That's a grown man
Last night I was so tired and brain-dead that I found myself staring at a replay of the Trail Blazers game, which had been played earlier in the evening in our nation's capital. It was a pretty unimportant contest – Washington has the worst team in the league, and the Blazers stink, too – but I was actually paying attention. Right off, I noticed that Khris Middleton has been banished to the Wizards, there to suffer in ignominy along with Jordan Poole, who wise-assed his way out of San Francisco and is now less than a footnote. It was them and a bunch of scrubs against a Portland team that is also almost all kids on the margins of the NBA.
I almost switched to a college game when lo and behold, I was shaken from my bleary reverie about the fickleness of basketball fame – blown out of it, actually – by the following sequence that unfolded on my iPad screen. It was truly remarkable.
Ho ho! Way to go, Mr. Shaedon Sharpe. And with that it was off to an early bed. I barely kept my eyes open long enough to see that Portland won by eight.
Oh, and Marcus Smart is on Washington, too. Depressing.
ReplyDeleteI had an up close look at the team last Saturday when they played the Hornets at home. Hey! That was Jusuf Nurkić! Toumani Camara did a bang-up job of locking up LaMelo Ball, who sat most of the second half, and the Blazers ended the night with the biggest margin of victory in franchise history.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you what, this is a fun group to watch. They play hard and defend. This is the type of team the town used to rally around in the post-championship years. Of course, we're in an era now where either you're playing for a championship or you're trying to land the top lottery spot. There's no in-between.
Balderdash!
The Blazers are 4-1/2 games out of the play-in game right now, with the demoralized Suns and deflated Mavericks ahead of them. It'd be cool to make a run.
I was watching in real time, and - That Dunk! It looked like he was three feet above the rim.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best dunks of the last decade, easily. Absolutely spectacular!
ReplyDeleteI've been editing some old 8mm home movies I shot in the 70's (mostly my kids) and lo and behold a couple nights ago up popped game six of the Blazers-76'ers series. Somehow I had scored a ticket near mid court, second level, and I had my movie camera with me.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I saw on the film: Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. No 3-point line. Defense. And (trust me on this one) in the five minutes or so of film, not one single dunk! Lay-ins were much preferred and that included Walton, Luke, Dr. J, Chocolate Thunder, McGinnis, and Jelly Bean Joe Bryant among the notables.
I have little interest in the men's game any longer, but do enjoy the women's professional league. Maybe because they simply cannot dunk? In my opinion the men's game would benefit from making the court about 25% longer and wider, deepening the 3-pt line, and raising the rim about two feet higher.
I fondly remember Bird and Johnson. But, lost interest in the NBA when it became a display of playground highlights
DeleteThe Blazers have been playing good ball lately. The kids have improved a lot this year and the pickup of Deni from Washington (he got kneed by Middleton, so retired early) and the trade for Camara has solidified the front line to high-level play. Camara is likely to make all-defense this year as he gets high praise from many good players. The rook, Donovan Clingan is going to be really good once he gets a few offensive moves and improves his stamina. He already is a big time rim protector and offensive rebounder. Sharpe and Scoot continue to make super nice plays, but lack consistency. We are a few players and growth spurts away from being competitive. Go Blazers. Bill Walton night is a week from Sunday- wear your tie-dye.
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