The Blazers lost their season-opener to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs last night 106-97. They didn't look too bad, and were right in the game at the end. Brandon Roy had a pretty bad night, but LaMarcus Aldridge and Martell Webster both had solid nights. The Blazers have been waiting for Webster to step up and show he can play up to his abilities, and last night he took a big step towards that. Even Joel Pryzbilla had a solid outing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Pryzbilla also made 5 of 6 free throws, which is a very promising sign as that's been a very weak part of his game. As I've said before, the Blazers aren't going to be anywhere as bad as people have been saying since Oden went out for the season. If Coach McMillan can get them comfortable in their new faster paced offense they should have a pretty decent year, although the playoffs are a longshot playing in the West. Their 17 turnovers last night should come down drastically as they smooth out their offense. They're also going to need to get more aggressive on defense, they're not playing real cohesively on that side of the ball quite yet.
There is alot of talent on this team, but there are a lot of question marks going into this season. I would expect them to improve on last years record of 32-50, but not by much. We're going to need Roy to stay healthy, Pryzbilla to toughen up a bit, and Travis Outlaw and Webster to shoot consistently.
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