Game 1 of the 2009-2010 Season Recap

Tonight was the '09 - '10 season opener at the Rose Garden against the Houston Rockets. I was lucky enough to find tickets for this game, it was completely sold out, and the second I walked in to the arena you could feel the hostility towards the Rockets in the air. Upon being announced, both Luis Scola and Trevor Ariza were booed like no tomorrow(you might recall Ariza fouled Rudy last season by basically beating him up and Scola....well he's just not so nice). Before getting into the stats, I want to RAVE about the opening video for this game. Being a future video/film major one of my favorite parts of the game is always the opening video and tonight's was, well I think the only word that can describe it is EPIC. At the door we were given our opening night swag, a hat, Tip Off bags annnnd a flashing Blazer necklace. After the Rockets announced their lineup, the lights went out and all you could see were THOUSANDS of flashing red and white lights. The megatron then flashed on to show images of the past Blazer teams, the court was also lit up with images of past and present players. It was AMAZING, definitely got the crowd excited watching images of the 1977 championship win and more. Then, as usual the Blazers were announced, first our injured and benched players(including newest addition, Patty Mills) then our other guys who each walked down a different section of the stadium, which is the coolest thing ever....unless you're in the 300 level. Definitely a great way to start the night.

Starters:
Brandon Roy
Steve Blake
Greg Oden
LaMarcus Aldridge
Martell Webster

Anyway, let's talk stats! So, if you were listening to the 24 hour Blazer coverage on 95.5 you know that quite a few callers and comments were made against Travis Outlaw. Well, he heard those comments because he came in the game and proved ALL the doubters wrong!! Travis was the Blazer's high scorer of the night with 23 points! He also had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 steals! Not to mention he also clocked in about 33 minutes in this game since LA had foul trouble. Our second highest scorer was none other than Brandon Roy with 20 points! He also had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 EPIC block. B.Roy had an average night I would say, he ran into some early fouls and seemed to be a little sore favoring his right leg after a hard fall. But I don't think we have anything to worry about, I think he was just a little frustrated with the calls.
Also notable, Martell made 14 points in his first regular season game in almost a year, and also had 2 steals and one block. LaMarcus had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. Andre Miller entered the game to thunderous applause and scored 9 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal. Rudy Fernandez, who hasn't played a game since October 14th, scored 8 points, his first field goal of the game was a signature three and the crowd LOVED it.
The Blazers were 48% from the 3-point line(thanks to TLaw) and a whopping 91% from the free-throw line. Blazers went on to win it 96 - 87!
I think this was a pretty good way to start the season! There are definitely some things that need to be improved, turnovers,  fouls, closing etc. but I think being the first game in the season we didn't do half bad. Turnovers were probably the biggest problem. The Blazers had 26 turnovers, more than any game last season but that will just have to be worked on.
 I was able to snag some pretty darn good pictures from section 329 with my super zoom camera, so check them out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next Blazer game is this Thursday at home against the Denver Nuggets! Sure to be an exciting one and I will once again be there and I'll be closer so imagine these pictures....but clearer ;-) Be sure to follow me on Twitter for updates and pictures from the games!!

In the words of the great Brian Wheeler, "Once again, it's a GREAT day to be a Blazer!"