Mar 10 2009
The Foul
Wow.
There were about a million storylines going on during this game at once. I want to get to the biggest one, but first I must give a certain player who’s been treated badly by this blog his due: Nicolas Batum! Honestly, though, Travis Outlaw was incredible last night, and played like the player we expect him to be. He stayed within his abilities and took the right shots. Let’s just get to the game.
Before the team introductions, you could just tell the crowd was already simmering. The boos for the Lakers were louder than even the boos Jason Kidd got after it was revealed that he was a wife beater. I joked to a friend that this thing was going to turn into a blowout due to the energy of the crowd. When the game started, everyone was hitting. LaMarcus and Joel were unstoppable down low, pulling down 30 rebounds between them for the game, Brandon and Blake were hitting all kinds of shots, and Nicolas Batum was everywhere on the floor, swatting and dunking, dunking and swatting. Batum performed the “Affiche de Pau: Partie Deux” as he flew over Pau Gasol for a dunk, and then raised two fingers up, signaling the second time he’s posterized Gasol along with his own increasing confidence and swagger. With 4 minutes left, Nate shifted to the reserves, a time that had meant a dropoff in play during the past week, but not last night. Travis Outlaw, as said before, played his best game of the season and delivered a knockdown punch, leaving the Lakers dazed for the rest of the game. After the first half, things seemed academic. It was going to be a win, and the only question was if it would be by more than 25.
During half time, I got a chance to speak with Jim Caple from ESPN.com, as he was writing a piece for the site about the impact the economy’s had on the buying habits of Blazer fans. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t even plug the blog.
With less than a minute left in the quarter, I yelled over at Lamar Odom, “Hey Lamar, how are you liking this game?” Surprisingly enough, he responded by saying, “I don’t know, man, it’s okay,” as he moved his hand in a comme ci, comme ça gesture. To say the least, the Lakers were checked out and ready to get out of Portland as soon as possible. Then The Foul happened.
At the end of the quarter, Rudy stole the ball and was running right towards me, and then things moved in slow motion. All of us in the crowd could see Ariza coming at him from behind, and just hoped that maybe Rudy could just the ball in with an and-1. Instead, Ariza went across Rudy’s arms and his head, pulling Fernandez horizontal with a follow-through. Rudy flew in the air for a second until he disappeared in front of the photographers by the basket support. Then everyone got in it. It was, as Roy said, White versus Purple. Everyone got in each other’s face. Travis was quick with his elbows to stand up for Rudy, Roy went after Ariza, and it looked like Trevor was about to throw a punch at Portland’s other most beloved player. Aldridge and Odom rekindled their little relationship, jawing at each other, as Odom probably earned a suspension for coming off the bench during a fracas. Somewhat ironic considering how detached he was barely two minutes before.
Roy: Pissed. Bavetta: Thinking about Matlock.
The Foul showed the heart of the team. When their guy went down, they were completely fearless and ready to stand up for him. They were not ready to be pushed around by anyone. Special credit to Outlaw and Aldridge for bucking their “soft” reputation and taking it upon themselves to defend their man. Special credit to Jordan Farmar for immediately going to Rudy right after The Foul occurred in order to try to help him up. Special credit to blind luck for Joel Przybilla not being in the game. I can’t imagine what he would have done to Ariza if he was on the floor at the time of The Foul. And finally, even more credit to Kurt Rambis for clotheslining a ballboy and then throwing him by his neck after The Foul.
The fourth quarter was just tense and uneasy. The crowd just wanted the game to be over so they could get in their cars to listen to the latest news about Rudy’s injury. The Lakers opportunistically outscored the Blazers by 13 in the quarter to make the blowout look a little more respectable. Pau Gasol did not return to the game after The Foul. After all of it, the Blazers had destroyed the best team in the NBA. People were almost as quiet filing out as they were when Turkoglu hit that horrible 3 pointer during the Orlando game. They politely took their chalupa coupons while asking each other what was wrong with Rudy.
It had been years and years since the last time I actually went to a game against the Lakers. When I was younger, I remember the insanity of the fans, and it was understandable. This team was your rival, the one keeping you from the top. Now we have the longest streak without playoffs in the NBA. But last night, I was just caught off guard. It was a pulsing hatred for the team that the fans had. It was the heartbeat of the blowout. The fans were relentless with their chants, moving from “Beat LA” to “LA sucks” as emotions and BACs started to run higher. Even the Rose Garden camera operators, so quick to censor anything that might not be “family friendly,” got in on the act, showing guys wearing t-shirts that read “Kobe blows Shaq” (which is just wrong; Kobe tastes his ass).
Looking back with the knowledge of the relative mildness of Rudy’s injury, I can safely say that it was the team’s best game of the year, and a major statement. The Blazers can beat any team in the NBA.
heh, matlock