Some post-game thoughts (Gizzlies edition)

Well, that sucked . . .

• The Blazers had that game in the bag and blew it.  Those are always the worst kind of losses.  This one is especially painful given the difficult slate of games ahead.  The Blazers needed that one.  I'm sure many fans are tempted to blame the refs, but I actually think they made the right call.  Mayo stole the ball cleanly and Roy climbed over him to get it back.  That's a foul.  They probably could have called a foul on Martell's three point shot, but the contact came after the shot left his hand and you don't normally get those calls late in the game.  The bottom line is that the Blazers played way too conservatively down the stretch and just didn't get good shots.  It's okay to use up some clock, but you don't want to handicap yourself by leaving too little time to get a good look.  If Roy's going to handle the ball down the stretch, he needs to make his move sooner.  


• The most puzzling aspect of this game (to me, at least) was the fact that Andre Miller sat virtually the entire fourth quarter.  Up to that point Dre was playing superbly, just as he did last night against the Clippers.  When he left at the end of the 3rd quarter, Miller had 16 points (on 7-11 shooting), 4 assists (though he would have had more if guys made their shots) and 10 rebounds (!).  But Nate chose instead to stick with Jerryd Bayless down the stretch.  I'm not sure whether that's a vote of confidence in Bayless or a reflection of lack of comfort with Dre.  Based on Dre's face expressions during the quarter, I'm guessing he thinks the latter.


• In Nate's defense, though, Jerryd actually had a decent night himself.  He looked much more under control tonight, scoring 13 points on 5-10 shooting and adding 5 assists and 4 rebounds.  He had a chance to tie the game at the line with a few seconds left, but his first foul shot rattled out.  It was a good looking shot.  Just bad luck.  


• Brandon Roy had a good night too, scoring 27 points and adding 9 assists and 3 boards. Down the stretch, though, Brandon made some really bad decisions.  He held the ball too long on the last few possessions and made a huge mistake on what should have been the final possession, allowing Mayo to steal the ball from him and then fouling him, putting Mayo on the line for what turned out to be the winning foul shots.


• Martell Webster continued to pour it on offensively, scoring 21 points on 8-15 shooting.  The last four games have been the most productive of Martell's career.  He also hustled on the defensive end, getting 3 steals.  


• Both Jeff Pendergraph and Juwan Howard had solid outings.  The weak link tonight was LaMarcus Aldridge, who still looked injured.  He managed to score 11 points and pull down 7 boards, but he just looked slow all night and never really found a rhythm.  I wondered at times if the Blazers might be better off playing Dante Cunningham, who ended up getting a DNP tonight.  They could have used his energy on the defensive end and they wouldn't have lost much on offense.  


• This game reminded me a lot of the Orlando game last year, where the Blazers were up by eight with just over a minute left and managed to lose it, ending with a Hedo Turkoglu banked three pointer.  It was that kind of game, and I'm sure it left a really bad taste in their mouths.  A really solid all around effort was spoiled by lack of execution down the stretch.  I hope the team can remember how they played the first 45 minutes of the game and forget the last 3.