Today's Poll - Do You Believe?
by Ben Golliver on Apr 29, 2009 10:21 AM PDT
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Ditto
I’ve never met anybody who’s seen Brandon Roy and Superman at the same time.
Also, anyone who votes option 2 is ourright wrong.
No one alive should believe that Portland “can’t” win game 6. What if Yao/Artest/Battier/Brooks/Scola get in a car wreck and can’t play? Or what if they all have career worst nights?
Saying a team “cannot” win is always 100% wrong. You can believe that Portland won’t win, but saying they can’t win is a lie.
Option 2 would have been better
if Ben had written The Blazers clearly cannot win game 6.
by MiledAnimal on Apr 29, 2009 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions
why can't I vote ....
…that we will win because Roy is Superman
"You're welcome friend
I love you."
- Tom "Dragline" inHawaii
My response to the question is like your....
I believe that it is possible for the Blazers to win game 6…..BUT, I don’t think it is likely to happen.
Blazer's Edge Ambassador to The Dream Shake Blog
LMA Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I <3 LMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LMA - Putting the POWER in POWER FORWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The concussion must have jarred him into "Destroy All Opposition Terminator Mode!" - BlazersOrBust
by LaMarvelous on Apr 29, 2009 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions
my
thoughts exactly !!!!!!! pigtails!!!
"The brownies,'' Fernandez said after the game. "The brownies are good for me to make three-points.''
by Sabonis4Ever on Apr 29, 2009 6:08 PM PDT up reply actions
and hat!
WOOT!
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
Right on Blazers
Go forth and kick posteriors and take nomenclatures. – Elgin
Tonight felt like the day you open the mail and receive an acceptance letter to your dream school: the University of Playoffs. - Ben Golliver, Apr 15 2009
by 22baylor on Apr 29, 2009 11:01 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I thought it
Cause the the entire to expire and then let your prefered diety sort them out accord to his likes and dislikes
"You're welcome friend
I love you."
- Tom "Dragline" inHawaii
by 92wastheyear on Apr 29, 2009 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions
I think we can all safely assume how KP would handle this... :)
Blazer's Edge Ambassador to The Dream Shake Blog
LMA Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I <3 LMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LMA - Putting the POWER in POWER FORWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The concussion must have jarred him into "Destroy All Opposition Terminator Mode!" - BlazersOrBust
by LaMarvelous on Apr 29, 2009 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions
we own our destiny
one game at a time!!
I believe
Take it to the Hole!!
by galacticlove on Apr 29, 2009 11:05 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
An answer
95 percent of all polls never have the answer you want.
The Blazers can win in Houston, especially given the pressure on Houston. (Portland’s performance last night supports the belief that Portland can play well in a must-win game. Houston hasn’t proven that yet, and has a history of not proving it.)
They believe they can win because they’ve played Houston at least even in the last four games.
Psychologists might say that the Blazer pessimists are showing an anchoring effect. They’re anchored to the first game of the series, and the conclusions one can draw from it. But there’s reason to treat that game as anomalous, given that the other four games have followed a pattern that the first game did not.
Two major differences going to Houston.
Brooks vs. Blake. In the first two games, Brooks routed Blake: 50 points, 65% shoting, 70% threes to Blake’s 15 points, 43%, 25%, with each comparable in assists. In the last three games, it’s Blake 42 points, 56%, 43% to Brooks’s 29 points, 27%, and 16%—with Blake averaging seven assists per game to Brooks’s four, a huge discrepancy.
Rudy. We all can se the team plays quicker and less tentatively with him, and the ball keeps moving.. Houston doesn’t want Rudy on the floor and doesn’t want him free, for a split-second, which is all he needs. Hhis presence wears them down and makes all of our other players look better and fresher. And we all know Houston doesn’t finish well.
A good bet: a bounce will decide it. Afterwards, the commentators will point to some latent superiority of the prevailing team, as if the outcome were destined and the clearly better team prevailed. Commentators feel they must this because attributing it to bouncess just too arbitrary for them, as for most humans. People have to have explanations. (Look at the stock market every day; after the bell, commentators attribute every minor move up in down to a single phenomenon, and exclude any possibility of randomness. Exactly how likely is that?)
I’m going to go with “a good team that got one or two bounces,” and find my supply of rabbits feet and voodoo dolls.
by Hulk on Apr 29, 2009 11:08 AM PDT reply actions 11 recs
We need to get off the mark early
If we can play them even for the first half, we’re golden….
Proud member of Duck nation!
Reced for being a reply and not a fan post
And a good reply at that.
by Zaig on Apr 29, 2009 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
"especially given the pressure on Houston"
What about the elimination pressure on Portland playing in an arena that they’ve lost 4 out of 4 times in this year?
I guess you could say there’s a degree of worry for the Rockets, but the pressure is by far on Portland. So far Houston has done exactly what they’ve needed to do in this series.
Steal a game in Portland, and then hold onto home court from there.
We weren't supposed to win a playoff series this year
Wouldn’t matter if were 0-50 at Houston this year. In terms of expectations, this game is all gravy for us. You guys are trying to get out of the first round for the first time since you were in daipers.
The pundits will be right if they say that the Blazers,
should they win the series, were clearly the superior team, but they’ll be wrong if they say it about the Rockets, should the Rockets win the series. It’s because, as you said, game 1 was an anomaly. It was the price the Blazers had to pay to get their playoff feet wet. Too bad it counts, because it could result in the weaker team moving-on to the second round.
- If the Rockets win the series, whether they do it tomorrow or in game seven, it won’t be clear which team is the strongest because they in effect will only have needed to win three games out of six to win the series.
- If the Blazers win the series, the pundits will be correct if they say the better team prevailed because the Blazers will have needed to win four out of six, including one game in Houston and three games in a row. That could only happen if the Blazers are, or became during the series, a significantly stronger team.
FYI, the stock market does frequently go up and down in response to singular, seemingly trivial items in the news.
you are right, it is unfortunate that in a closely contested match,
the final result will be summarized by a single bit of data: won/lost. And from that, the star on the “winning” team is glorified as a “winner”, and the star of the loosing team may be branded as “not a big game player”. The loosing team “choked”, is “looking for an answer”, needs to “blow it up”, etc. Basically, there often is an exageration of the problems/dominance of a team, which might really all boil down to just one shot, more or less, dropping. Reporters do have an at times annoying tendency to overhype and dramaticize, as well as pretending to have “the answers”.
Of course, close contests are really far more interesting, and do bring out the best in the players. I am delighted that our team has already successfuly competed against a veteran playoff team, come what may. They have been close enough to winning in Houston that we know they can do it. Houston is a good team, but I am aware of no advantage of “inner strength” or overall talent on the Houston team that gives them the edge over the Blazers going forward. Yao has been quite “human”. His huge size has its advantages, but it has its liabilities, as in energy required to move it quickly. How many of you would like to trade Roy for Yao ? It can be argued that the Blazers have the momentum, that they have good reason to “believe”. I am quite comfortable to believe with them.
Love how Hulk's post is green!
or is it creme de menthe?
Good ref news
Violet Palmer and Steve Javie are doing games tonight, meaning neither should be in Houston tomorrow…
Proud member of Duck nation!
by skywaker9 on Apr 29, 2009 11:24 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
.....(whew).........
I feel much better now.
by antediluvian on Apr 29, 2009 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions
Thank You skywaker9 for this bit of good news! rec
Blazer's Edge Ambassador to The Dream Shake Blog
LMA Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I <3 LMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LMA - Putting the POWER in POWER FORWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The concussion must have jarred him into "Destroy All Opposition Terminator Mode!" - BlazersOrBust
by LaMarvelous on Apr 29, 2009 12:17 PM PDT up reply actions
How Nietschian of you.
Of all the things that can be expressed in the printed word – love, hate, fear, joy – true humor is the one that is the most difficult of all. Sarcasm, for example, is an art of delicate subtlety. Yet too many people wield it as a bulldozer – loud, smelly, ugly, and destructive – and think they are being funny.
nah, houston in 6
:(
Sophia
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. - William Shakespeare
Roses are red
violets in bloom
Sophia’s in love
with Nicholas Batum
-Bow4Meow
im a jerk
i know
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. - William Shakespeare
Roses are red
violets in bloom
Sophia’s in love
with Nicholas Batum
-Bow4Meow
nahhhhhhhh.Blazers in seven....massive party in portland...
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
I'd be able to handle that better than Rockets in 7.
THAT would hurt.
Of all the things that can be expressed in the printed word – love, hate, fear, joy – true humor is the one that is the most difficult of all. Sarcasm, for example, is an art of delicate subtlety. Yet too many people wield it as a bulldozer – loud, smelly, ugly, and destructive – and think they are being funny.
if we get a game 7, blazers win
i just dont see them folding , at home…
sophia
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. - William Shakespeare
Roses are red
violets in bloom
Sophia’s in love
with Nicholas Batum
-Bow4Meow
Naw, think of the entertainment value!
Rocket Fan is already sweating game six:
.
Rocket Fan if we win game six:
.
Rocket Fan if we win the series:
.
Besides, if the Rockets beat us in game seven, Blazer fans will give both teams a standing ovation. If the Rockets beat us in game six, Rocket fans will chant Portland sucks!
by MiledAnimal on Apr 29, 2009 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions 8 recs
That's true
about how the fans would respond.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
Blazers win game 6
and all of the pressure moves to Houston to exorcise their playoff demons and avoid losing in the first round for the umpteenth time in a row. This seems simliar to the 2004 AL championship when Boston forced a game 7, the Yankees were toast before the game even started.
How could anyone vote 'i don't believe the Blazers can win game 6'?
Portland has lost two games in Houston in this series by a COMBINED 4 points. In a game that close, as stat heads will tell you, games are mostly a toss-up – when a 45% shooter takes a potentially game-winning jump shot, they make it at about a 45% rate, same as in every other situation.
I’m not saying the Blazers are the favorites. But suggesting that they ‘cannot’ win is purely ridiculous.
by samuelleejackson on Apr 29, 2009 11:46 AM PDT reply actions
Houston fans?
Of all the things that can be expressed in the printed word – love, hate, fear, joy – true humor is the one that is the most difficult of all. Sarcasm, for example, is an art of delicate subtlety. Yet too many people wield it as a bulldozer – loud, smelly, ugly, and destructive – and think they are being funny.
i did :(
Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. - William Shakespeare
Roses are red
violets in bloom
Sophia’s in love
with Nicholas Batum
-Bow4Meow
You are just mad because Batum got benched.
"The brownies,'' Fernandez said after the game. "The brownies are good for me to make three-points.''
by Sabonis4Ever on Apr 29, 2009 6:12 PM PDT up reply actions
Game 6
The Blazers can’t lose if they play their brand of ball. Quick transition from D to O. Run Yao out of the gym and take it to the hoop or drive and dish. During the good runs last night it was all about the Blazers getting into their offensive set quickly before Yao can get set in the post.
Brandon needs to do this more often when playing the Point. The only problem I see is when he’s playing PG he is rather deliberate and takes his time. This allows Yao and the HOU D to get set. They don’t handle a quick game well.
More Rudy, No Batum! Batum is worthless in this series. When Rudy’s in there Battier has to guard up and chase him around. With Batum he can sit back and help.
The Blazers are the better team, they just gotta play to their strengths and expose HOU’s weakness, YAO playing up & down ball.
Brandon better than Howard...
..in that I don’t see Brandon being one to EVER swing an elbow at another player’s grill no matter how annoying that other player is.
Brandon is much better than that.
I didn't know
you guys had such a personal relationship.
"I am from one of the top 15 cities in the world. Buffalo, New York." - TrentEdwardsHoF2018
It's not quite the relationship Kobe and Sasha have....
….but it IS very special.
Yes! Yes! In the face!
Portland CAN win Game 6......but I don't know that they will.
Neither team played a particularly inspired game last night. Aldridge and Scola appeared to be having their own scoring contest in the first half, and that was it for true offensive efficiency. But the Blazers were able to force Houston outside and made them take poor shots that were usually well defended.
Game 6 is going to be similar in that tempo and defense will be the most important factors. Portland has not done well in establishing tempo all series. I don’t like the Blazers’ chances if tomorrow night’s game has both teams scoring in the 70’s and 80’s again. Portland needs to run and do it early off of makes and misses. I’m also wondering why we haven’t seen a more spread-out fast break this series like we did in the regular season. Portland’s fast break is at its best when you have the ball handler in the center of the court with a teammate fanning out on either wing. This creates a huge defensive problem for their opponents as it forces them to make a decision and very likely give up an open look. I haven’t seen Portland force Houston to make those tough decisions this series.
Well, game 6 is an ideal time to do it. Portland needs to run effectively and continue to force everyone but Yao to beat them.
I’ll admit, I’m a bit skeptical as to whether or not Portland will be able to do this. If they do, they can win game 6.
Part of me just thinks that Houston will want this game that much more. After 6 years of 1st round failure, the pressure to win is going to be very high. Houston knows that if they lose tomorrow, the questions will start to be asked of them again.
Think about it. If Houston, after being up 3-1, loses at home in game 6 to make the series 3-3 and then has to come to what would be an unbelievably raucous Rose Garden for Game 7, does anyone think they would be favored? I don’t see how they could win that game. And I think a lot of the Rockets players will be thinking that too. That means that the Blazers will likely see Houston’s best shot tomorrow night. This will be Houston’s line in the sand game.
While I don’t think Portland will win tomorrow, I still have hope that they can pull it out. And if they do, it will say just that much more about how this team has grown so quickly AND about what’s still to come for this team.
Yes! Yes! In the face!
You stole my pithy header
Weather the 1st quarter energy storm and have a chance at the end is what I’m hoping for. The exciting thing we have seen the Blazers demonstrate in this series what is needed to win scattered through the games, they just need to put the pieces together for game 6 and execute. I think they can but do thing they will. Prepare for disappointment, rejoice if they win.
by undutchable on Apr 29, 2009 12:31 PM PDT up reply actions
Blazers under way to Houston according to Jim Taylor
BlazerOne boarding complete. Intense game of Uno underway between Rudy, Bayless and Shav.
BlazerOne cleared for take-off. Houston here we come…one last time. Go Blazers!
1 hour ago
I wonder if they have to go through
the safety instructions. I wonder if they have an Oden sized peanut samplers. I wonder what the stewardess looks like. Quick’s new series : outside the cockpit door.
Last summer Oden was on my flight to Atlanta
He made 1st class look about as comfortable as an commuter train during rush hour. I did however feel better about terrorists rushing the cockpit. Greg’s proclivity towards fouling would be of great use.
He would be an amazing sky marshall
Dude, back off, I have a box cutter! Swat! Greg smash! Aah, my arm. He broke my arm.
Rather be a Portland fan
than a Houston fan today. The pressure is on them, and it’s some serious, years-of-failing-in-must-win-situations pressure.
We can lose this series and still pretty good about this season -feel like the Blazers have overachieved, even. Great regular season, and a hard fight against a good team in the playoffs. I was thinking last night, even if we lost and go down 4-1, at least we didn’t get embarassed like New Orleans.
Houston loses game 6… they have to come back here and play a tough, tough game 7, with the spectre of yet another first round exit hanging over their heads.
This is a must-win for Houston. The sucess or failure of their entire season hangs on it. Adelman’s job might hang on it, even. Not so for Portland.
For some reason
I’m glad that we are the only Western Conference series to go at least 6 games. May not mean that much, but I still like it.
SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.
The Artest Effect
i posted above the Brooks opened with two great games, but has played poorly since.
Artest has, too.
Artest went 15-32 in the first two games, and has gone 11-37 since. Compounding his negative effect on Houston’s offense, he’s averaged almost four turnovers a game after just two turnovers total in the opening pair in Portland.
His performance follows a pattern that must concern Houston fans, particularly given their playoff fades. Artest has shot badly in his post seasons, and worse than during each of his regular season.
Here are Artest’s regular season shooting percentages, followed by his post season percentages, in his five playoff years:
.423 .407
.428 .389
.421 .378
.404 .383
.401 .377
Artest’s two good games/three bad fits a pattern, too. He shot .417 in his first two games of his last playoff series—not that far off his season mark of .404—and .355 over his next, and final, three.
In his playoff season prior. Artest had five .500 or better nights in his first nine games—then nose-dived in the finals against Boston, shooting .261, .238 and .267 in his last three games.
And the season before that, as you guessed: He opened 8-12 against Detroit, followed by 5-16. 6-18, 3-11, 7-15 and 6-18—27-78, or .340 for that stretch.
This pattern makes one wonder if we might put a little more pressure on Scola and dare Artest to do the damage, given how much damage he’s caused his teams by shooting in past playoffs. Given Brooks’s struggles since the first two games, perhaps Nate should get Roy and Blake dropping off to help out inside.
Both of these Rockets must feel some angst after their stretch. For the last three games, they’ve a combined 21-73, under .300 from the field. Yes, we’ve got the Travis issue, but Houston appears to have a similar, but even worse, one.
by Hulk on Apr 29, 2009 1:53 PM PDT reply actions 6 recs
make all Hulk posts green
to match his complexion. – Elgin
Tonight felt like the day you open the mail and receive an acceptance letter to your dream school: the University of Playoffs. - Ben Golliver, Apr 15 2009
by 22baylor on Apr 29, 2009 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
One difference between Outlaw/Artest
Even when he is shooting bad, Artest can still play Defense :-(
except against b=roy lol
""Look. I can touch the rim on my tippy toes.. " – Greg Oden
by LetsBlaze on Apr 29, 2009 3:14 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
actually outlaw is honing in on artest, making sure he dosen't score when he is on him
which at first seems laughable, but if you think about it, artest is streaky so if you give him a couple threes and he starts feeling it he can be scary, so maybe outlaw’s focus is legitimate.
maybe outlaw and artest’s streakness and poor shot selection will cancel each other out?
"The refs have caused a bird-pig flu pandemic"
One of the races in the Triple Crown
Brandon Roy: Strengths-remarkably efficient player who appears to effortlessly score and facilitate. Weakness-he’s just a figment of your imagination. - Canis Hoopus
I believe more now than I did a day ago
Game 6 in Houston is still a big mountain to climb.
Blazer Fan
Even the most optimistic Blazer fans are aware of this
And if we go to a Game 7 it would still be no gimme.
I don't know
I think the Blazers can win it but hope that if the Rockets win the series, that they do it at home. The Blazers have momentum except they suck in Houston. I’m somewhere between “hope for a win and expect a loss” and “hope for a win think there is a chance.”
why is this blog so pro-blazers?
stupid portland fans
by vancouver_grizzlies on Apr 29, 2009 10:03 PM PDT reply actions
polls like this are a jinx, IMO
and I refuse to answer them.
I hope I’m wrong though.
put a body on 'em
Blazers blow out the rockets
That’s my final answer.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
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