Game Thread PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2, GAME 5: BLAZERS @ WARRIORS - 5/11/16, WEDNESDAY, 7:30 PM (PDT), TNT

More random thoughts:

HOLY SHIT Stotts coached a gem last night. The rotations, the plays, the game management, the strategy .... just PERFECT.

AC made himself some serious cash with that game.

Aminu is a playoff player. Who woulda thought?

Can we please start calling Ed by his true nickname that he earned in years past? "BOSS DAVIS" is a sick nick name.

What a birthday for Mo. He too made himself some $.

 

Am I the only one who had trouble sleeping?
I did not want this postseason to end. Not simply that I wanted the Blazers to win, I always do, but because this has been the most excitement I can remember. Even the Houston series, which had its classic moments, from LaMarcus beasting in the first two games to Dame's 0.9, did not have the consistent excitement of this series. Life now seems dull.

I had a voucher for $100 off on a case of wine from nakedwines.com, which supports small wineries. I ordered a mix of 12 different wines and since it was my first order they added three complimentary bottles. This weekend I'll put some shelving down cellar and put away the 15 bottles that currently cover my living room table. That is, 14 of the 15. I'll crack one bottle and drink a toast to the Portland Trail Blazers. The team that won 20 more regular season games than predicted, upset the Clippers in the first round and

 

"Phys Ed" is lame.

 

A bit of a buzz kill there @yuyuza1 although when thinking about it I can't disagree much with those ESPN writers.

 

The last question was annoying, but I don't see anything wrong with the other answers.

 

Blazers usually beat expectations though, so them expecting us to be a 6th seed means we're probably closer to the 3rd seed. Cool.

 

This.

 

Those are the only two guys you should read. No one else really pays attention to Portland

 

I just hope people don't flip out and say we suck next year when we get the 6th or 7th seed because it was worse than this year. West will be very strong next year. That is assuming we don't get an All Star in free agency of course.

 

Too much shit can happen. One injury changes the landscape of the entire league. One signing can do the same thing. One mid-season move etc etc. It's too early to be predicting this type of stuff but yes 6th or 7th seems reasonable if you're not high on the ceiling of this team.

 

"Pelton: I think the playoffs have exposed a couple of shortcomings. The Blazers could use one more perimeter player who can create shots for himself or others when defenses take away Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. They could also use an upgrade in terms of rim protection, though that might mean sacrificing the playmaking Mason Plumlee provided from the center spot."

This is why I say we are better off with a center by committee. Plums needs to play half the game. Not sure we can afford to give all our cap space to someone like Whiteside who will only play half the game. Horford on the other hand is worth it because he can play two positions. But I think getting him is a pipe dream.

 

Arnovitz wraps it up: http://espn.go.com/blog/nba/post/_/...fight-to-the-finish-primed-for-future-battles

 

Not sure you realize exactly how much cap space the Blazers will have?

 

My understanding is about 25 million after we hold on to a few of our FA's, but not all.

 

I haven't read the game thread, but just wanted to make a few comments about the game last night.

First off - I'm tremendously pleased that we were competitive from start to finish. I was worried we might get blown out, but we didn't let that happen. Overall I'm impressed with how we played the entire series (just the GSW series).

With that said, I'm quite disappointed in Dame, CJ and Stotts for what they did - or didn't do - in the 4th quarter. Those three dropped the ball big time - if any one of those three had done a decent job we could have won that game. There was very little passing, and a whole lot of one-on-many. But nearly every time we passed the ball we scored. If Stotts had the balls to hold his star players accountable the way Pops does, he would have had them moving the ball rather than shooting forced jumpers off the dribble.

I'm not sure if it's just that we match-up well with GSW or what, but if we were able to consistently hang with "the best team ever" I have to think the Spurs are gonna curb-stomp them (if they get past OKC). It will be very interesting to see what happens.

 

The number i have is about $32 mil. That is assuming Kaman and Henderson are gone and with the new cap at a projected $89 mil. Obviously Lillard's new contract comes into play.
Point is I think they will have plenty of room to sign a guy and still use their other options. Unless of course the guy they are signing is Durant. But then of course who really cares right? Durant would be the catch of the summer.

 

I agree with some of your thoughts. But where i question is the whole "Curb Stomp" thing. No way any team anywhere is going to "Curb Stomp" guys that shoot the ball as i watched last night. The Warriors are the real deal.

 

I was using what B-Roy posted.......The Blazers will have around $25.5 million if you keep Harkless, Crabbe, and Leonard's cap hold, but renounce Hendo. And if you pay Whiteside about $23 million that does not leave much left.

Here was his breakdown:

Guaranteed Salary (under contract) $ 47,102,74
Inclusive* (Includeds QO & Non Guaranteed) $ 59,668,805
*(C Alexander / Montero @$874,636 Unguaranteed / Crabbe $2,725,003 / Maurice Harkless & Meyers Leonard @ $4,045,849)

Cap Holds - Additional cost over QOs
Maurice Harkless - $7,235,148 - 4,045,849 - + $ 3,189,254
Meyers Leonard - $7,689,700 - 4,045,849 - + $ 3,643,851
Allen Crabbe - $2,725,003 difference from QO - + $0

Gerald Henderson - $0 Inclusive - $9M Cap Hold - + $9,000,000

Inclusive adjusted from Offers to Cap Holds
1* with Harkless / Crabbe / Leonard $ 66,501,910 (12 players)
2* add Gerald Henderson (bird rigts?) $ 75,501,910 (13 players)
$92M salary Cap less $66.5M is what we have left to spend. ($1.6M more if you waive Alexander and Montero)

 

This guy just keeps impressing me. Have we seen his peak? Put a few more weapons around him, and I'm guessing we'll see Dame lead this team even higher.