Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Playoff Thoughts & Spurs Preview

Wow, we got lucky last night. The Blazers managed to pull out a close win versus the Grizzles, on some late BRoy and Outlaw heroics.


After such a close game, I began to think, would it have been that bad to have lost that game? The Blazers currently sit in 5th place in the west and are poised to enter a first round matchup with Houston. If they moved down to the 6th seed, they would see an Manu Ginobli-less Spurs team. So I pose this question to you guys. Who would you rather see in the first round? Houston or the Spurs?


I would have to lean with the Rockets. The Spurs still scare me, and any team with Tim Duncan on it can be poised to make a post season run even when they are not at 100%. I also truly feel that we could give Houston a great run for their money in the first round. Who on their team has playoff experience? Artest? He doesn’t even have a ton. Yao and Battier have been, but been knocked out in the first round multiple times. Brooks has never been. Scola has been, but like Yao and Battier, booted early. Houston doesn’t have a huge “experience” advantage over us, so that’s why I like that matchup more. The only catch with playing Houston though is it is going to take some of our other guys stepping up to help us win. Houston is going to harass the crap out of Roy and Aldridge, and dare someone else to beat them. Well that is what we are going to have to do.

Let me know what you guys think.


Game Preview


Personally I think we need to win every game we can win at this point in order to try and secure a home court advantage in the playoffs. Tonight’s game versus the Spurs would be a nice step in that direction. If we win tonight we will move into a tie with San Antonio for 3rd in the west, bumping Houston down to 5th.


San Antonio will be playing without Ginobli who is out for the season with stress fracture in his foot. Tim Duncan is gimping around on a bad quad, so I like our chances tonight. However, you better believe that San Antonio will come out tonight fired up to avenge the butt whooping we put on them in Portland last month. Below are my keys to the game.


  1. Keep Parker Out of the Lane
    1. I know, easier said then done, but if we can come over and contest shots, and force Parker to shoot jumpshots it will go a long ways in helping us win this game.
  2. Stay Connected on D
    1. Just like Nate always says we need to stay connected. That means that when we go to help on Parker or Duncan, our other guys needs to be ready to rotate to open shooters. Roger Mason, Bonner, Bowen, Udoka and pretty much everyone else can shoot from deep.
  3. Stay Aggressive on Offense and Get to the Rim
    1. We cannot be intimidated by San Antonio’s physical play. We did a decent job of standing up to Houston the other night, but there was a lull when we stopped going to the cup, and started settling for jumpers. We can’t do that with the Spurs or we are toast.

Gambler’s Corner


Blazers +2

Over/Under 180.5


I am going to take the Spurs and the Under. I think the Blazers are going to still have trouble staying motivated after achieving their goal of making the playoffs. I think they will come out somewhat complacent, and without urgency, and once you are down the Spurs, its tough to come back.

2 comments:

  1. I totally agree with the Houston statement, it seems that Houston is a team that can be streaky. The salty lineup of Duncan, Parker and the rest of the squad are something that would be difficult for a young blazers team.

    ill start trying to aquire some stats for gamblers corners: spurs, and under!

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  2. Ill got out on my lil island and say id rather play San Antonio. But before I stake that claim id like to say that above all else, i wanna see home court advantage. Im saying id like to see the blazers play san antonio away, rather than houston away. If we can play houston at home, then great. Back to why I like playing San Antonio. Ginobli is a HUGE part of that team. Without Ginobli they have duncan (who i feel Portland defends well) and Parker (who is a blazer killer). But other then that, they dont have much. Roger Mason is a liability on defense, oberto is just a workhorse, Bonner can just hit threes (sorry red rocket), and gooden is a solid four off the bench but other then that, who else do they have? Houston scares me because of how strong a defensive unit they have. Yao in the middle, and artest and battier to accompany him is a rough lineup for the blazers to attack. Just my thoughts...

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