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After all that change, the Wolves are right back where they were this time last season when Randy Wittman was coach, David Kahn was home in Portland contemplating his future and Kurt Rambis was fairly reveling in the start of what would be another Lakers’ championship season:
1-8, with an eight-game losing streak.
This time, Rambis inserted Ryan Hollins into the starting lineup to counter LaMarcus Aldridge, a nightmare matchup for the Wolves at power forward. Hollins played 25 minutes and Aldridge was held to 11 points and four rebounds.
So the Blazers simply exploited the matchup at center, where Greg Oden went for 18 and 11 against undersized Al Jefferson there.
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“That’s why you try to get a lot of talent on your ballclub,” Rambis said. “Not only are they talented, but they’re long, too. That length creates problems.”
At least this time the Wolves didn’t surrender 74 points in the first half, 111 by the end of three quarters and 146 for the game, as they did Monday in Golden State.
This time, Jefferson was introspective and expansive in his comments after the game, just two nights after he dressed so slowly and silently in Golden State.
Considering I’m going to probably write 60 or more game stories this season with the same storyline, here’s a little different take on a gamer, one I built around Jefferson’s nearly 10-minute address after tonight’s game for the paper and Web site: