---
If anyone wants to, let's live blog this game in the comments! I've been on pins and needles all day! 7:30 PM tip off here in Portland, on both KGW (NBC, Channel 8) and ESPN, as well as on the radio at 95.5 FM. Can our recently on fire young team overcome the experience and defensive presence of the Rockets? Let's find out!
Okay, so I have done the traditional walk to Subway for dinner. I am wearing the 1995 Rip City Hoop Camp and red Brandon Roy jersey that have helped the Blazers to their last five wins. ESPN is showing clips of the Rockets arriving at the Rose Garden.
ReplyDeleteLet's get this thing started already!
Mike Rice tells us that Ron Artest is "Number one in intimation." Yeah, punching out crowd members will do that.
ReplyDeleteKey to the game, according to Mr. Rice: Get to the foul line. Win the three point battle. Hold the Rockets to 40% shooting.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see.
Wow, this is like a high school crowd. Let's go Blazers, clap clap clap-clap-clap!
ReplyDeleteChills. "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC for the intro video. Wow.
ReplyDeleteNational Anthem over. Introductions over. Let's do this.
ReplyDeleteSwitching to ESPN. Can I say how much I enjoy HD? It's like putting in a new pair of contacts every time I turn on the TV.
ReplyDeleteWell, the Blazers do sometimes start poorly. 11-2 Houston, 8:37 left in the first. Physical play. Whatever. Prediction: Houston will not continue to shoot 83% from the field for the rest of the game.
ReplyDeleteMR. FRITZ,
ReplyDeleteYOUR JUST A COMPLETE CRACK UP. I can feel your excitment through these quotes.
Jazmyne!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining the conversation!
Watch out Houston, Brandon Roy is coming for you! 11-8, 7:11.
At this pace, Yao Ming will score 100+ points tonight.
ReplyDeleteMan, Brandon Roy is amazing.
Houston is being very aggressive. Third And-1 opportunity converted. I still believe that they are not going to keep up this shooting pace.
ReplyDeleteFINALLY some defense. Thank you Steve Blake.
how do i watch it live on the internet?
ReplyDeleteHouston has 30 points with 2 minutes and 11 seconds left in the quarter. Shooting 13-16, 81.3%. You would be hard pressed to shoot that well with nobody defending at all. That means that we are play zero defense.
ReplyDeleteJazmyne, I'll work on a link for you.
ESPN's GameCast.
ReplyDeleteWow, about time Houston got a foul called on them.
hmm, that didnt really help
ReplyDeleteEnd of first quarter, Houston up 34-23. Again, we need to play defense. Other than that, we are doing okay, really. Yao is a huge problem.
ReplyDeleteJazmyne, they usually don't stream live video online from the games, due to all sorts of restrictions.
oh alrighty
ReplyDelete44-35, Houston up with 5:28 left in the half. Portland playing marginally better, but Houston still hitting an unbelievable amount of shots. 65% for the game, Portland at 43%.
ReplyDeleteA really physical game so far. That's the playoffs.
62-44, Rockets after 24 minutes. Okay. Throw out that half Blazers. There was nothing at all to build on from it.
ReplyDeleteYao Ming is completely owning us. He is scoring at will and doing a very good job of not fouling. He literally hasn't missed a shot and has 24 points and 7 rebounds.
Brandon is having to do all the work himself, as I thought he would. I was not anticipating him getting kneed in the head and having no foul called though.
Houston just played a dominant half. The good thing is that Portland definitely knows how to come from behind. They lead the league in wins when coming from behind double digits. However, it certainly is going to be a long road back. Blazers might want to go back to the old strategy of fronting Yao with Aldridge and having Joel and Greg back him up. Anything. Just not what we are doing right now.
Ugh. Aaron Brooks, I loved you when you were a Duck, but you are killing me now.
Time to press the reset button.
I just had a bowl of Life cereal, in the hopes that it would breathe new life into the Blazers. In related news, I'm a nerd.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a good game for the Blazers.
ReplyDeleteThe Rockets have shot 24 free throws, making 21.
The Blazers have shot 5 free throws, making 4.
I suspect that has something to do with why we are absolutely getting dominated right now.
...Oh my gosh Mr. Fritz. I have no idea what's happening. Whether its the nerves or just a poor night for the Blazers, but I can add that the refs are not making it anyyyyy better! They have been making me so angry and they're not doing a great job. I just hope the Blazers can realize the level at which they need to compete at, in order to move further on.
ReplyDeleteYou know that Blazers game isn't going well when:
ReplyDeleteThe last four text messages in your phone say: "Disaster half." "This sucks." "re: Blazer game... :(" and "I've been watching... maybe I'm bad luck. Like their black shoes."
A friend comes over to watch the game, but leaves because we all agree that it is barely worth watching.
Ooh, another incoming text: "Sadness in my heart..."
ReplyDeleteHello Archana!
What is happening to our team? This is completely unlike them in every way!
my texts pretty much say,
ReplyDelete"The refs suck...the rockets get away with everything...there's still time...this is not good...I'm angry...we need to pick this series up."
This is most definietly going the way I wanted it to.
Just got confirmation from my friend at the game, the crowd was just chanting "These refs suck!" His reply: "Yes. Yes it is, and it's embarrassing."
ReplyDeleteYes, the refs are not helping, but you have to give it up to Houston's game plan. They have been getting wide open shots the entire night (man, Aaron Brooks needs to stop hitting threes) and contesting EVERYTHING the Blazers put up. Tons of horrible shots - the type that Travis Outlaw is normally the only Blazer to take. Now the entire team is settling for long, contested jumpers.
ohh, and "Are you even kidding me?"
ReplyDeleteYep, that looks exactly like mine.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Roy has the worst +/- on the team right now, at -23. Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks are in the +30s. That is not supposed to happen.
yeah, I totally agree that the Rockets have done a great job. And so the next game(s) we need to play much better. We just need to come out with more confidence as well.
ReplyDeleteArch,
ReplyDeleteYes. Though is it going to be incredibly difficult to be confident after getting worked like a punching bag the entire game.
My brother just texted me: "This only counts as one loss, right?"
oh, and apparently Jeff Van Gundy predicted that, "The Rockets are going to blow out the Blazers"
ReplyDeleteNot the exact way we wanted to prove him wrong...
Yeah, I heard him say that earlier today. At the time, I just thought it was because he coached Houston for a few seasons. Nope.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very large hill to climb. Luckily, it is a best of seven series. Game 2 is going to be do or die.
P.S. - What is it with the road teams today? Chicago, Dallas, and Houston all proving that home court is entirely overrated.
Oh my gosh I know! Especially the bulls winning IN Boston! That was crazy.
ReplyDeleteI know! I couldn't believe it. That game really made me see why Derrick Rose is going to win Rookie of the Year. Incredibly impressive.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many bad things to this game. Yao is getting an enormous amount of rest. Houston cannot possibly have more confidence. Portland is going to be questioned like crazy for three days. And, we just lost home court. Ugh.
You know how Rice just said that the Blazers must feel like they have let the city down? Well nahh, I'm still with them. I mean yes, it was disappointing, but they need the support now more than ever. I love them to death with every win or loss. And right now, it is all a learning experience, so we'll see how things go from here. And hopefully they will go well.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point. The city needs to rally. Mark Stein, one of the main NBA guys at ESPN.com, was convinced that the Blazers would freeze up and let the fans down, and that we would begin to turn on the team. No sir. Even if we get swept, it's a learning experience. The playoffs were the goal this year. We hoped for better the last few weeks, but hey, now that we are here, it is time to gain that valuable experience.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY!
ReplyDeleteFinal score: 108-81. Worst home loss in Blazers playoff history, Mike Barrett announces. The keys to the game (along with any other aspect) went completely awry. We are the top rebounding team in the league and got out boarded 44-30. That is unacceptable.
ReplyDelete1-11 from 3PT for the Blazers. Ugh.
Rockets came back down to earth (kind of) to shoot 58.5% for the game. Blazers shot just 41.7%, taking 19 more shots than the Rockets.
Yao did not miss a shot the entire game. He was the key to that immediate great start that shut up the crowd and the Rockets never looked back.
Finally, the free throw disparity: 24-28 for the Rockets, 10-16 for the Blazers.
Any other final thoughts out there?
bleh.
ReplyDeletehopefully next time...
we can do it:)
Good call. That about sums up my reaction too. Time to wash that bad taste out. It will be really interesting to hear how the Blazers reacted in the locker room after the game.
ReplyDeleteOH GOD Mr. Fritz,
ReplyDeleteactually that is exactly how it makes you feel..that is the feeling after that loss!
also, i REALLY have no idea what im going to do for my project
ReplyDeleteJazmyne,
ReplyDeleteOutline some general ideas for what you could do, to bring to class tomorrow. We are going to have a good portion of the time in class to devote to figuring it all out.
ok good. cuz i honestly do NOT know what to do
ReplyDeleteWell, you are a person of many talents. Think of ways that they could be put to use! :-)
ReplyDeletehaha,
ReplyDeletealrighty then
hey guys did you see the blazers game. What a blow out.
ReplyDeleteoh my goshh! That video is so horrible! Haha it almost made me want to cry!
ReplyDeleteI know! Just like the game! Except now I have watched it like 15 times and it makes me laugh harder each time. It's so ridiculous, but so true. That game tape deserves to be destroyed.
ReplyDeletewell i feel bad that they lost but at the same time...kind of glad cause im a rockets fan.
ReplyDeleteGahh I know! And yeah, it is pretty funny. Obviously he's not a die-hard fan like us:) hehe
ReplyDelete