Watching the Blazers humiliate the defending Eastern Conference Champions was astounding. Like – can’t believe my eyes type of stuff. No Brandon Roy. Who cares? This team is all about heart. And smarts. And guts. And intestinal fortitude and all that jazz.
Yes, they shot the lights out from 3 point range, and Orlando couldn’t shoot the broad side of a barn most of the game. Yet, that didn’t tell the whole story. The story was team defense, and an overall team approach from the Trail Blazers.
Just an FYI (and this might be an abbreviated list) in the past two years the Blazers have bested the Spurs, Celtics and Magic without their best player in uniform. That’s a veritable Murderer’s Row of opponents slayed without Brandon Roy.
The Magic never had a chance. Effort, heart and desire have a heck of a lot of influence in the NBA.
The Blazers used those traits to their advantage in the first half, oh and second half too. Jeff Pendergraph, Juwan Howard, Dante Cunningham and virtually every Blazer guard played tremendous team defense and tipped balls to their teammates on their way to an overall rebounding advantage against the immense Dwight Howard and company.
Howard (the Orlando one) was so exasperated he snapped at diminutive Steve Blake at the end of the first half. The defending Eastern Conference champs lost their cool, and ultimately couldn’t recover.
Portland won because of incredible shooting and timely buckets from virtually every Blazer in the second half. That is undeniable.
But I was struck by the sheer effort made in the first half in particular on the defensive end. The Blazer bigs accepted their physical limitations and focused on simply tipping balls to teammates in better position to secure rebounds. This is remedial basketball, but it’s incredibly important, and an example of good coaching.
I don’t know if this coaching comes from veteran expertise (read Howard, Juwan) or from the coaching staff. That is irrelevant. It’s simply tangible evidence of a team showing profound growth and ability to adapt to their opponents on a nightly basis. The Blazers knew they had no chance of bodying Dwight Howard on the low blocks.
Thus they adapted and used superior positioning and effort so they could tip balls to teammates. This is good basketball, and the hallmark of great coaching and players who are amenable to said coaching.
The cumulative effect of this is exciting for fans of good basketball. Nate McMillan is truly using what he has in personnel to the best of his ability. Thus far, the results are astounding.