Rip City Project | A Portland Trailblazers blog

Blazers 107, Timberwolves 84 Re-Thoughts

Coup — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:42:28 +0000

Keeping this short tonight since, well, this game was almost a carbon copy of the previous two. “Insert adjective similar to godawful” team hangs around for a little bit and then the Blazers pull away in the second half with good ball movement, an inside-out game and possession control. All good to see but very [...]

Blazers/Wolves Pre-Thoughts

SJ — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:40:29 +0000

Back to back games against 1-win teams is a pretty nice way to start a 5 game road trip, eh? After last night’s victory over Memphis, the Blazers take their show to Minnesota to take on the T-Wolves. Remember back in the day when the Blazers going to the Target Center felt like a loss [...]

Blazers 93, Grizzlies 79 Re-Thoughts

Coup — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:10:51 +0000

This was a weird game that the Blazers sort of won by default because they were the only kids in class who raised their hands when the teacher asked, “Who wants to play some defense?”. I don’t say that to diminish the efforts of Portland, but other than a 15-1 run through the middle of [...]

Blazers/Grizzlies Pre-Thoughts

SJ — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:45:40 +0000

Coming off some of their best basketball of the season, the Blazers embark on a 5-game in 7 days road trip tonight in Memphis. It’s funny that just when it seems as if Portland might be putting some things together, they have to take their show on the road. One of the big issues coming [...]

Blazers 116, Timberwolves 93 Re-Thoughts

Coup — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:08:30 +0000

Remember when people were freaking out about the Blazers? Tonight — and the expected optimism of tomorrow — was a good example of why it’s best to remain patient with the day-to-day of the NBA. Feels like we’ve had quite a few disclaimers, as the early season tends to provide us, in the last few games, [...]

Blazers 96, Spurs 84 Re-Thoughts

Coup — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:57:17 +0000

That’s a little more like it, no? Less ball watching on offense, ball movement was crisper leading to team scoring contributions and the term “help defense” actually existed on the court. A lot of the problems of the last few games weren’t problems anymore. They weren’t perfect, either, but much closer to what the Blazers need. The [...]

Blazers, Spurs Pre-Thoughts

Coup — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:49:41 +0000

After all the talk of the Spurs’ new additions — Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair — it’s important to remember that they haven’t transformed them into some juggernaut. The Spurs have been very good for a long time. They are still very good. The offseason moves haven’t as much made them much better as [...]

Blazers 91, Hawks 97 Re-Thoughts

Coup — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:55:12 +0000

This game was a bit of a mess. It was also a tightly contested, back-and-forth affair with each team exchanging sequences of good and bad. The Blazers led by as much as 12 early in the second quarter but, despite neither team having much in the way of scoring bursts or runs, the Hawks put [...]

Blazers/Hawks Pre-Thoughts

SJ — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:09:09 +0000

After a short trip to the Southwest, the Blazers return to the cozy confines of the Rose Garden to begin a three-game homestand. At 2-2, these three home games are key not so much because of the .500 start but because of what lurks behind it: a good old fashioned, nasty, 5-game-in-less-than-a-week road trip. As [...]

Blazers 83, Thunder 74 Re-Thoughts

Coup — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:30:26 +0000

Not sure how much the Blazers actually won this one as much as the Thunder just handed over the win and said, “Here, we really don’t deserve this.” We think the Blazers have defensive issues, but at times OKC players didn’t even seem to know where the ball was much less their own men. Portland [...]