1st round opponent: Portland Trailblazers.

[ChokeFasncists]

1st round opponent: Portland Trailblazers.

Starters:

Lopez--------------------------------D12
LMA----------------------------------TJ
Batum-------------------------------Parsons
Matthews---------------------------Harden
Lillard-------------------------------Bev


Key reserves:
Mo Will, Dorell Wright, McCollum, TRob, Freeland.

vs

Canaan, Lin, Garcia, Casspi, DMo, Asik.


Coaches:
Kevin McHale vs Terry Stotts


Some similarities:

Two young teams going at each other with somewhat inexperienced coaches fighting for their jobs. Each has a dominant big man in his prime, both are 28 years old and trying to take their game to another level. Their star guards are 24 (Harden) and 23 (Lillard), looking to establish themselves as bonafide stars in this league. Each has one starter mainly dedicated to blue collar work - Bev and Lopez. Each has a starting point guard coming off the bench who is capable of seriously altering the game. *Edit: Each has a versatile super glue guy starting at the SF position.



Some key questions:

Can TJ guard LMA adequately? Or are we going to use the Twin Towers against them? Or we'll have Parsons, Dwight or DMo guard him? Our bench has been stinking recently, is that going to change? Which of the inconsistent Lin would show up? Can Bev slow down Lillard? Can Harden dial his defense up a notch in the postseason and not let Matthews abuse him? Would the three guards lineup be used often? Real good to have homecourt advantage for these relatively inexperienced teams, how important is it?


*P.S. Great to see TRob doing better towards the end of the season and making it in this league, not hoping he does well against us of course.

[MaxRider]

LMA will abuse TJones again
i hope McHale can experience Howard+Asik front court in the next game
our best defender on LMA is Asik

[rocketsballin]

if mchale can hire a good x's and o's asst coach then the TT lineup would've been there all season, and asik's sore vagina, i mean knee swelling, wouldnt last over a month.

[kam_soluusar]

TBH The twin towers experiment wasn't given that much of a chance. I think it can work in certain situations.

[rocketsballin]

it can work if our coach knew the different between an x and an o. i didnt know mchale was gonna revert to this bullsht read and react one on one offense. had i known that before, id never wanna see the tt's

it might work now in small spurts now that the team has chemistry and everyone's healthy and on the same page. might work, but with that one on one crap, i dunno how we're gonna score lol

[texasholdem]

20 years ago Portland was Houston's first round opponent on the way to the Rockets first championship. Rockets won the series 3 games to 1. Portland went to the Finals in 1992 but this team was different where Rod Strickland took over the starting PG spot from Terry Porter and he also led the team in scoring while Clyde Drexler was #2. The team also lost Kevin Duckworth and sent Jerome Kersey to the bench as both were starters before.

In the 4 first round games, Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 34 ppg, 11 rpg, 4.8 apg, 3.8 bpg and 2.3 spg. He was just awarded the regular season MVP award.

This was Rick Adelman's final year as head coach in Portland as he was fired after this series.

[inquisitive]

Lin or someone off the bench needs to step up this series.

[inquisitive]

seems like this was yesterday...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZyVAHLzAM[/youtube]

[inquisitive]

20 years ago Portland was Houston's first round opponent on the way to the Rockets first championship. Rockets won the series 3 games to 1. Portland went to the Finals in 1992 but this team was different where Rod Strickland took over the starting PG spot from Terry Porter and he also led the team in scoring while Clyde Drexler was #2. The team also lost Kevin Duckworth and sent Jerome Kersey to the bench as both were starters before.

In the 4 first round games, Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 34 ppg, 11 rpg, 4.8 apg, 3.8 bpg and 2.3 spg. He was just awarded the regular season MVP award.

This was Rick Adelman's final year as head coach in Portland as he was fired after this series.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbVRYT3N69Q[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naeZKAKfqlA[/youtube]

[BaYBaller]

Not so sure about the TT. POR will likely just go to the LMA/Lillard pick n' pop then. LMA is going to get his one way or the other. Start with Jones and then Asik is an option if LMA is torching Jones in the post or something.

To me the series is going to come down to if we can close out on their shooters. I think Harden leaks off his man way too much. Half-hearted help defense is the worst as you're essentially not guarding anybody. POR is a jump shooting team, so if we can chase them off the 3-pt line we have a really good chance.

[Zubby]

I say Dwight/Asik take turns on LMA.. Jones will get destroyed.
I expect Dwight to destroy Portland.

[Honey Bear]

Hopefully the end result is similar to the 1st round of 2009 without anyone getting hurt.

[ChokeFasncists]

TBH The twin towers experiment wasn't given that much of a chance. I think it can work in certain situations.

Agreed that TT wasn't given enough chance to work, he stopped it after only two losses to the Clippers; looking back, we can't beat them regardless of the lineup, even when Griffin was out; it was just bad matchup.

if mchale can hire a good x's and o's asst coach then the TT lineup would've been there all season, and asik's sore vagina, i mean knee swelling, wouldnt last over a month.

it can work if our coach knew the different between an x and an o. i didnt know mchale was gonna revert to this bullsht read and react one on one offense. had i known that before, id never wanna see the tt's

it might work now in small spurts now that the team has chemistry and everyone's healthy and on the same page. might work, but with that one on one crap, i dunno how we're gonna score lol

Totally agree that bad Xs and Os screwed up TT. In a free wheeling and running system, one big man and four perimeter players work well but not with two bigs who can't shoot; in a system with two non-offensively dominant bigs, more pick-setting, play-calling and facilitating becomes necessary. When we have the TT lineup, our defense would be real good but we would need more facilitating and offensive power from the other positions. That's where he screwed up even bigger because of his stupid, arbitrary and egotistical decision. Looking back, we played well in the first five games with Asik starting along with Jeremy, beating the hot Blazers and Mavs, the only loss coming from the Clippers. The offense was fine, defense was good and what crazy rebounding! I remember Morey twitted something like "all your rebounds are ours now!" But then, "McDumbHell" happened, he inserted the defensive Bev back into the starting lineup and the offense stagnated, with immediate losses to the lowly Lakers and again the Clippers. Of course, we sucked again the next game against the then lowly Raptors, barely winning in OT even with a 31 points explosion from Jeremy coming off the bench. Next game, TT was scrapped, Asik saw the floor only for four minutes the next game, his knee went unhappy in two weeks; two big successful poison-pilled starting quality acquisitions of Morey, just like that, wasted and became season-long untradeable distractions; and with our bench depleted in the process, as Bev and TJ would have been perfect off the bench(Asik and Lin not so much). If TT, meaning being able to start your best five players, had worked out, this team would probably have been championship contender material; especially since in the playoffs, defensive, good rebounding and half-court oriented teams usually fare better. And if Morey is smart he probably won't want to bring back this egomaniacal moron next season. But of course, it might not be his fault afterall, maybe he had to placate the stars who wanted to be the exclusive big man and the exclusive guard or perhaps he cares more about regular season wins than contending.

[MaxRider]

or we should put haren on aldridge
since he defend the post better than tjones or parson
you know haren can't keep up the pace with matthews or batum
play howard/parsons/garcia/haren/beverley
have parsons guarding batum and garcia on matthews
haren guarding aldridge
lol

[rocketsballin]

seems like this was yesterday...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZyVAHLzAM[/youtube]

at 2:14 its like joel was saying "STOP YAO STOP!"

[inquisitive]

or we should put haren on aldridge
since he defend the post better than tjones or parson
you know haren can't keep up the pace with matthews or batum
play howard/parsons/garcia/haren/beverley
have parsons guarding batum and garcia on matthews
haren guarding aldridge
lol

[rocketsballin]

Totally agree that bad Xs and Os screwed up TT. In a free wheeling and running system, one big man and four perimeter players work well but not with two bigs who can't shoot; in a system with two non-offensively dominant bigs, more pick-setting, play-calling and facilitating becomes necessary. When we have the TT lineup, our defense would be real good but we would need more facilitating and offensive power from the other positions. That's where he screwed up even bigger because of his stupid, arbitrary and egotistical decision. Looking back, we played well in the first five games with Asik starting along with Jeremy, beating the hot Blazers and Mavs, the only loss coming from the Clippers. The offense was fine, defense was good and what crazy rebounding! I remember Morey twitted something like "all your rebounds are ours now!" But then, "McDumbHell" happened, he inserted the defensive Bev back into the starting lineup and the offense stagnated, with immediate losses to the lowly Lakers and again the Clippers. Of course, we sucked again the next game against the then lowly Raptors, barely winning in OT even with a 31 points explosion from Jeremy coming off the bench. Next game, TT was scrapped, Asik saw the floor only for four minutes the next game, his knee went unhappy in two weeks; two big successful poison-pilled starting quality acquisitions of Morey, just like that, wasted and became season-long untradeable distractions; and with our bench depleted in the process, as Bev and TJ would have been perfect off the bench(Asik and Lin not so much). If TT, meaning being able to start your best five players, had worked out, this team would probably have been championship contender material; especially since in the playoffs, defensive, good rebounding and half-court oriented teams usually fare better. And if Morey is smart he probably won't want to bring back this egomaniacal moron next season. But of course, it might not be his fault afterall, maybe he had to placate the stars who wanted to be the exclusive big man and the exclusive guard or perhaps he cares more about regular season wins than contending.

holy wall of text did your enter button break?

[ChokeFasncists]

Totally agree that bad Xs and Os screwed up TT. In a free wheeling and running system, one big man and four perimeter players work well but not with two bigs who can't shoot; in a system with two non-offensively dominant bigs, more pick-setting, play-calling and facilitating becomes necessary. When we have the TT lineup, our defense would be real good but we would need more facilitating and offensive power from the other positions. That's where he screwed up even bigger because of his stupid, arbitrary and egotistical decision. Looking back, we played well in the first five games with Asik starting along with Jeremy, beating the hot Blazers and Mavs, the only loss coming from the Clippers. The offense was fine, defense was good and what crazy rebounding! I remember Morey twitted something like "all your rebounds are ours now!" But then, "McDumbHell" happened, he inserted the defensive Bev back into the starting lineup and the offense stagnated, with immediate losses to the lowly Lakers and again the Clippers. Of course, we sucked again the next game against the then lowly Raptors, barely winning in OT even with a 31 points explosion from Jeremy coming off the bench. Next game, TT was scrapped, Asik saw the floor only for four minutes the next game, his knee went unhappy in two weeks; two big successful poison-pilled starting quality acquisitions of Morey, just like that, wasted and became season-long untradeable distractions; and with our bench depleted in the process, as Bev and TJ would have been perfect off the bench(Asik and Lin not so much). If TT, meaning being able to start your best five players, had worked out, this team would probably have been championship contender material; especially since in the playoffs, defensive, good rebounding and half-court oriented teams usually fare better. And if Morey is smart he probably won't want to bring back this egomaniacal moron next season. But of course, it might not be his fault afterall, maybe he had to placate the stars who wanted to be the exclusive big man and the exclusive guard or perhaps he cares more about regular season wins than contending.

holy wall of text did your enter button break?

Sorry about that, I was trying to prevent knee-jerk reaction and I didn't want to distract the conversations on the main topic.

[ChokeFasncists]

http://www.blazersedge.com/2014/4/16/56 ... -breakdown

Pretty good writeup by a Blazers fan:

Fast Break Points: The Rockets score heavily on the break where the Blazers defend at an average level. Houston doesn't always get back in transition but the Blazers don't run out much either. Nevertheless, don't be surprised if you hear Terry Stotts urging his charges to hustle down the floor, not just for the overt score but to run the offense before Houston can set up.

Turnovers: The Rockets are 29th in committing turnovers, a potentially serious failing. Unfortunately the Blazers are last in the league at forcing turnovers. Something's got to give there. The Blazers might be hoping to steal a quarter or two, maybe even a game, by taking advantage of Houston miscues. Portland should have little to worry about on the other end. The Blazers don't give up the ball and the Rockets don't force it away. Seeing the Blazers committing turnovers would be a bad sign, perhaps the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Bench: As much as you want to root for their spirit and progress, the Blazers field one of the weakest benches in the league. It's highlighted by "shoot you in or shoot you out" Mo Williams, bolstered lately by a more consistent, yet still mercurial, Thomas Robinson and a mostly-flat-lined Dorell Wright. Lin and Asik would instantly become the best players off of Portland's pines. Nor do the Blazer starters have extra tricks up their sleeves. Each player can surprise on a given night--Matthews with a few post-ups, Batum with a dribble-drive, Lopez with a face-up jumper--but 7-game series are about consistent averages peppered by the occasional great performance. Popcorn contributions could carry you in the old 3- or 5-game series, not so much anymore.

[000001]

what i like

howard , harden >>>>> aldridge lillard

what i dont like

our bench is scary bad

our coach is scary bad

i think we win this series in 6 games

please dont play dmo hes so bad

put t jones on aldridge ...late in games asik .. dont want to see howard in foul trouble is very bad for us