With Bynum's injury this road trip becomes even MORE important! I've been saying all season that I feel we can compete for the championship this year. Well, guess what? Our chance has arrived. It is imperative that we improve our game now and get HCA in the 1st round of the playoffs. With the injury to Bynum we clearly have the best front line in the West. It's time to make our move!
I expect the Lakers will barely miss a beat, Bynum going down probably means 2-4 regular season losses, his loss will be felt most acutely by the Lakers in the post-season. It'd be cool if the Blazers could somehow close the gap, but I just don't see it happening.
I don't necessarily see us overtaking the Lakers for the 1 seed. What I do see is an opportunity to beat them in the playoffs though. If Bynum is out or still recovering from his injury we should be able to dominate them in the paint.
Definitly. But then again, I am of the opinion that you play the game, in order to win it all and nothing else. If you make the playoffs, you might as well try your hardest to win it all, you never know how many chances you might get. Also, I bet that San Antonio and all the injuries they suffered earlier this year aren't going to cry for them. They are going to jump on this and try to establish home court.
With who, Aldridge? Oden would foul out against the Lakers due to the sheer number of times Kobe drives to the paint.
That is just like saying he would foul out against Cleveland due to the amount of times Lebron drove the paint. He didn't. Greg Oden now is not the Greg Oden of the first few weeks of the season. I also don't expect Greg Oden at end of season, to struggle nearly as much. He is improving, and getting better all the time.
Did he, I don't remember that. Oh well that is what happens when you drink a lot of beer at the game.
You must remember that we have 12 fouls to give at the center position. If we throw Greg and Joel at Pau and then throw LaMarcus at Odom we'll kill them inside.
It's not like we haven't seen this before. Greg can't stay out of foul trouble. We saw it again Saturday against the Jazz when D-Will got Oden into early foul trouble because he drove to the paint a lot. After Oden gets his first two, he just won't stop. Joel is not an offensive force. Plus, it's not like we haven't played the Lakers w/o Bynum before. He was pretty much a no show during the first game of the season and we still got raped.
Even still, Jackson is a smart enough coach to realize that going straight at Oden gets him in foul trouble. It's something that other coaches don't do (Dunleavy didn't do it, neither did Skiles), but is very effective. He'd make Kobe penetrate more.
True, in that game Bynum was not much but if you remember, we only had Greg for, what 5-10 min. Oden is not the player he was then. In the playoffs they will let more go. Good for Greg and good for the Blazers. g
The Lakers still made the Finals pretty easily last year without Bynum. In addition, I don't think Portland stands much of a chance against Cleveland or Boston in a seven-game series. So even if LA lost Bynum for the season, I don't think Portland becomes a serious championship contender. But if LA did lose Bynum for the season (which the current diagnosis doesn't call for), it would make the West a much more open competition. I still think the West would boil down to LA and San Antonio, though.
Us vs. the Bynum-less Lakers isn't necessarily the issue. Without Bynum, their 1st or 2nd round matchups could make them vulnerable, allowing us potentially to face a different path. They still have to be considered at least co-favorites to come out of the West, though.
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