ESPN Pro's vote 3 out of 7 that Blazers come out on top

[mgb]

You know that Dallas is going to use all the material about them most likely being upset of any team as emotional lift. I'd rather just be the underdogs and surprise everyone.

 

[magnifier661]

You know that Dallas is going to use all the material about them most likely being upset of any team as emotional lift. I'd rather just be the underdogs and surprise everyone.

You know I would have agreed with you years ago, but I am happy that people actually believe we are for real. And actually I think that people believing in the Blazers will boost their confidence.

 

[Minstrel]

You know that Dallas is going to use all the material about them most likely being upset of any team as emotional lift. I'd rather just be the underdogs and surprise everyone.

I think if they need stuff like this to motivate them to try their best, they're in a lot of trouble already.

 

[McNicholicious]

I seriously thought we could be Houston a few years ago, I seriously thought we could beat Phoenix last year, and again I seriously think we can beat Dallas this year. Hopefully I am not wrong three years in a row. I am not sure how I feel about all of the national attention lately. I like being the underdog. I was watching a few games on ESPN/TNT lately and during the broadcast they started talking about us and how no one should want to play us in the playoffs. They were saying we are the best pick for an upset this year. I love the praise, but still am used to being the underdog.

 

[Natebishop3]

I seriously thought we could be Houston a few years ago, I seriously thought we could beat Phoenix last year, and again I seriously think we can beat Dallas this year. Hopefully I am not wrong three years in a row. I am not sure how I feel about all of the national attention lately. I like being the underdog. I was watching a few games on ESPN/TNT lately and during the broadcast they started talking about us and how no one should want to play us in the playoffs. They were saying we are the best pick for an upset this year. I love the praise, but still am used to being the underdog.

Sure, we absolutely could have beaten them, but the matchup wasn't really in our favor. They were the experienced team while we were green, they were physical and we were soft, and they had Yao to dominate the refs and put our bigs in foul trouble. It wasn't ideal. I think we matched up with the Suns better, but without Roy they were able to take away our strengths and we just couldn't knock them off.

 

[KingSpeed]

Dallas in six is still us winning two. There aren't any four or five game predictions

Unfortunately, what these experts predict means absolutely nothing.

Did many people honestly think we could beat the Suns without Roy? I'm pretty sure I didn't. I was incredibly surprised when we won game 1.

I did and I wasn't. We had beat the Suns a couple times without Roy that season. I expected us to win that series but we completely failed to show up in the first home game of the playoffs for the second year in a row. We should've beaten Phoenix.

We weren't supposed to beat Houston. That team matched up with us remarkably well, and Yao tore us a new butthole. I think we could have beaten Phoenix, but not without a healthy Roy.

We were supposed to beat Houston. We had HCA and the 5th best point differential that season. We were a top team in the league that season and completely tanked in our own building. And Yao had a good first game, sure, but he wasn't that great after that. We should've won that series.

 

[magnifier661]

We were supposed to beat Houston. We had HCA and the 5th best point differential that season. We were a top team in the league that season and completely tanked in our own building. And Yao had a good first game, sure, but he wasn't that great after that. We should've won that series.

The reason why we didn't win was we were a soft team. Houston, especially Artest and Battie, became extremely physical on Roy. The distraction and being pushed around made us lose focus. This is why I feel so good about this season. Our team is so much tougher now than we ever have been. Keep your positive attitude King, we got this season and post season wrapped up!

 

[maxiep]

The reason we didn't beat the Suns ended up losing one piece too many. The key, IMO, was when Nico hurt his shoulder and they could put Hill on Miller and Nash on Batum without paying the price.

 

[maxiep]

I think the difference between the past couple of years and this year is that we're no longer a soft jump shooting team. Aldridge has discovered the low post and Wallace is a beast. If we can get some reliable three point shooting to open up the middle, we should be in good shape. The problem is that the last thing we've been this past year is reliable from behind the three point line.

 

[magnifier661]

I think the difference between the past couple of years and this year is that we're no longer a soft jump shooting team. Aldridge has discovered the low post and Wallace is a beast. If we can get some reliable three point shooting to open up the middle, we should be in good shape. The problem is that the last thing we've been this past year is reliable from behind the three point line.

When Rudy got out of his slump; it gave me new hope. He really needs to shoot at least 38% from three for that to happen.

 

[Minstrel]

The reason why we didn't win was we were a soft team. Houston, especially Artest and Battie, became extremely physical on Roy. The distraction and being pushed around made us lose focus.

Roy had a fantastic series, better than his regular season numbers. I don't think the reality of what happened supports Artest and Battier throwing off Roy's focus by being extremely physical with him.

 

[magnifier661]

Roy had a fantastic series, better than his regular season numbers. I don't think the reality of what happened supports Artest and Battier throwing off Roy's focus by being extremely physical with him.

Don't be too sure that the physical game didn't play into our first round loss. Even though Roy had a stellar series; the way he had to get it was very hard. Basically he was the only player that showed up for that series. Give us the new Aldridge, Wallace and new Batum and we beat them handedly.

 

[Minstrel]

Don't be too sure that the physical game didn't play into our first round loss. Even though Roy had a stellar series; the way he had to get it was very hard.

Sure, he had to work hard for it, but he got it ("it" being massive production).

Basically he was the only player that showed up for that series.

Yes, I agree. This was the problem. I don't think Houston's physicality on Roy was the problem. It was more than no one else played particularly well and Portland lost a couple of close games that could have turned the series. I believe Houston was the better team that year. They had a much, much better team defense and Yao was every bit the offensive force that Roy was.

 

[STOMP]

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[video]

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[STOMP]

I agree. Check out Aldridge's interview on OLive (http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/04/blazers-mavericks_lamarcus_ald.html). Dude is so grounded; I wonder how much Brandon has been talking to LA about leading the team. Roy was the only one who showed up for POR in that Houston series, and I think a lot of it had to do with his poise and even-keeled attitude. LA is just now developing some of that.

huh... despite my contending that 40 MPG is fine for a healthy player in their prime, I've been assured by multiple posters that LA is wiped out from Nate playing him so many minutes. Yet here he is claiming in your link that he feels physically fine??? He must be lying right?

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