Props to spurs and pops

[PickleRick]

1997-2019. Never missed the playoffs. That is surreal.

 

[YourFriendGannon]

I went from mild annoyance that they kept getting in post-Kawhi to disappointed they fell short this year.

 

[SteelersPride]

I went from mild annoyance that they kept getting in post-Kawhi to disappointed they fell short this year.

especially with the crap teams winning in the bubble!

 

[YourFriendGannon]

especially with the crap teams winning in the bubble!

Eh, the Blazers seem like they can hang with anyone. Every single one of their bubble games has been down to the wire.

 

[SteelersPride]

Eh, the Blazers seem like they can hang with anyone. Every single one of their bubble games has been down to the wire.

while i dont disagree, bc Dam' will keep them in anything....but look at some of who they played

Grizzlies- Went to OT
Celtics-kemba on minutes limit
Nuggets- missing murray and others
Clippers-No kawhi(think they wanted to lose)
Philly-Embiid played 5, no ben simmons
Brooklyn whose missng their whole team

Houston and dallas were full go I think.......I dunno hard to gauge with everyone sitting

Edit: just more like spurs went 5-3 in the bubble, fell short.
but so did the woeful nets. suns FFS went 8-0

 

[trojanfan12]

Eh, the Blazers seem like they can hang with anyone. Every single one of their bubble games has been down to the wire.

They can hang, but don't think they play enough defense to get past a good team in a 7 game series.

At some point it's not enough to just outscore everybody. You have to be able to make a stop. Their defensive philosophy seems to be hope the offense doesn't challenge Whiteside in the paint enough to get him into foul trouble and miss a lot of outside shots.

Even that last shot was more about Levert making a bad decision than Portland's defense. That lane was wide open, he could have easily gotten inside the free throw line, if not all the way to the hoop.

 

[ManuForever]

Looking back at that loss to Philly (where they did NOT call a shot-clock violation and gave Philly 2 free points), and DeJounte left Shake fucking Milton wide open, that's the one game in the bubble that hurt them the worst.

Before that...losses to teams like Chicago, Detroit, even Cleveland before the restart are games that doomed them. doesn't help that they played 4 less games than everyone else.

Just really unfortunate to miss the playoffs this season, but I'm really excited to finally see them able to draft in the lottery for the first time since I've been watching.

I'm excited for the future. All good things must come to an end, and it hurts but I'm really excited to see what comes of all of this next season.

 

[Shanemansj13]

They can hang, but don't think they play enough defense to get past a good team in a 7 game series.

At some point it's not enough to just outscore everybody. You have to be able to make a stop. Their defensive philosophy seems to be hope the offense doesn't challenge Whiteside in the paint enough to get him into foul trouble and miss a lot of outside shots.

Even that last shot was more about Levert making a bad decision than Portland's defense. That lane was wide open, he could have easily gotten inside the free throw line, if not all the way to the hoop.

Right, the defense is the issue but it seems like they finally have healthy bigs and Whiteside as a backup ain't bad. They need big boy minutes from Nurkic, he needs to stay healthy and dominate.

The Lakers have depth issues. Even though I didn't think this before the bubble bc they had Rondo, Bradley, etc....Lebron HAS to be in playoff mode. I don't necessarily think he needs to be in that mode vs Portland to win but he definitely does in the next 2 rounds especially if they play LAC. The depth is a real issue even with Kuzma stepping up.

 

[trojanfan12]

Right, the defense is the issue but it seems like they finally have healthy bigs and Whiteside as a backup ain't bad. They need big boy minutes from Nurkic, he needs to stay healthy and dominate.

The Lakers have depth issues. Even though I didn't think this before the bubble bc they had Rondo, Bradley, etc....Lebron HAS to be in playoff mode. I don't necessarily think he needs to be in that mode vs Portland to win but he definitely does in the next 2 rounds especially if they play LAC. The depth is a real issue even with Kuzma stepping up.

He may not have to be to get past Portland. But he should be, because if he is, it'll make it a little easier on the team as a whole.

In Miami after year 2 and the 4 years with the Cavs, he could sort of "ease into the playoffs" in the first round and still get out fairly easily.

I don't think he can do that against Portland with Bradley and Rondo out. Waiters has looked good and if they can get something out JR, that should help.

Kuz will be a big key, imo. He there will be a couple of games each series where Lebron or AD will have a bit of an off game. If he can step up at those times...that'll be huge.

 

[Robotech]

1997-2019. Never missed the playoffs. That is surreal.

Yeah, much, much respect. I know they never won back-to-back, and they have one less title than the Jordan Bulls, but this run of theirs is arguably the greatest, most successful run of success since the 1950's, 1960's Celtics.