I saw the game.

[KingSpeed]

I had forgotten that Jet Blue has ESPN. I saw the first half on the plane (to NYC). We landed at halftime and I watched the rest of the game with two Boston fans at a sports bar in the airport.

I'm really not upset with the loss. Strange. Losses usually kill me. But not this one. Boston is the better more experienced team. We only lost by 15. The Lakers lost by THIRTY NINE the last time they played there. If you've watched my YouTube series, you know what I've said about playing in Boston. I saw two games there last season and it is a really really intimidating place to play. The way we fell apart there makes sense to me actually. I could feel what they were going through. That said, I don't think we'll ever lose a game by 20+ points because our "scrubs" are so good that they'll always make it respectable. And that's what they did. My only problem is that Nate didn't put Roy back in when we cut the lead to 11 with several minutes to play. Things had calmed down and the building was quieted and Roy could've worked some magic.

So "how" did it happen? Well, to me, there were two turning points. The first one was when Oden was called for a technical for doing the same dunk has been doing all season. We had confidence and that put a damper on things. The second point was where we trailed 36-40 and Rudy was WIDE OPEN in the corner and missed. That was it. If Rudy hits that shot, it's a one point game and we keep our confidence and maybe stay in the game a little longer than we did. But he missed and that was it. We didn't score forever after that. We needed to make those shots. They were all over Roy so one of our other guys like Rudy should've had a field day and didn't.

Finally, I was glad to see Bayless play. He should've been in during the first half. Rondo, who deserves to go to the All-Star game this season, was blowing past Blake and Sergio. We need Bayless to be our starting PG and soon. And I love Blake and Sergio. Don't get me wrong. But Bayless is the future.

There. That is all I have to say. I'm proud of the team. We're 14-7. Even if we lose to Toronto, it's a winning trip, but if we win, it's fantastic. 15-7? I will take it. And as for Boston, we'll get another chance at our place.

Go Blazers

 

[Shooter]

Oddly enough, I feel pretty much the same. This was a huge learning experience for the Blazers. It was clear that Portland doesn't yet have the confidence it needs for a big game like this, but that will come in time.

I also don't understand why McMillan didn't put Roy back in at about 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The game was still up for grabs at that point, and he could have helped the team narrow the gap. I guess McMillan wanted to show a little confidence in the guys who had brought us back.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I'm really tired of Outlaw's game. The guy has only about two offensive moves, and you can see what he's going to do before he even does it. There's no subtlety or nuance to his game. He never really does anything new. Seems like every single game is a rerun of the last one for Travis Outlaw. He used to be a little underrated, now I think he's a little overrated. I wouldn't mind seeing him go.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

It was a tough loss. We just couldn't hit any jumpers! none.

Also, Channing Frye did his best Ha Seung-Jin impression today.

 

[Nikolokolus]

It was a tough loss. We just couldn't hit any jumpers! none.

Charles said it best, "live by the jump shot, die by the jump shot."

Also, Channing Frye did his best Ha Seung-Jin impression today.

I love Channing's personality, hate, hate, hate his game.

 

[DaRizzle]

Charles said it best, "live by the jump shot, die by the jump shot."

Yeah...I was thinking that coming into this game for you guys. Celtics will turn you (any team) into a jump shot team if you dont stick to your plan come hell or high water. On top of that they contest those jumpers they give you pretty well too

 

[bigbailes]

i agree on travis...the ball gets rotated to him and everything STOPS. even if he doesn't take the shot he pauses and lets the D catch up and then it's one-on-one for him. i agree kingspeed that this loss isn't nearly as bad as most on here want it to be, but i gotta disagree on bayless. the problem wasn't blake/serg not being able to keep up with rondo (there are very few in the NBA that can and i don't think bayless is one of them), it was nate telling them to press rondo. if i'm a coach, force RR and Perkins to beat you and stick on the big three at all times. that didn't happen, we pressed Rondo, he burned by us and created opportunities for the rest of the celts.

oh well, whats done is done. now let's end the trip with a win in Toronto.

 

[#1_War_Poet_ForLife]

Just two weeks ago, everyone here had a mancrush on Channing.

 

[Sedatedfork]

The things that upset me about the game was the team just being outhustled. From the 2nd quarter until Bayless was inserted it looked like the team just wasn't trying. Not going after loose balls, barely trying to rebound.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Just two weeks ago, everyone here had a mancrush on Channing.

Define "everyone."

 

[bluefrog]

Some observations:
1) We need to take the ball inside when the jump shots aren't falling. Roy was the only one doing it and he got to the line because of it

Also our transition defense reeked. maybe because of the road trip grind...

2) Bayless played well, we need more of him.

3) Frye played terribly (I think the announcers even said that was the worse 24 seconds of play they'd ever seen from one guy), we need less of him.

4) The Celtics have serious bench problems. With their big 3 out of the game Portland made a run to get back in the game. They're going to have more problems as the season drags on and especially in the Play offs. They *might* be able to make a trade or sign someone to remedy it.

 

[Celtic Fan]

meh good way to put it kingspeed. The Blazers are the 2nd youngest team in the league, this was a learning experience and the team has time on their side.

 

[Nikolokolus]

4) The Celtics have serious bench problems. With their big 3 out of the game Portland made a run to get back in the game. They're going to have more problems as the season drags on and especially in the Play offs. They *might* be able to make a trade or sign someone to remedy it.

By the time the Playoffs roll around they'll be playing an 8 man rotation and the depth of their bench won't matter much. Make no mistake, that team is going to crush people all year long.

 

[bluefrog]

By the time the Playoffs roll around they'll be playing an 8 man rotation and the depth of their bench won't matter much. Make no mistake, that team is going to crush people all year long.

Definitely, if they all keep healthy. I don't know what they are averaging minutes wise but it's got to be high. If they're legs can take it without any serious injuries, they'll be right back in the Finals. If one of the big 3 goes down, I predict an early exit from the Play-offs.

 

[MrJayremmie]

i agree on travis...the ball gets rotated to him and everything STOPS. even if he doesn't take the shot he pauses and lets the D catch up and then it's one-on-one for him. i agree kingspeed that this loss isn't nearly as bad as most on here want it to be, but i gotta disagree on bayless. the problem wasn't blake/serg not being able to keep up with rondo (there are very few in the NBA that can and i don't think bayless is one of them), it was nate telling them to press rondo. if i'm a coach, force RR and Perkins to beat you and stick on the big three at all times. that didn't happen, we pressed Rondo, he burned by us and created opportunities for the rest of the celts.

I agree. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why they were playing Rondo close at all. You give him the jump shot all day, and play him like teams played Sergio last year. But IDK if Nate told them to do this, or if they didn't pay attention to the scouting report.

 

[KingSpeed]

By the time the Playoffs roll around they'll be playing an 8 man rotation and the depth of their bench won't matter much. Make no mistake, that team is going to crush people all year long.

Not true. Powe, Posey, Brown, House, Cassell, and even Big Baby all got minutes in the playoffs last season. I'm probably missing someone too.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Not true. Powe, Posey, Brown, House, Cassell, and even Big Baby all got minutes in the playoffs last season. I'm probably missing someone too.

I'm not saying it will be a strict 8 man rotation, but I'd expect 90% of the available minutes to be divvied up between those 8.

 

[bluefrog]

I don't think their bench is as deep as it was last season. By far their starting 5 average the most burn of any other 5man unit in the NBA:
http://www.82games.com/0809/USORT1.HTM

 

[HOWIE]

They have a core of seasoned All Star veterans, that makes a difference too.

 

[roydezlaw]

I also don't understand why McMillan didn't put Roy back in at about 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The game was still up for grabs at that point, and he could have helped the team narrow the gap. I guess McMillan wanted to show a little confidence in the guys who had brought us back.

Why bring Roy back? They would have put their starters back in too. Roy didn't look right from the beginning of the game. He looked like he didn't want to be there. He lost his cool early and started complaining to the refs and jawing with Pierce. I thought that this game showed that Brandon is farther away from being a super star than Quick tries to protray.

Plus it was mighty embarrassing to hear Van Gundy's disgust with our effort. We were thoroughly embarrassed more by our effort than the score shows.

 

[mgb]

I felt last nite that the big change was because of Frye's play. At the time when he made his bad series of plays I thought in a game like this we can't afford to do stuff like that and after that he put up at least one bad air ball. I'm not putting it all on Fyre, but he was a major contributor.

 

[tlongII]

I felt last nite that the big change was because of Frye's play. At the time when he made his bad series of plays I thought in a game like this we can't afford to do stuff like that and after that he put up at least one bad air ball. I'm not putting it all on Fyre, but he was a major contributor.

I agree. Frye's meltdown was the turning point in the game.