Dang, I guess I'm the optimistic homer. POR 108 BOS 101 We haven't had a low turnover game in a while, but we're a low-turnover team. We haven't been shooting the lights out recently. I think a day and a half of rest and a practice are going to help out a lot. I think Nate's tweaking some defense, but it won't kick in just yet. I think Blake will be on the bench early, since we're going to try to establish the stars (and Oden) to get the team off right. (Although the best starts have been when Blake and Batum go off early without Roy and LMA having to do anything.) I think Sergio and Rudy will be off the bench quick b/c Batum's going to have 2-3 quick tacky fouls due to Pierce being a) good and b) tricky. Sergio/Rudy/Roy can do some damage to Boston, imho. Who's Allen going to guard in that lineup? Sergio will blow by him, Roy would abuse him however he wanted to, and Rudy would run him all over the court.
I predict that Joel will be exposed for the type of player he really is. I'm half serious, and I'm not trying to start a flame war. But I am honestly interested to see what he will or will not do against the Celtics frontcourt. Then again, I guess it depends on if he ends up matching up against their first or second unit.
We know what kind of player Joel is. He's a defensive-oriented, slow-of-foot center whose range doesn't extend to three feet.
No flame war, I promise.... By "exposed", do you leave open the possibility that he will expose that he is a good player? Or just the "bad" exposed? B/C I think his skill set is such that anything garbage around the hoop is going in. He's always been a good-to-great rebound/minute guy, and now he's working the offensive boards hard and knows what to do with it when he gets them. He's always been a good-to-great defensive presence, if a little prone to fouling. It's not like he suddenly found out he could hit 15-footers or something. He may not get a single point, block or rebound tomorrow. But I don't know that Perkins or Powe or Davis is going to do anything to make him look worse than he's been this year.
Sorry JE, for the predictions game I run, edited predictions are ignored. Of course, since you are not a regular participant in the predictions game, you probably don't care. Gramps...
Ummm, well, only if your lowly sack-of-potatoes-and-rotten-forgotten-about-pumpkin Celtics can manage to find a way to beat the Blazers. Gramps...
