6th seed > 5th seed, anyone else agree? I don't like how we match up with OKC, and tonight was a good indicator of how our team can play Dallas, albeit without their starting center. However, I think Dallas will be a much hungrier and improved team come playoff time. Still, if we do get the dallas matchup I believe we can pull the upset. RIP CITY
There's value and danger in both. As the 5, we play a team that is less playoff tested than us. Anyone with their eyes open over the past handful of years should remember how much we and the game changed when we got into the playoffs. No one can know if the same thing will happen to OKC, but that factor is out there. We play and match up with them well, so if we ended up in the 5 seed instead of the 6th I wouldn't feel much, if any added nerves. The plus side of being 5 is after the first round - we would play San Antonio (assuming they win their series and hold on to the #1 seed). As the 6, we play a team that is unequivocally soft, a team we've seen plenty over the years, and a team we better feel damn good about matching up against. On the downside, we match up with the Fakers in the 2nd rd... 5 or 6 would be great. 7 or 8 would be tougher.
I like the matchup with Dallas better personally. The Mavs are small in the backcourt and we can take advantage of that.
I'd like to be #5. You can get HCA in the WCF if you win your games and both DAL and LAL lose. If you get #6 you're not getting HCA unless MEM (or whoever ends up #8) also gets there. But DEN's playing too well, IMO, to be overtaken.
I agree that the 6th seed is better for us than the 5th this year based on current standings. I'd much rather face Dallas than OKC, which is an undeniably talented and up and coming power (I was there was a way we could've gotten Durant somehow)!!! But I don't think Dallas is anymore hungry this year than they've in years past - they've had better regular seasons in recent years and have flopped in the playoffs. Without Butler, I don't see any reason they do any better in this year's playoffs. Dirk's going to have some good games, hit some big shots but in the end they'll lose in the 1st or 2nd . . . again. We might as well be the team that knocks them out in the 1st this year.
Does anyone else feel a sort of calm with the team this year, in regards to playoffs? We're no longer the green team as in the past, and have players that have seasoned to up their games at the end of the season. I really doubt we get blown out in the playoffs like in the past two years. Aldridge has had nearly a full season of being the go-to guy, so he will make the adjustments that he did not make against PHX last year. Nic is healthy and looks to be rounding into shape. Teams can't hide their worst defenders on our SF because Gerald will abuse them. And Roy is our killer off the bench ( I honestly feel like he's coasting right now and saving himself for the playoffs). Just an air of confidence if we play DAL OR OKC.
I agree, I would rather play Dallas than OKC. But last year I loved the idea of playing Phoenix then we got worked and they made the WCF. Sure with Roy being the focal point of that team and then out for the playoffs we were a long shot chance against any opponent. But I didn’t expect Phoenix to be that good, teams are unpredictable and can surprise us. I’d say 90% of the Blazers success in the first round will come down to what they do on their end and 10% will be from who the opponent is out of SA/DAL/OKC. I do want the seed that is in the other half of the bracket from LA! If we play them I want it to be in the WCF.
I assume the rankings will be #1 SA, #2 LAL, #3 DAL, #4 OKC. If that's the case, I'd prefer to be the #5 seed, because I want to avoid the L*kers if we make it out of the first round. Dallas has a ton of playoff experience, and won't be the team we saw last night. IMO, a path of OKC and SA is preferable to DAL and LAL. At this point, however, I just want to hold on to the #6 seed. It's unlikely that we move to up to #5, but we could easily slip to #7 or #8.
Tyson Chandler wasn't in the game last night. When Chandler plays they can bring Haywood off the bench which makes a difference. I still would rather play OKC.
At this point I will be thrilled with advancing out of the 1st round. Everything after that is gravy. I think against Dallas we have a better chance of seeing LMA aggressive. He has played well against both teams, but I think the added focus of playing in his hometown (sort of) will keep him mentally thinking about being aggressive.
Lol... I'm not even thinking about our 2nd round matchup because our goal this season is to win a playoff series. If we can do that the season's a success. And I think the easiest way we get past the first round is through the Mavs.The PG matchup with OKC scares me too much, and I don't think we can keep counting on Durant going cold in the 2nd half of every playoff game. I don't know why people would rather play the Lakers in the WCF. My theory about that is why would we want to play them then when they're closer to the finals and will play that much harder as a result. I'd like to play them in the 2nd where we can catch them off guard if they don't take us serious. They might even try to rest through the 2nd round a little bit to save themselves for the WCF.
I fear Durant a little more than Dirk. (but real close) I fear Westbrook a little more than Terry. (also very close) Harden a little better scorer than Kidd Barea better than Maynor Chandler and Perkins are a wash. Ibaka and Marion are a wash. So overall I would say OKC is a little better (with Butler out)
Re: 6th Seed > 5th Seed I assume the rankings will be #1 SA, #2 LAL, #3 DAL, #4 OKC. If that's the case, I'd prefer to be the #5 seed, because I want to avoid the L*kers if we make it out of the first round. Dallas has a ton of playoff experience, and won't be the team we saw last night. IMO, a path of OKC and SA is preferable to DAL and LAL. At this point, however, I just want to hold on to the #6 seed. It's unlikely that we move to up to #5, but we could easily slip to #7 or #8. This is where I am at as well. None of the first round match ups will be easy. But if we can somehow ge to the seconed round, I dont want to see the lakers. I also hope that some how the over look a team and get upset.
If you aint first your last, we're gonna lose anyway aren't we? I think we all will agree we won't win the NBA Finals this year. So if our only goal is to win a playoff series, wouldn't we want to be matched up with the route that actually gives a possibility of winning a series. I don't see it happening against OKC. I honestly don't see it happening over Dallas, but I think we slightly have better odds against Dallas than we do against OKC. We'll probably get dallas anyway.
Unfortunately, Z-bo took the kilo of Colombian bam-bam and with it our motivation to win a playoff series. We need someone to paint a jaguar at Center Court, and have Amy Adams seduce one of the guys.
The Western Conference is seriously packed like always. I look at the teams in the race and I don't see any team that can't beat another. The true question is how can these teams fair in a 7 game series? Personally I would rather face SAS or Dallas. I am confident that we can play well against all the top 4 teams in the West though.
Now, it's 8 seed > 7 seed. I fully endorse a tank right now. We not only rest our players, but we also face an opponent we match up better against, while also possibly avoiding LA until the WCFs.
