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[OregonLive.com] Houston, we have a problem:Rockets a bad playoff matchup for Blazers

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by jsmee2000, Apr 7, 2009.

  1. jsmee2000

    jsmee2000 Member

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    Nice article about how the Blazers don't match up the Rockets well and that the author would prefer the Lakers over us in the first round.

    article link

    Houston, we have a problem: Rockets a bad playoff matchup for Blazers

    [​IMG]
    by John Canzano, The Oregonian
    Monday April 06, 2009, 7:47 PM

    It's a lousy matchup. On paper. On hardwood. Home or road. The Trail Blazers don't match up well with the Houston Rockets, which is why you have to be rooting today for anything else.

    Never thought I'd write this, but if only a first-round series against the Lakers were somehow a possibility.

    San Antonio as a consolation, maybe?

    Portland's 102-88 loss to Houston on Sunday was the latest indictment in the series. The Rockets have won 10 of the last 11 games against the Blazers in Texas, and 17 of the last 21 overall.

    Two seasons ago, Houston swept the season series with the Blazers 4-0. The Rockets were the only team to do that to Portland. And this season, the Rockets won the series 2-1.

    By the way, Portland's lone win this season against Houston came at the Rose Garden on a night in which Brandon Roy drained that 31-foot, three-point basket as time expired during overtime.

    You want to rely on heroics in the playoffs?

    Didn't think so.

    The playoffs are not about big performances, as television would have you believe. They are not about the teams with the better records advancing by showing up. Rather, the playoffs are about matchups, specifically exploiting mismatches, and the Blazers don't have good options against Houston.

    Ron Artest is too strong, and too good a defender. Yao Ming is foul trouble for the Blazers' big men. And former University of Oregon star Aaron Brooks, the Rockets' point guard, plays the Blazers like he remembers them from his old neighborhood.

    Rockets coach Rick Adelman?

    The young Blazers don't have a reason to compete any harder against him than anyone else. There's nothing deeply personal to Roy and Co. about the matchup. But Adelman was the Blazers' first team captain, and remains the franchise's winningest coach at 291-154 (.654).

    If the playoffs started today, Portland would be the No. 5 seed and play Houston, the No. 4 seed. The Blazers need to hope one of the two teams can move up to third in the Western Conference.

    Current No. 3 San Antonio is fading, and guard Manu Ginobili is out for the season. A first-round matchup with the Spurs sounds sweet given the Blazers' debacles in Houston.

    Utah is also a nice matchup for the Blazers, given their recent blowout victory over the Jazz and the injury problems coach Jerry Sloan's team has had this season.

    It wasn't so long ago that we were all talking about how wonderful it would be for the Blazers to simply reach the playoffs. And it speaks volumes about the franchise at One Center Court that we're now nitpicking the potential matchups, looking for a way for the Blazers to do the unthinkable -- get out of the first round.

    I loved that the headline in Monday's Oregonian had the words "We're there!" Because it's true that Blazers fans have shared in the team's toughest moments. The players are there. The coaches are there. The franchise is there, but so are fans who demanded their NBA franchise be more than an asylum for the league's miscreants and castaways.

    The question is, who will be waiting for the Blazers?

    When you examine the seven other Western Conference playoff teams, you can imagine the Blazers beating just about any of them. Yes, even the Lakers, who have struggled at the Rose Garden. Not saying that kind of upset would happen, just saying it feels like more fun than facing the Rockets.

    Portland should be proud that it's back in the playoffs. It's a powerful accomplishment by a franchise that promised to do better, but taking the next step is going to require some delicacy.

    The Blazers are 1-11 this season on the road against the other seven probable Western Conference playoff teams. New Orleans is the only one Portland has been able to beat on the road -- and that win was aided by an injury to All-Star guard Chris Paul.

    Root for a series with the Hornets, then. Or Utah, which Portland matches up well against. Or Denver, which has mental lapses and feels like a good matchup for a young, focused team.

    But Houston feels like a bottomless pit.

    -- John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com
    Catch him on the radio on The Bald-Faced Truth, 3-6 p.m. weekdays on KXTG (95.5).
    See more in Columns, Trail Blazers
     
    1 person likes this.
  2. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    It is all about the matchups.

    DD
     
  3. Marcus Bryant

    Marcus Bryant Member

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    John Canzano totally agrees with me, he even makes more analysis than I have done. :D
     
  4. Jeff Who

    Jeff Who Member

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    That's a great read. I do belive Portland may be this year's dark horse. They are young and they are hungry. They are also very good at their home floor.

    But really, Houston is probably the worst matchup for them. They just can't slow Yao Ming down. One on one Przybilla or Oden have no chance against him.
     
  5. doublebogey

    doublebogey Member

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    Blazers wont pass 1st round, as simple as that.
     
  6. DCkid

    DCkid Member

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    Rockets are to Blazers as Jazz are to Rockets

    ...well maybe the Jazz are a bit more arch-nemesis-y to us than we are to the Blazers, but you get the picture.
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. jevon3012

    jevon3012 Member

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    Yes, let them play the Jazz, I would love if they beat the Jazz and then we played them in the second round.
     
  8. Lonestar

    Lonestar Member

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    Blazers, beat Utah then Lakers please.

    Let's meet at WCFs :D :D
     
  9. MONON

    MONON Member

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    Nice find jsmee! I had a real chuckle at the "more fun to face the Lakers than the Rockets" comment.
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. Rocketball

    Rocketball Member
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    Houston we have a problem.............................where have I heard that before.......... :rolleyes:
     
  11. tiger0330

    tiger0330 Member

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    Yao is the key for all the matchup problems. If you have big men that can shoot 3s and mid-range jumpers then thats a bad matchup for Houston. If you have traditional big men that only play in the post then thats a good matchup for Houston.
     
  12. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    Pretty good read, but MY GOD....enough with the "Houston, we have a problem" bit.

    Seriously, that stopped being original about 15 years ago.
     
  13. jsmee2000

    jsmee2000 Member

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    Well...it was never original as the original quote is as follows:
    "Houston, we've had a problem"

    Everybody just gets it plain wrong. Morons!
     
  14. BruceHR

    BruceHR Member

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    Great analysis by John Canzano, Hornets maybe the best opponent for Blazers to face..
     
  15. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    I was thinking the same thing. So are the Blazers going to tank so They face the spurs or Denver instead of us?
     
  16. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    Blazers fans hate the Lakers even more than Rockets fans. I'm not surprised he wrote that.
     
  17. Marcus Bryant

    Marcus Bryant Member

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    I think the spurs fans hate the Lakers more than the fans of any other team do.
     
  18. orbb

    orbb Member

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    Start of season, no one even gave the blazers a chance at being in the playoffs. The blazers are a nightmare matchup for anyone not named Lakers.

    Young legs, team steps into another gear in the 4th, sometimes even without Roy. I'd rather face the Jazz.
     
  19. MisterPink

    MisterPink Member

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    I don't know that I'd "rather face the Jazz", but I agree with you to a point. The Blazers are going to give someone a lot of headaches. I think they are legit, and they're only going to get better if they can hold onto everyone.

    If only they'd drafted KD :rolleyes:
     
  20. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    You've got to be kidding. If not for a VERY fluke shot in November, we would be 3-0 against them. We were just toying with them the other night. Not scared of them AT ALL.
     

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