Tuesday night vs. Lakers

I was watching the game last night and was amazed at how hard the blazers fought. Outlaw shut Kobe down and held him to nine points in the first half. He blocked Kobe and stole the ball away from him for a ridiculous dunk late in the fourth. If you were watching you also noticed that Pau Gasol was shut down by Joel and was having a terrible night from the field. There was a stretch in the middle of the fourth where coach Nate McMillan was playing Jerrett Jack at two guard and blake at one. They looked tired and sloppy. We lost a seven point lead in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, Martell Webster who was playing excellent defense and was not turning the ball over like someone with the initials JJ, was sitting on the bench watching Kobe demolish the team and score effortlessly against JJ. How crappy! I would be irate! I like McMillan but have to ask, what are you thinking? We pay Raef LaFrentz more than anyone on our team and he sees no time on the floor, and when he is on the floor he is hustling and not turning the ball over. Joel looked tired and not ready to come back in when McMillan sat LaFrentz early in the fourth. LaFrentz could have stayed in for the remainder of the fourth quarter and i know Portland could have won that ball game. JJ needs to be traded. He has heart and an excellent attitude but I'm tired of watching the turnovers and lack of defense. Had he gone out of the game three minutes earlier in that game, Martell and LaFrentz could have provided that spark off the bench that we desperately needed in the remaining five minutes of the Laker game. McMillan then knew he had messed up, blamed himself and got tossed from the game. Sure Kobe got his calls, but we did not close out in the fourth quarter and that has been a problem all season.

Can the blazers still make the playoffs?

If you have been following the blazers this year you know that anything is possible with this group of young players. Overcoming nagging injuries to losing your future franchise player before the regular season has not helped. The officials seam to have a "hard-on" for calling piddly fouls on "Pryz" and we cant seem to win a game when Denver losses. I also have to question our coach Nate McMillan on why he pulls Steve Blake out of the game halfway through the first quarter when he is not in foul trouble and is dropping threes like a mad man and driving the lane opening up opportunities for everyone. There is a lot of things that need to come together for this to happen but is it realistic? Will Denver lose enough games to even let us take a peak into the minds of a playoff bound team? Or will we play it extra safe and watch Brandon's minutes diminish? Can we win our next three games without him, "assuming that he will only be out for that amount of time?" I think its going to be a rough second half of the season. Either way i am so exited for this team and the franchise. They have done more than they were asked to do and then some! Keep it up men!