No, not at all. Aldridge needs to pick up the pace. He's getting off too easy. I posted after Game One that it was just "one fucking game". I posted that because I did not see Bayless and Miller as being able to have those same performances consistently. Is 'Dre going to have some very good games the rest of the series? Yes. Can we expect him to go 31/8 every night? Not a chance. Batum's status aside, if we're going to win this series, Aldridge needs to be more involved. I'd force-feed him the first five minutes of Game Three to get him going. Somebody needs to slap LA across the face right before tip-off. It's his series just as much as it's 'Dre's.
Can you name 1 poster who goes from fire Nate to I love Nate? For me it's always fire Nate. Sorry. I don't go all gaylord after 1 playoff victory. You can offer him an extension for his great work if you'd like. Do you think he'll sign it this time? Me neither
What difference does that make? I'm not sure what writing off means in this case. PDX were always huge underdogs in this series. I never expected Portland to win in. In fact I only expect them to win 1 more game.
Its called "hyperbole", you should try it sometime. And name me one coach who could guide his team to 50 victories while losing 310+ games to injury...or could win game 1 on the road, against arguably the hottest team in the league, without his 3 time allstar. *crickets* Like it or not, coaches are repsonsible for their teams W's and L's; thats why teams with lots of L's fire their coaches, and teams with lots of W's extend their coaches. To say that the Blazers are just a fluke 50 win team, that they did it DESPITE their coach, is ludicrous.
Oh, do you think I'm ready? Yes, the highest form of conversation... hyperbole. Anyway, I've said Nate is a good coach. But that's all he is. He's figured out how to strangle the regular season to death with mind numbing basketball that supposed to pay off in the playoffs. He has never proved to be anything else than a "good" regular season coach. He's nothing more than a maybe who averages 4th place division finishes and has been blown out in 37.5% of his playoff games with Portland. The best young coach in the NBA (Who's been coaching for 10 years) Oh, and he refuses to sign an extension. Yeah, he's the BEST
Sounds like he's saying that w/Dre at the helm, there's no way that we're winning this series, which is silly considering that we're tied and heading home. I mentioned the other teams being down 2-0 because there is a world of difference confidence-wise being tied 1-1, than down 2-0, even after a blowout.
I already explained myself, which you asked me to do. Portland is a very good team with Aldridge playing well, not just a good team. But, go ahead and make up my side of the argument to make yourself feel better. Miller has never led a good team to a playoff victory. This is a fact. Not a very good team. Not a great team. Fucking RIF, dude. Epic Fail, indeed.
If PDX had a full squad and split on the road, I'd be delighted. But I realize it was lightening in a bottle. They just got over in one game they shouldn't have. It was great and fun to watch. They still are not winning this series anymore than the teams down 0-2 are.
Not trying to "make up your side" of the arguement...I agree that Miller has never led a team to a series win. I just don't agree with using someone's past history to make a judgment in the here and now. Before last year, people were saying that Kobe had never won a ring without Shaq-FACT. Before this year, people were saying that the Saints had never been to the Super Bowl, let alone won one-FACT. There's a first time for everything is all I'm saying, and if Miller is going to lead a team to the 2nd round, he's got a golden opportunity. Lets see if he's up to the challenge.
Nash guarded him all night in game 2, what game were you watching? Reality is the opposite of your method of picking only certain games in order to make Miller look better, or at least less worse. And while he did sort of start Game 1 this season, he did so poorly that Nate benched him after only 18 minutes (he had a -7, worst on the team) and played Blake 38 minutes to put the brakes on the Suns. Great move as the aggressive combo of Blake and Bayless gave Jerryd his yearly "breakout game". 11 years of disappointing playoff fade-outs and playoff absences by Miller should have prepared you for this. He out-Cliff's Uncle Cliffy.
Grant Hill guarded Miller a ton. That, and they sent a bunch of traps/double teams his way. Uh, you are the one who included the PRESEASON games! I took all the regular season games and both playoff games. I was just showing that your evidence for your argument wasn't correct. I wasn't trying to prove that one player was better than another based on those win-loss records. It is obvious to everyone besides you that Nash > Miller > Blake...despite who won the preseason games Prepared me for what? A split on the road against the Suns? I'm pretty darn happy with where the team is at.
I agree with this. Maris, you are certainly the only one I've ever known to bring up preseason games in a playoff game debate.
I don't get all of these arguments. Isn't this a Blazer fan forum? Were heading home with a 1-1 split that very few expected. We were written off like we have been all season and surprised people. We come out in game 2 and play some of the worst basketball we'v played all year and the suns play great and suddnly people are acting like we have no hope of winning the series. We are going home for the next two games having stolen home court vs a team that was considered the "hottest" in the league, and yet there are way to many people that are supposed to be fans that are again writing us off. Its the playoffs. All that has happened in the past is the past because the playoffs mean EVERYTHING and we aren't going to roll over and let the suns do what they did to us last night for three more games. Could we lose this series? Yea we could, we could also win it. So why don't we see more posts about cheering the Blazers on instead of the "THE WORLD IS ENDING OMG RUN FOR THE HILLS!" because we so happen to have been blown out in a game were we played like crap. Its a best of 7 series for a reason and we sure as hell will give the suns as good of a run as anyone else and in my opinion we will win it.
I think it's true that we would do better against the Suns if Blake was here; but I think it's also good that he is gone. Blake was not our longterm answer at point guard, mostly because he doesn't have the tools to be an outstanding defender. By trading him we have created a situation where we can see that Bayless also is not the longterm answer. So we now know what our main priority needs to be in the off season, and I think that's important to know.
