Dame and CJ only played together twice against the Clips so regular season 'feel' might be tough to get and for the Clippers, Griffin was out a substantial amount of time including the last Blazer game so again, tough to get a good comparison game. But the story lines of this, the best match-up in the maybe the entire 1st Round are endless. Center: Mason Plumlee (6'11", 245 lbs) vs DeAndre Jordan (6'11", 265 lbs) vs Age: Plumlee (26) vs Jordan (27) MP: Plumlee (25.4) vs Jordan (33.7) Pts: Plumlee (9.1) vs Jordan (12.7) Reb: Plumlee (7.7) vs Jordan (13.8) Blks: Plumlee (1.0) vs Jordan (2.3) Asts: Plumlee (2.8) vs Jordan (1.2) FG%: Plumlee (.516) vs Jordan (.703) FT%: Plumlee (.642) vs Jordan (.430) Advantage: Clippers Plumlee does a lot for helping to facilitate the Blazer offense and provides some intangibles but this is a a fairly dominating advantage for Jordan as most 'bigs' have been against the Blazers all year. If the roles were switched, I'm pretty sure most Blazer fans would think Jordan would dominate Plumlee. I'm worried about Mason getting into foul trouble especially as there is likely a necessary increase in his minutes. The one factor in a close game is obviously Jordan's abysmal FT shooting and Stotts has shown no hesitation in going to the 'hack' strategy. Might want to activate Alexander for just such purposes just in case extra fouls are needed. Power Forward: Maurice Harkless (6'9", 215 lbs) vs Blake Griffin (6'10", 251 lbs) VS Age: Harkless (22) vs Griffin (27) MP: Harkless (18.7) vs Griffin (33.4) Pts: Harkless (6.4) vs Griffin (21.4) Reb: Harkless (3.6) vs Griffin (8.4) Blks: Harkless (0.4) vs Griffin (0.5) Asts: Harkless (0.9) vs Griffin (4.9) FG%: Harkless (.474) vs Griffin (.499) FT%: Harkless (.622) vs Griffin (.727) Advantage: Clippers Good thing this isn't football because in the first two pairings, Portland is out-massed by 56 pounds. That will take it's toll at some point but hopefully Harkless can use his length, agility and quickness to negate some of that advantage. Again, as with most front court match-ups, Portland is at a big disadvantage here as one would expect. Griffin is one of the top PF's in the NBA and Harkless is filling in after the Vonleh experiment. Maurice's stats don't tell the whole story as he is much more productive since starting and getting more minutes and Portland has a very good record when he has been in the starting line-up. Griffin hasn't settle back completely into his role after missing time from injury and suspension. Still not enough to swing this in Portland's favor. Small Forward: Al Farouq Aminu (6'9", 215 lbs) vs Luc Mbah a Moute (6'8", 230 lbs) VS Age: Aminu (25) vs Moute (29) MP: Aminu (28.5) vs Moute (17) Pts: Aminu (10.2) vs Moute (3.1) Reb: Aminu (6.1) vs Moute (2.3) Blks: Aminu (0.6) vs Moute (0.3) Asts: Aminu (1.7) vs (Moute (0.4) FG%: Aminu (.416) vs Moute (.454) FT%: Aminu (.737) vs Moute (.526) 3pt%: Aminu (.361) vs Moute (.310) Advantage: Blazers Finally....and advantage for Portland. Certainly a match-up of two of the best names in basketball. Aminu is (can you believe this?) the more stable player in a comparison of the two team's positions. However, Mbah a Moute is really a placeholder starter kind of like Vonleh was for a good part of the season. He starts most of the time but Paul Pierce has started some and also plays about the same amount of minutes and closes most games and is the epitome of the 'savy Playoff veteran'. It's really a rotating carousel as Wesley Johnson has also started some as well and rotates between SF/SG. This is Aminu's chance to duplicate last seasons Playoff brilliance as a member of the Mavericks. Just as long as there isn't a lot of solo dribbling efforts. Shooting Guard: CJ McCollum (6'4", 200 lbs) vs JJ Redick (6'4", 190 lbs) VS Age: CJ (24) vs JJ (31) MP: CJ (24.8) vs JJ (28) Pts: CJ (20.8) vs JJ (16.3) Reb: CJ (3.2) vs JJ (1.9) Asts: CJ (4.3) vs (1.4) FG%: CJ (.448) vs JJ (.480) FT%: CJ (.827) vs JJ (.888) 3pt%: CJ (.417) vs (.475) Advantage: Blazers CJ is in line to be receive the 'Most Improved Player' award as his production has sky-rocketed from last season. He will be the first to tell you it is more about increased opportunity than being 'most improved' as he believed he could always score. CJ joins Dame as the first ever Blazer back court to both average over 20 PPG. McCollum is a wizard at creating his own mid-range shot which will be invaluable with Jordan patrolling the lane. Defense won't hurt him as much as JJ never posts up and is the same size so they will just both be chasing each other all over the court. CJ has to keep JJ from getting going early because if Redick gets on one of his streaks from behind the arc, it makes the Clippers almost impossible to defend. Point Guard: Damian Lillard (6'3", 195 lbs) vs Chris Paul (6'0", 175 lbs) VS Age: Lillard (25) vs Paul (30) MP: Lillard (35.7) vs Paul (32.7) Pts: Lillard (25.1) vs Paul (19.5) Reb: Lillard (4.0) vs Paul (4.2) Asts: Lillard (6.8) vs Paul (10.0) FG%: Lillard (.419) vs Paul (.462) FT%: Lillard (.892) vs (.896) 3pt%: Lillard (.375) vs (.371) Advantage: Pick'em In the marquee match-up in what should be the best Playoff series, you have two of the league's best. Paul is the consumate PG who has been 1st Team All-NBA at his position multiple times. Dame is entering that rare group as the undisputed leader of a team many prognosticators got partially right. They used the #5 in predicting Portland would be the #5 pick in the Draft Lottery.....instead of the #5 seed in the Playoffs. Insert Mr. Lillard's influence, determination and belief that one of those outcomes would be more likely than the other. After a slow start, Portland has played at a much improved pace over the 2nd half of the season and for every brain scrambling loss to a team they should beat there is a win against a top-tier team that not many (except them) expected. Such is the journey of one of the youngest teams in the NBA. Paul is the accomplished veteran and Lillard is the brash new-comer. Paul seems to save his best for young Dame which is why I was leaning towards 'advantage Clippers' but history shows us to beware of underestimating Mr. Damian Lillard. If he can be a little more consistent and not rely on "LillardTime he can play with CP3 even thought their games are different. This should be a great match-up to watch. The Benches: Advantage Clippers Playoff rotations usually only go about 8 deep as there are rarely back-to-back games and coaches ride their top players. Jamal Crawford, Paul Pierce, Jeff Green (and Austin Rivers) at #9) DWARFS anything that Portland can counter with. The Blazers counter with Ed Davis, Gerald Henderson and Allan Crabbe with maybe Vonleh at #9 out of necessity against the Clipper 'bigs'. Crawford is up for 6th MoY (again), Jeff Green is a match-up problem IF he gets going and Paul Pierce is good for a dagger even if he doesn't contribute as much from game to game anymore. For the Blazers, Ed Davis will battle until his heart gives out, Gerald Henderson will be a steady, veteran influence and Crabbe hopefully can find that stroke he had midway through the season. Is there anyone that will have a breakout performance like CJ and Meyers from last year? The Coaches: Class vs Whining, Bitching, Complaining, Berating....you get the idea. Stotts is in the running for CoY (I think he will finish 3rd) but Cry Me a River(s) is the one with the ring and you KNOW the refs won't have the (a'hem) 'intestinal fortitude' to make him stop his endless shenanigans and just coach instead of turning each game into a reality show bitch-fest. Since he will be allowed to do all that, it will wear on the refs as it has for years and he'll get the benefit for all his complaining. Stotts will have a good game plan but for in-game adjustments, I probably give the advantage begrudgingly to Doc. Advantage: Clippers
I think the key to getting 4 wins if we can do it is making sure Jamal Crawford doesn't chuck his way to victory for them. I'm probably wrong, but I feel like when they always win it is because good Jamal came out against us. Jamal Crawford is more of my key to try and limit than Blake Griffin or Paul.
Thanks...my bad. I clicked on his team stat instead of Austin Rivers. If Portland can somehow get Game 1 (essential to the lower seed winning a series) they have a shot. Getting Game 2 doesn't work because then you have to win 3 in a row (games 2.3. and 4) to win the series, otherwise you have to win a 2nd game on the road which happens very rarely for the lower seed. I'm hoping for at least a 6-game series as that can provide real and needed playoff experience. Getting swept or blown out 4-1 isn't much of a learning tool other than realizing what you probably already knew. (Insert OB rebuttal here)
Yes but he wasn't even in their Top-10 in minutes played. Of course there will be other contributors but Playoffs tend to be an exercise in riding the top 7-8 players pretty hard when there are no back-to-backs. But you raise a good point because Aldrich is just another big that the Blazers don't have a good counter to.
Will the Clippers really start both Griffin and Mbah a Moute? They haven't been starting Blake. I know I am nit picking, but I would use Aminu as the "PF" and Harkless as the "SF". They have been using Green and Pierce at SF.
They've used a plethora of guys at SF as mentioned which is why I give Aminu the advanage. None of those guys has been consistently good enough to start and play the majority of the minutes at that spot. It could be any of 4 guys starting at SF they way they have run their season. I believe now that Griffin is back and with a few days of practice, he will start at PF. Even if they bring him off the bench, he is going to see the majority of minutes there.
I'm not a fan of Meyers, but he would help out in this series greatly. His ability to frustrate Jordan on defense and draw him out of the paint on offense would help immensely. Dame and CJ would have a much easier time getting into the paint.
Crawford and Davis are a wash. Henderson has the advantage over Pierce Crabbe has a big advantage over Green Don't see how you give the Clippers bench the advantage.
Speaking of driving Jordan out of the paint... I wonder if we roll with a Dame-CJ-Hendo-Crabbe-Plumlee lineup. That would spread the floor like crazy.
Replace one of the wings with Harkless or Chief and you have a pretty realistic lineup. I imagine they will want at least one player who can reasonably guard a PF.
