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Apr 16

Dallas Survives Game One

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By mikebarrett

You have to continue to remind yourself that we're talking about a seven-game series here.

Keep in mind, I'm saying that as much to myself as I am to you. This is why the playoffs are so different from the regular season, and why in this particular instance, it's easy to just wallow in the coulda and shouldas.

Despite not playing anywhere near their best, the Trail Blazers had a golden opportunity to walk into Dallas and take game one on Saturday night. It was there, in their grasp, and that's what will keep the coaching staff awake the next couple of nights. As they know, this stuff will eat you alive if you let it.

After coming from 10 down at halftime, the Trail Blazers battled back and had some huge things in their favor halfway through the fourth quarter. They had a six-point lead, 72-66, they had the crowd out of the game, they had momentum, and they had the ball. But, a botched fast break, where they initially had a three-on-one situation, turned into a Portland turnover. The door swung open for the Mavericks, and they stepped right through.

Clearly, it wasn't this moment alone that sunk the Blazers on this night. But, it certainly was a turning point in that circumstance. The Mavericks outscored the Blazers 23-9 after that one play, and won game one of this series 89-81.

But, rewind a little bit and you'll see where Portland lost the opportunity. The Mavericks scored a field goal at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter. It wasn't until 11 minutes later that they scored their next one. The fact that the Blazers could only muster a six-point lead, through all of that, is probably what kept them from breaking through and stealing game one in Dallas.

Going into a series there are always things that you expect to happen, and even things that statistics tell you will happen. Really, only a few things went the way we expected them to in this game.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points, and shot 12 for 20 from the field. No surprise threre. Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 10 rebounds. Exactly what we expected. But, it ends there. No one expected Jason Kidd to score 24 points, and hit six three pointers. That goes very much against the numbers. Afterall, he averages only 8 points per game, and shoots just 34 percent from behind the arc. It's not that he's not capable of a big game, because we know that he is, but these numbers were unexpected. Credit goes to him there.

Before the game, we talked about keys to this game. Wesley Matthews, for whatever reason, was the guy I said had to play well for Portland to have a chance. That wasn't especially profound, but when he shoots well, and plays well, the Trail Blazers usually win. In this game, he picked up two quick fouls and just never got into the flow. He ended just 1 for 3 shooting, played only 19 minutes, and didn't have an impact.

Gerald Wallace was the other player we spent a lot of time talking about. He was held to just 4 of 13 shooting, and didn't get involved in the flow until the second half. Brandon Roy also struggled, shooting just 1 for 7 in the game.

Marcus Camby was brilliant. He grabbed 18 rebounds, dished out five assists, and blocked two shots. I'm sure you were wondering why he wasn't in the game down the stretch. The small lineup is what Portland has been going with to finish games in the last month or so. That may not be enough to satisfy you, and I get that if that is indeed the case. With him out of the game the Blazers just don't rebound well, and that was a huge key in the fourth quarter.

There are two other areas that have to change if Portland wants to win a game in Dallas in this series- they have to shoot better than 2 for 16 from three-point range, and they have to shoot more than 13 free throws. I know that a lot of you were probably frustrated by the officiating in this game. I'm with you there. We try not to spend a lot of time whining during games, but there were some strange calls in this one, I'll grant you that.

But, the Blazers had their chances.

Now, because of the layout of this series, we'll sit in Dallas for the next three days before getting another crack in game 2. There were positives to take out of this game. The biggest one being, obviously, the Trail Blazers battled back and were in a position to win. The tough thing to take is that you never know when you're going to be in that situation again.

You hope it's in game 2, and you hope things turn out differently.

To listen to McMillan's post-game comments following game one,click here

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Previous Story: It's Dallas in Round One

Next Story: Portland's Turn to Hold Serve

93 Comments

That was dissappointing....can't believe it. A lot of posititves, then a very poor finish to the game, of course Dirk was going to get to the line constantly to help them come back though :D . Honestly I was very dissappointed with Roy's performance, got far more crunch time minutes than Wes Matthews and really looked off the pace and out of his depth. LaMarcus and Camby played so great, hurts to see it go unrewarded with a loss. On to the next game..

by Becker24 on 4/16/2011 10:47 PM
Keeping the faith. The beauty of a 7 game series is you are forgiven and can learn from your mistakes. Kidd made his shots but are you kidding me, we couldn't get up there a little more in his face and swat some of those jump shots back at him? I think the key to this series is maintaining our focus and composure and continuing to box out and use our length, passing and hops to outdo the Mavs. Play solid honest defense and square up or take it to the rack with confidence and we can get this series. I have a feeling it won't be easy either way. Portland has a way of exposing Dallas' weakness but the playoffs are crazy for sure so, on to the next one! Our guys are so much fun to watch, LA is playing so well. Go Portland!

by Bull Frog on 4/16/2011 11:19 PM
Mike: thank you for your thoughts: it was nice watching you and Rice tonight. I came away from this game feeling pretty good, I am not sure why. Maybe it was because like you said we had a lousy shooting night and still had a good chance of winning the game. It may have also been all those 3's by Kidd, knowing he can't do that very often. Those 3's and the free throws was the only thing that kept the Mavs from losing.

You could almost tell from the first quarter that the refs wasn't going to give us any fair calls. They pretty well took us out of the game with so many starters in foul trouble.

It appeared to me that we had the best team on the court, but couldn't beat the home court advantage.

The best team doesn't always win the game, but they usually win the series.

We must hang tough and seize the opportunity the next time is rises.

by Hg on 4/16/2011 11:02 PM
I loved this game. I expected a loss, but didn't expect it to be this way. First off, I'm right there with you on officiating, but I'm a guy that's going to complain, unlike you Mike. Here, let's look at these stats.

Dallas had ZERO (0) points in the paint in the second half.
They had EIGHT (8) points off of FIELD GOALS in the fourth quarter.

That game was straight up BS officiating. 10 more PF called against the Blazers. 16 less FTA. They outrebounded Dallas, had 8 more assists than Dallas, made 8 more baskets than Dallas. This game was straight up BS officiating. You can take it or leave it, but we know at the end of the day Portland should have won this game. The calls were strickly one sided, and were given to the less aggressive team. 0 freaking points in the paint in the entire second half for Dallas, and they get 16 more FTA? What the hell is that?

It was officiating, but I'm satisfied. Blazers proved they are the better team. Players that don't show up showed up for Dallas, while Blazers that do show up didn't. You know Wesmat and Wallace are going to kick some butt in the next game.

It was testing the water, and winning would have been a steal. I'm with Rice that we're winning 2,3,4,6.

I'm surprised that we shut down Dirk. The guy shot 7-20 against LaMarcus, who is BY FAR the better powerforward. He had 15 points off field goals, but had 13 FTs he DIDN'T EARN. 3 of those blocks in the second quarter were called fouls. You showed the replay to us Mike, you know they weren't fouls. It was purely refs. Just saying.

PS: I had a few beers, and I just turned 21 so I'm a bit buzzed so sorry if I'm a bit aggressive LOL! But seriously, I'm mad at the refs. Blazers played good, and it sucks being cheated.

by Herr on 4/16/2011 11:04 PM
BTW Dirk had 11 free throws in the 4th quarter. Portland had 13 the entire game. ONE PLAYER nearly had more FTs than the entire Portland roster. We had how many more points in the paint? Nate even complained about the officiating in the post game conference. Thank you Nate. Sorry for the fine that you'll get, but at least you said it after GAME ONE. Portland should be up 1-0, but the fact we nearly won with such bad officiating, makes me a happy man. We're going to win this series, unless the officiating continues like this. That's Kenny Muar for you.

by Herr on 4/16/2011 11:21 PM
I'm so sick of Brandon Roy getting undeserved minutes. His performance tonight was awful! He is NOT a PG, so why does Nate INSIST on making him play PG? It literally makes me sick when Roy comes in because I know the whole rest of the team is going to stand around for 20 seconds while Roy goes 1 on 5 and gets us a bad shot. Until Nate realizes Brandon isn't the player he used to be we're going to keep losing. Wesley may have had a bad night, but at least we wasn't a defensive liability. SIT ROY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!1

by Richard Ackerman on 4/16/2011 11:24 PM
Herr Kenny Mauer was actually the ref calling fouls on Dallas. The other 2 refs were the ones screwin us.

by Richard Ackerman on 4/16/2011 11:26 PM
I am actually fairly satisfied after this loss as well..Before the game I was thinking the Blazers would split these first two games and at this point I'm almost positive they will. I expect to see LA and Dirk to do their thing on a nightly basis, but I also expect to see more production out of GWall in both halfs, with the complement of either Wes or Nic droppin some bombs as opposed to Kidd. Also, I would hope if Roy is getting the minutes he would deliver a little more. I honestly think all of that will happen, meaning regardless of any poor officiating, Game 2 is ours! I would love our chances of pulling of the upset if we can nab Game 2.. The Blazers know they can do it, so I fully expect them to make the adjustments.. this is my first time commenting on the blog, but its always cool reading and getting everyones perspective on the game so I felt the need to start joining in tonight haha

by Christopher Michael Precourt on 4/16/2011 11:45 PM
Sigh. I'm not the one to complain about officiating but I agree with Herr. The whistles were completely lopsided in the 4th quarter. This is the damn playoffs, it's supposed to be physical. Let the guys play and call the OBVIOUS fouls, not these pity touch fouls. I remember when we played the Rockets in the playoffs two seasons ago.. now that was a physical series and it didn't seem like there were many touch fouls and they let the guys play. Good to know if you look at Dirk wrong, sneeze within 5 feet of him or breathe on him, that he'll get the whistle.

The whole world knows that the Mavs are a soft team and if they keep getting calls throughout the series like they got the calls tonight, we're going to get swept. Plain and simple.

by Mark on 4/16/2011 11:45 PM
The officiating was crap...plain and simple. As I have stated before, all Dirk does is drive wildly to the basket and throw his arms in the air and it is a foul....every time. How many possestions in a row did Dallas go to the line??? Like 6-7 I think...riduculous and in a playoff game. I am sick over this loss because we had the game in hand and the officiating stole it from us.

peace out,
daddy

by daddylogan on 4/16/2011 11:58 PM
I'm with the rest of you in coming away from the game convinced that Portland is the better team. Kidd goes wild from downtown and the refs tilt toward the home team: not much we can do about those things. Our line-up selection? That's on Nate. Mike, you talked at length about Wesley having an off night. He got 19 minutes. Yes, he sat early because of the two early fouls, but how many fouls did he finish with? (The same two). We were badly outshot on three-pointers. Wes is one of our guys who can hit them. Tonight he missed the only one he got to take.
You also tip-toed around the decision to keep Camby, who was cleaning up on the boards, out for the entire fourth quarter, when the game slipped away from us. And I assume you touched only lightly on Brandon's night because I could be counted on to discuss it in detail. I'd really rather not. Konnie said to me at one point, "You really hate Brandon Roy, don't you?" and I explained that no, I really don't, but even when he was great he wasn't my kind of player, and now I think he's hurting the team.
Tonight I waited anxiously to see if Nate would go without his back-up point guard in favor of the Roy-Fernandez combo. He did, and at first it worked okay. We reached the end of the first quarter with a one-point lead. And at the break, I mapped out what I was afraid of, that the offense would become stagnant to start the next quarter and we'd give up a run and get down seven or eight before the starters got back in. It wasn't quite that bad; we were only down six when Andre came back, but I did swear a bit at moments such as Brandon's air ball, or the time Jason Terry blew by him to the rim. Wasn't all his fault: Barrea ran Rudy ragged too. Anyway, for a long while things didn't improve even with Andre in there. But, as you pointed out, we did come back and get a six-point lead and start a good-looking fast-break, which fell apart because Gerald threw a lead pass to Brandon that he was a half-step too slow to catch. Anyone else on the team, except maybe Camby, catches that pass. But key key word is "running" the fast break. I've got over thirty years on him and a shorter stride but I swear I could take Roy in a half-court sprint. Or maybe not; at this stage I might pull a muscle trying, but twenty years ago it wouldn't have been close. (Of course, he'd have been six, but...you know what I mean). Anyway, Brandon played 26 minutes. He had the worst plus-minus on the team (-10). He scored .076 points for every minute he was on the court, (that's rounding his minutes down) by far the team's worst. Nic just beat him out for the most three-point misses. And who can forget the key free throw he took in crunch time that clunked down off the front of the rim?
Look, I understand how hard it is to accept the decline of our idols. I had to go through that last year with the Mariners when Griffey, who I had seen live when he was young and great performing unforgettable feats, unwisely came back for one hurrah too many. I understand that when it's an early decline due to injury it's a lot easier to kid ourselves about what we're seeing. But I live with someone whose knees are in pretty much the same shape as Brandon's. She's on disability.
I believe the Blazers can still win this series. I'd like to believe that our coach will make the obvious adjustments that will let that happen. So I'll be watching very closely to see who comes into the game when Andre goes out for the first time on Tuesday.

by Islander on 4/17/2011 12:12 AM
If Nate is trying to prove he wasn’t out-coached last year…..try this year on for size. Let’s see…. First quarter Nate benches Matthews, one of our most physical defenders, because he committed a 2nd foul. Oh, that’s brilliant coach! How many fouls did Matthews end up with. Not sure, but probably 2. Next, he called a timeout and the team responded with a great run. Aldridge, Camby, and Miller responded and brought us into the game. Opps…Then…inexplicitly, Nate benched the core of our guys in favor of a Roy and Rudy back court…sat Aldridge down for Batum. Next sub for Camby…did you notice Camby didn‘t even have a sweat going nor was he breathing hard. Why would you sit him down? Everything stopped as of that moment. We scored 37 points in the first half. If you look at the stat line, whenever our core 5 were fragmented, we got our asses kicked.
Look, this is not genius, Nate. This is playoff ball. You play your best 5 for 40+ min per game. You use your best 3 off the bench to spell the starters. This has been the formula for decades. Every championship team has done this. Boston, LA, Spurs…. Geez Nate… get a clue. Why was Camby on the bench for most of the 2nd and 4th quarter? Duh… He only had 18 boards…affected countless shots….made great passes off the high post. Yep…let’s sit him. AND WHY THE HELL IS ROY ON THE FLOOR? Look, the guy is crippled. Did you see the pass from Wallace on the break. Roy couldn’t accelerate and the ball went out of bounds. Did you see Wallace in Roy’s face after that play? Roy’s look after that confrontation was priceless. If Roy want’s to help this team he will remove himself from the line up. Why Nate is favoring Roy is very, very strange.
So, if Nate can not adjust, this series is over in…. 5. I will say this tho…. If Nate would revert to time tested strategy, the Blazers could win this series easily……and the next…..

by bates8963 on 4/17/2011 12:18 AM
Common Mike... At least be honest....
I would like to hear from you the content of the Wallace-Roy confrontation after Roy couldn't accelerate to receive the pass from Wallace on the break. A huge turning point in the game.... that would have given the Blazers an 8 point lead and had the Mav's on their heels. That event set up the loss. Huge momentum swing back to the Mav's. When the timeout was called, Wallace got into Roy's face as they walked off the court. Seeing Roy's reaction to Wallace's statement said it all. My guess is that Wallace told Roy if he couldn't run, to sit down. If not... that is what I would have said.....

by bates8963 on 4/17/2011 12:35 AM
Oh...another thing...
Look... Mills could be as effective as Barea.... Same type player.... and Mills can probably out shoot him. The difference is that Barea has the green light to mix it up. Mills, under Nate, is under a microscope. One wrong move and back to the pines. So...

by bates8963 on 4/17/2011 12:51 AM
Does anybody know if Portland has made use of the Alan Houston Rule? And if not, can we still use it?

I think Nate needs to stop allowing Roy to kid himself and tell him to hang 'em up. He doesn't belong in the court anymore. Unfortunate for him, but it is the truth.

We all know Paul Allen is willing to spend money on players... but when will he realize that if he truly wants a championship he will need to pad the pockets of Stern? Even the NBA TV analysts agreed with Nate's post game comments. Will be interesting to read the headlines once his fine is reported.

I predicted Blazers in 5 and would lose game 1. But even though I expected a loss tonight, I cannot say I wasn't dissapointed to see those calls being made down the stretch and watching that lead disappear. Good thing we didn't draw the Lakers... instead of only having two guys holding each of L-Train's arms, there would have been one on each leg and one covering his mouth and we'd still not get that call.

by Misfit503 on 4/17/2011 1:27 AM
Bates I wish you'd quit being so quiet and reserved and speak your mind! lol just kiddin! Every word you said was spot on! It's hard to believe that Nate would put his job and reputation on the line with Roy limited state in the 4th quarter of a playoff game. I hope Cho or Allen make that call to Nate and make him realize that Brandon is no longer our savior in the 4th quarter! How Nate cannot see this and all of us can is astounding! I sure wish we had a open line to Cho to express our feeling about this. I think this game just pissed us off!! And I sure wouldn't want to be the person guarding Wallace in game two. My bet is we win going away and Crash scores 25-12-5 (steals) and Wes shoots the lights out. Blazers in 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Gavinfan on 4/17/2011 2:29 AM
I thought the Blazers were definitely the aggressors and I also think they are the better team. I knew Dallas was getting a lot of calls but I didn't realize how big the disparity was until I read about it. Wow!

LaMarcus had a hell of a game as did Camby but Roy... What was Nate thinking? The thing is, he wasn't. He's being loyal rather than logical. Go Blazers!

by thedanman on 4/17/2011 7:21 AM
Mike:
I am not down on BRoy, Wesley, Rudy, Nic, G-Man or Nate for what everybody thinks is a substandard performance. BRoy did what he tried to do, drive in suck in the defense and pass to the open shooter. If in fact the open shooter couldn't hit the shots isn't his fault his shots taken was usually to avoid shot clock violation and the shots like Matthews was long and far between. Wesley along with BRoy is rhythm shooters; Wesley was taken out of rhythm with two early fouls. G-Man was mauled every time he went to the rim and didn't get any foul shots for his effort. Batum did his disappearing act at times, but played a good game. I can’t criticize Nate, because I am not a coach.

Of course, I never single out the coach or individual players in any game. As good as LMA and Dre played, they both let the refs get to them, that is bad because they both knew it would be that way and they both should not have let the refs get in their heads.

The bottom line the refs took us out of our game not the Mavs. The Mavs are rhythm shooters and we can’t interrupt their rhythm if we are not allowed to stand on their sweet spot for fear of getting pushed off it and get a foul called because we resisted. Once the refs took us out of our game the game was over. Everytime they slacked off on the bad calls and we were able to mount a run, they would step in again and start blowing whistles.

I stated that I felt good about the game because we out played the Mavs and we are the better team. We can’t control the refs, so like you said Mike, we have to make our shots to over come them.

To all the finger pointing posters, you can point fingers in every game in the NBA, but it still is a team game and a team effort, and I thought the team did good the effort was there, but mistakes were there to be jumped upon by finger pointers so have at it.

by Hg on 4/17/2011 5:41 AM
Nate is a smart coach. I think when he looks at the films he will see that he was outcoached. When you have a player who shoots 1/7 and has porous defense and when he has the ball the whole team becomes stagnant he won't continue to give that player extra minutes.

The offciating was self evident and has been adequately chronicaled here.

Hg: I usually find you to be right on, but BRoy affected the flow like molasses in January.

by Ancientone on 4/17/2011 6:40 AM
Ancientone:

I am not debating the lack of, or the input of BRoy, I am debating that, if you critique him, you should critique everybody. I thought on his drives he should at least try to score. Once the Mavs realized that he wasn't going to shoot or look for his shot they quit paying attention to him, other then plugging the middle because or shooters couldn't hit.

If you heat molasses in January before you try to pour it, it flows nicely LOL.

by Hg on 4/17/2011 6:51 AM
I'm tired of watching our boys chicken out and not take the open shot. Rudy, Batum, BRoy, Wesley...they look then pass until the clock becomes an issue. Where were the second chance shots? Our bench has to contribute something besides to rest the crew. This game is won on "most points scored". so why are we passing it around so much. It would be one thing if it ended in a bucket or a new shot clock for us. And play Canby more.

by allie-oop on 4/17/2011 8:47 AM
Gee, I just don't get all of this frustration. Blazers are 6 seed with a bad away record playing a team tided for 2nd seed with 57 wins. 57wins don't just "happen." Sure Kidd played out of his head, but if he didn't someone else probably would have. Shawn Marrion has been averaging 20 for the Mavs the last month of the season, but was nowhere to be seen offensively last night, but was killer on defense. Jason Terry had a poor offensive game as well, 50% below his scoring average. No doubt Kidd will not score 20 on Tuesday, but don't bet on Marrion or Terry not scoring 20.
As far as complaining about the refs in the 4th quarter, didn't they swallow their whistles every time Dirk went to the hole in the first 3 quarters? And ask Mark Cuban what complaining about refs gets you... FINES, not special treatment LOL

by A Voice of Reason on 4/17/2011 10:10 AM
Ok some input from me. Lets move to some obvious factors here. First off the foul calling. MB I know you work in the broadcaster world, so maybe you cant voice your true opinions, All I know is its GOTTA be the biggest dirty secret in the NBA. I watch many many nba games, and see the same thing. When the game is getting close-4th quarter..if you TOUCH or Breathe on the big guys=Lebron,Wade,Kobe,Dirk, you will get a foul called on you, simple as that.

I watch the refs in the 1st 3quarters, and they let em play. I even saw Dirk get some hands on him good, and no call. So that was good, letting them play alittle physical. BUT when the 4th quarter ringed, wow......Dirk got to the line for anything, there were couple "true" fouls, but omg..are you kidding me. So thats my huge grief, is how crooked the nba is for the stars in BIG last minutes, think that is BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..if your gonna call a foul, then should be equal.

Next off- Jason Kidd...well he got hot didnt he, lets just hope he doesnt keep going..need to keep eye on him, but no one expected him to light the basket that much in this game, that was the difference along with the fouls.

Okies, ofcourse the loss ultimatly falls on us...WE will, and let me say it clear..WE WILL NOT win a playoff series if we cant kill teams off when we have the lead..if wont happen. Successful playoff teams finish games off, any of us who have watch nba basketball for many years knows this, or should know this. Do not let blinded team spirit get in the way, I love our blazers, but they will not win from dreams&ferrytales..they got to play 48 min of excellent basketball...IMO..think Islander said it, they are thier worst enemies, and that is very true.

LMA- played great...but they need to go through him even more, I noticed when he didnt tough the ball, thier offense struggled. Are other guys just need to focus and I firmly believe the ship will right itself, I dont expect Wallace and Mathews to be shutdown like this game. As for Broy- he did have horrble game..honestly yeah the 1-7 shooting sucks..but the offense seem to just lose its direction with him @ the point. Broy is my man, so im gonna let this one go lol, and just hope he can figure something out, But if he continues to play in game 2, I think you gotta go to different options, just sayin.

Well its gonna be tough series, everyone wanted the Mavs, and Mavs heard all about it. So now they wanna prove that they can play, and advance. Its up to the Blazers to man up and get the job done, it would be Super helpful to get 1 out of Dallas before going to Portland.

by whitefeather21380 on 4/17/2011 10:12 AM
Seriously, you all need to stop whining about the refs, the game was very well officiated, as most play-off games are and the game was called true to form for a play-off game. Get over it, move on and hope your players can play better down the stretch. And geez, saying "Dallas SURVIVES game one." I mean really, The Mavs pretty much had their way until they hit a stretch of almost 10 minutes where they didn't make a basket (not because of great defense, even missed 2 point blank lay-ups in that stretch) but once they got the shooting back they litterally clobbered the Blazers down the stretch, just like The Bulls did to the Pacers and Miami did to the Wiz. That's what top tier play-off teams do. Geez, you all "wanted" the Mavs, well, you got em!

by A Voice of Reason on 4/17/2011 10:34 AM
And one more thing... Gerald Wallace was NOT being a good team mate or at all in the right to chew out Roy for his inability to accelerate to the ball. Wallace plays with and practices with Roy daily, he needs to know his team mates strengths and in this case weakness and play to it. Trash talk between team mates like this will certainly not bode well for future success.

by A Voice of Reason on 4/17/2011 10:45 AM
A Voice of Reason:

It is obvious that you are not a Blazer fan. You are as blinded to the Mavs as we are to the Blazers. Just remember this is a Blazer sight and you are going to get bias post. Don't expect acceptance with your approach or don't expect to turn heads to your way of thinking, it just won't happen.

Have fun trolling, but beware of the ultimate truth. you are a minority of one.

by Hg on 4/17/2011 10:53 AM
Ill complain about the refs as much as I want..and if you dont like it voice of reason GTFO. Go troll somewhere else, worry about your mavs getting out of the first round. I saw the refs call a good game.....UNTILL the 4th quarter. The lets plays go..I even saw Dirk get hit on some inside plays and they didnt call them...so yes I as a Blazer fan admits that, cause it happen. But what upsets me, is when its crunch time, and nba politics get involved. Then you cant even touch Dirk. He shot as many free throws as the entire Blazers.

He is not the only one, either..the big stars in this game get crazy treartment,speicaly towards the end of games. Another prime example was when Lakers beat us in Portland, Aldridge went to the rim 3 times, and got hammered HARD..no foul..but Kobe gets breathed on and WHAM- FOUL!!...

I like Dirk..hes a awesome player, and from what I have seen a good human being...But you have to be in denial to not see the favortism that the refs hold to the big name players in the league, and I dont think games should be decided that way. Regardless if its the Mavs or any other team.

by whitefeather21380 on 4/17/2011 11:13 AM
I will say this game was not decided by Dirk alone, Jason Kidd played his butt off and was fantastic. And those 2 factors, combined with the Blazers not being able to close out, when they had the lead is why the Blazers lost.

by whitefeather21380 on 4/17/2011 11:15 AM
HG, I have to disagree with you. I think you can single out the decision to play Roy the whole 4th quarter. Roy cannot play in these playoffs period! He cannot play anymore and is definitely hurting the team. Nate and Roy blew it! Period.

Mike, I'm very surprised you didn't mention this in your blog. How can you take out our most physical defender for someone who clearly (at least to anybody who knows basketball) doesn't have the capability to play this game at this level let alone crunch time! And for the whole 4th quarter!!!!! Are you kidding me Nate?

This is not personal against Brandon, it's just reality.

by sudelander on 4/17/2011 11:43 AM
I find it funny that Mark Cuban raised 4 fingers when Kidd made a 3. I also find it funny how he was fined over $100k in the 2006 series when Wade shot more FTs than the Mavs. Well, well, well...

Wonder what he'd have said if it was Portland getting to the foul line everytime contact was made. Such a bloody hypocrite.

by Herr on 4/17/2011 11:43 AM
sudelander: I am not arguing decisions by Nate or about BRoy's play. I am arguing that you can point the finger at almost anybody on the team. To single out BRoy and jump on his case when he is playing the best he can is not the same as attacking the coach. Nate, put BRoy in to play, that is what he did. Was he supposed to say, I am sorry coach I am not worthy of playing in the fourth.

All I am saying is why single out individual players and attack them when the whole team is guilty of missing shots. We lost a game we should have won. It is that simple.

by Hg on 4/17/2011 11:57 AM
I think people are being too hard on Roy. He runs the offense well in my opinion, but not as good as Miller. I'm with you guys on that he got too many minutes, and is probably washed up and still trying to find himself, but he wasn't the reason we lost. Most of you want Patty Mills... if you were on this team, who would you listen to? Patty or Roy? Roy runs the offense fairly well, he just doesn't score well, which is what he was notorious for doing.

However, I still don't see why Nate is afraid to play huge minutes. He let the bench rot for the first half of the 2nd quarter. That was a chance to push out, but instead the Mavs scored 11 more points in that quarter.

by Herr on 4/17/2011 12:07 PM
Andre couldn't guard J. Kidd at all. Put Wesley on the bald, old guy next time.

by Tobyus Sanchezo on 4/17/2011 1:32 PM
this was a disappointing loss. i don't think you can single out any one player on which to place blame. by the end of the game, we just didn't have as many points as dallas.

why? well, i think it would be absurd not to point to the major factor in this game: extremely poor officiating. dallas shot 19 ft's in the fourth quarter. we shot just 12 for the entire game. it obviously was one-sided. as Nate said, our guys didn't know how to defend with the way the game was called. it was as simple as that. the mavericks didn't steal this one from us, but it was most definitely stolen from us.

LaMarcus had a great game. Marcus was after it. aside from Nicolas'1-7 shooting from beyond the arc, he came to play (loved the ally-oop to the front of the rim to LaMarcus). Andre played very well.

i realize we're going with the smaller lineup late in games, but with the success on the boards that Marcus had, i think we have to have him in there. i just hope Nate isn't too stringent on his rotation guidelines because there are going to be times during this series when he has to think outside the box.

there was a great picture from Nicolas' girlfriend on twitter from about an hour after the game. Nico was sitting at a table reviewing the video of the game. i like that.

i still believe we can win this series; that is, if it's called evenly and correctly. i'll tell you this, though: we are winning game 2.

~ Kassandra

by Kassandra on 4/17/2011 1:43 PM
Relax!! We played a good (if not great) game, and the Mavs a slightly better one. We'll learn from it. Some of our guys weren't playing their best, and we still managed to keep it close. When the nerves are settled and the films thoroughly analyzed, momentum swings our way.

Hang out on anybody's Live Chat and you find "it's always the refs' fault" no matter who you root for, which is patently absurd. On the other hand, game outcome should be determined by the quality of play, not the quality of officiating, and there's good reason to be critical of the refs for Game 1.

by occassia on 4/17/2011 1:51 PM
HG, you're right in that we SHOULD have won this game. I hope Nate doesn't make the same mistake.

I think Roy could have told Nate privately "I'm not up for this Coach, I'm hurting the team". He just CANNOT play.

by sudelander on 4/17/2011 2:14 PM
Occassia - the Blazers by no means played a perfect game. Feel free to disagree, but I thought they played WAY better than Dallas. We deserved the win, Dallas did not. Yet, Dallas got the win. That's just my opinion, anyone is free to disagree, but I must warn you that I spend hours of my day writing and talking basketball.

That being said, I will just mention this:

Atlanta, Dallas, NOH, and Memphis are leading their series. Who in their right mind thinks those guys are actually going to WIN their series. All those stats MB says are, sorry to say MB, but meaningless. Because 80% of the time teams win if they win game 1 does not mean that this is how this series is going to go. Look at last year when, hey guess what! We stole one.

I'm confident we're winning this series. Nate is our coach, and he's a damn good coach whether you like him or not. He'll make the adjustments. I'm willing to bet money that Kidd won't have a big game, and that Dork Noringzki isn't going to get more FTs than the entire Blazer roster. (btw, we had 8 FTs at halftime, meaning we only had 5 in the 2nd half. One of them being a tech). Decisions will be made, and ultimately the better team will win.

Game 1 would have been a steal. I am VERY comfortable with being 1-0 with what I saw last night. I really don't think the Blazers could have played any worse, and it STILL was better than Dallas' play, despite Dallas winning from the FT line. It's all good folks.

Remember last season Charles Barkley said to the 5k+ folks at the viewing party "There is no one in Portland, Oregon that thinks the Blazers are going to win this series". He should say it now, because from what I hear, there is no one in Dallas,Texas that thinks the Mavs are going to win this series.

by Herr on 4/17/2011 4:00 PM
Any WNBA team would dominate against the Dallas Mavericks/Team Failure. They're so fragile. I guess this is why they're so boring.

by Victoria Miller-Harper on 4/17/2011 4:14 PM
I have to agree that you can not point this loss at any one Blazer. They all missed shots, turnovers happen, fouls happen. I don't think the refs were fair in their calls but what can you do? Nothing. I remember one of the first blazer games i went to a few years ago, when we were on the Max heading home everyone was pissed about Steve Blake missing the last shot and 'losing the game for us'....like he was the only one to miss a shot all night? C'mon people, it's a team effort, and just because someone missed 'that shot', they are not responsible for the outcome of the entire game

by Holly Belgarde on 4/17/2011 4:40 PM
The only way in the world that Roy should be playing crunch time minutes is if he's had an impact on the game up to that point. He obviously had no impact on this game and should have been pulled during crunch time.

And Dirk getting all of those fouls late in the game was plain BS, like most of you have already said. Did you guys see how much he was whining to the officials all game. Well, I guess it paid off because they rewarded him with 11 FREE THROWS IN THE 4TH! Ridiculous. We got this series. Game 2 is ours.

by gvartan3 on 4/17/2011 5:16 PM
It was actually 13 free throws which upsets me even more!

by gvartan3 on 4/17/2011 5:19 PM
It is not blaming the loss on one player to say that you think the coach played one guy more than he deserved, and sat a couple or three players who could have contributed more. It's not a matter of picking on Brandon to point out that Camby is a better rebounder, Wesley is a better defender, and Patty is faster and right now is also shooting a lot better. The other players have clearly defined contributions they can make. Roy is a formerly- great one-on-one scorer who's no longer able to fill that role. In Nate's defense for leaving him in you can say, what exactly? That Brandon made a few good penetrating moves with kick-out passes? Okay, but he'd have needed to do that like Chris Paul or Tony Parker at their peaks to compensate for scoring only a point every 13 minutes.
Yes, everyone on the team made some mistakes, and everyone always does. But some guys had productive stat lines and other guys didn't, and it's reasonable to criticize the coach, the one we're really getting on, for leaving an unproductive player in for too long.
While I agree that the officiating was unbalanced and frustrating, I don't see how our complaining about that at length does any good. But maybe that's just because I once played on a soccer team with a guy who would get really angry and in the ref's face over offsides calls, when I knew for a fact that he had never really learned the offsides rule.

by Islander on 4/17/2011 6:10 PM
My internet has been down since yesterday and man I was going through withdrawals!

Yesterday's game is a perfect example of why no way do we want this to go to a game 7. Most of the time the home court team wins game 7 and the refs are a big reason why.

Come on guys, don't give Voice of Bias the attention he so obviously craves. Ignore him like you should all trolls.

GO BLAZERS!!

by mgb on 4/17/2011 6:35 PM
The reason I hated last night's officiating wasn't that it was so one-sided, it was that it was so inconsistent! Nate alluded to it when he commented that his team didn't know how to play out there with the way the officiating was going. I saw several touch fouls called on the Blazers early, then later on, the refs wouldn't call things that would be called fouls in the NFL. All the players really want from the refs is enough consistency that they know what they can do and what they can't do.

I've never been a fan of the team's song and have a suggestion for a replacement based on our play in too many late game situations this year:
"Slip Slidin' Away" by Paul Simon.

by dgpdx on 4/17/2011 8:29 PM
test

by bates8963 on 4/17/2011 11:33 PM
This isn't about Roy... This is about performance... PERIOD. We all love Brandon.... a beautiful person and (was) a great basketball player. This isn't about that. This is about the playoffs. This is about the coach and what "vision" he has about this team. Obviously Nate doesn't follow the basic rule of NBA playoff basketball....or any other championship run. You go with your best 5 until they drop dead from exhaustion. Then you sub for them only as long as it takes to regain energy. Then back to business. If you watched the game, the Blazers, with our best 5 took over the game after that first timeout. They kicked in gear with...Aldridge, multiple post scores and....backbreaking ally-oops from Miller and Camby... then after only 8 min, Nate pulled Aldridge, shortly Camby, inserted Roy and Rudy.... then the game went to garbage! Oh, let's not forget....Matthews comited the ultimate sin by receiving a 2nd foul early in the first. Nate....go to the playbook and read "what to do if someone gets a 2nd foul". OK, take him out of the game for the first half, thus ending any chance of that player having an impact on the game. Matthews ended with 2 fouls and nothing of a game. Oh...but he might have fouled out...
Get the point? It is this thinking and actions of our coach that has this team totally confused and disfunctional. And know this, Nate will not understand this and will refuse to play championship basketball. Maybe he thinks like my son's high school coach.... "It's not about who wins or loses, it's about letting everyone participate equally"..... blah...blah...blah... I disagree completely. Finishing 2nd only means you are the first LOSER.

by bates8963 on 4/17/2011 11:34 PM
The reason I did a "test" post is that the filter wouldn't allow my posting attempt because I used the word, a**. Seriously, that word is considered vulgar.... that's OK, but a bit prudish, wouldn't ya say?.....

by bates8963 on 4/17/2011 11:39 PM
bates, you could have hit edit on your test post and deleted the word test and put your second post in that window. FYI, in case you didn't think of it.

by mgb on 4/18/2011 12:30 AM
it was sad watching the blazers lost. remind me of the 03 playoffs hope we can win game 2 and come home for 3 and 4 and win it was a weird NBA weekend Lakers lost Spurs lost thats weird.

by jyp on 4/18/2011 1:37 AM
Lakers LOST!
We're still in good shape, one game at a time yo

by Tobyus Sanchezo on 4/18/2011 2:26 AM
I just love our fans! We just get nasty and begin to just explode on the team and each other. One thing to remember B-Roy can shoot the rock! Sure he wasn't on his game, but Wallace, Matthews, and Rudy all had questionable games. First game of the playoffs and here we are turning on each other. What did you see in this game? I saw a lead and momentum disappear in the 4th quarter. Ask yourself when watching the game did you feel like the calls the refs made deflated the team? Ask yourself! What's my feelings on Dirk going to the line everytime he touched the ball. The momentum was taken and the refs made sure we didn't win that game! I'll tell you how I felt. Deflated and confused. Some refs are still old school and haven't moved into the new generation of believing that the higher seed can be beat. Look at the Lakers and how the refs called that game. Look at the Spurs and how that game was called. What happen with those two refs was they wanted the Mavs to have this one. The reason I'm speaking so down on the refs is somebody has to let the league know how bad it was and they owe us one. The league can't fine me so I would like to say as loud as I can, WHAT'S UP WITH THE REFs, ARE THEY ON THE TAKE AGAIN? CALLING THE 4TH QUARTER LIKE THEY DID WITH TOUCH FOULS IN THE PLAYOFFS TAKES MY MIND RIGHT BACK TO THE GAMBLING OF THAT ONE REF. No I don't believe that is the case, but I just want to send a message. Now I would like to address the Wallace incident. You don't call out Roy when your pass was to far in front of him. Take responsibility for your bad pass. Look at the replay. You were not in good control when passing the ball to him! Cooler heads will prevail. We have this. Don't explode on the team!

by civilhold on 4/18/2011 3:02 AM
Civilhold: I happily agree with you. Why chop players and coaches that are doing their best. Some of the players had a bad night, due to refs, due to nerves, due to lack of rhythm, and so on.

In BRoy's case, he is the fourth option for shooting. He is confused as when to shoot and when to be a facilitator because he doesn't want to interfere with the flow of the game that the fans are harping on. Now the fans are mad because he only shot 7 times and two of them were desperation to beat the clock. He only took two shots in the fourth quarter and one of them was the 3pt attempt at the end of the game. Therefore how was it BRoy's fault for losing the game? Was it because he won't shoot? Nobody wants him to shoot. Was it because of the drives and kicks that the shooters kept missing the shots? That is what the fans want; let the shooters win the game and not BRoy. Was it the high pick and pop with LMA? The refs were letting the Mavs beat the heck out of anybody that drove to the lanes and not blowing the whistle and we needed point and to get the open looks to score. Why was that wrong?

So my question is what is BRoy doing that is so bad? One fan in the last home game called out and told him he wished BRoy would die so we could get a cheap bench warmer to replace him. That hurt BRoy and confused him even more. Professionally he is not supposed to care what the fans think, but guess what, he is human and he does care. Another thing is that BRoy all his life has been the go to guy and now he is trying to adjust to a brand new type game. He can't go on instinct because he gets accused of trying to take over the game: if he stays out of the way, he gets accused of being unmotivated. He just wants to go in and help the team and give starters some rest. What is so wrong with that?

I know this is a rant, I know I am a homer, I know that some fans need a scapegoat, I know that some fans can’t take the pain of losing so they need to justify the loss. But to berate players for losing is somewhat childish in my book.

This is a blog where opinions are stated and I am just adding mine.

by Hg on 4/18/2011 5:39 AM
MB,You always see the positive side,but ,man I'm suprised you didn't say anything about the free throw difference in the fourth.Wasn't it like 19 to 3 for Dallas,I'm not one to say much about refs,but that is about as lopsided as it gets.Refs should be held accountable, but we know they won't.
Hard to overcome that .

by DowntownVinnie on 4/18/2011 6:33 AM
Blazers played a bit nervous, a bit frantic, a bit acared..I think the second game will be more relaxed for them.

by DowntownVinnie on 4/18/2011 6:36 AM
Vinnie:

somebody checked the free throw differential on all the games played and it was overwhelmingly in favor of the home teams and the big stars.

I felt that Indiana had that game taken away from them in the fourth when the refs not only called every touch foul on D Rose, but let him knock people out of way so he could score.

In our game the refs let Dirk push G-Man to the floor under the basket and never called a foul, but on the next play called a foul on G-Man for a touch foul. The same scenario with the Miami heat game and Le Bron.

long short: we know it is going to be called that way, Maybe Nate helped with his comment and I imagine his contribution to $terns charity LOL. But as you said the Blazers played a little uptight and the Mavs can't possibly expect all the players to be cold shooting the next game. I look for Wallace to have a tremendous game.

by Hg on 4/18/2011 7:17 AM
I really could use that crystal ball one of you has...really, I need it right now, can you send it my way? If I could predict what Nate was going to do, or BRoy's future, or even what GW and We$ do tomorrow, I would have zero need to even watch the games, which would make things way easier for me :) So, yeah, with my time limited, please, I am begging you...lend me your future-telling device? Pretty please?

I am deeply ashamed of a fan base that can lash out so hatefully toward a player that singlehandedly lifted this franchise out of the billowing smoke of the jailblazer era. The resentment toward Roy is so incredibly misplaced, it makes me want to send every single critic to temple or to a psychiatrist for a little self-examination and a dose of humility :)

Anyway, I will be honest. I have not finished watching the game. I have no idea yet what happened in the 4th and I honestly don't care. The Blazers lost this game because they played disjointed (even when Roy wasn't on the court), GW and Wesley did not contribute significantly, Coach Nate made ill-timed substitutions and did not use his players effectively (1st game jitters for Nate? Perhaps), the team is completely unable to get good rebounds when Camby is not on the floor, we didn't find the net from deep, the refs got in the players' heads, the team backed down instead of letting Dallas know they weren't going to take that kind of BS regardless of what the refs were doing, and most importantly, the Blazers failed to take full advantage of the total failure of the Mavs' offense in the 3rd quarter. This loss sits squarely with the team and nowhere else.

Probably won't watch Tuesday's game either, at least not until I know the result. Life is just a little too tough for me right now to endure the suspense :)

By the way, over at Blazersedge, Dave wrote a fantastic article on the Blazers' lack of "take no crap mentality". It's a great read and I highly recommend it for everyone :)

by SisillaRiann on 4/18/2011 7:50 AM
I get such a kick out of your small town left wing libs... Just like your politics, you think you're ENTITLED! last time I checked, you were the 6th seed playing a tied for 2nd seed... and you EXPECT a win?!?!? Get real, there is a reason the regular season is played and the only 2 games your sorry team beat the Mavs during the regular season was when in addition to the Mavs losing Butler for the season, one of the games Dirk was still nursing a knee sprain and Tyson didn't play and the other Haywood was out. Now please buy a clue and/or develop a logic molecule and be realistic about your teams chances... NO playoff series wins since 2000?!?!? HELLO!!!

by A Voice of Reason on 4/18/2011 8:37 AM
EownyAmarie: I am getting so much relief from your support on the BRoy issue. I really got upset, as you know if you read my post above.

I read that article on BE. Nate tells them to shrug it off like G-Man did, but if they get the permission to keep doing it, it will definitely affect his whole game. I am thinking of getting pushed to the ground on one play and getting called for a touch foul the next play would be mind blowing for me.

I have a hard time not responding to that little kid that posted before me, but you taught me to keep my tongue in some instances and I would be better off.

Thank you for the great post, I really enjoy it.

If you truly switched to OKC, I will think of you as a traitor LOL.

by Hg on 4/18/2011 9:21 AM
In order to post on these blogs, a person must create an account on the iamatrailblazersfan site. Isn't there a way to block people who obviously are not trailblazers fans? I am all for reasonable discussion, like what happens on the SB Nation sites, but those mods don't allow flat out trolling. And the Blazer admins shouldn't either. This is our site and Barrett's blog. It is explicitly for fans of the Blazers. If I want abuse, I can go elsewhere. Please, Blazer Blog admins, do something about the blatant disrespect. Thanks.

by SisillaRiann on 4/18/2011 9:22 AM
It takes a good team like Dallas to choke away a #1 seed and lose to a 8 seeded team. They are chokers, but this time they'll just be losing to a better team. Don't worry, EA, we'll hear less and less from the Voice of Bias.

by mgb on 4/18/2011 9:32 AM
A Voice of Reason Ok. You Owner winnes about the refs. So Why can`t us?

by Blazers and us on 4/18/2011 10:07 AM
Just to let you know," A Voice of Reason" , Last we check, Your Butler is still out. So Thanks for giving us hope in this Playoff run. And we know you will not come back on the Blazers site to read this, Because you just write and run back to your Dalles team. I see your were a Blazers fan back in the 2000s, when They were kicking every one around. And now you are a Dalles fan. Thanks for you time here.

by Blazers and us on 4/18/2011 10:11 AM
Live programming continues today on trailblazers.tv. I'll be on this afternoon at 2 o'clock with Scott Zachry, live from our hotel in Dallas. We'll be joined by General Manager Rich Cho. Shoot us some questions for Rich, and we'll have an hour to get to them.

MB

by mikebarrett on 4/18/2011 10:59 AM
o

by Blazers and us on 4/18/2011 12:09 PM
you know something, since i began reading the comments on this blog, i've come to the conclusion that if i want comedy i don't need to listen to stand-up, watch comedy central or even listen to my sister when she gets on a roll ... i only have to re-read "A Voice of Reason's" (Avor) comments. i wasn't going to mention this before because i felt Hg and the others neutralized them very well but, as the regulars here know, i just can't resist things like this.

now ovbiously Avor is not a blazers fan; rather a dallas fan and i know precisely why you come here: your team has one little measly website! well, here in the BlazerNation, we have four -- that's right, count 'em, four! i understand you are left to trolling on another team's site. it's sad, but it's all you have left at your disposal.

interesting how you know so little about us, then erroneously label us a "small town left wing libs" because that's "just like our politics." obviously, you know nothing about the city of portland nor the state of oregon. all you accomplished there was to come off as an uneducated, lame Rush Limbaugh wannabe. however, congratulations if that's what you were going for!

most certainly and obviously, you did not actually watch the fourth quarter if you think the officiating was not terribly one-sided. when one player makes no contact with another player, it is not a foul -- except for the numberous times in the fourth quarter of that game.

one of the real funny things at which i had to laugh is when you mention losing to us while injured. if you were anything close to knowledgeable or had anything of a basketball iq, you'd be abundantly aware that the blazers are the most-injured nba team over the last two seasons. unlike you, however, we make no excuses. we just deal with it. my advice would be for you to do the same. think of it this way, which blazers were injured when you beat us? there were several and, despite that, and we still almost won those games.

while i partially agree with EowynAmarie that perhaps it would be a good thing to ban the trolls from this site, i would hate to see the moderators of this site disallow other teams' fans -- such as some charlotte bobcats/Gerald Wallace fans -- who actually know how to conduct themselves in public.

so, while i don't particularly care for your trolling, the amount of laughs i experience from reading your comments seem to brighten my day. finally, if you really want to get your ire up, i invite you to read my latest blog here:

http://blogs.trailblazers.com/PublicProfileRoot/MyBlog/tabid/99/EntryID/2215/IamaUserID/15768/Default.aspx

one last point, Avor, we've won a championship ... where's your trophy?

~ Kassandra

p.s. to the regulars: LeBrona the Piranha feels pretty good after that!

by Kassandra on 4/18/2011 2:42 PM
HG: If Brandon is really the hypersensitive guy you described, who is paralyzed because he's afraid people will be mad at him for whatever he does, then he really doesn't belong on the court. But I don't believe for a moment that Roy was deeply "hurt" or seriously "confused" because some idiot said he wished he would die. Nor do I believe he cares much that some fans think the best thing he can do for the team right now is sit on the bench and cheer for his team-mates. I'm pretty sure that what really eats him up is that the team is playing big games, and he can't do what he used to do to help them win.
And Eowyn, I really don't see how it's showing "resentment" or lashing out "hatefully" to point out that right now Brandon isn't helping the team win. What he did to raise this team from a low point will never be forgotten, any more than we'll forget what Bill Walton did to bring the city a championship. But we would still question our coach's judgement if he brought Walton out of retirement to play against Dallas. If we pointed out that the old red-head can barely walk, that wouldn't be a hateful remark directed against a crippled warrior; it would be a factual comment to support our belief that the coach would be making a costly mistake in playing him. And I'm pretty sure Nate understands that getting second-guessed comes with the job, and is part of why he earns the big bucks to make those big decisions. To tell the truth, much as I disagree with the choices he made in the last game, I don't envy the position he's in. He has to deal with the whole team's psyche, and the transitional stage when a former alpha dog can't lead the pack anymore is an especially tricky one. I even wonder whether he didn't leave Brandon in so long, give him so many extra chances in this game, just so that everyone, on the team and off, will understand when he decides to shut Roy down for the rest of the series. It's a pretty rare team where the coach is really considered more important by players and fans than the resident superstar. Even Phil has to tip-toe around Kobe, and we all saw what happened when the revered Jerry Sloan clashed with Deron. And I think one daunting factor Nate has to cope with is precisely the feeling some of you express, that whatever else happens, we mustn't disrespect our idol. But if we're going to win, we need to understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that our main man is now LaMarcus, and that players will be on the court because of what they can contribute now, rather than for what they did in the past.

by Islander on 4/18/2011 1:08 PM
Mike B is courtside on tonight with Jay Allen and maybe Michael Holton . Go blazers tomorrow

by jyp on 4/18/2011 1:28 PM
Anyone else think it's odd that there is 2 days between the first two games at Dallas, but then only 1 day between the second and third game which is a travel game? You would think they would have schedule it so that there would have been 2 days between the games that you have to travel to.

by mgb on 4/18/2011 1:47 PM
It should be said that we won't see a game like this from Dallas for the rest of this series. In the next few games expect the Dallas team you played before, i hope, but i'm SURE OF IT. There's a few reasons why... J. Kidd won't go off like that again, i mean he can't lol. Like MB said he only averages 8 ppg. And if it continues, proceed to point fingers at 2 groups.. coaching staff and the guards. I hope Wesley Matthews or at least one of our defensive weapons doesn't get in foul trouble early or Dallas will feed off that again. Dallas will look to capitalize off somethings again if we let it happen! Like going 2/16 from 3 pt range. I saw a few of those come off last second decision making from Brandon passing off to Batum when Batum had defenders right it in his face, missed, and then off great second chance rebounds by Camby, we throw up more abrupt threes. We can make them but please.. this is the playoffs, and the best saying i found in this post-season is "Value every possesion" Brandon knows and the rest of the team knows.

Dallas right now is so excited they got game 1 but i don't think their ready for game 2. I think Miller is going to continue his good performance and we'll see a different G-Dub.. right now i don't believe Rudy will make that much a difference based on his recent slump.. so we will desperetly need Roy at times!! And if Camby goes off like that again i want to see him a little more in that 4th. C'mon BLAZERS let's get these guys! the opportunity is knocking. Let's Go!

by Ballinrotation365 on 4/18/2011 1:55 PM
MGB i know what u mean.. i've seen that type of schedule the last few seasons in different playoff series.

by Ballinrotation365 on 4/18/2011 1:59 PM
mgb, to answer in a word: yes. logic would dictate that the extra day off would be used between the second and third games and serve as a travel day. as with Ballintherotation365, i've seen that over the past few seasons. i can only surmise that it has something to do with television scheduling.

~ Kassandra

by Kassandra on 4/18/2011 2:27 PM
The scheduling also had to do with where we placed. some of the second games start tonight. if we had been scheduled to play Monday then the travel would have been about right.

by Hg on 4/18/2011 2:37 PM
Check this out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NORVvbkn0MM&feature=share

by Herr on 4/18/2011 4:29 PM
In the NBA, TV scheduling is Everything! And that goes double in the playoffs.
--
don

by dgpdx on 4/18/2011 6:46 PM
I agree with Kassandra on the pure comic genius of the last post from "A Voice of Reason." I mean, the name itself is in the great satiric tradition of "Fair and Balanced" and "Operation Enduring Freedom," given his descent to silly stereotypes about "small town left wing libs" to explain how foolish we were to think that a team that had split its season series with Dallas and had played them close all game might have "deserved" to win if they had only gotten fair calls down the stretch. I mean, it's classic to treat us as clueless rubes trapped in our lefty sense of entitlement when we're asking for the same thing billionaire Mark Cuban shrieked about with such vehemence when his team lost to the Heat. But AVOR's humor works at many more levels. Note the subtlety of the idea that someone gets to school people on their unreasonable expectations, as derived from their wrong-headed politics, while omitting the most basic nods to punctuation. I suppose the Texas Board of Education has been so busy shielding the state's students from evolution and Cesar Chavez that they forget to tell their teachers about things like commas and hyphens. I imagine that in his neighborhood you're being all high and mighty if you take time to say "small-town" or "left-wind" and can't be bothered with noticing that "left wing libs" is redundant. (Oops, better explain to him about "redundant." It's the fact that "left-wing" and "lib" mean the exact same thing. Yeah, I know that last phrase is a bit redundant too, but it's a Texas classic I figured he'd understand). I don't think anyone who can actually count calls Portland a "small town" but I'm sure he's just comparing us to the lofty, big-city values of Dallas. And by his standards he's got a case: if you measure sophistication by your city's ability to crank out bat-s**t crazy reactionaries, the rich cultural heritage of big D makes our poor Portlanders look like complete rubes.
The funniest bit of all is his assumption that those lame stereotypes about Portland fit our Blazer fans, who come from all over the state. He must think we're all a bunch of slacker, wannabe artists, who hang around with underemployed musicians, socialize in hippie hot tubs, faithfully sort our recycling, take mass transit instead of driving cars, applaud our civic leaders when they ride by during the Gay Pride Parade, and celebrate our city's freedom and tolerance every year by riding our bikes naked through the city streets. I mean, sure, all of the above applies to ME, but I'm not exactly typical. Hell, I was born in Houston--though I got out of Texas the second I was old enough--and if you want to hear someone rant about hating Dallas you need to consult a Houstonian. But we poor left-wing types somehow got the idea that we can talk to other fans about basketball without the use of insulting labels.

by Islander on 4/18/2011 7:17 PM
Rick Adelman is available. I'd take him in a heartbeat.
--
don

by dgpdx on 4/18/2011 8:45 PM
HG,looks we got more BB:)

by DowntownVinnie on 4/18/2011 9:49 PM
There is a lot of talk on here about Brandon hurting the team. Unfortunately I think all of it is true. Up to and including the questions about Sarge's decision making as to whether to play Brandon big minutes if at all. We really learned how to play as a team with Brandon being injured. We picked up the ultimate teammate with Gdub and really looked to be on our way and then Brandon starts getting minutes and we become an iso team again.

First off let me just say that I think MJ and Kobe have changed the way coaches coach. Crunch time comes and rather than play team basketball, the offense goes solely to getting the ball to a teams "Go to guy". That might work for MJ and Kobe but there is literally no one else in the league who can get his team a ring that way. No one. Not LeEgo and his horrible step back 3 pointers after 74 dribbles, not Brandon in his prime, and certainly not Brandon now. We have been copping out for a while with him. His injury made everyone else accountable, and everyone showed up. Even Sarge became a better coach in my mind by being forced into the position of letting Rudy be Rudy. Now Rudy is back to watching as Roy drains the shot clock tripping over himself and throwing up bricks. Roy had a good shooting game recently, but don't be fooled Blazer fans, he hit his first 4 shots but they were very tough off balance jumpers. He was not getting HIMSELF good looks, but was making them anyway. Not likely to happen often.

The Gdub, Roy fast break was so disheartening. We know isn't fast, but I was yelling at my TV afterward, because I don't think he was going at his own top speed, limited though it may be. Disheartening because he was in the game at all. Disheartening because he is a great kid who has bad knees and just doesn't know how to play off the ball because he probably has been running the Brandon offense since 3rd grade. Disheartening that coaches let this happen at any level. Especially disappointing that it happens at he NBA level, which is supposed to be tops, but any ninny can just get the ball to their "Go to guy" for 25-30 shots a game.

There is still hope for Roy next year. This year he just hurts us or when we do do well it is in spite of Roy. Just as Dallas did well last night getting unexpected offense from the old wily one. Right now though, even when he is a willing passer everyone is getting the ball in a slightly different spot, at a slightly different time than they're used to. These things can be worked out but now is not the time.

Sarge has step up and pull Brandon if he doesn't look great. Great not good. LaMarcus needs to step up and demand the offense go through him if his coach doesn't.

We're still going to win this series. We are the better team.

Rip City!

by Sean Ivey on 4/19/2011 7:15 AM
Bayless saying Blazers robbed by refs this a.m.

by Sean Ivey on 4/19/2011 7:46 AM
Vinnie:

It sure looks that way. But BB keeps things interesting if not taken to heart.

by Hg on 4/19/2011 7:47 AM
Islander: if my comments were meant for you specifically, I would have directed them to you, as I have done here. I was making a general comment regarding the negativity and criticism about Roy I am seeing on every site I go to, not just this one. I posted it here, because, well, this is where I post :)

by SisillaRiann on 4/19/2011 9:03 AM
@Islander, you are intitled to your opinions and I am to mine. Since when does athetes become imune to critique? Aren't they humans first BB players second? Or are they just robots on the court that we can push around at will?

by Hg on 4/19/2011 9:08 AM
i agree that portland is a better team then dallas. patty should get the back up point guard mins behind miller. I defended roy alot on his knees but its the playoffs and you have to limit his min more or sit him altogether if he can't contribute.
i think the blazers make the right changes and win game 2.
go blazers

by Miller on 4/19/2011 10:25 AM
You guys have to watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NORVvbkn0MM

by Shem on 4/19/2011 2:51 PM
its ugly now we lost again we need to stop Dirk in the 4th quarter

by jyp on 4/19/2011 8:45 PM
its ugly now we lost again we need to stop Dirk in the 4th quarter

by jyp on 4/19/2011 8:45 PM
So, what now? Can't place this one at BRoy's feet, and Patty even made an appearance....and did nothing btw. And I do believe there was plenty of Marcus down the stretch. And GW and We$ both played pretty well. So did LA. Looks like Nate read all the critics, and took all your suggestions...to no avail. Hmmm...interesting. Is it possible that this team just isn't ready to advance? Oh wait, I know...now it will be NATE's fault. He's always the final scapegoat isn't he? Damn impatient and unappreciative Blazer fans anyway :)

by SisillaRiann on 4/19/2011 10:47 PM
EA: You are becoming more and more one of my favs. I wasn't even going to post until I read your post

Thanks for saying what I felt.

jvp; You are right, we have to stop Dirk, have you any idea of how with their 3 pt shooters hitting so good?

My wife has told me that if you live by the three, you will die by it, but she wasn't counting on Camby LMAO. I am believing she is right and that will hold true with the Mavs.

Long short, no matter how you dissect the game when the Mavs are hitting shots like that they are not going to be beat. OTOH, when the PTB are hitting on all cylinders like that we are not going to be beat. My fear is if they both hit like that in the same game.

Anyway, on to home court and the next game, with the hope that we can return the favor. A famous BB player said once that it is not over until the fat lady sings, or something like that.

by Hg on 4/20/2011 5:04 AM
Just so everyone here understands; Skip Bayless was run out of town (Dallas) over a decade ago and has always written negative books and articles about Dallas teams, he will attack ANY Dallas team any chance he gets.

by A Voice of Reason on 4/20/2011 5:39 AM
To quote Denny Green: "They are who we thought they were" meaning the Dallas Mavericks as understood by everyone outside Portland...

by A Voice of Reason on 4/20/2011 5:40 AM
One major storyline in this series is the ineffectiveness of a pair of backcourt Blazers who were supposed to give Dallas all sorts of trouble.

But not only are Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez contributing nothing off the bench (they combined for one point on 0-of-2 shooting in G2 and in G1 combined for eight points on 3-of-10 shooting), they look like donkeys racing against thoroughbreds when Jet and JJB are opposing them.

by A Voice of Reason on 4/20/2011 8:40 AM
Voice of Reason:

What is your point?

by Hg on 4/20/2011 8:53 AM
Hg: Dont feed the trolls :)

by SisillaRiann on 4/20/2011 10:56 AM