[Oregonian] Jason Quick (Blazer beat writer) Breaks down Game 1

Ha, I like how he said Yao will go down as one of the great centers ever. I think for that, you'd have to be in the top 5 all-time centers list. I don't think Yao will quite make that, but I loved it.

 

Yao can definitely crack the top 10 ~ 15 all time list for the center position, I would consider that all time great.

 

It's nice to get respect once in awhile from the opposition. We aren't used to that....

 

He can ALMOST guarantee they will play better. He doesn't sound too optimistic.

Good win and things look really good right now, but we've been here before. I remember a game one victory a couple of years ago that we all felt really good after, especially after one of the other team's players was crying (cough... AK47). We all know how that series turned out.

I think though, if the Rockets can have a lead (bigger the better) after the 1st quarter on Tuesday, it will REALLY start messing with the Blazers' heads IMO.

 

just one game, and it's over. let's win the second one...

 

we are to the blazers as the jazz are to us, a mismatch nightmare.

i think its incredible how many paper-rock-scissor matchups there are in the nba right now.

 

Here's another good read:

http://www.dwightjaynes.com/picking-through-the-trail-blazer-wreckage-from-game-1

 

they feel how we felt a couple of days ago after the dallas lose. Its not a good place to be, im sure alot of oregonians got little sleep last night.

 

Lets not get ahead of ourselves. We were up on Dallas and Utah. It doesn't matter if we win by 3 or 30, we are only up 1 game in this series. Lets take one game at a time and home it adds up to four wins for us.

 

That's my thought as well. This Rocket team has forged a reputation on blowing leads in the playoffs. There is a lot of basketball left in this series.

Great, great game last night but we still need to beat them 3 times in the next 6 games and I sure as hell don't want the Rockets to have a game 7 in Portland. So make that 3 victories in 5 games.

 

Great win obviously but as others have already stressed: we've been here before. Their shooters are bound to get hot and McMillan is too good of a coach to not make some key adjustments. Game two should be much more competitive.

 

Outside of Houston, Yao gets this kind of respect from other teams fans and beat writers.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's the playoffs and I fully hope to keep our foot on their throats until they're beaten and dejected. That being said, this playoff series feels strange to me. I've been a fan all my life, but didn't become a hard core fan until 2002 when I moved back to Houston from overseas. Every playoff series I've seen since then I've HATED the opponent and wished nothing but terrible things for them. 2004 it was the Lakers, 05' Mavs, 07' and 08' the freakin' Jazz. I hate the fans, the players and the player's wives and children of those teams.

However, I just can not hate this Portland team. I've always like LMA, Roy plays the right way, Oden will get better and seems like a sweet guy, and Rudy and Outlaw are fun to watch. I would love for Rockets fans to get as rowdy as Portland's. So here's to hoping we will win this series and God willing peacefully and respectfully dismantle these guys in 4 or 5 games. Then likely on to the Lakers or Jazz(doubt it) and I will be back to my hateful self! Thanks for letting me vent!

 

no he doesnt.

let's not get ahead of ourselves. this is mainly just a reactionary response from quick - who here wouldn't be completely demoralized had it been us to lose by 30?

that was a beautiful game to watch, but i'm not going to make the same mistake i did in 05 and 06. game 2 will be very telling. the blazers were successful in denying yao positioning in quarter 3 and fortunately the other players were able to step up. i expect them to employ this defensive scheme from the start in game 2, so the question is if our supporting cast can maintain their production.

 

That was an excellent read. Thanks for that. The guy pretty much nailed it.

 

i liked this quote:

 

You have to understand that Yao is among a different category of centers.

He among the Musesan, Bol, Eaton, Bradley, Sampson, etc. category....not the regular category.

He is the GREATEST among that group and will be identified as such after he retires.

He is currently wrongly compared to Olajuwon, Ewing, Shaq, etc. today.

We will understand his importance and abilities only after he is gone

 

Only due to Sampson's injury. Sampson was just as good as the Shaqs, Olajuwons, Ewings before he got hurt.

Of course, you could say stability is a big part of being a great player.

 

We'll never know about sampson but during their time together, dream to me was the more traditional low post center. Sampson was a finesse player who spent alot of time on the perimeter and wanted to be a guard.

The one name that I heard that intrigued me when compared to Yao was arvydas sabonis. I never saw the guy in his prime as he was already old and broken down when he joined the blazers. But fellow foreign players like vlade divac gushed about arvydas.