Saturday, December 13, 2008

Clippers Game Recap

I’m starting to get tired of this. The Blazers dropped yet another close game to the Clippers tonight in double overtime 120-112. Although it was a different game, it was a similar story for the Blazers. Poor defense combined with poor 3 point shooting, negated an otherwise brilliant performance from Brandon Roy. Roy posted a career high 38 points on 15-30 (50%) shooting from the field. He also contributed 4 boards and 9 assists a night after having his first game of the year without one. The Blazers allowed the Clips to shoot 47% from the field (normally 42%) and were dominated inside by Zach Randolph who matched Roy’s 38 points.

After watching this game (and during) I found myself asking “is anyone besides Roy going to do anything?” At the end of regulation and both overtimes the Blazers, as they always do, leaned on Roy heavily on offense. The only difference between this time and every other time we go to Roy is that no one was contributing in other areas (i.e. defensive stops, big rebounds, or hitting open shots). As amazing as Roy is, he can only do so much. I will concede that at times, Roy gets the ball and everyone in the gym knows that he is going to shoot it no matter what.

My biggest concern after tonight is who is going to be the Blazers #2 option in crunch time? It’s not Aldridge because he cannot create his own shot. Outlaw it seems cannot be relied on as a viable option as of late. Blake, who had opportunities to close tonight’s game with his free throws missed his last 4 of 5 attempts, and last night missed a few open three’s that would have potential gotten us back in the game. Which makes me wonder if he is regressing back to his mean 3 pt. percentage of 38.4%. Maybe I am overacting, but it seems like we have had the same exact problems the last three games and no one is evolving to fix those problems.

Although the above paragraphs having me reaching for the razor blades in my bathroom drawer, I feel there is an upside to be taken from the last few games. We have lost two out of the last three games on last second hail mary threes. How often do you see a player bank in a fade away three? Or hit a last second three with nothing left on the clock? I would say not very often. Also the fact that these three losses came in four days at the end of a grueling 25 game stretch makes the losses a little easier to swallow. So assuming our bad luck (or possibly the karma of Brandon Roy’s three against the rockets) is over, we have nothing but blue skys ahead, especially considering the fact that nine of our next eleven games are at home. Now the Blazers have their first three day rest of the season which could not come at a more opportune time.

A somber Kyle and Goose signing out…

5 comments:

  1. As a side note, I thought Oden played better last night. For a back-to-back it looked like he had some pretty good energy out there. He also got 42 minutes and played in crunch time during the end of the fourth and the overtimes. I thought maybe Pryz should have played the second overtime...but hopefully this game gives Oden some more confidence and consistency.

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  2. Good point matt. Oden did show some promise last night and it was impressive to see him play 40+ minutes.

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  3. Perhaps he is quickly reaping the rewards of having Maurice Lucas back to the bench/practice? Hope to see more, and I THINK I saw him smile while out there too... I will have to check the DVR.

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  4. i don't think it's a matter of who is the blazers number two option, but if the bench can score or not. that last game, the bench scored a combined 21 points! that's ridiculous. If we have one of the deepest benches in the NBA, we need to prove it every night.

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  5. Alex, good point we definitely need more production out of our bench. There was a great article with stats galore about our bench in the Sunday Oregonian, but you can also check it out on www.OregonLive.com

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