But Dallas may beat us this series. I really really didn't want to play Dallas. They are in the same boat as we are. They have had mediocre seasons because of their poor playoff production. They will be coming out looking for blood and respect. This series is going to be about Portland trying to guard the perimeter; which Dallas is one of the best at. All Dallas needs is hot shooting and we could be out of this series in no time. Only way we beat Dallas in this series is to hold them to 44% shooting. Anything over that and we are toast. I really wished we could have faced the Lakers. I know that many completely disagree with us, but I truly think we matched up better with L.A. than we do Dallas. I seriously hope I'm wrong, but I think Dallas takes us in 7
Of course they could. They are a better team then us, have a better record. The Lakers could have too....... OKC as well.......... San Antonio also.
We need to win game 1 in a bad way. I think it's gonna be really hard for the Blazers to win more than 2 in a row.
I like the matchup because it's not OKC or LAL, who I didn't like our chances against. I think we can beat Dallas, they haven't been very impressive of late and we should be able to get a lot done against their soft defense. Outside of Dirk and maybe Terry there's no one on that roster really scares me. Blazers in 6.
Geez dude, relax, yeah they might beat us and we might beta them, we IMO have the best chance to advance in the playoffs in many, many years. I view this series as 50/50 odds, comes down to who plats a little better. Kick back and enjoy!
Need to get into Chandler's head. If LMA can attack him and get him in foul trouble/get him to get all pissed off - we are in a good situation.
As long as we split in Dallas, we steal HCA. No need to panic if we lose the first game, as long as we come back and win game 2, the series is ours. Dallas has a history of losing to lower seeds in the first round. If they lose one of the first two, they will start to feel the pressure. BNM
I seriously hope I am full of shit and seriously panicking. Well we may meet the Lakers in round 2! GO BLAZERS!
We matchup pretty well with Dallas. Andre vs Kidd: This is probably the best matchup for Andre compared to the other western conference PGs as Kidd has also lost a step. This is roughly a wash. Chandler vs Camby: Both of these guys just play defense and rebound. Even. Wallace vs Marion: Advantage to Portland Matthews vs Roddy: Slight advantage to the Blazers LMA vs Dirk: Tough to say. This is almost even. I like a few things about the overall matchup: 1) We have 4 good and capable defenders we can throw at Dirk to bother him: LMA, Camby, Wallace, Batum 2) Like we saw in the last matchup, they can't hide all of their undersized guards at the same time. We will always have somebody who can post up one of their guards. 3) Dallas isn't a super physical team. When LMA gets to play against non-physical teams, he seems to really dominate. I like our chances in this series.
Of the four teams we could have faced, Dallas was the least worst choice. We're a #6 seed for a reason; there are more talented teams than we. There are matchups we can exploit against the Mavs, however. If Roddy Beaubois is injured, or even hobbled, it helps us tremendously. His game is predicated on speed. I had heard a rumor that Butler may come back for some of the playoffs. They were cruising until they lost him. He was a HUGE part of what made them go. They've been really struggling the past month or so, and I think they're trying to find their identity. If Wallace can guard Dirk, we have a huge advantage by putting LA at the five. Otherwise, Chandler and Camby largely cancel each other out. I have every confidence our wings can guard the perimeter against them. Kidd is as slow as Miller and Matthews can get physical with Stevenson. Berea's a pain in the ass on offense, but we abused him on defense last time. Of all the matchups, Dallas is the one I like the best.
I also think that LA will be even more motivated than usual given that he'll be playing in front of his friends and family.
I wanted the Lakers more than any other team. I'll take the Mavs though as I truly believe we're better than them. OKC is the best team in the West this year in my opinion.
There is no doubt we are the underdog. The 5 teams ahead of us in the west are all better. We need someone to catch fire. Wes, Brandon, Rudy, or Batum. One of them has to be money. Even if it is a different one each night. (or day)
It should be noted that Rick Carlisle is one of the best tacticians in the game. We're going to see some defenses and some offensive sets we haven't seen from them all year.
We are either going to win in 5 or lose in 7. That's my prediction. I hope the first pans out. I just think if we can somehow manage to steal game 1, then we are in very good shape.
I think we steal one of the first two games (likely Game 2), we win Games 3 & 4, lose Game 5 and win Game 6.
