Blazers Notebook: Rough times on the road
Friday, November 7, 2008 1:17 PM PST
By Anne M. Peterson
The Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articlePORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers are going to have to learn to win on the road if they're going to live up to expectations that they can make the playoffs this season.
Sure, it's early, but the Blazers have opened 0-3 on the road. The team's lone win has come at home — and that was a close 100-99 victory over the Spurs.
And they're without two starters in center Greg Oden and forward Martell Webster.
The situation is a concern because Portland is going to be on the road a lot this month. After games at home Thursday against Houston and Saturday against Minnesota, the Blazers play seven of their next eight games away.
Following Wednesday night's 103-96 loss to the Jazz in Salt Lake City, guard Brandon Roy expressed his frustration.
"We're fighting, but we're not executing right now, and we've got to do a better job on the road when the crowd gets loud," he told reporters. "We can't panic, we've got to stick to what we're doing. Tonight was another case, we panicked and they made a run."
The Blazers did make a change, starting rookie Nicolas Batum against the Jazz and moving Travis Outlaw back with the second team.
Batum, who has shown surprising promise, finished with five points, six rebounds and two steals. He played just 17 minutes, and it appeared McMillan chose to stay with more experienced players in the second half.
Batum was expected to start Thursday night against the Rockets. Webster is expected to return in December after foot surgery during the preseason.
Oden played in the season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Lakers but sprained his right foot. The prognosis has him out from two to four weeks.
Getting out the vote
Trail Blazers center Greg Oden urged people to vote via YouTube and his own blog before Tuesday's election.
"America, the ball is in your court," he said. "Whether you vote early or vote on election day, this is your last shot."
Oden threw his support behind Barack Obama earlier this year. At 20, this was the first presidential election in which the 7-foot-center could vote.
After Oden spoke briefly to Obama, he said he went to the candidate's Web site to research him. He liked what he found.
"Senator Obama is a real person. Sometimes people forget that people in the public eye are real people also. I know I did with him at first," Oden wrote on his blog. "We are all citizens of this great country, and I know I'm putting in my one vote. I know it's just one small vote, but it's big to me."
Obama became the president-elect with a victory over John McCain.
Oden was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft out of Ohio State. His rookie NBA season was delayed a year after he had microfracture surgery on his right knee.
This season he played in Portland's season opener but sprained his right foot.
Love connection
Oregon native Kevin Love returns to his home state as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night against the Trail Blazers.
Love grew up in Lake Oswego and became one of the best prep players ever to come out of the state. He attended UCLA for a year before declaring himself eligible for the draft.
Love was the fifth overall pick in the NBA draft by Memphis, but landed in Minnesota as the result of an eight-player trade.
He averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds last season for the Bruins, who lost in the national semifinals to Memphis and finished the season with a 35-4 record.
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