A little perspective at this point!

[kjironman1]

Right now the Blazers are 35-17 with one game to go before the break. OKC is currently 27-25. Both teams have 30 games remaining.

The Blazers chances at going 20-10 the rest of the way seem at worst pretty good and most likely they will finish stronger than that. Lets say they do worse and go 15-15 (Highly unlikely!) That is 50 wins. OKC has to win 23 of their remaining 30 just to catch the Blazers if they have an epic meltdown and play .500 ball the rest of the way. At this point the Blazers seem to be poised to have no worse than the 4th seed. This could very well play right into the Blazers hands. Not only will they get to the playoffs but will be ensured home court. During the final stretch of the season they will most likely be able to decide what players need rest and make sure starters are getting into the post-season ready to play at the levels needed to advance.

Many people commenting on wins and losses need to take a little time to evaluate the entire picture of the season before jumping to conclusions regarding what is going to happen. The teams in the bottom of the pack will be fighting all the way to the post season as they try to jockey for position. Getting to the postseason becomes much more perilous and injuries occur. I like very much where the Blazers are sitting. The fast start is paying off and Making sure they will be playing well in April will become more and more important with every passing week.

Go Blazers!

kjironman is a fan!!!

 

[dviss1]

Great post. Slow it down people.

 

[kjironman1]

One other thing i am seeing is that most likely the Thunder who will be a tough matchup for just about anyone will get the 7th or 8th seed. Because catching Dallas, Houston or the Clippers is just as improbable. This puts them against Golden State or Memphis. San Antonio is always a threat and seems to be the team to round out the pack. Really this is becoming almost the perfect storm for a great first round of games.

 

[kjironman1]

Conference Standings as of today.
http://stats.oregonlive.com/nba/standings_conference.asp

 

[illmatic99]

At this point the Blazers seem to be poised to have no worse than the 4th seed. This could very well play right into the Blazers hands. Not only will they get to the playoffs but will be ensured home court.

Winning the division does not guarantee home court advanatage. That will be dependent still on who has the better record between the division winner and the #5 seed

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I don't believe being the higher seed automatically gives you home court anymore. If you are a higher seed but with a worse record then whoever you play would get home court. Other then that it is a good post and I agree we should be in good shape!

 

[kjironman1]

I don't believe being the higher seed automatically gives you home court anymore. If you are a higher seed but with a worse record then whoever you play would get home court. Other then that it is a good post and I agree we should be in good shape!

This is the way it works. the Division winner is guaranteed no worse than the fourth position.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_playoffs

 

[KeepOnRollin]

This is the way it works. the Division winner is guaranteed no worse than the fourth position.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_playoffs

Yes. 4th seed but 4th seed doesn't guaranteed home court in playoffs anymore. IF you are 4th seed but have worse record then 5th seed then 5th seed gets home court.

 

[kjironman1]

Winning the division does not guarantee home court advanatage. That will be dependent still on who has the better record between the division winner and the #5 seed

It would seem that the best record of the batch would be no lees than the second seed. The way i am reading this is that they don't want the two best records to play in the first round. However the first four seeds still have home court.

 

[kjironman1]

"The previous playoff format, in place for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 NBA playoffs, after the NBA was re-aligned into six divisions, created controversy during the 2005–06 season and playoffs, and would be changed prior to the 2006–07 NBA season.[2]

NBA division winners were seeded higher than any other playoff participants, regardless of their record. Prior to 2004, when the NBA was aligned into two conferences with two divisions each, the top two seeds in each conference were reserved for the division winners. This meant that top two teams in a conference (by record) would be seeded either first and second (if they were in opposite divisions) or first and third (if they were in the same division). Because of the NBA playoffs' preset matchups in the second round, this meant that the top two teams in a conference could never meet until the conference finals, assuming they both made it to that round.

After the NBA realigned its two conferences into three divisions each, the seeding rules remained largely unchanged. The top three seeds would now be reserved for division winners. This meant that if the top two teams (by record) in a conference were in the same division, they would be ranked first and fourth, and would face each other in the conference semifinals, instead of the conference finals, if both teams won their first round series.

In the second year of this format, the 2005–06 NBA season, the two teams with the best records in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks of the Southwest Division, did just that. The Mavericks had the second-best record in the Western Conference and the third-best record in the entire league, behind the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio. However, they were seeded fourth because they finished second in the Southwest behind the Spurs. This turn of events led to the playoff format being criticized by many. Besides the prospect of a team losing sooner in the playoffs than regular-season record or seeding would suggest, critics claimed that it also created an unfair advantage for teams in the 2-7/3-6 half of the Western Conference playoff bracket, who could advance to the conference finals without playing either of the two best teams in the conference in an earlier round.[3]

The Phoenix Suns, winners of the Pacific Division and possessors of the third best record, were seeded second, while the Denver Nuggets, winners of theNorthwest Division and tied for only the seventh-best record in the conference, were seeded third.

The Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers met in the second-to-last game of the regular season, after the top four seeds had been clinched. The two teams were already determined to be the fifth and sixth seeds, and had only to determine which rank higher. The fifth seed would likely need to defeat the best two teams in the conference without home-court advantage to advance to the conference finals, as it would face fourth-seeded Dallas in the first round and likely face first-seeded San Antonio if it managed to defeat Dallas. The sixth seed would play third-seeded Denver in the first round, but would have home-court advantage (since the Grizzlies had the fourth-best record in the conference and the Clippers had the fifth-best), and would not have to face either San Antonio or Dallas until the conference finals at the earliest.

This led to speculation about whether the Grizzlies or the Clippers would have much commitment to winning their match-up in the second-to-last game of the season, since it was clearly most advantageous to lose the game in order to obtain the 6th seed. The Clippers eventually lost to Memphis without much evidence to refute the speculation that the Clippers had lost intentionally.[4] In the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers defeated the Nuggets in five games, while Memphis was swept by Dallas. Ultimately, Dallas and San Antonio did meet in the second round, with Dallas winning in seven games and advancing all the way to the NBA finals."

Note the Memphis VS Clippers portion of that section. They will still not have home court in the first round however depending on who they play in the second they might have it in that round.

 

[kjironman1]

Yes. 4th seed but 4th seed doesn't guaranteed home court in playoffs anymore. IF you are 4th seed but have worse record then 5th seed then 5th seed gets home court.

Are you certain of that? I am just not reading it that way. It seems like i need to do a little more research here?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I hate perspective, I prefer to be completely irrational.

So who are we mad at now and want to trade? I've got the pitchforks and torches ready!

 

[kjironman1]

It seems Keep on Rollin has the same view as many had in 2005-2006 so maybe this is correct? I am pretty sure i am reading this to mean that the 3 division winner get home court just like 2009 when the Blazers won their division and Played Houston 4-5 series.

 

[illmatic99]

Are you certain of that? I am just not reading it that way. It seems like i need to do a little more research here?

He is correct. http://www.nba.com/standings/playoff_picture.html

d. Home Court Advantage:For purposes of home court advantage, ties will be broken pursuant to the procedures used for breaking two-team ties for playoff position.

ie records, head to head, etc...

They changed this a while ago. After all our convos over standings last year, I feel like I know these rules by memory

 

[kjironman1]

He is correct. http://www.nba.com/standings/playoff_picture.html


ie records, head to head, etc...

They changed this a while ago. After all our convos over standings last year, I feel like I know these rules by memory

That goes like this though...
1) (a) Since the three division winners are guaranteed a spot in the top four, ties to determine the division winners must be broken before any other ties.
(b) When a tie must be broken to determine a division winner, the results of the tie-break shall be used to determine only the division winner and its playoff position, not any other playoff position(s).
Notice the division winner are guaranteed a spot in the top 4 spots....

 

[HailBlazers]

Olshey provided some great perspective last night:

How important is a bench for a playoff team and what do you think of the Blazers bench so far this year?

I think the bench gets a pretty bad rap and I think people need to dig a little bit deeper. I think it's interesting. Last year at this point we were 36-16 after 52 and this year we're 35-17. Last year we didn't have a starter miss a game up until the All-Star break. And at this point this year we've already had 35 games missed by our starters. So somebody is stepping into that void and it's got to be the guys coming off the bench because we're only a game behind where we were last year in what's probably proving to be an even tougher Western Conference. I have one stat for you because I want to be prepared for this bench question. Too many people look at the bench in a vacuum. When some of the lowest scoring... you just look scoring, some of the lowest scoring benches in the league along with us are the Clippers, Memphis, Houston and Cleveland. And last time I checked they were pretty good teams. So when you play your starters and try to keep your starters healthy and they're the focal point of your team, the bench isn't going to get as big an opportunity.

To this point in the season, last year our bench ranked thirteenth in the league in Real Plus-Minus. They were minus-64 on the season. This year we're ranked seventh and we're plus-253. So nobody tell me the guys aren't getting it done when they're getting the opportunity. The goal is for them not to get too big of an opportunity because we want our starters on the floor. That's what makes us a unique team in this league. We think we have, if not the, one of the best starting lineups in the NBA. We want those guys on the court and then we're getting contributions. It's not always raw numbers. It's not always raw scoring. It's how they interact with the starters they share the floor with. What their matchups are for a given night. I think we've seen the emergence of CJ McCollum and Meyers Leonard lately. Dorell (Wright)'s had big nights off the bench, Allen Crabbe has stepped up when he's needed to replace Nicolas (Batum). Everyone forgets that we're still without Joel Freeland, who's one of if not our best, defensive big - our defensive rating is best when he's on the floor. We're still battling through some stuff right here. We've said it when it happened with RoLo (Robin Lopez), it'll make us a better team down the road. At this point it really has.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...y_on_trail_blazers_at_trade_deadline_wer.html

 

[kjironman1]

Olshey provided some great perspective last night:



http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...y_on_trail_blazers_at_trade_deadline_wer.html

Yeah he did. i liked many of the responses. I am not so sure i was all in on the "Starters are not going anywhere thing" but i understand what he means by it.

 

[kjironman1]

I just cannot find anywhere in any link that says the 5th position can have home court over the 4th playoff spot. Division winner always gets the nod. Now in the second round it goes completely to record and the tie breakers.
Sorry but the way it looks the Portland TrailBlazers are poised to have "Homecourt Advantage" for at least the first round. This is of course presuming there is not a devastating injury or huge team meltdown of sorts.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I just cannot find anywhere in any link that says the 5th position can have home court over the 4th playoff spot. Division winner always gets the nod. Now in the second round it goes completely to record and the tie breakers.
Sorry but the way it looks the Portland TrailBlazers are poised to have "Homecourt Advantage" for at least the first round. This is of course presuming there is not a devastating injury or huge team meltdown of sorts.

Home-court advantage in a playoff series is decided by record, not by seeding, so if the #4 and #5 teams meet in a playoff series in which the #5 team has the better record, the #5 team would have home-court advantage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Conference_(NBA)

And before you answer I understand there is no sources cited on this one. Just first one I found.

 

[kjironman1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Conference_(NBA)

And before you answer I understand there is no sources sited on this one. Just first one I found.

There we go. That seems to spell it out pretty clear. I guess the question now is mute. Now all the Blazers have to do is have the fourth best record.
Good Job KeeponRollin!

 

[kjironman1]

Now my question is do i erase all of that conversation and lets us do it again in a month or even next year? Ha Ha Ha!

 

[e_blazer]

Here's another site that explains it pretty clearly: http://basketball.about.com/od/nba-playoffs/a/About-The-Nba-Playoffs.htm

 

[BlazerWookee]

I hate perspective, I prefer to be completely irrational.

So who are we mad at now and want to trade? I've got the pitchforks and torches ready!

We're mad at you, it was supposed to be tar and feathers, not pitchforks and torches! We're not going after vampires here, for cry sakes...

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Rather than all these attempts to cite sites, wouldn't it have been easier to just look at what happened the last time a 5 seed had a better record than a 4th-seeded division winner? It was all of 3 years ago, when the 5th-seeded Hawks at 40-26 had home-court advantage in the first round over the 39-27 4th-seeded Atlantic division champion Boston Celtics. There we have it--conclusive proof that record trumps seeding.

 

[kjironman1]

Rather than all these attempts to cite sites, wouldn't it have been easier to just look at what happened the last time a 5 seed had a better record than a 4th-seeded division winner? It was all of 3 years ago, when the 5th-seeded Hawks at 40-26 had home-court advantage in the first round over the 39-27 4th-seeded Atlantic division champion Boston Celtics. There we have it--conclusive proof that record trumps seeding.

Well i guess i was just looking at rules type stuff. Good point. It's funny how all the rules are taken into context. Almost a type of legalese jargon.

 

[H.C.]

I hate perspective, I prefer to be completely irrational.

So who are we mad at now and want to trade? I've got the pitchforks and torches ready!

Aldridge needs to meet the pitchfork. He's missed 11 straight 3 pointers.
Worst player in the league. He's shooting 3's now so he's even more soft that he used to be.
We can't trade him because he has no value. I mean he's missed eleven straight three pointers. If you can't make the 3 ball... You're worthless.
Cut him.

 

[noknobs]

So what then is the point of the division winner getting a top 4 seed if they don't get home court? Wouldn't it be clearer to just say the division winners are assured a top five seed?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

So what then is the point of the division winner getting a top 4 seed if they don't get home court? Wouldn't it be clearer to just say the division winners are assured a top five seed?

It would be better still if winning your division were completely irrelevant, and the best 16 teams in the league were simply seeded irrespective of division or conference.

 

[kjironman1]

I would much rather not have them put a division banner in the rafters again.

 

[trailblazer18]

So what then is the point of the division winner getting a top 4 seed if they don't get home court? Wouldn't it be clearer to just say the division winners are assured a top five seed?

It is still very important to win the division because you are then guaranteed to play the 5, 6, 7, or 8th seed. For example, let's say we win our division but finish with the 8th best record in the West (OKC finishes 9th) we would still play the 5th seed but the 5th seed would have home court. If division winners weren't guaranteed a top 4 seed, then in this case we would be the 8th seed playing the 1 seed; which would be a much tougher match up usually.