I have nothing but respect for the Spurs. Great organization, great system, and superstars who aren't about the "Look at Me!" stuff. I like to think that LMA/Lillard/Batum can become something close to what Parker/Duncan/Ginobli have accomplished. It's going to be a younger, but not young, Portland team against a veteran Spurs team that just had to go 7 games to win. I expect a great series, and also a well-played series. I've liked Splitter for a few years, and thought it was so smart of the Spurs to extend his contract while giving Fat DeJuan Blair the boot.
LA was y'alls first round MVP. You drop either of those games in Houston, you prolly lose the series. Lillard is clutch as hell, but the reason he was able to be was thanks to LA dominating.
Hey, I'm probably the biggest LMA defender on this board. You don't have to tell me how much he means to this team.
Ya, it'll be fun. Only thing is even if you guys lose, its a win. Portland will be contending for years to come while SA has next year at best for the forseeable future.
Jeebus Nate, it's "LMA" for Portland fans. Even if he's called "LA" by others, including his teammates. You remember the reason why, right?
Do you anticipate the Spurs doing anything different than they've already done to stop Aldridge? Because Aldridge has been torching the Spurs for years it seems like, this year included
The numbers you're relaying are garbage. At their respective predrafts, while Splitter measured taller, he was 1.25" taller not 2". Tiago measured a 7'2 wingspan and a 9'1.5" standing reach while Dwight came in at 7'4.5 wingspan and 9'3.5" standing. Though DH was a year younger then TS (at the same 2004 predraft they posted these numbers) and weighed 7 pounds more, he was able to post run/jump numbers that revealed an elite athlete compared to an average one. Your opinion is as off the mark as these garbage numbers if you think Splitter is as quick as Howard let alone quicker. Pop has always guarded LA primarily with Timmy straight up and I've little reason to believe that won't be the case this series. Of course the past 5 seasons or so has seen Aldridge best his career numbers vs the Spurs and he's currently playing the best ball of his life, so maybe GP decides to change things up. If he goes to Splitter primarily on LA, I'm guessing he'll also be sending the double team. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=aldrila01&p2=duncati01 STOMP
It's been 14 years for us as fans, and believe it or not, many of us have been posting in various communities since before the 2000 playoffs. 1998 on the ESPN boards is when I started, and there are at least 5 others here who also posted on that board. Another faction used to post on some sort of email list, until the Portland newspaper started a forum years ago. 14 years, and as a fan, I finally feel like I'm playing with house money in terms of my expectations for this series. Win it, and the Blazers are ahead of schedule. Lose it, and the organization that I and many other Blazer fans respect the most moves on to hopefully crush winner of OKC/Clippers, and then beat the Heat.
LA finally started torching everyone this year, always sucked when it was just the Spurs. Pop will throw many different looks at him, but in the end I think he'll live with LA averaging 30-40 points while shutting everyone else down. I like Lillard and think he'll be the best PG league-wide in a few years (maybe even next year) but Green can and prolly will shut him down. LA and maybe Matthews due to mismatches will be the only ones I see scoring consistently out of the starters, while Mo will prolly go supernova like usual against the Spurs. If he doesn't, I'm not sure how Portland wins more than a game.
Come on bro, thought you spurs fans were smarter than this. Green will have no shot at shutting down Lillard. Sorry
I've always dreamed of the Blazers closing out a Legacy. I was hoping it was Oden to close out Shaq's. Hoping the Blazers can write the final chapter in Duncan's career.
