Hollinger: Blazers Were "Unlucky" - Should Have Won 61 Last Season

[rocketeer]

If you believe him, then it makes the first-round loss to Houston much more humiliating. We should've creamed those guys.

i disagree. the rockets were 3rd in the west in point differential at +4(portland was 2nd at +5.3). i don't think it would be humiliating at all for the 2nd best team in the west to lose to the 3rd best team in 6 games. and when you factor in that houston was much better in the 2nd half of the season than the 1st(once tmac stopped playing) it becomes even less so(even with the blazers playing well at the end too). it was just an unfortunate case of the 2nd and 3rd best teams having to play each other in the first round. one of them had to lose and they weren't going to be happy about it.

I'd wager that in the future if some other team assembles this much young talent, they'll appear to be similarly "unlucky" too.

i disagree there as well. are you suggesting the blazers being young had nothing to do with opponents shooting free throws better against them? i could be see there being some correlation to young teams being more inconsistent in their point differential(having more blowout wins but also more blowout losses) but i think over the course of the season that should mostly even itself out.

 

[Eastoff]

I blame dependance on ThunderSticks for our lack of creativity.

I agree with this. Those things are worthless IMO. Or if you're going to keep them, you shake them/lean them to the left. As they bring up their shot, you move them to the right at the last minute.

Or a bouncing wave behind the hoop. That goes from left to right to left to right and stays in the sections right behind the basket.

 

[hypnosmurf]

I blame our pathetic FT defense, which is the fans.

It appears Portland fans have gotten soft, lazy, and unimaginative.

We're all that stands between opposing players and a free point, and all it takes is some creative distraction.

A waved Playboy (or better yet Playgirl pin-up), a shouted slur of the player's wife, a hilarious remark at the right time, that's all it takes to tilt the score.

I nominate you to do this every home game

 

[Eastoff]

I nominate you to do this every home game

looks good to me, er i mean... that would be a good idea

 

[jlprk]

"It seems unrealistic to blame this on bad free throw defense."--Hollinger

Funny, and it seemed obvious, till I read the imaginative replies.

1. "perhaps the team was fouling the good free throw shooters more than the league average." --Nikolokolus
2. "FT defense...is the fans...all it takes is some creative distraction." --Maris
3. "mental lapses that come from quality players who just don't have the experience to handle pivotal situations...As an example...[when] the smart play is to contest the shot and not foul...[the young player] makes the wrong play...because he lacks the experience to recognize a particular player's skill set." --Mook
4. "1) being dumb about who you foul, 2) poor defense v guard penetration (since typically guards have better FT%), 3) soft home court rims" --bobf
5. "Fouling soft instead of hard. If a guy gets put on his ass when he goes to the rim, his free throw percentage might go down a bit." --LittleAlex
6. "Perhaps the Blazers' slow pace just doesn't tire their opponents legs out like other teams." --Baracuda

May I add my own. The team seemed to play more close games than average (maybe that was an illusion). So McMillan had his players foul a lot in the closing minute. In that situation, the opposing coach makes sure his clutchiest FT shooter has the ball. That might cause Theory #1 above.