Portland Trail Blazers: Fast-Paced Offense Is New for the 2011 Blazers

Who is this Trail Blazers team that came out running in the first quarter of Monday’s exhibition game against the Jazz? It can’t be the same team from last year, especially leading 32-19 at the end of the first quarter. But the team showed a lot of teamwork to win 110-90 at the Rose Garden. 

The work that the Blazers showed their home fans came from the type of play that head coach Nate McMillan has been trying to drive into their minds since day one. Yes, the Blazers had zero fast-break points, but you could really see a team that was looking to get shots through the hoop. 

There was not a moment that the Trail Blazers had a threat from the shot clock as they left up no less than six seconds at the latest. The most dominating run was scoring nine times with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter. 

This was a team that came into the season with one mindset, and that is to finally win it all. This could be true if the team can find a way to play like this every night they step into the court. They just have to go strong for the first half and not relinquish their leads. Yes, this won’t happen in every game, but fans can only hope the team finds ways to win games. 

The Blazers did slow down a step as the game progressed, but they tried their best to keep up the momentum they had in the first quarter. There was some good to come out of the team slowing the game down a bit, and that was for them to see they have a point guard in Raymond Felton who took this role very well. 

The Blazers scored 110 points, something they only did six times in 2010-11 season. This was only an exhibition game against a Utah team that is looking to get back on its feet, but things are looking right for the Blazers this season. 

Utah did look to find ways to get its momentum going but couldn't match up against Portland’s fast-paced style, but you can see that the Jazz have been working to keep up. 

As the Blazers look to continue the style of play that McMillan wants them to play, we will only have to wait to see what will come Wednesday night as the Blazers face the Jazz again in Utah. Every fan in Rip City will be looking on from their television screens while the brave fans who travel to Utah will see with their own eyes. Will the Blazers continue their fast-paced action? Will they slow the game down to the usual style we are accustomed to see? It will only be a matter of time as they creep closer to the regular season opener.