Have we just been unlucky with our playoff opposition the last three years?

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Whatever the case may be, Portland has had a pretty rough time getting out of the first round. Last time each NBA team got out of the first round:


2011 - Bulls
2011 - Hawks
2011 - Celtics
2011 - Heat
2011 - Lakers
2011 - Mavericks
2011 - Thunder
2011 - Grizzlies
2010 - Cavaliers
2010 - Magic
2010 - Jazz
2010 - Spurs
2010 - Suns
2009 - Nuggets
2009 - Rockets
2008 - Pistons
2008 - Hornets
2007 - Nets
2007 - Warriors
2006 - Clippers
2005 - Pacers
2005 - Wizards
2004 - Timberwolves
2004 - Kings
2003 - 76ers
2001 - Bucks
2001 - Raptors
2000 - Knicks
2000 - Trail Blazers
Never - Bobcats (started play in 2005 season, but the Charlotte Hornets were in the second round in 2002)

Consider that the second longest a Western Conference team has had to endure first round futility has been since 2004.
 
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Very informative. Nets, Warriors, and Clippers in the middle third? Timberwolves and Kings 4 years above us..now THAT is bad.

Entity said:
Consider that the second longest a Western Conference team has had to endure first round futility has been since 2004.
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Wow, on the West list we are much worse! Owweeee.

2011 - Lakers - Mavericks - Thunder - Grizzlies
2010 - Jazz - Spurs - Suns
2009 - Nuggets - Rockets
2008 - Hornets
2007 - Warriors
2006 - Clippers
2005
2004 - Timberwolves - Kings
2003
2002
2001
2000 - Trail Blazers
 
blazerboy30 said:
Yeah, I'm sure you were expecting Dallas to sweep and blowout the Lakers. :crazy:
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I don't think anyone expected that, but LA looked like shit in that series, and didn't really look all that great coming down the stretch in April.
 
yuyuza1 said:
Against Houston, maybe.

Against PHX, we could have won had Roy been healthy.

Against DAL, we just played horribly. I don't really buy the idea that they're that good. LA just sucks this year.
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Ding!

The Blazers under Nate do one thing very well and that's play harder than most of their opponents during the regular season and when you play hard you have a good shot at beating most of the bad or average teams and hanging with some of the good teams. The trouble with this strategy is that it sometimes masks a couple of flaws that have been inherent in these Nate coached teams. A) They don't shoot a very high percentage in half-court situations (instead relying on second chance points to generate offense) and they allow a pretty high effective field goal percentage from their opponents. Their defense and offense just isn't all that impressive when it gets matched up against playoff level teams

And B) the players on this team seem to get pushed around in the playoffs, I don't know if that's a fault in the players or an attitude that trickles down from the coach, but it's clear to me that there is something lacking when the pressure and the physicality get turned up a notch.

So are the Blazers simply unlucky? I guess you could say that, but they also haven't done much to show me that they were ever really all that close to being able to take a series by the throat and throttle out the 4 victories needed to advance.
 
I guess we'll see how Dallas does in the next round, but they are playing out of their minds right now, IMO. I think the same could have been said for the Suns last year at this time.
 
blazerboy30 said:
I guess we'll see how Dallas does in the next round, but they are playing out of their minds right now, IMO. I think the same could have been said for the Suns last year at this time.
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The Lakers played worse moreso than the Mavericks played great IMO. Nobody closed out on shooters, they failed to defend the pick and roll at all and they never played with much urgency or intensity in any of their games in the series.

Personally I think Memphis is going to give them hell if they get matched up in the Conference Finals and I think OKC will give them a run for their money too.

Dallas is playing well, but they are no superpower.
 
Nikolokolus said:
The Lakers played worse moreso than the Mavericks played great IMO. Nobody closed out on shooters, they failed to defend the pick and roll at all and they never played with much urgency or intensity in any of their games in the series.

Personally I think Memphis is going to give them hell if they get matched up in the Conference Finals and I think OKC will give them a run for their money too.

Dallas is playing well, but they are no superpower.
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I think Memphis will run into a similar problem as LA... nobody can guard Dirk. Will they really try to put Zach or Gasol on Dirk? He would eat them alive. Maybe they will try Battier on him.

On the other hand, I think OKC had probably put Ibaka on Dirk and will probably do a decent job. Can Durant guard Dirk for short periods?
 
Nikolokolus said:
The Lakers played worse moreso than the Mavericks played great IMO. Nobody closed out on shooters, they failed to defend the pick and roll at all and they never played with much urgency or intensity in any of their games in the series.

Personally I think Memphis is going to give them hell if they get matched up in the Conference Finals and I think OKC will give them a run for their money too.

Dallas is playing well, but they are no superpower.
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I don't think they are a "superpower", but that wasn't really the point of the thread. The point is that they seem to be playing at a much higher level than anybody else expected and a much higher level than they were during the last portion of the regular season.
 
It cracks me up how this board has this polar opposite dynamic between "homers" and "anti-homers". Watching the gyrations of the "anti-homers" to avoid letting any sunshine fall on the board is hilarious. I think some of you would take bamboo shoots under the fingernails before you would let anything positive about the Blazers slip out of your mouth.
 
e_blazer said:
It cracks me up how this board has this polar opposite dynamic between "homers" and "anti-homers". Watching the gyrations of the "anti-homers" to avoid letting any sunshine fall on the board is hilarious. I think some of you would take bamboo shoots under the fingernails before you would let anything positive about the Blazers slip out of your mouth.
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Positives??????

1. Aldridge is awesome
2. GW will be here for a whole year
3. If Batum stays, he should do nothing but improve
4. New GM might change stow a Euro strategy in the draft
5. Portland has one of, if not the best fan bases in the NBA
6. We have an owner who isn't affraid to spend money
7. The Mike's are hilarious to listen to....if not homerish
8. Oden might contribute next year
9. A couple of big expirings and possibly a new CBA might make for some fun at the deadline
10. We can't avoid bad luck in the playoffs yet another year....Can we?
 
We're the NBA version of Viagara. Take us on and you are hardened for the rest of the playoffs.
 
maxiep said:
We're the NBA version of Viagara. Take us on and you are hardened for the rest of the playoffs.
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Lol! I still agree that Roy deserves a championship ring/watch/necktie for waking the dragon in Dirk.
 
Portland is the second best team in the league every single season.
 
Third best; we're tied with Miami for most wins versus the eventual champion. :ghoti:
 
Unlucky that other playoff teams are better than us? I'm as big a homer as anyone, but I don't get the concept. We didn't lose those series because of luck. We lost because we weren't good enough. Not experienced enough. Not healthy enough. Not good enough. It's all the same. Maybe next year! :)
 
BBert said:
Unlucky that other playoff teams are better than us? I'm as big a homer as anyone, but I don't get the concept. We didn't lose those series because of luck. We lost because we weren't good enough. Not experienced enough. Not healthy enough. Not good enough. It's all the same. Maybe next year! :)
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The "concept" was that we were matched up against 3 teams in three years that went on to overachieve in the playoffs with respect to what everybody else thought they would do and how they performed during the regular season. It could easily just be a hindsight is 20/20 thing.
 
We've been fortunate to win at all in the playoffs.

Teams that faced us were well rested for their more serious competition.

This team has been weak to mediocre since the blowup nearly a decade ago.
 
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