Oh So Sweet in Orlando!!

Woah! What a refreshing way to start a long road trip for the young Blazer team. I have to admit that I didn't think we had a chance against a hot Orlando Magic team who have won four straight coming into tonight.

As the last two road games vs. the Suns and Jazz, the Blazers were able to build a nice lead early but then fade somewhere in the middle to the end. As eerie as this game was as the momentum shifted to the Magic as they headed into the final quarter with the lead, the Blazers wouldn't let the fourth quarter happen tonight.

Shutting down Dwight Howard to 6 points and 7 rebounds in the second half after
his first half one-man wrecking crew performance of domination of drawing fouls on Joel Pryzbilla in a total of nine minutes (although 3 were chicken poo calls) and scoring 23 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. Good-grief!! That's a phenomenal full game line, let alone a 1st half!!

I hate to admit this, but I liked what Coach McMillan (yes, he deserve his name to be called right after tonight) did. For once, he stuck with the bench team that helped pull away in the fourth quarter adhering from the normality of taking them out after the first couple minutes even if things were working. I also liked that Nate tried a lineup that included Roy, Rudy, Sergio at the same time, even if it was only for a minute. I don't like the fact that Nate likes to slow things down when you're the second youngest team in the NBA and you could easily have an advantage of running the elder teams around to death. A team can only stay young for so long as injuries, trades, etc happen so I think it is best that he experiment with it while he can.

Next up, Miami! If we can beat Orlando, which I didn't think could happen, I am definitely more optimistic about the Heat game. Keep Blazin'!!

Blazers vs. Hawks 1/21/08

Just got done watching the replay of the Blazers and Hawks game (damn the 11am start time) and wowzers!! What a game!! I don't know where to start but I must say my man Sergio Rodriguez is magnifico!! From driving layups to burying threes to pump fakes to razzle-dazzle no look passes, Sergio was firing on all cylinders... He only played 16 mins (I guess Nate is still a non-believer of Sergio) but made the most of his time going 6-7 from the field (with the only shot he missed was a shot being rejected by Josh Smith), 2-2 from the line, 2-2 from downtown, dished out 4 assists and had 2 rebounds... Without his play tonight, there was no way the Blazers would have come back from an early 11 point deficit.

How big has Travis Outlaw been on this road trip?! With the exception of that missed dunk "T-Law" aka "Trout" aka "TO" has been automatic with his outside sharpshooting! The game winner was pretty sick in which he was guarded by Superman-superhuman defender Josh Smith and with a hand in his face, Outlaw sunk the long deuce game-winning shot in OT.

This game could have easily been lost thanks to poor coaching of Nate McMillan, the so-called Coach of the Month in December... How can somebody play someone scorching hot as Sergio for only 16 minutes and not let him play in the OT at all?! Instead, Nate puts in a struggling Steve Blake in the 4th quarter, who air-balled a three pointer immediately after entering the game... Blake was completely removed from the OT for shooting guard that played the point Jarrett Jack, who by no means, was on efficient tonight as Sergio...

If the Blazers were to have lost this game, I'm sure the forums would be all over Nate for this... Even though the Blazers won, he still should be drilled for his incompetence of leaving Sergio out... I mean, did you see the Blazers blow a 6 point lead in the 4th with him out and not to mention, that we almost lost this game in OT because of Nate's mind-boggling decision... Need more proof... Here were the lines of guards of the night:

* PG Steve Blake: 7 points in 32 minutes going 3-8 FGs with 2 rebounds and 7 dimes. Overall +/- in the game was +5
* SG/PG B-Roy: 18 points in almost 41 minutes on 8-22 FGs with 2 rebounds and 3 dimes. Overall +/- in the game was -10
* SG/PG Jarrett Jack: 4 points in almost 17 mins on 2-2 FGs with rebound and 1 assist. Overall +/- was -5
* PG Sergio Rodriguez: 16 points in 16 minutes on 6-7 shooting; with 2 rebounds and 4 dimes. Overall +/- was +14

Another footnote that shouldn't be ignored is Nate leaving in a struggling LaMarcus Aldridge instead of a hot Channing Frye... Aldridge is one of my favorite Blazers, but when you're shooting abysmaly and getting outhussled on the glass, you need to benched in the crunch time. The main reason why Frye got to play the OT was because the same Atlanta crew that messed up Shaq's personal foul count (got fined $50,000 for that) and couldn't figure out how many foul's Aldridge had.

Aldridge/Comparsion:
* Aldridge: 8 points in 28 minutes on 3-12 FGs with 5 rebounds and 0 dimes/steals/blocks. Overall +/- in the game was -12
* Frye: 9 points in 25 mins on 3-8 FGs, with 7 rebounds, and 1 dime, steal, and block a piece. Overall +/- in the game was +10

And what about Joel Przybilla's almost no show in OT... He was subbed into the OT to rebound a possible FT miss but then was never put back into the OT... It felt like Atlanta had 20 offensive rebounds in the OT which second chance opportunities kept them in the game... Why would Nate put in his best defender and rebounder to limit their 2nd chances?! Mind-boggling isn't it yet somehow, this team young, inexperienced team is good enough to overshadow McMillan's questionable decisions...

Joel was effective in the limited 18 minutes he got... Ended with 7 pts on 2-2 FGs, 3-3 FTs with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block (felt like more since he alters so many shots).

On to New Orleans...
(Sidenote: made a new blog: trailbloggingblazerfan.blogspot.com where I will now move all my Blazer blogs to from now on after today)

This Week in Rage: Nate McMillan

I'll borrow this title from my favorite radio show's segment: The Adam Carolla Show. I won't have a top 5 like he does... I just have one thing in mind and if you read my last post or scroll down, you will know it's on none other than Blazers coach Nate McMillan...

I'm angry:

After the last two Blazer road games (a heart-breaking choke to the 76ers followed by a massacre to the Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards), I think its time KP (Kevin Pritchard) scrutinize really hard on who should be coaching this team in the future...

Having a 25 point lead vs. a very unimpressive 76ers team (minus there second best player Kyle Korver too may I add) and a 17 point lead going into the 4th quarter, a coach must think, "ok now, we have a 17 point lead on a team that just shot 70% in the 3rd quarter (and eventually in the 4th quarter too), what do we need to do to stop these guys?? Well, Joel Przybilla is a great hustle guy, my best defender, and best rebounder and the 76ers keep crashing the boards and are still shooting 70% from the field... "I think I'll let him sit the entire 4th quarter" thought said Nate in his mind while I'll let the 76ers come back and beat my team... Job accomplished... WTF!! This isn't rocket scientist Nate... And then to go into the post-game conference to say that we need to do a better job of rebounding... UUUGGGHHH!!

Now if that wasn't enough, onto the game vs. the Arenas-less Wizards... Let's continue with the same lineup of having 3 guards in at the same time and have our opponents crush us on the rebounds again... Well-done... Oh, and let's bench Sergio Rodriquez for Taureen Green after Sergio made a couple bad plays in the 4th quarter last night... WTF Nate?! How dare you bench the most electrifying point guard "Spanish Chocolate" after the 76ers game... Did you ever realize that everybody was making bad plays last night in the 4th quarter (with the exception of Aldridge and Roy)... Did Nate ever think, "Well, maybe this is my fault and not just Sergio so I shouldn't bench him b/c of my terrible substitutions and brainless coaching abilities...

Oh, and this comes to mind... Nate McMillan is a big blowhard... Remember last week after the Pistons game where he praised Sergio letting him play deep into the 4th quarter... Well, I guess his memory isn't the best either...

Just imagine a few years ago, when we had a chance to hire the Suns assistant coach Mike Ivaroni where we could have adopted this successful blueprint and have the flashy Sergio running the show... UUUGGGHHH...