'It was bad,' but Blazers do their best to move on Posted by Joe Freeman, The Oregonian April 19, 2009 21:20PM <snip> Some of Sunday's practice focused on doubling Houston in the post and fronting Yao on defense, a tactic that many teams have used this season, including the Blazers during their final regular-season matchup in Houston. <More snips> "We have to be tough," Roy said. "It was the first time I've seen this team down 15 and just sensed that this thing was over. And we've come back from that so many times, even on the road. Houston did a good job of putting that doubt in our minds. It was very mental last game. We have to get over that for Tuesday. "I'm calling it a must win. We have to win this game on Tuesday." http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/04/it_was_bad_but_move_on.html Post-game Blazer player comments: I don't know. I don't know,'' Batum said between long pauses. "We weren't aggressive like us. We let Yao kill us. Artest. Scola. Brooks ...'' Then it was as if he shook himself out of his funk. He became more animated, more forceful. "We can beat this team,'' Batum said. Across the room, Sergio Rodriguez was just as confident. "I think we can beat them,'' he said, unprompted. "We are going to beat them.'' But by the time he was back in his dress clothes, and his diamond earrings were back in place, Aldridge had already started to look toward Game 2 on Tuesday. "The next game will be different,'' Aldridge said. "Losing the first game doesn't mean it's over.'' Confidence? False bravada? Hopeful/wishful thinking? Blazers aren't going to roll over - unless we give them a healthy nudge. Rockets: Stay humble, stay hungry!
You have to give him some credit for having this much confidence at such a young age with no experience in the playoffs so far. But yeah, I hope we prove him wrong.
Honestly, I doubt he really even is that confident. It's faked confidence. I mean what else is he supposed to say? Everytime a team is in this position, someone says something bold like that, but more often than not, they still get screwed.
Our guys have to be ready for the adjustments but they have got to be aggressive and set the tone on both ends from the opening tip again. If we fall behind early don't worry,regroup and take the fight to them.
I think the seed of doubt as been firmly planted, and now we just need to go out tomorrow night, and start strong. If we can do that, that seed is gonna grow into a full-fledged redwood. You can tell by those quotes from Batum and Rodriguez that they're trying to manufacture confidence, which never holds strong.
