Hardwood Classics: Blazers vs Cleveland Cavaliers.
Tonight is Hardwood Classic Night for the Trailblazers. They will be wearing retro uniforms. If circumstances were better I'd go on about how fun tonight will be. I don't think the guys care much about classic night at this point. All they want is to WIN A GAME! The Blazers don't want to hear about what a great effort they put out. They don't want to hear about how well they have done in spite of being without 3 starters. The guys just want to win. They need to win. They must. Team morale is going to wane and soon be eclipsed without a win. As much as the guys don't want to hear it I feel compelled to praise them for the effort they have given. It's only "right" that it pays off eventually, isn't it? It will. It must. Meanwhile, the Blazers learned that Darius Miles will miss tonight's game after all. Last night it was thought he'd be able to play. He practiced with the team but ended up with fluid needing to be drained today. It is unknown when Zach will return and it is thought that SAR simply won't.
This is game 4 of a 6 game road trip for Cleveland. They have lost to LA, beat Utah and lost to Seattle. The Cavs are only ticks away from taking the number 1 spot away from Detroit in the Central Division. I can't mention Cleveland without mentioning LeBron James. King James will be here donning is royal mask. Word is that LeBron filmed a new Nike commercial at the Portland Nike complex on his day off. I'm not concerned about LeBron. I am concerned about Jeff McInnis. When the Blazers last played the Cavs, Jeff had a great game and decided to taunt the Blazers. It didn't go over well and I am betting that there are plans for a bit of revenge tonight. The way Damon and NVE have been playing make this an interesting scenario. Will we see another shoot out like we did in New Orleans? I sure hope so. Jeff ticked me off when he did that. I know he ticked off the Blazers. I hope they can refrain from T's while taking care of business!
Joel Pryzbilla is coming off the best game of his career. Pryz snagged 22 rebounds last night, quickly earning the respect of fans and various nicknames such as "Godzylla" and "NillaBilla". Trust me Joel, those are terms of endearment. Joel's confidence got a huge boost last night and I expect it to continue. It also will build more trust from his teammates. It's called teambuilding. Step by step the Blazer team has been improving. They really are finding good from adversity. Once Darius and Zach return this could very well be a really good team. I'm looking forward to it.
When the Blazers step onto the floor tonight I hope they get a standing ovation. They have literally given their all. You can bet they will do it again for the home crowd. I want to see them get this win about as much as I wanted them to beat LA during the playoffs. I am going to support this team and scream my head off to try and help them get the win. I think everyone else will too.
Game Preview
UPDATE: My apologies for the slow post game response. Between getting home VERY late last night after the game and having serious blog troubles this morning I'm amazed I have gotten this far!
Anyway, last night's game, as you know, was the same story. Play hard, get close, and lose. Again the Blazers were severely shorthanded. In addition to SAR, Zach, and Darius, we lost Theo in the first minute due to him having a stomach virus. I guess it's the flu. I hope he keeps it to himself and doesn't give it to the team! The guys gave it a good try, as always, but fell short. I have to wonder how the game would have turned out without the 20 turnovers and the 14 missed free throws. This is not really a thing you can blame on being shorthanded. Anyway, it was clear the guys were very tired. It has been a gruelling 2 weeks. I am glad they get a couple days off to prepare for Minnesota. Minnesota is a team that is struggling, they lost a close one to LA last night. Saturday's game looks to be another tough one. I have no word on whetherr or not Darius might be back for this one. In spite of it all, the guys are still optimistic and that is good. They should be. By the way, LeBron became the youngest player to ever get a triple double last night. As you can tell, I'm not all that excited about that.
Box Score
A classic picture to say the least!
Damon Stoudamire and Jack Ramsey! I LOVE it!
Source: Blazers.com
This is game 4 of a 6 game road trip for Cleveland. They have lost to LA, beat Utah and lost to Seattle. The Cavs are only ticks away from taking the number 1 spot away from Detroit in the Central Division. I can't mention Cleveland without mentioning LeBron James. King James will be here donning is royal mask. Word is that LeBron filmed a new Nike commercial at the Portland Nike complex on his day off. I'm not concerned about LeBron. I am concerned about Jeff McInnis. When the Blazers last played the Cavs, Jeff had a great game and decided to taunt the Blazers. It didn't go over well and I am betting that there are plans for a bit of revenge tonight. The way Damon and NVE have been playing make this an interesting scenario. Will we see another shoot out like we did in New Orleans? I sure hope so. Jeff ticked me off when he did that. I know he ticked off the Blazers. I hope they can refrain from T's while taking care of business!
Joel Pryzbilla is coming off the best game of his career. Pryz snagged 22 rebounds last night, quickly earning the respect of fans and various nicknames such as "Godzylla" and "NillaBilla". Trust me Joel, those are terms of endearment. Joel's confidence got a huge boost last night and I expect it to continue. It also will build more trust from his teammates. It's called teambuilding. Step by step the Blazer team has been improving. They really are finding good from adversity. Once Darius and Zach return this could very well be a really good team. I'm looking forward to it.
When the Blazers step onto the floor tonight I hope they get a standing ovation. They have literally given their all. You can bet they will do it again for the home crowd. I want to see them get this win about as much as I wanted them to beat LA during the playoffs. I am going to support this team and scream my head off to try and help them get the win. I think everyone else will too.
Game Preview
UPDATE: My apologies for the slow post game response. Between getting home VERY late last night after the game and having serious blog troubles this morning I'm amazed I have gotten this far!
Anyway, last night's game, as you know, was the same story. Play hard, get close, and lose. Again the Blazers were severely shorthanded. In addition to SAR, Zach, and Darius, we lost Theo in the first minute due to him having a stomach virus. I guess it's the flu. I hope he keeps it to himself and doesn't give it to the team! The guys gave it a good try, as always, but fell short. I have to wonder how the game would have turned out without the 20 turnovers and the 14 missed free throws. This is not really a thing you can blame on being shorthanded. Anyway, it was clear the guys were very tired. It has been a gruelling 2 weeks. I am glad they get a couple days off to prepare for Minnesota. Minnesota is a team that is struggling, they lost a close one to LA last night. Saturday's game looks to be another tough one. I have no word on whetherr or not Darius might be back for this one. In spite of it all, the guys are still optimistic and that is good. They should be. By the way, LeBron became the youngest player to ever get a triple double last night. As you can tell, I'm not all that excited about that.
Box Score
A classic picture to say the least!
Damon Stoudamire and Jack Ramsey! I LOVE it!
Source: Blazers.com
posted by KJM at 3:30 PM
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