Greg Oden, Blazers Squash Kings 98-86
by Tom Ziller on Oct 7, 2009 5:25 AM PDT
in Recaps
Email
PrintOne of these years, you're going to wake up in a strange bed in a strange room in a strange house next to a strange woman with strange eyes, and you're going to ask yourself, "How did I get here?" And then the strange woman is going to open her mouth to speak, but Greg Oden's voice is going to come out, and Greg Oden's voice is going to tell you to "shut up" and "go back to sleep."
And then you'll wake up. It was all a dream. Except the Greg Oden part, because he'll be in your nightmares, telling you to "shut up" and whatnot. And your name will be Spencer Hawes.
We joked last year about Oden's health and how he may never stay on the court long enough to dominate the Kings, but sheesh. He destroyed Hawes, so long as we trust the box score and every report out of Portland. Oden: 25 minutes, 18 points, nine rebounds, a +15 in the ledger. Hawes: 23 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, -14. The time has come, I fear.
It's not so much the destruction of Hawes I fear as the general idea that the Kings, when we become good, will have a potentially game-changing foil. While I'll certainly be rooting for the Blazers to knock off the Lakers this spring, I don't want the Blazers to become too good, lest they become a sort of Less Evil Lakers From the North. I'd prefer every young Western Conference team to be "above average" at best, thankyouverymuch. No dynasties!
But Oden -- not Andre Miller, not LaMarcus Aldridge; Oden -- is the one kid who can make the Blazers special. That was a glimpse of it. And that worries me.
Onto the thumbs!
* THUMBS UP to Omri Casspi, who had a sweet little game by the looks of it: nine points in nine minutes on perfect 4-4 shooting (1-1 from three), with two rebounds (one offensive) and no mistakes in the box score. Overmatched rookies ain't supposed to give stable performances, right? Omri was the best small forward in Kings purple last night, according to the box score. In fact, let's rank them thusly:
- Omri Casspi
- Francisco Garcia (33 min, 7 points on six shooting possessions, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, one turnover, one foul)
- Donte Greene (eight min, 0 points on two shots, one of which was a three, one rebounds, two steals, one turnover)
- Andres Nocioni (17 min, two points on eight shots, four rebounds, two assists, one block, four fouls)
* TYREKE EVANS got some shine in Sam Amick's gamer -- I (obviously) encourage a read. Here's a passage:
[Evans's] play continued to be predictable in all the right kinds of ways, with no one mistaking him for a pure point guard but nearly everyone recognizing the sheer impact he can have on a game.
"He looked like a veteran out there," Kings coach Paul Westphal said of the player taken fourth overall in the June draft out of Memphis. "He fit right in. For a first game on the road in a place like this against a team like this, there were a lot of good things to take away from it."
Evans did 12 points in 24 minutes, hitting 5-of-11 on two-pointers, 0-of-2 from three, and 2-of-4 from the line. That's not terribly efficient (it is in fact quite inefficient -- Kevin Martin shot 2-for-10 from the floor and thanks to FTs and a made three ended up with a more efficient line) but he showed (by the numbers) he can get in the lane and mix it up. Two assists with only one turnover is coolbeans, too. Five rebounds, a steal and a block is huge. Five boards in 24 minutes -- that's 7.5 boards in 36 minutes. My heart palpitates.
We'll have to wait for November to really assess this team's rebounding. But holding the Blazers (who basically lapped the league in offensive rebounding last year -- they were so good) to six offensive rebounds in 34 opportunities (17.6%) is bigtime. None for LMA, only two for Oden and Joel Przybilla. Well done, sirs.
* IF WE'RE KEEPING SCORE on the point guard race,
- Tyreke Evans will never come off the bench this season.
- Beno Udrih (9 points on 7 shots) is ahead of Sergio Rodriguez (7 points on 8 shooting possessions, three turnovers to one assist).
* SEAN MAY fouled out in 13 minutes, 44 seconds. Last season's quickest foul-out was executed by Josh McRoberts, who earned six whistles in just ... 5 min, 24 seconds. (Wow. Just wow.) May has some hacking to do if he wants that record this season.
* JASON THOMPSON has gone without mention, but how about a cheer for him? He didn't foul out in 25 minutes (which, given the leaguewide whistle-happy nature of the replacement refs is impressive), he scored 12 points on 12 shooting possessions, 7 rebounds, only 1 turnover, 2 assists, a block ... hurray for JT. Nice work, I think. (You see, I couldn't see the game, so I have no idea how good his work actually was.)
* MORE COVERAGE:
- Again, check out Amick's gamer.
- Here's the Associated Press recap by Anne Peterson.
- Jason Quick's gamer in The Oregonian -- heavy on the Blazers, obvs -- is a neat look into Portland's rotation questions.
- Brian T. Smith of The Columbian has a good but weird quote from Sergio.
- UPDATE: Zach Harper charted the line-ups at Cowbell Kingdom. The opening Evans/Martin/Garcia/May/Thompson line-up was a good +3, but the line-ups with Evans/Udrih/Martin didn't fare so well.
61 comments
|
4 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Nice
I’m barely awake yet, so I’m going to try to take some time to digest all of this before attempting to make any sort of basketball-related observations.
However, you earned yourself a Rec for the Talking Heads reference. And for all the good basketball stuff too.
Never forget: I am a complete idiot
With ya on the Talking Heads reference
That was pretty funny to see TZ write that in. And, as usual, a high quality recap.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
By the box score
it looks like the Kings played pretty well overall. Outrebounding the Blazers is huge, even if it is the preseason. It looks like it’s gonna be another long season but at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
As a side note: Tyreke Evans is a BEAST in 2K10
www.mancancook.net
He's amazing dude
I bring him off the bench and just let him go to work. His passing in the games pretty nice too. A pick and roll with him and Donte is hard to stop.
Overall, the Kings’ players are low rated, but aren’t nearly as bad as their ratings indicate. I think my one issue with any of our guys is Kevin. He’s only a 77. But, he’s a bitch to score with. It’s impossible to time that weird ass shot of his. I’ll probably change it to a basic jumper.
www.mancancook.net
A Little More Awake Now
Great recap TZ. And I needed a good recap since it was (obviously) not televised in Colorado, nor was the local sports radio carrying the game. Outrageous, I know. Get it together, Colorado Springs Sports Media!
One basketball thought that came up while reading this was Sean May as the starter. Ignore for a moment that I only had one basketball thought when I read a basketball game recap/breakdown, and look at these two pieces:
* SEAN MAY fouled out in 13 minutes, 44 seconds.
* JASON THOMPSON has gone without mention, but how about a cheer for him? He didn’t foul out in 25 minutes (which, given the leaguewide whistle-happy nature of the replacement refs is impressive)
Emphasis on the second quote is mine.
If you know that our bigs have a tendency to get into foul trouble, particularly if they are overmatched, or particularly thanks to overzealous replacement refs, it seems to make a lot of sense to have Sean May hack away at the other team’s starters. Physically wear down the other team, pick up the early fouls, and then bring in the Center you want to carry you through the game.
Ideally, Spencer and JT will be better and foul less this season, but this is my rationale on why May makes sense as a starter. I might be giving Westphal too much credit. Or May not enough credit. Or I could just be an idiot. But this is what jumped out at me.
That and I remain oh so excited for Tyreke Evans.
Never forget: I am a complete idiot
I really like where you're going with this
although it also could be an argument for bringing him off the bench to hack away. I’m not sure why, but that seems to be the standard plan for hitmen (ie. Bruce Bowen, Rick F*%, etc.)
The view from section 110
Evans really did handle himself like a vet. They had Blake (and then Miller) picking him up in the backcourt the whole first half and he never needed help getting the ball across mid court and into the start of the possession. His wingspan + smooth handles make him a very natural ballhandler.
Evans had an offensive rebound and layup in the first quarter that impressed me. I think it was JT’s miss, the rebound came off at a funny angle and it surprised Przybilla. He didn’t get his hand up in time so it went to Evans who was lurking on the baseline. He caught it, went straight up and dropped it in with one effortless motion. I don’t think his feet even left the ground, his standing reach is ridiculous for a (point) guard.
JT’s one block was pretty sweet. It was on Oden, they were really forcing it into him, it was one of several possessions where he was trying to put back his own miss. He tried a hook from 4’ and JT spiked it out of there.
Hawes had a good clean block on Oden that was called a foul and Martin even sneaked in from behind on Oden for one that could’ve gone either way but they called a foul.
Casspi came into the game and knew exactly what he wanted to do when he got the ball. Within 35 seconds he had a defensive rebound and an offensive rebound. He’s got a real nose for the ball and he looks physically ready to play in the NBA.
Donte Greene threw down some nice dunks in warmups but in the game it’s like something just doesn’t click.
At times the Kings were completely disorganized on offense, I think they had 5 shot clock violations and only one of them came while they were looking to shoot.
by Kevin Conroy on Oct 7, 2009 9:43 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Only one game but
Casspi came into the game and knew exactly what he wanted to do when he got the ball. Within 35 seconds he had a defensive rebound and an offensive rebound. He’s got a real nose for the ball and he looks physically ready to play in the NBA.
Thats what it sounded like on the radio and in the box score. Nice to know that he looked as good on the court as it sounded. (quietly says a prayer)
Lets hope its a true trend.
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
by lietothegirls on Oct 7, 2009 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
"Hawes had a good clean block on Oden that was called a foul"
Are you talking about when Greg spun on a dime and left Hawes in the dust?
"Goals are good. Plans are better." -Ben.
by Sabonis4Ever on Oct 7, 2009 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions
Well dang that's the problem
Get that loose change off the floor. It totally throws Hawes off his game.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
Though I gotta say
Bragging about Oden spinning on a dime and leaving anyone weighing less than 300 pounds in the dust sounds kind of like bragging about the incredible turning radius of your Mack truck.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwDmeW5FS8Y
"Goals are good. Plans are better." -Ben.
by Sabonis4Ever on Oct 7, 2009 12:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Are you going to continue the Oden wars all day Sabas? LOL
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Nah
I’m just giddy for the season to start. All in good fun.
"Goals are good. Plans are better." -Ben.
Are you serious?
Oden’s quicker than a dinged up Hawes. Are you surprised?
That was a pretty clean block by the way.
Hmmm -
Where is that old “Martin dunked on Oden” video?
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
that's the one
and 3 Blazers season ticket holders sitting near me felt it was a pretty clean block when they saw it live and on the replay.
Not bad
I listened to a lot of it on the radio after I got off a plane. Casspi and Tyreke looked good, a good showing in thier first NBA game.
The lack of assists, the number of shot clock violations and the constant last moment shots tells me we are still dribbling too much, everyone at least in this game continued last seasons habit of playing too much in isolation and trying to create thier own shot – instead of creating for a teammate.
Hawes I’ll give a pass to as he was hobbling – but all who know my comments will remember that I think we need a real physical presence somewhere somehow in the front line.
KM missed a lot of shots, first game (so?)
it happens.
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
Part of the problem according to Westphal
was that because they attacked us in the backcourt we took too long to set up our offense. Doesn’t look like Tyreke was bothered by it much since he didn’t have a lot of to’s. But sounds like we need to work on passing out of back court pressure to get the offensive start more quickly.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
Please ...
“I see somebody who can get to the rim just like me (in Evans),” Martin said.
Yeah, but the big difference is that Evans can finish once he gets there.
Martin is always looking for the foul, so much so that he consistently and purposely wraps his shot around it, even when it’s not there. Just finish.
TS%
You see, the thing is that Kevin Martin does get to the free throw line (a lot!) and converts there. That creates an insanely good true shooting percentage. As a result, Martin does finish at the rim, at least statistically.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Also,
The reason he is fouled is cause the other guy can’t stay in front of him when he cuts towards the rim. He can get there anytime he wants, just about, unless they foul him. That is the same thing as saying he can get to the rim (implies unless fouled).
Hold on
So you are saying that he puts points on the board in a VERY effective way? and in this game, whoever scores the most point wins, right?
So he actually helps our team? Weird…
The future begins now...
by eduardo_m7 on Oct 7, 2009 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well yeah
But only if we get more youngs guys and/or cap space. Or maybe another small forward
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
I like the look of Stephen Marbury guy . . .
P;
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
by lietothegirls on Oct 7, 2009 1:08 PM PDT up reply actions
quality performance by the kings all around, especially coming into the RG.
Looks like you got yourselves somebody special in Tyreke, and maybe even in Omri, who was lights out. If you guys cut down on the fouling you would have won the game, because of your sterling advantage on the boards.
"B-Roy is the best shooting guard I have played against"
-Ron Artest
by premthegrem on Oct 7, 2009 10:00 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
jason thompson looked like a completely different player, your star last night.
tyreke will be an all star, not if but when.
may lost even more weight than advertised.
Agree with the first 2 points (in fact I think anybody with a brain saw those coming)
PW mentioned May’s weight as not being the problem, but his CONDITIONING. I think that’s one reason (although you would be in better perspective than I to actually refute the notion) May picked up so many fouls was that he wasn’t up to snuff in the conditioning area of his game. Hopefully that picks up as pre-season goes on. Playing Przy is a great way for May to (potentially) show that his conditioning can improve with time.
If only I could have watched the game……
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
may was fat as hell last year, no way around that
by Ben Golliver on Oct 7, 2009 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Without question
I was just wondering was the fouls a bi product of his conditioning or the fact that he couldn’t defend Pryz or Oden or whomever else he may have guarded (LMA?)?
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
May hasn't played any real games minutes
in a looong time. Its a good point/question.
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
by lietothegirls on Oct 7, 2009 1:10 PM PDT up reply actions
For someone who watched the game
I’ve read couple of fanposts/articles on the Blazersedge site praising highly Andre Miller’s game. One of the key points was how he consistently and successfully attacked the rime, posted our pointguards etc. I am just wondering whether this happened over Tyreke , or he rather succeeded through Beno and Sergio. Cheers
by KingsFanfromCentralEurope on Oct 7, 2009 10:40 AM PDT reply actions
miller got just about everyone. there were a lot of cross matchups. i think the blazers threw 5 guys at evans and vice-versa on miller. from what i remember, miller and tyreke faced off a fair bit, although nocioni was checking him on a few plays, beno too
by Ben Golliver on Oct 7, 2009 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the update
Looks like you found your man in Miller. Good luck with what promises to be a great season for Trailblazers fans.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
I think you guys are the team the "redacteds" have to worry about
and I’ll never hate you because the jailblazers era was too painful and too recent.
"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley
plus the Portland and Sacramento fanbases might be 1 and 2 (in whatever order) in the league. We can’t hat eon each other.
"If the Lakers are Hollywood, then we are South Central." - Clipper fan.
We can Cab
We just shouldn’t.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
What I want to know is if the NBA can have video highlights of the game
why can’t they just stream the game online?
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
It's all about the money!
And controlling the content. 1) They have to sell the game to a tv channel. If no one’s buying then they’ve got no distribution. 2) The channel’s aren’t buying because they aren’t getting the ratings for pre-season that they can then capitalize upon by selling ad revenue. 3) NBA could go viral, but if they do that for pre-season, and they’re successful, what’s to stop them from doing that all season long. This is effectively cutting out the middle man, TV, and going straight to the public. The NBA isn’t prepared to sell online ads yet as they just haven’t developed this business plan. 4) Undoubtedly what we’re witnessing is just the strength of TV companies to monopolize possible sources of revenue. Threatening the NBA if they go viral, that the TV channels will never publish their games again (even though they always will as long as they’ve got a shot at making money). 5) It is inevitable that this will happen in the future, the question is how much the parties involved with the content will charge us to access these online sources. 6) Consequentially it’s a boon to old fashioned media, in towns like Sac, where suddenly sports fans flock back TO the newspaper, because it is the most efficient local perspective-first hand account.
If yr not happy with the results, lower yr expectations.
2nd hand notes:
Looking at the box score a few things become apparent.
Portland shot the lights out .462 on FGs; which means Portland is REALLY good or our defense was REALLY bad.
On top of that we had more rebounds, fewer turnovers, and almost 20 MORE SHOTS at the basket than the Blazers. That’s really, really bad.
If we were able to get to the line a little better, this game might have been closer, as Portland had almost 25 extra FT attempts, and we only lost by 12.
Lastly: fucking CASSPI is our starting small forward. Go young, go strong.
If yr not happy with the results, lower yr expectations.
Its only the 1st pre-season game but
Portland shot the lights out .462 on FGs; which means Portland is REALLY good or our defense was REALLY bad.
probably both these were true
If we were able to get to the line a little better, this game might have been closer
To echo myself, most FT attempts (the easy ones anyway) are created near the rim.
Lastly: fucking CASSPI is our starting small forward. Go young, go strong
I sincerely hope he’s even as close to as good as he played last night. If so, you may be right.
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
by lietothegirls on Oct 7, 2009 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions
Portland's shooting
They were hitting on only 36% of their field goals at the half but they came out to start the 3rd quarter with Andre Miller instead of Blake and Miller made all the difference. He was crossing people over, giving ball fakes, working the post a little bit. That’s when they hit some jump shots to support LMA and Oden’s work in/around the paint.
I think your teams on the right track
Hopefully you get a good young big in the near future. Good luck Sac-town, i respect that you have intelligent & thoughtful posters on this site. All the best from Ripcity
"BEER IS LIVING PROOF THAT GOD LOVES US"
- Benjamin Franklin-
by We-B-Dunkin on Oct 7, 2009 12:38 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Blazers fan here
I was at the game last night. Last year’s preseason opener, also against the Kings, was a running Blazers dunkfest against a Kings team that looked confused and overmatched. Not last night — your guys played hard and physical the whole game. Credit to the new staff, I guess? Anyway, you don’t have a playoff team yet, but it looks like you have a lot of guys who will be fun to root for.
My impressions, if you’re interested:
- Evans was very impressive. Quick, physical, never seemed lost. If he’s the point guard (and I don’t see how you can play anyone else), then I’m not sure how well he fits with others in the lineup, especially Hawes. Evans is the guy you build around, though.
- Oden is a terrible matchup for Hawes and last night, at least, Hawes wasn’t getting the open long-range looks that hurt us last year. Again, not sure if his offense meshes with Evans.
- Thompson looks solid.
- Wish we’d drafted Casspi.
- Brockman will be a fan favorite in the best sense of the word. He and May will both challenge for the 2009 Josh McRoberts Award for fastest foul-out.
- Donte Greene is the (very) poor man’s Tim Thomas. If the numbers appear to show that he was better than Nocioni, the numbers lie.
Good luck this year.
many thanks for the objective take
Donte…ouch!
Life is every mammal's journey from very very wet to very very dry.
If Jon Brockman challenges for the fastest foul out
it better involve him breaking somebody’s nose. That’d make me a very happy man.
www.mancancook.net
by vfettke on Oct 7, 2009 3:30 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yes, that's a key point to take away from this game:
Last year’s preseason opener, also against the Kings, was a running Blazers dunkfest against a Kings team that looked confused and overmatched. Not last night — your guys played hard and physical the whole game.
That’s the kind of progress we should be looking for this year. Be more competitive win a few more games, sure, but just improve and develop a team identity and be competitive.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Oct 7, 2009 4:41 PM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the insight
Hawes always tries too hard against Oden. He has a chip on his shoulder because he feels like he dominated Oden in college, but Oden became a star. So he never ever plays well against him.
I think Casspi is going to be starting by the end of the season. He’s like Peja 2.0. A shooter with the new added feature of not being afraid to be physical.
Thompson always looks solid. Never flashy. Always solid.
The draft lottery has reinforced my belief that there are not enough bad words in the English language.
by LeaguePassAddict on Oct 7, 2009 4:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Portland Trailblazer fan's random observations from last night...
If Oden looks 50, then Tyreke Evans looks like his 36 year old accident from freshman year…
All kidding aside, Evans looked great and I think he is going to be the best player in this draft excluding Blake Griffin. I don’t know if he is going to the PG of the future, but I would say he is the franchise.
Omri Casspi also looked really good. Very polished game, nice touch and made a great drive to the hoop. He was rated one of the better defenders in the draft, and although I didn’t see enough to make a judgement (not that I am an expert by any stretch), I would be very happy if I were a Sac fan.
Thoughts
I think I remember last year Spence played like dogshit in the preseason and then started the season strong while Miller was on a toke break the first five games. Spence hasn’t played well against Oden… ever that I can remember. I don’t think we need to storm his house with pitchforks unless this continues when the season begins.
Due to the lack of ability to see the game, I have no idea what any of the stats really mean. I just know that this is the first preseason game for a young Kings squad with very little experience working with one another.
I’m hoping that someone here is attending tonights game and can bring more insight into how things are developing. Again, this only a preseason snap shot, but without any live coverage, its better than anything around right now, and I’m sure there are many valid perspectives from regular contributors to this site.
"I grok it!" Michael Valentine Smith
You're in luck!
Mustang & lttg are at the game together, though nobody here actually thinks it’s a date. Not that there would be anything wrong with that…
The draft lottery has reinforced my belief that there are not enough bad words in the English language.
by LeaguePassAddict on Oct 7, 2009 6:20 PM PDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Shane Battier knocks Greg Ostertag
- A preview of Tom Thibodeau’s All-Star coaching style
- The Three-Point Shootout participants have been named
- Jeremy Lin finally gets a new apartment, and a place in NBA history
- Wizards owner Ted Leonsis takes a needless swipe at his team’s fan bloggers
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
