when he is willing to shoot it forces the opponents to defend him. This covers the inside hole when Przybilla is in the game.

The Blazers have reliable, talented scorers in Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge and a nice third option in Steve Blake, but the game becomes too difficult when those three have to do all the scoring. Przybilla is a solid defender, above average rebounder, and very limited offensive player. If the Blazers field two non-threats in their starting line-up it often leads to low-scoring first quarters that in turn lead to double-digit deficits. That has to change.

One way to make that change is to look for Martell Webster to return next year. He should score 12 - 15 points a game and his willingness to take the open shot occupies a defender. 

The other way is for Batum to look for his offense a bit more. That doesn't mean he should start jacking up 20 shots a night, but he does need to mix in a few drives and take the open deep ball when he has it. On this night he was doing that. Without his contribution, it is likely the Blazers would have lost to a sub-.500 team for the seventh time this season.

Having a small forward who scores 10 - 15 points a game does not mean the Blazers are suddenly going to shoot up to a 108 point per game average or anything crazy like that. But it does mean they will have to expend less energy on offense to get good looks which will in turn allow them to work harder on defense. 

They will need to because they are now unstable at the back-up point guard position. Sergio Rodriguez has been struggling for the last few games since Blake returned. He feels the pressure of Jerryd Bayless sitting on the bench behind him. Rodriguez plays best when he is comfortable. Right now he is playing very poorly.

Bayless is hugely popular with the fans but is only effective in spurts. He tends to dominate the ball, generate a lot of offense for himself, stifle the team efforts, and pick up fouls in bunches as he gets over-aggressive on defense, puts his body into them, and picks up bunches of fouls.

He can be a game-changer at times. He can change the pace of the game, he can score in bunches, and at times is an intense, effective defender. At other times, though, he is an offensive foul machine who brings the Blazer offense to a screeching halt. 

In time he has the potential to be a lock-down defender with explosive scoring capability and even run the point somewhat effectively. At the moment, however, he is best suited to a pace-changing role.

With so many things unsettled...will Oden return to the line-up, will the small forward position be a threat on offense, who will play back-up point guard, can Portland find a way to defend the three...it remains to be seen if Portland can stay ahead of Dallas and Phoenix and, more importantly, run down Utah, Houston, Denver, New Orleans, and San Antonio.

Don't laugh...they are within a half game of the first four and only 2-1/2 games behind the Spurs. They have a very favorable schedule that could see them going 14-6 the rest of the way while the Rockets are without Tracy McGrady, the Jazz have most of their games on the road (where they are only 11-17), Denver has shown vulnerability, and as a Blazer fan I can hope the Hornets and Spurs stumble a bit the rest of the way.

The Blazers are sitting exactly where I had them pegged, 39-23. They have the potential to go on a big, end of season run. They are going to need to in order to improve their play-off seeding. This is a Blazer team that with or without rookie Greg Oden, with or without Rodriguez getting his head on straight, with or without the small forward position regularly producing, this team has the talent to make a nice run, get a decent playoff seeding, and gain their experience by getting out of the first round, not just being satisfied with getting into the play-offs. 

The only question remaining is to see if they perform to their potential. Winning games 95-93 over teams like the Wolves is not the way to do it but at least it is a win. Better a bad win than a good loss. 

What Travis Outlaw and Brandon Roy Showed the Fans against the Knicks

There are lessons to be learned from every NBA game. For example, anyone who doubted the ability of Mike D'Antoni to coach should learn from what he has done with the Knicks. Under Isaiah Thomas, this was a roster in disarray, capable of scoring 120 on any given night...as long as they were willing to give up 140.

For all the criticism of D'antoni teams playing so little defense his name should be Mike 'Antoni since there is no D, he has completely changed the complexion of the Knicks team in just a few short months. Sure, you are still going to score against them, but not like last year. He has this team heading in the right direction.

Greg Oden showed he has learned some things, too. The first two Blazer possessions went something like this; pound the ball in to Oden, watch him travel. Pound the ball in to Oden, watch him travel. 

Typically this season, that has meant it will be a long night for Oden. He will pick up fouls in bunches and play 10 - 15 minutes, being no factor at all. However, he has been showing improvement and on this night, he would not let his errors take him off his game.

The Blazers started slow, getting up a ridiculous two shots in their first six possessions. This is a Blazer team that plays more mature than its experience, which is one reason the cries of "bring in a veteran!" are so ridiculous. 

Portland HAS the James Posey-type veteran presences on the team in guys like Joel Przybilla, Steve Blake, and Brandon Roy. Yes, Roy is only in his third year but he plays bigger, as does Outlaw.

Once the Blazers stopped turning the ball over 67% of the time, they easily outmatched the Knicks. Travis Outlaw and Roy combined for 19 first quarter points and the Blazers were rolling.

When they get big nights from any two of the Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and Greg Oden foursome they are going to put up some big numbers on the board. This frees the second unit to relax and play their game. It does not always work, as the very sub-par performance by Jerryd Bayless would show.

There are nights where Bayless is a difference maker in a positive way. He can change the game offensively with his aggressive moves into the lane or his tenacious, harassing defense.

But he can change it negatively, too, by being over-aggressive and picking up fouls in bunches, turning the ball over in bunches, and taking the Blazers out of their offense. A lot of Blazer fans are blinded by his glitz and don't see the way he hinders the team. On this night, there was a fine example.

The two guys next to us spent the entire fourth quarter whining about how the Blazers needed to put in Bayless for Sergio Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Rodriguez was getting the ball to the right people at the right time. Even when the actual assist went to Roy, many times it was the result of Rodriguez maneuvering the defense into places where Roy could receive the ball in a position to find Aldridge or Outlaw open. When the defenders stayed home on Roy, Rodriguez himself picked up the assist.

If Bayless was in the game it is unlikely Outlaw would have gotten the ball when and where he needed it to bring back the Blazers to where Roy could perform the heroics that sent the Blazers fans home happy with another improbable buzzer-beater win.

But that is what has this Blazer team on the edge of greatness. There are so many players who can dominate the game in so many different ways. 

Start with Oden. Forget his offense, it is still raw and unreliable. Oden can completely change the game defensively.  He was a huge force in the third quarter. In a shade over two minutes he blocked three shots and forced Chris Duhon to travel, essentially creating a four possession advantage for Portland that allowed them to extend out to a nice lead, but more importantly, it moved the Knicks out of the paint. 

Then, playing with five fouls, the Blazers down 108-103 and just 1:43 left in the game, he blocked a dunk attempt by David Lee. That block gave Portland possession, ignited the crowd, and let the Blazers wing defenders get a shade more aggressive knowing they had insurance behind them.

With Oden controlling the glass and the paint, in theory that will allow Portland to better defend the wing. That is just a theory, and we will come back to that a little later. 

Up front, LaMarcus Aldridge can also be a game changer, but in his case he can dominate at either end of the floor. Offensively, he is a match-up nightmare for any defender. His post game has developed nicely to where he is a threat to score from either block and his feathery 18 foot jumper is a genuine pleasure to watch. Woe betide the team that sags off him.

But defensively is where he is making huge strides. More and more often the Blazers are turning to him when they need a big stop against an opposing big man. Against the versatile Al Harrington, Aldridge was an easy choice. He moves his feet well enough to actually be one of the Blazers' better perimeter defenders, a fact the unobservant have not yet picked up on. But he also can defend the basket, as his emphatic block on Harrington in the third quarter demonstrated. 

With Aldridge able to change a game on both ends, there is not much to say about Brandon Roy. Obviously NBA fans in general are not all that aware of him as evidenced by him finishing behind Rafer Alston (!) in the All-Star voting...there were other egregious examples, but that one is bad enough. Roy is having a better season than most of the guys who finished ahead of him...nobody in their right miond would argue with Kobe Bryant or Chris Paul, but other than that, the things Roy brings to the table compare very well with any of the others and NBA fans should be embarrassed at their collective incompetence in voting for so many guys having inferior players.  Of course, the coaches and players know...but it does speak volumes about the lack of knowledge too many ballot-stuffers have.

Coming off the bench the Blazers can bring Travis Outlaw, another guy who can change the game at either end. Offensively, he can create his own shot, hit the three, and dunk on the big guys. Twice in the last two years I have seen Dwayne Wade block an Outlaw shot at the apex of his release. Otherwise, I have yet to see anyone who can even contest it. This is perhaps one reason he is a team-best 6 for 7 shooter with the game on the line...better even than Roy's 7-19.

The clutch nature of Outlaw is not well understood by many Blazer fans who frequently clamor to see him put on the trading block. This would be a huge, huge mistake. Take Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Travis Outlaw off the team and you have made the team instantly and noticeably worse in a way that is true for no other person.

Despite my praise for Oden earlier, Joel Przybilla is, at this point, a better rebounder and defender, even if more limited offensively than Oden. Rudy Fernandez is exciting to watch with an eye for the flashy pass and moving three-pointer, but a Steve Blake or Martell Webster is, at this point, at the very least his equal. Bayless and Rodriguez are nice back-up point guards but there are several in the NBA who are, at this point, better. 

Nicolas Batum is an above average defender who does a lot of things to help the team that don't show up in the box score. For example, at least three times against the Knicks he tipped balls to teammates who were credited with the rebounds. Without his tips, those rebounds would have gone to the Knicks every time. 

Despite these things, he can be replaced with little or no drop-off and in most cases even with an improvement in the Blazer performance. As much as I believe the deep shooting of Steve Blake complements the interior games of Aldridge and Oden and the penetration of Roy and Outlaw, even he is basically interchangeable with several players.

In essence, then, what sets the Blazers apart from most teams are Outlaw, Roy, and Aldridge. These three guys win more games for the team than the rest of the players combined. They have a sense for when to explode offensively and when to step up the defense.

The Knick game was a fine example. When the Knick lead crested at 13, Outlaw, Roy, and Aldridge took over. They combined to score 23 points, dish out 3 assists, and in other words dominate during the 25-11 run with which the Blazers pulled out the win.

The phrase "pulled out the win" should have been unnecessary. They out shot the Knicks 53.7 - 50.6%. They dominated the boards 43-29 and outscored them at the line 14-12. In every way, shape, and form they dominated the game...except two.

First, the free throw disparity should have been greater. The Knicks shot 100%, thus maximizing their opportunities while the Blazers missed seven free throws. But the more important disparity was beyond the arc.

Three teams in the NBA are worse than Portland at defending the three; Sacramento, Washington, and New Jersey. The only other teams defending at worse than 38% are Golden State and Miami. Of those, only Miami is above .500.

This is a dangerous Achilles heel in the regular season where a team can get hot over the course of a game as New York did in the third quarter, hitting treys on four consecutive possessions at one point. For the game they hit 14 threes, including five apiece during the third and fourth quarters. 

 If Portland does not learn how to defend the three and runs into a hot-shooting team in the playoffs, it will be a short playoff season for them. Fortunately, they have time to work on this. It will be much easier to work with when they have talents like Roy, Aldridge and Outlaw who can rescue them when an inferior team gets hot at the wrong time. 

LaMarcus Aldridge and Jerryd Bayless lead the Blazers past the Charlotte Bobcats

A couple weeks ago Portland shot 51% from the free throw line and gave up a game to Charlotte they should have won easily. Now Charlotte came into Portland fresh off a double overtime win over the Lakers. 

The Bobcats should be tired, the Blazers rested, and the Bobcats were missing key components in Gerald Wallace and D.J. Augustin. All signs point to an easy Blazer victory.

Early on it looked like it would be an easy win. Portland built a 32-18 lead after one quarter, largely behind LaMarcus Aldridge and Jerryd Bayless. 

It started with Aldridge. He got out and ran, he scored from inside, and he scored from outside. Actually, scratch that...inside was the location where the first 22 Blazer points were scored. They established early on that the Bobcats simply could not stop Aldridge on the blocks, Brandon Roy was scoring on his nemesis Raja Bell, and Greg Oden was cleaning up every rebound in sight that Nicolas Batum did not get to.

The paint belonged to Portland and it was in no small part due to the hot start of Aldridge. Then, when Portland needed a second scorer, in came fireplug Jerryd Bayless.

Bayless had a particularly impressive stretch where he seemed to be in the middle of every big play on both ends of the floor. He scored, he dished for easy buckets, he tipped balls, he defended, and just generally controlled the game. During that section Portland beat a lead that went as high as 18 points at 36-18 that was never threatened.

A look at the numbers shows how easily Portland dominated an outgunned Bobcat team. Portland out shot the Bobcats 45% to 41%, made more free throws than Charlotte attempted, crushed the rebounding battle 45-26, and won the game 88-74.

It was such a convincing win that forgotten man Channing Frye made an appearance (to a nice ovation) and moments later Shavlik "the Human Victory Cigar" Randolph made it to the floor, too. Unfortunately, Frye ended up with a suck differential of -1 and Randolph ended up with a Mario but at least they made the floor. But they were also indicative of a problem; they were not the only Blazers who struggled to score.

Think about it for a second. After a 32 point first quarter the Blazers could only drop in 56 points in the next three quarters against a Bobcat team playing without two starters. That is not even 19 points per quarter.

There are a lot of reasons that could be given for the poor offensive showing. The game became extremely slow-paced; the Blazers shot just 73 times and the Bobcats were even more anemic, just jacking up 70 shots.

But the upshot is, Portland stopped imposing their will on the Bobcats and allowed that slow, methodical, dare I say plodding pace to gain dominance in the game.

They can get away with that against a tired, short-handed team. They can't get away with that against the better teams in the league. 

They are entering a key stretch of the season. They have an opportunity in the next couple weeks while the Nuggets are entering a tough stretch that sees them play 16 of 20 games on the road. Portland needs to not just catch the Nuggets in the standings but actually pass them and put some distance between the two teams. 

This is a Blazer team that is more than good enough to win a playoff series or two, particularly with the continued improvement being shown by Bayless and Oden. However, to do that they will need the benefit of the home floor. The best chance to do that is to win the Northwest Division. 

They currently trail the Nuggets by a game and a half. Over the next couple of weeks they need to make a move, take over first place, and never look back.

That is easier said than done; Portland is home against the always-dangerous Jazz, then goes on the road to face the Hornets and Mavericks; after that, the schedule gets easier with a home game against the Knicks, a road game against the Warriors, and then home games against the Grizzlies, Hawks, and Clippers. 

A 7-1 or 6-2 record over that stretch is not too much to ask and would go a long way towards establishing Portland as a real playoff threat. 

However, if they are going to have that sort of success, they must learn to impose their will on the opponent. If they build a big lead against the Jazz, Hornets, Mavericks or Hawks and relax as they did against the Bobcats, they will not make their move and that will perhaps be disastrous.

Meanwhile, any double digit win is something to enjoy. Speaking of which...

Brandon Roy:Thief Extraordinaire wrecks the Wizards

Brandon Roy went nuts against the Washington Wizards, picking off a franchise record-tying 10 balls while scoring 22, adding seven assists and five boards. He was all over the place all night, blocking shots (two), defending, passing, penetrating, scoring, and generally doing whatever he wanted. 

Of course, it didn't hurt that he was playing a dis-interested team. The Wizards clearly did not want to be hear on this night. It was easy to tell. Just three incidents will demonstrate that quite clearly.

Exhibit A) DeShawn Stevenson missed the game due to lower back pain. He then was a regular feature on the Blazer's Jumbo-tron dance screen as he shimmied to the music in each time-out...including the celebratory time-outs in the middle of big runs when the cheerleaders run out and shake their groove thang. Yes, his shimmy was more interesting to the camera than the girls. Just sayin'

Exhibit B) A Wizard knocked the ball out of bounds into the lap of a mildly attractive woman, spilling her drink on her. He ran to his bench to grab a towel and ran it over to her before the Rose Garden staff could get there. 

Yes, he spent more effort on getting random fan a towel than he did on the game itself. Apparently he is unaware that the staff at the Garden is trained for these situations. While his courtesy is appreciated on some level, his lack of focus on the game pretty much says all you need to know. but I will tell you more anyway...

Exhibit C) During a third quarter time-out, the Blazers gathered around their coaches to listen to strategy. The Wizards stood around watching Blaze the Trail-Cat bounce numerous attempts at a half-court over the head backwards heave towards the basket.

Think about that. They were more interested in watching the at best mildly entertaining, uninspired antics of a pedestrian mascot than figuring out how to win a game.

This game was over early. The only thing keeping the Wizards in the game in the first half was the Blazers' horrific shooting. They checked in at 30% for the first half. It would be nice to say it was because of the ferocious defense the Wizards were playing. However, anyone who has seen them play this year would know I was lying.

Portland looked lethargic to start the game. They heaved up shot after shot that barely even grazed the rim. The normally reliable LaMarcus Aldridge was short on his money shot, the feathery mid-range jumper. The should-be All-Star Brandon Roy missed several point-blank lay-ins. Rudy Fernandez would have struggled to hit the broadside of a barn even if he were inside it.

Several times the Blazers scored on their third shot of a possession when all three shots were in the paint and virtually uncontested. At one point we had a debate over whether Greg Oden had blocked Roy's shot. 

Fortunately, the Blazers were able to right the ship and dropped in 61 second half points including a dunk parade in which they had at least 4 dunks that were better than any of the dunks in their "five best dunks of the first half of the season" highlight reel. 

Even against a poor team the game had its entertaining moments. Oddly, among the most entertaining was a missed shot. Some Blazer bounced a ball long off the back rim. Travis Outlaw elevated over everyone, extended one hand as far as he could and nearly made the put back. Even his missed shot had the crowd roaring to their feet.

Meanwhile, Greg Oden had another outstanding game. I don't mean his scoring or rebounding, though his 18 points and 14 rebounds were certainly nice.

No, the parts of Oden's game that mattered were his continued development. Defensively, he moved his feet. Several times he got caught on the perimeter. Using his returning quickness, his length, and returning agility he was able to cut off the path to the basket and force a pass without being whistled for a foul. 

On the boards he was very, very active. He does not just occupy space, he is getting better and better at chasing down rebounds that are bouncing away from him. He is so big and getting so quick that he can be a real handful for anyone trying to keep him off the boards. 

He is not active every night yet, but we are seeing those nights more and more often. True, on this night it was against Andray Blatche and Darius Songaila...but he was active. He has not always shown that energy against sub-par competition. It was very nice to see.

On the downside, an old glitch reared its ugly head with a vengeance. The Wizards dialed up 10 three pointers. Even more telling, they did it in a mere 16 attempts. For those keeping score at home, that is 62.5% three-point shooting.

Portland is talented enough to get away with that against bad teams. When they play the Suns or Celtics, the Cavaliers or Jazz of the NBA, they will end up looking up at a lot of big numbers on the score board. Somehow, they simply have to find a way to defend the perimeter better.

Overall, it was an entertaining game that had the expected result; the Blazers coasted to victory. 

I feel for the Wizards fans. Yes, they have lost several of their better players for significant portions of the season. However, they deserve better than they are getting. The Wizards show no heart, no interest in putting a quality product on the floor. They ignore Coach Ed Tapscott. They lack focus. 

Yes, it is a long season when you are playing for the lottery long before the mid-point of the season. But that is no excuse. The fans deserve better. Here is hoping the Wizard fans start seeing some progress soon. If not, the 100-87 Portland win will look like a great game for the Wizards really soon.

LeBron James and Mo Williams torch the Blazers

Portland started the game off well. They went in to LaMarcus Aldridge and he responded, scoring seemingly at will. But then something happened; they forgot he was having a really, really good night and elected to look for offense elsewhere.

Or, more accurately, they heaved up wild shots, gave the rebound to the Cavaliers and let them look for offense.

The formula the Blazers selected for the night seemed pretty clear; figure out who is scoring for you and make sure they don't get the ball. Meanwhile, double team LeBron James and let the other Cavaliers take open shots from wherever they want. If they should miss, don't bother getting the rebound, you will get the ball back soon enough.

That is not entirely fair; two Blazers tried to rebound. Joel Przybilla snagged 15 rebounds in 21 minutes and Greg Oden added 8 in 25 minutes. The other seven Blazers who played combined for a whopping 12 rebounds. 

Meanwhile, since they weren't going to rebound, defend the three point line (Cleveland went 11-19 from three point range), make free throws (under 60% until late in the third quarter), make lay-ins, or open jumpers, the Blazers looked for something truly epic to demonstrate how they were playing. The answer is 15-14.

15 would be the number of assists the Portland Trailblazers had for the night. 14 would be the number James had to go with his 34 points.  With the Blazers double or triple teaming him at times, James took advantage of the rules and passed the ball to open team mates. 

Portland, however, found that cheesy and elected to hold the ball, try to create their own shot, and not use their teammates as outlets. Why pass when you can toss up a brick yourself?

The results were predictable. Cleveland controlled almost the entire game. Portland kept it close, but any time they got to close the Cavaliers would go on a run of anywhere from five to 10 points and regain control.

There were some bright spots, as usual. Nicolas Batum continued his development as defensive stopper. True, James had 34 points but he shot just 14-30 and even many of those 14 makes were just pure, unadulterated talent.

Again and again Batum, Brandon Roy or Travis Outlaw would stick right with James, force him into a tough shot and watch the ball bottom out in the net. When great players make plays like that, sometimes there is nothing you can do. This is particularly true when they get help as James did from Mo Williams, who dropped in 33 points of his own.

Batum also looked for his shot a little more. This did open the offense a bit and gave the Blazers even more open looks. Unfortunately, they would not take advantage of those looks on this night. This was a night when Steve Blake and Martell Webster were sorely missed for their shot making abilities.

Another bright spot was Greg Oden. His statistics hardly overwhelm. He had just 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. But he was 3-4 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. Additionally, his points came almost exclusively off offensive rebounds and put-backs with the exception of I believe one play the Blazers posted him up on. Otherwise, it was just Oden working to get the rebound and put it back in.

As an aside, I would be interested to see the officiating marks from this game. This appeared to be an exceptionally poorly officiated game. For example, at one point Mo Williams grabbed a rebound. Jerryd Bayless was a couple steps behind him, immobile. Williams stumbled a bit, fell backwards into Bayless...who still was not moving...and Bayless drew a foul.

This, meanwhile, was NOT considered a foul on Anderson Varejao. 

Those are just a couple of examples. Cleveland plays a very, very aggressive brand of defense with a lot of clutching, grabbing, shoving, and bodying up on people. 

The Blazers, on the other hand, often fear to touch the opponent. As a result, they get called for a lot of touch fouls. 

As a result, the calls reflect these respective methods. Credit the Cavaliers for adjusting to the officiating while the Blazers got involved with the officials. I do not believe the calls changed the outcome; the Cavaliers were the better team on this night beginning to end. But there were a lot of calls that had some head-scratching going on. Well, head-scratching and crowd profanities...

Be that as it may, it was entertaining to watch a great player put on a very good performance. I wish it had been Roy, but since James comes to town just once a year until the Blazers meet the Cavaliers in the Finals next year, well done King James. You deserved this one. 104-98 was a sad score, though. Just two more Blazer points would have "earned"us a Chalupa.

Can Greg Oden make Joe Freeman shut up?

The morning Oregonian, the local poor excuse for a newspaper, had an article by Joe Freeman  on the Blazer progress at mid-season, with the game against the Milwaukee Bucks being their 41st of the season.

 They had four pictures spread across the front page, including Nicolas Batum as the surprise 

and a picture of Greg Oden. That picture was labeled, "The Disappointment."

Harsh. 

Uncalled for. 

Inaccurate.

That was as far as I made it into the article because I consider it a cheap shot. Oden is still an NBA rookie and a basketball neophyte. He is in his first year playing after microfracture surgery, a surgery that established All-Star A'mare Stoudemire took over a year after returning to the floor to get right from.

And with all that, he is averaging eight points and seven rebounds in just 22 minutes a game. Those are some pretty nice numbers, but they don't tell the whole story. He has had a huge, game-changing impact on the Blazers.

Last year they were a poor rebounding team. This year they win the battle of the boards by almost five rebounds per night. That change can be laid at the feet of Mr. Oden. It is not just the boards he gets, it is the way he draws opponents and allows other Blazers to get rebounds that would have gone to the opponents last year.

It would be easy to point to his 24 point, 15 rebound night against the Bucks and make hay with it, but that is just one game. He has had bigger impacts on games where he has scored less.

More importantly, he has also showed continual progress. He is getting better about putting the ball on the floor before taking his first steps, thus reducing the traveling calls against him. He is showing some hook shots and has even shown some nifty up and under, finger-roll type moves. His offensive game is developing nicely.

Additionally, he is showing much improved lateral movement and quickness. There were moments against the Bucks where he was caught against wing players on defense. He did not make any steals, but he did a great job of controlling the space and forcing them to pass off. 

His quickness is starting to really change the nature of the game for Portland, allowing them to stay closer to the opposing three-point threats, a real weakness early in the season. 

But Freeman doesn't seem to see any of that. His low-blow against Oden would be enough reason to cancel my Oregonian subscription had I wasted money on one previously. I guess you can tell my low opinion of the rag and extrapolate how likely it is I would have a subscription to cancel...not very. 

Meanwhile, this game was about far more than just Oden having an outstanding, dominating game. He had help on the inside from LaMarcus Aldridge who seemingly scored at will, including a 6-for-7 first half. 

He had help on the wings from Rudy Fernandez and Travis Outlaw. It was particularly gratifying to see Outlaw have another spectacular night. He is a game-changer when he is on.

Outlaw is one of the most maligned Blazers at a lot of Blazer sites. Calls for him to be traded are matched or exceeded only by calls for Steve Blake and/or Sergio Rodriguez. The fans simply do not comprehend how valuable Outlaw is to the Blazers.

He is so talented athletically that he is one of the few guys outside of Brandon Roy who can create offense for himself off the dribble. He can elevate so high that double teams are irrelevant as he simply rises above them. Rising it what he does best, such as rising to the occasion in the fourth quarter of close games when teams are able to put the clamps on Roy.

Against Milwaukee, he did not often need to. The Blazers completely controlled the boards, winning the battle by a total of 58-30.  The extra possessions let them pound the ball inside to Oden and Aldridge which created open looks for everyone else. All night the Bucks were simply overpowered, staying in the game due to 12 first-half Blazer turnovers and far superior free throw shooting.

Once Portland stopped turning the ball over, they took control of the game and most of the second half was spent with a double digit lead, though the Bucks made a few runs to get within about eight points before Portland took control again.

Overall, a very entertaining game, but I always have something to complain about, so here goes.

 LaMarcus Aldridge had a tremendous game. He shot 8-13 from the field (one of them an end-of-quarter half court heave, so really he shot 66% on reasonable shots), 6-6 from the line. He dialed up another nine rebounds. He played defense. '

He just didn't play for the final 9:16. 

Part of that was because Oden was controlling the inside and his post-up game wasn't needed. Part was because the out-manned, foul-plagued Bucks were playing small-ball. But as a huge Aldridge fan, it was hard to watch. 

Fortunately, the Blazers franchise provides diversions.

And wins, 102-85.