# Denver vs Portland game thread



## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

Well here it is, another rematch with the Nuggets. Earlier this season Denver punked Portland by about 40 points, and now its time to determine if Portland has improved enough to stay in the same arena. 

Key Matchups:

Zach vs Kenyon Martin- The last time these two faced up, Zach was not very healthy and got housed. I don't think that will happen this time.

Carmello vs the many small forwards of Portland-A bad matchup for Portland, but Carmello is stoppable. Ruben might be helpful here, but Carmello has a little size on him.

Guards-Toss up. Guard matchup is pretty even, Earl Watson is getting more playing time, you have to stop that guy from getting open 3's. With Andre Miller just stop his penetration and your are pretty well set.

Center-No Marcus Camby tonigh, which means not as much shot blocking in the center for Denver. The inside should be there for the Blazers to attack tonight. Pryzbilla and Ratliff can't allow a letdown vs Franciso Elston. Elston is actually a fairly good center for a backup, he has some solid skills, but he is not as big as a shot blocker as Camby.

Bench: Portland needs scoring off its bench, probably going to need good games from everybody to have a chance. They cannot afford a few bench players to come through with doughnuts in the scoring column.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

Pryzbilla says GET THAT CRAP OUTA HERE!


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

LOL! He swatted Miller again! :biggrin:


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

What a pass by Dixon! That deserves a double banana dance!
:banana: :banana: 

:clown:


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

hasoos said:


> What a pass by Dixon! That deserves a double banana dance!
> :banana: :banana:
> 
> :clown:


 Apparently you has to see it to believe it . . . I'm listening on radio. Was it as good as Wheels said?


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## cambyblockingyou (Nov 26, 2005)

props to nate mcmillan, he can really teach a team to pass.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

Kiss_My_Darius said:


> Apparently you has to see it to believe it . . . I'm listening on radio. Was it as good as Wheels said?


Yes it was one of those plays where they through it to Dixon on the side of the key and he no look touch passed over his shoulder to Joel who monster dunked it!


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## cambyblockingyou (Nov 26, 2005)

what the hell, you all look like the freaking pistons out there.


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## meru (Jul 2, 2003)

What's the deal with Linas Kleiza? Is he trying to make us sorry for trading him?


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

meru said:


> What's the deal with Linas Kleiza? Is he trying to make us sorry for trading him?



It always work out that way doesn't it . . . former player or draft pick haunts old team . . .


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## cambyblockingyou (Nov 26, 2005)

why are you guys not on pace to win 60 games? geez.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

Nice run by the Nuggets, it looks like Nate brought back in the "Veterans" to bring some composure back to the team finally. Sebastien looked lost out there.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

HOLY GUACAMOLE! ALLEYOOP to Ratliff was totally off the hook!


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## sabas4mvp (Sep 23, 2002)

hasoos said:


> HOLY GUACAMOLE! ALLEYOOP to Ratliff was totally off the hook!


I agree... wow I didn't know theo could do that.


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

I like how Kenyon has been sucking it up, and then he finally gets an easy dunk, and stares down the bench like he is dominating...
But wow, this is a complete 180 from the last Nugget game.....so far.
Prunetang


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Theo really got up there on that one. He's been playing some good ball recently. Must be healthy.


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

Blake has really made some bad turnovers in the 2nd quarter. Nobody wants to mention that, but if Telfair does it then he's satan. Blake hasn't played well tonight guys. Need more Telfair out there.


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## cambyblockingyou (Nov 26, 2005)

i don't think you all could have played a better half.


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

Ha! Great first half... 

barfo


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

Denver has been on a roll. Whole half to go, but this would be a big win.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Sambonius said:


> Blake has really made some bad turnovers in the 2nd quarter. Nobody wants to mention that, but if Telfair does it then he's satan. Blake hasn't played well tonight guys. Need more Telfair out there.


Hmmm,,,maybe it's the amount of time played compared to TOs made? I'm not a Telfair basher but he obviously isn't playing well right now. I think part is confidence. Maybe he should play more with the first team because he's not doing well with the second team.


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

And in case anyone wants to buy any Nugget gear, just click on Denver. : )


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

Ughh. Looks like we have the 3rd quarter blues again.
9 point lead down to 3.
Hopefully they get this thing straightened out during the time out.
Prunetang


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Prunetang said:


> Ughh. Looks like we have the 3rd quarter blues again.
> 9 point lead down to 3.
> Hopefully they get this thing straightened out during the time out.
> Prunetang


They are doing better. Zach is hitting tough shots.


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

Ok, they responded...that is what I like to see. 
This game is looking pretty darned good for us... but is it just me or is anyone else cringing at the thought of our starters going out of the game?

Prunetang


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## GrandpaBlaze (Jul 11, 2004)

As the season progresses I am liking Zach more and more. I had my doubts about keeping him vs. SAR but I love how he has been playing. Midway through the 3rd quarter and he is 14 pts, 7 rbs, 4 ast with no TO.

Yeah, we may gripe about his defense now and again but each year he is becoming a better, more well-rounded player. While I don't think he'll ever be a defensive stopper but I think that aspect of his game will improve as well.

That contract we gave him is looking better and better.

Gramps...


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

Once again, Telfair in the game.... and we are horrible. 
I like Telfair, but we are just getting killed with him in.
Two shotclock violations in a row.

Prunetang


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

Ugh . . . this game is killing me


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## GrandpaBlaze (Jul 11, 2004)

Prunetang said:


> is it just me or is anyone else cringing at the thought of our starters going out of the game?


Lately I find myself having deja' vu. Early in the year I cringed each time Dixon came in. Now, I find the when Telfair comes in I cringe.

As much as I hate to say it, I think his thumb injury was one of the best things to happen to the Blazers this year. 

Gramps...


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

Put the starters back in starting the fourth quarter?


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

Well, it is obvious that if we keep the 5 that we have out there to start the 4th....we will be down big in no time. I really don't know how we can compete in this game without having Blake and Dixon in there.
I am still in the "give Telfair time" camp. I do beleive he will be a good player in this league....just not yet.

Prunetang


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

We gave back most of the lead before Telfair came in. We are not passing well and being hesitant with our shot.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Quick 6 points, good response.


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## Target (Mar 17, 2004)

Nice shot by our TO


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## Utherhimo (Feb 20, 2005)

yeah good run and good sub.


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## Target (Mar 17, 2004)

Utherhimo said:


> yeah good run and good sub.


It's nice to have a coach who is in the game.


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

Good things happen when Telfair penetrates, he's played very well for most of the 4th.


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

Wow, Blake is playing like absolute garbage right now. Telfair > Blake in this game. They need to put Telfair and Outlaw back in.


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## ProZach (Oct 13, 2005)

Nate is a ***ing idiot. If Joel were in the game down the stretch the last two layups for Denver would have been blocks. What is he thinking? Is he thinking?


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

That was it right there. Why didn't Blake shoot the 3?


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## Blazer Freak (Jul 11, 2004)

Blake loses us just as many games as he wins us. Late game TO's and stupid mistakes by him **** us over, just as many times as he makes key 3's. He played like **** in the 4th, and didn't deserve to be in there. Telfair looked good, after they did pretty crappy when he came him. He shows a lot more leadership when he is on the court rather than Blake. He was pumping the team up on D. 

**** Blake.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Well that's a shame. A waste of a good effort, but while we have improved we still have a ways to go. Big difference though between this game and the last game we had against Denver.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

Well that sucked that they lost, but it had to be one of the funner games I have seen this year, there were some tremendous plays, and the offense played well in a lot of the game until the Nuggets went with their all defensive unit, and Blake started playing "Matador" defense on Miller. 

Sebastien had 2 bad quarters and one good one. I am glad he finally had one "good" one, and even during that one he would get out of control here and there, but it was much better then the other two quarters. 

Outlaw played ok, still weak on the rebounding front, but he is getting better. He looks more comfortable in the offense as long as he is taking some sort of jumper. He needs to learn how to attack the hoop and play the Shawn Marion type of game.

Well at least I think we can say the Blazers definitly improved from the last time these 2 teams played.


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## wastro (Dec 19, 2004)

mgb said:


> Well that's a shame. A waste of a good effort, but while we have improved we still have a ways to go. Big difference though between this game and the last game we had against Denver.


Quoted for truth. Portland finally found a team they couldn't squeak by in the final seconds. That's what happens when you play a team many think will contend in the West. But they've improved by leaps and bounds since game #2.

Upset as I am with the loss, I'm glad to see the effort. There were more than a few stretches there where Portland moved the ball well and displayed a smooth offense. Their defense cost them the game in the end, though.


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## SodaPopinski (Aug 10, 2004)

REALLY ****ING PISSED OFF TONIGHT. HERE'S MY "BLOOD IS STILL HOT" POST-GAME EVALUATIONS:

Steve Blake: If you want to play in this league, grow a ****ing pair. You let a guy who had four points going into the 4th quarter absolutely ****ing humiliate your pathetitic ***. You sucked tonight and played like you belong in the D-League. Also - when you have an open look, take it. I don't know how many turnovers you had tonight, but it felt like at least 6 or 7.

Zach Randolph: When you catch the ball in an open position, shoot the ****ing ball. Don't face up and try to dribble the ball in against Kenyon Martin and Eduardo Najera. You will lose that battle every ****ing time and get absolutely humiliated.

Nate McMillan: Figure out the ****ing rotation, dumb ***. How many straight games does Sebastian have to absolutely blow a double-digit lead before you figure out he's blowing a double-digit lead? Every other team in the league plays its major players 35-40 minutes a game. YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO ****ING FIND REST FOR OUR BEST PLAYERS. ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'VE ONLY PLAYED 2 GAMES IN THE LAST WEEK. Figure it out. ****ING FIGURE IT OUT.

Holy ****ing ****. There's no way in hell we should have lost that game tonight. Absolutely handed the game to Denver. Mother****er. ****. ****.

-Pop


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

I am with you Soda.
I was cussing around my apartment and none of my roommates understood why.
Bull****.
WE should have won that game.
In my opinion, Theo played really well early on, but he got tired..... take him out in the 4th and put in Joel...**** he hadnt played in about 15 minutes. And what about Viktor at the end? Why not Vik and Joel for the final stretch? It is not like they played really well together in the game or anything.....

**** **** **** ****

Prune****


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## SheedSoNasty (Dec 31, 2002)

What a disappointing loss... We had them the whole 1st half and just let up in the 3rd. What the hell? Do they forget how to play basketball? Do they forget what actually works? Are they Blazers sniffing glue during halftime?

C'mon!

However, when you put things into perspective, we lost big time to these guys at the beginning of the year and we've been playing much better than we did during the first 20 games of the season... But I'm still pissed.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

while I'm not nearly as pissed as Soda is (I don't think I ever am) I will agree with most of what he's saying (altho not to the degree)..



SodaPopinski said:


> REALLY ****ING PISSED OFF TONIGHT. HERE'S MY "BLOOD IS STILL HOT" POST-GAME EVALUATIONS:
> 
> Steve Blake: If you want to play in this league, grow a ****ing pair. You let a guy who had four points going into the 4th quarter absolutely ****ing humiliate your pathetitic ***. You sucked tonight and played like you belong in the D-League. Also - when you have an open look, take it. I don't know how many turnovers you had tonight, but it felt like at least 6 or 7.


this was, by far, his worst game so far. He only had 3 assists, and he shot poor, and most importantly, made a couple bone-head plays late in the game (3 turnovers for the game too).

His defense was, at best, suspect. How many easy layups against him did Miller have? 

Basically, he played how he normally plays, but this time it bit the team more than normal.



> Nate McMillan: Figure out the ****ing rotation, dumb ***. How many straight games does Sebastian have to absolutely blow a double-digit lead before you figure out he's blowing a double-digit lead? Every other team in the league plays its major players 35-40 minutes a game. YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO ****ING FIND REST FOR OUR BEST PLAYERS. ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'VE ONLY PLAYED 2 GAMES IN THE LAST WEEK. Figure it out. ****ING FIGURE IT OUT.


well, to be fair, both times he blew the lead, they got it back, including the last time when it went up to 10 I believe. The team lost it's last lead when Blake was in the game.

The teams horrible PG play (more so from the starter actually) is what cost the team the game. Miller is good, but he's not 7 points above his average good.

I know people will say I'm just "defending Telfair", but I can't control what those people think.


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## FeloniusThunk (Jan 1, 2003)

Did no starters shoot a free throw the whole game? I don't think I've ever seen that before.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Come on, Pop, don't hold back tell us how you really feel.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

Hap said:


> this was, by far, his worst game so far. He only had 3 assists, and he shot poor, and most importantly, made a couple bone-head plays late in the game (3 turnovers for the game too).
> 
> His defense was, at best, suspect. How many easy layups against him did Miller have?
> 
> Basically, he played how he normally plays, but this time it bit the team more than normal.


he normally averages 3 assists, 3 turnovers, and crappy shooting? 

his defense did stink in the 4th quarter though. it was weird how bad it got, considering he seemed to have Miller reasonably contained for the first three quarters. maybe he got tired or something. 

what can you do, though? the guy is 25 in his first job as a consistent NBA starter. 

I'm surprised people are really so mad about this game. Denver's a pretty good team, and are 9-1 in their last ten games. good teams beat mediocre/bad teams all the time in the NBA, even when the mediocre/bad team leads for much of the game. 

the better team won. 

I can't wait for Miles to come back. when Randolph sits (or is consistently denied the ball) our offense becomes a mess. Darius can fix some of that.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

theWanker said:


> he normally averages 3 assists, 3 turnovers, and crappy shooting?


because I said that's his normal game, does not mean that the stats he gets tonite is actually what he gets normally. It means he plays a non-descript game, that basically doesn't change from game to game. It's not that he has to average exactly 3 and 3, but that his game isn't much better than that. 


> his defense did stink in the 4th quarter though. it was weird how bad it got, considering he seemed to have Miller reasonably contained for the first three quarters. maybe he got tired or something.


I think they had the wrong guy defending him.



> what can you do, though? the guy is 25 in his first job as a consistent NBA starter.


same is true of telfair too. They're both streaky, inconsistent players, who have good games, and then bad games (usually 'bout the same %).


> I'm surprised people are really so mad about this game. Denver's a pretty good team, and are 9-1 in their last ten games. good teams beat mediocre/bad teams all the time in the NBA, even when the mediocre/bad team leads for much of the game.


I'm not sure why people are mad. Considering the team has 0 free throws from it's starters, and was careless at the end, I think a 3 point loss isn't horrible. I really wish they got the win (and was semi-confident when they were up by 12) but meh..



> the better team won.
> I can't wait for Miles to come back. when Randolph sits (or is consistently denied the ball) our offense becomes a mess. Darius can fix some of that.


I hope he can, but his shot still isn't his best part of the game. Maybe with Darius creating his offense when Zach is doubled, and then him hopefully passing to Blake/Dixon/Telfair/whoever, it'll help.

and maybe this year, Darius will actually pass the ball to Viktor.


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## RipCity9 (Jan 30, 2004)

How could you not be upset about this game? One player absolutely threw it away! Blake was so awful I still can't fathom just how bad he was - what the hell was he still doing in the game at that point?! Horrible!

Equally horrible were the whole 3 second half fouls called on Denver! I've never seen such a bull**** period of non-calls.


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## Fork (Jan 2, 2003)

Why all the anger? 

We're not that good. Our players will make mistakes. McMillan will make mistakes (especially when you have the benefit of hindsight.) 

It's just one game. We've been playing pretty well lately and we hung in against a really good Denver team.


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## Blazer Freak (Jul 11, 2004)

What I am mad about is that people are so much on Blakes jock. But in reality he keeps us in games just as much as he loses them. This isn't the first time he has made crucial mistakes in crunch time. Look at the pass to no one against Detroit, or this game. Why not just give Telfair the job, when he was kept in the game by Nate his confidence was up again and was back to driving. He looked much better. We need to give him another chance starting IMO.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Blazer Freak said:


> What I am mad about is that people are so much on Blakes jock. But in reality he keeps us in games just as much as he loses them. This isn't the first time he has made crucial mistakes in crunch time. Look at the pass to no one against Detroit, or this game. Why not just give Telfair the job, when he was kept in the game by Nate his confidence was up again and was back to driving. He looked much better. We need to give him another chance starting IMO.


I don't know if he deserves another spot just yet, but if the team goes through another 6 game losing streak (entirely possible) a change might be good. Maybe not necessary, but good.


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

Telfair penetrating = invincible. Seriously. He needs to start.


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## RipCity9 (Jan 30, 2004)

Fork said:


> Why all the anger?
> 
> We're not that good. Our players will make mistakes. McMillan will make mistakes (especially when you have the benefit of hindsight.)
> 
> It's just one game. We've been playing pretty well lately and we hung in against a really good Denver team.


I don't know about you, but my goals for this team aren't to keep racking up moral victories. We just gave away two home games that we should have won.


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## BBert (Dec 30, 2004)

I think some of you are a little hard on Telfair. What can you expect when Nate puts him in the same backcourt with Jack? Each time we've run that combination, it hasn't been pretty. It isn't all about Telfair. 

Also, the period where Telfair was in and Denver came back to tie was coincident with Denver playing the pressuring, trapping team defense. I think it would have worked the same regardless of which of our tiny backcourts were in the game. Next year when Webster is up to speed, we can pair Telfair with an actual shooting guard instead of another point guard. I think we'll be abused much less on defense, at least.

Oh, and I thought Telfair's defense was better than Blake's. Also, Blake passed up a lot of open looks, right from the start of the game. I think he just didn't respond well to his career 4th quarter performance against Dallas. It seemed like he didn't want to look like he was coming out gunning, or that he didn't believe he could continue to shoot at that pace. He's also a pretty inexperienced guy, like most of our team.

Good game by the good guys overall, until the better team pulled it out at the end with clutch play and fewer mistakes.

Go Blazers.


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

RipCity9 said:


> I don't know about you, but my goals for this team aren't to keep racking up moral victories. We just gave away two home games that we should have won.


I'd say we played really well in two home games where we should have been blown out. The glass is not 65% empty, the glass is 35% full!

barfo


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

Both teams played hard


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## Goldmember (May 24, 2003)

Nate blew this one by not putting Joel back in in the fourth. I notice that a lot lately that Theo finishes games. I don't like that trend. Theo is great in short spurts but he tends to (to quote Walton) blow his load and has little left at the end of games. Joel should have been in there at the end. It may have prevented the Nuggets from scoring at will in the paint.


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## blue32 (Jan 13, 2006)

Agreed - Theo should have been subbed. They told Blake to push Martin to the base line, when he did, nobody was there to back him up. It was f'n terrible.

Blake shouldn't have hesitated on pulling the trigger for that late 4th quarter three... Although he wasn't playing as good as he should have been, the offense looks more comfortable w/him in there rather than Telfair.

Outlaw shouldnt have been called for those lame *** fouls on Carmelo, that was rediculous and put them in penalty WAY to early.....complete ref garbage.


Dixon's pair of shot clock violation 'huck it up and hope to get fouled' shots were terrible, although I love Dixon, he needed to drive and take a foul.

all in all, we should have won this game, I think Joel should have been in and it would have went the other way...


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

When I was watching the game last night one thing kind of jumped out at me. Blake definitly looked tired at times, and also looked like he got outmuscled by Miller a lot. I wonder if some of last nights performance wasn't because Blake, who really hasn't got this type of minutes in the past, is starting to hit the wall a little bit. Blake also really needs to gnard up and bulk up a little. He gets pushed around pretty badly on the post. His offensive game is fine, I think that Denver just turned up the defense another level near the end of the 4th quarter, and the WHOLE TEAM did not handle it well, which usually leads to the guy having the ball ending up looking bad. 

As for the bench unit, yes they totally stunk it up in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Yes Nate might have blown the game leaving them in, but do remember, the bench unit in the 4th quarter did gnard up and pull a lead out again, which takes a lot of guts, and takes a lot of faith from your coach in getting the job done. Nate is trying to build the confidence up, and I think by leaving them in, he actually did some of that. Where Nate probably cost Portland the game was by missing out on defensive rotations near the end of the game. Joel should have been in, he was fresher and had been resting the whole half. Its not like he played badly while he was in, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Secondly, Nate missed doing defensive guard rotations during the last few minutes of the game. Andre Miller has no range, so his game is gettting to the cup. They should have used Jack or Charles Smith defensively as needed. I would have also considered going with the "2 towers" defense concept. When a stop is needed, have Joel and Theo in at the same time and make it really hard to go inside.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

I agree the main thing was Denver turned up the D big time and Portland was confused not sure what to do. There is a reason Denver is doing so well.

Something I didn't see anyone else comment on was why wasn't Viktor playing at the end? When the O gets stagnant he seems to run out and set picks and is always moving which helps a lot. He also helps on D which is what really hurt us. We couldn't score, but we allowed them to get easy baskets.


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## NugzFan (Jul 26, 2002)

good game


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