Matthews says we are a playoff team

A lot less in the cupboard.

 

I don't think Portland is built to win in the playoffs at all. Teams grind in the playoffs, and we have no inside presence

 

I agree that playoffs is more of a half court grind type of game where defense rules. At the same time, playoffs are less about the bench and depth and more about the starting five.

I like Blazers starting five against most teams and look forward to the possible playoffs with this team. Blazers starting five are ready to grind it out in a playoff series.

Speaking of Matthews: thanks CF for the passes to meet Wes last night. Cool guy . . . (you and Wes)

 

Agreed. There are other factors as well.

• Portland is a volume three point shooting team. If it gets hot from 3 for just 4 games in a series, it's probably going to win the series. It'll at the very least be competitive in any game where it shoots 40% from outside.

• This team handles pressure better than any .500 team I've ever seen. If Lillard can drop 20 and 10 in his rookie night going up against the Lakers in the raucous Rose Garden, you think he's going to suddenly wilt under pressure in the playoffs? I don't.

• The likely top seeds seem vulnerable. The Clippers have had injury problems this year with Paul and Crawford will fail them (I don't care what anybody says). The Spurs are phenomenal right now, but they are so old and an injury waiting to happen. The Thunder scare me, but maybe we luck out and get somebody else.

I don't think the odds are great that Portland gets out of the first round, but there's at least a chance.

 

That 6 game losing streak really hurt us.

Who are we going to bump out? Even if we get a spot from a team above us now, the league will ensure that LA gets in. It's just too big of a loss for them financially if POR replaces LAL at the 8th spot.

 

I don't think there's any conspiracy. If the Lakers get in I think it will sort of validate the long-run predictive power of points differential ... and let's face it, despite LA's issues they have a lot more talent overall than this Blazer's squad. I guess we'll see how it plays out.

 

Lakers have 7 games on the road starting now. Lets see how they do on that road trip (which they've been on a 6 game road losing streak already). If they can't win on the road, they have no shot at making the playoffs.

 

Neither the Lakers or the Blazers have a bench that's very productive. The Lakers certainly have the edge in terms of career "talent", but that has to adjusted for age and wear and tear. The Blazers have young talent and they also have something the Lakers haven't been able to develop so far - pieces that mesh. Maybe the Lakers will eventually put it all together, but I'm not sure that D'Antoni is the guy that gets them there.

 

Lets see what Matthews thinks about his statement now.

 

Did Wesley Matthews offend you in some way last night?

 

Obviously being injured would change his prospective

 

Why are you bumping these old threads. Not enough to talk about?