Game 1: Portland @ Memphis 5:00PM TNT

Klinky · Post #81 » by **Klinky** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:22 am

Wizenheimer wrote:well, some posters here wanted Memphis as the first round opponent...careful what you wish for I guess

Something about the playoffs often brings out the Blazers' worst performances. I don't think opponent would matter too much this season. :noway:

Klinky · Post #82 » by **Klinky** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:24 am

If we could get this back to the point where we only lose by single digits, I might actually become a little optimistic about the series.

Epicurus · Post #83 » by **Epicurus** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:28 am

"
Of all the potential matchups, it is Beno U who worries me the most. If he performs significantly better than Blake, then real problems at the margins (and these games will probably be won at the margins)." April 17

Missed the at the margins part, but nailed the Beno thing. 20-0.

Epicurus · Post #84 » by **Epicurus** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:34 am

One positive note--the Grizzlies got at least three to one rimmers to fall in the basket compared to the Blazers.

d-train · Post #85 » by **d-train** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:39 am

What happened to Conley's bad foot? I didn't see any sign of it.

Ripcity4life · Post #86 » by **Ripcity4life** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:40 am

This is so tough as a Blazer fan to watch and i am not talking about this blowout cause blowouts happen but in the playoffs is a VERY bad time to have it occur. What i am talking about is the fact that this is not the same Blazer team as shortly around the deadline cause around that time even with some up and down times i feel this team was pretty close to a lock as a 2nd round team even with Lopez missing some time and LA having a bad thumb.

Then -- WHAM -- The Rupture that not only put Wes out for the year but also broke every Blazer fans heart happened and changed the team's destiny going forward for this season.

I will not sit here and say with Wes and AAA healthy and LA being at 100% this team was a championship team BUT i do think they were a semi lock to get to round two and i think a solid chance to get to round 3. When the rupture happened it seemed like the Blazers were finally getting back on track -- pulling off a great trade and LA got back even with his injury to being a all star and him returning when most thought he would sit fired up the team. The injury just derailed everything and knowing that this off season has SO many things that could happen this COULD be the lasting memory of this team we have seen grow together through the years.

I am not giving up on the Blazers even after watching this disaster but i am saying knowing WHAT COULD have been during this post season makes watching this even tougher.

d-train · Post #87 » by **d-train** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:42 am

Conley's health is key to series. Grizzlies win if Conley isn't effected by his injured foot.

dreamcloud · Post #88 » by **dreamcloud** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:48 am

Ripcity4life wrote:This is so tough as a Blazer fan to watch and i am not talking about this blowout cause blowouts happen but in the playoffs is a VERY bad time to have it occur. What i am talking about is the fact that this is not the same Blazer team as shortly around the deadline cause around that time even with some up and down times i feel this team was pretty close to a lock as a 2nd round team even with Lopez missing some time and LA having a bad thumb.

Then -- WHAM -- The Rupture that not only put Wes out for the year but also broke every Blazer fans heart happened and changed the team's destiny going forward for this season.

I will not sit here and say with Wes and AAA healthy and LA being at 100% this team was a championship team BUT i do think they were a semi lock to get to round two and i think a solid chance to get to round 3. When the rupture happened it seemed like the Blazers were finally getting back on track -- pulling off a great trade and LA got back even with his injury to being a all star and him returning when most thought he would sit fired up the team. The injury just derailed everything and knowing that this off season has SO many things that could happen this COULD be the lasting memory of this team we have seen grow together through the years.

I am not giving up on the Blazers even after watching this disaster but i am saying knowing WHAT COULD have been during this post season makes watching this even tougher.

Pretty much this, the team hasn't felt the same at all since Wes went down..

JasonStern · Post #89 » by **JasonStern** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:55 am

d-train wrote:Conley's health is key to series. Grizzlies win if Conley isn't effected by his injured foot.

won't make any difference if Portland cannot stop Beno Udrih.

Case2012 · Post #90 » by **Case2012** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:56 am

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the coaching. Stotts defense will not work against teams in the playoffs. Giving up open mid range jumpers over and over again is terrible, and the spurs embarrassed us last year doing that. Now the grizzlies are going to do that for the next 4 games and make us look stupid. It just doesn't work without Wes. You could probably say the same thing about our offense without Wes too. The systems Stotts had in place that worked so well, won't work with him gone. He's just that important to the team.

Not saying Stotts is a bad coach, but if he refuses to adjust then he should go. We don't need another nate 2.0 player rebellion and Aldridge walking.

I hope Stotts makes some serious adjustments for Wednesday.

d-train · Post #91 » by **d-train** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:01 am

Ripcity4life wrote:This is so tough as a Blazer fan to watch and i am not talking about this blowout cause blowouts happen but in the playoffs is a VERY bad time to have it occur. What i am talking about is the fact that this is not the same Blazer team as shortly around the deadline cause around that time even with some up and down times i feel this team was pretty close to a lock as a 2nd round team even with Lopez missing some time and LA having a bad thumb.

Then -- WHAM -- The Rupture that not only put Wes out for the year but also broke every Blazer fans heart happened and changed the team's destiny going forward for this season.

I will not sit here and say with Wes and AAA healthy and LA being at 100% this team was a championship team BUT i do think they were a semi lock to get to round two and i think a solid chance to get to round 3. When the rupture happened it seemed like the Blazers were finally getting back on track -- pulling off a great trade and LA got back even with his injury to being a all star and him returning when most thought he would sit fired up the team. The injury just derailed everything and knowing that this off season has SO many things that could happen this COULD be the lasting memory of this team we have seen grow together through the years.

I am not giving up on the Blazers even after watching this disaster but i am saying knowing WHAT COULD have been during this post season makes watching this even tougher.

The Blazers are no less capable of winning a series now than they would be with Wes and Afflalo healthy. The Blazers struggled to get good shots. Grizzlies didn't need to adjust their defense to stop LA or Lillard. Wes and Afflalo would have done nothing to help our problem. We will lose against any team in the west if LA or Lillard can't force opponent into defensive rotations.

d-train · Post #92 » by **d-train** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:06 am

JasonStern wrote:
d-train wrote:Conley's health is key to series. Grizzlies win if Conley isn't effected by his injured foot.

won't make any difference if Portland cannot stop Beno Udrih.

I like our chances against Beno. If we could count on Beno playing and Conley sitting, that would solve all the problems we had in this game.

Wizenheimer · Post #93 » by **Wizenheimer** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:09 am

I guess Portland answered the question of if they could play crappy for a month before the playoffs and still turn things around in game 1.

Aldridge and Lillard combined for 46 points on 55 FGA's.... :roll:

Portland has no chance if Lillard doesn't get back to all-star form, but he hasn't played at that level for more then a quarter since Jan1...so seems like faint hope at best

Lopez needs to have a bigger impact too. And Maybe Afflalo will be good to go by Wed

Post #94 » by **Moonbeam** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:12 am

Portland has to make some serious adjustments on both ends of the floor. The shots the Blazers were forced to take were very tough until the Grizzlies took their feet off the pedal, while Memphis was getting easy layups and clean midrange looks.

Time to regroup for Game 2. Hopefully this loss stings enough to put a fire in their bellies.

Epicurus · Post #95 » by **Epicurus** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:12 am

Case2012 wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned the coaching. Stotts defense will not work against teams in the playoffs. Giving up open mid range jumpers over and over again is terrible, and the spurs embarrassed us last year doing that. Now the grizzlies are going to do that for the next 4 games and make us look stupid. It just doesn't work without Wes. You could probably say the same thing about our offense without Wes too. The systems Stotts had in place that worked so well, won't work with him gone. He's just that important to the team.

Not saying Stotts is a bad coach, but if he refuses to adjust then he should go. We don't need another nate 2.0 player rebellion and Aldridge walking.

I hope Stotts makes some serious adjustments for Wednesday.

Weren't most the midranges really pull ups off drives. That has nothing to do with the standard criticism of soft ICE, nor the same as against the Spurs last playoffs. The best defense is still the ball going through the net on offense. Tonight shots, many very makeable, didn't go in. More than a few clankers for the Grizzlies went in, btw. What adjustments do you suggest, given the capacities of the squad?

monopoman · Post #96 » by **monopoman** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:29 am

What a boring game, I felt that Memphis was getting the benefit of the whistle big time in the first half it felt like they were getting FT"s or being fouled on quite a few tick tack situations.

I guess the motto this year in the playoffs is give home teams all the favors, they definitely did some work in the second half to get that FT disparity closer though.

Obviously this team needs some major work compared to what the playoffs looked like last season, with Aldridge+Lillard looking so bad. I just wanted to point out the refs were not doing them any favors in this game.

monopoman · Post #97 » by **monopoman** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:33 am

Ripcity4life wrote:I am not giving up on the Blazers even after watching this disaster but i am saying knowing WHAT COULD have been during this post season makes watching this even tougher.

Dude, there is nothing that could make me give up being a Blazer fan Aldridge and Lillard could both get career ending injuries after they are both locked up to long term deals and I would still be a fan.

If one "tough series" is enough to make you consider giving up on the team your not a real fan period.

The injury woes this year barring Wes have actually been tough but really not that bad in the grand scheme of things, some teams have dealt with just about as much as we have this season or close to it as far as injuries go.

PDXKnight · Post #98 » by **PDXKnight** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:48 am

This loss can be a good thing if the Blazers use it as motivation. They certainly have plenty to work on and hopefully they take the day off to work on a game plan that'll work better

Wizenheimer · Post #99 » by **Wizenheimer** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:00 am

Moonbeam wrote:Portland has to make some serious adjustments on both ends of the floor. The shots the Blazers were forced to take were very tough until the Grizzlies took their feet off the pedal, while Memphis was getting easy layups and clean midrange looks.

Time to regroup for Game 2. Hopefully this loss stings enough to put a fire in their bellies.

Memphis has been doing the same thing against Portland for at least 2 years now going 7-1 in that stretch and there have been no adjustments that I can see. Maybe Stotts will finally realize things aren't working. Or maybe he's already realized it but has no other effective options to implement

on defense, he could try having the guards go under the PnR; or he could have the bigs occasionally jump the play and try and redirect the guard. But to continue to have the guards go over the screen while the big retreats into the paint seems just about guaranteed to make it a short series

Post #100 » by **Moonbeam** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:13 am

Wizenheimer wrote:
Moonbeam wrote:Portland has to make some serious adjustments on both ends of the floor. The shots the Blazers were forced to take were very tough until the Grizzlies took their feet off the pedal, while Memphis was getting easy layups and clean midrange looks.

Time to regroup for Game 2. Hopefully this loss stings enough to put a fire in their bellies.

Memphis has been doing the same thing against Portland for at least 2 years now going 7-1 in that stretch and there have been no adjustments that I can see. Maybe Stotts will finally realize things aren't working. Or maybe he's already realized it but has no other effective options to implement

on defense, he could try having the guards go under the PnR; or he could have the bigs occasionally jump the play and try and redirect the guard. But to continue to have the guards go over the screen while the big retreats into the paint seems just about guaranteed to make it a short series

That's what I'm hopeful for. Memphis isn't a great 3-point shooting team. They're a great paint team, and they can hit the midrange shots well. It's a bit of "pick your poison", but so far, the poison Portland has picked against Memphis has been... well... poisonous.

On offense, I'd like to see more activity in general. Set more screens to free up Lillard for a drive or dish, and have cutters moving around. Portland's standard way of camping 3+ guys around the arc while pounding it in to Aldridge or hoping Lillard can create something out of nothing is not going to work.