http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/art_garcia/04/16/houpor20090416/index.html Nice read. They make some good points there. 5. Can Blazermania trump Clutch City? Portland's 34-7 mark at the Rose Garden is the fourth-best home record in the league. The Rockets checked in at 33-8 inside the Toyota Center, setting a franchise record for wins in the six-year-old arena. Prediction Blazers in 7
rip city vs clutch city was the final matchup in my fantasy league with me (clutch city) winning 6-3. i think it's a good sign!
Oh definitely. Everybody everywhere that's followed NBA basketball for 15+ years knows about Clutch City.
I just really hope we can steal game 1. Winning game 2 would be great as well, but I feel we need to win all of our home games, and I have a hard time seeing us take 3 in a row. I'm optimistic about the series, but it's hard to gauge what Portland will look like when the playoff lights come on.
First, If you are the road team you have to win 1 road game, which can be hard but realize that mean 1 out of 4 road games, or .250 record on the road. If you are the home team you hope to win 1 road game to close out a team which is 1 out of 3 or .333 record on the road. Portland's home record against playoff teams: 17 - 6 (0.739) Houston's road record against playoff teams: 8 - 13 (0.381) Houston's home record against playoff teams: 15 - 6 (0.739) Portland's road record against playoff teams: 6 - 15 (0.286) Given those numbers, given four games in Portland, there is a good chance we can win 1 of those games, and some chance to win a 2nd game. Of the 3 games in Houston, there is some chance that one of those game can be 1 of the 4 road games Portland wins against playoff comp or that Houston loses to playoff comp, but the odds are more in our favor. I do realize that this is one factor, and "playoff basketball is so much different than reg season basketball" but honestly in this series, HCA won't matter as much as one would think.
its their first playoff game, so it would be wise to pounce on them and try to steal game 1 at least. they're going to have massive jitters, whereas our guys have been there and done that.
Exactly what we wanted. Last time the odds were with us, we got overconfident (specially after winning the first 2 games in 07) and we all know what happened. If the odds are against us, that'll give our guys the motivation to go out and prove everyone wrong. YES WE CAN!
[Rockets.com] Rockets-Blazers Preview I thought this was an excellent preview from Jason Friedman. He lists the following factors for the series: 1. The importance of playoff experience (he thinks its overrated) 2. Portland Elite Offense vs Our Elite Defense 3. Roy vs Artest + Battier (Roy has struggled, but is really, really good) 4. Brooks + Lowry vs Blake (favorable matchup for our PGs, compared to other potential opponents) 5. Yao vs Pryzbilla + Oden + Aldridge (Portland will front, though the Rockets have had some success countering it against them) 6. Chuck (or "The Cooler" ... sorry, don't think that'll stick) vs Aldridge 7. Both teams have very strong home court Ultimately, he picks Blazers in 7. http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/The_Ultimate_RocketsBlazers_P-309920-34.html
Good lord. Jason, if you're reading this, I'm stunned. You must either have supreme faith in your job security (and you should, based on your excellent writing, btw), or you're looking for a job in a very tough market. Wow!
The rose garden is always a tough place to get a win. Portland in 7 is the logical choice. Our guard play has to be solid on the road for us to win, and unfortunately that hasn't happened for us in the playoffs in a LONG time
Here's my stat: Houston has beat the Blazers 6 out of the last 7 meetings with the lone Portland win being....well we all remember. That stats trumps all the other stats.
No worries, Deckard. Jason already has a job lined up to be the star writer for China's Xinhua news agency. Before you know it, you are gonna wake up in the middle of the night with Jason beating on you Snyder style.
Added motivation for this team I think the count is 10-3 in the Blazers favor by the "so called" experts.
