ESPN Pro's vote 3 out of 7 that Blazers come out on top

It's because it's the smart choice. I don't think the guys are going to overlook Dallas no matter what people are saying. Miller, Camby, and Wallace are too pro to let that happen, and our younger guys have been there now for a couple years. This isn't the Houston series.

 

I agree. Check out Aldridge's interview on OLive (http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/04/blazers-mavericks_lamarcus_ald.html). Dude is so grounded; I wonder how much Brandon has been talking to LA about leading the team. Roy was the only one who showed up for POR in that Houston series, and I think a lot of it had to do with his poise and even-keeled attitude. LA is just now developing some of that.

 

I think the team is ready. This will be their third time into the playoffs and I think they're mentally prepared for it.

 

Houston was a bad matchup and no Roy = no Joy last year. This year we have perhaps our best matchup and we have Wallace instead of Roy, so this is our chance. However, we're still a #6 playing a #3 and we don't have HCA.

Go Blazers!

 

If you go here, 4 of 10 "experts" pick the Blazers to win the series. Of course the 4 that pick the Blazers are extremely intelligent, knowledgeable and can see into the future. Those that pick the Mavs are clueless blowhards like Jon Barry.

Also, if you click on the SportsNation fan poll, you will see the unwashed masses currently (38,308 votes) favor the Blazers 56% to 44% - for whatever that's worth.

BNM

 

???

 

Abbott picked POR over PHX last year, and when we lost, he had to eat crow...err, balut (egg with a nearly developed embryo).

 

I tried to rep BNM, but I have to spread the rep around more. So I rep you, but still couldn't rep BMN.

 

Yes! Okay I will rep him in both of our honor!

 

It's now 11 and we have 5 votes now. I guess all of them haven't put their in yet.

 

You know that Dallas is going to use all the material about them most likely being upset of any team as emotional lift. I'd rather just be the underdogs and surprise everyone.

 

You know I would have agreed with you years ago, but I am happy that people actually believe we are for real. And actually I think that people believing in the Blazers will boost their confidence.

 

I think if they need stuff like this to motivate them to try their best, they're in a lot of trouble already.

 

I seriously thought we could be Houston a few years ago, I seriously thought we could beat Phoenix last year, and again I seriously think we can beat Dallas this year. Hopefully I am not wrong three years in a row. I am not sure how I feel about all of the national attention lately. I like being the underdog. I was watching a few games on ESPN/TNT lately and during the broadcast they started talking about us and how no one should want to play us in the playoffs. They were saying we are the best pick for an upset this year. I love the praise, but still am used to being the underdog.

 

Sure, we absolutely could have beaten them, but the matchup wasn't really in our favor. They were the experienced team while we were green, they were physical and we were soft, and they had Yao to dominate the refs and put our bigs in foul trouble. It wasn't ideal. I think we matched up with the Suns better, but without Roy they were able to take away our strengths and we just couldn't knock them off.

 

Unfortunately, what these experts predict means absolutely nothing.

I did and I wasn't. We had beat the Suns a couple times without Roy that season. I expected us to win that series but we completely failed to show up in the first home game of the playoffs for the second year in a row. We should've beaten Phoenix.

We were supposed to beat Houston. We had HCA and the 5th best point differential that season. We were a top team in the league that season and completely tanked in our own building. And Yao had a good first game, sure, but he wasn't that great after that. We should've won that series.

 

The reason why we didn't win was we were a soft team. Houston, especially Artest and Battie, became extremely physical on Roy. The distraction and being pushed around made us lose focus. This is why I feel so good about this season. Our team is so much tougher now than we ever have been. Keep your positive attitude King, we got this season and post season wrapped up!

 

The reason we didn't beat the Suns ended up losing one piece too many. The key, IMO, was when Nico hurt his shoulder and they could put Hill on Miller and Nash on Batum without paying the price.

 

I think the difference between the past couple of years and this year is that we're no longer a soft jump shooting team. Aldridge has discovered the low post and Wallace is a beast. If we can get some reliable three point shooting to open up the middle, we should be in good shape. The problem is that the last thing we've been this past year is reliable from behind the three point line.

 

When Rudy got out of his slump; it gave me new hope. He really needs to shoot at least 38% from three for that to happen.