Still streakin'
Time for another Blazer mood swing. Tonight they won a fourth straight game, on the road, against a decent team, the Utah Jazz. Portland did it without the services of big man LaMarcus Aldridge, one of their top players, who's now got what promises to be a nagging foot problem. The game was won with defense, which is to be expected since the Blazers are pretty spotty when they have the ball.
Martell Webster showed up and poured in 25 points, 15 of them on three-point baskets. Joel Wonder Bread blocked five shots and had 10 rebounds. Channing Frye missed a lot of shots but wound up with 10 points. He was in foul trouble, however, and played only 19 minutes. I dunno; I still miss Ime.
The Blazers come back home for another game tomorrow night, against Golden State, another playoff team. If they win that one, it will really be time to sit up and take notice. Utah will be in town seeking revenge on Friday.
| Posted at 10:42 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (10)
I still miss Ime.
Thank you for saying that. I think the Blazers done Ime Udoka wrong when they traded him. Their reasons may have been perfectly valid, but I thought he was all class and deserved more.
I watched tonight's game from start to finish and was on my feet a few times, especially when the Blazer lead shrunk substantially. It was great to see them win against Utah on the road, the first time they have done that in three years from what I understand.
Posted by None | December 11, 2007 11:29 PM
Almost five years, I believe. The Yahoo story linked above says that February of '03 was the last Portland win in Utah.
Posted by Jack Bog | December 11, 2007 11:46 PM
Blazers did not trade him, he signed a free agent contract with the Spurs.
Posted by meg | December 12, 2007 5:27 AM
I realize I'm a total sucker for this team, but that was a huge win last night: on the road, against one of the better teams in the Western Conference (and a division rival no less), without our leading scorer/rebounder in LaMarcus. Blazermania!
Posted by John | December 12, 2007 9:25 AM
My bad, Meg. Ime was not traded away by the Blazers, but they made it clear that there was "nothing for him here" in Portland, which is almost the same thing, IMO.
Posted by none | December 12, 2007 10:07 AM
All I can say is it's about time Martel Webster actually contributed. He's been in a major slump for the past few weeks.
Posted by Chris McMullen | December 12, 2007 10:48 AM
I think the Blazers and Ime were a couple of million apart in what they offered and what he wanted. Seeing that he is getting 9 Min a game shooting 37% from the floor, with 1.5 rebounds with the spurs, makes me think the Blazers were right this time.
Posted by meg | December 12, 2007 10:49 AM
Ah, Ime. I miss that big, arm-birthmarked, Nigerian, Ockley Green School alum, too. His shooting has been much worse this year with the Spurs, but then it might be hard for him to get on track with 9 min/game instead of the 28 min/game he averaged last year with the Blazers. Maybe Bruce Bowen will suffer an injury and create some space. Is Shane Stant available?
Posted by benschon | December 12, 2007 11:17 AM
The Blazers didn't want to see Ime go, but essentially they had to choose between him and resigning Outlaw. Considering that Ime was a last minute training camp fill-in and Outlaw has looked rather Jordan-esque of late, I think they made the better long term decision. Ime... a great story and a good role player, but come on.
I've seen the last three games, and I'm really impressed they're getting contributions from nearly every player. They played great team defense and passed well on offense. They'll have their share of ups and downs, no doubt, but you gotta love this team and their chance to play a big spoiler role.
Rip city, baby.
Posted by TKrueg | December 12, 2007 11:31 AM
and Outlaw has looked rather Jordan-esque of late
Let's stay serious. Outlaw is doing better, but those turnovers need to stop.
Posted by Sebastian | December 12, 2007 1:08 PM