Blazers Honor UCC Victims, Open Preseason with an Overtime Loss

Monday, October 05, 2015

Andrew R Tonry, GoLocalPDX Contributor

SACRAMENTO 109, BLAZERS 105 (OT)

The Blazers began the 2015 preseason by honoring the victims of last week's shooting at UCC, wearing these customized warmups:

#Respect to the Blazers for honoring the victims of UCC http://t.co/hcdpoBhyAA pic.twitter.com/uICgV1RBjo
— AP (@Ananth_Pandian) October 6, 2015

Otherwise, the meeting with Sacramento was typical of the exhibition season: sloppy and mostly meaningless. And while it's a fool's errand to try and glean much from a preseason game, there were a few worthwhile takeaways from Monday's matchup.

The Blazers have a starting lineup. It includes Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard, C.J. McCollum, Mason Plumlee and Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu, however, was out, expecting the birth of his first child. Allen Crabbe started in his place. Of course, the first team could change. But it seems to have settled for the moment.

The Blazers have an interesting array of big men. Leonard and Plumlee are solid passers, and Plumlee looks ready to fill Robin Lopez's thankless spot as hard-hat wearing dirty-worker. Ed Davis and Noah Vonleh, meanwhile, are active, lanky and springy defenders--particularly Vonleh, who fought his way to some rebounds that he otherwise shouldn't have gotten. Veteran Chris Kaman got the night off.

The ball is moving freely. Indeed, this iteration of the Blazers looks like the sharing type. It's a particularly good sign, as they're going to need to get easy baskets as they don't have a lot of scorers who can create their own shot.

And while it's futile to read too much into the final score--coach Terry Stotts didn't play anyone over 25 minutes--there is a meaningful competition taking place between guards Tim Frazier and Phil Pressey. Likely only one will make the final roster and so far they're neck-and-neck.

Frazier did the most to help his cause Monday, making three three-pointers. If Frazier, who is not known for his outside shooting, could develop a consistent three-pointer, his value would increase dramatically.

The Blazers led early by as many as 21, but Sacramento chipped away and forced overtime by outscoring Portland 29-15 in the fourth quarter.

Vonleh had a chance to give the Blazers a lead with just over :10 seconds to play, but his point-blank hook clanked off the rim.

And though Stotts stuck to his guns, going with his young, inexperienced players down the stretch, Kings coach George Karl rode veteran Marco Belinelli to victory. Belinelli finished with a game-high 32 points.

The Blazers' exhibition campaign continues Thursday, against the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.