[lakerboy]

Can someone please tell me cause they arent good.

[lakerboy]

Seriously someone tell me- i want answers please.

[HoulihansTX]

They are good, and they have some rowdy fans. Remeber the fans that storm Oregon's field after beating USC this year... these are the same people.

Plus Portland, gets a lot of teams in bad situations. i.e. B2B's, or long road trips. They are apart of the so called "Rodeo Road Trip." Its the road trip were teams play The Lakers. Kings, Suns, Warriors, and end with the Clippers.

The Clippers are catching the Spurs at the tail end of their road trip, and still getting trampled. Pathetic.

[suicidekings]

The Blazers are the only show in town, which leads to a very loud & dedicated fan base. Having a booming crowd behind you every night has to help.

[Dexter]

Can someone please tell me cause they arent good.

portland is a very good team imo - they have been destroyed by injuries and their coach has managed to maximize their talent and remain very competitive. they show a lot of heart and would be right there in the west if przbilla and oden were around. thats a huge front line that can matchup with the lakers.

the atmosphere in portland is nutz.....fans are into the game like a college arena. they call it "Rip City"

great call on the lakers....

[dynamite140]

They always good at home for some reason.

[Quagmire27]

Strange lighting, the place seems darker than any other arena.

[S.K.M.]

They are good, and they have some rowdy fans. Remeber the fans that storm Oregon's field after beating USC this year... these are the same people.

Plus Portland, gets a lot of teams in bad situations. i.e. B2B's, or long road trips. They are apart of the so called "Rodeo Road Trip." Its the road trip were teams play The Lakers. Kings, Suns, Warriors, and end with the Clippers.

The Clippers are catching the Spurs at the tail end of their road trip, and still getting trampled. Pathetic.

The "rodeo road trip" ONLY applies to the spurs. It is called this because they have a two week long rodeo in the SBC center so the spurs are basically kicked out of their home for two weeks. Also, the "rodeo road trip" does not necessarily include the cities you listed. It is different every year. Also, the spurs are not on the tail end of their trip. Tonight against the Clips was game 3 out of 8 in a row on the road.

[S.K.M.]

As for why Portland is so tough at home I think suicidekings has given the best answer. They are the only major pro sports team in town. The fans are obsessed with them. They had some unbelievable sellout streak going since back in the day of Terry Porter and Drexler. This streak was lost a few years back when they had all those thugs getting busted smoking pot (Damon Stoudamire) and raping their nannies (Ruben Patterson) and whatever else there was that I can't remember. They earned the nicknames Trailgangsters and Jailblazers. Also, some people subscribe to the idea of east coast teams not playing well on the west coast and vice versa. Portland (and Seattle) are a long trip for a lot of teams.....

[Grind House]

the "rodeo road trip" only applies to the spurs. It is called this because they have a two week long rodeo in the sbc center so the spurs are basically kicked out of their home for two weeks. Also, the "rodeo road trip" does not necessarily include the cities you listed. It is different every year. Also, the spurs are not on the tail end of their trip. Tonight against the clips was game 3 out of 8 in a row on the road.

And the Spurs are on the verge of not making the playoffs. Good team to bet on considering they will be in hungry mode for awhile now.

[Gopi-1]

The "rodeo road trip" ONLY applies to the spurs. It is called this because they have a two week long rodeo in the SBC center so the spurs are basically kicked out of their home for two weeks. Also, the "rodeo road trip" does not necessarily include the cities you listed. It is different every year. Also, the spurs are not on the tail end of their trip. Tonight against the Clips was game 3 out of 8 in a row on the road.

This one bit of info I have is a bit tricky and misleading.

The hassle of travel is out of the equation for the Spurs next "road" game against the Lakers this Monday, 2-08. The Lakers are coming home late from their Portland game while the whole Spurs team are already past asleep in a nice cozy hotel somewhere in Hollywood...

[TGoat]

The Lakers are coming home late from their Portland game while the whole Spurs team are already past asleep in a nice cozy hotel somewhere in Hollywood...

How does a 7-footer get a good night's sleep in a hotel?

[Gopi-1]

How does a 7-footer get a good night's sleep in a hotel?

LMAO!

By closing his eyes, silly!
You got me good TGoat!

[tonyhomo]

Did they win against the lakers?
Fell asleep in the 3 rd quarter

[Gopi-1]

Did they win against the lakers?
Fell asleep in the 3 rd quarter

Blazers 82-99 Lakers

[cecbo]

Way to go Lakers! Had a hunch that they would do well against Portland last night.

As to your question LB, I would have to say that the Lakers have not played Portland with any sense of urgency in the past years. They do not think that they need to beat them in order to make a point on who the better team is...unlike against Celtics, where beating them in Boston carries a significant psychological advantage when the possibility of facing them in the finals is a high probability. The Lakers hasn't played a complete 48 minute games against Portland due to the high energy level that the crowd and the players both bring to the game. The Blazers want and taste blood everytime the Lakeshow comes to town. They feel the opposite that they need to beat them to validate them being a good team and possibly a contender. They feed off the college-like crowd to get them through.

Last night, without Kobe, all the players on the Lakers played for the entire 48 minutes because they wanted to prove a point and step up without him. They could not sit back anymore thinking Kobe was going to bail them out. It was a great game with the Laker win up in that crazy environment. Everything was ass backwards last night, starting with no Kobe...no rain in Portland (we get rain in LA)...and the result was a very rare win in Portland Nation.

[pats3peat]

How does a 7-footer get a good night's sleep in a hotel?

by closing eyes

[pats3peat]

Did they win against the lakers?
Fell asleep in the 3 rd quarter

The Lost Angels Lakers

[S.K.M.]

And the Spurs are on the verge of not making the playoffs. Good team to bet on considering they will be in hungry mode for awhile now.

They are currently 6th in the west but only 1.5 games back in their division. I agree with you though they should be hungry and they have never had a losing record on this road trip.

[HoulihansTX]

Thank you for correcting me SKM.

But to my point, I think Portland catches many teams that are in bad situations. Their home crowd is great, but the get many teams when they are tired.

Houli.

[Collecting]

They are good, and they have some rowdy fans. Remeber the fans that storm Oregon's field after beating USC this year... these are the same people.

From a guy that lives in portland,

its exactly that. Also like another poster put, its the only show in town, unless you like some sub par hockey and baseball...

The Oregon/OSU rival/civil war is a brutal one here, at the end of the football season were all Blazer fans. I belive U of O fans were voted rudest fans in america last year(I am a OSU fan), while i am not saying thats a good thing, imagine those guys in a closed arena... makes it tough.

[S.K.M.]

Thank you for correcting me SKM.

But to my point, I think Portland catches many teams that are in bad situations. Their home crowd is great, but the get many teams when they are tired.

Houli.

I agree. Part of the reason for this is simply their geographic location imo.

From a guy that lives in portland,

its exactly that. Also like another poster put, its the only show in town, unless you like some sub par hockey and baseball...

The Oregon/OSU rival/civil war is a brutal one here, at the end of the football season were all Blazer fans. I belive U of O fans were voted rudest fans in america last year(I am a OSU fan), while i am not saying thats a good thing, imagine those guys in a closed arena... makes it tough.

They also say that Mac court (U of O basketball) is an extremely difficult place to play. As a WSU alumni and fan I really do not like Oregon. I am much more fond of the beavers......

[Collecting]

Yeah, been told Mac is a tough place to play, ive never been to a Duck BBall game, but its also the last year of that arena i belive.