Posted 12/22/2009 11:42 AM

tweet

I'd love to win the iPhone app. @grigs on twitter

Posted 12/22/2009 11:48 AM

tweet

Posted 12/22/2009 11:53 AM

tweet !

@dondondon

Posted 12/22/2009 11:56 AM

tweet?

Posted 12/22/2009 12:02 PM

Tweet! @jenknitter

Posted 12/22/2009 12:10 PM

Is this app better than the Brandon Roy bobblehead? tweet

Posted 12/22/2009 12:13 PM

I'd like to think so. Real time stats, videos, game updates, and so on. It's handy.

Posted 12/22/2009 12:14 PM

The Trail Blazers (17-12) travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks (20-8) as part of their first step of the Texas Two-Step. To say playing in Dallas has been a nightmare for the Trail Blazers is an understatement. Since the 1999-2000 season, Portland is 1-17 in Dallas during regular season games. I think it's safe to say, Dallas is the biggest "House of Horrors" for the Trail Blazers. Coincidentally, 99-00 was Dirk's 2nd NBA season, so ever since the Mavericks drafted the 7 foot German, it has been nearly impossible to win in Big D. The 10 prior years, spanning from 89/90-98-99, Portland was a sizzling 16-4 in Dallas. Maybe the difficulties of playing in Dallas are not so much the arena or city, but Dirk Nowitzki.

This matchup is a difficult one to analyze with the most important player's status up in the air after getting multiple teeth, courtesy of Carl Landry, stuck in his elbow. He missed the Mavericks last game against the Cavaliers and is listed as day-to-day. With Dirk out, Portland's chances increase drastically as it forces the Mavs to become more perimeter oriented and gives the Blazers a huge mismatch down on the blocks with Aldridge on Tim Thomas. Speaking of Tim Thomas, if there was a dictionary definition of "Blazer Killer", there would be a photo of Tim Thomas' mug right there. His 15.3 ppg and 55.6% shooting from 3 against Portland are the highest amongst any other opponent.

On the plus side, there is no more Brandon Bass for the Blazers to deal with. All Blazer fans remember getting their Christmas night ruined last year as images of Brandon Bass outworking out team for offensive rebounds stumble in our heads. Like Thomas, Bass was another "Blazer Killer" who's average of 10.9 ppg was highest against any opponent while his 58.8% was 2nd highest against any team. Although there is no Bass, there is JJ Barea and Jason Terry who just love running the pick and roll against us. Dallas showed that even without Nowitzki, they can be tough on any given night by smacking around the Cavaliers 102-95 this past Sunday.

For Portland to walk away with the most unlikeliest of wins, they have to have a similar game plan and mindset as they had in Miami. Go into Aldridge early and often, especially if Dirk is a no-go, as he'll have a little extra to prove tonight by playing in front of his hometown friends and family. Teams know Brandon is our team and if he isn't getting any help, they will throw their entire defense at him and make our other players beat them. Portland is going to need good games from Webster, Bayless, and Miller to get the job done tonight. Jerryd needs to match Terry's offensive energy off of the bench, Webster is going to need to keep Marion honest from the perimeter so he isn't able to double down on Roy or Aldridge, and Miller needs to make Kidd work on defense.

When you are trying to get a win in a place that hasn't been kind to you over the years, so many factors are taken into consideration if a win is the end result, but there is one main key. The Trail Blazers need to win the rebounding battle tonight, in particular by keeping the Mavs off of the offensive glass. They have a lot of 3 point shooters and scorers in general, so the less attempts we give them, the better. Dallas is 3rd in the league in rebounds per game at 43.64 led by Dampier's 9.6 a night, so hopefully Joel can extend his double-digit rebound streak.

With or without Dirk, the Blazers just do not play well enough in Dallas for me to even remotely think we will get a win. It's not even the fact we can't seem to play well there, because on top of it all, they are actually a great team as shown by their current second seed status in the West. Outside of Roy, the team is just too inconsistent and you never know what some guys are going to bring. This is definitely a winnable game (if Dirk is out), but I don't see it happening tonight unfortunately as Kidd, Howard, Terry, and Marion will be too much to handle.

Game 30 Prediction: Trail Blazers 93 Mavericks 102

Posted 12/22/2009 12:20 PM

Good deal. Even my 2 year old knows that bobblehead doesn't look like Brandon.

Posted 12/22/2009 12:28 PM

"tweet"
Love to win the app.
Go Blazers!

Posted 12/22/2009 12:31 PM

"tweet"

Posted 12/22/2009 12:51 PM

tweet tweet @Ell_21

Posted 12/22/2009 12:52 PM

tweet

Posted 12/22/2009 12:56 PM

tweet

Posted 12/22/2009 12:58 PM

"tweet"

Posted 12/22/2009 1:09 PM

Here's to finally beating Dallas.

tweet!

Posted 12/22/2009 1:18 PM

Agreed Krizzi! I think it's about time to end their winning streak tonight! And here's to LA having a career night in his hometown! Tweet!!

Posted 12/22/2009 1:19 PM

I agree,this is one of our toughest opponent.Maybe Dirk will be out with a case of Teeth in the elbow.I like it right now, because no one is giving us a chance.So,IMO we have nothing to lose.So we should be playing looser.

Posted 12/22/2009 1:25 PM

No Dirk ,For sure,That's"Tweet"for us.

Posted 12/22/2009 1:25 PM

Winning this iPhone app would be the highlight of my Christmas. My twitter account is @cnasset. Thanks even for the consideration.

Posted 12/22/2009 1:58 PM

Tweet @masterbamf

Posted 12/22/2009 2:30 PM

TWEET!

Would love the iPhone App!

Rack me!!!! ;-)

@rameytime

Posted 12/22/2009 3:05 PM

tweet (want that app)