Looking WAY ahead...

[BrianFromWA]

Since we seem to have a bi-partisan crowd here on S2, I thought I'd throw that out there.

Who would be against a LAL/POR first-round play*ff series? Why? Doesn't matter if it's 1vs8 seed, 4vs5 seed, whatever...who wouldn't want to see it?

For me, I'd love it if the (potentially) only 3 Play*ff games I see are against the L*kers. I'd also love beating them and going to the next round, whereas if we played, say, Houston and won, then the L*kers might lose to SAS or something (to be fair, could be vice-versa).

Or are you the type that would rather not play them unless it's to go to the Finals?

Or do you not care?

 

[BatumKaboom]

Did you forget that the first round of the playoffs are 7 games again?

 

[BrianFromWA]

Sorry...just assumed they'd have home-court...my bad.

Though maybe that makes me a hypocrite for saying I think we'll have 58 wins and the Division. So maybe it'd be 2nd round.

 

[elcap15]

any team would be crazy to want to meet up with the Lakers in the 1st round of the playoffs. Unless of course they are looking for a long summer.

 

[Minstrel]

I'd rather the Blazers played a team they could beat this year. Also, LA is going to be the easy #1 seed, IMO. For the Blazers to play them in the first round, that would mean being the #8 seed. I'd rather the Blazers had a better seed, since that would indicate a better season.

 

[Entity]

Portland would likely lose, but they'd likely get eliminated by someone anyway. Why not scare the crap out of the Lakers in the first round? If the Blazers could push them to at least six games, it would probably be enough to frustrate them, and at this stage of Portland's development I'd be pretty happy with that. Portland's got nothing to lose for the time being.

 

[RW#30]

This year I don't care,give me the Playoffs, I don't care if it's against the Thunder. Next year, bring it on, Lakers, SAS, HOU makes no difference.

 

[hasoos]

any team would be crazy to want to meet up with the Lakers in the 1st round of the playoffs. Unless of course they are looking for a long summer.

I disagree with that. I figure there are at least 3 teams in the East that can compete with the Lakers, and a couple in the west. That could well change by end of season, injuries, and teams developing.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I'd rather just wait and play the Lakers in the 1st round Lakers next season when we'll have home court advantage. They simply can't win on our court.

This year, I'll settle for a 2nd round match-up.

BNM

 

[mook]

I'd like to see my team win a playoff game this year, if only to completely eliminate the possibility of having the Yao/McGrady/Gasol "when you gonna finally win a playoff game?" cloud from hanging over Roy and Aldridge and Oden. Portland can win at least one playoff game in the West against anybody but the Lakers in the first round.

I want no part of the Lakers this side of the Western Conference Finals. If everything clicked perfectly, I could see this team winning a game against the Lakers in the WCF. That's the absolute high end of my hopes this year.

If Portland sees LA in the first round, though, that means everything is definitely not clicking perfectly, and we'd get swept.

 

[hasoos]

I'd like to see my team win a playoff game this year, if only to completely eliminate the possibility of having the Yao/McGrady/Gasol "when you gonna finally win a playoff game?" cloud from hanging over Roy and Aldridge and Oden. Portland can win at least one playoff game in the West against anybody but the Lakers in the first round.

I want no part of the Lakers this side of the Western Conference Finals. If everything clicked perfectly, I could see this team winning a game against the Lakers in the WCF. That's the absolute high end of my hopes this year.

If Portland sees LA in the first round, though, that means everything is definitely not clicking perfectly, and we'd get swept.

You know if there is one thing I learned from the past, it is not to hold your hopes down. Back when Portland had Rasheed, Pippen, Smith, Sabonis, and the rest of the wrecking crew, when they lost to the Lakers in the WCF I was like "Well I didn't expect them to win it all this year, we will get another shot." That shot never came. Because of that, now when the team makes the playoffs, I don't care what their chances are, they have to push it balls to the wall, because you never know what is going to happen.

If anything, recent history of the Warriors knocking off Dallas, and past history, of the Nuggets knocking of Seattle, should tell you, anything is possible. No matter how hot of a season LA has, if Portland makes it in, they have a shot.

 

[LittleAlex]

I don't care who they play. I just want them to make the playoffs and compete.

Though it would be a bit sweeter if the Blazers did eliminate the Lakers.

 

[Ed O]

Portland meeting the Lakers so many times in the first round is what caused so much of the stupid "Jail Blazers" namecalling. If they had met other, lesser, teams and won a playoff series or two a year, we all would have been much happier.

I want this team to win playoff games and playoff series. The Lakers are the best team in the West by a fair margin and, as a result, I don't want to play them until the WCF... unless LA doesn't make it that far, then I don't want to play them at all

Ed O.