Tuesday, October 28, 2008

NBA Opening Night: Blazers vs Lakers



First of all, I beg of you, do not overreact to the events of last night. That was a matchup between a team ready to make a title-run and a team of young talent still learning two important things; how to play and how to play together.


Remember that an overachieving Portland team snuck up on a lot of the competition last season. They were slept on. This year the Blazers are undoubtedly on the national scene. They will remain there thanks to the long list of compelling story lines that surround them. No one will be taking these youngsters lightly this time around. For God sakes, Oden bounties were being offered up in the preseason.

If anything, this game could be something of a blessing. The hype had gotten out of control a while ago. Think about prime-time opening night, national television, Henry Abbot live-blogging on ESPN, and playoff predictions a plenty. Hopefully now expectations will be tapered somewhat.

Regarding Oden, calm down on that one too. The Oden rants I’ve heard since last night can be classified into two broad categories; Oden can’t play and Oden will never be healthy. Addressing the former, you can’t do anything in basketball if you are out of shape. You can’t be in serious basketball shape if you haven’t played serious basketball in a year and a half. Do me one favor and reserve your evaluations of Oden’s ability as a player until the man has achieved some level of conditioning.

As for Oden’s stellar ability to rack up injuries, yes, that is terrifying. Even worse, there is nothing you or I can do about it. We can only hope things somehow improve and try not to freak out. Sort of like the economy. Crap.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for putting a realistic perspective on the game. I along with many other fans have just been freaking out tonight. The best we can hope for is good luck with Oden's injury

Jack Brown said...

Not freaking out is a good thing, hope hope hope hope hope.

Anonymous said...

You're right- No worries here! It was just the first game! I thought it was unfair for the Blazers to be playing the Lakers on opening night...but there's no reason to lose faith. I'm sure you can chalk up Oden's "mishap" to jitters. =]

Jack Brown said...

Radio, TV, and the internet were dedicated to Oden today. Talk about stoking the fire.

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