*** Official Portland Trailblazer's Team Thread ***

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

Fernandez was defenseless in the air.

oh please,

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

I know he was going for the ball, doesn't mean that he should have even tried that play when Fernandez was defenseless in the air.

Cmon are you serious? Let's just outlaw the challenging of all shot attempts, yeah let's make a rule that as soon as a player leaves his feet you can't block his shot or it's a tech.

[Cappy37 0]

Ariza hit the ball, he just hit his head first and followed through on his arm.

The problem wasn't that he hit his head, it was that he had a big wind up and followed through all the way down. If he had just hit him in the head, it's not even a flagrant 1. Plus it was a full-speed breakaway.

This. Everyone here knows Ariza is a good kid and doesn't have an evil bone in his body. He should have gotten one game as a league-wide detriment to the "windmill windup" that is definitely something the NBA would want to discourage.

Cappy, try to get through one Blazer post without saying something bad about Oden.

Never gonna happen.

lol I love how I don't even need to respond to this. I guess I am that predictable.In conclusion, I'm not overly saddened about Ariza's lack of suspension. Those things happen so fast. I'm really surprised he wasn't tagged with one game.As for the scuffle afterwards, I understand his warcry trying to rally his team after denying an easy bucket.. but you simply don't do that when you a. ) fail to actually block the shot b. ) send an opposing player to the floor hard and he's not moving.I was kinda proud of my guys for getting chippy, but let's face it. There isn't a guy on Portland's Roster who's going to win anything in a streetfight, unless Sergio and Rudy have concealed weapons in their leather pants.Of course, the same could be said for LA. If the refs let that go it could have escalated into a slap-fight for the ages, with absolutely no ceiling on the impending unintentional comedy.as a final note: Rudy's Xrays came back negative, but he did have a bruised chest (f*cking ouch!). And yeah, he's day-to-day, so umm.. He'll be back in the lineup (as predicted) before that Greg guy.

[Jadaki 0]

He should have gotten one game as a league-wide detriment to the "windmill windup" that is definitely something the NBA would want to discourage.

This is exactly the case. The wind up is was made it not a clean play, when you are taking a swing like that across the body you know you are hitting more than just ball.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

As for the scuffle afterwards, I understand his warcry trying to rally his team after denying an easy bucket.. but you simply don't do that when you a. ) fail to actually block the shot b. ) send an opposing player to the floor hard and he's not moving.

He didn't see Rudy hurt immediately. One of the Blazers I think it was Sergio said as soon as the fracas was over and Ariza saw how serious it was, he was already apologizing and was visibly affected by it. He was sorry for the end result, but not the foul. I think it's sweet how Sergio spent the night in Rudy's room, I know Pau would have been there if he could too.

This is exactly the case. The wind up is was made it not a clean play, when you are taking a swing like that across the body you know you are hitting more than just ball.

I don't know what you expect the guy to do. His only chance to get to the ball was to swing his arm, from the angle he was coming from if he goes straight into Rudy it's going to be more dangerous more times than not. By swinging his arm he avoids body contact, which would be disaster in that situation 100% of the time. He just happened to catch Rudy's left arm on the follow through after he hit the ball.

[Jadaki 0]

I don't know what you expect the guy to do. His only chance to get to the ball was to swing his arm, from the angle he was coming from if he goes straight into Rudy it's going to be more dangerous more times than not. By swinging his arm he avoids body contact, which would be disaster in that situation 100% of the time. He just happened to catch Rudy's left arm on the follow through after he hit the ball.

He hit him in the head not just the arm, which wasn't surprising considering his whole body was between the ball and Ariza. He was behind him with no real chance to get in front and Rudy was already jumping, he wasn't ever going to get that ball cleanly unless he has more hops than Howard & Robinson combined. And the wind up just guaranteed he was getting more than ball, its a mid air swing that can't be stopped once started. It was dumb to even attempt it.I don't really care one way or another because I'm not pulling for either team or have any attachment to either player, but that was not a clean attempt on the ball, not even remotely close. Just because he got a piece of the ball, doesn't justify the means he went to for that to happen.

[Cappy37 0]

bump because we won a road game.And wtf is up with there being like 1/2 a game separating 3rd-8th in the west.. AND the Spurs falling slowly but surely back to the pack.I predicted this clusterf*ck early on this season (i know, hardly takes genius to do so.. but still..).zomgz this is going to be a wildly intense month of basketball..Big test this week for Portland... Road swing 5 games in 7 nights.. and Indiana, Cleveland, and Milwaukee all on the road on deck. Payback against Cleveland would be effing sweet. Last time it took a career night from Mo Williams for Cleveland to eek out a victory in the Garden.. Let's see how we fare in round two.P.S. -- one downside to hometown tv broadcast: like 3 zillion shots of Greg Odenwakandi rockin' the street clothes looking happy as a pig in $#!t to be on the sidelines.P.P.S. -- When Travis Outlaw is on, he can seriously take over a game on the offensive end of the floor. Someone may want to quote that sentence, cuz I guarantee I'll be forced to erase it by the end of the week.

[Jadaki 0]

P.P.S. -- When Travis Outlaw is on, he can seriously take over a game on the offensive end of the floor. Someone may want to quote that sentence, cuz I guarantee I'll be forced to erase it by the end of the week.

Done for posterity.

[Cappy37 0]

zomg back to back road wins.zomg Gred Odenwakandi suited up and gave us 12 minutes tonight.zomg we're 2.5 games back of the Spurs.zomg we're tied for the division lead and Denver is losing in Memphis...zomg Utah *really* can't win on the road.zomg we have to play Cleveland in Cleveland on the 2nd night of a back to back.zomg Pacers were dead to rights at half time and we rested our starters.zomg. Go Blazers!

[Jadaki 0]

zomg!Cappy didn't say anything bad about Oden in a post, other than the typical name rimshot.

[fitzinabox 0]

Prepare to get owned by the Cavs

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

So I got fed up watching the kids put up brick after brick and turnover after turnover, and switched over to the Blazers Cavs game and what is the first image I see...? Greg Oden walking to the bench with 9:08 left in the 2nd as the "3rd Personal Foul" graphic flashes on the screen. So awesome.

[Cappy37 0]

Prepare to get owned by the Cavs

So I got fed up watching the kids put up brick after brick and turnover after turnover, and switched over to the Blazers Cavs game and what is the first image I see...? Greg Oden walking to the bench with 9:08 left in the 2nd as the "3rd Personal Foul" graphic flashes on the screen. So awesome.

Yeah, these two statements have definite merit. First off, hats off the Cavs.. The refs called it down the middle. The Cavs turned the ball over twice the entire game. They brought it on defense (they sat in a zone, but they did it flawlessly). There's no one on Portland's roster that can even attempt to contain Lebron. Having Oden in foul trouble and Aldridge scratched from the starting lineup cemented Lebron's moving around on offense at will. Our weakside help was atrocious.Blah blah blah.. Cav's simply won the game. We hung in tough. There's a reason they are 31-1 at home. They are a really great team. I shudder to imagine how god-mode they would be right now if they were willing to move Wally's contract for a Jefferson/Carter type player.As for the blazer's side: not having LA hurt. I'm always b!tching about how Roy has little to no help, and besides Outlaw in the second half, Roy really was playing 1 on 5 for most of the game. I want to be overly critical of Portland's effort, but since I penciled this in as the definite "L" on the road trip, the fact that we were in it wire-to-wire essentially stunned me into silence.Oh and for the record, Odenwakandi racked up 5 fouls in 12 minutes on the court. And as Fitz could tell you, probably should have been called for a couple more. Since putting on a blazer uniform, he's been on the court (and even then, briefly) in one out of every 3 official Blazer games. This isn't even entertaining to me anymore. Even normal rookie bigs aren't this retarded about foul trouble. That's not even the scariest part.. It's this: I think he's f*cking doing it on purpose cuz of the pressure and his complete lack of self-confidence.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

I think he's f*cking doing it on purpose cuz of the pressure and his complete lack of self-confidence.

Shaq calls it foul-shaving. Of course he said he did it when he felt they weren't going to lose the game anyway and wanted to rest.

[Cappy37 0]

Shaq calls it foul-shaving. Of course he said he did it when he felt they weren't going to lose the game anyway and wanted to rest.

Well Shaq was good... I don't remember him racking up any 9 minute 5 foul 4 turnover nights like Odenwakandi did tonight.Blazers win anyways, 3-2 on that ugly road trip. 4 game homestand incoming, and right in the middle of the 2-8th spot jumble in the west.. Yippee.

[Cappy37 0]

Big game for us tonight on TNT.Suns on a big winning streak and have a "nothing to lose" fire lit under their asses. It's a *huge* game for them.I really think after that debacle in Philly (they shot 81% in the first quarter.. jfc) that this is essentially a season-defining game for the Blazers. Sadly, I feel we really need Odenwakandi to show up or Shaq is going to go absolutely off on Portland.If we can hit our share of 3s and play at least B- defense, we got this. If we're cold from outside, it's going to be a long, long night.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

Rudy's awesome.

[Cappy37 0]

Rudy's healthy.

fyp. And yes. Oden actually had a couple solid minutes in there too, but Rudy and Roy stole the show. Aldridge and Batum stepped up huge too.. That first quarter putback by Batum not only didn't make the ESPN Top 10 plays, it didnt even get into the Sportcetner game recap... Which tilts me to no end. But alas...Tale of Two Cities.. Suns put the fear of God into us in the first half, and then simply ran out of gas. You could definitely tell it was their 3rd game in 4 nights. What impressed me was how deep the Suns actually were on the bench (even without Barbosa). Big win for us. Man, this playoff race is intense.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

fyp. And yes. Oden actually had a couple solid minutes in there too, but Rudy and Roy stole the show. Aldridge and Batum stepped up huge too.. That first quarter putback by Batum not only didn't make the ESPN Top 10 plays, it didnt even get into the Sportcetner game recap... Which tilts me to no end. But alas...Tale of Two Cities.. Suns put the fear of God into us in the first half, and then simply ran out of gas. You could definitely tell it was their 3rd game in 4 nights. What impressed me was how deep the Suns actually were on the bench (even without Barbosa). Big win for us. Man, this playoff race is intense.

If the Suns played defense they'd be nuts. If I were Kerr I'd hire JVG and hope he can make them atleast an avg defensive team. No downside for Van Gundy, it's only a one year commitment with Nash, Stoudemire, and Shaq most likely gone after next year.

[CaneBrain 95]

the way the Suns played defense last night was a ****ing disgrace. the difference from Terry Porter to Alvin Gentry is nil. portland was in a layup line for most of the 2nd half.

[Cappy37 0]

Big game tonight against Utah.Relevant Stats:Portland is 19-4 at home against a road opponent on the 2nd night of a back-to-backUtah is 2-13 on the road 2nd night of a back-to-back.Utah is 16-21 on the road in general with *1* win over a .500+ opponent (Philly) this *season*.Portland needs one more home win to cement the most home wins in 1 season in franchise history.. Yes, even the great 80s/90s Blazer teams never won more than 30 home games in a season. Strange, but true.Okur and Boozer don't play a ton of defense. LA should have a field day, but the real key will be if Oden can get it going off the bench. The Jazz are incredibly weak up front on the defensive end.All in all, looks like Portland *should* win this game handily... We could be as high as 5th in the West or as low as 7th.. Pressssssure.

[CindyLou 11]

We could be as high as 5th in the West or as low as 7th.. Pressssssure.

So if they can't get home court in the first round, which matchup gives them the best chance at actually winning a series?

[Cappy37 0]

Interesting question...Portland is a team that excels in beating itself. So opponent matters very little.It's more likely a reverse effect: We'd 100% be "up" if we were playing the Spurs, Lakers, Rockets, etc...Our dream matchup is probably Houston, since we have the bigs to hang with Yao and they do not have a point guard that can exploit our big weakness (defense at the point).We hang very well with the Spurs.. I would welcome a match up with them.Selfishly, and true Portland fan wants the Lakers, and as soon as possible. ;)Denver has two things that give us problems: Strong point play from Billups and solid outside shooting. Kleiza, Smith, and Anthony are a pretty deadly trio for putting up long distance points. Utah is very similar to Denver.. Utah isnt nearly as strong defensively up front as the Nuggets *can* be. But D-Will just shreds our backcourt when he's healthy.Mavericks are scrappy, but odds of us facing them in any form this post season are essentially nil.The Suns are the team I might fear the most (when healthy), but their hilll to climb is too steep at this point.Hornets seem to be fading, but they still have CP3 and West and Chandler and (who knows, maybe?) Peja. Definitely seems like they've run out of steam down the stretch.Spurs we always seem to show up against with a strong effort. Parker certainly can get his against us almost at will, but our trio of Joel, Odenwakandi, and Aldridge do a great job of making Duncan earn his points. I do not think SA wants any part of us in the post season. A healthy Ginobilli changes things, but there's been little to no indication that he's anywhere near 100%.Rockets are a wild card since they have a guy in Artest that can neutralize Roy, but guys like Landry would be cannon fire if Aldridge brings his A game. I think overall sneaking into the 2-3 seed bracket would be awesome in the long run (putting off the Lakers as long as possible.So yeah, give us anyone. Whatever works. Homecourt would be nice but it's a tall order.. I'd much rather sneak into the SA/Houston bracket w/out home court than to get an extra homegame against the Nuggets and have to face the Lakers right away if we advance.Call me conceited, but I really think we are the only team out West that is going to make the Lakers break a sweat, and it's far from a sure thing that we'll even get that far.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

I think they beat Houston and Denver, lose to SA and Utah, and I don't know what to make of New Orleans.Of course they'll make the Lakers sweat. The last time they won in Portland it took this...

So we'll probably get 7

[CindyLou 11]

Violet Palmer has to be the worst referee in the league.