This is largely my recap of the Blazers-Sonics game, but with a few interesting notes that were worthy of their own diary and discussion...

1)。比赛前,PJ Carlesimo看起来漂亮relaxed and comfortable talking with the media in the Press Room. Honestly, I've never met him prior to last night, but, from the stories I've heard, being in San Antonio and the being an Assistant Coach have really helped him out. He still looks intense, and probably is, but at least it's controlled for now.

2.) PJ would never admit it directly, but he's nervous about Kevin Durant. I'm not sure whether he's worried about it in a "Man, I hope I don't screw up on of the most talented prospects ever to come out of the draft" sense or worried about it in a "Man, I hope people don't see what I see everyday in practice" type worried.

The thing is, Kevin Durant is a very good scorer, but he's TINY, which easily translates into frail. The way I look at it, is I'm a pretty average sized guy and at 6'1", I'm a medium build. Durant is 8 inches taller than me, and weighs the same amount (give or take a handful of pounds depending on which fast food restaurant cooked my dinner). This is scary.

For now, Durant is a two guard, simply because PJ (again, something he would never admit) doesn't want him banging around with the Aldridge's and Eddy Curry's of the world. They would break him in half. The only problem is, he can't guard the two. Kevin Martin proved that. Fast shooting guards will destroy him, so who does he guard? If I was an opposing coach, I tell whomever Durant is defending to go straight to the low block and absolutely punish him on the offensive end. Back him down. Elbow him. It'll pay off on the other end of the floor...

3.) Jack's performance won't stand out on the stat sheet, but he won the starting position last night. He's improved his effort on both ends of the floor and he's comfortable with Brandon Roy. Steve Blake does not have this same chemistry.

4)。事实上,史蒂夫·布莱克,在我看来,越过hadowed by Jack AND Sergio. Defensively, at least against the smaller point guards in the Sonics backcourt, Steve Blake didn't bring anything more to the floor than Green, Jack, or Sergio. Green's only issue on the defensive side is that he gambles for the steal, which usually creates a basket just as often as it creates a turnover. The difference between Sergio and Blake last night, was that with Sergio, you know he's going to create scoring opportunities. With Blake, the Blazers looked stagnant and had trouble scoring.

5.) The second line lacks a "Go-To" scorer. Roy had an off night for the first three quarters. Frye looks THIN (as in, Travis Outlaw thin) and he gets pushed around which really upsets the Sarge. Travis Outlaw, as a go-to scorer, is kind of like going "All-In" on the first hand in a huge poker tournament. You either win big, or you're done early. When the initial fastbreak is stopped, the first line runs a play for Aldridge. The second line seems to stand around a lot and then shoots a late shot clock jumper...

6.) Martell is our Small Forward of the future. He has a completely different demeanor this year and it shows on the floor. Last year, or year's prior, if Webster missed his first couple shots, he was out for the game. This year, he struggled early, stayed with it, and then hit what was probably the most clutch shot of his young career (even though it was a preseason game, you could tell that BOTH teams were playing to win, which adds weight to that shot)... Again, PJ's comments after the game were the standard "We played some new lineups, it's only preseason..." But the bottom line is that our starters and their best players were in the game during crunch time. That's not exactly standard procedure for the preseason.

7.) Brandon Roy? LaMarcus Aldridge? Not enough can be said. Aldridge is our horse for 3 quarters, but down that home-stretch, it's all Roy. He said after the game "I'm a playmaker, not a scorer," and I think it's part of the gameplan for him to distribute and get the other guys going... But NEVER, EVER leave a game while Roy is still in the lineup. Down 10, with 6:00 to play? Let Wonder Roy work his magic.

8.) Let's start a pot guessing who makes the All-Star team first. Do you take 31 points and 13 rebounds or do you take 14 points in the 4th quarter (including a point or an assist on each of our field goals in the last 6 minutes of the game)? Was it the chicken or the egg?

9.) If you want to pay $75 for a Chalupa, the Blazers will also throw in a great seat at a basketball game...