The Portland Trail Blazers finally kicked off their 2008-2009 NBA season on Tuesday. I, along with most of the rest of the city, have been waiting for this moment all summer long. And the Blazers proceeded to go out and lay an egg in the first half and lose by 20 to the reigning Western Conference champs. After the game, Nate McMillan might have told his team to completely forget about what just happened.
But throughout the embarassing nationally televised game, there actually were some positives: First of all, the play of Rudy Fernandez in his first NBA game was very impressive. Although we did not see much of his flashy play, he was calm and under control. He showed a smooth stroke from the outside and his ability to lead a team. Also, the team played much stronger in the second half. They were only outscored by five in the final 24 minutes and the entire team looked more confident (albeit against a Laker team that already had the game won). But the best thing to take away from the game was that is one less time to play the Lakers this season. They can now look forward to their home opener against San Antonio on Friday.
Obviously, there are many concerns for Blazer fans after game one. Everyone in Portland is worried about Greg Oden's injury. But I believe it is something not to fret too much over. It was his foot, not his knee, which is fantastic news for the Blazers. Before his injury, Oden was basically non-existant on the offensive end, maybe the 2-4 weeks he is out will give him some time to work on his touch around the hoop.
Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge struggled throughout the game, but Blazer fans should not worry. Roy had two of the best defenders in the league on him all night long. Kobe Bryant proved he is this planet's premier defender in this years Olympics by continually defending each country's best offensive player. When Kobe took a break from Roy, Phil Jackson put Trevor Ariza on the Blazers' star guard. Ariza is now adding a decent offensive game to an already stout defensive presence.
The things that should worry Blazer fans the most was the ineffectiveness of the point guard position and the transition defense. Steve Blake finished 3-of-6 from the three-point line, but also missed a few wide open attempts in the first half. He needs to hit those for the inside game to be working. Blake's backups also played poorly. Sergio Rodriguez was the first off the bench and looked flat-out overmatched, and Jerryd Bayless played much of the second half tentatively and nervous. Portland will need more out of their point guards to push for a playoff spot. Los Angeles scored 15 fast break points and 42 points in the paint, and many of these were easy baskets. The Blazers need to work on getting back after the offensive series.
But with all that being said, the Lakers proved they were the best team in the west by beating the Clippers by 30 on Wednesday. The Trail Blazers have a lot to work on, but they showed improvements in the second half. The going will be tough for the Blazers in the first month of the season, they have a brutal schedule and face an uphill climb without Oden, but we will now see what this team is made out of. My guess is, we'll see marked improvements as the season goes on and they get a six, seven or eight seed in the playoffs.
Keywords: Portland Trail Blazers
