For three years straight, we've faced an underrated team in the playoffs

2009 - Rockets. They give us a 6 game beat down which was probably a lot worse than the results show. They go on to face the champion Lakers and push them to game 7 and could've won if Yao had not been injured

2010 - Suns. Everyone thought of the Suns as just another good offensive regular-season team, with no real shot at going far in the playoffs. They end up beating us in 6 games. They proceed to sweep the Spurs and going to the WCF but lose to the champion Lakers in 6 games.

2011 - Mavericks. The team everyone wanted in the playoffs. They beat us in 6 games and now they're up 2-0 against the defending champion Lakers, looking like they'll be in this years Finals.

Bad luck. Can't happen more than three times right? Maybe we prepare these teams well for the future?

 

We were favored vs Houston but that still wasn't 100% favored more like 60%, and most thought Dallas was a coinflip with some people exaggerating how bad Dallas is. Very few people thought we would be able to beat the suns, remember Broy was not expected back for any of those games so we were pretty much written off by ESPN and NBA analysts.

 

Yes, the whole reason we lost in the playoffs was bad luck. Are you fucking kidding me? It had nothing to do with being outcoached, outworked, and overall outplayed

 

You've been very bitter lately MM.

 

I have been, for sure. But BAD LUCK??????? SERIOUSLY?

 

I think we've gotten what we considered to be favorable matchups, but unfortunately we have faced a couple of hot shooting teams for the past two seasons and they've blown us out of the water. I knew Houston was a bad matchup for us, so I don't really see how that was ever considered favorable, but Phoenix and Dallas were supposed to be "soft" teams. They didn't turn out to be as soft as we thought, and their shooters severely exposed our poor perimeter defense and lack of good man-to-man defenders. We made guys like Jason Richardson, Jason Terry, and Aaron Brooks look like Gods. I agree that luck really had nothing to do with it, unless you want to start counting injuries, but I think our roster was pretty damn healthy against Dallas and we still lost.

 

I'm not saying we lost because of luck, but that we were unlucky to be facing some hot teams that we didn't expect to be so hot.

 

Were they hot, or were they facing a team that didn't defend well? I will set myself for more attacks by saying this, but my scout friend from Dallas always says we are very easy to play against in a series. I have said this for years now.

 

LOL Your "Scout Friend"?

 

There you go. I didn't expect it from Mags though, so that was new

 

Well, come on man. Your opinions on the team are fine. But really? I bet you can't tell me because the guy may lose his job?

 

Can't tell you what?

 

Who this friend is. Regardless... There is no need to name drop brother. I would suspect your intelligence and IQ of this game alone should be enough to make a point.

 

Thank you, but I am still always amazed that people can't comprehend that someone may actually know a scout? It's not like it's that impressive. So enough about it.

 

I'm not as riled up as MM about it, but I tend to agree with him on principle in this situation. Even though they did play a different way on offense this year out of necessity (more work in the post by LMA and no Super-Roy isos) for three years running, they haven't shown much of a second gear when the playoffs arrive -- playing soft, going jumper heavy and typically playing porous defense.

The only constant I see in each case isn't so much that our first round opponents have been some kind of hidden playoff juggernaut, but rather the Blazers were either under-talented or out coached ... or both (pick your poison).

These teams just feel very anonymous or "vanilla" in the playoffs -- a team that isn't going to inspire much fear in another playoff opponent -- and they generate fairly predictable outcomes.

 

Well I gave you the info on these three teams' future success after facing us (which was pretty good), so I would say they were pretty hot. How about the fact that we won twice against the Suns without Roy or Oden and yet the Spurs got swept? Yes, matchups have a lot to do with it. And yes we deserved to lose each of those series. But the fact remains, we're facing tough teams that go on to do pretty well for themselves.

 

Woe is us. We is the unluckiest team. Why hast thou forsaken us, oh God?

The best way to endure our lack of luck is to never change our coach. It's not his fault, it's Fate's fault. Agur, the great wind god from the North, will smite evil Fate and banish him to Mt. Olympus.

 

If the blazers are easy to game plan for, just think about how the lakers are being dismantled... How bad of a coach is Phil Jackson?! He's a total McJackoff!