The Morning After Thoughts

[Rastapopoulos]

Lillard is Chauncey Billups, Aldridge is Rasheed.

If only we'd had Lillard in 2000...

 

[Pritchslap Madness]

I think Aldridge is clearly the more valuable player and the guy they should be centering on for 80% of the game, but Lillard definitely has more killer instinct late in games.

So I don't see it as a Hero-sidekick relationship, it's more like a relay team, with Lillard as the anchor.

Its a great combo! I'm not trying to take away anything from Aldridge. WE would not be here without him. Your right maybe we have two Batmans or say Batman and Superman were sidekick metaphor no longer works to describe our amazing combo star players. I'm happy with that idea!

 

[H.C.]

I thought the calls were more consistent throughout the game. Also, no blown easy ones on things like goal tending, last touched...

how easy it is to forget the several obvious calls. Howard goaltended earily in the 2nd quarter. was a JaVale McGee type goaltend. Also earily in the game the refs reversed a call that was clearly off of howard's shin and gave the ball to Houston.

I could list a couple calls that went against Houston also, but I won't list those because it will further give Houston fandom into believing they were "robbed" and the series went ""80/20"" against them as far as calls went.

But don't worry. As ROLO said, the better team is going home.

 

[Further]

Morning after thoughts

Rockets
I leave that series totally impressed with Howard and Lin. With better coaching these two are pretty impressive. Lin I remembered being shitty on D, but in this series I thought he might have been the Rockets best perimeter defender, maybe better than Beverly, and his PG skills are pretty impressive. Howard is a beast no center we face the rest of the playoffs will be close to as hard to guard as Howard.

On the other hand, I was totally unimpressed with Harden, Parsons and Mchale. Harden should be looked at as a good offensive player, but certainly not a star. Both he as Parsons were frequently taken out of their games completely by Wes, Batum or other defenders. They showed no ability to adjust their games and change for the situation. Not Stars. And Stotts coached circles around Houston. If Mchale didn't have the savvy option of "get it to Howard and see if he can do something" then Houston would have been swept.



Now onto the Blazers.
Our Team defense is getting so much better in these playoffs. The rotations are tight and close-outs happen quicker than I've seen in ages. Still porus on the inside, but a lot of that had to do with facing Howard, likely the best center in the association. One player I was surprised to see play pretty good defense was Mo Williams. I always thought of him and a shitty defender, but he really put out a ton of effort and player pretty good. By far, the defensive player of the series goes to Wes. He never relented, I have no idea how someone can exert so much energy without lapses. And I was also pleased with Lillards defense, he was pretty good, and in fourth quarters was actually very good.

On offense, we have a might and fairly perfect pairing of Lillard and Aldridge. Not only for their pick and roll abilities, but Aldo because of the type of load both handle best complement each other. Aldridge is a workhorse that can carry a huge burden over 48 minutes, whereas Lillard is best suited for smaller stints of offensive genius, especially with the game on the line. This was really the birth of superstardom for both LA and Lillard. They deserve all the accolades they receive, total beasts.

One last thing, it's so fun to root for these people. I don't only admire their abilities, but they seem like genuine good guys, and I love that they represent ripcity.