Jonesin' in Portland

Way to go Blazers! Beating Miami on national television was a great step in bringing positive attention back to Portland. Travis continues to improve. Lamarcus is going to be an all star. Brandon redeemed himself. The star of the night though has to be James Jones! 4 for 6 from behind the arc, impressive. He clearly could be an ace up Nate's sleeve. I was biting my nails when Miami got within one but the Blazers would have none of that. The sun is shining in Rip City today. Yeah! High fives all around today.

I want to address Shaq's cheap shot at Joel Przybilla. He in no way tried to avoid smashing the ball into Joel's face. That was not only dangerous but down right flagrant. This sort of action needs to be punished. It must not be taken lightly. Joel could have been seriously hurt. It was avoidable. I've come to actually like Shaq now that he isn't a Laker, so I am not speaking from a point of view tainted by a dislike of the guy. I simply think he took a cheap and dangerous shot and he deserves to be punished for it.

Kudos to Joel for going back into the game. It also made me smile to see Greg Oden eyeballing Shaq. He almost seemed to be calculating how he will attempt to make life difficult for Mr. O'Neal. I can't wait.

GO BLAZERS!