| 10 October 2009
Here’s one commonality between the preseason and regular season in the NBA: you still have to find something to build upon after every loss.
And despite Portland’s sloppy play and constant turnovers in the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, that bright spot for me easily goes to Ime Udoka.
While Brandon Roy struggled to score and Greg Oden was mediocre at best, Udoka came off the bench for 10 points and 2 rebounds in roughly 16 minutes of action – his best yet of this preseason. I know what you’re thinking. Those numbers aren’t exactly worthy of a scoring title. But you have to consider what is at stake right now for Udoka as he’s once again trying to earn a roster spot in Portland competing namely against center Jarron Collins (who went scoreless with a rebound in about 7 minutes).
Three games into the preseason, you have to believe Udoka is winning the votes as most likely to be the 15th man in Portland. Hard to pass on someone like Collins with years of experience playing under a coaching mastermind like Jerry Sloan, but the same can be said about Udoka who is fresh from Gregg Popovich’s system in San Antonio. For Portland though, that final spot also has something to do with logistics.
With Travis Outlaw being penciled in to back-up LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward and Juwan Howard the third-string center, Collins appears the odd man out. It’s shaping up to be another feel good story for Udoka.
Sure the loss stings a bit for the Blazers – they always do. The personal victory however belongs to Ime.
Shameless Plug: Man, after seeing and hearing Sacramento play Portland the last two games, I was actually excited for the Blazers to take on anyone but the Kings on Friday. But that didn’t stop me from running a quick Tyreke Evans featured story for SLAM online (‘Reke Havoc: Introducing Tyreke Evans). Anyone who saw this kid play in Portland last Tuesday already knows Evans should make some noise this season. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the league pays attention.
Photo: oregonlive/ bruce ely
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