Trail Post - A Portland Trail Blazers Blog

Man, it’s nice to write something that isn’t a preview. To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the team, the Blazers had a new introduction video they showed to the fans (and thank God, because that “Welcome to the Jungle” thing was rote and cliched. At least the “Oh Fortuna” one had the unintentional comedy factor of Ike Diogu trying to look like Gerard Butler.) that celebrated the forty years of Blazer history. Or, it simply celebrated the 1977 team, the 1988-93 team, and the 2006-present team.

Issue #1: Where are the Jailblazers? Okay, I know lots of Portland fans have (misguided) opinions about them, but they’re as important a chapter in the history of the team as the Drexler team, if not more. How incredible was it that they were able to destroy the allegiance of a fan base even though they were the only show in town? According to the video, the only members of the turn of the century Western Conference Finals team were Arvydas Sabonis (one shot), Brian Grant (two shots), and Scottie Pippen (three shots). Sure the lack of Arvydas is appalling, but that’s something I feel daily. (I go to work, there’s not enough Arvydas there, I go see “This Is It,” why isn’t Arvydas a backup dancer?) Why gloss over this huge chapter in our history? I’m not asking for Darius Miles and Zach Randolph, but hometown hero Damon Stoudamire would be nice. Rasheed Wallace was our franchise player for well over half a decade, couldn’t we have had at least a glimpse of his white spot? I’m a bit proven wrong, though, because I remember seeing Isaiah Rider on the screen.

Issue #2: Ha ha Rick Adelman. There were quite a few shots during the video featuring Adelman as the Blazers early-90s coach. As soon as I saw them, my attention diverted to the now-bearded Rockets coach. His reaction? Nothing. Lifeless. Then again, what reaction should I expect? Should he go into the crowd and find Bill Schonely and weep in his lap, apologizing for leaving? Still, a smile would have been nice, maybe a nod or a wave to the fans. (Or signing a contract as the new head coach.)

Anyway, the game itself was a no doubter by the end of the second quarter. Blazers started slow, and the Rockets were kept afloat (as they were the whole game) by a steady stream of free throws (they outdrew the Blazers 29-22, but that margin was helped by a few intentional fouls to end the game). By the fourth quarter, the Rockets staged a comeback when both of our centers were out due to foul trouble. Joel picked up his fourth, fifth, and sixth almost instantly, while Greg Oden had five on the bench. (LaMarcus had five.) This led Nate to decide to match up with them by going super small, playing Andre Miller and Steve Blake at the same time. As bad as this sounds, it looked even worse. Needless to say, the Rockets came back hard, as Adelman internally giggled at how bad he was outcoaching Nate McMillan. Once it got to a six point game, Oden made his return, and safely put it out of reach almost instantaneously, blocking and rebounding everything in sight. Put it simply: Rick Adelman has Nate’s coaching number. Nate doesn’t get beaten badly by a lot of coaches, but Adelman knows how to do it.

Onto the players!

Travis Outlaw: Travis brought it last night. Through the middle of the third quarter, he was the definition of Good Travis. He was playing defense (!), jostling for rebounds (!), and just being generally pleasant to watch on the offensive end (!). He’s the reason we got that huge lead. His shots were falling. Still, things for him went south a bit toward the end of the game, as he trended back to Bad Trav habits such as failing to play defense and not working on offense. Overall, a great game for him, and definitely relieving to see in the wake of Batum’s injury (!) (That last one was unnecessary.).

Superstars: Brandon looked good last night but he missed a ton of shots. He made up for it by drawing at least three star calls to get to the free throw line. He’s getting his respect. He missed a layup terribly with an airball and he also got blocked because he telegraphed his switch to the left hand on a layup. LaMarcus was made a non-factor by the referees, as he stewed with foul trouble the whole game.

Martell Webster: Welcome back Marty. He is electric on the floor. On defense, he plays like Ruben Patterson minus the raping. Just constant hustle plays and momentum changers. On offense, jeez. He’s basically another Rudy out there. I was psyched before the game to see him and Rudy get some run at the same time with Andre Miller and I was not disappointed. They are scary together. Constant chaos and motion on offense.

Greg Oden: LET GREG TOUCH THE BALL. He goes for 12 rebounds and 5 blocked shots and he only gets to shoot three times? Oh right, he had seven turnovers. I was there, and I didn’t even notice it was happening. A few travels, a few 3s in the key, and boom. The turnovers are something we need to work on quite a bit.

Andre Miller: Great first game. He showed a bit of everything we expected. He made great passes (the best was through the outstretched arms of a defender to LaMarcus for an easy dunk) and missed some jumpers. Pretty much exactly what we expected. The good news is that I’ll only compare him to Sergio Rodriguez this whole season. He’s much better than Sergio could ever hope to be.

Joel Przybilla Murder Watch: Carl Landry just got on the list.

Rudygate: In the most ironic event of the night, Rudy got called for a clear path foul for going across Trevor Ariza’s arms while Ariza was on a fast break. This ended up as two points and the ball. Those of us with good memories remember when this went the other way. Rudy broke away and Ariza destroyed him with a flagrant foul. Rudy had a chance to run alongside him and basically do what Ariza did to him. He didn’t. Rudy is a classy dude.

It was a fun game to watch, and a fun one to be at. That swag bag was pretty rad too. I’ll be wearing that flashing Blazers pendant always.

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