Portland Trailblazers stomp Wizards! Like there was any doubt.

So I went to the game last night and not surprisingly the Blazers ended up beating the snot out of the Wizards. Considering the Wizards dismal record - now 9-34 - it was almost everything I expected. The biggest shock of the night was Rudy Fernandez performance. He couldn't buy a basket through most of the game and he's been one of the best things about this season to date. It had to be about  the worst game of his so far. I've also noticed that when Travis Outlaw starts out missing shots it really takes him awhile to get it together and I nearly feel a personal disappointment when that happens because since last season he's been my favorite player. His decisive dunks in the fourth and great rebounds through the second half made up for a so-so first half thankfully! All the way through the first half I couldn't help but wonder how we didn't have a twenty point lead and it just seemed like the guys were playing kind of sloppy. Didn't seem like they were assuming the Wizards weren't there to play, maybe just that they weren't really a threat. Nice to see Oden putting up another double double. His consistancy is getting much better and one of the things I noticed early on is that he was going down with the ball before putting up a shot under the basket and often getting it stripped away. It seems like he's corrected that. It's definitely helped his shot and his confidence appears to be building. Everyone out there needs to step back and give him time and he'll turn into the force of nature so many expected right off the bat. Brandon Roy gave us all a little surprise with the 10 steals he pulled off. So cool how he can really do everything! Now I want to talk a little about something I read in the paper regarding trade speculation between Bayless and Rodriguez. Joe Canzano has written eloquently about subjects such as Katie Shearer and the Christmas game she got to see as well as the sadness of her passing. His articles about her completely brought me to tears and were extremely touching. With all due respect to his knowledge and years writing I did find an article last week baffling. In Wednesday's paper he suggested that Rodriguez should be the one considered as a trade option and Bayless should stay and take over the bench position once Blake is back. Is he nuts!?! I do like Bayless, don't get me wrong, but Rodriguez and Fernandez have a great rapport and since Sergio has been starting he has continued to be consistant and productive. It really seems to me that Sergio is the one who will help us the most come playoff time. Bayless is agressive and obviously has talent but Rodriguez is having a terrific season so far and it doesn't seem fair to suggest that his opportunity be taken away. Everything Kevin Pritchard has put out in the media so far indicates that this team is going to be kept together as is through the season so I'm hoping when Blake returns McMillan can find a way to give Bayless some more minutes without robbing Rodriguez of what he's definitely earned. Last thing I want to mention tonight (and I'm sure some people will find this silly or weird) is that I have been doing Tarot card readings for each game as a fun way to teach myself how to interpret the cards. There's absolutely nothing scientific about it and it's not a serious thing but right now I do have about a 65% accuracy rate and I will probably for future posts put up my win or lose "prediction" before game time. Kind of like Mike Rice doing his Confucious bit. Superstitous people out there PLEASE don't make bets based on this stuff. As the lottery disclaimers say, this is for entertainment purposes only! I'm just hoping it makes my entries a little more interesting and unique.

Continue reading "Wizards really aren't and other musings in Trailblazer country."

Basically what I've been doing this season is a simple three card draw for a yes or no answer as to whether we're going to win the game. Usually I do it just before tip off but since I'll be posting the readings here for the rest of the season I'll be pulling the cards anywhere from an hour to three hours before (most likely). The way this works is if all three cards are upright (right side up) when drawn the answer is a definite yes, if all three are reversed (upside down) it's a definite no. Two cards up, one down is a maybe yes and two down, one up is a maybe no. Easy huh? I take it a little further in that I look up the meanings to get a better interpretation on each card and apply it to what I know about the various players on both teams and possibly referee calls as well. So tonight'

Continue reading "Tarot prediction for tonight's Trailblazer game against the LA Clippers."

Happily my Tarot cards were right on when they predicted last night's win. With the Clips holding a 10-33 record before the game there really wasn't much doubt. But wait! What is going on with the first halves of the last couple of games? Why did we enter halftime with such a small lead? And as much as Blake obviously wants to play, why on earth don't they keep him out until we get to a game against, say, Utah on the 31st when we'll really need him? We haven't beaten Utah yet this season and we need to, so why take the chance that someone as important as Blake won't be ready? Lots of questions in mind tonight that I don't know the answers to! Another that comes to mind about Mike Dunleavy (and I really like him so I'm not trying to be a jerk with this one) is wondering when he'll pop a bloodvessel on the court! Poor guy spent the whole night almost beet red and looking like an anyurism waiting to happen. Wasn't surprised when he got a technical. Happened often enough when he was our coach. Great to see Roy's free throws are solidly back on track and loved Outlaw's fourth quarter. He can be such a dynamic player and has some real star potential of his own. Can't wait until the media outside of Portland starts to recognize it too! Glad Fernandez redeemed himself as well. His three's are a thing of beauty! Hopefully he'll start driving to the basket more often again with that Jordanesque style we were seeing at the beginning of the season. Sometimes it seems like Fernandez and Rodriguez have their own kind of ESP going on with passes that turn into sheer poetry of motion. I

Continue reading "Portland Blazers pound the Clippers."

Well tonight the cards all are upright again so they seem to be predicting a win but I am a little unsure about this reading since the Bobcats just beat the Lakers and have beaten them in 5 out of their last 6 meetings with the Western Conference leaders. It's just weird in my mind how a team with a 19-25 record in the Southeast Division could hold that much of a winning record over LA. Anyway here goes. First card up was the 6 of wands which is a strong card indicating victory and success through labor. This suggests that we'll have to work for the win but as much fun as routs can be, that is usually a better game. Second card up was the 8 of pentacles which relates to skills and learning in a trade or profession. I'm going to interpret this one as this game being a learning experience fo

Continue reading "Tarot prediction for tonight's Portland Trailblazer game against the Charlotte Bobcats."

So it seems that a double overtime game against the Lakers the previous night certainly worked in our favor last night. It's about time we get to play teams that are tired from back to backs. Fernandez utterly beautiful behind the head dunk may be a nice preview of what he's got planned for the All Star dunk contest too. Can't wait! About the All Star game, it's great that Oden and Fernandez where named to the rookie team but Roy shouldn't have had to wait for the coachs to recognize his value to the All Star team itself. Sometimes it seems as though Portland players will never get the respect they deserve. How is it with a solid winning record we're still apparently discounted and seen as underdogs? Just doesn't make sense. I'm thinking if we can get through at least the first few rounds

Continue reading "Trailblazers break Bobcats streak."