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…

Blazers Vs. Clippers Preview

Since it is Friday, and I hold Fox and his gorilla like body hair in the highest regards, I am going to implement what we here at the Rip City Report call “Frye-Day”. Since Channing hasn’t exactly been burning up the nets lately, I thought I would put a link to his blog, which is part of the reason Fox has a man crush on Frye. Please check it out and bask in the ambiance of our first (and possibly last) Frye-Day

http://www.channingfrye.com/blog/

Game Preview

Tonight’s game vs. the Clippers is a tricky one. For one, the Blazers are on the second game of a back to back and the Clips have had the last three days off. Second, the Blazers did not get into Portland until almost 1:45 AM after the late start last night in Utah along with some in climate weather. Lastly, I there has been much hype in City of Roses about the Blazers first 24 games and difficulty of those games, and last night at Utah happened to be game #24. I am betting that the Blazers are well aware of the fact that they not only survived the gauntlet of difficult games, but came out smelling like, you guessed it, roses (Boom. How do you like that analogy?). Furthermore, after tonight’s game the Blazers have 3 days off. If all of that does not spell let down, then I suck at spelling.

I don’t want to come across all doom and gloom about this game, because there are a lot of factors that are in the Blazers favor. Our depth is really going to be an asset for us tonight as both Aldridge and Roy played 43 minutes plus last night. It also gives us the luxury to search and find somebody who will bring the energy required to get a win tonight. In stark contrast the Clippers have one of the, if not the, most garbage bench in the NBA (their 6^th man is Jason Hart). Another factor is the fact that the Clippers are 4-17 and tied for the second worst record in the league. I feel their record is deceiving of their talent, as they have been hit with a barrage of injuries. One injury that will factor into tonight’s game is Chris Caveman (seen to the above left) who is out with a foot injury. But with a starting lineup of Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Zach (I’m in Luv Wit a Strippa) Randolph, and Marcus Camby, they are definitely a threat. But let’s move onto to see what I think the Blazers need to do to pull out a win tonight.

Keys to the Game

1. Keep Baron Davis Out of the Key.
1. A lot of offense in generated through Davis, as he has the rock in his hands most of the time. If we can keep him from getting easy looks for him and his teammates it will go a long ways in securing a Blazers win.

2. Play With Some Energy/Focus
1. It is going to be very difficult for the Blazers not to look ahead to their 3 days off, but someone is going to have to be a spark for the Blazers tonight. These are the type of games that separate young teams from veteran teams, and it would be nice to see yet another sign from our Blazers that they are ahead of schedule.

3. Find Our Shot/Score 100 Points
1. After two games of subpar shooting it is essential that the Blazers find their shots. As noted prior the Utah game the Blazers are 8-2 when scoring over 100 points. The Clippers in turn are 0-10 when giving up 100 points.

4. Roy and Rudy Should Have a Big Game
1. With rookie Eric Gordon guarding him, Roy and Rudy should have a hay day. What’s even better is the fact that the Clippers contain absolutely no depth at the 2 guard position (Mardy Collins & Mike Taylor). Roy will undoubtedly see double teams all night, so it is up to him to find the open man so they can get an easy shot.

5. Aldridge Must Bring His “A” Game on Both Ends
1. In a matchup vs. his former teammate ZBo, Aldridge must do his best at containing the jumpshot happy Randolph. On the reverse side, he must also shoot over the short and un-athletic Randolph, who has fewer blocks then players such as: Aaron Gray, Anthony Carter, Randy Foye, and Nick Young.

In conclusion, this is gut check time for the Blazers to see if they can dig down deep and pull out a win when they are tired and worn out, playing a scrub team. Let’s hope the Rose Garden gets rocking tonight to help give them a boost.

Gambler’s Corner

First off, from now on I will keep a tallies’ of mine and Gooses picks, and show it below so you guys are able to figure out if you should trust me or him. I will keep two separate tallies’, one for the spread and one for the over/under, hope you enjoy!

The spread at the current time is Blazers +8.5 with an Over/Under of 189. As a rule of thumb I usually steer clear of spread’s this large, and I am not too wild about the Over/Under. It is hard to predict how the Blazers will come out tonight. But if I had to choose I would take the Blazers and the over. To confuse you even more, Goose has come through and taken the Blazers with the under. That being said if you gave me money to wager for you, then tonight I would not wager.

Jazz Game Recap

First off, I want to announce my new co-author of this blog Ryan Gossett. He will be assisting me and game summary’s and previews, along with covering for me when I have too many dates to blog. When you get a chance give Goose a shoutout.

Well, it looks like we are on the opposite end of a streak. The Blazers lost to the Jazz 97-88 for their second consecutive loss. The story of the game was our poor shooting from downtown, and their points in the paint. Blazers shot 6-27 (22.2%) from the 3 pt. line. Even if they make 33% from three that is another 12 points, which in theory would have given us the win. It was an unusually off night for the Blazers from 3, where they normally shoot 41%.

The other story of the game was Utah’s points in the paint advantage. Utah had approximately 56 points in the paint to the Blazers 30. What was also peculiar was the fact that most of the points in the paint were generated from dribble penetration then dishing when we came over to help. Another disturbing fact is that Carlos Boozer, who can usually be counted on for a fair amount of points in the paint, did not even play tonight.. Millsap continued his outstanding job of filling in for Boozer. Millsap had 17 points and 12 boards (7 offensive). In the first half Okur burned the Blazers for 21 points. At halftime the Blazers did a good job making an adjustment and held Okur to just 2 points in the 3^rd quarter, and six in the entire 2^nd half.

Bottom line, the Blazers are a jump shooting team and our shots just weren’t falling tonight for whatever reason. They were getting good open looks, just not cashing in and making Utah pay for doubling Roy and Aldridge who both had stellar games. Roy ended with 33 points and 9 boards and Aldridge, who scored 12 points in the first quarter alone, ended with 22 points and 6 boards.

Individual Performances

Brandon Roy: Roy tied a career high in points with 33. You could tell he was trying to throw the entire team on his back and carry them to victory, but was unable to get enough help from the rest of the Blazers. What I found interesting (and a little disturbing) was that Roy had no assists for the first time this season. Overall, great effort from Roy, but he couldn’t do it all by himself.

Lamarcus Aldrdige: Aldridge came out like a man possessed, ripping the Jazz for 12 points in  the first quarter, made up of not only jump shots, but tough post moves as well. Aldridge again had a stretch in the 4^th quarter where he scored 6 points in a row, and started our comeback. However, the Jazz quicklyadjusted and began sending double teams his way, and as we already noted we could not capitalize on the open shots. Overall another strong game for Lamarcus.

Greg Oden: Oden continues to look very weak with the ball, as he got stripped multiple times by smaller players. He did however have a few offensive boards that helped keep possessions alive. Oden found himself at a big disadvantage on the defensive end, as he could not stay with the quickness of Okur or Millsap. Oden continues to be the most inconsistent Blazer on a night to night basis.

Steve Blake/Sergio Rodriguez: Both of our point guards played poorly this game, and might have combined for our worst effort out of the point guard position all season. Blake who has been on fire as of late, went 2-7(28.5%) from 3 even though most were wide open looks. Blake’s defense on Deron Williams was above average, but he could not counter on the offensive end. In stark contrast Williams gave Sergio fits all night. Not only could he not hang physically, but Williams quickness was also a problem for Sergio. It is somewhat ironic that the game after what was possibly Sergio’s best of the year, he came out and posted 0 assists and 4 turnovers in just 18 minutes. Which raises the question once again, is he our future at the backup point guard position?

Rudy Fernandez: Rudy also had a rough night shooting. He was 1-6 (16.6%) from 3, and it is also notable that 6 of his 7 shots were from deep. It would have been nice to see Rudy adjust and get to the rim a little more to hopefully gain his rhythm and also capitalize on his great free throw shooting.

Frye & Outlaw: Both of these guys were also ineffective all night. What hurts the most with these two is if their jumper’s are not falling they fail to bring anything else to the table. Granted both have shown the ability to put up other stats when given ample time (especially Frye), but unfortunately there is no minutes to be found on this deep team.

Joel Pyzbilla: The vanilla gorilla did not get much time tonight despite Oden’s less than impressive outing as he has a tough time extending out on centers who can shoot (i.e. Okur). Pyrz was mostly a non factor.

Game Summary in One Sentence:

Poor jump shooting, and poor defensive rotations, leading to layups, combined for a Blazers road loss.

Well, it’s never easy to write after a loss, but here’s to our next 10 of 12 games at home. Let’s start another streak.

Fire & Rice out (Goose & Kyle).

Blazers Vs. Jazz Preview

First of all I want to give a shoutout to all you guys for taking time to read my blog and give feed back. I have been taking notes on what you hate and I am going to try my hardest to improve on your complaints (except Buhler’s). I really wanted to get back to the point guard conversation for my post today, but I will save that for a non-gameday. On gameday’s I want to try and post a preview/keys to the game, along with some info in case you like to gamble on the Blazers, which I do. Enjoy, and as always let me know if something is lame, or if truly enjoy something. Thanks!

Tonight’s game vs. the Jazz might be an even better/more realistic measuring stick for the Blazers then the Celtics game. Utah, is the team we will be competing with for the division championship in the foreseeable future, so I think it is important to come out and be competitive. It will be interesting to see how the young Blazers rebound after such a tough emotional loss to the Magic on Tuesday. If you read any articles about the Blazers after the game (which I do, so I can bring the info to you!), you know they were extremely down after that loss. Hopefully we can come out with good energy because the Jazz are an extremely tough team to beat at home, as indicated by their 4 home losses last season, along with their victory over the Blazers earlier this year without Deron Williams or Andrea Kirilenko. Good news is Carlos Boozer will not return tonight as expected, so that bodes well for the Blazers. So what do the Blazers need to do to win? Here are a few keys I think they need to come out of Salt Lake with a dub.

Keys to the Game

1. Contain Deron Williams dribble penetration. When he gets in the lane it not only opens up shots for him, but that’s how he gets a majority of his 10.2 assists per game.

2. Contain Okur’s 3 point shooting. We cannot let our bigs camp out in the middle and let Okur cast away.

3. Take advantage of our size advantage. Wouldn’t this be a great game for Oden to breakout? The Jazz do not have anyone even close to being able to hang with Oden physically. But more then Oden, L.A. should thrive with a shorter defender in Milsap checking him.

4. Our bench needs to contribute big time. I see this as the area where we will make up ground on the Jazz. However AK47 has been moved to the second unit, so containing him is a must (Batum?).

5. Execute and keep turnovers low. I am not saying we have to play perfect, but we definitely have to bring our “A” game if we expect to win tonight in Utah.

6. Score +100 points. The Blazers are 9-2 when scoring over a 100 and the Jazz are 1-7 when allowing over a 100.

Please feel free to leave additional comments on the keys to the game tonight! I like hearing everyone else’s thoughts and views!

I figured since I love to gamble on the Blazers, I would give you my thoughts on the spread for that night, how I am going to bet, and the reasoning behind it. I know some people will enjoy this (Fox), and hopefully I can get more of you to start another bad habit, so I don’t feel so bad about myself. Enjoy.


Gambler’s Corner

The spread right now is Jazz by 2.5 and the over/under is 194. If I was a betting man (and I definitely am), I would steer clear of this bet, because I will never bet against my heart (the Blazers). But if you were going to bet no matter what, and if you are reading this blog you obviously think the Blazers will win, I would take the Blazers with the over, because in games where the Blazers score over 100 points they are 9-2 and only 6-5 when they score under 100. To boot (yea I said it) the Jazz are 1-7 when allowing over 100 points.

P.S. – I talked myself into taking this bet after I wrote this section….oooops.

Blazers PG Problem?

In case you guys haven’t seen it yet, there was a fairly modest trade today in the NBA. It was a three team trade that involved the Wizards, Grizzles, and Hornets.

Wizards Get: Javaris Crittenton & Mike James

Wizards Give: Antonio Daniels & Conditional 1^st round Pick

Memphis Get: Conditional 1^st Round Pick

Memphis Gives: Javaris Crittenton & Conditional 2^nd Round Pick

Hornets Get: Antonio Daniels

Hornets Give: Mike James

Anyways, in a clear move to obtain a backup for the oft-injured Gilbert Arenas (Trust me I know, he was my 1^st pick in fantasy hoops last year) the Wizards obtain a young, long PG with plenty of potential left in Crittenton. Now there has been much talk about the Blazers acquiring a “long-term” point guard. But I am not so sure that we do not already have one on our roster.

First let’s try to define what an ideal PG on this team would do for us. We need someone who can:

1. Hit open shots (3’s especially) to stretch the defense, opening it up for Roy, Aldridge, Pryz*, and eventually Oden.
2. Keep turnovers low.
3. Be able to play solid D, with an emphasis on stopping dribble penetration from the opposing PG.
4. Be able to defer to Roy, and still be an effective weapon/threat on the court offensively.
5. Create open looks for our plethora of jump shooters.
6. Fit our team first attitude.

Now you can obviously go forever on this, but I think these are the main things that the Blazers core requires from their PG. Those lead me to:

Steve Blake. He has played outstanding this year and molded his game to one that compliments the rest of our team extremely well. Granted he isn’t the best defender, and isn’t flashy or fun, but bottom line is the guy gets the job done. Blake has hit 45 three’s year, leaving him 4^th among all PG’s in the NBA. In first is Mike Bibby with 51, then Jamal Crawford (more of a SG then a PG), and the Spurs Roger Mason.

Blake also boasts one of the best assists to turnover ratios in the league at 3.03/1. That is good for 14^th in the league, and 11^th when removing players who don’t less then 25 minutes a game. Also Blake undoubtedly has the team first attitude and is willing to step back and let Brandy Roy take the reigns.

What might be one of the most important aspects about what Blake brings to the table from an NBA roster management perspective, is the fact that we are only paying him 4.5 Mil a year. This is peanuts for what Blake brings to the table.

So for those of you demanding change, who do you suggest? Here are a few plausible players that I think could possibly work and why they would be good fits or bad fits.

Allen Iverson: As most of you know, I was hyping up Iverson for a while there. After seeing how poorly he has been able to fit into a more team oriented system in Detroit, I am going to go ahead and retract that comment. Iverson is a free agent at the end of the year, but at his age he is going to want years rather then money on his contract, and I think that is the last thing the Blazers want to give the 33 year scoring PG.

Mike Bibby: Bibby is also a free agent after this season. He is a decent option, when you consider what he would most likely command between 8-12 mil a year. He can hit the 3 ball, and has a knack for hitting big shots (as I am sure some you can remember from his days in SacTown). But is he really 3-8 mil better then Blake? Bibby is 30 this year, and I am not sure how many more miles he has left. I know Atlanta is really liking him right now, so if they get into a bidding war for his services, I think KP would be smart enough to bow out.

Jason Kidd: Kidd is a free agent after this season, and at the tender age of 35 you are truly starting to see his age. What would be the biggest problem with Kidd would be his defense. Would you really want to see him try to guard Chris Paul or Deron Williams in a 7 game series? He would get torched and wipe out any positives that he brings on the offensive side of things. He is a great leader with even better court vision, but I just don’t see it working out with us. An outside shot would be if the Blazers brass brought him in as more of a player/coach type role for a 1-2 year contract to help along our young guys. Not sure if that makes sense, but at the right price it would be worth it.

Raymond Felton: Felton is not a free agent, but has been rumored to be on the trading block every since the Bobcats drafted DJ Augstine. This is Felton’s 4^th year in the league and at the age of 24 still has room for improvement. His salary (roughly 4 mil) matches up nicely with some of our young pieces in a trade. However, Felton’s downfall is his shooting. This season he is averaging 40% from the field and a lowly 29.5% from the 3pt line. That pretty much eliminates him.

Kirk Hinrich: Hinrich just signed a large deal two years ago, then had the worst year of career following it. He is obviously on the trade block with the Bulls drafting Rose, and the likely hood of him being traded has increased even more with the surprising performance of Rose. Hinrich has 3 years and 26.5 mil left on his contract (after this season). That’s not exactly the most attractive contract for him especially with his decline in stats, BUT what does make it somewhat better is the fact that the contract was frontloaded, so Hinrich’s salary decreases every year, leaving him to be paid 8 Mil a year in his last year. Hinrich can definitely hit the 3, and provides us with a solid defender. Anyone who has watched him knows that he is a relatively pass first PG along the lines of Blake. Guys who share the rock tend to also be fairly good locker room guys. I personally feel that if we are going to “upgrade” the PG position, Hinrich is the logical pick. Now that doesn’t mean I think we should, but if the price is right, I would not be opposed to bringing Hinrich on board.

Let me know what you guys think, if I forgot anyone let me know and I’ll give you my longwinded explanation as to why or why not they should be considered to become part of our team. Have a good day and keep checking out my blog! I am going to attempt to make at least a small post everyday on my lunch, so check back at about 1 PM during the weekdays for updates! Thank fellas!

Orlando Recap

Wow, tough loss. The Blazers, after storming back in the 4th quarter to take an 8 point lead with a little over a minute left, lost on a 9-0 run by the Magic to lose 109-108. It is an odd feeling for Blazers fans as of late, because we are usually the team that does this to our opponents. Definitely does not feel as good to be on the losing side.

The loss overshadowed what was arguably Brandon Roy's best personal performance of the season. Roy ended with 30 points, 9 boards, 5 dimes, and 2 blocks on 50% shooting from the field. The Blazers were successful (relatively) at containing Dwight Howard who ended with 14 points and 7 boards with no blocks. At first glance, it would seem after holding Howard to that statline that it would be a guaranteed win. However in stark contrast to Portland's last meeting with the Magic in Orlando, Rashard Lewis was hitting his shots. Lewis went 9-16 from the field, including 6-9 from deep to score 27 on us. However he was not the hero of this game, that title belonged to Turkoglu. Turkoglu did his best Brandon Roy impression and hit an improbable shot with 0.3 seconds left to put the Magic up by 1.
As a team the Blazers started extremely slow, and dug themselves and early deficit. They looked lethargic and tired. But as they always do, made a run and brought the game within striking distance by half. To me it seemed that we were in total control, and momentum was on our side, then I would look down at the score and find out we were up by 1. This was a testament to Orlando's perimeter shooting. As a team they shot 14-27 (51.9%) from 3-land. THis was quite different then the last time we played them where we mostly hurt by dribble penetration and dishes to Howard for dunks.
Bottom line we did the same thing we have been doing the entire road trip (besides Boston of course), and it came back to bite us. Play with fire too many times and you will get burned, and thats exactly what happened tonight.

Individual Performances

Aldridge had a great game with 25 points, 13 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. What I noticed most about Aldridge tonight was how active he was. The guy was everywhere. He had two tip dunks, and multiple open looks at the hoop. This is Lamarcus' strength and I wish he would do it a little more. Granted Orlando's interior is one of the softest in the league after Howard. Believe it or not, Tony Battie doesn't strike fear in the hearts of interior players.

Oden was pretty much a non-factor as he found himself in foul trouble early against Howard. It was interesting to see them go one and one, as I believe Howard is the closest player to Oden's ability and skill set in the league. It just reminds us how far away Oden really is. But be patient Blazer fans, because I did some research and Oden's per minute numbers are actually better then Howard's his rookie year. Difference is Howard played 31 minutes a game and Oden is at roughly 21. Granted part of that is due to his tendency to pick up early fouls, but what I am saying is be patient, big men always take longer to develop.

Blake played decent, but was in foul trouble almost the entire game. That opened the door for..

Sergio. Sergio played a solid game and hit a few key 3's. Sergio played almost a season high 25 minutes, and responded with 14 points and 7 dimes. Not bad production.

Rudy did his usual spark plug thing, and I am convinced that no one in the league has more highlights per basket then Rudy. It seems like every point he scores and every pass he makes is SportsCenter worthy.

Game Summary in One Sentence

Lethargic early, aggressive late, need to play all 48 minutes to beat good teams.


Thanks for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it and I am open to all suggestions as to how to improve the blog! Looking forward to Thursday, vs. the Jazz on national TV. Let's steal one from them on their home court.

First Post

Hey everyone, this is my monumental first post on this blog! For those of you I have not consulted before starting this blog, I decided to start this blog to do my own analysis on our favorite team, the Blazers! Maybe from time to time I will make some random posts on other things going on in the league and in sports in general. I also wanted this blog to inspire conversation among friends and fellow fans. So please feel free to comment and shoot your opinions right back.

This is my first blog so be patient with me as I try to figure out what works and what sucks. I welcome all suggestions! Go Blazers!