This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 8, 2013 8:45 AM.
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December and January tend to be good to the Portland Trail Blazers, and they certainly are this season. Last night the Portland squad drove past Orlando in overtime -- the fifth Blazer overtime win, with no losses, this season.
The home win, the Blazers' eighth straight, comes on the heels of a tough road trip in which Portland won three of four. In games decided by six points or fewer, the Blazers are 10-2.
If the playoffs started today, the Blazers would be in them. They're currently seventh in the league's Western Conference. But they're ahead of Utah and the Lakers, who will be playing better ball in the spring than they are now.
You have to take your hat off to the team's new head coach, Terry Stotts, who's getting the job done. For our money, he's outperforming former coach Nate McMillan. Stotts actually calls plays that score baskets. We can't picture Nate winning all the close games and taking a thin lineup like this year's Blazers to a 19-15 record.
But it's still pretty early. In the past we have learned that wins at this time of year can be fool's gold. We'll see what goes down under Stotts once the crocuses are up.
Comments (6)
5 Reasons the Blazers are better than expected this year:
1) Mathews is able to get his shot and put the ball on the floor (sometimes).
2) JJ Hickson is effective playing center and his energy ignites the team to play hard. Dude can ball.
3) Batum has added a lot to his game. He can score, defend, pass, and makes key baskets when they need a boost.
4) Damian Lilliard has exceeded all expectations to the point where you now take him for granted. Teams have to plan how to stop him - that is incredible.
5) Stotts is very impressive with planning, evaluation, and dishing out minutes. I like his style of play, which is so refreshing from boring, boring McDidn't.
I thought this team would be Aldridge and everybody else, but they are playing great team ball and are hard to stop because you can't focus on one dude.
They may not make the playoffs, but I think they will prove a handful for any team if they continue to listen to coach and trust each other.
It's an incredibly well balanced team. Last night there were four double-doubles. And no serious head cases! I'm more enthused than I have been for years.
I do have to turn off the TV sound and listen to Wheeler on the radio, though. The 8-second delay is a drag, but I just can't bear to listen to the TV commentators. Mediocrity personified.
What? You don't like to see Mike Rice become grandpa in the corner with each passing game?
And listening to Wheels and then watch the play happen seconds later can be kinda cool. They used to sync up the radio with the TV, but not after moving to KEX this year.
It's not a team that's gonna make a deep playoff run, but it certainly is a fun one to get behind. I give a lot of credit to Stotts, who actually makes in-game changes to his coaching strategy. What a novel idea.
It'll be a bummer if they have to deal Hickson at the deadline to get value for him. He brings serious heart to this squad.
Great team but I hope they do not get mired in mediocrity....to good for a decent draft pick and to bad to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Getting the 3 and 11 pick last year really gave us a shot in the arm.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 32
At this date last year: 66
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (6)
5 Reasons the Blazers are better than expected this year:
1) Mathews is able to get his shot and put the ball on the floor (sometimes).
2) JJ Hickson is effective playing center and his energy ignites the team to play hard. Dude can ball.
3) Batum has added a lot to his game. He can score, defend, pass, and makes key baskets when they need a boost.
4) Damian Lilliard has exceeded all expectations to the point where you now take him for granted. Teams have to plan how to stop him - that is incredible.
5) Stotts is very impressive with planning, evaluation, and dishing out minutes. I like his style of play, which is so refreshing from boring, boring McDidn't.
I thought this team would be Aldridge and everybody else, but they are playing great team ball and are hard to stop because you can't focus on one dude.
They may not make the playoffs, but I think they will prove a handful for any team if they continue to listen to coach and trust each other.
Posted by tim | January 8, 2013 9:30 AM
It's an incredibly well balanced team. Last night there were four double-doubles. And no serious head cases! I'm more enthused than I have been for years.
I do have to turn off the TV sound and listen to Wheeler on the radio, though. The 8-second delay is a drag, but I just can't bear to listen to the TV commentators. Mediocrity personified.
Posted by Jack Bog | January 8, 2013 9:45 AM
What? You don't like to see Mike Rice become grandpa in the corner with each passing game?
And listening to Wheels and then watch the play happen seconds later can be kinda cool. They used to sync up the radio with the TV, but not after moving to KEX this year.
Posted by tim | January 8, 2013 9:53 AM
It's not a team that's gonna make a deep playoff run, but it certainly is a fun one to get behind. I give a lot of credit to Stotts, who actually makes in-game changes to his coaching strategy. What a novel idea.
It'll be a bummer if they have to deal Hickson at the deadline to get value for him. He brings serious heart to this squad.
Posted by Flynn | January 8, 2013 9:58 AM
Great team but I hope they do not get mired in mediocrity....to good for a decent draft pick and to bad to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Getting the 3 and 11 pick last year really gave us a shot in the arm.
Posted by GEORGE | January 8, 2013 11:25 AM
Definitely exceeding all expectations. The starting 5 is very competitive. If they had someone like Jamaal Crawford to come off the bench...
The bench is improving. No where to go but up... Great fun to watch and so far they deliver in the close games.
Posted by Mike Austin | January 10, 2013 12:59 PM