Heej wrote:Greyhound wrote:Heej wrote:Bruv, Valanciunas is out here dropping 15 in the first half on the Blazers; AD boutta wild the **** out on them lmao. Why is everyone acting so scary about these Blazers lol. Dame-Nurk one is like the goofy version of Steph-Dray Pnr. You just gotta switch it with AD instead of blitzing and playing into their strength imo. Even though it's tempting to just trap and take it outta Dame's hands. Nurkic is too deft at navigating the power play and the Blazers also toy with shorting the screen and kicking it to the guy on the wing who hits Nurk on the short roll. I don't think that's gonna be a viable strategy for a series where they'll just design counters for it.
It’s not being “scary” to show respect to the opponent.
The Lakers are expected to win but these Blazers pose a great challenge to them. They are a much better team then their record indicates and they will be performing in a pressure reduced (fan less) environment that benefits them. The Lakers are going to have to beat them. They are not some young team that will be happy just to be there (like the Grizzlies).
As much as I want the Lakers to win, it would be just as good to watch some of you choke on the obnoxious arrogance on display in this thread.
It’s a win win as far as I am concerned.
Respect the opponent with the appropriate level of fear is a state of mind popularized my Gregg Popovich.
Respect these Blazers. They have been playing for their lives for two weeks now. The Lakers have been goofing around most of that time (after coming off of a long layoff).
I would feel a lot better about the Lakers if I knew they had a coach with championships experience to lean on.
They do not.
I suspect that the intensity level of the first game will be a shock to their system. This goes six, maybe seven games.
Lol I respect them as far as accounting for the rule that a great player will win you one game on his own, and Dame is clearly a great player. CJ maybe might be the difference maker in another one but that's a crapshoot. I'm expecting it to be a real competitive series no doubt, but when push comes to shove there's not enough defensive IQ on the Blazers to hold up on that end of the court down the stretch more than once or twice.
Let's relax and critically analyze the matchups and difference in talent here lol. We've seen this song being sung about LeBron teams many times over now. And it's not like this is the 2015 Cavs he's playing with, many of the major rotation minute players are gonna be battle tested veterans. These guys have seen playoff intensity before, it'll be a shock in the first quarter or half but it's not gonna be a slap in the mouth that gets them in a 2-0 hole lmao.
Y'all really gonna let yourselves get hoodwinked by a Blazers squad playing balls to the wall vs teams treating these games as warmups. It's the Russell Westbrook phenomenon. Suddenly that energy doesn't look so otherworldly once every player on the court decides to turn up lol
You have never seen anything like this before. Cling to your numbers, cuddle up to your historical precedence. None of it applies here.
There is no certainty that players like McGee and Green snap back into normal form, or if their reduced play is just who they are in the bubble. You don’t have a clue what LeBron has to offer (when the pressures on) in a gym void of a large, active audience. There are a lot of unknowns with these Lakers (in this environment).
What we do know is how the Blazers players will respond with everything on the line (in this environment). We have seen it for two weeks now.
I am logical enough to understand that I know nothing of bubble response (where practice champions and bright light cowards have been given a new lease on life). I don’t know anything and neither do you.
