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Written by O Storm!
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Wednesday, 17 December 2008 08:07 |
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Blazers accidentally blowout Kings
Great to get a win last night and put the demons of the last five games behind us. The game got off to a rough start with John Salmons canning three pointers and putting the Blazers in an early hole. Roy and company kept their composure and clawed their way back into the game by crashing the boards and getting to the free throw line. Everyone was hustling for rebounds, forcing steals and getting to loose balls. It never felt like the game was getting out of hand, but then I glanced up at the score and saw that we were up by 20. A few minutes later we were up by 30 and had shifted comfortably into cruise control. The Kings shot terrible (32%), and we didn't shoot the ball that great either (41%), but we did out hustle the Kings in every aspect of the game and sometimes that is all you need.
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| 3-point shooting (4-15) |
Rebound domination (59-38) |
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Travis out of sync with the offense
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12 steals!
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End of Roy's 30 pt. streak (29!)
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All 12 players scoring
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32 point blowout! |
Box Score
NBA.com Video Recap
NBA.com top 10, #4 and #8 are Blazer highlights! |
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Written by Sheed
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Monday, 15 December 2008 21:16 |
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BLAZERS
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KINGS
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EDGE
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COMMENT
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Udrih has been inconsistent this year, I'm betting the Kings wish they had Mike Bibby's leadership back. Despite Steve Blake's struggles last Friday, I am feeling a bounce back game at home. Look for similar numbers from these two point guards. |
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Other bad news from the Clipper loss department was Brandon Roy tearing a tendon in his finger. He was deemed fine to play but how is this going to affect his game? Kevin Martin remains out but Francisco Garcio has filled in nicely offensively. Roy, even injured, should be able to win this match-up at home.
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Salmons has been the best player on the Kings with Kevin Martin out. He always gets into the offensive mix and ends up close to the basket. He's scored 20 in 3 of the last 5 and with Batum's struggles he'll take the match-up. Batum being all over the floor on both ends will be key for the Blazers. |
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Brad Miller has really seemed to go downhill lately. His usual all around game has deteriorated and now he is somewhat of an NBA old man. He can still go out and shoot the jumper so I'm sure LaMarcus will guard him. Speaking of LA, I really need to see some tough D and board crashing against Sac. I think it will happen. |
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Hawes is having a marginally good season, averaging over 10 and 8 in December. Last game in Portland Spencer got the best of Greg and even hit three 3-pointers. I don't see that happening again. Greg got going against the Clippers with 15 and 15 and I expect him to show Hawes what he's all about. It's business time.
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BENCH 
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BENCH 
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Rudy has been up and down this year, Travis was out last game and the rest of our bench has been a bit underwhelming. After a long 3 day break I expect our bench to show up in a big way in the Rose Garden. Let's get back on track and start a winning streak at home.
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OVERALL DECISION:
TRAILBLAZERS
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Written by Sheed
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Monday, 15 December 2008 12:50 |
Bust a Bucket was recently invited to join the "Blogger Power Rankings," so with classes complete and plenty of Sunday spare time, we were all in on that friendly request. This week's power rankings were hosted by 3 Shades of Blue, a Memphis Grizzlies website from bloguin. CDub and I split the comment duties for the rankings, his highlight comment which was not shown by the group power rankings(for some reason) was, "As Bonner rises, so do the Spurs." Hopefully some day we will get a chance to host this event and be on the look out for the rankings every week throughout the NBA season.
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Written by BustaBucket
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Monday, 15 December 2008 07:00 |
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On Tuesday we get to celebrate the career of one of the all-time great Blazers, Terry Porter, with the retiring of his number 30. He led the Blazers to 2 trips to the NBA Finals, is the Blazer's all-time leader in assists and 3 pointers, and made the Memorial Coliseum a magical place for me as a kid. A diamond in the rough out of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point of the NAIA. Porter really was the MVP of those Finals teams (even over Clyde). Think if this current Blazer squad could add Terry Porter from 1990. He is exactly the type of point guard we need. He could drive to the hole, hit the three and the mid-range jumper, was a great passer and was a vocal leader. Below are some classic images of Porter to help get the memories flowing. Share your favorite Porter moments with us in the comments.
Terry Porter #30
1985-1995 (10 Seasons)
14.9 PPG 7.0 Assists per game
Made playoffs 9 of 10 years
More thoughts, images, & memorabilia after the bump.
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Written by CDub
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Sunday, 14 December 2008 18:05 |
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This week the Blazers will be honoring their past with the retirement of #30 worn by both Bobby Gross and Terry Porter, in a strange double number retirement. What, no love for other 30's: Sam Bowie and Rasheed? Porter gets his night on Tuesday vs the Kings, while Gross gets his on Thursday vs the Suns. It looks like they wanted to let Porter enjoy his night as a Blazer, not as the coach of the opposing team. While I don't agree with the rate that the Blazers have been retiring numbers (I agree with Canzano here), obviously these men played major roles in the success of Blazer teams of yore, and were beloved by all Blazer fans. It's hard for me to say that Bobby Gross isn't deserving of this honor, when it was before my time, and his stats didn't tell the full story of his value to the championship team.
 
We will be reflecting on these two Blazers greats individually this week as well. It will be fun to watch the ceremonies, and see what other Blazer greats attend the games. |
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Written by Sheed
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Sunday, 14 December 2008 11:53 |
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It looks like the results of Brandon Roy's X-Ray found a torn tendon in his pinkie. Even though there isn't a ton of info other than this, I'll let Ben at Blazer's Edge tell you the rest. However, I do feel like the result is better than my initial fears that he had done something to his wrist. Roy is obviously the heart of this team and if he had to miss any games it would hurt immensely.
Also, it appears as though the Memphis Grizzlies have signed Darius Miles to a non guaranteed contract. I read this over at the Blazers blog on Oregonlive.com. I guess with so many terrible teams in the NBA there was a good chance someone would eventually give Miles a chance. I don't care what anyone says, Darius never appreciated what he had and was never a professional anywhere in the NBA. Of course he would appear to be a stand-up guy now that is career hangs in the balance.
Last but not least, how about an NBA.com interview with Greg Oden and a little reaction to what Charles Barkley's excellent advice for Greg. We just need to keep being patient with Greg too, he will get it going before we know it. |
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Written by CDub
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Friday, 12 December 2008 23:29 |
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I arrived at the Rose Garden tonight in a festive mood. I left the Rose Garden tonight in a foul mood. I was very dissapointed. The Clippers are not supposed to come to our house and leave with the victory. Especially when one Zach Randolph is on the team. He absolutely killed us us tonight. You know he loved every minute of it too. Zach and his Hoops Family are racing around town tonight visiting his favorite "clubs". It makes me sick. A couple of thoughts that are stuck in my head:
Steve Blake
Season Free Throw Shooting: 31/33= 93.9%
Tonight: 1/5 in the last minute of the game....
ARE YOU SERIOUS???
LaMarcus Aldridge
Get angry. Get MAD!!!. You should average more than 6.7 rebounds per game and ZBo should never score 38 points against you. Toughen up! Oden has been taking alot of heat this year, but I think it is you that needs to step up.
The team is in need of some major rest this weekend. They need to get right, and get back on track next Tuesday vs Sacramento.
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Letting ZBo come back and kill us
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Roy career high 38 points (he continues to amaze me)
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Blakie choking at the free throw line
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Oden 15 and 15 while logging his most minutes yet (42)
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Aldridge's soft defense
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Aldridge's offense (4th straight 20+ point effort)
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Rudy only 3 of last 17 from three
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Roy needs more props for carrying the team on his back
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Box Score
NBA.com Video Recap
Good and Bad from NBA.com, Baron's shot is #2 and Rudy's dunk is #1 on the top 10. |
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Written by Sheed
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Friday, 12 December 2008 09:47 |
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BLAZERS
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CLIPPERS
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EDGE
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COMMENT
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Baron Davis is playing at a very high level right now and with talent starting to heal up around him, his game looks real good. Blake didn't have a very good shooting night in Utah and once again he couldn't guard an elite point guard. It doesn't get easier tonight, Baron dominates this match-up.
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This week hasn't been good so far for the Blazers, the only guy who has a will to win, the talent to take over and an urge to drive the lane is Brandon Roy. He looked so good against Utah but his entire front court looked soft. I mean how do you let Mehmet Okur dominate a game inside and out? Roy will have another huge game at home against the rookie Eric Gordon, man's game again.
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Batum is really starting to become a non-factor. This was supposed to be when Martell came back but now he's out 4 more weeks. Al Thornton is playing big at small forward and his offensive skills will dominate Nic. I don't know what to do about our small forward position right now, we could use Martell for sure. |
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Much of my decision on this match-up will be about each man's effect on the team and ability to help them win. LaMarcus has started to put up very good numbers, especially the last 3 games. Z-bo will be looking to get the Blazers, but his black hole tendencies will cause the usual turnovers and 0 assists. Even though Zach may have better point and rebound numbers, LA will be the better player tonight.
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Former defensive player of the year Marcus Camby, healthy for now, will be licking his chops to play Greg Oden. It seems like every big man gets up to play Oden just to show him that this is the NBA. Camby cares little about offense but his rebounding and block numbers are ridiculous.
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BENCH
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BENCH 
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The Clippers actually have a very good starting line-up, but the bench is extremely shallow, they lack talent and in the case of Ricky Davis, they lack class. This is going to be a very tough game and honestly, in order to win tonight, we're going to need real output from our bench. I want to see some serious defense tonight, no more letting the other team sneak in behind the D on fast breaks. Let's get a big win tonight and enjoy the 3 day lay-off.
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OVERALL DECISION:
TRAILBLAZERS
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Written by O Storm!
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Friday, 12 December 2008 09:18 |
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As we continued to bomb away from beyond the arc last night something crossed my mind that sent chills down my spine: are we turning in to the Dallas Mavericks of the mid-90's? That team was lead by the Three-J's (Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson, Jamal Mashburn - with a little George McCloud sprinkled in for good measure) and they rained down threes at an incredible clip. Unfortunately they had no inside scoring and didn't come within a whiff of smelling the playoffs. Right now we are at the top of the league in three point shooting, but what happens when the shots aren't falling?
Last night it took a long time to get into any offense sets and we never had any rhythm. Routinely the shot clock would dwindle into the single digits and we would still have the ball on the perimeter, swinging it around and hoping for an open shot. A slash and kick was ineffective because Utah wasn't afraid of Blake or Sergio taking the ball all the way to the rim. Also, how many times did we get stripped on our way to the basket? Five? Ten?
LaMarcus and Roy played great. LA was aggressive, he was looking for his shot and he was calling for the ball. Roy did his thing by scoring, drawing defenders and kicking the ball out, but he ended up with zero assists because no one could make a shot. Which brings me back to the mid-90's Mavericks. We clawed to within nine with four minutes left to play. The defense stiffened up, got stops, and created opportunities to go on a run. We answered by missing five consecutive three pointers.
Even though none of the threes was a bad or forced shot I am bothered by the fact that the long ball was our only option. I love the three as much as anyone but I am worried that we are becoming too one-dimensional. When we need to get a bucket, the three can't be our only option.
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| Three-point shooting (6-27) |
Roy (33 pts. 8 boards) |
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Batum (0 points, again)
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LA (22 pts. 6 boards, 4 assists)
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Okur having his way with us (27/10)
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Rebounding (43 total, 13 offensive)
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Another stinkbomb on TNT
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Plenty of reasons to hate the Jazz
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Sergio (0 assists, 4 TOs)
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Box Score
NBA.com Video Recap |
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