1. Oklahoma City 8. Memphis Grizzlies 4. Portland Trail Blazers 5. San Antonio Spurs 3. LA Clippers 6. LA Lakers 2. Dallas Mavericks 7. Denver Nuggets I think the Blazers match up very well against the Spurs. San Antonio is an old team that'll be worn out at the end of the lockout-shortened season. Portland is very good at PF vs. Duncan, and Batum and Matthews are very good on-the-ball defenders to disrupt Parker. I'd love to see a seven-game War For LA in the first round. OKC and Memphis could be interesting, just because they're both exciting, athletic teams. But I'm really not sure Memphis makes it in. Could easily be Rockets, Jazz, or even the Timberwolves...? In the second round, I like the Blazers testing themselves against the Thunder. If this is at all a championship-calibre team, they have to beat the best at some point.
If Oden makes it to the playoffs how much would Stern be slobbering over Trail Blazers the redemption of Oden vs Durants OKC in the conference finals?
Excuses? I don't follow you. I suppose someone could construe my post as suggesting the only way the Blazers could advance to the second round is if the first round opponent is San Antonio, and then later claim "well, I told you the Blazers should've played the Spurs, there was no chance against the Clippers/Lakers/Thunder/fill-in-the-blank..." I was just suggesting the first round matchups I'd most like to see, including the Blazers playing the Spurs because I think the Spurs might be the easiest. I also intentionally matched up the Clips and Lakers because I want to see that series. As for whether the Spurs truly are the Blazers' easiest matchup... didn't everyone think the Mavericks were the Blazers' easiest opponent as the 2011 playoffs approached? That sure worked out well for the Blazers (and the rest of the West, and Miami...)! No excuses. If the Blazers are among the top 5 in the West, they should reach the second round. And they should be among the top 5 in the West.
I don't care who we get in the playoffs. If we want to win a championship you gotta beat the best and I want to see what we do vs whoever we get.
I want the Thunder first round. I want homecourt too so I guess that means OKC has to drop off. We own Durant. If I had a second choice, it'd be the Lakers. We own them too. Most importantly, though, we must have home court advantage. I'd take the Mavs again as long as we have HCA. We're a much better team at home regardless of who we're playing.
Is that even a possibility? Why would Oden risk another injury playing on his tiny contract this year? If he plays this season at all, I'll be completely shocked. If he was making his $8.8 this year, then sure, I can see trying to get back on the court, but what is his incentive to come back this year, on a tiny contract, and risk even further harming his health? I've completely written off Oden. Hope I'm wrong, but I've been right about the guy for 4 years now.
True. That said, I don't expect OKC to fall far enough, and I think the Blazers should have some confidence they could steal a game in Oklahoma City, since they've already beaten them there once this year. The big thing this year is getting past the first round. I think if the Blazers can just get over that hump, that could give them the confidence to really make some noise (which is why I'd love to see the Blazers matched against the Thunder in the second round...). I don't think the Blazers have a realistic shot at winning it all, this season (hey anything's remotely possible...) but if a Blazers' squad with this core is going to have any shot at eventually winning it all, they must stop the first round exits.
Playoffs? Really? 20 games in we're looking at postseason pairings? Someone link the Jim Mora YouTube rant please.
I can't seem him not playing if he can. If he plays and shows he can be healthy for 30+ games I can see him getting a 2 years 15M contract from any team that has a lot of capspace and needs a big (Minn/Houston/GSW/Char/ORL after howard leaves) just because teams always overpay bigs, even bigs with injury concerns such as him. If he sits the most he can hope for it the 9 mill 3 year MLE. A lot of money to be left on the table imo if he doesn't want to risk another injury this year.
The conspiracy theorist in me says that if you have to face either the Clippers or the Thunder in the playoffs you want to do it early, before the television advertising can really take off and the calls become a little more one sided.
