Things Get Jazzy In Utah, but Not for Us.

On Saturday night, the Blazers met in Utah with the Utah Jazz. After a heartbreaking loss to the Memphis Grizzlies the previous night, the Blazers were once again in the under dog seat looking for redemption. The Utah Jazz had other plans, coming off a strong win against the Chicago Bulls, they were looking to continue their dominance and prove to the NBA they are still a threat in the west.

Starters:

Brandon Roy

LaMarcus Aldridge

Martell Webster

Steve Blake

Greg Oden

Brandon Roy took top honors that night with only 19 points. Unless all players are in double digits, 19 points is pretty low for a high scorer. Roy also tallied 4 assists and 4 rebounds. He shot 7 - 13 from the field and 0 - 1 from 3-point range but was perfect in free throws with 5 - 5. Roy only made it to the line twice Saturday night, being fouled on a 3 - point shot and 2 - pointer. LaMarcus Aldridge did his part Saturday night as well with 14 points, 2 assists and 4 rebounds. He was also perfect at the line, though he only got there once.

Blazers ended up losing 108 - 92.

It's the second loss in a row for the Blazers and they continue to look tired, confused and lost on the court with no chemistry. I see five guys out there, not one team. Which is a real shame, but hopefully something that was cleaned up in practice today and yesterday in preparation for tonight's game.

Utah outdid themselves Saturday night. They came ready to play and were full of energy. They played like a team sharing the ball, they had 36 assists compared to our 19. They shot the ball 60% from the field compared to our 45%. From 3 - point range they shot 58.3% compared to our 16.7%. You see where I'm going. No need for anymore depressing stat comparisons. (At least we beat them in free throws!! 72.4% compared to their 55.6%! Suck on that Utah!) Basically, Utah outplayed the Blazers. I will not condone jumping off a cliff because of these past two losses. It's still early in the season and there are soooooo many factors that need to be addressed before the Blazers can reach their full potential. But that is why you see Blazer fans heading for those cliffs, because they know the Blazers' potential. We have one of the deepest benches in the NBA, full of talent, you've been hearing that all season and pre-season long, and for all that talent to go to waste is a terrifying thought. But what we all need to realize is our team is young and this is the first BIG change to happen to the team since the Roy-LA years began. Team members have left and new ones have come in, new ones that are veterans and have talent. The team is still struggling to discover what to do with all that talent and make sure it gets utilized properly. So, am I worried? No. Am I disappointed? Yes. Will I be jumping off a cliff anytime soon? Hell no. I think we've got a season or two before we fully reach that potential and contend for a championship, this season, I'll settle for second round of the playoffs, Western Conference finals contenders at most. Before you get your pitch forks out Blazer fans, note that I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be wrong. If we go even further than that and this team finds its rhythm sooner rather than later, I will join you all in the happiest of happy dances. But at the same time, I'm a realist and making it in the playoffs alone is a satisfying thought especially considering how packed the western conference is this year. So keep the faith Blazer fans!

Tomorrow night, the Blazers next play the Miami Heat! The Heat experienced an amazing opener to the season but have been experiencing a losing streak as of late, most recently losing to the Boston Celtics, and we hope to continue that streak. Portland swept Miami in 2008-09 for the second straight season. The Trail Blazers have swept 11 out of the 20 season series played between the teams, all-time. So hopefully, this will make for an interesting match up.


Some Keys:

• Dwayne Wade Must Be Stopped - Wade is a driving force and knows how to work on both ends of the court, anywhere on the court whether it be outside or in the paint averaging 27 ppg. Greg Oden especially needs to move his feet and be careful of Wade's skills because Dwayne knows how to draw those fouls and he'll be looking to take GO out of the equation.
• Boo Beasley! - This kid is having a great season alongside DWade averaging a solid 14 ppg and being a rebounding machine, he is seconds on his team with 35 rebounds. Which brings me to:
• REBOUNDS - Offensive and defensive. We need second chances if our shots are cold and we need to make sure the other team isn't getting second chances. Rebounds determine how many posessions you get in a game, so the more the merrier. 
• FREE THROWS - don't even need to explain this one.

The Miami v. Portland game starts at 7 PM PST. You can catch this game on KGW Northwest News Channel 8, which also means it is available for purchase on trailblazers.com if you can't make it to a TV but you have a computer with internet in front of you. You can catch the call of the game on 95.5 the Game in the Portland area with Brian Wheeler and Antonio Harvey. And be sure to catch the LIVE game chat with Casey Holdahl and Max Mandel on TrailBlazers.com! I myself will be attending this game rocking my ROY MVP shirt from squirrelevant.com! And no, that was not a paid advertisement, these guys have some awesome Blazer shirts and all Blazer fans should definitely check them out, what with the holiday season in full swing they would make an excellent gift! :)

(Picture: AP Photo/Colin Braley)