Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 am  |  25 responses

Blazers/Rox Game 2 Recap

Brandon Roy, meet playoff stardom.

by Adam Sweeney

Let this game serve as notice for anyone who thought the Houston Rockets were going to blow the Portland Trail Blazers out in this series. If the young guns on Portland were overwhelmed by the big stage of the Playoffs, they overcame it quickly. The Houston Chronicle headline should read “Houston, we have a series.”

The Blazers got out early, as we knew they would after such a humiliating defeat in Game 1, but Ron Artest kept Houston in it by going off in the 1st quarter like Eminem on his mother. Then he decided to fire brick after brick from behind the line, finishing 1-8 there. It’s really hard to explain. Maybe there was a forcefield blocking his entrance to the lane? Or maybe Artest has fallen in love with the 3. The Rockets are just going to have to grin and bear it. Ron is Ron.

If there is anyone who doesn’t know how money Brandon Roy is, they do now … that is if the game was actually airing in your area. Roy is turning into Houston’s worst enemy and it is amazing that a team with Ron Artest and Shane Battier can’t find a way to at least get in his way. Roy was having one of those games that careers are built on. It was Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction good. Someone check Roy’s locker to see if he has a wallet that says Bad Mother F&%ker on it.

LaMarcus Aldridge also showed up in a big way and made the Rockets respect a player other than Roy. He may be the player the Rockets should be scared of. Roy can score 60, and tonight it looked like he just might, but without Aldridge hitting buckets the Blazers can’t match Houston’s offense, which is coming from multiple areas. 6 players on Houston scored in double-digits in Game 2.

There will be plenty of Rockets fans who complain about poor officiating. I’m from Houston and even I don’t want to hear it. The Blazers won because they were the more physical team and drove to the basket, getting Yao Ming into foul trouble early, essentially making him a non-factor in this game. With Yao out and Dikembe Mutombo leaving the game with a knee sprain (We hope the House is okay), the lane was all Portland’s to own.

Let’s talk a bit about Yao. I love the big man, but from now on maybe it’s best we call him the Patrick Swayze of the NBA, because no other star in the league can turn into a ghost like him. Yao shot 3-6 from the field. 6 shots. Could you ever imagine Shaquille O’Neal shooting the ball that little in his prime? Why is Yao not swearing in multiple languages at the coaching staff a la Michael Jordan to Doug Collins in Game 5 of the 1989 NBA Playoffs? Keyshawn Johnson wrote the book, but it’s Yao Ming that needs to be saying, “Just give me the damn ball.”

Not all of the blame goes to the players. Rick Adelman had no answer as to how he can get the ball to Yao versus Portland’s fronting him on defense. They better figure it out quickly, because even with 20+ point performances from Aaron Brooks (Brooks made critical mistakes in the 4th, in spite of his scoring) and Von Wafer, they still lost. Props to Nate McMillan for winning the coaching battle in Game 2.

For a match-up featuring two of the best defensive teams in the league, the game had about as much defensive presence as the All-Star game. Both teams shot over 50%, even in a pretty physical game. How can a game be physical and both teams score at will? Welcome to the Blazers-Rockets series. Maybe it’s best not to try and understand a match-up with enigmatic players like Artest, Yao and Mr. Foul, Greg Oden present. Just know that it looks this one is going to 7 games.

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  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    adam, i’m definitely not going to complain about the refs, they ‘re a separate story, calling literally every foul on BOTH teams for the whoel first quarter was pretty ridiculous, but anyway, i think you’re making this W more than it is for Portland. Deke played 1 min before going out, houston has not back up center, Yao sat out most of the third due to foul trouble, he only took 6 shots, rockets missed a ton of free throws, roy went off for 40 and Lamarcus was hitting all kinds of tough shots, yet the game was within a point or two thr whole way, and Houston still almost stole it at the very end. That doesn’t sounds like much of a series with it going back to houston. Maybe portland wakes up and takes a game, but i dont believe they’ve done enough in these 2 games to show they can go back to houston and take a game and extend the series..

  • http://slamonline.com Adam Sweeney

    RV,
    I feel you. The Rockets nearly stole this game. There were about three times in the fourth quarter where I said out loud, “Wow, they may actually still win this.” But trust me, the last thing you want to do is give a young team confidence.

    I have to disagree, however, that this game doesn’t mean as much for Portland as I think. What would be the alternative, being down 0-2? Momentum is a big thing in the Playoffs, and the Blazers have figured out a way to frustrate Yao. If that happens consistently and Artest continues to camp outside the line, the Blazers are in this for the long haul. I’m not so sure that they will win the series, as I predicted, but a win is a win. Nobody cares anymore that Houston blew Portland out in Game 1. All that matters is that it’s 1-1.

  • http://apeachbasketandadream.wordpress.com Peach B.

    There’s a reason Yao only took six shots. The Blazers definitely had him frustrated. I think a lot of game 1 was nerves for the Blazers. This is how I expected the series to go. Both are grind it out teams. And having Aldridge front Yao has worked for the Blazers. I agree, the Blazers are ready to dig in as shown by the way that they adjusted to the bogus calls.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    yeah but they still havent figured out Brooks, tonight he became aggressive too late to bring houston back, but he’s still too fast for them. I agree ron isn’t always going to be this hot, but is roy really going to score 40 3 more times this series? I dont know about that, tonight houston couldnt be as aggressive as it wanted with him because of Yao’s foul trouble and deke’s absence. Other players had to watch their aggressiveness also because everyone racked up fouls in the first because of the refs stranglehold. Its unlikely the refs will come out like that again for the rest of the series, therefore allowing houston to be more aggressive, especially at home where they should get homecourt advantage fromt he refs. I think the game was too close for Portland to feel too confident or for Houston to lose too much swagger. You go back to houston and they should have the edge with the refs, the crowd (make more FTs), and a new game plan to make up for deke’s loss, all that makes up more than a few points, which was the difference tonight. If portland would have had a convincing W, then it would be different.

  • B_Easy24

    Haha! my man Brandon Roy, People nees to look out he’s the new face of the league and waay better than mr my name is Lebron and I’m so overated James

  • B_Easy24

    oh amd 1 more thing Yao is mr softee, you mean to tell me that you’re 7″5′ and can’t buss ass come on, dude been in the league for like 6/7 yrs and still has’nt really shown me anything yet

  • melvin ely

    agree with RV on all points actually. Appreciate the write up Adam, but, as much as I hate the term ‘moral victories’, this game looks a lot like one for Houston. With a team as deep as the blazers, I wouldn’t mind letting brandon roy take it upon himself trying to beat me, so long as it keeps the other guys uninvolved. Houston takes game 3 and 4 IMO, then this thing goes to 6, Rockets thru to the 2nd round (and, ironically, it’s all Tmacs fault, for not playing).

  • JP

    Adam,

    Where do you get that this game is headed to seven games?? The Blazers beat the Rockets by four lousy points, unlike the blowout that Houston handed them. Its cool though, because Portland will get a dose of some Houston fans. I agree with RV, if Brooks would have stepped it up even at the tail end of the 3rd quarter, this series would be 2-0. Rockets take both wins in Houston and might have to fight hard in Portland, but take the series in Game 5.

  • http://www.broy7.com nate the great

    you guys have strong points.
    RV mainly.
    But i disagree. You guys are one minded.
    Ya Houston is going to change. of course. new game game plan, new schemes.
    But so is Portland, Nate Mcmillan is a smart coach, he knew it was only a 4 point game, so im sure he is going to get a new gameplan, are adjust his, so his team will win the next game, and the series.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    nate, true, but after what happened in game 1, you expect the blazers to come back with their best shot, if that was it, it wasnt every good. Portland’s adjustments for game 2 didn’t necessarily work like expected given how close the game was and how houston almost stole it. Deke’s loss will bring houston down a level though, that’s for sure. No backup for Yao, no sure def rebounds and intimidation throughout the game. Hopefully Yao takes it as motivation, he was pretty pissed after deke went down and was pretty aggressive for a few mins after, but then got taken out of the game..

  • Alan

    Man, McMillan is the worst coach in the NBA. His only solution is giving the ball to Roy(what a way to rule a game!! B.Roy is even better than I thought) and nothing else. Luckily for the Blazers, they’re loaded with talent. But I can tell you a handfull european coaches that would do much better than McMillan. he’s way to overated

  • A-roids

    Lets face it Yao doesn;t ave the mentality to be a leader. How can you be a star if you only take 6 shots? Don’t blame the guards or the coahing staff. Yao can’t even demand the ball?
    He’s a very good role player at best.

    Any NBA team with an ounce of brains would jsut front yao and render him useless.

  • wayno

    You’re honestly telling me that Nate McMillan is a worse coach than Michael Curry or Mike Dunleavey? McMillan is no Phil Jackson, but he’s far from the worst coach in the league.

  • http://shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    Brandon Roy is the truth.

  • jonny

    Not sure what you want Yao to do? He’s getting mugged trying to post and not getting a call, but on the other end it’s an instant foul any time he touches a guard? That 4th foul was a nice flop from przybilla though.. Houston needs to get better at delivering the ball to him no matter what though.

  • Brina22

    It’s funny that you say that Rockets’ fans are griping about the officiating…cause I know Blazer fans are doing just the same thing. I guess perspective is everything.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Brina22, the officiating was very strict on both sides for most of the game, that’s why both sides have something to gripe about, there were also questionable calls for both sides, but in the final seconds the blazers got some calls that shouldn’t have gone their way because of homecourt, which is expected, but that’s why Adam mentioned houston fans being upset about it.

  • Aaron

    If the refs called every foul that they call on Prizbilla and Oden on Yao then Yao would play 15 min a game. Roy is getting no calls when he does inside and Yao makes contact with him. On the other end every time Oden touches someone they blow the whistle. Chalk it up to experience, being a rookie, whatever you want. Houston fans can not complain about any of the calls.. Look Yao had 4 fouls… Oden had 6, Priz had 5, LA had 5, and the Blazers were the more aggressive team.

  • alex

    The rockets might be the cream of the crop in terms of defense, but Portland most certainly is not. Just looks that way because of the incredibly slow pace they play at….conversely, they’re probably one of the top 3 offenses in the league right now, hence the high score because of the relatively high possession game they played…

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    aaron, Roy makes contact with Yao, not the other way around. Yao spent the whole second half standing with his arms up and leaning back everytime a blazer drove at him. Automatic contact doesn’t mean automatic foul, at least not for the guy with the ball. Yao was held most of the game, if they called that all the time portland’s centers would foul out in the first half, the refs pace themselves on thos calls, it had to catch up with portland’s centers eventually.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    Alex, i think the high scores are misleading, this really should have ended in the mid 90s, but Houston tried to comeback, portland got a lot of freebies and brooks scored like 11 pts the final minute, so that pushed the score up. Both offenses shot well, but the refs really slowed the game down early.

  • http://www.broy7.com/roy/index nate the great

    yeah, Rv is making good points.. besides the fact of mcmillin.
    he put in Priz, and Oden. And stuck L.a. on yao.
    thats totaly different right there.
    just because the game was close doesnt mean anything. besides that both teams are =.
    its a good match up, but just cause of a 4 point game doesnt mean nothing is being done on the coaching side.
    I think the reffs are calling an equal game.
    Yao should foul out all the time. i mean roy is going for a shot, and yao jumps into him.
    but its fine, game 3 should say a lot.
    i still think priz and oden should both be in the game, miss matches.

  • Lo

    its sad how houston ppl keeeep complaining about the refs calls just cause they lost… the point is they lost. You can make all the excuses you want for them, doesn’t matter. A couple calls shouldn’t make the difference. If they’re SO much better they should have beat them like they did the first game regardless. It doesn’t matter if they won by 1 or 100, the point is they won. If houston had won by even just 1 point, you guys would be singing praises about them, but blazers suck cause it was a close game? Yeah…. ok bravo. I can sit here and say Roy never gets a call even when yao has his arms wrapped around him or smacked across his face. It goes both ways. You can’t blame the refs for the loss or the win. It’s up to the players to be the deciding factor in the game. Period.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    lo, two guys complained about it, don’t drag everyone into it, and if youu’re going to compare, at least compare someone who actually fouled the blazers, like ron, not yao, he’s been reduced to being a statue..

  • sheedfan

    yes, the answer is Oden & Ghostface in the game at the same time.

    And Nate,please. Nate has major skills as a coach. He’s increased his wins per season the last three years. The blazer’s won 54 games this season! They are the best offensive rebounding team in the L. They had THE most difficult schedule this year.
    Stop the nonsense,Alan.

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