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The NBA is rigging the 8th seed

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The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#1 » by d-train » Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:22 pm

The easiest opponents in the 8 game resumption are against Wizards, Spurs, Kings, Suns, and Magic. The Blazers don't get to play any of the 5 easiest of opponents once. Pelicans get to play 5 games against the 5 easiest opponents.

Blazers
Memphis Grizzlies Jul 31, 2020 4:00p
@Boston Celtics Aug 2, 2020 3:30p
Houston Rockets Aug 4, 2020 9:00p
@Denver Nuggets Aug 6, 2020 8:00p
Los Angeles Clippers Aug 8, 2020 1:00p
Philadelphia 76ers Aug 9, 2020 6:30p
@Dallas Mavericks Aug 11, 2020 5:00p
@Brooklyn Nets Aug 13, 2020

Pelicans
Utah Jazz Jul 30, 2020 6:30p
@Los Angeles Clippers Aug 1, 2020 6:00p
Memphis Grizzlies Aug 3, 2020 6:30p
@Sacramento Kings Aug 6, 2020 1:30p
Washington Wizards Aug 7, 2020 8:00p
San Antonio Spurs Aug 9, 2020 3:00p
@Sacramento Kings Aug 11, 2020 9:00p
@Orlando Magic Aug 13, 2020

Grizzlies
@Portland Trail Blazers Jul 31, 2020 4:00
San Antonio Spurs Aug 2, 2020 4:00p
@New Orleans Pelicans Aug 3, 2020 6:30p
@Utah Jazz Aug 5, 2020 2:30p
Oklahoma City Thunder Aug 7, 2020 4:00p
@Toronto Raptors Aug 9, 2020 2:00p
Boston Celtics Aug 11, 2020 6:30p
Milwaukee Bucks Aug 13, 2020
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#2 » by Goldbum » Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:29 pm

You are correct.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#3 » by Norm2953 » Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:41 pm

I'm not worried about the 8 seed for the extra practice time and live games will help Blazer
management learn how this team fits together. Almost certain players will come down with
the virus in a state like Florida and have to quarantine for 14 days which will make for
interesting games.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#4 » by DeBlazerRiddem » Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:54 pm

This was posted on the general board:

Strength of schedule ranking for new schedule (hardest to easiest):
1. Heat
2. Raptors
3. Nuggets
4. Lakers
5. Grizz
6. Blazers
7. Rockets
8. Suns
9. Wizards
10. Mavs
11. Bucks
12. Thunder
13. Jazz
14. Clippers
15. Kings
16. Spurs
17. Nets
18. Magic
19. Pacers
20. Celtics
21. 6ers
22. Pels

Strength of schedule ranking for old schedule (hardest to easiest):
1. Grizz
2. Wizards
3. Nuggets
4. Mavs
5. Suns
6. Jazz
7. Nets
8. Pacers
9. Spurs
10. Kings
11. Bucks
12. Raptors
13. Rockets
14. Thunder
15. Blazers
16. Celtics
17. Heat
18. Magic
19. Lakers
20. 6ers
21. Clippers
22. Pels


So Blazers did get screwed, but so did Miami and LA and a couple of others. Pelicans had the easiest regular schedule remaining so it does make sense they have the easiest schedule in Orlando.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#5 » by d-train » Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:24 pm

DeBlazerRiddem wrote:
So Blazers did get screwed, but so did Miami and LA and a couple of others. Pelicans had the easiest regular schedule remaining so it does make sense they have the easiest schedule in Orlando.

We are screwed worse than that strength of schedule rating system reveals. Pelicans have 5 easy games, 2 median difficulty, and 1 very difficult game. Blazers have 2 median difficulty games, 5 difficult, and 1 very difficult game. Pelicans should win at least 5 games and will probably win 6. Blazers will have to play like the next NBA champions to win 6 of their 8 games. It's rigged, Pelicans are in the playoffs. Even if Blazers win 6 games, we can't overtake Grizzlies if Grizzlies win 3 games. We need to win 5 or 6 games to stay ahead of Pelicans and can't overtake Grizzlies unless Grizzlies lose at least 6 of 8 games. I hope Lillard and CJ stay home. They won't, but this is a charade.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#6 » by d-train » Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:26 pm

Blazers should send a g-league team to Orlando.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#7 » by DeBlazerRiddem » Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:41 pm

d-train wrote:
DeBlazerRiddem wrote:
So Blazers did get screwed, but so did Miami and LA and a couple of others. Pelicans had the easiest regular schedule remaining so it does make sense they have the easiest schedule in Orlando.

We are screwed worse than that strength of schedule rating system reveals. Pelicans have 5 easy games, 2 median difficulty, and 1 very difficult game. Blazers have 2 median difficulty games, 5 difficult, and 1 very difficult game. Pelicans should win at least 5 games and will probably win 6. Blazers will have to play like the next NBA champions to win 6 of their 8 games. It's rigged, Pelicans are in the playoffs. Even if Blazers win 6 games, we can't overtake Grizzlies if Grizzlies win 3 games. We need to win 5 or 6 games to stay ahead of Pelicans and can't overtake Grizzlies unless Grizzlies lose at least 6 of 8 games. I hope Lillard and CJ stay home. They won't, but this is a charade.


Your takes are always a little odd. The other day it was "Oh the Blazers should cut Ariza and sue the NBA for letting him spend time with his son in quarantine instead of going to Orlando" and today its "Oh the schedule is soooo hard, I hope neither Lillard or CJ go in protest, send the G league team instead!"

Personally I have it just the opposite way, an unfair schedule is not a good reason to stay home but conflicting family obligations is a good reason to not play basketball. Its funny how people can have entirely opposite takes on the same situation. The Blazers were outside the playoff bubble, so they have to play extra well if they want to make it, of course the cards are stacked against them and the entertainment is seeing if they can overcome the odds.

If anything, I would say this: This entire situation is unprecedented. I wouldn't take anything too seriously right now, don't waste the energy getting outraged. Whatever we get is not going to be perfect, heck with the rising number of cases in Florida they may end up scrapping it entirely. Basically have super low expectations; as in if we get ANY basketball its a blessing.

At least, that is how I choose to see it, probably for the sole reason of maintaining my own tenuous sanity.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#8 » by d-train » Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:56 pm

I'm not outraged. I have said the NBA should go right to the playoffs, enough regular season games have already been played. This would've left the Blazers out with no charade. I don't see why Blazers should go along with NBA's desire to put Pelicans in the playoffs. Blazers should send our players home when we lose our 3rd game. Unless, something happens to Pelicans and they can't even win the easy games the NBA lined up for them.

My opinion about Ariza hasn't changed. Lillard, CJ, Nurk, and the rest of our team aren't going to quit. But, they aren't going to win and they shouldn't hang around and be good sports about the NBA's fix either. There is no way the NBA by accident can schedule 5 of the easiest games possible for Pelicans and not give Blazers a single easy game.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#9 » by dunlop212 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:11 pm

I don't know how hard those games are. Some of those teams will have their seedings locked up when Portland plays them and will be resting starters. Others may have star players in quarantine. I expect that Portland will play hard entertaining ball until they're eliminated, and look forward to the games.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#10 » by Matt800 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:23 pm

dunlop212 wrote:I don't know how hard those games are. Some of those teams will have their seedings locked up when Portland plays them and will be resting starters. Others may have star players in quarantine. I expect that Portland will play hard entertaining ball until they're eliminated, and look forward to the games.


I don't know how many players will get rested but probably less than we would normally see at the end of a season. I think teams will want the playing time to get a rhythm back. But maybe some teams like the Lakers will ease into the restart a bit. Kind of like what we see in the preseason where starters only play 30 minutes sometimes. Maybe they have enough confidence in their team and will want to be careful in ramping back up. But yeah there are so many factors like covid19, that could really make this unpredictable.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#11 » by DaVoiceMaster » Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:45 pm

I'd be reconsidering whether I wanna go to Orlando given the numbers the state is putting out this past week of new COVID-19 cases. Those are some ridiculous numbers. Why would they risk even going there?
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#12 » by d-train » Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:26 pm

dunlop212 wrote:I don't know how hard those games are. Some of those teams will have their seedings locked up when Portland plays them and will be resting starters. Others may have star players in quarantine. I expect that Portland will play hard entertaining ball until they're eliminated, and look forward to the games.

The teams that will have nothing to play for and will likely be easy wins because they have no incentive are the 5 easiest opponents Pelicans are scheduled to play 5 times. Out of the gate, the 6 teams trying to play into playoffs have odds against them.

Of the 6 teams playing in addition to the 16 seeded playoff teams, only the Pelicans has any good chance of making the playoffs. The reason is that the NBA fixed the schedule by giving Pelicans 5 easy games and packed the Blazers schedule with difficult games against the best teams.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#13 » by dunlop212 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:18 am

The worst scenario would be a cupcake schedule that let a crummy blazer team sleepwalk info the playoffs and get murdered by the Lakers in the first round. I remember being ticked off years ago when Portland won its last game to get a playoff matchup with the showtime Lakers. Basically trading a lottery pick for an opportunity to get swept by LA. It turned out OK; that was the off-season that they traded for Buck Williams.

My point is that if they are not good enough to get past Memphis and NO with a challenging schedule, they are better off with the lottery pick. But I want to see them try.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#14 » by d-train » Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:05 am

dunlop212 wrote:The worst scenario would be a cupcake schedule that let a crummy blazer team sleepwalk info the playoffs and get murdered by the Lakers in the first round.

The only better scenario I can think of is a crummy Blazers team, after a cupcake schedule, sleepwalking into playoffs, and beating the Lakers. This would be awesome and I believe the Blazers have a good chance to beat Lakers.

dunlop212 wrote:I remember being ticked off years ago when Portland won its last game to get a playoff matchup with the showtime Lakers. Basically trading a lottery pick for an opportunity to get swept by LA. It turned out OK; that was the off-season that they traded for Buck Williams.

I remember that too. Clyde, Porter, Kersey, and Duckworth got valuable playoff experience that helped them become a great team the next year. Also, Bowie played very well in that series which helped the Blazers secure Buck Williams in trade.

dunlop212 wrote:My point is that if they are not good enough to get past Memphis and NO with a challenging schedule, they are better off with the lottery pick. But I want to see them try.

I believe Blazers will easily beat Memphis and NO in the games we play against those teams. And, we would easily beat NO if we played the teams they will play. Unfortunately, Blazers will have to go through their schedule as only the best team in the league could just to stay ahead of Pelicans, who don't have to be very good to win their cupcake schedule.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#15 » by Matt800 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:22 am

Yeah Portland is not in a great position to advance, but it's possible. I wonder how the minutes will be for the first game. It seems like portland could treat it like a must win and play Lillard and CJ high minutes like the playoffs.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#16 » by d-train » Tue Jun 30, 2020 1:21 pm

Lillard, CJ, Nurkic, Collins, and Melo will start and play starters minutes. Trent, Simons, and Whiteside will get 90% of our backup minutes. Hezonja, Swanigan, Little, Gabriel, Hoard, and Jaylen Adams will pickup the scraps.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#17 » by Shem » Wed Jul 1, 2020 1:41 am

The question is will the season finish with the rise of all the COVID-19 cases.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#18 » by Myth » Wed Jul 1, 2020 6:28 am

On the bright side, since the lottery/draft positions are locked based on current results and only teams getting into the playoffs can change that, Pelicans jumping over us and getting into the playoffs are the only way we move up in the draft. Not saying this is what we should root for, but if things go bad, then this is the potential consolation prize. Just looking for a little silver lining.

I believe this is what would happen (so please correct me if I'm wrong)
Blazers play Grizzlies and advance to 8th seed = 15th pick
Grizzlies maintain their 8th seed and current lottery team jumps into the playoffs = 14th lottery position
Pelicans take 8th seed = 13th lottery position
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#19 » by d-train » Wed Jul 1, 2020 4:39 pm

Myth wrote:On the bright side, since the lottery/draft positions are locked based on current results and only teams getting into the playoffs can change that, Pelicans jumping over us and getting into the playoffs are the only way we move up in the draft. Not saying this is what we should root for, but if things go bad, then this is the potential consolation prize. Just looking for a little silver lining.

I believe this is what would happen (so please correct me if I'm wrong)
Blazers play Grizzlies and advance to 8th seed = 15th pick
Grizzlies maintain their 8th seed and current lottery team jumps into the playoffs = 14th lottery position
Pelicans take 8th seed = 13th lottery position

This is like breaking your leg and saying the consolation prize is the bone heals and the pain goes away, no thanks.

I looked at this before, don't want to look again. As I recall, if Blazers jump Grizzlies we go from 14th pick to 17th pick.
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Re: The NBA is rigging the 8th seed 

Post#20 » by Myth » Wed Jul 1, 2020 5:30 pm

d-train wrote:
Myth wrote:On the bright side, since the lottery/draft positions are locked based on current results and only teams getting into the playoffs can change that, Pelicans jumping over us and getting into the playoffs are the only way we move up in the draft. Not saying this is what we should root for, but if things go bad, then this is the potential consolation prize. Just looking for a little silver lining.

I believe this is what would happen (so please correct me if I'm wrong)
Blazers play Grizzlies and advance to 8th seed = 15th pick
Grizzlies maintain their 8th seed and current lottery team jumps into the playoffs = 14th lottery position
Pelicans take 8th seed = 13th lottery position

This is like breaking your leg and saying the consolation prize is the bone heals and the pain goes away, no thanks.

I looked at this before, don't want to look again. As I recall, if Blazers jump Grizzlies we go from 14th pick to 17th pick.

I believe you are right. Forgot about the weak as usual East.

I didn't say I was rooting for that, but Blazers and Memphis being surpassed is the only way we move up in the draft. Essentially, if Pelicans surpass Portland, I will be rooting for them over the Grizzlies for that 1 spot higher in the draft.

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