The Goods On The Game, Vol. 30, a night in Portland

Roll call! It's the Saturday of a holiday weekend, the big night between Christmas and New Year's Eve, I'm sure there are dozens of you sitting around with a computer on waiting for this hilarity. Or not.

But for the hearty souls who are here, you have my undying thanks, makes it worth my while to know someone's reading as we go along. And it keeps me actually paying attention to the game.

Speaking of, nothing much has changed at all for the Raptors since that glorious victory in Sacramento and I'm told it's the usual stuff with the Blazers, too.

Same old Toronto starters and it's Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden for Portland.

Talked to Jay Triano about half an hour ago and he says it's business as usual for the Raptors, who won't worry about the imposing inside presence of Oden and will go right at him with O'Neal and Bosh.

And I've set 10 minutes after Andrea's first missed shot as the over-and-under number on how long it takes me to get the first e-mail lamenting the fact the Raptors didn't take Roy, or even Aldridge, with that No. 1 pick way back when. Smart money's on the under.

Okay, fresh air beckons and then to our seats, which are at the top of the lower bowl here at the Rose Garden, which has to be in the top five arenas in the league.

See you soon.
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And we're underway
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Hey Super Son, you there tonight? (As if, there's Rock Band II and Get Smart DVDs to keep him busy). But if you are, the dude who just did the anthems did 'em on the saxophone and was outstanding. Keep practicing on yours and who knows where it'll take you.
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As you'd expect, Bosh and Aldridge are matched up, as are Oden and O'Neal. Little known fact: Jermaine told us last night he's known, and been helping, Oden since the kid was a freshman in high school in Indiana.
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And as you'd exepct, the Blazers go right to Oden, who has four of their first six points. And O'Neal responds in kind with the first two Raptor baskets, including an emphatic slam.
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Not a lot of defence early, the Blazers are shooting 75 per cent from the floor early.
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O'Neal's blocked Oden three times already. First time, Oden got the board and dunked, the second and third times were on the same possession and ended up with a Kapono foul.
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Blazers 14, Raptors 10 with 5:55 left.
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Special guest here on Grunt Row hgh atop the lower bowl is none other than the star of stage, screen, radio and TV Jack Armstrong, who has the night off from broadcasting duties and is here to thrill Zic and I.
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Bargnani's in the game. So is Roy. Let the fun begin.
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There's a group of four fans about five rows off the court below us bedecked in Spanish jerseys. Two of them at least have Calderon No. 8 jerseys, the others have generic team shirts. Wonder how Rudy Fernandez feels about that.
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It never looks like Brandon Roy is very quick but he always gets where he wants to go quicker than any defender.
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I'm hearing there are HD problems back home on TV. Well, we're in HD here.
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Raptors only have two assists so far, crisp ball movement is not part of the attack tonight.
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Steve Blake's a very solid point guard that a lot of teams would be glad to have.
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Back to back threes by Parker and Bargnani only come because O'Neal's active on the boards.
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Raptors 28, Blazers 26 after one.
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Who is that guy wearing No. 7 in the red? Ten points already?
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And that Bargnani fellow already has two rebounds.
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We're getting a lesson in Catalan from Rudy Fernandez on the scoreboard during a timeout. Apparently "slam dunk" in Catalan is "esmaixada." Of course, the Raptors couldn't do anything that much fun on their scoreboard because they'd be too busy selling Marlies tickets or something.
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A little bit of time with Toronto going big with Bosh, O'Neal and Bargnani. Second possession, what do they get? A quick Solomon three. Brilliant.
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Rudy Fernandez is going to be right in the conversation when it comes to rookie of the year chatter in April. At least he better be. The dude can play.
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Dancers just got finished dancing in a timeout. Two seats over, Jack yells: "Hello!" You can take the guy off the broadcast, but you can't take the broadcast out of the guy.
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Moon replaces O'Neal and the Raptors are big no more.
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Toronto 40, Portland 34 with six minutes 'til half.
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Andrea has to guard Oden and I'm wondering if it might not be time for Jake Voskuhl to get some minutes.
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Meadowlark Kapono just made a nifty behind-the-back pass in traffic that Jose converted into a three-pointer. Very nice pass.
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It'll be O'Neal to guard Oden now as Bargnani's half is probably over.
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Who are these guys? The Raptors are playing quite well and there's a really nice feel to this game. Entertaining, well-played, two good teams.
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The deal on the TV thing? I'm told the HD truck that was supposed to meet the crew here couldn't get here because of weather. It snowed about a foot a week or so ago and the city is still digging out.
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Oh, oh. Toronto 50, Portland 40. Know what that means, right? A double-digit lead.
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Nice hard foul by O'Neal on Oden. Let's the young fella know things won't come easily.
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Blazers in a zone for a few possessions. Toronto hasn't seen much of that the last little while.
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This might be the best quarter the Raptors have played in while at both ends of the court. Especially impressive is the fact they've had 10 assists this quarter.
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Of course, they give up a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
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Toronto 57, Portland 49 at the half.
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Man, they know how to inform the fans here. Aside from one of those huge HD TV scoreboards (with a screen about a third again the size of the one in Toronto, they have an auxiliary board that shows every conceivable stat --from second chance points to charges taken to turnovers to bench points -- hanging from the ceiling. And they have another one that's a full boxscore. Imagine that! Maybe the ACC can ask where the bought them.
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O'Neal just got his third foul that was a bit of a cheapie. An illegal screen that was a borderline call if anything. If he's going to get fouls, they have to be defending Oden not setting screens 30 feet from the hoop.
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Jack's trivia time: Two players in the game were born in Buffalo. Who are they? Answer later if I remember.
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Kapono just missed his second wide open three of the game. That's an odd happenstance.
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Raptors are hanging on at the moment, not nearly as crisp as they were in the first half but I guess it's a good sign they've still got a lead.
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Raptors 63, Blazers 61 with 5 1-2 remaining.
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Well, there goes that 11-point lead, it's 65-65 with 3:20 left in the third.
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Raps have stopped going inside on nearly every possession, which is how they built that lead.
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O'Neal's now got four personal fouls and I smell trouble brewing. The momentum in this game has shifted seriously in favour of the Blazers.
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Toronto's going to get Will Solomon's second half minutes out of the way early. Figure he'll play the final 2:43 of the third, maybe a minute into the fourth and then it'll be Jose's time to finish the game.
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Chris Bosh is the only Raptor to have shot free throws tonight. Shameful.
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Toronto now has more offensive rebounds than Portland does. But three fewer second chance points.
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Portland 69, Toronto 67 after three.
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Seems I was right about Jose. He's back and I imagine he plays until this one's decided.
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Oh yeah, trivia answer: Jack, good Western New York boy that he is, tells me both Greg Oden and Ike Diogu were born in Buffalo. I knew Oden, didn't know Diogu.
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The Raptors bench has been scoreless in this half. There's your difference in the game.
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AP's doing as good job on Brandon Roy and the three he just hit over a hand was a tough, tough shot.
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Jim LaBumbard, ace PR dude, informs us that Toronto's 10-point third quarter was the fewest the lads have scored in a quarter this year.
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I take that back, a bit, about AP on Roy, who is getting much more aggressive offensively. Game must be on the line.
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Blazers 82, Raptors 74 with 6:35 left.
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This one is totally in Portland's control now. Toronto can't get going offensively at all, the Blazers aren't missing a shot and I'd say it's almost over.
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O'Neal's particularly frustrated with the officiating but it looks like the Blazers are just playing good, swarming defence.
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This is when a guy like Brandon Roy shines. He's had 14 points in this quarter. And the game, my frineds is over.
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Of course, Steve Javie's got to get is moment in the sun, hits Jay with a technical.
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They're chanting M-V-P for Roy and it's as ridiculous as the chants were in Toronto earlier this season.
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Bosh and O'Neal are the only two Raptors who've got it going now but they aren't going to have enough for a miracle comeback.
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The Aldridge free throws with about 40 seconds left win free chalupas for the folks in the stands and you'd think they'd won pizza or something.
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Blazers 102, Toronto 89.

Comments

[aditya]

for some reason, the game is not in HD on TV (9 minutes into the telecast)

[Brian]

No HD! This sucks bigtime. Better than not having it at all, since I am a Rogers subscriber missing out on TSN2, but still, this is pretty brutal. Come on SCORE, let's get it fixed.

[aditya]

wow weather complications is the reason for the unavailability for HD for this game....wow....i AM STUNNED......SURE THEY MADE UP THE : WEATHER COMPLICATION: THING...

[KK]

What is up with this broadcast? It is horrible quality. Sure HD isn't available but the normal broadcast is crap. Again...the Raptors on TV are getting screwed.

[Brian]

No HD for the whole game due to weather problems.

[Rich]

Hey Doug...I apologize in advance if you already touched on Mike Evans' status and I just missed it...however...I noticed that he was missing in last night's game and again for tonight's game. There's some other guy sitting beside Jay Triano today on the bench, and I think he's the same guy I saw at last night's game. What gives?

Blogger's note: Death in the family, Mike missed last night, tonight and not sure if he'll be around in Oakland.

[FRED]

ok..so Bargs makes the first shot...no regrets on the pick so far :)

[papa]

it's not just not in HD, it's like web feed quality. terrible.

good start for the raps though. and since they're not up 15 early, they should have a chance of winning it later on. (since they never win games when they're up big.)

[aditya]

portlands worst in giving up 3pt shots (percentage wise) if i am not mistaken.....hopefully, we have the 3 ball going in tonight

[eric Not at Coopers watching UFC]

Doug - yes there are some of us reading/watching along with you

[Doug]

my HD is fine I have the Portland feed, plus the Blazers announcers are saying the Raptors look much better defensively with the system they are playing now, then under Mitchell, they are saying overall Raptors look much better as a team...

[Sshady]

LET TRADE BOSH OUR 24 years OLD ALL-STAR(not super-star)...

Wasn't that the chant a few games ago....!!!!!!

Just need to rub that in to all the CB4 haters who was saying it time to trade Bosh. I'm not a Bosh 'rider' but I always protected this guy from day one...because he is good player

[Frederick Lorico]

surprise surprise..TO by Solomon

[Frederick Lorico]

hey Doug. Any word on the attendance at the game? Lower bowl looks packed

[Frederick Lorico]

what was Will doing on that last possession?

[Nick]

Will Soloman is not an NBA-level player. How long will this charade go on?

[Steve Graham]

Will the Raptors ever take it to the rim? Every possession, run/walk it up to the three-point line, stop, retreat, pass it around the perimeter, hoist up another jump shot. I'm really starting to hate the way this team plays.

[Don Dunnigan]

Solomon getting schooled, turnovers hurting the Raps...what's a fan to do? Doug, throw your laptop on the court, cause a scene...yell out that their beer is weaker than our water... anything to get Roy off his game!!!

[NoBombs]

Where is Roko? Did he die? Why not just cut Solomon? He's clearly Mike James the 2nd, and I had plenty of the 1st already.

What a crappy team. When will a trade deliver us from this horrible season???????? (get rid of Bargs now, he scored 10+ two straight games, so you know he won't go for more than 4 for about three in a row)

[FRED]

PROOF..It would've been better with ROY

[FRED]

16 second half points...uuugggglllly

[Alex L]

We are witnessing the Raptors completely mail this game in. total collapse. Go from a 10 point lead at half to quickly giving it back then falling down 10. Their offense is so GD predictable in the post no wonder they are getting stripped every GD time. This team is so soft its disgusting.

[FRED]

agree with Matt. We lost the game in the third Q...time to research on the NFL

[pete]

i'm sorry Doug, but AP's defense is overrated. Way overrated.
And what can you say about Solomon... this guy is gah-bage.

[Rich]

Doug...you mention that the Raps "stopped going inside on nearly every possession". How and why does that happen? Is Triano no longer calling for plays inside, or are the Raps just deciding not to go inside (I'm thinking it's more of the latter than the former)? The Raps fail to hold leads because they forget (or fail to realize) what works when things are going well. Man...this made for another frustrating night!