Oh and they didn't win beause they forced Portland into 21 turnovers? I know the refs jipped Portland at the end, but you know, if you don't put yourself in a position to let the referee effect give you an "L", then that doesn't happen. Make all the excuses you want, but if you go back to pre season, and last season, Portland has had problems with Golden State. The reason? Nate McMillan has the same problem Avory Johnson has from time to time. He matches up to other teams strengths rather than dictating the game to the other team, and making them adjust. Don Nelson will eat you up every time if you coach that way. The same can be said of Mike D'Antoni.
I have been to the GSW game in the Rose Garden last year when the Blazers ripped them apart. I know the Blazer's problems with the Suns of last years - but last year's GSW team was a lot more talented than this year - the pre-season game means nothing as we did not play our best player and were trying to force feed Greg. The fact of the matter is that even with the bad turn-overs (5 of them on Greg trying to learn how to play) - we would have won this game if one of the 4 things did not happen. It was a perfect storm - and I will be shocked if the Knocks have a chance to get under double-digits at the end of the game. They are not that talented and Portland is much better now than it was when we played the perfect-storm GSW game.
It wasn't just "at the end." The referees allowed Maggette to simply flop for a foul every time Aldridge took him into the post. If the referees refuse to allow a much bigger player to exploit a smaller player in the post, that's quite a problem.
