Warriors Next Up for Blazers --UPDATED
posted: 11/2/2006 at 10:44 PM
****An update for you. I just got back from Trail Blazers shootaround. Raef LaFrentz will be placed on the inactive list for tonight's game, and Sergio Rodriguez will be activated. Raef is still battling a calf injury, and re-aggravated it Thursday at practice. He sat out shootaround.
Also interesting, George Dorhmann from Sports Illustrated was at shootaround and is doing a piece on Ime Udoka. He told me it will run in next week's issue. He was sitting down with Ime as I left, and plans to interview coach McMillan after the game tonight. It'll be a one-page feature that will run right next to Scorecard in the front of the magazine.
Martell Webster, in an effort to loosen up his back, climbed into the pool, which was right next to the basketball court, right after shootaround. He said he didn't mind if I snapped a photo of him. Assistant coach Dean Demopoulos stuck his head in the door moments later and said to Martell, "what, are you a fish now?"****
The Trail Blazers used their off-day in the Bay Area to practice, and get set to take on the Golden State Warriors. The game will be televised on FSN on Friday night. The broadcast begins at 7:30, and they'll tip it off at 7:35. The game will, of course, also be on the radio, with Brian Wheeler and Antonio Harvey calling the action on the Trail Blazers Radio Network.
The Blazers held their practice at the Warriors practice facility in Oakland Thursday afternoon. They had planned to practice at Cal-Berkely, but had a last-minute change, and ended up at the Warriors' facility. Following Wednesday night's big win at Seattle, the team had plenty of energy, and was in a good mood at practice. They've got a big challenge in front of them Friday night.
The Warriors held their home opener on Wednesday night, and were beaten by the Lakers 110-98. Kobe sat it out once again, but still the Lakers cruised. They held an 18-point lead at one point in the third quarter. The Warriors were beaten up in the local media, which called it a "dreadful loss." In the game recap in the San Fransisco Chronicle, the third paragraph read, "Golden State opened its season with a 110-98 thud against the Lakers, and game one of the new Don Nelson era looked very much like games 1 through 82 of the Mike Montgomery regime."
After the loss to the Lakers, Nelson was quoted as saying, "It was the first time in my coaching career that I didn't know what to do. Whatever I did, whatever I tried, was wrong." Nelson even said Troy Murphy was "terrible," and Mike Dunleavy was "a disaster." Golden State was led by second-year player Monta Ellis, who scored 22 points in 22 minutes. A good game for him, but when he's leading this team in scoring, it's not a good thing.
What does all of this mean? The Warriors are going to be looking at the game against Portland as a "must win." They've got playoff hopes (again) and with a three-game road trip beginning after Friday's game, can not afford another performance like the one they had against the Lakers. The Blazers had better be ready. Baron Davis, who scorched Portland in the pre-season, will be out for blood.
In the two games the Blazers played against the Warriors in the pre-season, Davis had huge games, as coach Nelson went small. The Blazers saw plenty of that on Wednesday in Seattle, so they should be ready for it.
There are big questions going into the game. How will Zach Randolph handle the certain double teams he's going to draw? Will Jarrett Jack be able to successfully handle Davis? And, can Brandon Roy match his opening-night performance in Seattle? Travis Outlaw will have to be good again as well, as he'll be a key coming off Portland's bench.
On the broadcasting front, the radio show, Trail Blazers Courtside, was on Thursday night. With us out of town, the show was hosted by Jay Allen and former Blazer Michael Holton. Nate McMillan joined the show right out of the gate, and talked about the Seattle win, and what's ahead on Friday. To hear the interview with Nate,
click here.
In Antonio Harvey's segment, he interviewed Ime Udoka. The interview took place on the plane late Wednesday night following the win over Seattle. To hear "Off the Court with Tone,"
click here. Yes, there was the second "Rice's Rant" of the season, and he did it live on the phone. To hear that,
click here.
The guys also did a preview of the home opener on Saturday, and for that they interviewed Minnesota Timberwolves TV analyst Jim Petersen. He talked about Minnesota's opening-night win over Sacramento, and talked about their game on Friday at Denver. To hear the Petersen interview,
click here. The Blazers, of course, will be facing a back-to-back with Golden State Friday, and Minnesota Saturday. The Wolves have the game at Denver, and that's never an easy game to bounce back from. They'll be arriving in Portland probably about the same time we will, in the wee hours Saturday morning.
Well, it worked Wednesday, and we're all about karma, so I'll ask you again. Got any predictions for the game against the Warriors?
RSS FEED
The Blazers outrebounded the Sonics 40-34 and kept their turnovers below 15 (just barely, with 14). And we won.
None of the Warriors starters shot well against the Lakers, but there's no reason to expect them to shoot that poorly from the field two games in a row.
We can beat them if they keep them off the offensive boards (especially Murphy, Biedrins, and Diogu), aren't extraordinarily sloppy with our possessions, have another respectable shooting night, and limit the Warriors threes. If the Blazers shoot better than 45%, have less than 18 turnovers, and the Warriors get fewer than 12 offensive boards and ten three point baskets, we win.
We're a young team and are going to make mistakes. But these guys don't have any quit in them, which as a fan is great to see.
I never thought it was possible, but Mike Barrett had an error. The pregame is at 6:30. Besides that great insight Mike.
I'm excited for the first game and can't wait to go to the game. My father lives in Portland, and I'm coming up from Eugene (by train) to watch the Blazers from the 300 level.
I really enjoy Holton he is not as raw as Antonio Harvey-hope he does not read this- but he always knows what to say and when to say it.
Roy did look like a vetern out there on Wednesday, but McMillian played him very heavy mins. I hope that isn't too much of a bad thing when the first 30 games are under his belt.
Thanks for the insight Mike. Go TrailBlazers!
I'll say Blazers 112, Warriors 102.
There are a lot of ways the blazers can win or lose this game, and plenty of opportunities for both scenarios. Nelson coached teams are always pitiful, defensively. His defensive strategies make Blazer Dancer drills look like they were designed by the Marlboro Man. As a player for Nelson, you're instructed to reserve all effort toward defending the hole for post-game showers and interviews; when you're otherwise screwed if you don't.
However, once they get the ball, the Warriors change out of their skirts and ballet shoes and do a very good job of getting the ball in the bucket. They have a lot of offensive talent and can be very difficult to stop. Baron Davis and Jason Richardson are peticularly nasty.
I think the outcome will come down to two areas: Blazer transition defense and outside shooting. I hope Martell is nearly full strength, or better, because we could use his ability to shoot and score. We'll certainly see plenty of open looks, and if we can knock them down, we'll have a good chance for a victory. I'll go ahead and predict a win for the road team.
I think you meant pre game starts at 6:30, not 7:30. Anyways, I see this being another high scoring game. Can Portland pull off another win on the road? Being 2-0 and going back home will give Portland a ton of confidence against Minnesota. Even though the T-Wolves and Blazers will be arriving in Portland around the same time in the wee hours of the morning, that's always a plus for the home team!
Good luck at Golden State and make it two in a row baby!
I predict I'll have fun watching the game tonight.
I also predict someone will get thrown out of the game, Travis will posterize someone (prob Murphy), and B-Roy will go for over 25.
Okay fine, Blazers 93 GS 92.
Hey Mike, is T.O.(Outlaw) interested in the dunk competition this year? How do players get picked?
I don't think enough with JJ has changed between the 2 preseason games and the game tonight. Stopping Davis not onlyr from scoring but from dishing out assists is the key to breaking the Warriors.
It will be up to the rest of the team to hold down the rest of the supporting cast.
I expect Davis to get the better of JJ. I think Roy will shut down an already rusty Jason Richarson.
The Blazers winning or losing will come down to how well the rest of the team defense is because Davis is going to get his.
G-
R.O.Y.
Sorry about the earlier error in airtime for the game tonight. My second turnover in two days. Good thing my assist level is still up.
rob,
Good comment about the team not having any quit in them. Last week someone commented that Seattle would be the first team to find out that Portland is very tough to beat. Sounded simple, but it was correct.
blazerfanineugene,
Enjoy the train. You're leaving Eugene when the Ducks are playing Washington? That's a Blazer fan.
mrblazer,
You're dead on about outside shooting being key. It's amazing to me how good the shooting percentages have been for Portland, not only in the pre-season, but in Seattle on Wednesday. Got to keep it up tonight.
d buscho,
You could be right about someone getting thrown out tonight. Sheed has already been tossed, and Carmelo got ejected last night. The odds on favorite tonight would be Don Nelson, if the Warriors play like they did on Wednesday. I wish they had played better against the Lakers. They're going to be tough to beat tonight. Hopefully Baron Davis tries to do too much on his own again. That's what happened Wednesday.
sports sponge,
you're right about the key matchup. Can Jarrett slow down Davis, and get his own in the process.
I'm off to shootaround. Talk to you on TV later.
MB
This one has bounce-back written all over it. My heart says Blazers but my head says Warriors.
They're going to force us to shoot from the outside all night and we're going to struggle connecting. We had so many terrific performances in Seattle, there's no way we get that many on back to back games. Color me bummed, Warriors win.
portland 116, warriors 115
Hey Mike... Who are the Blazers Captains??
Hey Mike, hey Blazer fans. I have a prediction: the Warriors win this one, however, it is a very close one. They will be out to sink us tonight..but the Blazers wont be intimidated..we will meet them head on. In the end I give it to the Warriors. I hope of course I am dead wrong.
Well, if the Warriors go small, see a repeat of the Sonic game. Randolph will eat them alive. Roy won't be nervous early like he was Wednesday. My only fear is that they revert back to last season and seesaw up and down. I really don't think they will, but I hope they learned a few things from game 1: Randolph in the post, hustle, pass the ball, smart substitution, and fire......lots of fire. Please get back on defense.
man I dislike FSNW the sonics get a pregame show but the Blazers dont! Oregon needs its own sports channel! I am tired of the Seattle bias!
Blazers 100 Warriors 98
shozbot.
MB, why didn't Martell play more? His back still not back to 100% yet?
His outside shooting would've done a lot more for the team than Graham (who didn't play bad, but surely didn't play good) or Ime (same) and especially Travis.
oh well, considering i expected them to be 0-3 after 3 games, I'll take 1-2 or 2-1.
I just hope the poor play was just a 1 game thing.
I have a question you may be able to answer. Why is Dan not playing? Our only point playing is Jack and Roy should really be playing SG I think. Dan Dickau hit that 3 in final minutes of the Golden State game. Play him!
Also why did Graham get more minutes than Webster but produce less? (I will answer this question) because Martell is better! Martell is better than Travis, better than Graham, better than Miles (I think), better than Ime, and close to Roy. Our first game he didn’t have excellent shooting but he was forced to shoot some of those shots because of time. He had rebounds and you might agree he is the hardest worker we have and is more serious about improving than anyone. Our second game he played 16 and made 4/5 three pointers. Now this may only be an opinion but I think that's good. Martell really needs to play more rather than Graham, Udoka, and Outlaw. Although I still like everyone on the team but I think Martell is starting SF or 6th man quality. Dan should be coming in for Jack.
It also seems to me that if Travis gets off to a bad start that’s how the rest of the night goes for him. Do you think that is true most of the time?
I hope that doesn’t sound too negative. We had better ball movement against the Warriors than I’ve ever seen. We just need to start knocking down shots. I think part of it has to do with players rushing their shots (maybe). I’m also glad our FT% is not only acceptable, it’s exceptional. Joel can also be a part of our offense, why don’t we just feed him the ball for an easy dunk? I bet the defense doesn’t pay a whole lot of attention to him when Zach is down low.
I would appreciate your thoughts on what I’ve been writing about.
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