Since starting the season 30-8, the Trail Blazers have accumulated a 21-23 record to end the season ... Wesley Matthews is out for the season with a torn Achilles ... Arron Afflalo, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Chris Kaman, and Dorrell Wright are all banged up ... Memphis swept Portland 4-0 in the regular season and has won nine of the last 11 matchups ... FUCK IT It's the playoffs, baby! Everyone has the same record and the same goal. It's time to turn all of those negative vibes into some good Rip City mojo. This isn't a predictions thread, a venting thread, or even a game thread. It's all about the vibes. I'll start us off with one of my favorite Blazer videos ever created .... NEVER SAY DIE!
I will say this about the match up, Memphis strength is not their SG. So maybe the loss of Wes will not be as bad as it would be if we played a team with a more dominant SG. It is all about matchup and for those who wanted Houston, I really did not want to watch Harden go off for 30 + a night.
Yep, and there it is. 21 and 23 is not a playoff team nor has the coach done squat to correct the reasons the team became so poor.
In all sense and purposes, this is the playoffs, and they are in it. So on the basis of that, this whole statement is wrong.
Wow! It's hard to believe a long time fan would post such a shallow observation. Teams learn the tendencies of players and can adjust defenses accordingly. We have seen now the Clips, Warriors, and the Grizz, better teams just shut the Blazers down. Pressure the shit out of Damian, our Ball handler and second leading scorer and we have no offense. Loosing Wes doesn't help but it just shows up the deficiency more clearly when you loose his open threes. Bombs away is not really and offense, Aldridge, as good as he is, on the left block is not really an offense. Guys weaving about out around the 25 foot perimeter is not an offensive system. Shutdown Damian on this team and the Blazers are stymied. That has been happening way too often the whole second half of the season. We are a little better when Nic runs some pick n rolls but that is a rather limited bag of plays.
So you are saying because we are playing third and fourth stringers that other teams should not know the tendencies and the Blazers should in fact have an advantage? Is it the Multiple lineups that are giving it to them? How many different lineups did the Blazers use against the Grizz in all 6 games so far this year? Do you know that answer?
It doesn't fucking matter, just hound the shit out of Damian, he won't shift to assist mode and the Blazers have no alternative plan. Leonard hit 4 out 5 shots. How many assists did Damian get out of that? Why the hell didn't he get him 10 shots?
Just curious, but who are the players, other than Aldridge, that you would be counting on to make shots if they received a pass from Damian? Blake and Nic look to pass the ball on to somebody else. CJ and Crabbe are likely to brick the shot. Leonard might be a good option, but he's not on the court that much. If Rolo or Kaman are open, they're good for a few points, but hardly are a mainstay to the offense. But, yeah, Dame should get more assists.
I agree. It is a little late to change the offense. When the Blazers have been at their best they are whipping the ball around to the open man. It has never been a point guard dominated offense. The PG is never going to rack up assists in this offense. Yes Dame controls the ball more than anyone else but the shooters need to make them. Or at least catch it cleanly without fumbling it first. This team has never played well against pressure defenses.
