I’ll be honest —I have no idea what to say about the Portland Trail Blazers. As the Rockets play these Trail Blazers tonight, I hear so many positive things about them, yet I have seen nothing to justify it. For so long the Chicago Bulls were a team that had an exorbitant amount of talent, yet it never really amounted to much. It seems that mantle is passed to Portland.
That’s not to say they will be bad, it’s just they fit the mold the Bulls had for a few years.
They are a team loaded with talented, athletic skill players, but I’m not entirely sure they feature enough great players who can defend and rebound.
LaMarcus Aldridge is good, but he isn’t very physical. I hate to use the word soft — so I won’t — but he doesn’t seem to be a tough and sturdy figure in the post. I remember Channing Frye having a nice rookie year with the New York Knicks. Thought he would be a long-term member of that franchise. Though when a 6-11 forward can’t get too many rebounds, you aren’t of much use — no matter how well you can shoot.
Greg Oden isn’t mentioned here, because he has yet to play a full game yet. He sat out his first year, then in his debut left with a right foot injury. I see the potential with him, yet I remain fearful he will turn out like former Trail Blazers Sam Bowie and Bill Walton. Both of whom were talented Centers, yet injuries hampered their careers. I only wish the best for Oden.
Back to the team, they have no true point guard; though thankfully feature a pair of up-and-coming scorers with Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez who seem to handle much of the ball distribution duties.
Then there is a group of players for that team I hear people tell me are good, yet I don’t know nearly enough of them. You have Travis Outlaw, who I hear is a productive player, yet in the few instances I have seen him play, was nothing spectacular. Then there are rookies Jerryd Bayless and Rockets 2008 first-round draft pick Nicolas Batum. What can they do? There is so much hype given towards this team, though I have yet to see anything to justify these remarks. These players are supposedly good, but I want to see it with my own two eyes first.
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For the Rockets, they need to play well on the road once again. They won last Thursday in Dallas’ home-opener, but their overall play has been somewhat sporadic this season. They seem to play better against better opponents, yet play-down to opponents who they clearly hold an advantage over.
If the Rockets are to win, T-Mac needs to play well on the defensive end. So far this season he seems to lack the lateral movement to stay in front of certain scorers. Rudy Gay, Ray Allen and Josh Howard all seemed to have much success against McGrady. This comes as a bit of a surprise, considering T-Mac has always been an efficient defender, but this year has regressed quite a bit.
If T-Mac and Ron Artest can handle Roy and Fernandez, Portland has a very small chance to win. Yao should dominate in the paint. He had a poor performance Tuesday night, and could play inspired basketball against the woeful Trail Blazers interior defense. With Oden out, Aldridge, Frye and Joel Przybilla collectively lack both the strength and size to compete with Yao. Yao ought to have around 30 points and 13 rebounds tonight.
The Rockets should win. This in the column of “games they should win”, but this Portland squad has the appearance of being no pushover.
Comments
Well David,
I suppose the same can be said of the Rockets. Very talented but what have they ever accomplished? The Blazers have NEVER played with a healthy line up yet, and as such they will need time to gel. No "mantle" needs to be passed from Chicago to Portland. It's way to early to do that considering the injuries we have had. And, to close... Out first four games were at the Lakers, Home against the Spurs, then on the road against the Suns and Jazz. That's an 11-4 combined record of who we've faced and most of them on the road. I venture to say your Rockets would also have a 1-3 record after that kind of schedule start.
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