Live-blog of Portland TrailBlazers and Houston Rockets

haven't been able to watch many games from NJ, just following along, but I'd guess it was a decision to go to what was working, which was penetration and dishing to Landry/Scola. However, as Carl's progress is also key, has Carl gone away from facing up in the post recently? That was a very strong suit to his game...

haven't been able to watch many games from NJ, just following along, but I'd guess it was a decision to go to what was working, which was penetration and dishing to Landry/Scola. However, as Carl's progress is also key, has Carl gone away from facing up in the post recently? That was a very strong suit to his game...

Like the live blog Rahat. I'd have to agree with the reader that asked if the comments have been disabled. I know they weren't, but with the new format, there are so many posts it would be nice to see which ones are most active with discussions. I've run my own blogs before and know they are always works in progress.

I think the strategy to give Landry the opportunies off the catch was a sound one, as adjustments must be made on a day-to-day basis due to variances in matchups. Aldridge is just too long in my opinion for Landry to try to post up. All he could hope for against him posting up would be getting off some hooks, or fadeaways, and the latter is not one of his strong points, yet. Hooks are also vulnerable to any help defenders, which would have been sure to come if used by Landry with any frequency last night. The outcome definitely justified the strategy.

Lowry definitely seeks out the contact. The guy's bulky and built like a football halfback. After one or two hits, it's got to make the average lanky BBall player nervous whenever he's coming at him. Kyle picks an open spot on the floor near the basket and dares anyone to beat him to it. He also has a gift for picking out the slightest nuances of weakness or mistakes in the opposing team and exploiting it to the fullest. I wish him a SPEEDY recovery. I'm anxious to see Conroy pick up some minutes, he impressed me in the preseason.

I think with Ariza, it's all a matter of him realizing his limitations, which he is obviously using his extended minutes this year to do, and Rick has given him the green light on it early, slowly pulling in the reigns a bit now. Once he learns to play within his limits, he will easily be as effective, or more so than Battier, who has basically passed the peak of his career, or is at it now. His minutes will wane over time and with him as a mentor for Trevor, you will see trevor come into his own more and more.

Nice live blog.

How huge is Lowry for this team? He has an immediate impact in every game. He creates offense and looks for everyone.

great analysis man, keep it up! Carl's play wasn't so impressive although he was the key for the win tonight. btw, wish kyle the best.