I'm very confused at how either of these things could be true. The Blazers do not match up well with teams that have great length and athleticism at guard or against teams with great inside presences. The Clippers have Paul and Redick at guard, neither of which are bad matchups for Dame and CJ. Westbrook is a bad matchup and Morrow has more size, length and athleticism than Redick. The Clips do have Jordan inside but the Thunder have Adams, Ibaka and Kanter and those guys absolutely have absolutely killed the Blazers at times. Any team that forces Portland to solely rely on jumpers is going to be a bad matchup. I just have a hard time seeing how CP and JJ are going to prevent Dame and CJ from getting in the lane. Yeah they have DJ back there but OKC has more bodies than just one guy. And then the Clips are going to beat the Warriors in a 7 game series? I just don't see how that could happen. This whole thread is very confusing, yes Portland will be the underdog in both series and they should not be expected to win either, but wouldn't you rather face the team with less talent, less depth, fewer big guys that can score and more issues overall? In no way should it be a better matchup to have to go up against two of the top five players in the league.
LOL. So the Clips are going to dispatch the Blazers then beat Golden State 4 out of 7 games to reach the WCF? Riiiiiggghhhtttt. FYI ... they won't win more than a game against the Warriors and won't even sniff the WCF. That's a guarantee.
Either series is an upset to win. I think the Clippers are a slightly easier opponent, but more than anything it's the chance to beat them and listen to their whining afterwards. Also if by some chance we were to get by Okc we would face Lamarcus and the Spurs who would probably kill us. I can't take losing to LA in the playoffs the year after he left.
You know, this thread shows how things have changed. How many people in October even thought we'd be having this discussion? I remember seeing a preseason game and posting something to the effect that this was not a championship, probably not a playoff team, but not a pushover either. Now we argue whether the 5 or 6 seed is more advantageous? I don't like playing for matchups. Remember when we were relieved Portland landed Phoenix and got killed? Just win as many games as you can and play as hard/well as you can in postseason. If they lose tonight and Memphis beats GSW (unlikely) or Dallas beats San Antonio they end up in a tie and it looks like Portland holds both tie breakers, correct? So it looks like #5 is set? Or am I missing something? How many people in preseason had the Blazers pegged as the #5 seed in the West? Go Blazers.
Blazers don't have tiebreaker with Dallas; so its either 5 seed or 6 seed. Only way we are 6th is if both Dallas wins and we lose.
Clippers very well could be the harder series. CP3 is a much better PG than Wesbtrook in the half court. DeAndre is shooting 70% FG. The Thunder have great depth but a terrible crunch time lineup. The Clippers have a great crunch time lineup but terrible depth. If Griffin was healthy and playing as he did in last years playoffs then I'd rather face the Thunder. Griffin has a tear in his quad. Theres also the drama between our teams, playing against big city LA, and Durant being a free agent that lead me to want to play the Clippers. Certainly could look like the wrong choice in a few weeks. I wouldn't be shocked if any of the top4 teams in the west made the finals.
Chris Paul is quite possibly the toughest match Dame gets against anyone. Saying Paul is not a bad match for Dame is delusional at best. Paul torches Dame every time. CJ has trouble guarding anyone let alone Reddick who is bigger and stronger. Now lets talk about Jordan and Griffin shall we?
CP3 is a great player, no doubt. But from a pure size, strength and athleticism perspective he is not is Westbrooks category. I'm not saying he's an ideal matchup but just from a pure physical perspective, Dame should have an easier time on the offensive end against a smaller guy. CJ might have a hard time guarding JJ, but JJ is going to have a real hard time guarding CJ. He has no chance against CJs quickness. Now let's talk about Jordan and Griffin. Well, DJ is a very limited offensive player, Blake Griffin is still working his way back into shape and into the flow of the Clips offense. There were concerns about how Blake would work in the offense BEFORE his injury, now the Clips have just a few short weeks to get the kinks figured out. Who is missing from this conversation??...hmm oh yeah that Kevin Durant guy that could easily go for 40 on any given night. No one is saying the Clips are ideal but there is no chance that the Thunder would be an easier matchup.
I want Blazers to win tonight and be in attack mode--not worrying about who the opponent is. But, It's the Clippers bench that concerns me the most. I assume I don't need to even mention what Crawford does to us--EVERY TIME. We also struggle against Cole Alrich (or any other big backup center). Johnson, Rivers and Pierce can alternately cause problems too. If Portland plays it's "A" game then it won't matter as much. But if they start abandoning the game plan then The Clippers bench can really kill us.
Crawford is a wild card. When he misses shots; which happens often, he doesn't contribute at all. Sure the Clippers bench could hurt us; but OKC's would hurt us.
The Clippers bench is also completely dependent on Crawford. Like Draco said, when Crawford struggles making shots, he doesn't contribute. That in turn makes the whole bench basically useless as most of what they do is try to get Crawford open shots. The Clippers bench is the main reason why I would want them in the first round, outside of not having to face Westbrook and Durant. That bench really, really struggles at times and the Blazers should have the chance to extend some leads against them.
