Tales of a Blazer Meltdown or GET THE #@*% REBOUND!!!!!!!!!!

Riddle me this: what do you get when you don't finish good defensive possessions with rebounds in the postseason? Any guesses? Anyone? Bueller? If you answered "a blowout loss in a pivotal postseason game," then you're a winner! (the prize is a longer summer vacation for the Blazers)

NBA defense can be hard to quantify and it is often difficult to tell what specific aspects of team defense affect the outcome of the game, but last night's evisceration of the Portland Trail Blazers at the hands of the Phoenix Suns came down to one thing: rebounding. Portland could not rebound the basketball to save their lives and it cost them this pivotal game five and perhaps the whole series as a result.

After jumping out to a seemingly dominant lead in the first quarter, the Blazers pretty much rolled over when Marcus Camby (who sparked the early surge with his interior defense and passing) went to the bench with his second foul. At that point, Portland was leading by 12 points and seemed to have the game moving at their tempo. In the last 4 minutes and change of the quarter, however, the Suns got three scores directly from offensive rebounds and closed the gap to 1 while also completely changing the character and tempo of the game to favor themselves and their brand of basketball.

All night long the Blazers threw away their own possessions (15 turnovers for 20 Phoenix points) while simultaneously giving Phoenix extra chances to score (the Suns had 15 offensive rebounds) and paid the price. This was especially frustrating because the Blazers actually played decent defense before the shot went up, they just couldn't rotate with the Suns and still box out underneath the basket. Because they were unable to limit the Suns' possessions, the Blazers also lost the ability to control the tempo of the game and force Phoenix out of their comfort zone. Instead, extra possessions lead to easy baskets, transition opportunities and big swings that knocked the wind right out of Portland's sails.

Marcus Camby was the only Blazer with more than 5 rebounds last night, and the only other Blazers with more than 2 rebounds were Andre Miller and Jerryd Bayless, who each had 4. Yes that's right, the two shortest rotation players for Portland out rebounded most of the Blazer front court. Despite playing 40 minutes and being almost 7 feet tall, LaMarcus Aldridge managed to grab only 2 rebounds and make Amar'e Stoudemire and Channing Frye look like the second coming of Charles Barkley and Moses Malone. Maybe if LaMarcus did something besides fade away for jumpers he'd be in better rebounding position, but hey, what do I know about basketball?

This loss was especially hard to take because it wasn't a case of Phoenix coming out scorching hot and draining everything they threw up, the Blazers clearly just didn't want the game as much as Phoenix did. Rebounds are about desire, drive and toughness. Every Blazer not named Marcus Camby was lacking in those areas last night and it showed. Defense and rebounding are the areas of the game that Portland needs to dominate in order to win, but last night they failed to match the intensity and effort of a middling defensive team and got their butts kicked. If the Blazers don't find their stones and figure out a way to keep Phoenix from beating them on the glass the Blazers will be on vacation by Thursday night despite having home court for game six. Alarm bells are ringing.

Getting Set For the Nets

There's nothing like a game against a historically awful team to help wash the awful taste of a fourth quarter collapse against a divisional opponent away, so let's all take a moment and praise the scheduling gods for giving Portland an easy match-up against the hapless New Jersey Nets tonight (amen). The Nets are currently 5-51, which looks bad enough on its own and even worse when you consider that means that they've won less than 10% of their games this season (in case you were wondering, the 1972-73 76ers set the current mark for futility at 9-73, which comes out to an 11% winning percentage). So in theory this should be an easy win for a Portland team that is getting as healthy as they will get his year.

But this is still the NBA, and even a historically bad team like the Nets can surprise you at any time. They may not have superstar players, but New Jersey does have some talented players and could conceivably upset Portland tonight. I don't think it will happen, especially after a humbling and embarrassing home loss to the Jazz on Sunday night. The Blazers should be very focused and ready to play, which doesn't bode well for New Jersey as their best hope for victory on a nightly basis is to be underestimated and overlooked by the opposition.

As far as match-ups go, the Blazers should do very well across the board, especially up front. Offensively, LaMarcus Aldridge should have his way against the likes of Yi Jianlian either facing up or in the low post. Yi isn't exactly a physical beast and probably won't be willing to bang bodies with LA (which is only the best way to take Aldridge out of a game), so look for LaMarcus to have a big game tonight. I'm not sure how New jersey will counter that match-up, and on the other side of the ball Aldridge's foot speed and length should help contain the Chinese forward on the perimeter.

But as the Dude might say, "the Chinaman is not the issue here!" (Asian American is the preferred nomenclature) The match-up I'm really interested to see is Brook Lopez against Marcus Camby. If there has been a silver lining to this season for the Nets, it's Lopez, who has played strong, consistent basketball all year despite the fact that he's toiling for a team who's only motivation to win is to avoid being crowned the all time worst team in NBA history. Lopez is physically gifted, skilled and has a soft touch that extends out to 18 feet and beyond, making him a tough assignment for most of the NBA on a nightly basis. Marcus Camby has enough length to counter Lopez and is mobile enough to stick with him on the perimeter, but Camby won't be able to help out on defense (his biggest strength) and will be drawn away from the hoop for much of the night. The other Blazers will have to do a good job of containing dribble penetration tonight to keep Marcus in position and to prevent the Nets from creating open looks on the perimeter.

In the backcourt, it will be interesting to see how Andre Miller and Devin Harris play against each other, as they represent opposite ends of the NBA's spectrum of point guard types. Miller is crafty, methodical and physical, while Harris is a lanky speedster that thrives on quickness, dribble penetration and getting into the teeth of the defense. I don't know how well Miller will do against a speedy guard like Devin Harris, nor am I optimistic about Harris' ability to guard Andre in the post. I'll give Andre the edge here because Devin Harris hasn't been great this year while Miller has been everything Portland could have hoped for and then some. The Blazers will probably put Bayless on Harris for stretches to match his athleticism, though I'm not sure that Portland will even need to given the way Harris and the Nets have played this year.

Portland should win this game easily, although it is the first of a back to back which can be a trap if the players start thinking about the next game before this one is over so we'll just have to wait and see. If Brandon Roy is feeling good tonight, I doubt there will be another collapse like the one we saw on Sunday against Utah. it will be important for the Blazers to get on the Nets early and then keep the pressure on in the hopes that they will fold and resign themselves to a fate that seems inevitable. If Portland plays some defense (they almost always do), takes care of the ball and controls the glass (shouldn't be a problem), then they'll be in great shape to start this road trip off on the right foot.

Smothered

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, nothing gets me going quite like being able to go see my beloved Celtics take on the pesky Portland Trail Blazers in an environment as electric and hostile as the Rose Garden on a friday night. Tyler's mom deserves a big hat tip for scoring the Fox and myself some sweet tickets to the game, and the Celtics deserve an equally big hat tip for coming out and playing with effort, intensity and strong resolve just one night after slugging it out with the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Speaking of the Lakers, I have to get this off my chest before indulging y'all in any more basketball commentary. The two guys sitting next to Tyler and myself at the Rose Garden were Laker fans, why they were at this game is beyond me (though they both seemed intent on scoring with some fat chicks later so maybe that was their motivation). I mean, you're coming to a game featuring two of your most hated rivals and stepping into an arena full of people that think you're assholes and probably wouldn't go R. Kelly on you if you were on fire, so what gives? These guys looked like they just got rejected from some horrible reality show (the one sitting next to me was wearing a muscle shirt, while his buddy had on a ridiculous looking white hat and some kind of designer shirt and jeans), like the West Coast version of "Jersey Shore" or something.

They'd clearly been pre-gaming somewhere, and when they came up to their seats each had two cocktails with them (looked like cosmos, which is very ironic considering how macho and homophobic they were trying to be once the game got underway). They then proceeded to get plowed, talk shit, sexually harass me and everyone else within arms reach and then disappeared for the half of the game. Even when they were in their seats they weren't paying attention, clearly they spent a ton of money on their seats and their drinks and everything else just to do it and be seen and make sure that everyone else knows how loaded they are (and we did notice that they were loaded, but not in the way they were hoping for I'm guessing). They didn't come to watch the game, and they didn't care about the score or the level of play or anything else. In short, this is why I hate LA and the Lakers. Sure, Kobe Bryant is an insufferable prick and the fact that their third string center has a freaking publicist is grating, but the Laker fans are the primary reason that I loathe anything wearing purple and gold. These two guys personified everything that is wrong with being a sports fan and were so distracting and offensive that they took away from the game experience for us (well at least for me, Tyler was fortunate enough to have me between him and them and was flanked on his other side by some hipster girl who only wanted to dance to the arena music). Ugh, LA just needs to hurry up and fall into the ocean already, we've been tormented for long enough.

In other news, the Celtics played smothering defense from wire to wire and raised their intensity level against a weaker team (something they have been struggling with since Christmas) and prevailed easily in a defensive contest. Kevin Garnett provided a spark early on, finishing with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in just 22 minutes, while Ray Allen had his jumper going throughout and lead the Celtics with 21 points on 9-14 shooting. With the exception of Ray Allen, every Celtic played limited minutes and got plenty of rest on the second night of a back-to-back (we barely saw KG or Pierce in the second half), and solid contributions from the entire bench helped the Celtics coast to victory. Boston did a great job of forcing turnovers, running shooters off the three point line, changing shots around the paint, and played Portland to a draw on the glass (at half time the Celtics were dominating the glass on both ends) to help themselves get a much needed victory on a tough West Coast road trip.

On the other side of things, the Blazers definitely played hard and competed with intensity but fell short because of Boston's defensive effort. Portland had only three players (Bayless, Aldridge and Andre Miller) in double figures, and despite a 40-23 free-throw advantage couldn't keep the game close for most of the night. The Blazers got killed by their own poor shooting (less than 34% overall and only 2-12 from distance), turnovers (they had 18 which lead to 20 points for Boston), and by giving up 44 points in the paint to a team of jump shooters. The intensity and effort was there, but the execution for the most part was non existent.

Perhaps the Blazers struggled a little bit to adjust to life without Steve Blake and to integrate Marcus Camby into the team (Camby was on and off, grabbing rebounds, changing shots and doing some little things well but also turning the ball over 5 times in 29 minutes), but really the Celtics perimeter defenders played extra hard and moved well, forcing tough shots that were out of the Blazers' comfort zone. Rudy, Roy and Martell Webster all struggled to find breathing room out there, which put too much of the burden onto LaMarcus Aldridge (who actually played a solid game with a 16/9) to keep things close. Mostly, I feel like the Celtics just played very hard, determined defense against these Blazers and took them out of their game, which proved to be the difference.

In the past, the Celtics have underestimated Portland and taken a lax attitude towards this Blazer team, however after losing in Portland last year, you could see that the Celtics had a totally different mindset on Friday night. While it's frustrating for Portland to lose, it is a huge sign of respect from the Celtics to be so attuned and focused on this game. In the long run, the Blazers will be ok and just need to learn from this experience to see what it takes to separate themselves from just about everyone else out West. Fortunately, the Blazers get to play the Nets on Tuesday, so a bounce back win should be coming right up. Until then, take it easy and remember that Laker fans suck!

Half Right is Better Than All Wrong

What a difference a total lack of defense makes, eh? After getting waxed by the Artists Formerly Known as Seattle on Tuesday, the Blazers did a little bit of waxing themselves against Phoenix last night. As I predicted, Portland fared much better against the run-and-gun Suns than they did against the Thunder, despite the fact that they were on the road and facing a more experienced and offensively explosive team in Phoenix than they did on Tuesday against the Thunder. It seemed like the Blazers were due for a strong response after getting so thoroughly embarrassed, and although I have no doubt that this was the case (along with the inspiration they got after Juwan Howard laid into them on Tuesday night), you can really chalk this victory up to a complete lack of defensive pressure from the Suns.

From the opening tip, the Blazers got just about everywhere they wanted to go and met little resistance from Phoenix en route to an impressive 108-101 victory that saw Portland ahead by almost 20 at one point. In addition to getting where they wanted to go with ease, Portland got plenty of good shots that they were able to knock down thanks again to a lack of pressure from Phoenix. With six players in double figures, the Blazers rode a balanced attack past the Suns and are now headed into the All-Star break on a positive note.

And as I postulated yesterday, the match-ups were more favorable for Portland and proved to be the difference last night. On Tuesday night, the Thunder hounded LaMarcus Aldridge and prevented him from getting the ball in his comfortable shots (or at all) and took him out of the game for long stretches. Against Phoenix last night, Aldridge repeatedly caught uncontested entry passes and was able to get into the paint with little resistance time and again. The result was a scalding hot shooting performance from the only LA we like in Portland, as he finished 11-17 from the field for a team high 22 points. Amar'e Stoudemire and Channing Frye were conscientious objectors for most of the game and paid the price for letting Aldridge establish a rhythm early on. Once LA sank a few jump hooks, the jumper started falling from all over and that was pretty much all she wrote for Phoenix.

The other match-ups I liked going into last night's game were in the backcourt, where the Blazers were able to exploit Steve Nash (and the other Phoenix defenders) all night long. Benefitting greatly from a lack of ball pressure, the Blazer guards were able to initiate their offense without impediment and established a good rhythm in the first quarter. Dribble penetration wasn't met with so many help defenders last night, and so both Andre Miller and Steve Blake were allowed to cut the Suns to ribbons by either scoring or dishing to an open teammate. Both players finished with 20 points and thoroughly outplayed the Phoenix guards on both ends of the floor.

While we're on the subject of Blazer guards, I'd like to highlight a great decision by coach McMillan: starting Steve Blake. Blake was the player of the game, pouring in 20 points and dishing out 12 assists with only one turnover. After the Blazers killed themselves with turnovers against the Thunder, McMillan inserted Blake to keep the Blazers under control and to take care of the ball, two of his specialties. Blake was aggressive early on and rose to the challenge of playing against Steve Nash admirably. When the Suns played Blake to pass, he made them pay by knocking down shots and did the opposite once they started playing him to score. Add in good defense on the other end and Blake was easily the difference between a humiliating loss to OKC and an impressive victory over Phoenix.

While it was a good win for the Blazers (they all are, aren't they?), I feel like this game said more about Phoenix than it did about Portland. It seems to me that Phoenix has only one way to win and are ill-equipped to compete in a game where their shots aren't falling and they don't establish a huge lead early on. Since they really play no defense at all, they have no recourse if they can't suck you into their style of game. In any sport, the best way to beat an opponent is to make them do things that they're uncomfortable with. To be really successful, you need more than one way to do that, and it is plain to see that Phoneix lacks this kind of balance.

The Suns way of forcing people out of their comfort zone is to outscore you and force you to play their style to try and catch up, which works great as long as Phoenix can score points and you actually fall for their trap (so many teams do). But if their shots don't fall and they can't force you to start playing from behind early on, what can they do? Most teams would use defensive effort and energy to take away your offensive sets, but the Suns can't or won't do that so they are really up a creek, especially against other elite teams that thrive on the kind of balance they lack.

Does Phoneix need to become the best defensive team in the league in order to be more successful? No, but they do need to be willing to at least make some kind of effort to keep their opponents from getting the shots they like to take. There's really no reason that a team that talented should lose to a Portland squad like this one that is so decimated by injuries (especially at home), but they have no recourse if their shots don't fall. And it's a freaking shame, because Phoenix is great to watch and Steve Nash is one of the most likable guys in the Association today. So it goes.

Check back after the All-Star break for more world class content (or not...).

Everything Turn, Turn, Turn (overs)

Well, consider me 0 for 1 as a Blazer Blogger thus far. I thought that rebounding was the crucial element of last night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and I was wrong. The Blazers actually grabbed more rebounds than the Thunder did last night and control of the glass was not the deciding factor in last night's contest. No, what killed Portland last night was something quite uncharacteristic for this Portland team and their system: turnovers.

If you watched the game last night, it was plain to see that the Blazers inability to take care of the basketball killed them repeatedly (a few times I thought I was watching the Celtics play, yeesh). Currently 26th in the NBA in turnovers per game, the Blazers coughed up the rock 24 times, leading to 30 points for Kevin Durant & co. That's the ballgame right there, folks, and you can thank some surprisingly stifling defense from the Thunder for making that happen. OKC is a long and athletic squad, and they swarmed the Blazers mercilessly and took Portland right out of their game from the get go. Andre Miller and others were routinely met by two, three and sometimes even four bodies when they got into the paint, and the Thunder did a great job of cutting off passing lanes and running shooters off of shots on the perimeter when the Blazers were able to kick the ball out to the perimeter.

Now, Portland missed plenty of looks that might normally go down, but explaining the loss that way would be selling the defensive effort of the Thunder and the progress they've made this year woefully short. I am a firm believer that basketball is a game of rhythm, and taking a team out of that rhythm makes good shooters miss open shots after long enough. That's what happened to Portland last night, and on the other side of things, the Blazers just didn't have an answer for the length, athleticism and overall game of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and the rest of the Thunder.

Not that I'm in the business of letting the Blazers off the hook, but they just got outplayed by a healthier team that right now is more talented than Portland and has been giving even the top squads in the NBA boatloads of problems this year. The Thunder are vastly improved on both ends of the floor and seem poised to make some noise down the stretch of this season. And although Kevin Durant was fantastic again (33/11), the Thunder are more than just him, and they proved it last night. Jeff Green did the little things (including mediating a shouting match between Durant and Russell Westbrook in the second half), played great defense on LaMarcus Aldridge (he only got 10 shots all night and had 4 turnovers), and rookie James Harden hit some big shots just as Portland was attempting to close the gap in the second half.

Looking ahead to tonight's game against Phoenix, the Blazers should have an easier time running their offense, which can hopefully translate to more makes and a Portland victory. Phoenix plays no defense at all and don't rebound particularly well, so they don't seem well equipped to exploit Portland. That doesn't mean they aren't a threat, the Suns have been playing fantastically and have as much offensive firepower as anyone in the Association. Still, I like the Blazers to go get a win tonight, partially because of a few match-ups but also because they got embarrassed on their home floor last night and most NBA teams respond well after a loss like that.

The caveats, however, are as follows. First, this is the second of a back-to-back for the Blazers, and they had to travel to Phoenix after the game last night, so fatigue could be an issue against a team that runs and guns as much as the Suns do. Also, life will be difficult for Portland if Martell Webster can't go at all or is limited in his ability to impact the game. His nasty fall last night visibly affected his game on both ends and the Blazers desperately need him to have a chance at success tonight and for the rest of the season. Also, there is potential for a Channing Frye revenge game, as the Suns new sixth man may be keyed up and determined to show Portland what he can do in a system that isn't as restrictive as Nate McMillan's is.

on the flip side, I actually like the match-ups for Portland a lot more in this game than I did against the Thunder. Andre Miller should be able to post up Steve Nash all night long and exploit his defensive deficiencies easily (not possible against the physical specimen that isRussell Westbrook), and if they take Nash off of Miller Captain Canada will have to try and contain Jerryd Bayless, who shreds the NBA's quickest perimeter defenders off the dribble on a nightly basis. And while we're on the subject of Bayless, I like the potential of him against Leandro Barbosa. On the interior, LaMarcus Aldridge should have an easier go of things against Channing Frye and Amar'e Stoudemire, both of whom have never been accused of playing a lick of D in their respective NBA careers.

Still, this game is a toss up at best and the Blazers, as they have had to do all season, will have to find a way to win and compensate for the talent and health differential. If shots fall for Portland tonight, they should win (there's my push for the John Madden Memorial Captain Obvious Award), otherwise things could get ugly once again. Win or lose, the All-Star break is coming and on the other side of it hopefully lies a healthy Brandon Roy, so let's try and hang on one more time and gut out another impressive win.