Blah-zers
The miracle that was the early-season Portland Trail Blazers is over, to be sure. They've now lost five games in a row, including a home defeat at the hands of the motley Sacramento Kings last night. The Blazers scored only 14 points in the third quarter, and gave up 35 in the fourth. That'll do it. The refs "let 'em play," with relatively few fouls called -- the game was over in 2 hours, 11 minutes.
You live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot. And one of Portland's unlikely strengths, a shootist named James Jones, is in the midst of a prolonged absence due to a knee injury.
They'll probably need to win 20 out of their last 29 games to make it into the playoffs, with a wicked schedule ahead. It gets tougher with every loss to keep thinking about the post-season, but hey, the team's not giving up yet, and neither can the fans.
| Posted at 2:57 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
Can you remember this many great teams ever? Back in the so-called glory days when the Celtics won all those championships, the league featured 8 teams and some were probably lame. I mean the Syracuse Nationals? What was that? Now we have 8 or 9 great teams out West. Plus, the East has a great story line in the Celtics, and Detroit is still very tough.
It goes against the cynicism of these times, but I’m seeing a golden age of professional hoops right now. Here’s one barometer: I actually watched the entire NBA All-Star game and it was very entertaining. I remember years when the only suspense was which player would nail Madonna.
There are hoop legends everywhere. I mean we’ve got Tim Duncan and Steve Nash. Teams like Denver who used to reek are loaded with star power. You can’t argue with Kobe’s greatness, even if you hate the Lakers. And how about Ray Allen or Dwight Howard? We have 7-footers like Dirk Nowitzki draining 3’s. It’s really something. And I forgot to mention LeBron James. How do you forget LeBron James?
Against that backdrop, the Blazers are giving us a great year. Their ranking would ordinarily mean mediocrity, but it’s actually quite heroic. The Win Streak was a lot of fun, and maybe - just maybe – as the older All-Stars start fading, the Blazers will be one of the top teams again.
Posted by Bill McDonald | February 20, 2008 7:57 AM
I have never seen a more watered down league. Half of these guys don't belong in the NBA. Back in 1978 when there were 17 teams those guys could play. Martel Webster could not play for UCLA in the 70's
Posted by meg | February 20, 2008 12:23 PM
I have never seen a more watered down league.
You must have missed the early '80s.
Posted by Jack Bog | February 20, 2008 1:24 PM
I've been a hoops fan all my life, and I believe this is a golden age. Got to go.
Shaq is debuting with the Suns against the Lakers.
This is an awesome season.
Posted by Bill McDonald | February 20, 2008 6:00 PM