alext42083

BLAZERS BEST MOMENT OF 07-08 BRACKET

RULES
All right, so I thought it'd be fun to determine the top moment of the 2007-2008 season in a bracket format.
The top 32 moments of the season were chosen, ordered out as No. 1 through No. 32 seeds. Each day will count down toward the top moment of the 2007-2008 season, which lasted from the Draft Lottery to the Season Finale against Memphis.

And hey, it's always fun looking back at a great year.

Thank god for YouTube as every moment has a video. Also thanks to iverigma of YouTube and of www.blazersclips.com for providing many of the videos.
The entire bracket is below.

LAST MATCHUP - MATCH 3

No. 8 seed - Brandon Roy impresses at the NBA All-Star Game (77.78%)
No. 25 seed - LaMarcus Aldridge hits the game-winning jumper vs. Milwaukee on the road (22.22%)

TODAY'S MATCHUP - MATCH 4

No. 9 seed - Travis Outlaw hits game-winner over Atlanta on the road

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No. 24 seed - Blazers beat Chicago on the road on TNT in double overtime

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ROY BRACKET
1. Blazers win NBA Draft Lottery (100%)
32. Blazers snap 13-game losing streak to Dallas behind Roy’s 32 (0%)

16. Travis Outlaw hits a four-point play to tie the game vs Toronto on the road (21.62%)
17. Travis Outlaw blocks Linas Kleiza at the last second to seal win No. 10 (78.38%)


8. Brandon Roy impresses at the NBA All-Star Game (77.78%)
25. LaMarcus Aldridge hits the game-winning jumper vs. Milwaukee on the road (22.22%)

9. Travis Outlaw hits the game-winner over Atlanta on the road
24. Blazers beat Chicago on the road on national TV


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ALDRIDGE BRACKET

4. Travis Outlaw hits game-winning shot vs. Memphis to start The Streak
29. Brandon Roy nearly creates a poster of New Jersey’s Sean Williams at the Rookie-Soph game

13. Travis Outlaw caps the season with two alley-oops from Sergio in win over Memphis
20. Brandon Roy ties the game with a huge 3 in overtime on the road vs. Toronto


5. Brandon Roy takes over in the final minutes in home win vs. Atlanta
28. Travis Outlaw strips Kobe Bryant on one end, dunks on him on the other

12. Brandon Roy crosses over Luke Walton, making him look silly
21. Brandon Roy crosses over Marko Jaric in win No. 12 during the streak


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ODEN BRACKET
2. Brandon Roy makes MJ-esque layup vs Toronto
31. Blazers make the youngsters dance off at FanFest

15. Travis Outlaw posterizes Miami's Daequan Cook on TNT
18. Blazers beat Seattle on Christmas Day at home


7. Blazers select Greg Oden as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft
26. Blazers beat the Lakers at home for the second time this season

10. Brandon Roy blocks Carmelo Anthony in the final moments of a huge division win
23. LaMarcus Aldridge has a huge putback slam dunk that sends the crowd to its feet vs. LA


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OUTLAW BRACKET
3. Martell Webster scores 24 points in one quarter vs. Utah
30. Sergio Rodriguez does it all in his best game as a Blazer vs. Atlanta

14. Blazers win 13th game in a row with win over Philadelphia behind 21-0 run in second half
19. Blazers beat Denver on the road behind Channing Frye’s 24 points


6. Travis Outlaw posterizes Rodney Carney in win over Philadelphia
27. Josh McRoberts scores his first NBA points to send his teammates wild

11. Short-handed Blazers go into Utah without Aldridge to win
22. Greg Oden makes his debut at the Las Vegas Summer League

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Zybot

I voted #24. The video is not as good, but I remember this being a very good game. I was watching it with some buddies at a bar. IIRC Roy got hurt and others had to secure the win.

nikolokolus

Jarret had a helluva game if I remember.

EDIT:
Just want to add, that it's shots like the one Travis put over one of the best shot blockers in the game that make him so damn deadly, and worth having on the team ... I'm not sure who else on this team (besides Brandon?) is able to get that jumper off against Smith.

alext42083

Yeah it was a hell of a game, there just wasn't a good video to go with it. I think James had another block that led to a Jack three-point play.
It was definitely a memorable win of the year.

But Travis' shot was so clutch, over Josh Smith. It even had Mike Rice questioning it all the way through until he hit it. Another great game...

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Minstrel

I agree that Outlaw has a good ability to get shots off, but I don't think this is the best example. Smith was playing off Outlaw, expecting him to drive and attempt to get a closer attempt/fouled. Outlaw took him by surprise by simply firing from the perimeter and Smith couldn't recover.

Outlaw didn't do anything special, here, to get the shot off. Of course, he hit the shot, which is great.

__________________
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

Webster's Dictionary

Yeah, probably not the best example, but a good example of Smith having to back off and respect the drive, and Outlaw just choosing to shoot over the top. If it had been Martell in that situation, Smith would have been right up on him, and Martell would be forced to drive, which he doesn't always look comfortable doing. Travis can easily do either.

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alext42083

Yeah, I don't think it's the best example of a defender playing up close to him and Outlaw doing his thing.
But Josh Smith was sixth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Outlaw had him backing up and Josh didn't know what Outlaw was going to do to him.. That was giving him some respect there like Webster's said.

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Minstrel

I agree. Outlaw did force Smith to respect his ability to drive. I think Outlaw is a valuable offensive weapon. I think his most valuable role would be as Vinnie Johnson sort of player...coming off the bench ready to score.

__________________
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.