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Hickson just scored 26 points and 15 rebounds against the Mavericks. Leonard hasn't had a double digit scoring game since November, hasn't had a single double digit rebounding game period ( career high of 8), and has a rebounding rate only slightly better than Marcus Morris - and this is a seven footer! He certainly has the potential to be a starting center someday, but this year? No way.
Their starting five is about as solid as it gets in this league - bet their GM regrets not filling out the bench a bit better during the off-season. Not sure how they're going to get better after the trade deadline - they have no dispensable pieces to trade away in exchange for bench players. But if your only deficiency in this league is your bench, that's not the worst thing. I'd rather be in their place than the Pacers who can't seem to score at all. POR has a clear direction and needs just a small push to get to become playoff regulars for years.
Whether or not clutchness = good, you still have to put in the PHYSICAL effort to do it time and time again. If a team finds a way to LOSE often in the closing minutes, they'd rightfully be called CHOKERS and a "bad" team. When a team comes from behind, you have to call it SOMETHING. "Luck" just seems like a negative context, even if its true. Its "luck" when you do it right, its "choke artist" when you can't close. So "clutch" is appropriate enough to me. (Though yeah I do think "clutch" and "choke" labels unecessarily is used as a guage of ABILITY, when lot of times its not)
Figures. I can't believe how many games they have escaped. Most of the times I watch them they are down, looks like they are surely going to lose...surely...then everything breaks their way... I would think it would be awesome if the Rockets weren't in direct competition for a playoff spot against them though.
My eye test is telling me portland will go to the playoff, Laker too. As to rockets, I am not sure. If Rockets is in, probably Utah will be out.
LOL @ dirk staring at the crowd when he hit the go ahead 3 and then gets owned in the end. dirk makes the ugliest faces when he hits a big shot.
they went 1-1 vs the Clippers in their home and home. I expect the same this weekend vs Utah but it's not them I'm worried about...
Out of the 5 starters. You only would trade mattews or Jj Hickson and no one else. I they are willing to do that to make playoffs this year then okay. Or they can wait till next season to sign players. Maybe they can trade players to make cap for next year also. Do they have draft picks?
The OP's point is that Portland is an incredibly "clutch" team. That's it. Are they a good team? Will they make the playoffs? Do they have a bright future? These are irrelevant to the topic on hand. I don't think anybody is saying that they are the next big thing. They do have some nice players on their starting lineup. I've always wanted to see Aldridge play for the Rockets. And I agree with Shroopy2's take. "Clutch" and "choke" are overrated. It has a lot to do with luck. But who cares. It's fun. That Portland-Dallas game last night had a great finish.
Not out of the question. A few teams really screwed the pooch when they passed on Lillard. Even Cleveland could have drafted him and traded him for picks and STILL landed Dion Waiters (sp?). Ditto Charlotte but trade Kemba Walker instead. Etc.
I'm more worried about Dallas with Dirk than Portland, so this is a good result for us. Luck evens out... Portland's -1.8 point differential is worse than Detroit (-1.7), a 17-28 team. Cute story, but the Blazers will fall off soon enough. The teams I'm focused on are the Jazz, Lakers and Mavs... have to finish ahead of at least two.
A guy that works for me is an avid Blazers fan and watches every one of their games. Even he admits their starters can't keep this up the entire season and they will slide out of contention. With 7 of their next 8 on the road, we might get a clear picture soon.
This is the corniest thing ever. So the Spurs, Heat and Thunder don't get into close games? Let's get real now. Any team can beat any team any given night, but the really good teams make big plays under pressure.
A simple look at point differential would show that yes, those teams do not win by some clutch play at the last minute. They win by blowing their opponents out. They can, of course, win by performing under pressure, but obviously it's better to have a comfortable lead with 2 minutes than gamble that yes, Durant will sink that heavily contested 18 footer. And that's what the truly elite teams do on a regular basis.
