Must Win tonight?

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
No, not a "must win".

An "important game to win"? Yes

A "statement game"? Yes

A "start the Phoenix implosion game"? Sure

But not a "must win", by definition of making the playoffs.
 
hasoos said:
As in all basketball games, it is about controlling the tempo and making it comfortable for your team to play in. If the Blazers go inside, and get their bigs involved, and don't jack up a lot of 3's, they will be in good shape. If they shoot 30 3's again, they will lose. Period.

Lots of 3's=lots of long rebounds=lots of easy transition points for PHX. It is that simple. :devilwink:
Click to expand...

Phoenix has played zone almost exclusively in this latest winning streak. They are daring teams to shoot from outside and then running off of long misses. That's what worries me about this game.

We need to have patience running our sets. Zones almost always break down on the baseline or at the foul line area. If we move the ball and look to penetrate on the baseline or facilitate the offense through the middle of the zone, I think we can get some easy buckets. But only if we are patient and don't try to force things.

-Pop
 
SodaPopinski said:
Phoenix has played zone almost exclusively in this latest winning streak. They are daring teams to shoot from outside and then running off of long misses. That's what worries me about this game.

We need to have patience running our sets. Zones almost always break down on the baseline or at the foul line area. If we move the ball and look to penetrate on the baseline or facilitate the offense through the middle of the zone, I think we can get some easy buckets. But only if we are patient and don't try to force things.

-Pop
Click to expand...

That's a really good point, and this is where the Blazers' #1 in the league offensive rebounding needs to step up and dominate. Hopefully Oden can get at least 20 minutes to at least negate Shaq on the defensive boards. Przy can steal some offensive boards, but he simply doesn't have the size to keep Shaq from the rim. Then it is up to LMA to give the team at least 3 or 4 extra possessions on an offensive rebound with Roy, Batum, and Outlaw adding a few more. The good part of a zone is how easy it is to get to transition lanes, but the bad part is that teams the rebound well on the offensive end can abuse the team in a zone.

Offensive rebounding is the key tonight IMO.
 
SodaPopinski said:
Phoenix has played zone almost exclusively in this latest winning streak. They are daring teams to shoot from outside and then running off of long misses. That's what worries me about this game.

We need to have patience running our sets. Zones almost always break down on the baseline or at the foul line area. If we move the ball and look to penetrate on the baseline or facilitate the offense through the middle of the zone, I think we can get some easy buckets. But only if we are patient and don't try to force things.

-Pop
Click to expand...

Yep yep good observations Pop. It will be very important for the guards to challenge the zone with the movement. At the same time, that seems to be the Blazers demon every game. Some quarters they move and attack well. Others they settle for the jumper. In this game if there is even one stretch of settling for the jumper, the Blazers will go deficit during that period of time.
 
I'm not that worried about Portland missing the playoffs. They've just had two tough losses...one of them to Cleveland, one of the best teams in the game, on the road. And arguably neither loss would have happened if not for Aldridge and Batum being out. So, I don't think Portland is playing poorly. The losses hurt, but weren't indicative of the team struggling or dropping their level of play. And if their level of play hasn't dropped, Phoenix would need a pretty historic run to overtake Portland. Possible? Sure. Certainly not at all likely. And if Phoenix overtakes Portland due to a great run, not due to Portland losing a lot, it's likely not Portland that will miss the playoffs.

Big game, though. A win would almost crush Phoenix's tiny hopes and be a big deal in terms of seeding. A loss quite hurts Portland's quest for HCA and keeps alive the tiny chance that they fail to reach the playoffs.
 
My fearless prediction: If Portland shoots 34 3 point attempts in this game like they did against Philly they will loose the game by double figures.

Another prediction: If Portland shoots 34 3 point attempts in this game like they did against Philly I will be the guy you hear screaming "FUCK!!!!" from section 301.
 
I'm not concerned with the quantity of three point shots so much as the quality. If they are GOOD three-pointers (i.e. in rhythm, good shooter, no defender nearby) then I want as many as possible. But if there are more than a few of the last-second-gotta-get-the-shot-off-to-beat-the-violation-buzzer variety, I can promise that I will lose my voice before the night is through.
 
PapaG said:
That's a really good point, and this is where the Blazers' #1 in the league offensive rebounding needs to step up and dominate. Hopefully Oden can get at least 20 minutes to at least negate Shaq on the defensive boards. Przy can steal some offensive boards, but he simply doesn't have the size to keep Shaq from the rim. Then it is up to LMA to give the team at least 3 or 4 extra possessions on an offensive rebound with Roy, Batum, and Outlaw adding a few more. The good part of a zone is how easy it is to get to transition lanes, but the bad part is that teams the rebound well on the offensive end can abuse the team in a zone.

Offensive rebounding is the key tonight IMO.
Click to expand...

The only problem with this is if we don't get the offensive rebounds we made not get back if we are crashing the boards and that'll lead to easy baskets for the Suns. I think the key is getting back and stopping any easy baskets by the Suns. Of course if we can get a lot of offensive rebounds that would cut down on the easy baskets too. :)
 
Ed O said:
I don't think that it's a "must win" for the Blazers... but it is for the Suns.

If Portland wins tonight, we cruise into the playoffs. If we lose, we're suddenly on a cold streak and we just helped out the one team that can eliminate us from the playoffs.

I don't think that anyone here is a "fucking moron" and I think that it's sort of sad that you'd hurt that invective at anyone, HCP.

Ed O.
Click to expand...

To bad we don't have mods to do something about it. Maybe it depends on who says it.
 
mgb said:
To bad we don't have mods to do something about it. Maybe it depends on who says it.
Click to expand...

Do something like politely make a statement about his comment, maybe? Allowing him to reconsider his approach and maybe avoid doing it in the future (without feeling like he's been pushed around)?

Would that be a good thing for a mod to do, do you think?

Ed O.
 
Ed O said:
Do something like politely make a statement about his comment, maybe? Allowing him to reconsider his approach and maybe avoid doing it in the future (without feeling like he's been pushed around)?

Would that be a good thing for a mod to do, do you think?

Ed O.
Click to expand...

Just surprise you left the fucking morons, usually that would be deleted. Then the polite part.
 
MIXUM said:
i really dont think we have enough scoring to keep up. this team easily will score 115... we cant even score 100 sometimes in OT
Click to expand...

I would like for you to go visit the Phoenix statistics section of nba.com. Go visit the Phoenix team section, and look at their schedule, and then tell me how many times out of the last 10 games that Phoenix let their opposition score 100 points.

That would be 10 out of 10 games.

How many of those did they let score 110 or more?

That would be 8 out of 10 games.
 
oldmangrouch said:
I'm not sure I can even bear to watch this game. I am afraid the Blazers will come out flat and listless and get blown out by halftime. Think live kittens getting fed down a garbage disposal.
Click to expand...


Just for the record, I am very happy to have been wrong.

Their inconsistency drives me crazy...but this was a good win.
 
I regarded last nights game as a "must win" for a confidence builder. I hope they keep this same attitude when Utah comes to town on Tuesday.
 
Nate Dogg said:
I regarded last nights game as a "must win" for a confidence builder. I hope they keep this same attitude when Utah comes to town on Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Ya, we especially have to win Saturday or it takes a lot away from this win. Consistency is what's important as we get ready for the playoffs.
 
This is what I'm talking about. THEY ARE ALL MUST WINS! The Grizz game is as important as the Suns game!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top