First of all, part of this post will be fairly objective and part of it will be anything but objective. Most of the time, I can look at the Blazers pretty objectively when writing about the team. But talk to me in the middle of a game, and I am anything but reasonable. I bet it actually gets pretty entertaining sometimes. But I digress. First, the objective, reasonable part of this post.
So it looks like the Blazers are in a bit of trouble. After listening to everyone of their mom (including yours truly) talk about how Dallas had no shot in the first round and the Blazers were going to pretty much beat them up and take their lunch money, it looks like so far, Dallas is the team that is getting it done and coming up clutch when they need to.
That doesn't mean that the first two games have been runaway Dallas victories, though. Far from it. Both games were very close for 3 quarters, and then saw the Mavericks pull away in the 4th quarter. Nowitzki has been damn good. Jason Kidd has been damn good too. For Portland, Gerald Wallace has been pretty good and LaMarcus Aldridge has been decent, but Aldridge hasn't been great in down the stretch and in the 4th quarter. And there's your difference in the series thus far.
ESPNDallas.com blogger Tim MacMahon puts it this way, "But it comes down to the go-to guys. LaMarcus Aldridge, the skinny kid from Seagoville, Texas, who blossomed into an NBA star this season, certainly has nothing to be ashamed of. He's averaging 25.5 points on 55 percent shooting in the two games. But Dirk is the dude who has gotten it done with the game on the line. In the two fourth quarters, Nowitzki has a 32-9 scoring edge on Aldridge."
ESPNDallas.com blogger Tim MacMahon puts it this way, "But it comes down to the go-to guys. LaMarcus Aldridge, the skinny kid from Seagoville, Texas, who blossomed into an NBA star this season, certainly has nothing to be ashamed of. He's averaging 25.5 points on 55 percent shooting in the two games. But Dirk is the dude who has gotten it done with the game on the line. In the two fourth quarters, Nowitzki has a 32-9 scoring edge on Aldridge."
This series is far from over. Dallas did what they were supposed to do -- defend the home court. Whenever these two teams play, the home team wins. It's been that way for about the last decade. Portland needs to defend the home court and see what happens when the series goes back to Dallas. If Portland drops this next game back home in the Rose Garden, then that will be an appropriate time to sound the alarm. Let's just hold off until then though, before we panic.
Now, here comes the not-so-objective stuff. Pardon me while I spout off some random thoughts.
Now, here comes the not-so-objective stuff. Pardon me while I spout off some random thoughts.
Jason "The Jet" Terry: While watching the highlights this morning, I noticed that Jason Terry did his little "flying around like a jet" celebration after making a routine layup with a minute left in the first quarter. After making said layup, the score of the game was 19-17, Portland had the lead. Go back and read those two sentences again and tell me if it sounds right to you.
Let me propose something that should become some sort of rule in the NBA. You should never be able to do a celebratory move or gesture if you're not making a shot that is either a) extremely difficult to pull off physically or b) actually happens at an important juncture of the game. Terry's layup last night wasn't clutch, didn't happen at an important juncture of the game, wasn't physically hard to pull off, and didn't even give them the lead! Jason Terry should be suspended one game for being a complete dumbass, if you ask me.
(So after a quick search of YouTube, I've learned that apparently, Jason Terry does his "signature move" after, like, 83% of the shots he makes, regardless of what type of shot they are, which is utterly stupid.)
Oh and by the way, Jason, you may want to think about getting a new nickname. Kenny Smith claimed "The Jet" a long time ago. Just an FYI though.
Dirk Nowitzki: Mark Cuban was on the Dan Patrick show a few months ago, and made the claim that when he retires, Dirk Nowitzki would be considered a greater NBA player than Larry Bird. Now, I don't have the time and/or space to get into great detail right now, but the notion that Dirk Nowitzki is or will be considered a greater player than Larry Bird someday is a load of horseshit, folks. And don't talk to me about how Dirk recently passed Bird in career points, okay?
When Dirk actually wins something, then get back to me. We'll talk then.
When Dirk actually wins something, then get back to me. We'll talk then.
Brandon Roy: Maybe you've heard by now but Brandon Roy almost cried last night because he didn't get to play very much last night.
I'll be honest with you all. I'm so f-ing sick of hearing about Brandon Roy's feelings, that I wanna take a steak knife and jab it into my groin. Seriously. The Blazers just lost game two of the opening round of the playoffs, and the fact that Brandon Roy was really sad that he didn't get to play very much is the lead story?
Brandon Roy is a great dude and all, but the hard truth is that he is approximately half the basketball player that he once was for this team. I know the guy must be taking a pretty big hit to his ego, but there aren't a lot of ways to dress it up.
This isn't B-Roy's team anymore. I wish that I could say that it was, but do you see him when he's out there. It sure ain't pretty. It's still really hard to watch. The next time the media comes up and asks you how you're feeling about things, please Brandon, if you have to fake it, please do, because I can't hear one more word about how hurt your feelings are. I really can't. I'm sorry.
If I was getting paid $13,520,500 bucks to be a role player on a playoff-caliber team in the NBA, I wouldn't mind that deal one bit.
I'll be honest with you all. I'm so f-ing sick of hearing about Brandon Roy's feelings, that I wanna take a steak knife and jab it into my groin. Seriously. The Blazers just lost game two of the opening round of the playoffs, and the fact that Brandon Roy was really sad that he didn't get to play very much is the lead story?
Brandon Roy is a great dude and all, but the hard truth is that he is approximately half the basketball player that he once was for this team. I know the guy must be taking a pretty big hit to his ego, but there aren't a lot of ways to dress it up.
This isn't B-Roy's team anymore. I wish that I could say that it was, but do you see him when he's out there. It sure ain't pretty. It's still really hard to watch. The next time the media comes up and asks you how you're feeling about things, please Brandon, if you have to fake it, please do, because I can't hear one more word about how hurt your feelings are. I really can't. I'm sorry.
If I was getting paid $13,520,500 bucks to be a role player on a playoff-caliber team in the NBA, I wouldn't mind that deal one bit.
