There are some: Increased ball movement. Better offensive rotation. Reliance on teamwork. Focus on defense. Overall it makes our whole team better/come together without the play of B-Roy. It's a huge sacrifice obviously, but could be worth it in the long run.
Run everything thru LA. Force their bigs ,or lack their of, to have to play a lot of defense! LA should have a field day.
Without Lopez, their most physical player is Jared Dudley, who lives on the perimeter. Amare wants no part of a physical front against post-up big men. LA and Camby should have career games against this paper tiger defense.
In the Blazers' two wins against the Suns this season, they scored over 100 points each. In the lone loss, they scored 80-something.
And that's why the series will be won or lost on the Blazers' offensive end. If Miller and LA can destroy the Sun's front court and score at will in the half-court and off of missed threes, then this series will be a rout in the direction most people aren't expecting.
The key will be dominating the glass and keeping Amare under control. We have the talent to do that fortunately. If Phoenix goes nuts from the 3 point line we'll just have to take our lumps.
Yes. We should play fast break on offense, but not allow it on defense. People think if you do the former, you have to allow the latter, but the two are distinct from each other.
We need to get more free throws and attempt fewer 3-pointers. The former will happen if we are aggressive and push the ball on offense. The latter will limit the number of long rebounds turning into Phoenix fast breaks. (Keeping turnovers to a minimum should also go without saying...)
close... 31, 8 & 5 17 boards, several top of the key jumpers and just 2 fouls... of course Amare was the one who fouled out how about now? box score STOMP
You know, I'd love to be as confident as you are WRT our team. I always pegged you as a curmudgeon. I was wrong.
Well it seems Bayless plays well when Roy is out. That proved so tonight. Would be great if he continues it too because I don't expect much from Rudy.
I've never been called curmudgeonly before but okay This club is largely made up of guys I was a fan of before they became Blazers. I absolutely love defensive frontcourt players and openly pined for both Aldridge and Batum well prior to their drafts and have admired Camby's play since he was at UMass going up against Timmy D. I've been comparing this frontcourt favorably to Detroit's a few years back. Last spring I was one of many here who was crossing their fingers that Andre would be the FA target. It follows that in the preseason my guesstimate was for 60+ wins... thats the sort of talent I think is in place. Guess what I think of the no D Suns roster? STOMP
Lol. I should be writing those "keys to the game" things at the beginning, huh? I really didn't think the Blazers could win this. It's not that I don't like the team--it's just that I have so much respect for what Roy does. I'm definitely now sold that this series is more than winnable for the Blazers.
it's obvious that the club's success hinges on your keys to the game... that and MIXUM's spot on predictions I value Roy's game quite a bit too, but against the Suns I see Andre as a more then adequate replacement to make things flow on offense. They have no one who matches up well on him so he can collapse the D and get PDX's many shooters looks. Foul trouble and/or incredibly hot Suns shooting is about the only thing I see prolonging this series STOMP
If Portland could force Phoenix to score only 43 points in a half every game, this would be a sweep. I don't really see that happening, though. I'm still not as optimistic as you. Phoenix is such a hot-shooting team. Whenever they take a three I feel like it's going in. Hell, on the last play where Nash drove up and took a desperation three, while the ball was in the air I was already wondering how the Blazers would handle choking away game 1 in overtime. lol. Maybe I just have a big psychological barrier about believing in the Blazers in the playoffs. Can you blame me though? It's been a pretty futile experience since the 2000 Western Conference semi-finals.
I was imagining him hitting that shot, but was also picturing Miller going coast to coast to win it for us. Felt confident going into last night's game, and throughout. Knew Miller would be able to do his thing. Was a great win.
no I can't blame you as a fan... I'm a nervous wreck during big games like this pacing, clapping, yelling, and consuming everything in my fridge like an industrial grade garbage disposal. But keep in mind while the laundry remains the same, these are mostly a different collection of guys then we've seen before. Miller Camby LA and Batum didn't lose in the WCF a decade back... hell Nic wasn't even a teenager. Also, this is as good a matchup for Portland as Houston was bad. looking forward to game 2 STOMP
