Blazers host Suns

(Terry Porter and family)

Terry Porter, Shaq and crew will be coming to the Rose Garden tonight. The game is on TNT 10:30pm EST. I have been out of the blogging world the past week, due to graduation and driving a Uhaul over 1500 miles through the snow and some of this countries worst states (Nebraska).

I have been very frustrated with the Blazers lately, expecially since losing 3 out of their last 4 for a number of reason. I think and hope Les is going to do a post on those very reasons in the near future.

I believe Pheonix will be fighting to get into the play-offs this year, so this could be a big game. Let us turn a new leaf tonight boys. Maybe now that I am in Mizzou, they will not feel my frustrations as directly.

Looking for big things from Rudy and GO tonight.

Blame the Zebra's for loss against Orlando

Blazers played a great 4th quarter until the last 2 minutes. They gave up three 3-pointers in the last 90 seconds to loose by one point. It is a good game to learn from, but frustrating for players, coaches, and fans alike.

Jamar Nelson, Rashad Lewis, and then Turgalou with the game winner.

With four seconds left in the game Lamarcus hit a shot clock beating 10' jumper, but not according to the zebra's. If you watched the highlight on Sportscenter, they clearly showed the shot was off in time, which would have put the Blazers up by 4 points.

Instead, we were up just 2 points, and Orlando hit a buzzer beater, similar to what we did to Houston earlier in the year. I guess we had in coming.

But my beef is, review that shot clock shot by Lamarcus. I have seen them a number of times go back and review stuff like that, why not this team? This blew a big win, a perfect home record, and momentum going into a big game against Utah.

Ugh, but even though it was the ref's fault, we still had a plethora of issues. And did anyone see Dwight Howard manhandled GO. I will admit I am starting to get a bit impatient with GO, at this rate he will have more fouls then points this season, unacceptable from a 1st round draft pick.

Week 5: Pick 'em BLAZERS @ JAZZ

Well, Isaac was the sole man with the perfect week, this week congrats. By the way, I just assumed you scored 14 points, because I couldn't find it on-line. Well done big man.

For this week, now that college football is done for a while, this week I am going to do something slightly different. Its going to be all BLAZERS / JAZZ (game thursday night on national TV).

Week 5:

1. Who's European scores more? (Rudy or AK47, worth $10)
2. Who has more steals? (Roy or Brewer, worth $5)
3. Who has more points? (Memo or Aldridge, worth $10)
4. Game decided by more or less than 5 points. (worth $10)
5. Jazz are 9-3 at home, Blazers are 8-7 on the road. Who wins? (Blazers or Jazz, worth $15)

Bonus: If you pick all Blazers for you picks, and they are all right, you get a bonus $10 (and vis-versa with the Jazz)

Due Thursday by noon. Good luck.

TrailBlazers at Celtics Tonight

Well, we are undefeated against the eastern conference so far this year. Will the streak continue tonight? According to Vegas, the Celtics will win by 8 points. And only 25% of America thinks the Blazers will will.

The defending Champs are going for their 11th straight win and the Blazers are going for their 8th straight win.

I just wanted to remind you to plan your Friday night date around the game tonight. I think I will try to take Whit out to dinner before pre-game, which is 5:30pm MST on ESPN.

I am interested in two match-ups tonight.

1. Batum vs Pierce. Can this young guy with the 18' wing span keep Pierce from scoring over 20? Lets hope so.

2. Blake vs Rondo. Blake I think is a much more polished player, but Rondo is much quicker and really the key to this team of superstars. But Blake usually finds a way to do it, he has already faced a number of all-star point guards, and a number of quick guys like Derick Rose. Might I add Blake held Rose to his worst game of his young career only scoring one basket, and leading the Blazers to victory by over 40 points.

Prediction:

Blazers 100 - Celtics 99

Blazers already a power-house?

Blazer-Mania is alive and rolling. They are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. We are a few games away from the first quarter of the season being over and this is where the blazers are at.

Team Points:

• If the playoffs started today: The Blazers would be the #2 seed in the West facing the #7 Hornets. The Hornets are struggling and CP3 is getting frustrated with his team. Other than Peja and Posey he doesn't have much help, especially inside.
• We are 14-6 behind only the Lakers in the West.
• We are 7-0 at home. So two-third's of our games have been on the road, meaning we have a lot more home games coming up after another long road trip.
• We are in a very tough division. Right now the NW division accounts for 3 of the top 4 teams in the west (Portland, Denver, Utah). And Denver is still figuring out how to play with a guy that actually passes the ball, and Utah has had a lot of injuries. Meaning we could finish 3rd in the NW division, and still have home court in the playoffs.
• We are in the middle of a stretch of a month where we don't have more than one day off in a row. This is where our depth as been so important, as seen last night vs NY.

Individuals:

• G.O., relax, relax relax (and I am talking to ESPN, and the media not Greg here). They are so concerned that he is not Wilt or Bill Russell or even Bynum. He is shoting 50% from the field, 8 boards/game, just under 2 blocks/game, and is playing much better defense. Obviously we still expect much more out of him, but right now we are winning, while he is adjusting and developing.
• Rudy. How can you not love him? 12 points/game, and sees varied minutes depending on the opponent and flow of the game. Last night we went 4/8 from 3, including two daggers late in the game. And he regularly makes ESPN's top 10 highlights on oops from Sergio. In my non-biased opinion clearly the rookie of the year. Did I mention he has made at least one three is every single game this season (20) which is a league record.
  
• Steve Blake. He is my co-MVP for the first quarter of the season award with Big Joel. He is shooting 44% from three point land, 96% from the free throw line (he has only missed one all season, WOW), and knocking in over 11 points and over 4 assists/game. You may say 4 assists is not alot, but we don't run a typical offense, our 2, 3, and 4's get more assists than typical teams.
• Nicolas Batum. Did you know he starts? He is 6'8" and one of the longest players in the league, who is turning into a great defender. He fills up the stat sheet in all areas and helps us with some match up problems we have had in the past.
• B-Roy. Over 21 points a game and well on his way to being an all-star again. He is our go-to-guy and has already made a plethora of huge baskets in crunch time. The Houston game with .8 seconds left, wow! Most importantly he knows his role, typically we need points from him, other times we need him to play point and run the offense. Like tonight (vs Wizards) he scored 12 points in the final 8 minutes, taking over when necessary. My favorite player.
• Joel Przybilla. I wanted all my Minnesota connections to know how grateful I am for this 7'1" beast of a man they produced. Joel has been so clutch so far this season. Without him we would have had to force GO into many more minutes. He is averaging 7 points per, 9 boards per, and over 2 blocks per. And always grabs big boards in crunch time, like last night vs NY where he had 14 boards. If I were to buy a jersey today it would be big Joel's #10.

Friday 6pm on ESPN vs the defending aging champs in Boston. Watch out this game is a big indicator of where we are. By the way, the Blazers have not lost to any eastern conference team this season, making this match-up friday even bigger.

GO BLAZERS!

Pick 'em Week 4

You can view the current standings on the left. Many had a rough week last week, mainly due to the Beavs not showing up on Saturday. Lets hope for the UCLA miracle next week, that would still allow the Beavs to get to the Rose Bowl. Although, I am not excited about getting killed by Penn State again.

Questions for week 4, due wednesday at 5pm MST.

1. (Yes/No) Stephon Marbury will still be a Knick next monday Dec. 8? (Worth $10)
2. Blazers play on the road at NY, Wash., Boston, and Toronto this week. List the teams they will beat. (Each game worth $5)
3. Mizzou will upset Texas/Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game. (Worth $20 if Mizzou wins, worth $5 if TX/OK win). Who will win?
4. UCLA will upset USC. (Worth $20 if UCLA wins, worth $5 if USC wins). Who will win?
5. (Yes/No) Isaac will score 14 or more points vs Tigard on friday? (Worth $10)

Bonus: They Blazers big 3 will out score teh Celtics big 3 on Friday? (Roy, Aldridge, GO vs Garnett, Pierce, Allen)

Good luck.

Civil War Showdown

That's right ladies and gentlemen, the day is just around the corner and I'm here to give you my two cents worth. I have attended one Civil War game as a student at Oregon and it was quite the experience. It was a one-sided whoopin' down at Autzen; 56-14 to be exact in the Fog Bowl. You would think that I would say the same for this week but I'm actually expecting something different and maybe even quietly rooting the other way.

What we have is one of the best rivalries in the nation and that's saying something considering that most of the time, the game has no or little national significance. This year though, their is a lot on the line. The Beavers control their fate. They'll be smelling the roses if the beat the Ducks and they haven't been to Pasadena since 1965 for the Roses. If the Ducks win, they'll go Holiday Bowling and if they lose, they'll be making another trip to the Las Vegas Bowl because of the Sun Bowl's no-repeat rule. I wasn't here for the last Vegas appearance but I heard enough about the game from both sides and I bet that the Ducks don't want to go back.(BYU-38 Oregon-8)

I'm predicting this to be a really good game. The games tend to be close even when one team is unquestionably better but this is the first year in a while where both teams are evenly matched. There are a few things to look at. First, the home team has a huge advantage. Besides last year, the home team has won the last 10 games or something. However, the Beavers might be without the Quizz which would be a big lost to the Beavers not having the leading rusher in the Pac-10. I don't think the quarterback issue will be too much of a problem. Now for the Duck's problems.... The Ducks are hot and their cold, their good and their bad. No one really know which team will show up in Corvallis. Will it be the team from the Boise St. game? The team against Arizona St? or the team against Arizona that jumps out to a huge lead and almost gives it all back?

No matter the case, I'm expecting a high scoring, close game. With the Ducks having a bye week and an high scoring offense and crappy secondary, I wouldn't be surprised if both teams get into the 40's.

I am a true Duck fan (the picture should prove that)but I believe in bi-partisanship and reaching across the aisle.

That is why I will be rooting for the Beavers to win on the last play of the game. They just have too much at stake to want the Ducks to spoil the Beaver's Rose Bowl performance so the Ducks can move up to a 2nd tier bowl.

My prediction is Oregon State 41 Oregon 38.