Blazers vs Miami Heat
Miami has lost 8 games this season and one was at the hands of the Blazers on Miami's home floor. Beating the Heat is not impossible.
However, the Blazers are suffering. Team play has been bad and now players are dropping with injuries. Shareef's elbow is likely to force him to have sugery. Darius was hurt in the Clipper game and is now on crutches, waiting for an MRI to reveal the problem. Zach is still dealing with a bruised knee. NVE has had some pain in his legs I believe. Theo is battling bursitis in his shoulder. We are not in the best of shape, not even close.
Tonight will be an oportunity for our younger guys to show what they've got. Travis Outlaw and Sebastian Telfair have both shown in the limited minutes they have played that there may be a goldmine on this team waiting to be tapped. Both are young, quick, and determined to be the best they can be. They are hungry. They are good too. This has been sorely lacking on our team. This may be their opportunity to shine. I sure hope they do. It was a similar situation that brought Zach to his next level, let's not forget that. Situations can force a coach into decisions they normally wouldn't make. This one will force Cheeks to play the young guys.
In addition to playing Telfair and Outlaw, Ruben Patterson will get to start. This is well deserved and I am excited to see how well Ruben does in this role. He has been the heart and soul of this Blazer team and I think he will easily match the energy of Travis and Sebastian.
If DA and Ruben can contain Wade, and DA and Damon can hit their shots, we may be able to get this win in spite of the injuries. Zach is due for a big game and I am sure O'Neil will provide inspiration. No doubt Miami will be thinking 2 things. "We need to pay them back" and "they are vulnerable now". Let them think what they want. I think the Blazers actually have a shot at this game.
With Shaq in town, my guess is that "Godzilla" (Pryz) didn't get any sleep last night. ;)
Don't underestimate Joel, he's been getting feisty lately! Did you see the Clip game?
Game Preview (NBA.com)
UPDATE: Well, had we not buried our head in the sand in the first quarter we may have managed to win this game, but, we didn't. It was good to see the team dig themselves out of a very deep hole, but they just couldn't any closer than 6. Ruben was great, as always. I liked that Travis and Telfair got some decent minutes.
Damon should have been played much more. I think I'm ready to send NVE back to the bench and let Damon and Telfair take over. How about starting Damon AND Telfair and sending DA and NVE to the bench? The people around me wre actually booing DA last night. I think that is a bit much but he clearly isn't being productive enough to start. Godzylla faired well. I really enjoy seeing him and Telfair on the floor together. What about starting Joel instead of Theo? I want this starting line up: Zach, Damon, Telfair, Ruben and Pryzbilla. Anyway, it's off to New York. Maybe the addition of John Thomas will be a good one. It was fun to see Ha. It was more fun watching the Heat players looking at him! LOL
Box Score
GO BLAZERS!
However, the Blazers are suffering. Team play has been bad and now players are dropping with injuries. Shareef's elbow is likely to force him to have sugery. Darius was hurt in the Clipper game and is now on crutches, waiting for an MRI to reveal the problem. Zach is still dealing with a bruised knee. NVE has had some pain in his legs I believe. Theo is battling bursitis in his shoulder. We are not in the best of shape, not even close.
Tonight will be an oportunity for our younger guys to show what they've got. Travis Outlaw and Sebastian Telfair have both shown in the limited minutes they have played that there may be a goldmine on this team waiting to be tapped. Both are young, quick, and determined to be the best they can be. They are hungry. They are good too. This has been sorely lacking on our team. This may be their opportunity to shine. I sure hope they do. It was a similar situation that brought Zach to his next level, let's not forget that. Situations can force a coach into decisions they normally wouldn't make. This one will force Cheeks to play the young guys.
In addition to playing Telfair and Outlaw, Ruben Patterson will get to start. This is well deserved and I am excited to see how well Ruben does in this role. He has been the heart and soul of this Blazer team and I think he will easily match the energy of Travis and Sebastian.
If DA and Ruben can contain Wade, and DA and Damon can hit their shots, we may be able to get this win in spite of the injuries. Zach is due for a big game and I am sure O'Neil will provide inspiration. No doubt Miami will be thinking 2 things. "We need to pay them back" and "they are vulnerable now". Let them think what they want. I think the Blazers actually have a shot at this game.
With Shaq in town, my guess is that "Godzilla" (Pryz) didn't get any sleep last night. ;)
Don't underestimate Joel, he's been getting feisty lately! Did you see the Clip game?
Game Preview (NBA.com)
UPDATE: Well, had we not buried our head in the sand in the first quarter we may have managed to win this game, but, we didn't. It was good to see the team dig themselves out of a very deep hole, but they just couldn't any closer than 6. Ruben was great, as always. I liked that Travis and Telfair got some decent minutes.
Damon should have been played much more. I think I'm ready to send NVE back to the bench and let Damon and Telfair take over. How about starting Damon AND Telfair and sending DA and NVE to the bench? The people around me wre actually booing DA last night. I think that is a bit much but he clearly isn't being productive enough to start. Godzylla faired well. I really enjoy seeing him and Telfair on the floor together. What about starting Joel instead of Theo? I want this starting line up: Zach, Damon, Telfair, Ruben and Pryzbilla. Anyway, it's off to New York. Maybe the addition of John Thomas will be a good one. It was fun to see Ha. It was more fun watching the Heat players looking at him! LOL
Box Score
GO BLAZERS!
posted by KJM at 2:26 PM
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