And it's fitting too because we were the team to start his career. When the spurs swept us in the wcf.
Yeah, that's kind of our thing as fans. Saying "LMA" doesn't make sense, but typing it is worth the extra millisecond. I've never called him "LMA" or "LA" when talking about him in real life, anyhow. It's always LaMarcus or Aldridge. My youngest daughter is infatuated with him, and wore his jersey to school 3 straight days last week.
you're living in fantasy land... check the record http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=aldrila01&p2=duncati01 STOMP
Wow, surprised you bothered with the effort tbh. IIRC, Splitter grew a bit before coming over after he was drafted; never really bothered looking up the numbers, but from the eye-test from last season and this season, Splitter seemed to have the longer reach, so if I'm wrong I'm wrong. I also never said Howard wasn't a freak athletically, but he isn't the same player he used to be years ago; his back has really taken a toll on him on top of other minor injuries. Splitter, OTOH, has been healthy outside a lingering calf issue and shoulder sprain for years so his body isn't limited. Splitter is laterally quicker than Howard, and has been a much better PnR defender, which is what LA/Lillard love to kill teams with. LA is extremely similar to Dirk in that his offense is near unstoppable, but if there's anyone in the West capable of slowing him, it'll be Splitter (Ibaka wouldn't be a bad choice either, but his one-on-one defense is truly atrocious).
I'm just happy to be facing a team where I won't be exceptionally pissed if we lose the series. I've got tons of respect for this spurs franchise, everyone in the nba should strive to model their organization around them. That being said I think we can do it. Should be a great series.
Have you ever looked back at how shitty the NBA was back then, in terms of offense. Here are the 4 games from that series. I really don't miss these days. The Blazers average 76 points/game for that series. Just awful.
Don't be surprised when it happens tbh. Dub fans were just as confident last year when Curry burned the Spurs the first two games before Green was switched onto him.
And don't you be surprised if it doesn't. Curry isn't as good as Lillard, plus GS didn't have a post game to counter. We aren't the teams you faced before bro. You are actually facing a team that has a low post threat.
LA has been destroying the Spurs for close to 4 years now tbh. When he finally became consistent with his game and started beating other teams this season, it wasn't a coincidence it matched with the Blazers rising to contender status.
Curry can't get to the rim like Lillard. In the playoffs, I'll take a PG who can get into the paint over one who launches 3s.
Agreed, Lillard is a whole other kind of scoring threat. However, Green thrives against players like that. For instance, Monte Ellis was destroying the Spurs this past series when Pop continuously threw Leonard, a terrible PG/short SG defender on him, yet when he switched to Green (whom he used in the regular season to great effect) Ellis completely fell apart, shooting around 30% and stopped dishing out assists. Lillard is a better passer and shooter, so he'll find ways to score, but it won't be anywhere near as efficient as he can be. Unlike Curry, he also isn't a chucker so he may wise up and give it to whoever has a mismatch.
Portland is very much different from GS; they're a much more efficient offense while the Dubs had a much better defense last year with Lee out and this year with the addition of Iggy to offset some of Lee's awful D. Those differences are also why I like the Spurs in 6. Defense wins championships, and as of now the Blazers can't say they're a great defensive team. There's definite room to grow on that end and Stotts is a disciple of RC, the best defensive schemer outside maybe Thibs, but for this series here and now I think it'll be their downfall.
