While Blazer fans might be saying “here we go again” after tonight’s 104-91 loss to the Suns, I think we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Do not get me wrong, I had my issues with this game, but you cannot have an opinion on this team just one game into the season. You may also say that we should have won against the Phoenix Suns. Yes, we should have and honestly, I am a little disappointed that we didn’t beat the Suns, but the Suns have appeared to have our number in the past couple of years. I always say that every time we play the Suns, Goran Dragic will drop 20+ points and we will make otherwise nameless players into all-stars for one game. All right, rant over, let’s actually analyze this game.
This was the Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge show as they combined for 60 of the blazers’ 91 points. Getting only 12 points from their recently upgraded bench, I was shocked that we were able to stay in the game for that long. Every time the Suns looked to pull away from good, Lillard would drill a couple of threes to get us back into the game. I was pleased to see that the offensive game is running well as the ball movement and player movement seemed smooth. The one thing I noticed was that there were a few offensive possessions where it seemed like we were passing too much. I guess that is a good problem to have. The defense, however, still has some major question marks around it. Watching this game tonight, it seemed like Dragic and Eric Bledsoe carved our defense up at will. Even when we closed the door on their slashing and driving plays, they would find a WIDE open shooter in the corner for a three. I am not immensely sad at this game as we were able to keep it interesting; however, I surely hope that this isn’t a trend going forward. There will obviously be kinks to work out in the first couple of weeks, but I think I speak for most Blazer fans when I say that we are ready for some defense. We did see some flashes of effective defense and it usually helped spark the mini-runs we had in the game, but it needs to be more consistent.
Aside from all that, Damian Lillard continued to be dominant as his slow start turned into a 10-for-20, 6-for-12 from beyond the arc, night with 32 points as he looked great. I can definitely see the energy and commitment to defense in his play. He was fighting through screens and he seemed to have an easier time keeping up with his defensive assignment. Aldridge did his thing as he had 28 points with 12-for-22 shooting. It seems like that mid-range shot of his is almost becoming automatic. It was scary how smooth it looks. The only other notable stat was Nicolas Batum’s line as had just 7 points, but he had 13 rebounds to lead all Blazer players for the night. I really appreciate Batum’s effectiveness in doing other things. The only thing I would say is that his passing needs to get slightly better as there were a few cross court passes that made you cringe and there were a few lazy hand-offs that resulted in turnovers. However, he did only have 4 TO’s, so I do have to give him credit on that front. I would like to see him shoot a bit more. He only took 9 shots and I would love to see him drive a lot more and get better quality shots if his three-pointed isn’t falling, like tonight.
On the Suns’ side, what can I say? Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe looked like they should be starting in the all-star game as they combined for 48 points on 19-for-33 shooting. Dragic was able to dish out 9 assists and grab 6 rebounds while Bledose was able to dish out 6 assists with 7 rebounds of his own. It was mind-blowing how good these guys looked. However, Miles Plumlee, who recently became the starting center after the Suns just traded Marcin Gortat to the Wizards, had 18 points and a whopping 15 rebounds, 5 of them offensive. You have to give the Suns a lot of credit, Jeff Hornacek has that team playing defense and they obviously wanted to win real bad tonight.
Overall, it was disappointing to come out of this game with a loss as you would like to start off the season with win, but if the preseason and parts of this game was any indicator, I feel like this team will click soon and be able to put together some nice streaks. Mo Williams will not always be this off and Dorell Wright will have his games. I hope coach Terry Stotts decides to use Thomas Robinson more. He was the only player on the roster tonight to have a positive +/- with a +3. He had a nice dunk and he definitely has a knack from grabbing rebounds. He was quite impressive in his 9 minutes tonight.
Message to Blazer fans: Chill. I have already seen the Facebook comments and threads of people already giving up and expecting the same old, same old. Give it a couple of weeks. If we go by this logic, then the Chicago Bulls (who lost their season-opener to the Heat) will be awful this year. Really? Well, onto the next game on Friday as the Blazers take on the Denver Nuggets at 6:00 PST. Should be a fun one, but really I am just excited that the season has started. Away we go!