Will the second round be EASIER than the first round?

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OSUBlazerfan

OSUBlazerfan

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Since Friday night, I've been basking in the awesomeness of that shot that we've all been waiting for since that game 7 meltdown, but I've also been thinking just how good Houston was and how fortunate we were to pull this off.

Superstars win championships, and Howard and Harden are two superstars and two of the top 12 players in the league. Howard dominated us, and when he didnt, or we doubled, the swing pass to parsons or Beverly was there. Luckily, as many people have pointed out, Harden was stifled by Wes for most of the series.

I remember starting every game like "oh god, here we go again, a steady dose of howard and harden"

Neither San Antonio, nor Dallas, has two superstars as good as Houston. And for as much crap we give Beverly for being cocky and a pest, hes an outstanding defensive player. And to think what lillard did too him, makes me salivate at the thought of what he will do against Parker/Ellis/Calderon.

Its also true that he will be hurting much more on D this series because those three above are all better than beverly, but since neither of those teams have a harden, wes and batum will be able to help even more.

Either way, I'm so happy we are done with the rockets, and am confident going into this second round, regardless of the opponent.

Now, IF we make the WCF, that will be a much more difficult task :)
 
I certainly hope the Blazers players don't think it's going to be easier, or let down in any way. That might be difficult to avoid. That was such an intense six games, maintaining that same focus is probably hard to do. I'd think it might be a little like dropping your first home game back after a successful and tough road trip. We've seen that a few times.

Every series is going to have it's unique matchups and challenges. These teams aren't in the second round because they aren't good at playoff basketball. Blazers need to maintain their A+ games.

Go Blazers!
 
Every round gets harder.

Houston posed a whole different threat compared to Dallas/SA but that doesn't mean it's gonna be easy. The bench has to be ready for the upcoming round and it's kinda scary.
 
It will be easier....for us. If they go deeper the stress will come back for me. Next round is gravy and I can watch just to see if this team has what it takes. I think they do.
 
I think the stress of making it past the first round took a lot of pressure off of Portland. I expect them to come out loose and ready for the next challenge
 
Considering the Spurs are 100x better than the Rockets

Yes, it's going to be much harder

The Spurs play the best team basketball in the NBA

Great team offense and great team defense
 
RoyToy said:
Considering the Spurs are 100x better than the Rockets

Yes, it's going to be much harder

The Spurs play the best team basketball in the NBA

Great team offense and great team defense
Click to expand...
Ridiculous post. I understand hyperbole but give me a break. They may actually have a 100 times better coach.
 
Yes, I think it will be easier. Howard was amazing this year. Can't remember a big man playing that well and losing the series in a long time. Doesn't mean the Blazers will win, we could easily play worse for a few games. But I don't believe the Spurs would've won the series we just did if they were in our shores.
 
To me, it'll be easier. Houston really concerned me as they flop and complain non stop and get the refs pissed... and it leads to poorly ref'd games and opposing players losing their composure and getting into foul trouble. A very dangerous team. SA may flop a bit, but they are a much more straight up team to play. If they beat you, it's usually because they earned it as opposed to cheated for it. I also like the way we match up with SA.
 
BLAZER PROPHET said:
To me, it'll be easier. Houston really concerned me as they flop and complain non stop and get the refs pissed... and it leads to poorly ref'd games and opposing players losing their composure and getting into foul trouble. A very dangerous team. SA may flop a bit, but they are a much more straight up team to play. If they beat you, it's usually because they earned it as opposed to cheated for it. I also like the way we match up with SA.
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I think the refs did a good job of not calling flops last series. Don't think it was really a factor at all.

Overall in every playoff series they're letting the players play. So far it's been what of the best reffed playoffs I've ever seen.
 
Get ready for pop to ride the refs all game then they get the late calls
 
Spurs are a much better TEAM. However, Portland also matches up much better against them.

Howard played like I haven't seen him play in a long time.... and because of that gave Portland fits.

Going into the Houston series, I was giving Portland a 30% chance of winning. Going against the Spurs, I would give the Blazers a 45-50% chance of winning. I think I will enjoy watching it a lot more too (without Harden).
 
If Lillard and Aldridge can continue playing like they have been, we've got a good shot. Duncan can't run with LA anymore, and Lillard in Silent Assassin Mode is hard to stop no matter which physical scrub is on him. Need seven Good Mo games, and maybe a few Monster Truck games too, to pull out four wins, but it is possible!
 
If you count the spurs out you are in for a rude surprise. They are the best team in basketball at the moment and just because they got taken to 7 by the Mavs doesn't make them a bad team. They have the best coach in basketball and a great team that has played together forever and been in every situation imaginable so they won't blink at anything we throw there way.
 
RoyToy said:
I think the refs did a good job of not calling flops last series. Don't think it was really a factor at all.

Overall in every playoff series they're letting the players play. So far it's been what of the best reffed playoffs I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

Overall I agree that fewer flops were called than I expected. But aside from the final game I can't understand why the reffing was so bad.
 
Rhal said:
If you count the spurs out you are in for a rude surprise. They are the best team in basketball at the moment and just because they got taken to 7 by the Mavs doesn't make them a bad team. They have the best coach in basketball and a great team that has played together forever and been in every situation imaginable so they won't blink at anything we throw there way.
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I can't imagine anyone counting them out. They are the top team in the West for a reason. We will have to bring our A game.
 
BlazerCaravan said:
If Lillard and Aldridge can continue playing like they have been, we've got a good shot. Duncan can't run with LA anymore, and Lillard in Silent Assassin Mode is hard to stop no matter which physical scrub is on him. Need seven Good Mo games, and maybe a few Monster Truck games too, to pull out four wins, but it is possible!
Click to expand...

Oddly enough, I think the keys to this series will be Splitter's d and Patty's production. And I don't know what to expectfrom Kawhi. Dont think he played vs us in the regular season. He and Nic are like clones of one another.
 
No. The Blazers are fucked. I'd be surprised if they lasted to Game 6.
 
yuyuza1 said:
Oddly enough, I think the keys to this series will be Splitter's d and Patty's production. And I don't know what to expectfrom Kawhi. Dont think he played vs us in the regular season. He and Nic are like clones of one another.
Click to expand...

We might see Leonard on Lillard and Tony guarding Nic

Nic needs to own that if it happens
 
The Blazers match up well with the Spurs. Dame can match up with Tony Parker easily(Looking at their past H2Hs), Wes has already done a good job on a flopper and I think he does much better against this flopper. There really is no matchup between the two teams that I am scared of other than how their bench is a bit better than ours due to Danny Green and Patty Mills.
 
Blazers in 6 but no, it's not going to be easier. Reason? Their coach
 
RoyToy said:
We might see Leonard on Lillard and Tony guarding Nic

Nic needs to own that if it happens
Click to expand...

Ya I predicted them trying to hinde parker in the other thread. But I think they will hace a tougher tine at hiding parker than we will of hiding Dame. He can stick to Danny Green
 
yuyuza1 said:
Oddly enough, I think the keys to this series will be Splitter's d and Patty's production. And I don't know what to expectfrom Kawhi. Dont think he played vs us in the regular season. He and Nic are like clones of one another.
Click to expand...

Patty is so quick, I wonder how Barton would guard him.
 
It'll be a good series, but I see the Spurs advancing in 6. Portland is like a younger Mavs team, which is a huge compliment to y'all (considering they're a few years removed from a championship). Portland is a year away imo provided they add another good bench piece (Mo Williams will kill the Spurs like usual, but overall he chokes in the postseason). The bench isn't extremely important, but having 7-8 great rotation players is mandatory to win it all.
 
Rz4k said:
It'll be a good series, but I see the Spurs advancing in 6. Portland is like a younger Mavs team, which is a huge compliment to y'all (considering they're a few years removed from a championship). Portland is a year away imo provided they add another good bench piece (Mo Williams will kill the Spurs like usual, but overall he chokes in the postseason). The bench isn't extremely important, but having 7-8 great rotation players is mandatory to win it all.
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Pretty sure T-Rob is a great Rotation player along with Mo. T-Rob was great in the Rox Series.
 
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