Blazers are off to a let's say, sluggish, start. After posting a dominating 34-7 mark at the Rose Garden, they've dropped 2 of their first 3 on the home court after Atlanta took em last night. I was really looking forward to seeing Greg Oden play this year. Lot of off-season chat about his being in such great condition, fully healed from that knee micro-fracture that cost him his rookie year. You can over-analyze anything but his productivity will not improve until he can avoid foul trouble. Had 5 in only 16 minutes and has had 5 in every game but one when he was whistled 4 times. I think it's a matter of maturity and discipline because he's committing too many infractions well away from the basket. You want your big fella to be intimidating, but holding a non-perimeter threat 15-18 feet from the hoop is a dumb foul. Look, the season is 5 games in and remember, he's just 21 but it's certainly something to keep on your radar.
Game 6 from the Bronx tonight and I'm astounded by the national media who somehow feel the pressure is on New York to win. Really? They lose and get a game 7, Philly loses and the season is over. Let's not forget, the Yanks have scored 6, 7 & 8 runs off the Phils pitching the past 3 games. The Phillie's stud starter Cliff Lee was not sharp on 3 days rest Monday and none of the others have shown the ability to shut down a good lineup. Certainly New York throwing Andy Pettite tonight on 3 days rest is far from a lock, but at home, under pressure, he's been there many, many times before. The Philly starter, Pedro Martinez, has struggled on the road all season. New York also beat him earlier in the series blasting 2 homers. Let's face it, there is only one pitcher on either roster you feel comfortable with at this point and it's Yankee's closer Mariano Rivera. Both teams have a ton of pressure on them. It's the freaking World Series for crying out loud, but the Yanks remain in the driver's seat. For now.
Okay, for a new Duck hat plus a $50 gift certificate to Cafe 440 on Coburg Road.
The brought us lunch the other day. The stuff is great. Email the correct answer to stevetannen@live.com
When was the last time the Yankees "won" a 7 game World Series. Good Luck.
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Hey Steve,
Another thing to remember is that there is a lot of new pieces with the Blazer lineups. Oden and Webster didn't start last year. Pryz and Miller were not running with the bench last season. You can see that they don't have a good flow yet. Oden and Pryz have to stay out of foul trouble. Oden's line last night extrapolated to 30 minutes 16 points 18 rebounds. When he is on the floor he makes a huge difference.
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