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Pre-Game Thoughts
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  1. DHawes22
    DHawes22
    Posts: 6481

    Posted 12/15/2009 3:42 PM

    One of the surprise teams of the NBA during this young season has to be the 10-12 Sacramento Kings. The Kings, who finished last season with the NBA's worst record at 17-65, are finding a way to get it done behind Coach Paul Westphal and stud rookie Tyreke Evans. What is even more impressive about their record is the fact they are doing it without leading scorer Kevin Martin, who looks to be out for at least another month or two with a broken wrist. All of these numbers and records are great for the Kings, except one minor detail. They are an abysmal 1-9 away from Arco Arena and were swept at the Rose Garden last season, including a 109-77 blowout.

    For Portland, this is about as close to a must win as you can get in December. With only 9 able bodies and the next 6 games going a little something like Phoenix, at Orlando, at Miami, at San Antonio, at Dallas, and Denver, the Trail Blazers can not afford to lay any more eggs at the Rose Garden any time soon if they still want to achieve their goal of making the playoffs. Sacramento doesn't attribute all the talent in the world, but they fight, claw, and scrap their way to victory, something Coach McMillan would like to see his boys doing on a more consistent basis. The Blazers showed a lot of urgency in their late 3rd/early 4th rally against Milwaukee, which was a breathe of fresh air. Hopefully, we see more of that tonight, even if it is against the Kings.

    Sacramento is both top 5 in scoring per game at 105.09 and points allowed at 105.31, so the Kings giveth and the Kings taketh away. Jason Thompson is a promising, young forward averaging 14.9 ppg and 9.1 rpg, but this is another game where Portland has the decided advantage at the 4 spot. Personally, I'd love to see Aldridge work his dribble-drive game and force the officials to make the calls on Thompson. If Thompson gets in early foul trouble, Aldridge will have a field day against Job Brockman or Andres Nocioni.

    Make no mistake about it, if Portland decides to to play with a lull and wastes the shot clock down on nearly every possession, the Kings can and will score in bunches. We must move without the ball, cut, and make quick decisions as we saw the 2nd unit perform the give and go at will on the Cavaliers during the 2nd quarter. The Kings will turn the ball over, 15.81 a night which is bad enough for 9th worst in the league, so Portland needs to take every opportunity to push the tempo and get easy fast break buckets. A lot of our players have been in year-long shooting slumps and sometimes the easiest way to break free during a game is to get a cheap lay-up to get your rhythm going.

    The game is sold out, which shows that Blazer fans are still behind their team. I know the team is hungry for a win after going 1-3 on a very winnable 4 game road trip. Add all of that together with the fact that the team regains their leader in Coach tonight and I see the makings of a drubbing. I believe during the road trip, the team was still shell shocked from the loss of Greg and is just now realizing how much extra it will take to win on a nightly basis. Roy and Aldridge lead the way to a dominating victory.

    Game 26 Prediction: Trail Blazers 107 Kings 92
    I am a fan of
  1. royismyboy
    royismyboy
    Posts: 5

    Posted 12/15/2009 6:41 PM

    Nice post, thanks for the info. Glad to hear the fans are still coming out and I'm definitely ready to see the Blazers give someone/anyone a "drubbing".
    I am a fan of watching these guys play. I'm a fan of watching these guys win! GO BLAZERS!!!
  1. DHawes22
    DHawes22
    Posts: 6481

    Posted 12/15/2009 11:12 PM

    Well, it wasn't a drubbing, but I'll take it!
    Anytime you get those numbers from Roy and Aldridge, 10 boards from Joel, and 14 points off of the bench from Bayless, it is a great day to be a Blazer! I loved Jerryd's contribution tonight an hope the minutes keep coming his way.
    I am a fan of
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