Trip Starts in Minneapolis
posted: 11/13/2006 at 8:15 PM
The Trail Blazers, still shorthanded, begin a very tough 4-game road trip on Tuesday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Blazers are coming off their loss to Dallas on Sunday, and will be tested over the next five days. The trip gives them four games in five nights, and young teams, in particular, the road is a tough place to get wins. You simply can't get away with mistakes and expect to live to tell about it.
We left Portland early on Monday morning, and made the three-hour flight to Minnesota, where it's right around freezing. No suprise. In fact, people here don't even really wear coats until it gets in the teens. I still recall a trip here two seasons ago when the high temperature hit -13 in our two-day stay. Not that way this time, but a little chilly.
The Timberwolves have been very chilly since their 2 and 0 start. They beat Sacramento in their opener, and then won at Denver. Then, they blew that 16-point lead at the Rose Garden, and that has seemed to send them into a little bit of a tailspin. Minnesota returned from their 4-game road trip, and got to face Orlando to kick off two straight at home. The Magic rolled the Wolves at Target. That leads us to Tuesday night.
This game will have some pretty good storylines. The Timberwolves have gone three-straight games without a lead of any kind. In fact, the last time they had a lead in a game, was with 6.3 seconds left at the Rose Garden. Juan Dixon hit a three pointer in the corner, with 6.2 left, and of course, Portland won the game. Minnesota fans were trying to believe this team was much better off than last year's, and through two games, they had some fans jumping on the bandwagon. But, after four straight losses, they're taking some heat. With the Portland loss fresh in their minds, they won't have to search far for motivation.
We've talked so much in recent days about the Trail Blazers getting off to slow starts in games. Well, the Timberwolves know something about that as well, and have trailed by an average of 6.3 points after the opening quarter of the last three. That's actually good, considering what Portland has done in the last two. The Blazers trailed by 25 after one against the Hornets, and then fell behind Dallas on Sunday by 11 after the first quarter.
Minnesota has talked about changing the starting lineup, to try and come out with a little more fire. Nate McMillan appears to be considering the same thing for his Blazers. Most likely, we won't see a change for Tuesday's game, but it's possible. If there is a switch, it could perhaps be LaMarcus Aldridge starting at center in place of Jamaal Magloire. Not only would that make the Blazers so much quicker and more athletic on the front line, but it would allow Magloire to come off the bench and play either the four or five spot.
Aldridge showed how quickly he can have an impact on a game on Sunday night against Dallas. He played 19 minutes, and had 10 points and 8 rebounds, including 6 offesive rebounds. He was active, energetic, and with his incredible length, played good defense on Dirk Nowitski. Is he ready to guard Kevin Garnett? We'll likely see on Tuesday. With Aldridge playing, it will also allow Travis Outlaw to play a little more at the small forward position. He's been playing power forward, and doing a good job, but the Blazers would rather have him at the three.
Aldridge is just happy to be playing. He hated missing training camp, due to his recovery from shoulder surgery, and said it killed him to watch the first few games in a suit on the end of the bench. Now, the team needs him, and he appears to be ready to be thrown into the fire. That will be on this trip. Even if he doesn't start against the Timberwolves, he will play more than 19 minutes. LaMarcus was all smiles when he boarded the team plane on Monday morning, and slapped a few fives on his way to his seat in the back of the plane. He's obviously thrilled to be getting his first NBA action.
Tuesday night's game will be televised on FSN, beginning at 5 o'clock Pacific Time. The game will also be on the Trail Blazers Radio Network, with Brian Wheeler and Antonio Harvey, beginning at 4 o'clock with Game Day. Following the game, we'll hop on the plane and fly to Cleveland, where Wednesday night the Blazers take on LeBron and the Cavs. Our only day off on this trip will come in Boston on Thursday.
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what is the status of Brandon Roy? last time i heard that ROY needs to have his heel bone shaved...
as for predictions, i would say 2-2 at the least. 3-1 at the most, 4-0 as nearly impossible, one or two comeback wins...
Minny: 95-92 Blazers W (5-3)
Cavs: 104-93 Blazers W (6-3)
Boston: 92-87 Blazers W (7-3)
Nets: 107-89 Blazers L (7-4)
modest preditions...very unsure about the Cavs game since that the cavs lost to the bobcats...and Atlantla. and as for the nets...im guessing that the nets would be roaring back at the already tired blazers team (and shorthanded). Blazers should be able to beat Boston on a one day rest.
i should say, i have some nice predictions...anyone willing to refute it?
I came down for the two games this weekend and I was shocked at how effective LaMarcus Aldridge was in the fourth quarter of that game against Dallas - in all facets of the game. On offense with the pretty jumper, cleaning up the boards and on defense helping Travis shut down Dirk (if only we'd had LaMarcus defend him in the first quarter). It was great.
From the games I've attended - two preseason games and four regular season games in both Seattle and Portland - there are so many things to be excited about. Everything about this organization seems to be right on track - from the owner, to the front office personnel, to the coaching staff, the players and, last but certainly not least, the broadcasters. And we don't even have Brandon, Joel or Raef up to speed... Yet.
P.S. Is it wrong to hope we've seen the last of Darius Miles in a Trailblazers jersey? I can't even look at him after last season.
I'm very excited about the upcoming games this year. The new lineup has proven to be a breath of fresh air for Oregon's only pro team. The energy has been off the hook! We may be 4-3 right now but every game has been awesome and we're proud to have you.
Keep it up guys!
Mike, I hope Nate starts Aldridge. Miny doesn’t have a big enough center that mags would produce a huge match up advantage against and with Lamarcus’s first performance showing the energy and quickness that would probably help Portland get away from those slow starts I think it would be a great choice. It’s not like Nate can’t pull him out if it’s not working and we can’t do much worse than being down 25 and 11 in the first quarters. Travis has also been working his butt off lately, maybe give him another go at the 3 and put Ime at the 2? Once Brandon gets back that’s where a lot of the offensive stability will come from anyways. Also Jack has been working great; even Kerr has noted that Jack is demonstrating why Blake was expendable. –just a thought :)
Man, my heart goes out to Joel Przybilla. Hopefully by the time the team returns he'll be feeling better...
We and the team have been feeling good about our successes so far this season, and with good reason. It is both exciting and galvanizing to see a team hustle, scrap, and grit their way to comeback wins. But this road trip looks to be be a tougher test for this young team than any stretch they've faced together so far. Avoiding the early big hole is an absolute MUST. If this team can do that, their confidence will explode all over the court and they will be competitive.
I think the key is tonight's game in Minnesota. If they lose this one (getting blown out would be a worst-case scenario) it will be difficult for them to recover and perform well vs. Cleveland (a very good team) the next night. You see where I'm going... the losses could snowball on top of each other.
So here's to avoiding the huge early hole and competing hard for a win tonight! Could signal great things to come from the rest of the trip!
GO BLAZERS!!!
PBF
Hey Mike, Hey Blazer fans. Just wanted to say How proud I am of the team so far. I think we will stuff T'wolves tonight. How Ironic and interesting that Miles is done for the season..lol...in other words Miles is done as a blazer.
Go get them tonight team. Mike, congrats on your new arrival! What are your thoughts on this upcoming road trip...is this where we show the league..our previous games were not flukes?
-L.T.G
hi mike, i'm a spanish fan following the blazers and i see how coach mc millan ignores the talent of pg sergio rodriguez...he's a rookie who requires minutes to show his potential. He must have some kind of problem with the language or maybe it's just that his game doesn't fit in coach's plans. He is the type of player who changes the rythm of the game. In his 14 minutes of game played his season he has delivered 9 assists an 4 points...i think he deserves credit and trust.
Bravo Sergio!!! To have if McMillan gives but minutes you that you you deserve it
Hi Mike, some comments from last night's game vs. the Timberwolves.
ANOTHER ridiculously slow start: What is it going to take for this team (young, and supposedly full of energy) to compete hard right out of the blocks? Watching the past few games, it looks like our slow starts primarily come from 2 areas:
1) 2nd chance points (our opponents get them, we do not) which points strongly to rebounding (more specifically, lack thereof).
2) Opponents focusing defense on Zach.
#1 can be solved by adding a strong rebounding Center to the starting rotation. Until Joel returns, it looks like Lamarcus is our best bet here. Will Nate have the cojones to make the change tonight vs. Cleveland?
#2 can be solved by the rest of the starting lineup posing more serious scoring threats to pull some of the defense away from Zach. Perhaps more distribution from the point? Other than that, this seems to be a time/experience thing.
Point Guards: I started listening to the game on my way home from work last night (Wheels is still the best in the biz!), coming into it mid-way through the 2nd quarter. And it only took me 2 minutes to realize Dickau was completely stinking it up out there. Still don't understand why Nate left him in for so long... Anyway, what a GREAT first game for Sergio!!! 8 assists in 12 minutes??? That's CRAZY good! IMO, Sergio should be the first PG off the bench in relief of Jack.
One more thing: It's been reported that the Minnesota game announcers (carried by NBA League Pass) talked about the Blazers and Warriors talking trade. Something like Jamaal+Juan for Diogu+Ellis+Foyle. Seems to work under the current CBA. Can you comment on this?
Not upset about the loss. There will be many more this season. But very concerned about the slow starts.
GO BLAZERS!!!
PBF
How do the blazers get out of the block better? Here's my thought though most i'm sure will question my IQ for it. Nate should start 5-1, Aldridge, Zach, Ime, Dixon, and Sergio. They will have problems defesively, but they shouldn't have a problem scoring. Sugguesting starting Sergio over Jack is not a quality or experience issue at all, but one of play characteristics. Without Roy in the starting line up I havn't seen anyone else on the team capable of creating oppertunities for their team mates other than Sergio. Zach,Dixon, and Roy can all create shots for themselves but of those three only Roy seems to create oppertunities for his teamates. Any other opertunity seems like it comes more from the offensive scheme than player creativity. Untill they get more crisp in executing the offense and allowing it to give them good scoring opertunities i think they should have someone on the floor who can take a broken play and still be able to disrupt the oponents defence and force them to react to us. Roy and Sergio from what i've seen are the ones who can do that so untill Roy comes back I say play Sergio alot more. Jack has certainly played good enough to start at the 2 to alow Sergio to play point, but untill he gets a little more consistant with his jumper i'd rather see Dixon there who is a proven shooting threat.
It's a BLESSING in disguise that Darius Miles is OUT for the entire year = = = it is worth ALL that money just to keep him away from players that want to "earn their salary" and PLAY the Game like they are being paid to. IF they could only operate on his HEAD instead of his knee - then we/he might have something worth keeping!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOBlazers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was at the Target Center for the game last night. The first quarter was ugly. Ugly on a stick.
Losses will happen with a young team, as said above; it's not a concern. If I were part of the Blazer coaching staff, I would drill the guards on better-timed entry passes to Zach down on the blocks. IMO, the length of time dribbling the ball as Zach approaches/gets to/waits at the post position killed our rhythm in the first quarter.
Much to his credit, Zach was in one dogfight after another near the basket during the first quarter, establishing good position. However, on many occasions he'd get there, jostle, hold out a hand, and only then would the guard look to make the pass (all of 'em, not only JJ). That gave the defense time to see the play develop, be patient, and double team only when needed. When the defense can do that, it puts big pressure on Zach to pass effectively out of the trap; he's getting better, I agree, but it's not his forte yet either.
The Dickau inbounds play was awful, no doubt about it. However, to end the second quarter they basically did it again, just not in such dramatic fashion. The T'Wolves shot the ball with a few seconds left; with 3 or 4 Blazers under the hoop they still managed to get out of Mark Madsen's way, who rebounded and shot again while in the air to beat the clock.
When you look at how the Blazers pushed that lead down to 9 in the fourth, think about if it would have been only 5. Toss in a missed dunk by Outlaw and another by Graham, and it's 1 point. If LaMarcus cans only one of the two FTs toward the end, it's tied. Turnovers and free throws really do make the difference in most games.
Being there adds another layer to that string of "ifs" I just wrote above. People watching on TV couldn't feel it, but after being very relaxed until that point, the Target Center was just beginning to collectively hold its breath. The tension was real, and that was with a 9 point lead! Even if just the two end-of-quarter screwups were removed, the tension would have been a lot thicker. Players can feel that, and a couple nice bounces by the ball on the rim for the Wolves could easily have gone our way with a bigger case of jitters.
Ah well. I was still encouraged by several things, it's early in the season, and they're still playing .500 ball after the loss. Go Blazers, rip the cap off that basket before the first quarter in Cleveland tonight!
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