Quote:
Originally Posted by whomario
definitely. Plus, they are both sort of at their best on positions where the other team has "weaknesses" , especially the Nuggets with Melo (who is going to defend him with that small lineups Portland plays regarding the 1-3 spots ?) and Billups (on Blake), although i expect a lot of PT for Miller against a PG like Billups.
The Blazers with Roy at the 2 and Aldridge at the 4, although afflalo and Martin are admittedly good defenders (still, production wise thatīs where Portland needs to excel).
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You may think this is crazy, but I think the Blazers match up better with the Lakers than the Nuggets. If I'm a coach and I'm game planning how to beat the Blazers, here is what I do:
1) I make sure Aldridge is a 15 foot jump shooter all night and turn him into the smallest 6'10" player in the history of the league. (and a lot of times, he'll help out) I do this by being physical as hell with him.
2) I make sure Roy has a difficult time getting all of his points. I throw multiple guys at him. Make sure he never has a tired body on him.
3) Now that those two guys are taken care of without double teams, I double hard on Oden with whoever is on the SF/PG.
Can Blake hit an occasional 3? Sure he can. But he's rarely going to do it all night. Can Miller hurt my PG with post ups? Possibly, but again, he isn't doing it all night.
So what does Denver have? Well, Afflalo is a solid defensive player who can make Roy work. JR is actually a pretty solid man to man defender. Kenyon Martin can thug it up Bruce Bowen style on Aldridge. Billups wil nip any Miller post ups in the bud.
On the other end, the Blazers match up horribly with Denver. Nene is quick and will get Oden in foul trouble. Aldridge has a difficult time dealing with Kenyon's slashing. Even if Kenyon can't get open, that doesn't really impact the Nuggets in anyway. Slowing down Melo? Good luck with that. Batum? If you remember last year Batum played Melo in one meaningful game (I know the Blazers have their co divisional title banner up and all, but Denver didn't give a damn about the final game last year, they already WON the division and just screwed around that entire Blazers final game). Melo went 16-26 and scored 38 points in a Denver romp in the one that counted.
On the other hand, I love the way the Blazers match up wtih the Lakers. Plenty of size to throw and Gasol and Bynum. Roy will make Kobe work on both ends. Dre can abuse Fisher. Gasol isn't going to get as physical with Aldridge. I think the Blazers have a punchers chance.
If I could write up a script for the Nuggets in the playoffs this year, it'd be the Nuggets getting to the conference finals again and playing a team that knocked off the Lakers. (I know people talk about how sweet it is to go through the team you can't beat. . . I'm a Nuggets fan who has never seen a finals game with my team in it, give me the best draw possible)
