Well, there's no where to go but up from here. Portland's first foray into the playoffs since 2003 was an unpleasant one, but there's still plenty of basketball to be played in this series.
Chalk this one up to nerves and a whole lot of Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks, both of whom outscored the Trail Blazers starters combined, sans Brandon Roy's 21 points. I don't recall ever seeing Yao look more dominate (which is really going out on a limb considering he went 9-for-9) and Brooks proved why the Rockets were comfortable in trading away Rafer Alston. I still can't beleive some people doubted Brooks' ability to play in this league.
Game One in the books. Let's hope that the jitters will be gone in Game Two. It's just one game.
In the interim, enjoy (as if such a thing were possible) some postgame interview audio.
• Nate McMillan Postgame (6.3 MB)
• Brandon Roy Postgame (3.3 MB)
• Yao Ming Postgame (5.4 MB)
• Rick Adelman Postgame (4.0 MB)
You can also watch video of postgame locker room interviews here.
I AM VERY PROUD TO BE A BLAZER FAN. WIN OR LOSE. I AM PROUD OF ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR. YOU HAVE ALL DONE SO WELL. I KNOW YOU CAN BEAT HOUSTON. THEY ARE A TEAM THAT CAN BE BEAT. I KNOW YOU WILL FIND A WAY & DO YOUR BEST. WIN OR LOSE IN THE PLAYOFFS YOU ALL HAVE DONE AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO GREAT. I AM A FAN WHO WILL UPRISE WITH YOU. THEY MAY SAY YOUR TOO YOUNG & THEY MAY SAY YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IN PLAYOFFS. WHO NEEDS EXPERIENCE, YOU WILL GAIN THAT AS YOU GO. PLAY YOUR BEST BASKETBALL AND YOU WILL DO GREAT. DON'T LISTEN TO ALL THE HYPE, DO YOUR BEST. YOU HAVE THE HEART OF THE GAME IN EACH OF YOU. YOU HAVE THE HEART OF THE BLAZERS. IT IS GREAT TO FINALLY SEE RIP CITY BACK IN PORTLAND, THANKS FOR GIVING THAT BACK TO US. WIN OR LOSE YOUR GREAT.
ReplyDelete#1 FAN
JANET PUCIK
As I watched the postgame interviews I kept on hearing the same thing, "They came out hard, they were on a mission and they got the win." That can't be an excuse if Rip City is going to have sucsess in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteThere is no "silver bullet" adjustment that the Blazers can make that will win the series. It comes down to everybody doing their best. If Yao is going to have a hot night there isn't much you can do to stop him. what you need to do is turn around and do better on the side of the court that you can change, the offense.
One of the things that was missing on Saturday was good ball movement. That led to a whole ton of problems, like only getting one three the entire game. I remember watching other games this season and seeing the good ball movement the Blazers are known for lead to Rudy swishing threes and someone like Batum getting a quick pass behind the defense and getting a huge dunk. But on Saturday the thing I saw the most was Roy having to go one on one to try to keep his team in the game.
Everybody knows that the Blazers can win against anybody in the league. On Tuesday they have to go out and prove it, not just for themselves but for their fans who stuck by them
I hope the team gets to read this or get talked to about this because they need a fire lit under them to win this series for all of their fans who are counting on them. GO BLAZERS!
TRUE BLAZERS FAN CHEER THE TEAM ON WHETHER THEY WIN OR LOSE YOU NEED TO BELIVE IN THE YOUNG PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS TEAM THEY CAN BEAT HOUSTON! ALWAYS CHEER FOR THEM WHETHER THEY WIN OR LOSE AND A LOT OF THE BLAZERS FAN BELIEVE IN THE TEAM BECAUSE THE ROSE GARDEN IS ALWAYS FULL WHEN THERE IS A TRAIL BLAZERS HOME GAME THATS WHY I AM A BLAZER FAN I CHEER WHETHER THEY WIN OR LOSE! I AM PROUD OF YOU GUYS FOR DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB DURING THE SEASON AND NOW AT THE PLAYOFFS 2009! WIN HOUSTON AND SHOW US A YOUNG TEAM CAN STILL BE STRONG AND THEY BELONG IN THE PLAYOFFS. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.
ReplyDelete#1 FAN
LILY
Ya know in a game like this when Yao has a freak night and noting seems to go the Blazers way, you know that at the end of the night that the team feels like they let their fans down. That's what makes the Blazers' organization and their fan base so special. They care about their fans like no other, and we love our team. We have the best fans in the NBA. Every other team that had a home town boy starting for the opposing team would have brought the roof down with boos. Aaron Brooms stepped on the floor and cheered as if he had a Trail Blazer jersey on. THat was the definition of class, even in a time like the playoffs. I won't lie, it hurt sitting up in 304 after driving 5 hours to make the game to watch Portland receive a wake up call like that. They didn't come out and and put our great play to shame, we simply must have been thinking too much (or at least that's what i think). We didn't once play Trail Blazers basketball. I've talked to too many people that hop on and off the Blazers bandwagon. I hang my Travis Outlaw Jersey in my car, I put the Rip City Uprise Flags on my windows, I show off my pictures, and I talk em up at work; win or lose. Anyone that is a TRUE fan knows that that was not the Trail BLazers that we know playing. That was nerves, that was playoffs jitters, that was something maybe really weird that we haven't heard of before, but what's for sure is it's something we aren't going to see again anytime soon. We're young, we got guts, and can play with anytime in the league. We've dumped the best, without our best, we have a young team thats tight and contributes in all aspects of the game. We rally behind them, they rally behind us. If we stick with them, they will succeed. We can win in Houston, and losing at some isn't natural for us this season. It's fuel and something good will come from this.
ReplyDeleteRip City, Baby!
Playoffs, Baby!
Get it, Trail Blazers.
One of many #1 fans,
Adam Machadovich