Which is More Significant: Finishing 3rd in the West or the Playoff Sweep?

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by e_blazer, Aug 13, 2018.

?

Which is more significant regarding the Blazers' level of competitiveness?

  1. 1. Winning 49 games and finishing 3rd in the West.

    33.3%
  2. 2. Getting swept by the Pelicans in the playoffs.

    66.7%
  1. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    The answer depends on whether you're a fan or not.
     
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  2. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Respect your opinion, but disagree with your take. Different people value different things. Doesn’t take away from someone’s fandom if they value the regular season or playoffs more.

    I enjoy cheering during the regular season, but I’d rather have play off success than a 70 win season. It doesn’t make me less of a fan than someone who would rather win 70 games than have playoff success.

    I found the playoff performance more significant than the regular season, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t cheer for their success during the regular season too.
     
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  3. Strenuus

    Strenuus Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    ALL

    OF

    THIS.
     
  4. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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    Its a bit funny how many paint a doom and gloom blazer pic.
    The Raptors had the best record in the east, and got swept by a 4 seed, a team that got swept by GS.
    The Celts won 2 games against the 4 seeded Cavs that got swept by the warriors.
    The NBA is FANtastic
     
  5. e_blazer

    e_blazer Rip City Fan

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    I don't disagree with this, but I do think that there's a tendency to overstate the significance of that one series vs. an entire season of work. The Blazers weren't playing well at the end of the season as they lost 4 out of their last 5 games. Maybe they wore themselves out with that 13 game winning streak push? Who knows, but regardless they continued poor play and got swept by the Pelicans in the first round. I think that some people are taking the significance of that too far if they think it means that the Blazers would have had the same results against the other teams that they might have faced in the first round, or that the Blazers weren't capable of beating the Pelicans. As Bones has pointed out, there were definitely things that they could have done differently in their offensive schemes to have countered what the Pelicans were doing. Why Stotts was reluctant to change things up more is a mystery to me, but I'm sure he has his reasons. Regardless, I don't think the Pelicans are some basketball Rubik's cube that is unsolvable. I also think that the moves Olshey made this off-season to get more shooters will definitely help. I guess all of that is to say that, for me, the 49 wins (and it probably should have been 52 or so) shows the Blazers as they were constructed last season are capable of getting to the upper tier of the playoff bracket. That's pretty significant. I think it's more significant than a single series flame-out that, I think, is correctable.
     
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  6. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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    yeah I remember it took Chicago awhile to get pass Detroit and it took the Pistons a while to get by LA.
    I remember GS getting knocked out of the playoffs I think by Utah and then the next year they win it all?
     
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  7. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Well I agree there is significance to the regular season, just because I value one over the other doesn't mean I think the regular season holds no value. I think the culmination of the last few years where the Blazers have gotten swept out is a problem though. the collective "we" excused the GS series' because it was GS, but the Pelicans is a much harder pill to swallow. I think the Blazers and Dame are getting that label of the team that can get there but doesn't go anywhere once they are there.
    In terms of the off-season moves, well I don't know, major downgrade at back up C/PF and at guards they "probably" got better, but I think the book is still out on Baldwin, we have yet to see how he does when teams actually game plan for his skill set. I think Curry is a good 'get'. The rookies, are always 'well see'. It seems like much of the Blazers hopes to enter basketball 'elite' is on if Zach Collins matures into a decent offensive player (TBD) to go along with his defensive skill-set.

    Overall I just personally find what my teams do in the post season more significant than the the regular season. Say the Blazers barely squeezed into the 8th seed got super hot and won a championship, or even just got to the wcf's, I think most people would be happier with that than a 55 win season that ended in the 1st round.

    I get your point and I suppose I agree.
     
  8. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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    It was the Clippers that knocked them out of the first round, then the next year they win it all.
     
  9. Boob-No-More

    Boob-No-More Why you no hire big man coach?

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    I thoroughly enjoyed every one of our 49 regular season wins. I also consider the fact that we were "only 3 games from missing the playoffs" as more of a plus than a minus. To me, 3 games separating the 3rd seed from the 9th seed highlights just how tough and competitive the Western Conference, and especially the NW Division, were. All 7 of those teams were very good - and we finished with the best record of the 7. I don't understand why some posters think pointing out were were only 3 games ahead of the 9th seed somehow diminishes our 49 wins and 3rd seed. To me, that's more impressive than winning 54 games and finishing 16 games ahead of a 38-win 8th seed (i.e. being the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference in most recent years).

    But, the playoffs will always be more significant. The stage is bigger and the stakes higher. Don't take my word for it, just ask the players. So, while I truly enjoyed the regular season and am proud of the team for what they accomplished. Wining the NW Division when all the preseason predictions had us finishing last in the division and missing the playoffs was very gratifying. But, getting swept in the playoffs was frustrating and disappointing - a huge letdown. I know we are better than how we played (and how we were coached) in that series. Given the way he's adjusted in the past, I was very disappointed that Terry had ZERO answer for Alvin Gentry aggressively double teaming Dame 30 feet from the basket. It was McMillanesque.

    1976-77: 49-32, 3rd seed
    2017-18: 49-32, 3rd seed

    If we only consider the regular season, 2017-18 was just as good as 1976-77. However, when you include the playoffs, I think I know which season most posters, myself included, think is "more significant".

    BNM
     
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  10. tester551

    tester551 Well-Known Member

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    Which now resulted in a new coach (who I think is going to be significantly better), and a major trade (which again I believe will make them better).

    Portland on the other hand, continues to sit on their hands....
     
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  11. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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    I don't know how good this coach will be in replacing coach of the year.
    Leonard fell in their lap because Pop wanted him out of the WC.
    Are you advocating we fire Stotts then trade Dame for another all star?
     
  12. tester551

    tester551 Well-Known Member

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    Not Dame, but definitely CJ.
     
  13. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    This may be sacrilege, but I would trade Dame for a 2-way all-star, Finals MVP, defensive demon, 1 year younger, bigger player like Kawhi.
     
  14. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Yes, that would qualify as sacrilege.
     
  15. DaLincolnJones

    DaLincolnJones Well-Known Member

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    In a nutshell.
     
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  16. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    I’m fascinated at how Kawhi does this year. Let’s face it guys leaving Pop usually play much worse than guys who play for pop. I think there’s a good chance we find that Leonard’s numbers drop. Now maybe he plays as good as ever or better, but there’s a lot more question marks with Leonard then there are with Dame.
     
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  17. Boob-No-More

    Boob-No-More Why you no hire big man coach?

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    He's also a flight risk. TOR only has him locked down for one season. He may be convinced to resign, but he's also expressed a desire to play in LA and the Clippers could have enough cap space next summer to sign two max contract free agents.

    BNM
     
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  18. Orion Bailey

    Orion Bailey Forum Troll

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    Im gonna toss my thought out into outer space all alone for a moment. I haven't ever commented much in the Kawhi thread, because I actually think most people are overrating him. He had an incredible run in the playoffs a couple years ago and he is one of the best defenders in the league at his position, no doubt.

    Is he a top 5 players? I doubt it. Post injury? Surely not.

    He had a year off, coming off an injury and played for Pops his whole career. Im going on record as saying his numbers will drop significantly. yes he will always be better than average and a probably all star now that he is in the East, but I never viewed him as a super star....even prior to injury. At his peak, he had Parker, Duncan and Ginobli next to him. We haven't really seen him play where he is the focus of the opponents defense.

    I could be wrong, but I think we will see he was overrated all along.
     
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  19. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    I agree though to be fair most of us our last memory of him is putting a whooping on GS before ZaZa took care of that. So while I’d love to have him, I am also just very curious as to what kind of player Toronto actually got.
     
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  20. Boob-No-More

    Boob-No-More Why you no hire big man coach?

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    I think you're wrong. I think this a case of out of sight, out of mind after missing most of last season.

    Yes, winning finals MVP at 22, while guarding LeBron in his prime, was a defining moment in his career, but he's accomplished a lot since then. By the time he was 25, he'd won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards. The year after that, he averaged 25.5 PPG on only 17.7 FGA/G. That's incredible efficiency for that kind of scoring output. Which explains his 27.6 (tied with Durant for 2nd in the league while also being 1st team all defense for the 4th straight season).

    He was 2nd in MVP voting at 24 and 3rd in MVP voting at 25.

    So yeah, he was that good. The key is, will he ever be that good again moving forward? Will he fully recover from his injury? Will he score as efficiently outside of Pop's system? Will he defend as well as he used to? Those are all legitimate concerns, but it's more of a case of will he ever be as good as he once was, not a case of he really was never all that good.

    BNM
     

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