Also, maybe some motivation not to coast the rest of the season now that our playoff spot is locked up. Better get a higher seed or we will go out in 5 versus America's favorite team.
I agree with Miller not getting a hot Webster the ball. I noticed it last night. I'm not going to kill Miller for it, though. He saw Brandon struggling and decided to try and force his will offensively. Probably not the best choice last night in retrospect, but the way the Blazers played "defense", I don't think anything would have mattered. What an extremely frustrating game to watch. Not once did I feel the Blazers were going to win it, so I'm willing to give Miller a pass, since he probably noticed the piss-poor defensive effort as well.
Is this a joke? Yeah...that is what he meant...he is giving up if POR faces the Lakers in the 1st round....Seriously I cannot believe you posted such a ridiculous topic.... Oh and BTW, he has some historical perspective to back his case...Unless you think #1 seeds lose to #8 seeds all the time.....
Man, talk about taking a quote out of context ... then again, I'm pretty sure KS did this mostly to get people riled up.
millers right... if we get la in round 1... its over before it starts. i think our only hope is dallas or maybe utah. lakers and denver will smash us to pieces
I think we can win a few games against DEN and UTA at home, but so far this team has not shown ANY ability to beat Utah or Denver on the road, which is pretty much required to advance.....
Maybe we can get through one round by cutting Diener, and signing Mike Tyson, start him against Utah, and have him punch Darrin Williams in the gnards as hard as he can the first play of the series!
Denver is a totally different team at home than on the road. Don't let that fool you. I see Denver going 7 with whoever they play because of it, every series. Folks relax. How many games in the playoffs are going to be the back end of a back to back in Denver. Fuck man it's hard enough to play at that altitude without it being back to back. The Blazers were in that game for 3 quarters, and would have been ahead had some players sacked up and hit their shots. All it takes is a slightly different scenario to get a W there.
Theres a giant difference between the conference finals, the finals, and the first round. The lakers are the biggest franchise in the NBA... they are expected to win the WCF and the NBA would lose a lot of viewers if the lakers are ousted in the first round. Plus their reputation will pretty much make all the calls go to the lakers in the first round. When was the last time that the lakers lost in the first round when they made the playoffs?
if you mean their reputation for generating high viewer ratings you're spot on... thats what the league (Stern) cares about which is why they get the critical calls. Unfortunately Portland is on the opposite end of that dynamic STOMP
To answer your question: we got bounced by the Suns in 7 back in '06 and by the Suns in 5 in '07. So it was just a few years ago.
I don't read that as Andre giving up. I read that as Andre saying that the refs are puppets for the league. And after last night's game, I don't blame him a bit. For Christ's sake, Marty fouled Anthony on the hand with his freaking eyeball.
Roy has it right. After the game tonight, on the radio, he said that he doesn't care who we play, he just wants the team to be playing good basketball. THAT's the right attitude. Look at my signature too. Roy is a winner and has a winning attitude. Miller has a losing attitude and is jaded from never winning a playoff series. Someone needs to slap him, fire him up, and tell him that we can beat anyone.
Take THIS historical perspective: The #1 seeded Sonics lost to the #8 seeded Nuggets in 94. The #1 seeded Heat lost to the #8 seeded Knicks in 99. Those Knicks, led by Camby, went on to reach the NBA Finals! And the #1 seeded Mavericks lost to the #8 seeded Warriors in 6 games in 2007. That Dallas team had won 67 of their previous 78 games going into that series. It has happened. It is possible. And that is what Miller should be talking about. And if you're a competitor, you don't say crap like "can't win no matter how well we play." That is fucking bullshit. It's a tough enough hill to climb. You can't have one of your starters conceding we've lost the series before it begins.
Point blank: if you believe that there are teams in the playoffs that you can't beat, then you shouldn't be in the playoffs. The playoffs are designed to crown a champion. To be champion, you should be willing to face any team put in front of you. Worrying about who you play is loser talk. There's no trophy for making it to the second round.
