Cleveland, who was dying to break their losing streak when we played them, has beat the Knicks and Lakers recently. Kings have beat some good teams in Sacramento too. And then, of course, we swept Florida in back to back nights, I'd say the streak is extremely impressive. No one ever plays a schedule in which they play the Lakers seven times in a row on the road.
Actually, the Bobcats and Hawks game will say a lot about the teams real chances. A typical let-down game (or two) is to be expected from teams who aren't ready. They just beat two of the better teams in the eastern conference (even w/out Dwight Howard playing in one of them). But a 1st and out team mentality leads to a loss against the Bobcats. The Hawks could be a loss, but they are struggling lately. Win those 2 games, and it says a lot about the teams chances. Follow those up with a strong stretch of home games (to wash out of the mouth the taste they left in there recently), and good things could happen. They need to keep the effort strong, and have no let downs. No let downs the rest of the season means they're ready for the playoffs. Maybe just ready to advance past the 1st round, but ready none the less.
So are you saying we must go undefeated the rest of the season or we have no chance in the playoffs? Every loss is a letdown. Most likely, we will lose a few more games this season. I'm hoping we go 13-5 and hit the 50 win mark again. That would be amazing but that journey would include 5 "letdowns.". We've won 4 in a row right now. If we lose in Charlotte, we lose in Charlotte. What matters is that we get back up and win "most" of the games between now and the end of the season and hopefully, get home court in the first round. I'm not worried about "letdowns." I look for the "get-back-ups" and we've had a lot of those this year. Geesh, remember when we lost 6 straight and fell to 8-11. I like the way we got back up.
I will go further. Let downs are also a part of the playoffs. The Lakers got crushed by the Thunder. It's how you get back up that matters. Don't pin all of our worth on the Charlotte game either way. Look long term. Win as many games as possible, make playoffs, win 4 out of 7 when you get there.
I think it being Gerald's first game back means we don't overlook Charlotte. I think we go in there focused and don't look past them. I think Crash would like to put on a show for the fans and for MJ. As for Atlanta, I think we stand a decent chance; we couldn't have shot much worse against the Hawks in Portland, and they weren't contested shots.
Let downs usually occur against teams worse than you. The team doesn't have to go undefeated the rest of the year, to not have a let down. losing to the Spurs, Lakers, Mavs or Thunder (on the road) isn't really a let down. Would suck, but not a rel let down.
After hearing GW's comments about feeling betrayed over the trade, something tells me he could have a pretty special night ...
Cavs have beaten the Knicks and Lakers at home in recent games. Raptors beat the Hornets and Bulls at home over the last few weeks. Yes, those three teams truly suck. Those two are considered title contenders, and the Heat were hugely motivated in that game. Sure, Orlando didn't have Howard - but how many games have undermanned teams won because everyone else brought their A+ game to make up for the guy who's out?
All things considered, it's probably more interesting to the average NBA fan that the Heat lost again, rather than that the Blazers happened to be the team to beat them.
I think so too. I read that the Bobcats do plan to have a little "ceremony" to thank him for all his work for them. On a side note I want to thank Charlotte for trading him to Portland. He's starting to fit in nicely.
Cleveland and Toronto are two of the worst teams in the league this year and were playing pretty lousy ball when we played them. What they've done since isn't really relevant, considering a full month has passed. (Cavs vs. Knicks is an enigmna, plain and simple.) Hugely motivated, yes, but hugely slumping, also. And sure, there's always the danger of a letdown loss to a team without their star, but rarely is a missing piece as significant at both ends of the court as Howard. Keep in mind, his entire supporting cast has been called out for being invisible recently. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that we won all those games. I just prefer to keep it in the proper perspective. Like I said a while back when the talk was that we could do some serious damage with our remaining home-heavy schedule and stellar home record, don't forget how many tough home opponents we have left! Narrowly winning just one of four home games last week illustrates that all too well. It's just an oddity of a long schedule that we have a lot of tough home games and a lot of easy road games (thus some bounce back motivation) packed into the same stretch.
I watched the games and the recent play at home showed a team looking just out of sorts. With Roy coming back and Wallace just learning to fit in it took them a few games to get the chemistry going with the changes. Now that they've really started to gel I would be surprised to see them drop 3 of 4 at home again this season (regular season that is).
So if we beat Charlotte, we'll do well in the playoffs, but if we beat Charlotte and lose to all the good teams, we'll beat those teams come playoff time?
I really think he meant to lose to one of those teams isn't a let down compare to losing to the Bobcats.
The fact that the Blazers haven't had a letdown loss is actually the point. Teams like the Raptors, Cavaliers - and even the Pistons, Timberwolves, and Kings - are all capable of seizing opportunities (especially at home) if better teams let them. The Knicks and Lakers both had "letdown losses" to the Cavaliers. The Hornets and Bulls both had "letdown losses" to the Raptors. I agree with your general premise that the Blazers aren't necessarily a great team - the way the '91 team that won this many on the road was a "great team" - but it's not like there's an easy way to win seven in a row on the road in the NBA. On the other hand, I agree that the previous home losses (and I had to sit through that ugly, ugly loss to the Hawks) are cases in point that the Blazers still have work to do.
