HAHAHA. Well done. I repped you with my puny rep. (I'm just going to set them up if you want to keep knocking 'em down.)
Yeah, I remember that, but I can't remember how many wins I predicted exactly. I think I said low 50's because I remember telling people that I thought we'd be much better than a 40ish win team.
Starting to come around to Houston not being a terrible series for Portland. They're banged up and don't play defense. Kevin McHale isn't the greatest coach. If they were healthy I'd feel less enthusiastic about it, but that's not the case.
Thursday April 3rd, 2014 Games To Watch (Games Updated Throughout Comments)- San Antonio @ Oklahoma City Root For: Spurs Reason: San Antonio could all but wrap up the No. 1 seed with a victory over Oklahoma City Dallas @ Los Angeles Clippers Root For: Clippers Reason: A Mavericks loss puts Dallas five games back in the loss column with just six to go. Also, a Clipper win widens the gap between L.A. and Houston for the No. 3 seed out West.
No they won't. Not even close. Beverly is very important to their team. He is that glue guy that was very important to their stability. Harden couldn't guard a potato. Lin isn't much of a defender either. Even if Beverly is ready to play by playoffs, he's going to be extremely rusty and out of shape come playoffs. He won't have that lateral quickness needed to defend. Howard could get to 100%, but his fragile head won't be there when they went on a free fall going into the season. The rockets will be the team everyone would love to play in the first round.
Mag's got this one nailed...I think HOU ends up going from "Arg nooz we dont want them" to "gimmie gimmie gimmie" in real short order. Even if Dwight gets back, assuming they do match up with Portland for round 1...they are left trying to win games in a style that doesn't really suit the playoffs. Its like both teams are going opposite ways with their 'means to win'. Start of Season: Blazers are winning with outside offense...a lot of it. But the game is open early in the season so it works. Rockets are working it all out and have some good Defense while bringing along the offense. It why they struggled a bit early. Mid Season: Blazers take a few hits, lose LA for a bit, right as were trying to develop more inside presence and scoring. Houston gets their offense on track and starts lighting it up on mid range and beyond. End of Season: Blazers add defense to the plan (whole game not just a few mins at the end) and are improved (not great) inside. More scoring options. Houston loses key defensive player and offensive starter. Relies now on mid-range/outside shots but lacks ability to 'lock down'. In effect, Houston is where Portland was at the start of the season, and Portland is catching up to where Houston was at the middle of the season. I think one it all starts Houston might get a game or two alone on pure offensive power but there is some real chance that they go 0-4 in round one since I dont see Harden or Lin making enough of a defensive impact. Portland can rotate out to shooters so Harden _shouldn_ get too many wide open 3 balls, same with Lin. I think Lin attacks if he's in when we go small ball and he'll get to the rim a little...he is quick. But no Howard means they rely on Asik in the middle and I think he can be handled with Portland's unselfish play style...run at Asik, dish at the last second, ???, Profit.
Bam! Just got a free ticket to the Portland/GS game from my college. I also get to watch the practice as well. That's going to be a huge game!
