I'm just rooting for good health from here on out. I think if were healthy we can beat anybody in a 7 game series outside the top 2 teams. Memphis scares me. Golden State does too. But, you can't always count on outside shooting in the playoffs. They have no inside threat.
Im not rooting for anyone but if we want to make it as far as we can we not only need to get out of the first round but we need to beat an opponent who will give everyone the confidance to come out swinging like were Mike Tyson in the next round and every round afterwords. The only team I can think of that would give us such a confidance boost is the Spurs. They are a great team peeking at the right time but I dont see us beating them if we meet them later when they have gotten their playoff legs under them we have our hands full. So I guess I want the Spurs because I think if we beat them we will have momentium going forward and that would give us a shot at going to the conference finals.
Really see value in resting Dame, Nic, LA, and Kaman. If these guys can all be limited to about 70% of their regular mpg, or even a few nights off, I think we will seriously benefit in the playoffs. Dame looks very fatigued right now. And LA always says he plays better after rest. Same with Nic and Kaman. Get that 4 seed locked up and forget about HCA. Get the guys ready in practices and keep their rhythms and get rest. If we work ridiculously hard to get HCA, then are too tired to be on our A game in the playoffs and end up losing one of the first two games, all that effort will be for naught. Think about it, Terry.
2 games behind, Memphis, 2.5 games behind Houston. Beverly just went down for the season for the Rockets, not sure how that will affect them down the stretch run. Memphis 8 Games Left: SAC, OKC, WAS, ,NOP @UTA, @LAC, @GSW, IND Houston 9 Games Left: @TOR, SAC, @DAL, @OKC, @SAS, SAS, NOP, @CHA, UTA Houston seems to have a more difficult schedule remaining than either the Blazers or the Grizzlies. I think it's pretty conceivable we could slide up to 3.
But, how much rest do these guys actually need? It wasn't fatigue that killed us against the Spurs last year. We just flat out ran into a much better, more experienced team. The Spurs destroyed OKC and MIA (who also rested their starters during the last month of the regular season) every bit as bad as they destroyed us. Lillard is the only starter playing comparable MPG this year compared to last. Aldridge, at 35.7 is playing the fewest MPG since he averaged 34.9 MPG his in his second season. His PT is down 4 MPG from it's peak under McMillan and down 2 MPG from two years ago. Batum, at 33.9 MPG is also down over 2 MPG from last season and Rolo, in spite of getting a two month mid-season vacation is averaging only 28.2 MPG, down a full 3.5 MPG over last season (28.2 MPG in 49 games is a LOT less wear and tear than 31.7 MPG times 82 games). But, the real key is the much more relaxed scheduling of the post season. Because the games are usually closer, lower scoring and more intense, I think the general perception is the playoffs are a physical grind, but compared to the regular season, they most definitely are not. Because the NBA likes to maximize ratings during the playoffs, they try to schedule as many weekend games as possible - especially for the Western Conference. Week night Western Conference playoff games take a huge ratings hit as most viewers on the East Coast aren't going to stay up to watch a weeknight game that starts at 10:00pm their time and won't get over until between 12:30 and 1:00am. As a result, there are no back-to-back or no 5 game in 7 day road trips in the playoffs. For example, last season the Blazers final regular season game was on Wednesday 4/15, but there first playoff game wasn't until Sunday 4/20 and their second game not until the following Wednesday 4/22. So, instead of 5 games in 7 nights, in the playoffs, it's 2 games in 7 nights - and without having to travel in between. After their regular season finale, they only played 1 game over the next 6 days. That's not quite All Star break kind of rest, but very, very close. Last year, with seedings still undecided up until the second to last game of the season, Stotts continued to play his starters big minutes to try to get HCA and the best possible seeding. The second-to-last game of the year last season was an OT win over GSW with Lopez playing 45 minutes, Lillard and Batum both playing over 43 minutes, Wes playing 42 and Aldridge 38. It wasn't until the seedings were locked in that Stotts rested his starters the final game of the year against the Clippers. The starters played the first quarter of that game and then got the rest of the night off. The Clippers also rested most of their starters, too. Like last season, our regular season finale is on a Wednesday this year. We will not have our first playoff game until at least Saturday (possibly Sunday, again) and will play at most 2 games in the 7 days following our final regular season game. With so many days off between games, fatigue was not an issue during the HOU series and, regardless of who we play, should not be a factor this year, either. BTW, I know Pop gets tons of credit for resting his vets during the regular season (typically by sitting them during the second night of a back-to-back and during long road trips), but it should also be noted that the much more relaxed schedule during the playoffs is tailor made to veteran teams like the Spurs. With no back-to-back games or long road trips, it gives those old joints and muscles plenty of time to recover between games. With at least two and often three days off between games in the post season, Pop knows he can push his old guys much harder during the playoffs than during the regular season. It's not just the reduced minutes during the regular season that makes the Spurs so fresh during the playoffs, it's also all the extra days off between games and less intensive travel. Of course, all teams benefit from this, but the extra rest benefits the old guys more than the young guys with far fewer miles on their legs and backs. BNM
Memphis shouldn't worry you. We always had Aldridge or Lopez or Kaman out. With a healthy frontline we will destroy them. In our last game against them, Aldridge had an easy 16 in the first half but then got hurt (as did Batum and Kaman was already out) and that is why we lost. The time we played the, before that, we had no Aldridge and nearly beat them.
I want game 7, if there is one, to be played at the Moda Center. I think the #2 seed (HCA in first two rounds and possibly the NBA Finals) gives us a MUCH better chance at the title than #4 seed without HCA in the first round. Think about it, yuyuza.
I don't really care, let the chips fall where they may. The team has to be prepared either way. . . Though one thing that would be great, would be to see OKC Blunder miss the playoffs entirely.
Best case scenario, as always in competitive sports, we play against the toughest teams all the way and win it all.
I was just checking the remaining schedule - and it looks like we catch a fair amount of the teams on the second night of a B2B. 4/1 - Clippers (b2b - Clips plays GS 3/31) 4/3 - @ Lakers 4/4 - NO (b2b for both teams - NO plays @ Sac 4/3) 4/6 - @ Brooklyn 4/8 - Minny (b2b - Wolves plays @ Sac 4/7) 4/9 - @ GS (b2b for Portland only) 4/11 - Jazz (b2b - Utah plays Memphis 4/10) 4/13 - @ OKC (b2b - OKC plays @ Indiana 4/12) 4/15 - @ Dallas With that schedule I figure we will go 6-3... matching 54 wins from last year.
I want to be the team that takes out OKC from the playoffs. I would love to be in position on the last game to push Dallas to 7th seed and we get 2nd.
Well, we sure as hell better keep playing like that and we better bring it tomorrow night against the Clipps because their schedule and Houston's schedule the next week doesnt look too tough. With the Clipps playing the Warriors and then us on a B2B those 2 losses for the Clipps and the win for us would be huge because after that the Clipps have @DEN, @LAL, vs LAL, vs MEM, vsDEN and @PHX.. So they could easily win 5 of their last 6 games. Houston meanwhile has 3 very winnable games vs SAC, @ DAL and @ OKC before their 2 games against the Spurs and then 3 very winnable games to end the season, vs NOP, @ CHA and vs UTA. So they could very easily win 6 or 7 of their last 8. Luckily we play some of those same winnable teams down the stretch but I am beginning to think that this next week could be huge or even the deciding factor especially for us and the Clipps. Tues March 31st SAS @ MIA GSW @ LAC Wed Apr 1st LAC @ POR SAS @ ORL SAC @ HOU DAL @ OKC Thu Apr 2nd HOU @ DAL Fri Apr 3rd POR @ LAL OKC @ MEM DEN @ SAS Sat Apr 4th NOP @ POR WAS @ MEM GSW @ DAL LAC @ DEN Sun Apr 5th HOU @ OKC GSW @ SAS LAC @ LAL Mon Apr 6th POR @ BKN Tues Apr 7th SAS @ OKC GSW @ NOP LAL @ LAC
