[Knicksboy34Participant]

I think with the addition of Andre Miller, The Blazers have a shot of beating the Lakers in a 7 game series. The Lakers are a veteran team and are somewhat slow overall. I think the Blazers can out run them and go deeper off the bench. Plus I believe the Blazers are somewhat of a matchup problem for the Lakers.

Miller vs Fisher (Blazers)
Roy vs Bryant (Lakers)
Outlaw vs Artest (Lakers but not by much)
Aldridge vs Gasol (Even) I dont buy that Gasol is not soft anymore
Oden vs Bynum (Blazers. Bynum is overrated)

Bench- Blazers.

I can see the Blazer beating the Lakers in a 7 game series and make the NBA Finals this year…Agree or Disagree and why?

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

LOL! not a chance the blazers are better on paper, as you have shown… 3 Blazers adv-2 Lakes-1 tie, but yes I think they are contenders this year, although I doubt they’ll win.

Miller > Fisher- agreed
Roy < Bryant- agreed
Outlaw < Artest : Outlaw is just not even on Artest's level. Artest jacks up a lot of bad shots, but he would lock Outlaw down. Not even close. (for the record, this is nicolas batum)
Aldridge < Gasol- Gasol is one of the most talented big men out there and he can play out on the perimeter, which is Aldridge's adv over most other big men… not the case against Pau. (and if you're going to call Pau soft, how do you not call Aldridge soft?)
Oden < Bynum- you're smoking ROCK if you think Oden is better than Bynum… maybe in 3 yrs, but not now. I thnk Pryzbilla is better than Oden at this point. LOL

bench: one word LAMAR ODOM- adv lakers. also don't forget jordan farmar, sheldon brown, luke walton…. all those guys have been there, how many on the blazers bench can say that?

[McWinningParticipant]

i disagree with the Lakers bench being better.
Farmar vs Blake (Blake)
Vujacic vs Fernandez (Fernandez)
Webster vs Walton (webster)
Odom vs ? (Odom)
Pryzbilla vs Mbenda (Pryzbilla)
the Blazers have a shot but i think right now their too young for the odds to be more than about 15%.

[blazerheadfreak]

wat knicksboy siad : } fnck lamar odom slap that monkey boy

[lthomas07Participant]

I would have to disagree, while the Blazers are a young-up and coming team I do not believe they can beat the Lakers this up coming year based on experience. While the Blazers match-up with the defending champions on paper, if they meet in the playoffs the experience of the Lakers unit will be the deciding factor. The Blazers are a few years away from competing for championships but they are headed in the right direction. Bynum may be overrated but he has progressed at a faster pace than Oden. I consider Oden to be overrated based on the fact that he had so much hype but can not stay on the court b/c of injuries and conditioning. I have read the articles that say he is having a wonderful offseason but until he proves it in NBA games I will have my doubts. Gasol is a way more consist player than Aldridge at this stage in there careers, so advantage Lakers. Really the only match-up I see that favors the Blazers is the Miller-Fisher match-up and Portland does have a deep bench but even that will not be enough to beat the Lakers. Portland has never felt WCF game 7 pressure, so they will not know how to deal with the situation if they reached it at this stage of team development. I doubt they make the WCF tho. Forgot Lamar Odom-who plays a big part in the Laker team

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

the only problem with that is… in the playoffs, you don’t go 10 deep… you go 7-8 deep. and i’ll take LO and almost any guy off the lakers bench over the blazers duo/trio off the bench

[McWinningParticipant]

Rudy, Pryzbilla, and Webster are all starting caliber. Odoms the only player on the Lakers bench who can be a legit starter.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

lol, Webster is not a starter…. IMO. I think in reality, the blazers bench would put Outlaw (batum will really be starting) Pryzbilla, Rudy, and Blake out there… which is 9 guys and a decent 9 guys at that…

that, in and of itself, is what is wrong with the blazers. they are probably the most talented/deepest team 1-15, but the problem is, there are only 5 guys out on the floor at the time. they need to flip like 3-4 of those guys into another SUPERSTAR if they want to be serious contenders, IMO

I think Odom, Sheldon Brown and Luke Walton are as good of a combo as those 4 guys… Odom is a cut above any of the blazers… sheldon brown and walton are comparable

[McWinningParticipant]

Webster was a decent starter and would have been good if he hadnt been injured. i disagree its deep benches that make the difference, Portland already has a almost star bench player in Rudy, and Oden if he comes off the gbench could avarege a double double. i think they have a good 9 man rotation with Rudy, Outlaw/Webster, and Pryzbilla/Oden, and Blake, aand just look what Denvers bench did last year i think Portlands is a lot like that,
Carter and Blake
Smith and Fernandez
Outlaw and Kleiza
Pryzbilla and Anderson.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

Fair enough. The Lakers still won that series pretty handily.

The fact remains, Webster did get injured and he’ll probably never be the same… Oden can’t even stay on the court long enough to average a double double, especially when he’s going to be matched up against bynum and gasol… foul much>?

[JBickart14Participant]

Fisher – Miller (miller)
Kobe – Roy (kobe)
Artest – Batum (artest)
Gasol – Aldridge (gasol)
Bynum – Oden (bynum)

Bench – Lakers
Experience – Lakers
Chemistry – Lakers

[McWinningParticipant]

i agree the lakers are better but why is their bench better?
Steve Blake 11.0pts 5.0asts
Vs
Jordan Farmar 6.4pts 2.4 asts
Blake wins!
Rudy Fernandez 10.4pts 2.0asts
vs
Sasha Vujačić 5.8pts 1.4
Fernandez wins!
Martell Webster 10.7pts 3.9rebs
vs
Luke Walton 5.0pts 2.8 rebs
Webster wins!
Travis Outlaw 12.8pts 4.6rebs
vs
Lamar Odom 11.3pts 8.2rebs
Odom wins!
Joel Pryzbilla 5.5pts 8.7rebs 1.2 blks
vs
Dj Mbenga 2.7pts 1.3rebs 1.0blks
Pryzbilla wins!
personaly i would give portland the edge there.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

well, first of all… there’s more to it than just stats. as far as i can tell, the blazers play their bench a lot more than the lakers do so that’s one explanation for why their stats are ‘better’.

To compare Blake and Farmar’s stats is foolish, since Blake was a STARTER! lol…

I’d take Walton over Webster everyday of the week, even if his stats aren’t as good…

I believe Pryzbilla started a lot of games too… so that’s just a ridiculous comparison.

Maybe you should also post minutes per game?

ALso, please stop throwing vujacic into the mix, he was AWFUL last year and didn’t get any PT. Don’t forget about Sheldon Brown

[McWinningParticipant]

fine.
Jerryb Bayless 4.3pts 1.5asts
vs
Shannon Brown 3.2pts .6asts
Bayless wins!
Greg Oden 8.9pts 7.0rebs 1.1blks
vs
Dj Mbenga 2.7pts 1.3rebs 1.0blks
Oden wins!
and the reason the La bench didnt play that much is because it isnt as good as portlands.

[From_Downtown_33Participant]

The Spurs got a better chance of beating the Lakers than the Blazers…but the Blazers might be able to beat the Lakers in a 7 game series…just depends on how well Oden plays..

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

lol ok… or could it be that the lakers starters are just that much better?

i dont think stats are a good indication lol. and to even mention bayless is pointless becaue he doesn’t even play! and shledon brown? he doesn’t even have a full yr under his belt out there. go by what you’ve seen… did u see bayless do anything in the playoffs? cuz I saw brown have an impact last season.

Basketball is about more than straight match-ups. lol

[McWinningParticipant]

even i the matchups are favoring the Lakers it still diesnt mean they have a better bench. and what do you want to go by?

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

I donno… good point…

basically for me, i can’t say the blazers bench is better than the lakers, when Odom comes off the bench and I consider him to be a class or two above any of the guys on the blazers bench. Especially since we’re talking about a playoff series (and shorter benches are the norm).

Shouldn’t experience also be a consideration? even if Farmar and Walton don’t play THAT much, they’ve both been to the finals the past two years so they KNOW what it takes to be successful (they’ve even seen one losing and one winning campaign…) Brown has been there now and he’s still new to the system… imagine him with a yr under his belt in the triangle? I’m especially high on him cuz he can play both guard positions

[McWinningParticipant]

actually i think Oden is a lot like Odom as in they both can score and rebound but are both inconsistant. and i guess experiance can count but as far as talent goes i think the Blazers are better.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

yea, like i’ve said from 6-15 they’re more talented than any other bench in the NBA… but that’s kind of irrelevant.

be honest bird, how many times have u even seen oden play? i know i almost never saw him in WI on TV… i had to watch him on NBA league pass. The guy can’t stay on the floor… and while I’ll agree they’re both inconsistent, Odom’s highs are much greater than Oden’s…

[ckowalskiParticipant]

I still think that the Blazers will not challenge the Lakers next year. I think they are a piece away from being a contender (SF position upgrade). Even last year when ESPN analysts were raving about how good the Blazers were and how they would give the Lakers fits if they made it to the next round I wasn’t buying it. I thought if the Blazers made it out of the first round the Lakers would need 5 games max to beat them, but I saw a Houston vs. LA series taking 7 games with Houston winning (definitely didn’t see all the injuries coming though). I think the Blazers have as much or more talent as most teams in the league but they play uninspired ball a lot and it just seems like they are waiting around for Roy to lead them somewhere. I think the Blazers and Cavs are mirror images of each other. A lot of times it’s like watching 1 on 5 with these teams when they run into tough matchups. I also think the Blazers are very close to putting the entire future of their team on whether or not Oden can stay healthy and be the inside presence they need.

I would love to see the Blazers put together their young pieces and trade for a superstar.

[McWinningParticipant]

i havent seen him play much but i watched hin in college and have watched almost every youtube video with him. i think if he stays on the floor he could be as good as Dwight was at his age stat wise. i looked up some stats and found out that Oden stats for minutes compared to Dwight at his were as many rebounds and two less points and Dwight was a more featured player.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

yea, college and youtube are kind of irrelevant… Oden was basically the only legit big man in the conference that year, and that OSU team was vastly more talented than any other team in the big ten, which helped him a lot.

if he can stay on the floor, he has a chance to be great, but he hasn’t proven he can do that.

[HaleParticipant]

No one in the NBA is named Sheldon Brown, it is Shannon Brown and he has proven nothing.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

hahhahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha LOL my fault. IDIOT (napoelon dynamite style)!

[deuce4off]

haha Oden better than Bynum???? nonsense, I thought you actually watched basketball…for what each has accomplished it isn’t even close

Gasol and Aldridge even?? Gasol f*cking demolishes Aldridge, and if you think Gasol’s weak (which he is) then Aldridge must be a cloud of baby powder

JBickart has it correct above, wasn’t it Knicksfunboy’s foolish thoughts about a month ago claiming the Blazers WEREN’T contenders……you flip flop more than a fish out of water, I’m sure you’ll repost this in 12 hours changing every thought

[Knicksboy34Participant]

Your a hater man. I said a month ago correct, they werent. But adding Andre Miller to this team is a very solid addition.

Look and Focus. I like Oden over Bynum so it’s my opinion…stop hating.

Also, i like how you keep taking my points..all good with me man.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

WHY do u think oden is better than bynum, besides saying bynum is overrated…

[McWinningParticipant]

yoyr an idiot. Odens a much better rebounder and defender which matters, and Gasol doesnt dominate their both weak and their talent is pretty close, and stop acting like an asshole!

[deuce4off]

everyone takes your points away b/c you make it so easy with nonsensical posts…..keep flip flopping kid, it makes you look ignorant

when school starts for you in a few weeks, make sure you go….make a few friends, find a girl if that’s even possible for you, maybe you won’t make 300 weak-minded posts a day….and don’t go creating a new name again, you stick out like Waldo

Outlaw vs Artest (Lakers not by much)….haha, yikes……more like would Outlaw score once if Artest was guarding him?? nah

[deuce4off]

i think your life parallels knicksboys, sad and sorry

[McWinningParticipant]

if our lifes are sad and sorry i cant find words to desripe a life as pitiful as yours because all you do is rag knicksboy34 for no reason.

[Knicksboy34Participant]

Well, you always talk about me and when I challenge you to ball talk…you run like a chick

you question my post, your mad you can’t think of them. your one of those guys nut-hugging to say something smart but…FAIL!

Artest is slower and his value is he can play PF in some spurts. so, get your facts right.

Also, on that Wall-Crittenton topic, explain yourself. you sound dumb and like you cant talk ball. I’m gonna be a NBA Writer and if possible, A NBA GM so lay off me brah yea I post alot and you know what, I’m gonna continue to post as well.

Like you said on my email, I’m inner-city, I love Basketball and began watching it at my friends house because I couldnt get cable, now that I do, I love basketball and in the future you will see me posting for ESPN or maybe…you’ll be talking about me when I’m making brilliant moves for future NBA teams.

[Knicksboy34Participant]

Even Bill Simmons and Ric Bucher and Mark Stein now Artest is getting slow…why dont you focus?!?!?

[HaleParticipant]

Woah, xbadger OSU was not far and away the best team in the conference that year, if you remember Wisconsin was ranked number 1 in the Nation (for a few hours) and ended up being a 2 seed in the tournament. Deuce4off, calm it down man. Knicksboy and Zilla are tight and you don’t gotta hate on them. Yeah he flip flopped, but they made a solid addition since then and I could see that changing a lot of peoples minds adding a good good pg in Miller.

[Knicksboy34Participant]

Did I really say there not contenders? I remember saying there talent was overrated……

[McWinningParticipant]

i do remember you once said you didnt think the Blazers would ever win a title.

[Knicksboy34Participant]

Yea, I remember saying that. I think they wont unless Oden steps up.

Also, Andrew Bynum is really overrated. He is injury prone, overpaid and he is a regular season guy. I have fam in LA and even they were bugging when they saw Bynum get 12 mil a year. He is a solid C in the regular season but I rather have Greg Oden because it takes 2 years to come back from Micro Surgery. He will be a 14-10-2 guy this season and I see a couple of 20-20 games in this season.

[McWinningParticipant]

he would have been a 15-12 guy if he could stay on the court for 36 minutes a game, so basicly hes that already if he stays on the court.

[Knicksboy34Participant]

gotta work on that conditioning and balance on D. he gets a lot of fouls.Some of them look really silly

[McWinningParticipant]

yeah i think he actually has a decent hook shot thats better than anything Dwight Howard has which could really help him.

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

To me this team would been a contender if they have traded Raef Lafrentz contract for rumor names like Vince Carter, Caron Butler, and Richard Jefferson. Those guys wouldve been good 2nd or 3rd option for the team.

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

Lakers have better basketball IQ

[SmooveKRYPTParticipant]

I think if Portland traded Blake, Outlaw, and a 1st rounder for a starting caliber 3 man(G. Wallace or Caron Butler) they’d have a real shot!!!

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

Of those players i would feel are on the market unless Wizards finally decided to break up there trio. And Wallace is the only player that is a flat out stud on the bobcats

[gatorheelsParticipant]

It is a close matchup but the Lakers would win. Blazers have a pretty big advantage at the PG spot but the Lakers have a slight edge at all the other positions.

Overall the Blazer have the better bench but the Lakers have the single best bench player (Odom). Not to mention the Lakers have the better coach.

Blazers are getting better but they aren’t a real contender…yet. I agree with liljwon….Blazers would be a true threat if they had a stud SF.

[Author]

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