Dudley Denied 6:18 PM

Despite, as of 5:07 PM today, still being up in the total vote count, The Oregonian called the gubernatorial election against former Trail Blazers center Chris Dudley, in favor of former (and future?) governor Kitzhaber.

I have a very concrete view point on this subject, but I'm going to try to take the middle road, and suggest some of the good that came out of Dudley's run, regardless of your political leanings.

• Opened the door for other former Blazers to hold office in the state. Maybe it wasn't that a Blazers center couldn't run Oregon, it was that Dudley was the wrong center. Bill Walton could be the candidate the lefties yearn for, with a strong baby boomer connection. Perhaps Joel Przybilla could have a future as more of a folksy centrist candidate, known for his prudent financial mind (after all, he's the player that teaches his teammates about the NBA's 401(k) program). Most obviously, though, it's a portent of Arvydas' forthcoming campaign. The posters have been made. It's only a matter of time.
• No awkward moment on Thursday night. If Dudley were to win, he would probably make an appearance at the game on Thursday against the Thunder, prompting a round of boos from the mostly blue Portland crowd. In the RG (except on Civil War night), we're all on the same team. We need to focus our collective outrage on Clay Bennett, not a political candidate.
• The OLCC is in danger. I promised I wouldn't get political, but I don't think there's a single person in Oregon who thinks the OLCC is a good idea.

• This picture: 

Once again, if you're confused as to where the recaps are, I'm writing them on Bust a Bucket this week, so check them out there.

Guest Appearances 8:34 PM

If you're looking for the Bulls game recap, I've posted it over on Bust a Bucket, as I'll be guesting there this week, writing recaps. Don't let that make you think I'll be leaving Trail Post high and dry this week, as I will most certainly be posting content here as well.

The Weekend in Review 8:10 AM

The Blazers played only one game over the weekend: a tight win at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks.

Yet again, the team took an early lead and allowed the other team to eventually get back in and take over the game. Of course, it ended with the Blazers going on a huge run to finish the game. Though winning is nice, I think just about every Blazer fan would take a wire-to-wire win right now than a heart attack.

A large piece of happened on Saturday night was the presence (and non-presence) of Nicolas Batum. The Blazers appeared to be a different team when he was on the floor, with the offense flowing more easily, as Batum was able to do what he pleased on offense against the point guards that D'Antoni was putting on him. Obviously, he brought the defensive spark as well. He got us that lead in the first quarter, and when he came in again when we were down nine in the fourth, our fortunes changed quickly. I don't know how much longer Nate can continue to play Nico for less than 30 minutes per game.

This game wasn't nearly as bad as LaMarcus' suicide watch game against the Mavericks when Andre went crazy, but it was close. He was missing open shots and worse, free throws. He hasn't quite put it together again, yet. LaMarcus being able to hit big shots again could be the difference between a close loss and a close win, or during Saturday's game, a close game and a runaway.

Brandon Roy did what Brandon Roy does.

Andre is looking better integrated into the offense than ever. He's going about his business, and at the end of the game, you realize he has 19 and 10. Just beautiful to see.

The Wesley Matthews bandwagon keeps getting bigger.

Finally, we had to see Fabricio Oberto play for 17 minutes due to Camby's foul trouble. That could be a reason why the game was closer than it should have been. Okay, it was a reason. Okay, Oberto is kind of terrible. Okay, he had two good plays, and was pretty much terrible otherwise. One rebound in 17 minutes when you're seven feet tall? Still, a valiant effort and a constant reminder why we should all be rooting to have Oden and Przybilla back on the floor.

Maurice Lucas (1952-2010) 8:55 PM

NBA and Blazer fans lost a great today.

"Yeah, well, we all know where the words come from," says 6'9", 215-pound Maurice Lucas, the quintessential power forward and enforcer of the Portland Trail Blazers. In Lucas' case, the word got out and around three years ago when, as an ABA rookie, he decked 7'2" Artis Gilmore and dared to duke it with Julius Erving, which is roughly akin to spitting on the flag. "A lot of people think I'm just one of these mean guys," he says indignantly. "Well, I just play rough. That's the way you play when you're in my game."

- Taken from the October 31, 1977 issue of Sports Illustrated

Post-Game: Blazers at Clippers 8:50 AM

Can I watch Blake Griffin during every Blazer game? I just want to see him play basketball always. I have an unabashed basketball man crush on the guy. If the Blazers could trade LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden for him, I would do it in a heartbeat. He's like Joakim Noah if Noah wasn't overrated and didn't frighten small children. Noah wakes up in cold sweats each night after dreaming of Griffin's freckles, knowing that he'll never be the insane rebounder that Griffin is. He's just good. I never would have guessed that someone who came back from season-ending knee surgery would fly around the court like that.

Apparently there was a game last night, too.

So, the team itself had a mediocre performance through the first three quarters, just like the Phoenix game, and during the fourth quarter, it flipped a switch, went on a huge run, stop me if you've heard this one before. Road wins are worth their weight in gold (weight of a road win: 3.43 kg) and the Blazers picked up one that maybe they shouldn't have gotten.

As Mike Rice suggested, if they kept a stat called "Most Improved 3-Point Shooter" (by the way, I think you can do that, easily - just subtract last year's percentage from this year's), Nico Batum would lead it. I think Batum would be happy to win Most Improved Player this year instead. On a bad shooting night for everyone else, Batum went 6-7 and 3-4 from deep, along with a few rebounds and a couple of steals. I guarantee there's some suburban Portland kid who decided to start studying French in middle school just to be more like Nico. Vous faites le travail de Dieu, Nicolas.

Brandon Roy put up a Brandon Roy-like line of 22-10-2. Dude is automatic. The three pointer over Gomes was some cold blooded business.

LaMarcus also had a double double, and played a large role in the fourth quarter spurt that won the game. He was abused early by Griffin, but came back and held his own. You can talk about how soft you may think LaMarcus is, or how he doesn't charge after rebounds enough, but the dude seriously knows how to pass out of a double team. It is a now-regular occurrence, and LaMarcus easily sees and recognizes it coming, finding the open man. It's a great way to be in the flow of the offense, even if he's not making his shot.

The other double double came from Marcus Camby, the ghost of Clipper rebounding past. He took Griffin's activity as a challenge, going for 11 and 14. During the first quarter he was driving from the top of the key for lay-ins, something he probably hasn't done for six years.

In terms of +/-, Andre was the game's MVP with an absurd +19, and he contributed with a bit from everywhere, as he got 14 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. His offensive rebounding extended some key possessions late.

The bench was really nothing special at all. Johnson and Cunningham were beset by foul trouble. Matthews didn't come close to duplicating his opening night performance (the countdown to the next Simmons Matthews insult starts now), and Oberto looked lost. Rudy looked good again, hitting half of his three point attempts.

Now, we have a long break until the next game, a time where we can reflect on the fact that instead of waiting three months for another game, we only have to wait three days. My recommendation for the downtime: play NBA 2K11 or read the Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History.

Post-Game: Blazers vs. Suns 8:54 AM

The stat of the game: 20

No, that's not the number of turnovers that Steve Nash committed. It's the number of fans left in Portland who still think that the Jerryd Bayless trade was a bad idea.

The debuts of new guards Wesley Matthews and Armon Johnson were the polar opposite of Andre Miller's coming out party last year. Whereas before it was a storyline of uneasy coexistence with Brandon Roy, last night's opener was a perfect example of right sized pieces for right sized holes. Both Matthews and Johnson played the defense we expected of them, living in the jerseys of Phoenix's guards, and picked their spots on offense. One account compared Matthews' performance to a rave, which is odd, because I would never figure a large warehouse to be that strong of a defender or three-point shooter.

The Blazers and Suns started the season off like they ended the last, with a back and forth game that was very much in doubt throughout the first three quarters. The Blazers held a lead from the first quarter through the third, but it was never that large. Then, the third quarter run from the Suns got them the lead going into the fourth. Then Nicolas Batum happened. And Brandon Roy happened. A balanced (huhwha?) attack to end the game put the Suns away with ease and gave the Blazers their first win on the way to an 82-0 season.

Nicolas Batum put together a double double, absolutely making the Suns pay for putting Steve Nash on him, grabbing offensive rebounds by the sackful.

LaMarcus Aldridge was double-teamed every time he touched the ball, so he never really had a chance to get anything going. That being said, he never made any dumb mistakes when the double-team came, so that should be taken as net victory. He also ripped down nine rebounds.

Marcus Camby was the night's other double-double man, and he was a force again on the defensive end. Camby's wandering hands were everywhere, tipping passes and rebounds to create new possessions and keep possessions going.

Brandon Roy played like Brandon Roy. The 20-5-5 is just what he does.

Andre only played 27 minutes, and didn't stand out as much as the other guards, but still had a near double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.

Finally, Wes Matthews had a +22. Holy crap, what a steal.

Tonight, we have the Clippers, and a chance to see Blake Griffin's surreal ability to pull down rebounds first hand. Aside from Roy, our starters didn't log too much playing time last game, so we can hope that everyone will be fresh.

Pre-Game: Blazers vs. Suns 8:04 AM

There is literally nothing left to say at this point.

(Except the rest of this blog post.)

The last six games the team played were against the Suns. They were beat through an array of...just kidding, Jason Richardson killed the Blazers at the three point line and that was that. The Blazers were injured as all hell and simply couldn't keep up.

Today, the team is still not 100%, but doing a lot better than back then. The players certainly think better of their team than Steve Nash thinks of his. Basically, The Blazers are expected to win.

Now comes the waiting game. We're only 12 hours away from tipoff, and you feel like the kid from the Disneyland commercial. "I'm too excited to sleep!" Work is going to be a slog, as you glance at the clock every two minutes, and feel like time is actually going backward. When you eat lunch, you'll get red pepper and roast beef on your sandwich, just to do the closest approximation to Blazer colors.

Finally, you'll get the last seat at the local watering hole, and pour a little of your Total Domination out for departed players Jerryd Bayless, Juwan Howard, and Steven Hill.

It's opening day. Anything can happen in a season. The last two years have proven that, for better or worse. Let's enjoy the ride.

Scapegoat Power Rankings: Season's Start 6:46 PM

One of the great joys in being a sports fan is choosing someone to blame it all on. Every bad bounce, every missed shot, every horrifying knee injury. It feels natural. Sure, there's a reasonable part of you whispering, "Don't be overreact, don't be stupid," but who wants to listen to that? Blazer fans are as capricious as any in the league, and that's what makes it so fun to be one. We love to place blame.

Past lightning rods included Travis Outlaw during the 08-09 season (until his improvement then injury last season), Andre Miller at the beginning of last season (until the Dallas game), and Juwan Howard to finish out the year. Of course, there are always mainstays in the Blazer fan haterade, such as Nate McMillan, Paul Allen, and of course, the refs.

These rankings are not my own opinion. Someone being on here doesn't mean I personally have anything against them. They are simply a (not really) objective interpretation of the state of mind of Blazer fans at large. Who do they think is going to destroy the team at any given moment?

5. Nate McMillan - The "Fire Nate" warcry has existed as long has he's been here, and has almost never been justified. Still, his one year deal looks ominous to the national media (even though he signs one every year), and his performance against Phoenix last spring still stings.

4. Paul Allen - It was Paul Allen who lobbied for Patty Mills over Wesley Matthews in the draft. And again, we have Patty Mills, cutting Pendergraph to do so.

3. Brandon Roy - Brandon's calls for the ball have been read by much of the fanbase as egotistical, as if he's the bastard son of the unholy triumverate of Stephon Marbury, Vince Carter, and Allen Iverson.

2. Rudy Fernandez - If there's one thing Portlanders hate, it's insults to the city. Remember the time when New Yorkers tried to tell us that their food carts were better? Bloodbath. Rudy's preseason suggests he won't be on the list for long, though.

1. The Refs - Who else?