The team isn't SNIFFING the playoffs (obviously) without Damian. They don't have a shot in hell at winning the first round without Damian. Dude 'isn't himself' for a couple games and people are complaining. He has gotten to the point, in my opinion, that he is virtually exempt from criticism unless its really, truly warranted and blatant.
The hardest thing about winning a championship is not only having the right talent (not missing your 2nd best player), but how freaking hard it is physically to play 82 games...then go play an entire playoffs vs 1) good teams 2) who are playing at their best. Physically this is taxing unlike anything any of these guys have done before. Throw in a missing big man, and a backup with one arm, and the fact that this is 2-2 is a huge feat. Perspective, people.
couldn't agree more
it's hard to be objective and unbiased and unemotional during and right after a game. And it's absolutely true that fans of all teams, including the Blazers, will over-focus on officiating at the expense of other important factors. I've been guilty of that myself
I think we all probably got a little ahead of reality after the OKC series. If it wasn't for a game 5 near-miraculous 4th Q comeback capped off with the shot of the century, that series could have easily gone 7 games and then, anything could have happened. OKC could have won. The 4-1 record in that series is probably a little misleading, especially considering the unsustainable level Dame was playing at
and the fact is, Denver is a much better constructed team than OKC in terms of mesh and depth. Portland has no big advantage over Denver at any position. They are evenly matched teams and Denver had, and has, HCA. Portland being 2-2 after 4 games is not a failure, even though it felt like it 14 hours ago.
scapegoating Lillard is absolutely loony. Denver is much better equipped to defend Dame than OKC was. The Craig-Harris-Beasely combo is excellent perimeter defense all game long, and with Jokic and Millsap, Denver is much better at doubling and hedging screens and picks then OKC was with Adams. People expecting Dame to continue to be the 34 point a game scorer on 65% TS he was against OKC are holding Dame to an impossible standard. Dame is a great player and an excellent leader, but he's not the level of player that a Lebron or a KD have been.
and the thing about 3 point shooting is that no player consistently hits their average, game after game after game. They will get hot for 5 or 10 or 15 games...then they go cold for 5 or 10 games. That includes the great 3 point shooters. Do people understand how loopy it is to want Dame to continue to shoot 46% on three's when he's a career 37% shooter?
the series isn't over yet. There will be a 6th game in Portland. The odds are in Denver's favor, but the odds were in their favor after game 1 and Portland did ok in game 2
