Blazers vs Pelicans

[kopp0e 1135]

2 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Most people picked this as a tight series because of how well NO matches up with Portland. NO in 7 seemed to be a pretty common selection. But, yeah, no one saw this.

Agreed... This is a near even series that most expected Portland to pull out, that has become an outright ass kicking that might be a possible sweep...

[BigOrange1 6608]

to be fair, they traded for mirotic after boogie went down.  

[Machinator 32102]

If Mirotic is any indication, NBA players should be lining up to get punched in the face by Bobby Portis.

[Machinator 32102]

Davis just beat Nurkic out for a 50-50 rebound, even though the latter had the head start. That's inexcusable.

[kopp0e 1135]

4 minutes ago, Machinator said:

If Mirotic is any indication, NBA players should be lining up to get punched in the face by Bobby Portis.

Quote

Bulls F Bobby Portis apologizes for punching teammate Nikola Mirotic ...
www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/chicago.../1sugm37ppqdcc176vqumdov74n
Oct 21, 2017 - I feel like I let my fans, the Bulls organization and most importantly my teammates down. This is not who Bobby Portis is." Mirotic suffered two facial fractures in addition to a concussion in the fight. 

Unless your name is Bobby Portis & you want to get resigned in the NBA in the future... But as far as the luck for New Orleans, it's been a hit, you could say...

[Machinator 32102]

Blazers probably need to move CJ. And that Evan Turner contract looks worse and worse (shocker).

[Message Board User 12405]

The Pelicans are a good wing or 2 away from being elite.  Will be interesting to see if they want to risk another deal with Rondo.

If NOLA does close out this series this weekend, an incredibly encouraging result for the franchise, especially if they can make GS work in the next round.

On the other hand, Portland's gonna need to do some soul searching as it appears that Dame + CJ are the West's answer to Wall + Beal.

[Vic Mackey 47848]

That's a pretty good comparison. Lillard and Wall are about the same. Both are 2nd round ceiling players.

[Chapo 104]

They are gelling now, maybe s&t Cousins in the offseason? AD at the 5 is when they are at their best 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8964]

didnt think the Pelicans had this in them at all especially after Boogie went down. I expected them to lose some games down the stretch of the regular season because I cant name 3 players on their team outside of Brow/Jrue/Mirotic/Rondo....but they just keep fucking winning, and looking good while doing so. 

[Machinator 32102]

1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

NO in 7 seemed to be a pretty common selection.

Maybe not...

https://i.imgur.com/HuEJU3y.png

[kopp0e 1135]

How Blazers fans feel after the last three games:

 

[aggie08 21734]

Damn, I could have sworn that I saw a few people picking New Orleans. Either way, very few people had Portland winning easily and expected a long series.

Gotta wonder whose head rolls in Portland after this one. People, including me, have been knocking Portland for awhile for tying their success to two 6'3" redundant, non-defensive-minded guards (the contracts of Crabbe, Turner, etc. didn't help). They seemed to figure something out mid-season, but the playoffs are a different animal.

[CBT 1289]

The Mirotic pickup was a little fortunate timing and a little fucking genius.

[d2o 1603]

8 hours ago, Chapo said:

They are gelling now, maybe s&t Cousins in the offseason? AD at the 5 is when they are at their best 

To be fair they were playing really well before Boogie went down too.   He and Brow were really starting to hit their stride together.   I wouldn't be to let that go unless they could get something serious.   AD/Boogie/this version of Jrue and Playoff Rondo would be hard to deal with

[HtownHorn 15243]

11 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

didnt think the Pelicans had this in them at all especially after Boogie went down. I expected them to lose some games down the stretch of the regular season because I cant name 3 players on their team outside of Brow/Jrue/Mirotic/Rondo....but they just keep fucking winning, and looking good while doing so. 

They are better team when they go small and run. Boogie was holding this team back from being it's best self.

[Machinator 32102]

Lillard with 2 fouls, stays on the floor, draws a charge.

[BigOrange1 6608]

my guess is that as soon as new orleans makes a run the blazers pack it in.

[Machinator 32102]

Rondo is a magician.

[Machinator 32102]

Wow, what a move by Jrue.

[Machinator 32102]

Blazers are bringing it today, while Pels are falling back a bit with the turnovers and Mirotic's return to not 1st team All-NBA caliber play.

[Dutchrudder 11228]

Very chippy game. Pelicans need to be careful, or they may be missing someone next game.

[Machinator 32102]

Game 3 was definitely an aberration. Pelicans have the matchup edge, but the gap between the teams is reflected much more accurately in games 1, 2 and the first half of this one.

[CBT 1289]

Niko ballin.

[Machinator 32102]

Aminu is the only player who's consistently shown up for the Blazers in the games in New Orleans.

[BigOrange1 6608]

well portland hasn't just packed it in and called it a series, i'll give them that.

[BigOrange1 6608]

2 point game.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

Come on Pelicans!

[BigOrange1 6608]

aminu is ballin'

[BigOrange1 6608]

davis is just too good.

[CBT 1289]

This Davis guy seems good.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

Questionable call

[MNLonghornFUKM 8964]

his heel didnt step out but i thought the middle of his foot was too close to overturn

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

[Dutchrudder 11228]

^ what the hell?

[Chapo 104]

With AD playing like this and Steph out, whats the chance they can knockout GS?  Cant play draymond straight up against AD, can u?

[Michael Knight 13187]

Anthony Davis is pretty good, wonder if they flip boogie for someone who compliments him better

[Braff Zacklin 13675]

Honestly don't know how you stop AD short of shooting him.

[BigOrange1 6608]

5 minutes ago, Chapo said:

With AD playing like this and Steph out, whats the chance they can knockout GS?  Cant play draymond straight up against AD, can u?

steph will supposedly be back for most, if not all, of the series.

regardless, i'm pretty excited for that series which is something i never would have dreamed one week ago.

[d2o 1603]

5 minutes ago, BigOrange1 said:

steph will supposedly be back for most, if not all, of the series.

regardless, i'm pretty excited for that series which is something i never would have dreamed one week ago.

Yep, with Jrue playing the way he is to help AD the series should be great!   And if Steph isn't what in the world do you guys think Rondo is gonna do to Cook?

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

21 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

^ what the hell?

That was the original Pelicans mascot before they changed him.  He was deemed too scary for children.  I have a collection of Pierre the pelican creepy memes.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2018 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Machinator 32102]

Just as everyone predicted, the Pelicans were the only team to sweep their first round opponent.

[aggie08 21734]

22 hours ago, d2o said:

Yep, with Jrue playing the way he is to help AD the series should be great!   And if Steph isn't what in the world do you guys think Rondo is gonna do to Cook?

22 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

steph will supposedly be back for most, if not all, of the series.

regardless, i'm pretty excited for that series which is something i never would have dreamed one week ago.

I've got a pretty strong feeling that, even without Steph, a couple of games into the series we're going to be saying, "Oh right, they're the Warriors, and they're the Pelicans." The things that worked really well against two tiny, terrible defensive guards won't work as well against a team whose shortest player on the court--if Iggy starts--is 6'7". And that trying to guard Klay and KD with 6'4" Moore and Holiday (as great as he is) probably won't go well. Then, when Steph does come back, it'll just be too much firepower.

I hope I'm wrong though. The more games we get to watch AD, the better. Regardless of how many games the series goes, he's going to be dominant.

[Machinator 32102]

I think aggie08 said it earlier on the thread, but each team has one player that's virtually unguardable and will tear the other defense up. The difference is that GS also has a plethora of long, uber-athletic players who will stress in the Pels in ways that Aminu and Evan Turner (lol) simply can't, though Aminu certainly put in a valiant effort. I think Mirotic will not have the same imprint on the semis that he did against the Blazers.

[Braff Zacklin 13675]

23 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

I've got a pretty strong feeling that, even without Steph, a couple of games into the series we're going to be saying, "Oh right, they're the Warriors, and they're the Pelicans."

Yyyyep.

Hope you're wrong, though.

[aggie08 21734]

20 minutes ago, Machinator said:

I think aggie08 said it earlier on the thread, but each team has one player that's virtually unguardable and will tear the other defense up. The difference is that GS also has a plethora of long, uber-athletic players who will stress in the Pels in ways that Aminu and Evan Turner (lol) simply can't, though Aminu certainly put in a valiant effort. I think Mirotic will not have the same imprint on the semis that he did against the Blazers.

This strategy is never quite as easy to implement as it sounds, but I wonder how much the coaches will go with the "let him get his 50, don't let anybody else beat you" gameplan until Steph gets back. Basically, throw a bunch of stiffs at AD (McGee, ZaZa, Looney, Bell) and KD (Moore, Miller, do they even have any more wings??), save your better defenders for everyone else, and see who has better supporting cast. Holiday and Klay cancel out (and they'll probably be guarding each other most of the time anyway). Gentry probably wouldn't hate the odds of Rondo and Mirotic out-producing Green and Iggy.

Conversely, I'd love to see Gentry decide to go best vs. best, and put AD on KD from time to time. Then, with Steph back, if anyone can effectively guard the Steph/KD PnR, it's AD and Holiday.