What teams can Portland beat in the playoffs out West.

Goldbum · Post #141 » by **Goldbum** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:38 am

This thread is so full of jealous haters that it makes me sick. Out of respect for the mods I won't name names, but it's obvious that some people are scared to death of what this Blazer team is and will be. Time will tell so talk sh*t while you still can. I'll see you all at The Rose Garden.

BigOrangeBalls · Post #142 » by **BigOrangeBalls** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:55 am

I think the real question of this thread is:

Why do the Blazers inspire such hate?

It's too bad, really. I was hoping that people on RealGM would actually have fun debates, not just hate on the other teams.

For the record, I think the Blazers match up pretty well against the Warriors, Suns and Mavs. They have a good chance against New Orleans, Houston or Utah. Denver would be tough at full strength. LA could happen... No chance against the Spurs.

The Blazers will make the playoffs. (I didn't think so at the beginning of the season).

ImmortalD24 · Post #143 » by **ImmortalD24** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:03 am

[quote="xstockholmsyndromex"][/quote]You didn't include the addition of Ariza and the subtraction of Cook and Evans

Tabasco · Post #144 » by **Tabasco** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:21 am

BigOrangeBalls wrote:I think the real question of this thread is:

Why do the Blazers inspire such hate?

Because of their homerific fans.

Patterns · Post #145 » by **Patterns** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:38 am

Tabasco wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Because of their homerific fans.

What team doesn't have homerific fans? A lot of people say that Lakers homers are the worst or Raptors homers are the worst. To me, they are all the same. The only difference is the number of homers. Obviously Raptors fans are going to have a bigger voice than Hornets fans.

BROWN · Post #146 » by **BROWN** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:48 am

If the warriors can upset the Mavs..
The blazers can upset any team except for (Suns, and Spurs).

Anything is possible, but the blazers would stand a chance against the JAZZ, something the warriors couldn't do.

The blazers are one heckuva team, they have a deep team, and their young leader (roy) is one incredible player.

It's either they get a spectacular performance by him (such Baron did in the mavs series), or the rest of the team has to play like they are right now, with passion and killing teams on their home court.

Bgil · Post #147 » by **Bgil** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:55 am

There is every fact i could find in relation to there records.

Except that you got those stats from USA today's sangarin ratings and those ratings put the Lakers in 3rd behind Boston and Detroit while putting the Blazers at 13th right around Golden State, Denver, and Toronto.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/nba0708.htm

The Blazers are currently rated 3rd in their own division.

The Hollinger stats also have us ranked 3rd and you guys in 10th.

Statistically you guys aren't close to us. Maybe you could make the case that you guys could be us because of the matchups (I doubt it) but saying you guys are as good as the typical 17-1 streak would infer is just unsupported by any evidence including what anyone can see from watching your games (OT against Chicago :crazy:

), 1.9 point differencial.

However thats not the same as saying we dont have a chance to win any playoff series. GS proved that it is possible and frankly there are only two teams that I dont think we have any chance at all and thats PHX and SA.

NO. Dallas. LA. You guys are playing well now but the flaw in all the Blazers fans argument is that you guys are going to come back down to earth just the way Golden State, Sacramento, and Houston have the last few years. They all went on crazy winning streaks (IIRC GS lost like 3 games after the ASB) which is a similarity but the differences are that they all have well developed and proven talent... you don't. They all brought things to every game that scared even the best teams... you don't.

Why do the Blazers inspire such hate?

It's not hate. It's experience. Every Laker fan here went through the same thing two years ago when we had an easy home-heavy schedule and a bad road record to combine for a 26-13 record. We knew Walton leading the league in 3pt percentage wasn't going to last or that Kwame wasn't going to drop 20 and 8 every game or that Lamar wasn't going to average 63% from the field all year long.

You guys need to realize that, in the playoffs, Martell Webster isn't going to drop a 24 points in a quarter... EVER. Your "depth" won't matter for anything when teams are playing their starters 42-44 mpg. Your comp isn't going to have a .425 record and 11 of every 17 games won't be played at home.

farzi · Post #148 » by **farzi** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:58 am

The Laker fans are pissed that other people aren't terrified of them...thats pretty funny to me.

cucad8 · Post #149 » by **cucad8** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:40 am

I can't remember for the life of me, does the NBA go off of sangarin rankings when seeding the playoffs? :roll:

Like every other Blazer fan has said, good for you Lakers, we don't really give a damn about the playoffs this year. So yay! Hollinger has you rated this, and the USA Today(such a reputable paper) has you rated that. Nobody cares. They don't. And the more we say we don't, the more you insist it matters, which starts to get real pathetic after a while,a nd to be honest really starts to seem like a sense of hey, this is one of our last chances to strike, and be better/. Woohoo! You guys will probably maybe, who cares finish with a better record than us this year. Hold on to this year, when you have no chance, as if it means something to you. It means absolutely nothing to Blazer fans, as we look towards the future.

Fitz303 · Post #150 » by **Fitz303** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:45 am

Bgil wrote:Except that you got those stats from USA today's sangarin ratings and those ratings put the Lakers in 3rd behind Boston and Detroit while putting the Blazers at 13th right around Golden State, Denver, and Toronto.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/nba0708.htm

The Blazers are currently rated 3rd in their own division.

The Hollinger stats also have us ranked 3rd and you guys in 10th.

Statistically you guys aren't close to us. Maybe you could make the case that you guys could be us because of the match ups (I doubt it) but saying you guys are as good as the typical 17-1 streak would infer is just unsupported by any evidence including what anyone can see from watching your games (OT against Chicago ), 1.9 point differential.

ACTUALLY.. espn has the Blazers ranked 8th in the league ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi ... Column=sos ) as i just showed you on the previous page (which you must have just accidentally missed).. The lakers are rated 4th.. Again, the Blazers are in the top 25% of the hardest schedules in the league and are 9 games over .500.. If you actually watch the Blazers play, you would realize that its not just a hot shooting team. They get open shots on the outside because of Roy's penetration and kick out. Its easy to knock down shots when theyre wide open.. Its easier when you surround your star player with excellent outside shooters (Jones, Blake, and Webster is coming into his own).. They play good team defense and they dont turn the ball over.. Those 2 things alone are a recipe for success in the NBA

Defense

7th in the league in opp PPG
7th in the league in opp FG%
5th in the league in opp 3pt%

They take care of the ball

2nd in the league in Blocks against (Detroit is 1st)
4th in the league in Steals against
7th in the league in Least Turnovers
9th in the league A/TO

Again, as Ive stated COUNTLESS times on here, I dont think theyre an elite team. I dont think they'll do much, if any, damage in the playoffs (assuming they make it).. Im just so sick of the people in here who are dogging the Blazers with no evidence other than their beliefs and John Hollinger's (Please Use More Appropriate Word) numbers. Most people on these boards have been great, but theres always the haters and its just annoying.. The Blazers are a good team.. Not great, but good.. give the Hollinger numbers a rest

Bgil · Post #151 » by **Bgil** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:57 am

It means absolutely nothing to Blazer fans, as we look towards the future.

So you guys are really looking forward to that 7-game road trip considering you're 5-10 on the road? Or looking forward to your schedule evening out? Or your 3 pt percentage dropping 60+ points? Or when Steve Blake stops shooting 60% from the 3 point line?

Hard2dhole · Post #152 » by **Hard2dhole** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:04 am

I give the blazers a max 2 playoff wins against anyone of the listed teams.

Bgil · Post #153 » by **Bgil** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:08 am

ACTUALLY.. espn has the Blazers ranked 8th in the league ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi...Column=sos ) as i just showed you on the previous page (which you must have just accidentally missed).. The lakers are rated 4th..

However, your streak of Wins has a strength of schedule that is well below .500 and ESPN isn't taking into account that your 17 game streak had 11 home games in it.

Look at your expected win percentage? .557... now look at ours at .745.

If you actually watch the Blazers play, you would realize that its not just a hot shooting team.

I know. You're a hot shooting team playing at home against the weakest schedule (in the past 10-15 games) of anyone in the league.

Im just so sick of the people in here who are dogging the Blazers with no evidence other than their beliefs

.425 SOS in the last 10 games is plenty of evidence. Steve Blake shooting north of 60% from deep is plenty of evidence. 5-10 on the road is plenty of evidence. 1.93 point differential is plenty of evidence.

Fitz303 · Post #154 » by **Fitz303** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:33 am

Thats it?

Good teams win the games theyre supposed to win.. Theyve played some easy teams in the last 10 and theyve won.. They had an extremely tough start to the season and they were losing at first, but turned it around.. James Jones coming back healthy also has had a lot to do with this turnaround. Take away Blakes hot shooting, and Jones is still the best 3pt shooter in the league, Webster is still a pretty good 3pt shooter. While Blake is shooting well, hes onlt .026 better than he was last year. Both are excellent outside shooters.. Its not a fluke.. Hot shooting teams dont keep it up as long as the Blazers do.. Its a team filled with good shooters.

As Ive said.. We beat GSW TWICE, Denver TWICE, Utah THREE TIMES, and New Orleans.. 8 solid wins out of the last 18.. So we've had 10 easy games during the streak.. Uh oh, almost 50-50.. Also beat Dallas and Detroit before the streak started.. We've got some tough games ahead, but we've played some tough games already. Nobodys saying the Blazers are better than the Lakers here, just defending the fact that the Blazers have played damn good basketball against both good teams and bad.

TradeMachine · Post #155 » by **TradeMachine** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:05 am

Fitz, give it up. If Laker fans want to downplay the streak that we've put together, it doesn't matter. We have a great team and we know it. If no one else acknowledges that, then that's awesome too. It'll feel twice as better when we beat 'em.

yunggunz · Post #156 » by **yunggunz** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:35 am

Lets be honest. The Blazers shooting wont keep up at this rate. If it does, they will be competing with the Celts, and no one realistically thinks they are on that level. Historically, players shooting like James Jones or Steve Blake compared to their norms this year are bound to cool off. From watching Steve Blake for a long time and his ugly "push" shot, there is no way he can keep up near 50% from 3.

candy for lunch · Post #157 » by **candy for lunch** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:38 am

Bgil wrote:So you guys are really looking forward to that 7-game road trip considering you're 5-10 on the road?

Also consider we've won 5 of our last 6 road games...

Bgil · Post #158 » by **Bgil** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:43 am

As Ive said.. We beat GSW TWICE, Denver TWICE, Utah THREE TIMES, and New Orleans.. 8 solid wins out of the last 18..

1. The majority of that was done at home. Let's not forget 5-10 on the road.

2. Utah is not a "solid win" considering they're still in the bottom half of the conference right now and they went 5-11 in december. Denver and Golden State are 7 and 8 in the West. When Laker fan talk about how good our team is we don't go... OMG we beat Denver and Golden State OMGZZ!

Phoenix, reasonably healthy SA, Lakers, NO, Dallas are the "solid" wins in the West right now. Everyone else is playing weak ball right now and beating them means nothing.

Bgil · Post #159 » by **Bgil** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:48 am

supersteve wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Also consider we've won 5 of our last 6 road games...

3 of those wins were against the powerhouse teams of Chicago (went to OT), Minnesota, and Memphis (1 point win). The other two were against a Utah team that went 5-11 in december.

TradeMachine · Post #160 » by **TradeMachine** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:12 am

Hey Bgil, you forgot to add that the Blazers barely beat the Bulls in a game in which Deng didn't play the second half.

You can add that to your bull**** argument.