SB Nation User Blog: ratbastird

Blazer Playoff tickets going on sale

ratbastird — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:16:22 -0000

So, I've now received my play-off tickets.

Information for those who may not know, because I didn't.

online sales

Season ticket holder's tickets on sale online at the blazer website for playoff games: (was able to post on 4/08/09)

https://www.ticketmrktplace.com/ex/loginFrame.action?team=Blazers

***UPDATE***

Online sales have a 15% additional charge and a $6 ticket charge per Timmay!

The 15% service charge and $6 order charge are processed AFTER you have selected your tickets so those costs are added to the price of whatever the tickets are.

Online sales from the blazer site can be picked up at will call and are not sent out electronically.

Thanks for the info Timmay!

***END UPDATE****

additional tickets for season ticket holders

Additional (up to four) tickets for season ticket holders go on sale: 4.13.09 noon

If you know a season ticket holder I'd suggest you ping them for the tickets to guarantee your spot and not pay extremely high prices.

Sale to general public:

Sale to general public: 4.16.09 noon (per blazers website. Let me know if the info is wrong because I was searching for it and finally just went to purchase single tickets and found the information there)

So, a poll because i'm curious.

Poll

How many people are going to the game or want to go?

I have season tickets and I'm set!

31 votes

I have season tickets but live out of town or can't go for other reasons :(

2 votes

I will pay any price for those tickets (say 3x ticket face value or $100 a seat in the 300 level) because I'll be darned if I'm not going!

4 votes

I'll pay any price for those tickets, but the seating has to have a good view

4 votes

I'll pay a reasonable price (say 2x ticket face value or $50ish a seat in the 300 level) but I really can't afford to splurge

32 votes

I'll be in line on Thursday at noon and if i can't get a ticket then, then I'll just watch on tv.

35 votes

I'd love to go, but thanks to being a broke college student (or otherwise broke) there's really no way I could seriously contemplate this.

36 votes

I have a kid, and I'm willing to auction him off. Blazer tickets AND save some money for future play-off games. Can't lose.

4 votes

148 votes | Poll has closed

Looking Back - A look at the record.

ratbastird — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:08:25 -0000

I started out with the thought I'd take a look at the team record in March and April and find an amazing hot streak taking place. You know, a couple of nice wins in a row interrupted by a fluke loss. Instead I made a different observation.

The blazers would lose a five games a month except for December when the blazers lost six games. This did not change in March and April is obviously too small of a sample.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/por/schedule?v=list&m=10&y=2008

The blazers lost at least two in a row five times and three in a row only once. None of those two game losses were in March.

The blazers played 16 games in 31 days during March. That's a lot of basketball. Eyeballing the other months it looked like it was all about the same. I know they play a lot of games, but that brought it a little into perspective for me.

Something else that stood out is the bet Outlaw had with Mike Rice. Didn't Outlaw have a bet with Mike Rice about snagging down ten rebounds? According to the stats, Outlaw snagged 10 on March 13th. Possibly the bet wasn't on then? Outlaw has only snagged 10 rebounds two other times this year. Pretty safe bet if you're not betting every game but pick a game here or there.

So, I wasn't able to point out any amazing winning streak that was obvious to my naked eye. This bummed me a little because I need justification for my irrational hope that the blazers make the finals. The eyeballing does emphasis the consistency that the blazers have played with. So, i guess yay there. *grumble*

I looked at the score to see if all the wins were crushing and the losses close. It varied, but some losses were crushing losses and of course we had a few crushing wins, but others were within a few points. Nothing there that shouts dominance that's out of the ordinary.

Obviously I want to believe that the blazers are hot and taking it to another level. So if they are, then the next obvious spot to check would be the win percentage.

The blazers currently have a .641 winning percentage for the year but from March-April they're at .700. If we were to lose the next game we'd be at .666 (I was curious to see how much a loss would change our win percentage. Clearly losing the next game would be evil and thus it should not happen. I'm amused that one number is 7 and the other 666). That would translate into 54 wins so far instead of the current 50 so far. So, while a huge hot streak isn't really showing up, the win percentage is slightly better at the moment and i'll take that.

That is my bit of hope that we'll smash other teams to dust and take it all. Experience be darned. Yes... I realize i live in a fantasy world, but it's nice here.

Jazz vs Blazers - Onsite report - The humiliation begins

ratbastird — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:27:51 -0000

!@#$&(&!(@)#^$)!@#^$!@)#$^!@#$^&

and

@#$%

Okay, now that that's out of my system. Boy did those Blazers make the Jazz look good. I think my gf said it best when she said "the blazers must be really tired, Greg Oden looks energetic!"

Monday I will be baking 300 cookies, wearing PINK fluffy slippers, an apron with the jazz logo, and I will be serving it to each and everyone of the 70-100 employees we have. BAH

The Cheerleaders:

I've got to admit, their skill level is low but their outfits weren't bad. They had this colorful sparkly one that if they added wings, they'd be looking like faeries. Another black outfit with a white undershirt was rather cute. I wasn't completely into the shorts as I'm definitely a skirt man, but not bad.

The Pregame:

Watched Sergio take about 100 shots. Watched him miss 50-60% of them. His shots looked flat and some with arcs would hit the rim. He signed autographs before he headed into the tunnel. A lot of YOUNG blazer fans at the games. Many were in full on jersey mode. I may need to break down and get a jersey so I can fly my teams colors.

The warmup involved the blazers making about 20% of their shots. Possibly not a good sign, but I had a good vibe. Determined to win because, you know... my blazers wouldn't let me down... right? I refused to let any negativity into it my thinking.

Oden:

I watched Oden a lot tonight so I'll drop it all here. During warm ups he looked like he belonged. I say this not in how he practiced, but how he stood and walked and his body language. He didn't look like some drooped over kid that was wondering what he was doing there, but like a guy that was supposed to be on the court. I find that to be a good thing... but...

During warm-up he'd grab the ball and hand it off to someone else instead of shooting multiple times. MULTIPLE times. He probably had half as many shots as everyone else. His shots also had the feel of "I'm not going to invest in this so that if I miss it's because I didn't really try". I've played like that before and it NEVER ends well. If you know what I'm talking about, that's what I saw from his shots in practice. He never dunked. He banked a few, and he had some flat hook shots that would make those Zamboni drivers proud. I winced. This guy looks like he has ZERO offense. He also had zero energy.

During the game, this ugliness continued. Seriously, I think I have better form and feel than Greg Oden does and I suck. He doesn't seem to have the feel for where the basket it. At ALL. I can hook shots in because I KNOW where the basket is. No I couldn't shoot blind folded all the time and make them, but I could make a few after I play on a basket a little bit. Greg doesn't have this feel at all. He has like -10 to that skill. Really, when I see greg I imagine a character in WOW with resurection sickness. -75% to all stats.

Greg helps out the team in a lot of ways. He also hurts the team in a lot of ways. My gf was screaming for Pryz to be in. Normally I feel that greg helps out in ways that don't show up in the stats other than a win, but this game, I saw something maybe twice.

Overall I don't like Greg's body language. It's improved, but he looks like he's just afraid to invest himself because he's afraid he'll fail. I don't like how he feels, to me, isolated from his team out there. I have a strong feeling that someone needs to kick his freaking asphalt and tell him to suck it up. I felt for the guy earlier, but I'm sorry... at some point you need to freaking deal and someone should tell him that. Have fun, act like you want to be there, act like you care about the shots instead of not committing to them. He's practicing how NOT to do it, and that's not good.

Obviously there are coaches who know more than I do. This is simply what I saw and the "vibe" I got from watching him.

Game Time:

The blazers came out with some energy. It didn't last longer than the 1st quarter and maybe not even that long. They also came out with holes in their defense large enough to drive the titanic through without hitting a berg. Last time they came to town I complained about the lack of help defense and directing players into others. this game the jazz would just pass to wide open spots so that defense wouldn't have helped because the blazers couldn't find their man with GPS attached to their hineys and big flashing arrows pointing to them.

The crowd was decently loud AND it didn't sound canned or amplified. Quieter than the last game, but the cheers sounded real. Very much like a blazer crowd in that they want their team to win. Fans would jump up shouting "YES!!!" on the good plays and were very involved.

Their mascot, as much as I don't like him, is there, not for the kiddies, but to AMP up that crowd. The blazer mascot should take some notes. I swear that Blaze is only there for the kids and thus he is a buzz kill of mine.

I laughed at Sergio and Rudy jumping around like mexican jumping beans at the top of the key and then "ZIP" the pass goes between them right under the basket for a dunk. At that point I suspected that the blazers would not be making a come back.

The blazers hold the ball too long and miss WIDE open opportunities for nice passes. I don't know if you can see it on tv, but many times the blazers would be running down and a man would be open or semi open. A quick pass and you have an easy bucket. Instead the blazers let the defense settle in and pass the ball 20 times and suddenly it was ten times harder to score.

Additionally, with 2 minutes left and down by nine you TAKE that quick 3pt shot or inside shot when you're open. Instead the blazers would keep passing. You just do NOT have the clock time to do that. In that situation it's time to gamble a little because if you play it safe, you're going to lose.

A thought crossed my mind that the "7 seconds or less" Sun shooting rules might need to be applied to this team. This team needs to know when to gamble and when to get the ball moving QUICKLY and when to recognize you're open for a good shot. rudy passed up a wide open three to pass to sergio who was a little more covered and NOT as good shooting the three. Passing for the sake of passing is dumb.

A guy commented behind me: "The blazers only have one good player, and that's Roy." Watching this game only, I really can't argue. Aldridge got his points, had nice finesse shots, but he does not dominate. I suspect that bumping him around a bit would really mess with his game.

Sergio and Greg kept getting balls stripped from their hands. When you're tired you react slower and when you're not (jazz) things can seem like they're in slow motion and thus the game becomes easy because you can be insanely precise.

The Fouls:

I'm not going to get too down on the refs here. That said, there were some major phantom fouls at the beginning of the game against the blazers. The blazers were being aggressive, it was just flat out bad calls.

The Flagrant on Frye looked like he simply stuck his hand up and got ball and the guy collapsed under it. You would probably see better than I would with the 20 replays I'm sure you got.

The mascot shined the refs shoes, played with them, high fived them and fisted fived them (what is that called anyway?). Home cooking? Possibly, but the blazers didn't come to play either. Yeah, we got bad calls, but the blazers could have played to reverse that and they didn't.

The blazer fans:

Saw quite a few of them. One across the aisle 4 up front. The cam flashing around snagged blazer jerseys jumping into the picture at least twice and probably more as I wasn't paying attention to the cam all the times. Highlight of the game was when a girl groped her gf and attempted to flash the crowd but couldn't get her shirt up because it was too tight.

Place wasn't swarming with blazer fans, but you could hear clapping and cheers and I'm sure each section had at least five to ten. I think that's pretty good. also, lots of empty seats.

The Summary:

Cheerleaders still suck at stunts but looked good with their outfits. Definite upgrades.

Blaze should take serious notes and learn how to pump up the crowd.

Blazers played like a team that's been in 7 different cities in the past 12 days. If you don't travel a lot, you have no idea what that's like. I've done enough traveling to know I'd be hating life.

I'm going to be ribbed about this bet for a long long long time. My team let me down and I'm a bit ticked despite reasons that I can understand it happening. I did NOT want to lose this bet.

I'm bummed. I was hoping my blazers would step up. They've had a harsh schedule, but I was still hoping for some love and I feel like they let me down. Obviously they don't know me from that brown stain in my neighbors yard, but seriously that's how I feel.

Hopefully the blazers can wake up for the clipper game because right now they look like they need a week off and they can't have it. That clipper game will be 8 games in 13 days and 7 different cities and 8 different flights to cities. Just so you all know. I'm not super hopeful they'll do well that game either. I should say, that I won't be surprised if they lose. That team is TIRED.

IN Game Report - New Orleans vs Portland

ratbastird — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:58:48 -0000

Pre Game

This was a game I went to conditioning myself for a possible loss. I felt that we had a good chance of winning and it was a game I was determined to lose my voice at because I would be DARNED if the blazers lost because I didn't scream, shout, and cheer loud enough.

Watching the Hornets shoot around I noticed a couple of things. First off the Hornets had a little swagger to their walk. They seemed confident. They were joking around with each other and seemed actively involved and interested in each other while practicing. In short, they were doing what I would like the blazers to do a little more of and I saw what I'd like to see a little more of from the blazers. They were doing this more than I've seen from the blazers. This had me a little concerned.

One thing I liked... the Hornets seemed unable to hit the broad side of a barn that was mooning them in grandma's panties. They missed shot after shot. It took about a minuted before a hornet made an outside shot. This I liked.

The Cheerleaders

Nice school girl outfits. One of the cheerleaders was even so kind as to lose her skirt during the dance! YAY!!!! She never lost her smile or composure and actually seemed to laugh along with the crowd. Seriously, the cheerleaders for our team just seem to be really cool people. Also... holy abdomen batman! I swear their stomach muscles grew over thanksgiving!!! They also tossed in some duck vs beaver outfits.

The timeout entertainment

Okay, I haven't said anything about this for a while, because I've been happy, for the most part relative to last year. The timeouts have been somewhat aligned with the crowd and has helped enhance in past games. sure there have been a couple of crowd momentum killers, but it has been soooo much better than last year. That is until tonight.

First off, I like that the the crowd ignored some of the stupid canned chants. This crowd seems to be about doing real chants that matter and IT seems to be deciding when and how it'll cheer. I love it. The only dumb canned cheer the crowd did was "let's go blazers, let's go" in teh fourth quarter. Frankly it was terrible, but the crowd ignored other stupid chants and I love that. I think they were too busy actually cheering.

The crowd was taken out of it EVERY time-out with poor enhancement or stupid contests that KILLED crowd excitement. The fourth quarter is NOT the time for that crap. Luckily the audience decided to heck with the stupid crowd momentum killer and they'd cheer regardless. You'd here a few people leading it and then everyone would join in. When a play was made the crowd would ERUPT! They were waiting for a reason, ANY reason to cheer.

Seriously though... when the crowd is as vocal and loud as tonight was... DONT FREAKING MESS THAT UP!!! I can not TELL you how upset I get about that. I get that there are sponserships and other activities, but keep it out of the fourth folks. Also, get some people and/or a system that lets the person in control REACT to the crowd instead of trying to control it. Help the crowd get to where they want to go. That was a loud volatile crowd that loved it some blazers!!! Quit buzz killing!!!

Okay, that's out of my system. Now on to the actual important stuff!!! (but if blazer staff read this... PLEASE find a freaking balance. Tonight SUCKED. Miami and San Antonio game was decent. React with the crowd and help the crowd and quit killing the excitement!!!)

The, you know... actual point of the post. The Game

The Blazers looked good. I noticed that they had some break downs on defense, but honestly, good offenses do that and you can't be perfect 100% of the time. We broke the hornets down more often and more completely. Even when the hornets managed to shake free, a lot of shots seemed to be with a hand in the face.

Fouls. The blazers got away with a lot of fouls in the first half. The second half seemed like New Orleans got quite a few of the calls. We booed loudly about it, but in all honesty I could see why the refs would miss some of those calls. We also got away with a lot of fouls in the first so I think it evened out.

A cool moment in the game was when the guy did a soccer slide into Rudy. Rudy was limping around and the entire Rose Garden started Cheering "RUDY! RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!!!" for thirty seconds or so. It was pretty awesome. Why were we cheering him? Who cares, we love the hustle he brings and it's an easy name to chant!

Oden is looking a little faster now. He still seems off balance and he's still taking too long on his shots. It's like he needs to bend down to explode as hard as he can and I'm goign "NO! JUST TAKE IT and put it in!!!" Not worried about it. He just seems a little off with balance, a little slow on speed and I think that'll come. He bobbled down some rebounds and he passed pretty dang well. I'm actually VERY happy with his passing. I don't know that I'm going to go with a shaq comparison anymore. I honestly think he'll be better but in a different way. The guy looks to pass and I love that. I'll take a healthy Walton over shaq any day. I think Oden is going to be a cross between those two guys. LIke I said, I was impressed.

Blake on Paul. Dude, seriously... I'm impressed. I don't know what the TV or stats will tell you because I haven't looked but he was hustling like CRAZY out there. Paul is small and quick but Blake stayed in front of him a LOT! I'm crazy impressed. I mean, you're talking about the best freaking point guard in the league and it looked to me like Blake and the blazers shut that kid down. Again, I don't have stats, but watching live from 12 seats away (finally counted them) I was amazed. Blake looked just as fast as paul at times. I currently don't feel the need for a Bayless because the blake sergio combo are doing so awesome... which brings me to Sergio.

Sergio, I love you man, really I do. But... Frye was in the corner TWICE wide open TWICE and you didn't see him!!! This was when New Orleans was making a push and took the lead by a point. Sergio kept looking left to Rudy and didn't see Frye to the corner in the right. Sergio needs to remember there are other players on the court besides his buddy because it felt like he was looking for Rudy a little too much. I guarantee Frye would have made one of those threes or passed back out and opened up the middle a little. I brushed it off the first time, but the second play in a row that he did it I started yelling at him that Frye was open. Not that he could hear me of course.

I really don't have much more to say. Pryz, Batum, Roy, you guys are freaking studs. Aldridge attacked inside and I loved it! He seemed VERY confident and I loved the attack.

Summary

Blazers got away with a lot of fouls, but so did New Orleans in the second half. Some Jersey holding when people weren't looking but not NEARLY as bad as the Miami game. The Blazers look good and are passing and communicating and their team defense is looking incredible right now. It wasn't as good as the miami game but New Orleans is a much better team and good teams will break it down now and then.

I'm so impressed with this team. I'm so proud of how they hustle. I love that they got into New Orleans face when Roy was fouled and I love that I see Joel mouthing off with other Centers during games. Guys, I don't think this team is soft. They walk tough, they look tough, they're taking hard fouls, they're communicating, moving, playhing smart, and hustling. Frankly, I think other teams up their level of play with the blazers because the blazers look like they're leaving it all on the floor.

I've been to two more blazer games and even if we'd lost, I'd have been proud of this team. I'm thankful that I didn't have to fell that pain. They've won both games I've been here and opening night. It feels good.

My next game report will be against the Jazz in Utah.

Good night ya'll!

Game Report - Miami vs Portland

ratbastird — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:02:04 -0000

Personal Note:

Driving in from Utah and catching a couple of hours of sleep before these games leaves me with little energy. I came to this game tired. You know what though, that doesn't stop me from cheering and yelling my heart out. Superstitious of me, but I believe if I let my section be silent with my absence that the Blazers may deflate and be flat. I came out cheering hard no matter how tired I was.

I also forget how good my seats are. I'm about 15 seats away from the floor. I'm amazed I wasn't able to give these tickets away one game when they didn't sell. Nothing like watching some of those sweet sweet alleyoops RIGHT in your face! I found it amusing that I wanted a live replay on some of those.

Cheerleaders:

Cheerleaders. Okay Zebra girls. If I'm going to brag about your outfits and how much better you are over the Utah cheerleaders, you can't come out looking like you're ready to get it on with some Zebras. I know we want to keep portland strange, but seriously... add a black miniskirt or something to that so you look like hot ref's instead of zebras. After that horrible outfit the blazer dancers came back with much more flattering and better looking outfits. My girlfriend loved the socks though. I'd have agreed if my eyes hadn't gone cross-eyed at the skirting stripe selection. Again I appreciate that the cheerleaders have curves and I can't use all of them to clean my teeth with. Some of the guys were holding these girls up in the air and it looked like an off night. Their arms were shaking something fierce. No injuries or deaths which is too bad. I had this wonderful fantasy of running to the cheerleaders bed and consolling her or her friends and... anyway.

Pregame warm ups:

I've been complaining about communication and team work. The other team warms up right in front of me so I watched these guys. Wade seemed to be in a world of his own. He'd half heartedly do a little spin move or something but it felt like "yawn, this practice is really not needed can we get onto the game?" He rarely interacted with his team mates. Beasely and another heat guy used warm-up to shoot a high arching shot and see who could make it the highest and make it the most. Beasely made quite a few actually. Pretty cool to watch but the only real interaction with team mates I saw. Actually, He was interacting with an usher more than his team mates.

The game:

:::drools:::

People moved. People defended. We don't have those blind no look passes that Wade has for his team mates. Actually, if Wade's team mates could have hit the broad side of a barn those would have been highlight passes for sure. Wade is simply amazing. Before the game I said there was no way we'd shut Wade down. Wouldn't happen, couldn't happen, keep dreaming. Somehow the blazers shut him down. Part of it was defense and part of it was flat out luck or confidence that his fellow players ate two bowls of suck this morning. Maybe the blazers slipped in these bowls of suck secretly?

I'm going to skip around a bit at little things that I saw that I liked. First off, Aldridge came out with clean shots and made them. They were jump shots that were wide open, but I'll take it.

Oden is looking AMAZINGLY better between now and the first/second game he played. He's still not here yet though. You watch the other blazer starters and they move with purpose. They're strong, smooth, confident. Oden is... there. His posture is a little goofy too. He doesn't carry himself like a beast but sort of slumps to his right (or left) side. It was weird watching him stand there.

That said, he's going to be a beast. I loved some of his fouls because he was starting to force things down below. Sure he was called, but I don't care. I want him to butt bump the opponent onto their butts! I WANT him to be aggressive and smack players down. Frankly, I wish he'd done some of those fouls HARDER. He's going to make mistakes and I want him confidently making them.

Batum... I couldn't help but notice him because my girlfriend kept screaming about him with every little thing that he did that was magic. Which in this game was a lot. I love the energy he brings.

Rudy came into the game. First thing that happened? One of my major issues? Rudy and Roy TALKED! It was a quick couple of seconds but they touched base and got on the same same page. I've been complaining about team work and communication and low and behold I saw something! I got excited.

Another moment I liked is that the blazers needed to inbound the ball. Sergio was there and said "i'm not freaking inbounding that, I'm the freaking point guard!" He looks around "YO! BAYLESS!!! GET OVER HERE!!!" Bayless ran from the other side, looked like he wanted to put up a fight, and it didn't matter. Sergio was boss and that there floor. I LOVED that. Sergio was 100% the floor general telling people what to do and where to go.

Half time Frye and Blake were talking and joking around more than they were practicing. Cool to see, but then i started thinking, "hey, couldn't you guys meet up for tea and crumpets afterwards!!?? We're only up by 19! Get intense and finish these guys!!!" I saw other quick conversations going on away from the ball.

Players were pointing or waving where they wanted the ball or screens or whatever. Again, communication. Team work... loved it.

Everything I've been complaining about wasn't there tonight. Or rather it was. It was with the heat.

Bayless!!! Almost forgot! He drove in for, I thought a dunk, and as he looked like he was going up he PASSED! It was a SWEET pass! Frankly, I'd rather see moves like that over just about anything! Kudos Bayless, that rocked man.

Pryz. The man, the beast, the vanilla Pryzilla! His last block of the night that was preceeded by another one sent the crowd to their feet ROARING! Joel was immediatly out and the crowd cheered like crazy for about 30 seconds. Seemed to take a while to inbound the ball there possibly because it was so noisy.

Summary

That game was TOTALLY worth driving 900 miles for. Here's hoping they can beat NO too! I'll be there and I don't plan on leaving with a voice. This is my mission. I was very happy from what I saw with the blazers on the team level. Personal level, I just want to see Greg keep grinding away and get some mean. It'll come, but if I have to dig for SOMETHING, it's for Greg to come out of that shell a little more. I love what he's doing and the rate he's improving. The kid is definitely special!

The crowd was quieter than opening night and people were EATING during the game around me! Don't they know they're supposed to cheer too??? Luckily I had some strong blazer fans a couple of seats back and they helped me carry the load.

Awesome awesome dunks and shots and mmm curvy cheerleaders. It was good game and good night.

***EDIT***

Oh yeah, awesome help defense!!! Greg was out on the perimeter because he was pulled out during a screen. Know what, that was fine! The guard ran to the basket and Oden guided him right into... another blazer player. I saw that CONSTANTLY!!!

Travis guarded Wade. He was able to do it thanks to... HELP DEFENSE!!!

The blazers did incredible on defense tonight. VERY few times did Miami get a shot up without a hand in their face or a blazer player around them. I think I only saw two or three wide open shots and two of those were because wade drew the defense and did INCREDIBLE passes... and yet those players still missed.

The blazers passed like crazy and broke down the miami defense, but our defense last night was drool worthy.

I think that's everything now. It better be. I have perogies to make and turkeys to cook!

***AGAIN***

LOTS of Jersey grabbing by Miami against the blazers. Refs weren't calling it, but blazers were being held all over the place. You'd see Jersey's snapping back into place a LOT.

Miami coach has the eyes of Jim Carrey when he makes those faces. It was freaky.

Blazer VS Jazz - Live Report

ratbastird — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:21:05 -0000

So I've had some time to cool off and I'm still not cool, but I'm in a better mood. I'll give you the break down of my night. it wasn't just the Blazers that got me hot, in the bad "I don't really need a shower unfortunately" meaning of the word. Naw, there were a few other things.

The Fans

Blazer fans that is. There were a number at the game and quite a few in one section. You could hear them cheering every once and a while, but I couldn't see them. I'm guessing they were on the level right above me to my right.

Saw KP. He was watching the game from the kitty corner to the Blazers. Thought about saying hi to him again, but decided not to bug him.

There was a blazer fan with his daughter next to me, so we chatted a little. We were 10 seats away so yelling became problematic. when more people arrived.

Jazz fans were quiet for most of the game until the mascot incident that I talk about below. The seats were half full until after halftime. this is, apparently, a strange Utah thing. The fans aren't any louder than the blazer fans, but the building conducts that noise like crazy! I also believe that some canned sound is used because when I look around at people clapping, i don't see enough to justify the noise. Possibly there are microphones to enhance it? Blazer fans were FAR noiser on opening night, but that noise isn't amplified like the jazz fans are in their building.

The Cheerleaders

First off, I know you're all waiting for reports on these horrible cheerleaders. You'll be happy to know that they've improved. The god awful sparkly outfit short dress thing with white coyboy boots was only used once and then they went to these sexier ref shirts and short black mini-skirts. Their dancing was still out of sync, but they managed a few backflips and two of the girls actually managed to stay in sync together while back flipping!!! I'll definitely take the beauty of portland cheerleaders though and their actual skill. Also, the cheerleaders were more diversified so this leads me to believe that maybe the preseason girls were also a little bit in the tryout stage as they were ALL blonde? Still 95% ugly though.

The Mascot

This subject has me hot. I'll just run down what I saw, but I seriously hope the guy sues and wins. The wookie/teenwolf (or bear as my girlfriend finally realized last night despite the fact I'd already told her) was going down the aisle and shooting people with silly string. All was fine and dandy until he found a blazer fan and shot it all over him and in his beer cup. This beer is about $8-$9 a cup. It's also weak beer 2% or so beer. ( I don't drink, so I don't actually know the strength, but I know people complain like crazy about the beer water.)

The fan didn't take too kindly to the ruinage of his lovely weak beverage. He was irate and acted out of helpless anger... because really the only other option is to chalk up that $8 as a loss or drinkng with all the silly string. The blazer fan took his cup and DUMPED it over the Mascot. This of course got the Jazz fans MAJORLY worked up. The security guards came along and escorted him out. I was torn between it being freaking funny, the unjustness of this out of control mascot doing something that would OBVIOUSLY tick off someone, and the realization that the fan did not act appropriatly.

The guards let the guy back in and the crowd booed. I think the guy realized that he hadn't been cool and just waved. Fine and dandy... except that the Mascot goes out and grabs a bucket of... I assume water. He runs up the stairs and the security guards stop him. I figure this is funny and this is where it should end. Except it isn't. He leaps around the security guard and dumps the entire bucket over him and knocks him back against the seat and then runs off. The Jazz fans roar in approval. The fan is then booted from the Arena by the security guards.

While the blazer fan obviously lost his cool, it's up to the representatives of the organization to maintain their cool and be professional. I am beyond ticked at the unprofessionalism shown last night. This is also not an abnormal thing. Talking to a jazz fan who was appologizing to me, she said that the string has been used to incite other non-jazz fans as well, so the actions were purposeful. Being told this just [s] made me love utah all the more [/s].

I seriously hope the guy can sue or something. I'm sure there's assault or battery in there somewhere... of course that opens him up to a counter suit unless the Jazz handle it quietly for PR reasons. Damn i hate the Jazz. I haven't felt such raw emotion towards a team or organization or FANS since karl Malone took out Brian Grants teeth with his wild purposeful elbows.

The Blazers

Watching this game, the blazers NEVER felt like they were in control. Even with a ten point lead, I was positive the blazers would lose this, and here's why.

The Blazers couldn't run the fast break. There were a few opportunities which ended with Aldridge not being prepared and bobbling the ball, or the person with the ball running up court, but NO ONE following. This wasn't a "we need to rebound to run". The Blazers WERE running it, and failing miserably. No one was sprinting or TRYING as a team to score. People would get the ball and go "oh shoot! what do i do???"

I saw multiple breakdowns of the players not knowing where to move or what to do when in position. I started watching the game a lot AWAY from the ball and I started to realize something. Nate runs basic plays because these guys don't seem to know how to even do that! Players weren't moving without the ball, or when they did, they simply rotated sides. I watched the Jazz move into the post and then around to the three point line. The Blazers were being run ragged attempting to catchup and it seriously freed some guys up with that ragged player was finally hit by a screen.

I saw a team that attacked the post in the first quarter and then settled for jump shots the entire rest of the game... except for Roy.

Also... the blazers NEED TO DUNK!!! What's with all the freaking layins? If our players went up with more power, the ball would go in! I saw a pass to aldridge and he did this little lady like layin... except he missed. If he'd gone harder he could have dunked and it WOULD have gone in. Watching these blazers, I can understand why Nate wants Bayless to work. We need that dunking and athleticsm because the other blazers don't display it.

Now, some things I saw that I did like is that the Blazers and Jazz were both physical and the blazers did some hard fouls with intent. they were SLOPPY about it, but they were trying.

Okur seriously looks like a lady out there. man... watching that guy and his hand gestures away from the ball is a complete gas! I started imitating him in the stands and cracking my girlfriend up. when the Jazz come to town, seriously... check this guy out. he's so danty!

The Players

I can't watch all the players all the time, so I'll report on the ones I noticed.

Batum did some nice things. He also did some dumb things. Mostly I thought he did a great job. His mistakes were rookie mistakes and with a few games, I'm sure he'd shake them off. His defence was nice and his hustle was above everyone but Rudy.

Rudy needs to be fed the ball more. I still think he's watching and waiting, but this guy is better than how he's being used. This is a man that can take over games, and for some reason, calls aren't being made for him. He needs the ball in his hands more, like roy. He can create for others as well as himself. His experience with Spain is something this team should be harvesting and utilizing.

Aldridge reverted back to jump shots. Chicago stated they needed a strong post presence and that Aldridge didn't have it. They're right. Aldridge doesn't have it. Last year he was shown stats of how much better he does in the post, and yet he's still settling for jump shots. Carlos Boozer isn't the greatest person for Aldridge to play against, but if he moves and warps his body, he could take the guy! Aldridge needs to be in the post and figure out HOW to use his finesse to dominate down there. Frankly, he should be slapped everytime he takes a jumper until he figures out the post. I'll take losses in the short term, because that means we'll dominate in the long term.

Roy... wow... he made some nice moves to the basket, but he also had a LOT of turnovers. I almost get the feeling that Roy felt he'd arrived and so he thought it would be easy and now he's waking up and realizing that he needs to work just as hard as he did last year. That is the "vibe" I have. Obviously I'm not in his head, so I don't know if it's true or not.

Blake was left open a lot, and he made the Jazz pay by hitting a ton of three pointers. I liked what he was doing out there.

I didn't notice Sergio. Pryz was Pryz. Frye hit a couple of shots AND attacked the post a few times. I liked it. I didn't notice Outlaw other than he looks very atheltic with his JUMPERS. (another man that needs to attack the basket. I also like a hard foul I saw him take that the blazers actually got away with.

The Refs

I noticed, when skimming the posts, that a lot of frustration was directed towards the Refs. While I was AMAZED a kickball wasn't called, the other calls looked good from where I was sitting and the ones that weren't seemed about equal to the miscalls against the Jazz. While the calls may not have been good, in person they looked good, for the most part and I can't fault the Refs with them at all. Actually, the Jazz fans were ticked that roy wasn't called for travels on his moves to the basket and they were upset at a few other non-calls. I believe the game was pretty even.

Overall impression

I attended the Spurs game and was pretty happy. Looking back, I realize that the win blinded me to some flaws. Those flaws were not as bad as tonight against the Jazz, but they were still there.

The Blazer players need to be given playbooks and start learning how to run them. They ALL seem to need a basic education on what the heck to do and where the heck to be out there on the floor. i recall an article by Quick (I think) that someone commented how they'd never been on a team that spent so much time working on the basics/fundamentals. There's a reason. This team is beyond belief behind that learning curve.

I generally preach patience. I generally don't become upset watching games. I'm upset though. I'm upset because I'm watching some ugly basketball. It's only the raw talent that keeps us in ball games. In the fourth when teams turn it up a notch and LOCK down on defense (like the Jazz did... they do deserve the win and even if they lost I'd be calling them the best team on the floor), the blazers fall apart. They don't have that extra notch. heck, they barely have a basic NBA notch. So I'm very frustrated. I'm frustrated that I feel like this team has stepped backwards in fundamental play more than I am at losing. I feel like thse players should be further ahead in the basic understanding of basketball.

There's a talk about a high basketball IQ, but frankly I don't see it out there. After watching this game, I believe James Jones leaving hurt us a LOT more than I would have imagined. His addition to the game allowed him to direct the Blazers with the spacing and basic movement. It allowed us to utilize our talent. Looking at this team, I see us needing another player like Jones. someone with play-off and/or championship experience. someone who's been around. Nate can only do so much. When the players fail to do basic things on the floor, then Nate can only shake his head. He CANT come up with a master plan and show off his coaching because the players couldn't freaking execute it!

Also, I thought this would be the year for the blazers to really break out, and I don't believe it is now. I don't say this because they're losing. I say this because this team is fundamentally wrong on the fundamentals. I'm hopeful they can figure it out this year, but worried that they won't because they're SO far behind. The definitely won't make it past the first round of the play-offs.

All that said, I'm hopeful that the blazers can learn and recover. I recognize that we have new players. I recognize that we're playing without two starters. I recognize that we have a harsh schedule. Still, that doesn't excuse the breakdown of the fundamentals that this team shows.

I'm hopeful that these new players with YEARS of experience (Batum and Rudy) will start directing people out on the floor, because the Blazers NEED that. I know Rudy knows what to do out there, and he REALLY needs to assert himself. Nate needs to allow Rudy to assert himself. Nate also needs to play Batum more. The kid has talent, we're not going anywhere quickly, and so you develop the talent. Batum is behind Webster, but could easily overtake him in a year (I believe).

We have a good team, but unless they suddenly figure out floor spacing, movement away from the ball, and so on, this team is going no where. Unless they figure out how to rotate on defense instead of scrambling from guy to guy leaving THREE Jazz players open... we don't have a prayer of making the finals.

I'm disappointed in this team. They're in good shape but they really needed to work on the matter between their ears and educate themselves better on how the game is played. They also need to play more like a team. Right now, i just see a bunch of individuals out there.

How can this be turned around?

The addition of Greg will plug ONE hole in the dike.

The addition of Webster will provide experience.

Nate needs to assign these guys homework. Take the plays he wants to run and let them read it. Give them tapes and make them watch it. Run the practices and make them do it. whatever they are doing obviously isn't sticking out there.

Nate needs to give Rudy more rope and more leadership. he needs to tell Rudy to speak up and direct the team. I believe Rudy CAN do this and SHOULD do this before he forgets how to move!

Nate needs to play Batum more. This guy IS our future SF. He's 19 and able to handle the pressures of starting. If he was on seattle's team, he'd be dominating with inflated stats and people would be in amazement. Instead, he's even better and able to fit in on a team with already VERY good players. We need to develop that.

In closing

So there you go. Not a positive viewing of the team, and even if we won, this wouldn't have been positive. Watching the play away from the ball was painful. This team has a long ways to go.

Oden, Inexperience, Injury, and Starting (not ankle related)

ratbastird — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:41:50 -0000

How about those trolls eh? About ready for a serious D&D campaign to clear out that darn horde infestation...

Responding to a comment in a post, I readdressed a thought I've had before. There have been comments that Oden is injury prone and/or fears. Others have come back that the injuries are not the same or reoccuring and sometimes you're just freaking unlucky. That said, watching Greg play I do have a concern that I think is legitimate.

I've gone through phases where I've been in really good shape and really bad shape. When I'm in bad shape and attempt to push myself to do things I can't do, I've often become hurt. My reflexes aren't as fast, my foot placement isn't exactly great, and I end up tripping or spraining myself and then... i'm out again a few weeks. it was frustrating as these instances usually happened as I was getting into that great shape again. Sometimes I'd push myself too hard and then tweak something for a few days.

Watching Oden on the floor, I saw a guy who didn't have his feet exactly where they needed to go. I saw a guy that wasn't able to make smooth clean moves, and I saw a guy that was honestly a bit clumsy in what he was doing. My concern here is something along the lines of what happened last night. I'm concerned that he's being pushed too fast when he's really just not in shape for this. He looked like that gangly teenager that hasn't found his new balance or rhythm. My fear is that the result will be continued injuries.

Even though Oden greatly helps our offense, should nate put Pryz in so that Oden can find his balance and comfort level and NOT face the freaking elite centers right now when he's not ready? Will this help keep Oden healthy? Are my concerns unfounded or have others found this to be true as well in a personal or sports related setting?

Oden is clearly raw and clearly needs time to develop. How best should he be developed? Trial by fire or slowly ease him into it?

Thoughts?

Nate, our coach now and in the future.

ratbastird — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:09:33 -0000

I'm going to start of with the disclaimer that I'm a Nate fan. That said, as umbiased as I can be, I think this guy is our coach.

I've been reading through the various articles out there on the team and Nate at the beginning of the season. I've attached the links below for your own enjoyment.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/10/lakersblazers_preview_we_are_t.html

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/10/blazers_banking_on_a_highyield.html

I've noticed a couple of things. First off is that nate has changed from year to year as his players have changed. He earned the knick name Sarge because he was tough on his team. He was demanding. He ran tests at the beginning of the preseason to figure out where players were at and to FORCE players to come into camp in shape. This is the last year they'll be held because players are doing what they need to do, without Nate forcing it.

Nate has also focused on building leadership within the team. The article about dinner at Nate's house, showcases this. Roy, Aldridge, and Oden are the anchors of this team. They're going to be the guys that carry us through thick and thin and they'll be setting the emotional tone and psychological tone of this team. Nate gathered them together to get them to communicate, get on the same page, and then he set the tone for what he wanted over the year and gave them a chance to speak up as well. This shows a HUGE understanding of how to lead. Additionally Nate recognizes the need for motivation. Coaching isn't just about X's and O's. It's about getting your team motivated to go out there and play your best. Motivation comes from within, but it's also inspired by other factors and Coach recognizes this.

I believe that Nate is a good X and O guy, but the fact that he's so concerned with building the chemistry and leadership, that speaks volumes for me. Frankly, i think Phil's success is based almost exclusively on his motivation and leading as opposed to the X's and O's which i think he delegated more to his assistants.

Another point that I've made through the year is that Nate learns. Yes, he's slower than some; but haven't we, as fans, been upset with past coaches who throw people in and out and so you never see what we have and no chemistry can build? Sure Nate may not sub right away, but he's showing trust in players and giving them that chance to sink or swim. When they're pulled out, they KNOW it's because they need to be pulled out. Do you yank Roy or Kobe on a bad day? I don't think so. Nate gives that bad day. I also believe part of it was because this is the first year in a while that ISN'T about building and seeing what we have. We know what we have and everything else needs to fit in or get out. I believe Nate was also coaching with that mentality. Either way, I didn't disagree with him not pulling out players right away all the time. He sees them more, he knows what they can do, and frankly... that guy wants to win as much as we do.

It's the start of the season. We're still a young team. As in every year in the past we've made some significant changes to our line up. We have two starters that are rookies. We have the sixth man as a rookie. We have a player 10 down that is a rookie. On most other teams you'd call that a revamping of the team. Unfortunately, this means we're going to be up and down. Unfortunately, this also means that Nate's head will be called for when we go on our first losing streak.

I actually become angry over this because I don't believe it's remotely fair or even based on the realm of reality. This guy has adapted and changed over the years to FIT what our team needs. He's shown great thought, great insight, and consistently manages to get teams to over achieve. Evidence shows that his teams do the best out of a time out. He has the respect of ALL the players. who in the world else do you want?

This Blazer franchise is no longer taking the year view. They're taking the long view over the next 10-15 years, and I believe Nate fits that.

So if you disagree, if you become frustrated, if you jump on that lovely emotional bandwagon and call for Nate's head after a bad loss, I want you to think about two things.

Look at the tools Nate has. Look at how he manages to get the most out of them. Let's look at cooking, as It's something I love to do and Nate apparently doesn't do when he can order from Claim Jumper. When looking at tools in teh kitchen, you NEED that knife to be the $400 knife when you're racing to chop that carrot against other cooks. If you're also racing to sharpen it, then the cook with the sharper knife is going to generally going to beat you out when all things are equal. Nate has some of the nicest tools around. We all agree on that, but he's also racing to sharpen them. He's gaining ground, but that race is still going on and we're not as sharp as we can be yet. Patience sucks, but we still need to have it.

Secondly, take a look around the league. What other coach do you want? What coach could do as well as Nate does? What coach was chosen to coach the Olympic team? What coach has as much POTENTIAL as nate does. He's still a young coach and that's something to consider too. When I look around the league, two names call to me. Byron Scott (also unproven, but manages to get a lot out of his teams) and Phil jackson. I think we're still too young for Phil and I really don't want him anyway, and Scott is not leaving New Orleans anytime soon. So if you hate Nate so much, who's better and who would fit our team and culture better?

I realize that in the heat of the moment people are goign to lash out. We've almost arrived and people want us to "FREAKING ARRIVE ALREADY". Still, I wanted to make one last call and one last statement about Nate to the loud minority of passionate emotional fans, and also to the bandwagon fans that may have hopes higher than this team can jump just yet. you're definitely welcome fans, but try to keep these things in mind before you go screaming for a new coach.

That is all, I hope you enjoy the articles. I thought they rocked.

Blazers VS Jazz - Game Site Report

ratbastird — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:37:10 -0000

I'm sure you're all looking for a first hand account. What could be seen onsite that wasn't seen from the TV, so let me give you my report!

The cheerleader outfits this year are much improved but still incredibly ugly. They seem to be in love with the one piece look which just looks... ugly. They're also inlove with these white cowboy boots with heals which are... ugly. The plus side is they had some tops that were cute, and their one piece miniskirt outfits are interesting. color patterns should really be used to apply some accentuation though in order to...

Oh, the game.

I'm fairly certain a number of you watched it so I'll give my initial impressions. Realize that I'm no expert and it's just a feel and my thoughts.

"What... we're not playing our starters??? WTF!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO. Hmmm, wait, this means the Jazz won't know our team. Sweet. Trying to work advantages now to eek out those early wins! I like it Nate, but you screwed me on watching Greg play... AGAIN!!!" (I missed seeing Oden play in summer league because I came down at the end instead of the beginning).

The lack of playing the starters tells me we've arrived. last year we played to win. We had to learn to win. This year, it's really been about seeing what we have. That means Nate expects us to win and it's all about the little fine tunings that need to happen to do the most winning. Preseason finally doesn't matter for this team. Sucked for me watching the game, but an awesome sign for this year.

My gf called the Jazz mascott a "Wookie" Personally I think he looks like teenwolf. He rode in on a motorcycle and reved it up high. No one was clapping but you couldn't tell because it was too noisy. Canned noise came in and it sounded like the place was full. People trickled in at half time and by the end of the game, the noise was real and the place WAS almost full.

There were misc. blazer fans in the crowd and at one point a kid cried out "where's oden??? I want oden!!!"

I had some kids razzing me about the blazers and how they sucked. I just laughed. The Blazer's ten plus point lead grew and they quieted down. Can't call a team that clearly isn't sucking a sucky team. At the end of the game they were noisy again, and i still laughed. After they again told me the blazers sucked, I just looked at them smiling and said "yeah, but those weren't our starters!" They shut up again. While they processed that, we left.

Blake: Looked good. Looked REALLY good. He hit shots he needed to make. he made some NICE passes through traffic and to a guy under the basket who would sometimes finish and sometimes not. Blake is, without a doubt, our starter. He deserves to be a starter on just about every team in the league. He was calm, focused, collected, and deadly.

Randolph: We kept him instead of hill??? Seriously? the guy is slow. Molasses slow. We're talking heinz ketchup on top of the building, running down and sticking out your dog so that ketchup drop can land on your bun slow. His stat sheet was impressive, but every time he got the ball it was a bobble fest until the ball miraculously dropped into the basket. He seemed to pause for a second going "what do I, what do i do, what do i do george? OH! Ball! Score!" His scoring had more to do with some excellent passing than it did with randolph. He'd have a steal at one end and turn it over at the other end. I was ticked whenever he got the ball. When he fouled out I said "YES!!!" then diogu ran in and i said " NOOOOOO!!! NOT BETTER!!!" If Randolph were a 19 year old rookie, I'd have more patience, but he has a few years, and he's SLOW!

Diogu: I don't have much to say on this guy, but he's a 15th player on the bench and we already have one in randolph. Actually we have three. This far down should be reserved for projects, not scrubs. I expect Randolph and diogu to be cleared out by year end to make way for second round high reward low risk talents that can simmer.

Bayless looked good out there the first half. I yelled at him for his showboat move. Don't showboat if you can't finish! He was clearly off balance. He made some nice three's. The second half he attacked the basket and just ran into a wall of guys. He didn't have a plan B to pass out and he didn't have a prayer of making the shot. Also, as a rookie, he didn't have a prayer for that foul call. The kid will be all right because I saw glimmers of tools that he'll be able to use, but he's not ready. He needs to simmer on the bench and make use of the scrap minutes he'll get during blow-outs. Side note: I saw him talking to Batum at one point who looked upset. I believe it was on a blown play. Batum walked away and Bayless must have recognized that he ticked Batum off or something and he talked to Batum again either to encourage or to try to make nice. Obviously I don't know the conversation that took place, but Bayless was either encouraging Batum, or Bayless was too blunt and was trying to fix that. Either way it means he's paying attention to the mood of his team mates, and i think that's a good thing. he'll learn.

Rudy: Love this guy! he's all over the place getting steals, disrupting. Watching him in practice, he's VERY deliberate in his shot. He's generally practicing a short step/serious of moves before each shot. He's checking to make sure his form is perfect before he shot. It was cool to watch. His shot didn't feel on tonight and I as disappointed that he didn't take over the game at the end. He seemed to be watching the team and the other team. he's moving, but it also seems like he's observing and learning. I have a feeling that once he feels like he pretty much gets it, he'll explode. I think he's holding back some right now.

Sergio: He didn't take many shots, and I didn't need him too. He made efforts on defense, made some good passes, and was constantly communicating and direction. Blake also did this and it's good to see. He looked comfortable and confident. his shot still needs work, but I think he's going to get there and maybe he will be able to make it on our team.

Overall: I feel there should have been more movement in this game. more cutters. The ball would be passed along the outside but it didn't seem to go down low a whole lot. In the first half I noticed that the jazz had a tougher time scoring and the blazers scored at will. We couldn't miss and we always managed to get open. In the second half they clamped down on defense and Blake wasn't in it. We had a number of shot clock violations. The Jazz moved the ball well, and we left nice gaps for them to find the man. The crowd was LOUD and the building was pretty full. Much more impressive than the regular season game I went to last year where most of the sound was canned sound. The echo of the place really exaggerates the sound.

I'm happy with what I saw. Diogu and Randolph should never play and we have a nice team. I'm still bitter about hill.

Cheerleaders: As for the cheerleaders... get rid of that white trash green god awful eye shadow. Seriously! They had a contest to give a date away with a cheerleader. It was either that or signed basketball shoes by Deron Williams. I'm not a jazz fan, but I'd definitely take the freaking shoes!!! Yuck. Blazer dancers are a cut above. They're still toothpicks, but at least they're attractive toothpicks and look like they have class. Ironically, one of the most attractive Jazz dancers couldn't do the splits. What's up with that?

***EDIT***

Apparently people didn't see the game?

Frye: My impression of Frye is that he did well. I would guess he was about 50% from the field by watching him. He made some nice open shots, to the point if he was open it almost felt automatic. He hurt his shooting a little on a rebound, put back miss, rebound again. I thought he should have kicked it back out, but I know that feeling when you're down there. "the basket is just... right... there..." He had aquired a quiet scoring that was pretty impressive by half. He looks good but I think he can play a little bit better and be more explosive. My guess is he's shaking off a little rust again and also... it's just preaseason.

Overall redone to take into account people didn't see:

Blake was pushing hard. Is was quick up and down the court and had some nice passes around the defense that pretty much put it in the hands of the people in the post. Randolph capitalized on this in the first half. He really seemed to hurt with Blake out.

The feel of the game was that the blazers were in complete control during the first half. As I stated above the jazz had a difficult time scoring. The blazers, even when they missed, seemed to have much easier shots.

The shot that bayless made that frustrated me was he received an allyhoop type pass and did some fancy moves with the legs and didn't have as much control as he should have had, so he missed the dunk as he flew past the basket. Showman ship is awesome, but he didn't have enough control to show off.

The second half and fourth quarter the Jazz really seemed to tighten down. There was more energy and cutting, as noted above, but the difference was on the defensive end. The Blazers didn't make passes fast enough to open up the defense, and it felt like the majority of players (randolph, diogu, outlaw, bayless) didn't know what to do with the ball out there. Offense stalled and it breathed life into the crowd and into the jazz team. The passing was also mostly on the perimeter. You'd go around the outside of the three point line and then someone might attempt to drive. The lack of a good post player really hurt the offense. That may also have been part of players not knowing what to do.

Even rudy seemed more passive than active in this game. Again though, i felt he was reading the players and the game. It feels like he'll continue to do that because the games don't matter yet, they matter when you start to make the push and THAT's when we'll see him explode. His inaction feels VERY active, if that makes sense. Also, he had a few turnovers. One he was about to attack the basket and did a fake right, left, then right... the problem is he lifted his right, left, right foot up and was then called for the travel. He also made a pass STRAIGHT to the Jazz player who was in front of travis. It wasn't a no look pass, so I'm not sure what was up with that. Rudy also seemed very serious. I left wondering if he's feeling the pressure too.

Outlaw had a play where he was open on the fast break. He had the right side and was dribbling in. The thing was, you could tell he wasn't comfortable with that dribble and wanted to pass off, but there wasn't an open passer. He had a deffender in front and so he lifted off a little to early to dunk it. Probably to avoid the charge, but he was completely off balance and ended up missing it. I think outlaw needs to work a little more all ball handling and being comfortable on the fast break like that.

The team was communicating a lot and it's mostly coming from the guards. Blake was constantly directing traffic and signaling for people to move. I feel this is a large part of why the team worked so well with Blake in it. Sergio was doing that to some extent too. I didn't see Bayless signalling at all.

Bayless brought the ball up a few times, but would then give to Blake or sergio, which was a much better call. Sergio, despite his stats looked good.

Okay, I think I blahed out everything in my head right now. I should have written this last night, but hopefully it added a little something.

OT- Court Rivals - 2008.08.25

ratbastird — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:29:05 -0000

First is the link to the last post to catch any smack you might have missed that has links to other past posts:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/8/21/598320/ot-court-rivals-2008-08-21

Next up the other important links:

Google Player Attribute spreadsheet

Google League Standing Spreadsheet

http://www.courtrivals.com/

The Main Juice of the post:

Court Rivals, where BE teams beat up other BE teams. Currently teams are looking for new players, and currently JB is looking for other teams to talk smack too as they've gone off on a large series of wins.

Look for the smack talk to continue if they beat a team with 300 attribute points higher than them tonight.

If you're looking to join, simply post here and teams will be more than happy to take you on.

Playoffs:

I suggest we get our position placement this year, and 15 games into next year we start our play-offs. This lets us build up the attributes and works around the one challenge rule. Bring it BE teams!

Also... i changed the ranking system to be BE wins, and then attribute points, and then record against tied teams.

Games still waiting to be played for play off rankings:

BlazersEdgers: B-Edge Odenizers, Blazing the Edge
BEdgers: Blazing the Edge
Bedgers2: DONE!!!
Red Unit: DONE!!!
Just Blaze: DONE!!!
B-Edge Odenizers: BlazersEdgers BEdgers
vERYkERRPLEX: DONE!!!
Blazing the EDge: BEdgers, BlazersEdgers

Current Standings (need spreadsheet updated):

Bedgers—————————I (6-0) I (6325) | (21-11)
Bedgers2————————-I (5-2) I (6600) | (21-12)
Just Blaze————————-I (5-2) I (5972) | (24-8)
vERRYkERRPLEX————- I (5-2) I (5882) | (23-9)
Bedge Odenizers—————I (2-3) I (4096) | (19-11)
Blazers Edgers—————--I (1-4) I (5857) | (12-20)
Red Unit—————————I (1-6) I (5519) | (22-10)
Blazing the Edge—————-I (0-5) I (3755) | (9-17)

Top Five Trained Player recognition award for duration of this post (meaning I won't be updating until the next post):

729 -- Jay Acer --------------- Red Unit
723 -- High Flyer ------------ Bedgers2
702 -- Point Guard ---------- Bedgers2
701 -- Jerryd Oden ---------- Bedgers2
700 -- LaMarcus Royden -- Bedgers2

Congrats on your excellence in training.

Note: If there are issues with the spreadsheet, feel free to volunteer to update and I'll catch you on the next court rivals post.

TEAMS NEEDING PLAYERS:

Currently no team is clambering for players, but if you're interested, post your name in this thread and I'm sure a team will find you. Hard workers are the most appreciated. After all, a new season of Court Rivals is beginning and there is some dead weight on a few of the teams that may be removed by next season if a hungry rookie is ready to come in and play.

Finally the disclaimer:

We're attempting to keep this to the minimal posts and only renew posting when the thread drops. We know this doesn't interest everyone, so if you're one of them, in the words of officer Barbrady "move along folks, nothing to see here".