Blazers are tough!

beerman2619 · 01-03-12, 10:30 PM

Tried to tell people this early this season. Course they laughed i can't wait to go to game thursday vs the Lakers. This team is one of the top teams out west if they can stay healthy. Guys like Batum, Crawford and Thomas off the bench. Wes Matthews playing solid to start the season. Alot better ball movement without Isolation Roy plays back in the day. Aldridge is becoming a dominating player.

jjgold · 01-03-12, 10:43 PM

Great coach too

Okl City seems very beatable

Too many ball hogs

MoneyLineDawg · 01-03-12, 11:03 PM

Originally posted by jjgold

Great coach too

Okl City seems very beatable

Too many ball hogs

Both teams very good....would not be surprised if this is the western conference finals

jjgold · 01-03-12, 11:54 PM

Don't rule Dallas out just yet
Lakers?? No idea

beerman2619 · 01-03-12, 11:57 PM

Originally posted by jjgold

Don't rule Dallas out just yet
Lakers?? No idea

I agree still early who knows sure Dallas will make a run. Lakers like you said just don't know about.

Speedy88 · 01-04-12, 01:57 AM

West is wide open. I still don't see the Thunder making the finals until they get rid of Westbrook. Should have just traded him for Rondo and maybe a pick.

NYSportsGuy210 · 01-04-12, 02:01 AM

Thunder will be fine. Lakers might regret losing Lamar Odom though. They need his length and versatility to guard La Marcus Aldridge in the post season.

Season is still way too early. Let's talk after 30 games or so.

hawley · 01-04-12, 02:04 AM

Blazers are quality but lets see them against some real size first.

Goat Milk · 01-04-12, 03:23 AM

Originally posted by hawley

Blazers are quality but lets see them against some real size first.

Yes and speed. Blazers will make the playoffs and will lose to Bryant like always. Aldrich can't carry a team to a title. He doesn't have killer instinct. No one on the blazers does. Good team though for sure.

blackberry_juice · 01-04-12, 08:59 AM

Originally posted by Goat Milk

Yes and speed. Blazers will make the playoffs and will lose to Bryant like always. Aldrich can't carry a team to a title. He doesn't have killer instinct. No one on the blazers does. Good team though for sure.

Speed-wise they did well at home vs Denver. Denver is the fastest playing team in the league and Portland beat them at their own game, impressive.

unluckysob · 01-04-12, 09:09 AM

I think Ive seen this before-----Portland will fade as season moves along. Clippers or Thunder win west.

Swan4brownlow · 01-04-12, 09:19 AM

I'm biased, but if we stay healthy I think we will earn a top 4 seed and that's all we need to get out of the first round based on how well we play at the Rose Garden. The most important aspect of our play this season are that we can get scoring from a number of sources as opposed to relying on Roy solely. We now have LMA who was a beast last season and looks to have improved again, Wesley playing solid at the 2, Wallace looking to get out and run and score points on the fast break, Felton who helps with our floor spacing, Batum who has shot the 3 ball really well so far, Crawford who provides us with instant offense, and Thomas who is deadly from 15 feet. This, combined with our long and/or athletic defenders such as LMA, Batum, Wallace and Camby will hold us in good stead. We're gonna surprise a few this year

PR9 · 01-04-12, 09:35 AM

Blazers are a great team.

I had money on Portland last night because they lost their first road game, were rested, I didn't trust the line, and the fact that all of OKC's wins have been by slim margins.. Moreover, and I posted this for reference: the Blazers came in with something to prove last night. They are a quality Top-4 western conference team. OKC has been getting all the media attention with espn and everyone and their mother proclaiming them as western conf champs already. The Blazers came in with a "statement game" mindset.. and it was over from there.

Aldridge always plays well against durant and the thunder. Camby is a tough defender and shot blocker for OKC's penetrations. All their games have been close over the years (look it up between these 2 teams).. also, the thunder looked gassed the night before in dallas.

Portland is awesome at home and mediocre on the road.. that's their MO. But with all of the above mentioned, I had a good feeling they would play "Rose Garden" Blazers basketball on the road last night.. not the usual lackadaisical road play they usually exhibit.

We saw both sides of Portland last night. In the first half they were the usual carefree blazers road team,.. YET, the game was still close at halftime and they covered the 1st half spread (i bet on portland with the rest they had)...

HOWEVER !! Right at the start of the 2nd half they were like 1000 bees buzzing around a tree. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE fighting for loos balls, getting back extremely quick defnsively, even when OKc made a bucket you saw a tremendous sense of urgency from any Blazer player to retrieve the ball fast and inbound it quickly, then running upcourt like their life depended on it. They were diving for loose balls and beat the Thunder to the punch every time. The Blazers are a good rebounding team and they crashed the boards like vultures in tha 2nd half last night.

THAT's "Rose Garden" Portland basketball that you witnessed in the 2nd half. And when they play like that, attacking the basket with Gerald Wallace and Aldridge instead of settling for jumpshots, crash the boards, and playing with high energy... The Blazers are as good as any team in the NBA.

Bradyd · 01-04-12, 10:19 AM

Let's be careful before we start making declarations about a team just a few games into the season. Yes, the west is wide open. But most people already knew that before the season started.

Dank_Fire · 01-04-12, 10:20 AM

Ok City will have problems until Russell Westbrook realizes that Kevin Durant is the better player

Glitch · 01-04-12, 10:47 AM

that move to acquire wallace was fantastic.

lamarcus aldridge is the most under-rated player in the league.

MarlinsFan2212 · 01-04-12, 12:02 PM

Originally posted by Dank_Fire

Ok City will have problems until Russell Westbrook realizes that Kevin Durant is the better player

Not Westbrooks fault Durant goes 8-26 last night.

Goat Milk · 01-07-12, 11:39 PM

Originally posted by blackberry_juice

Speed-wise they did well at home vs Denver. Denver is the fastest playing team in the league and Portland beat them at their own game, impressive.

You're right but Denver honestly should have one that game. The missed a lot of plays they normally capitalize on and then you had Mathews and Felton going off in that game which never happens. When they play again, I'll be all over Denver.

The blazers need to get home court in the west to have any type of success in the playoffs. Bryant owns the blazers in the playoffs. Anyway no one is beating Miami in a 7 game series this year.