Thursday, February 12, 2009

No Thanks, and Game Preview

Trade Rumors


First of all I know most of you have heard about the report from CBS Sports which says the Blazers offered Jerryd Bayless, LaMarcus Aldridge and Reaf Lafrentz for Amare Stoudemire. If not here is a link to the article. First, I highly doubt that the Blazer’s are interested in obtaining Amare because of his character issues (wants to be “the man” and take all the shots, while not playing D), and 2nd, why the hell would we give up Aldridge AND Bayless for him? Let’s put it this way, if the Blazers truly offered this, it would be a done deal by now. This is by far the best offer Phoenix could receive and Steve Kerr has been quoted as saying that they will not wait to make a trade if the right one becomes available. So rest easy my fellow Blazer Believers, I think we are ok here.


Game Preview


Tonight’s game versus the Warriors, is almost like a summer Friday afternoon before a three day weekend. It’s hard to get any work done, because all you are doing is looking forward to getting out of there to fire up the grill and crack a beer (in Goose’s case a Caribbean breeze wine cooler). With the all-star weekend right around the corner, you can bet that every single player (especially the young guys) are looking forward to the 5 days off. So I think tonight is less about our opponent and more about our own state of mind.


The Warriors have been playing good lately and are coming off back to back wins versus the Jazz and the Knicks. Stephen Jackson has been crushing lately averaging 28 points, 7 boards, 9 assists, and 2.5 steals a game over his last 5. Hopefully we can bring him off of his hot streak like we did last night with Durant. Golden State will be without their starting center Andris Biedrins, who is out until after the all-star break. That is huge for the Blazers and hopefully will inspire Oden to have an even bigger game then he did last time versus the Warriors (22/10/2). Here are my keys to the game.


Keys to the Game


1. We Must Control the Pace by Pounding the Ball Inside

How could you not want to go to Oden all night tonight after the games he had against teams like Milwaukee (without Bogut) and the Clippers (without Camby)?
2. Force Them to Take Tough Shots
The Warriors are not afraid to shoot, so we need to force them into taking bad shots and control the game with our defense. We need to make them play our game and not vice versa.
3. Focus Mentally
We need to be in the moment, and not looking forward to the days off.

If we do all of those things I think it will help break out 13 game losing streak in Golden State. This is a season of breaking losing streaks, so why stop here.

Gambler’s Corner


Blazers +3.5

Over/Under 216


I am going to take the Blazers and the Under. I think that the Blazers have much more to play for then the Warriors (playoffs), and this game means more to them then to Golden State. Also, the Blazers are 22-3 when the score over 100 points, so if they get there, odds are they will win.

3 comments:

  1. Blazers and Under. In honor of Gooses specialty drink.

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  2. Haha nice Yost! I am sure Goose will give ya an imaginary cheers tomorrow night before he drinks it.

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