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BlazerFan1
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Post subject: Blazers no longer catching opponents by surprise
 Posted: Feb 17, 2008 - 01:40 AM PST
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Site Admin
Joined: Apr 18, 2005
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This Register Guard article suggests that the recent tough times the Blazers have had is due to the other teams no longer taking Portland lightly. Here's a snippet:
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The Portland Trail Blazers have cooled off considerably since their surprising 13-game winning streak, and at the All-Star break the question becomes whether the run was merely a fluke.
Theories abound about the young team’s recent struggles, including midseason fatigue. Guard Brandon Roy recently opined that other teams aren’t considering Portland an easy win anymore and are bringing their “A” games.
“We’re not sneaking up on teams like we did early in the season, and we have to find a way to grind things out and get some wins,” he said.
Since the NBA-high 13-game winning streak in December, the Blazers have gone 10-12, including a four-game losing streak heading into the break. Still, the Blazers are 28-24, putting them in position to do far better that last season’s 32-50 finish.
Coach Nate McMillan implored his team to get away from basketball during the brief hiatus. Next up for the Blazers are the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday at the Rose Garden.
“We’re just not sharp right now — executing, offensively, defensively. We’re having breakdowns in key situations and we don’t have both units playing well,” McMillan said.
It has been one wild ride so far.
Before the season started, the Blazers beat the odds and landed top draft pick Greg Oden. But hopes for what the 7-footer could immediately bring to the team were dashed when he was lost to knee surgery before his rookie season started.
Without Oden, there had been a wait-until-next-year vibe about the NBA’s youngest team. Portland opened the season predictably, going 5-12.
But then the Blazers reeled off those 13 wins.
Roy was pivotal to the streak, and twice was named the Western Conference’s player of the week. He averaged 22.8 points, 6.6 assists and 5.6 rebounds.
So impressive was his play that he was named an All-Star reserve by the Western Conference coaches. He is the first Blazer since Rasheed Wallace to be an All-Star, and the first sophomore to be named to the squad since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in 2005.
Last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year is averaging 19.7 points and 5.8 assists overall this season.
Despite bouts of inconsistency, LaMarcus Aldridge was averaging 17 points and 7.4 rebounds, ranking him near the top of the league’s second-year players. He and Roy are both a part of All-Star weekend in New Orleans, where they played on the sophomore team in Friday night’s rookie challenge game. The sophomores won 136-109, with Aldridge scoring 18 points and Roy scoring 17.
The Blazers have also seen success from their bench, or what coach McMillan refers to as the “White Unit.” Key to the group is Travis Outlaw, who seems to have settled into a role as the team’s fourth-quarter go-to guy, and ranks third on the team with an average of 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/si ... &fid=1 |
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