Game 8 Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Portland Trail Blazers

It’s painful enough having boned draft picks. Can’t imagine having gotten it right and then watching the superstar leave, essentially because another town is sexier. That would be like . . . no, there’s no metaphor available. I just can’t feature it.

If any mid-market team ever gets a seminal player again, I’d suggest a full-court press of the most wonderful marriage partners imaginable. Lock that guy down, get his kids into the local schools. Portland fans, train your daughters to do this; we should have another shot in 2026 or so.

Don’t sleep on these Cavs, man! If they go in with the mentality that since it’s the Cavs and they stink, they’ll lose.

Why is their blog named after a character from The Wiggles?

Yet, not all #1 picks at point guard work out well, as John Wall looks like the second-coming of Steve Francis.

if we come out playing like we did on friday,we will lose this game.

I know the elite teams know when to coast in a game and when to pour it on, but as AK1984 point out the Blazers are not an elite team and they need to play 48 minutes of BB.

our main guys get to pad their stats. That is all

… in the Phoenix game. That’s going to be a chronic issue (obviously). I’m hoping the blazers don’t just win but get in the habit if doing what Phoenix did to us: win early and rest starters. I believe that will be incredibly important this year. Probably same formula when a loss merely becomes probable rather than certain.

The more Chris Johnson / Nolan Smith I see, the happier I’ll be.

when Kyrie went down injured, Nolan stepped up and won an NCAA title.

Lets get the Rhino the wig and see if we can fool the Cavs into leaving Varejo here and taking Rhino back to Cleveland.

Let’s Go Blazers !!!!

Portland Trail Blazers 2007-08 “Rise With Us!”
Los Angeles Clippers 2008-2009 “Rise”
Oklahoma City Thunder 2009-2010 “Rise Together”
Cleveland Cavaliers 2009-2010 “Rise Up”

1. Can the 8 or so rotation players build a big enough lead that the bottom bench guys can play for long stretches?
2. Can Coach Nate go against his every instinct and play the bottom bench guys when the game is well in hand?
3. Will the bottom bench guys rise to the occasion and play well enough to make this a regular blowout- game occurrence, giving LMA/Camby/Felton/Wallace and co much needed time off?

Their schedule was easy up to now! They have to play Orlando on Wed after the Clips on Tue. Then they go on a six game seven day road trip! Orland has two nights off after playing Sac tonight. It would be nice if we could play well against them and maybe impress what’s his name that this is the team to consider next summer.

I know Dave has painstakingly pointed out that we have three main problems. No play-maker that can win a game by himself, No low post game and poor interior defense to counter the low post game. After looking at player stat lines, I have a few observations myself. As most everyone has noticed Felton is playing well below his previous capability. He was suppose to be an upgrade over Miller due to his ability to hit some 3s and spread the court. Well that hasn’t happened yet but sloppy play has. Millers PER was around 18 last year and he’s putting the same numbers up in Denver this year. Felton’s PER is 11.1 so far this year. Millers career FG% is .459 (as good as Roy or Kobe). Felton’s career FG% is .412. Miller’s assist’s number is 7.2. Felton is 6.7 and that where he is at this season. Miller was teaching Aldridge where to position himself for easy points in the paint ala passes and lobs. This was stated by Aldridge himself recently. So far this year Felton is a serious downgrade.

Some other things to note: Matthews numbers are pretty good this year hitting .433 of his threes and a .450 FG%. For those of you wanting Batum to take his starting position well his numbers are the same as his career numbers. @24 mins a game (now and career) his career FG% is the same as Mathews @ .460 but this year it’s down to .359 with .375 from 3. I noticed they both (Matthews and Batum) average 1 Assist per game both career and this season. Whereas Crawford is averaging 3 assists (appears to be less of a black hole than thought. If you’re not getting an assist from either Felton, Crawford or Camby (3) you’re probably not getting one.

Couldn’t believe it, but the schedule is very weak. Four wins have come against teams I wouldn’t call top 16 teams. And the 3 Losses were against Indiana and Toronto X 2.

Bottom line is the Blazers need to curb stomp this team after that PHO loss to get the bad taste out of their mouth. We are at home, there is no excuse. I expect a huge beat-down tonight. A beat-down like when you are University of Oregon football and you are taking on Missouri State and win 56-7. That’s what you do to them (Cleveland), you curb stomp ’em.

Lets go Blazers!!!

profile says he joined yesterday and posted the same link on other blogs

then stop.

Cut them. Cut them. Sign ANYONE who has a chance to see the floor so we can play more than 8 players!!!! ITS BEEN 2 YEARS!! I see no change or chance for either of them to play basketball. Unless secretly, Babbit is the next Lary Bird and we are holding him as a secret weapon 4 the Finals!!!!

Couldn’t believe, but the schedule is very weak. Four wins have come against teams I wouldn’t call top 16 teams. And the 3 Losses were against Indiana and Toronto X 2.

Bottom line is the Blazers need to curb stomp this team after that PHO loss to get the bad taste out of their mouth. We are at home, there is no excuse. I expect a huge beat-down tonight. A beat-down like when you are University of Oregon football and you are taking on Missouri State and win 56-7. That’s what you do to them (Cleveland), you curb stomp ’em.

Lets go Blazers!!!