Crazy Fan From Idaho

I am really beginnning to think they see themselves as really tough and really great, but they really aren't.

They went into the playoffs thinking they would sock it to Dallas and got themselves socked in the jaw in Game 1.

In Game 2, they were without Pip and DA and fought hard, but just weren't quite good enough to win.

All the bravado that you read in the paper is probably just hype, but I wonder if there is some truth there. Do these guys still really truly think they are better than the Mavs?????? Do they really, truly think they can pull this series off?????? Or are they just talking that way to avoid giving in to discouragement?

They remind me of a skinny little kid who has been watching some tough guy on TV and then thinks he himself can take on the world----but he can't.

Are these guys in a dream world? Or am I the one who is disillusioned?

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For CFFI, it's still......ALL SABONIS. ALL THE TIME.

Storyteller

This is the team that lost the first two games of the regular season, then put together two great games to win the next two and tie the season series.

So it's no surprise that losing the first two games of the playoffs would do little to discourage their confidence. They firmly believe that they can win this series. And you know what? They're right. They can.

Your analogy is flawed. They are not some "unproven kid" - they are a team that beat every other team in the league (except for the Sixers) this year.

That being said, it won't surprise me to see them lose the series. In fact, that's what I predicted last week would happen. But it's not because they are predistined to lose. If Dallas wins the series, it will be because they outplayed the Blazers (just as they have done the last two games).

Schilly

CFFI I think you bring up a great point. I have kinda been under the impression that this team overachieved for much of the season. There are several reasons why.

#1 There are too many starters playing out of position.
Scottie Pippen: Like it or not Pip is a SF that has been forced into playing the PG position this season.
Bonzi Wells: Bonzi is a SG playing the SF position against guys who some of whick are as much as 7 inches taller than him!
Dale Davis: Ok he is the best rebounder we have and is a big body, but he is not a center, as much as we all want him to be.

#2 Not a single player on this team averaged 20 pts or 10 rbs for the season. This means that we were relying too heavily on "1 or 2 guys stepping it up" all season. That's not so bad but when you are needing your leading scorer to show up tonight it is a bit on the edge. The leading scorer needs to be there every night.

#3 Portland relied on the outside shot. They don't have outside shooters!

bfan1

State of mind is key to, well, everything. In this case winning basketball games. I see nothing wrong with their positive attitude and nothing surreal about it either. I expect it.

The Blazers are a good basketball team and they have a good opponent. Not winning the 2 games does not mean they aren't good enough to win the next 2. If they do not maintain a positive attitude then it's all over. They have every right to feel as they do. They split the season and have not been blown out in either game. They have faced much adversity in this series and could easily be moping around and saying it's over. That would make me very upset.

They are trying to will themselves to be better. That is what I see the Blazers doing and if they succeed, they will bust out and pull off a beautiful thing!

If they do not succeed you won't hear complaints from me. If they give it all they have, I'll be satisfied.

There are always situations where the underdog is able to overcome due to nothing more than a strong self belief that the task can be accomplished. A win tomorrow would certainly fuel that mind set.

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hasoos

Aaaah you are finally figuring it out. Portland has been a team which people seriously over evaluate the talent level on for over 2 years now. People say they are deep, yada yada yada. They talk crap every year in the playoffs. Do they win? No. Does Portland ever have any players who average 20 points a game or more? No. In fact you never know from night to night if somebody, or anybody is going to show up at all. The way I like to think of Portland is, talent wise, they are the equivelent of two good bench teams. The first unit is as good as a good bench unit for an elite team. The second unit is at about the same level. This is the reason they cannot win against the good teams. The first unit brings no more intensity then the second unit, and cannot push them over the top in close games. The only reason some players on the first unit average more PPG then the players on the second unit, is because they get more minutes. None of them are "Scary". None of them are special. They are just over paid, over glorified, and over scrutinized in the media, all because they are repeatedly every year, glorified for the talent level, that they simply do not have.

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Hasoos

Ed O

Portland is overachieving and/or overrated... depending on who wants to comment.

I don't think they're either. They're a pretty good team that has very good depth but terrible consistency out of their top 3 players (Wallace, Wells and DA).

They SHOULD be confident. They've had much more success in the playoffs than the Mavs have over the course of their collective careers, and they were in a position to win both games on the road in the first two.

Without confidence they won't win. Period. It's possible that they'll still lose in spite of their confidence, but the alternative is worse.

Ed O.

Ed O

This has got to be the weakest comment I've read here in a long time... (although it's challenged by your previous comment, "The first unit is as good as a good bench unit for an elite team." Few NBA teams in HISTORY have had a player as good as Wallace on their bench... let alone players like Wells, DA and Pippen, to boot.)

Wallace
If you've ever listened to ANY player or coach talk about Rasheed Wallace, they acknowledge him as one of the most talented players in the NBA. Is he flawed? Absolutely. But "not special" is ignoring the overwhelming opinion that, IMO, is much more qualified than yours.

Wells
Did you watch the game last night? Who was the last "non-special" player to score 45 in a playoff game?

Pippen
The dude is one of the 50 best all-time. He's won 6 rings. But he's not special?

Whitsitt
Accepting, in the alternative, that none of the Blazers ARE special, how can Whitsitt not be the GM of the year? He's built a team that won 50 games in a TOUGH conference. He's built that team without going into the lottery, and without having a perennial all-star. He's a special front office guy.

I get that you love to be negative about the Blazers... that you like to paint them all with the same wide, negativity-laced brush. But there's PLENTY to rip into without ignoring the fact that the Blazers this year are, once again, one of the top 7 or so teams in the NBA.

Ed O.

hasoos

Good try man,

But just because Wells puts down 44 in a playoff game does not make him special. I remember when Willie Burton put down 56 points in one, and he was out of the league a year and a half later. All Wells did was exploit a crappy Mavs defense that everybody knew was there. No big whoop.

Wallace could be special if he wanted to. But he doesn't. So he won't. He is a second tier player much like Derek Mckey of Seattle, so much talent, purely WASTED.

Scottie Pippen is in the decline of his career. He is less then half of the player he was in Chicago in the Hayday. He had special times in the past, he still has the instinct and is whiley, but he is no longer "Special". Unless you count that "Special" spot on the IR list for about 1/3 of the year, and consistently hurt in the playoffs for the last two years.

Portland has nobody special. I will stand by that firmly. I believe that their performance over the last few seasons, and in the playoffs especially backs up myself more then what you have to say.

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Hasoos

Speed

So Cal- the Blazers never beat the Bucks or the Nets this year either. Not just the Sixers.

Dan

yah, cept Willie Burton didn't do anything before that game to make people think he had talent. Bonzi has.

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A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says "Make me one with everything".

when will the loss of life end?

The world respects the power of our example, not an example of our power.

I'd like to say I made this, but I didn't

Ed O

#1: Wells scored 45.

#2: Burton scored 53 for the 76ers. But he didn't do it in a playoff game.

#3: You didn't answer my question. Name one non-special player that's scored 45 points or more in an NBA playoff game. I can ONLY think of one: Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, who scored 51 against the Lakers in one series. But I challenge you to name another.

How many players in the NBA are in the same boat as Wallace? You have to refer to a guy who retired several years ago as a comparison. Doesn't that indicate that Wallace is just about unique and therefore special?

So he doesn't lend any experience to the club, huh? I agree he's not a great player now, and I wish we woulda traded him before the deadline, but he's still one of the best defenders in the NBA when he's healthy and I think his intangibles are unique in the NBA (with the exception of MJ, who's now done, so I guess maybe he's truly unique).

How do they continually make the playoffs? How do they continually go on runs that make them one of the top 7 or 8 teams in the NBA? You seem to be saying (a) they're not that deep or talented (i.e. they're overrated), and (b) they don't have any individual players capable of carrying them to wins.

If the team were winning 30 or 40 games a year, I would have a tough time arguing. But they're winning 50. Your opinions aren't consistent with the team's success.

Ed O.

Storyteller

You're right. Guess I should have looked it up and not just relied on my memory.....