ESPN's Bill Simmons recently divided all the NBA teams into "contenders" and "non-contenders" in his pre-playoffs power rankings.Now the last time I wrote a post about the Blazers and the playoffs (like, only two days ago), it was pretty clear that Dallas would be Portland's first round opponent. At the time I'm writing this post, that scenario is no sure thing. In fact, nothing is sure at this point really, except San Antonio finishing first. Right now, both Dallas and the Lakers have the same exact record (55-25), and Oklahoma City is only one game back of both of them. Pretty confusing for a Blazer fan trying to predict the first round matchup.
Simmons writes, "Quite a top-eight on paper: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Camby, Gerald Wallace, Andre Miller, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez and whatever Brandon Roy has left. At 75-to-1, they're one of the most intriguing longshot title bets I can remember: they could absolutely beat Dallas in Round 1 (could that be a better matchup for them???), and if anyone has the right personnel to bother the Lakers in Round 2 (lanky defenders for Kobe, quality offensive rebounders, size to throw at Bynum and Gasol, etc.), it's the Blazers. Of course, with Portland's luck, the Zombies will climb to a No. 3 seed and Rip City will have to play them and rehash the Durant/Oden fiasco all over again.
Simmons writes, "Quite a top-eight on paper: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Camby, Gerald Wallace, Andre Miller, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez and whatever Brandon Roy has left. At 75-to-1, they're one of the most intriguing longshot title bets I can remember: they could absolutely beat Dallas in Round 1 (could that be a better matchup for them???), and if anyone has the right personnel to bother the Lakers in Round 2 (lanky defenders for Kobe, quality offensive rebounders, size to throw at Bynum and Gasol, etc.), it's the Blazers. Of course, with Portland's luck, the Zombies will climb to a No. 3 seed and Rip City will have to play them and rehash the Durant/Oden fiasco all over again.
Let's talk about something more uplifting: Aldridge's quest to go from "Hall of Fame All-Star Snub" to "All-NBA" in the span of 10 weeks. My All-NBA teams look like this ...
Third team: Al Horford, Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul and ... Zach Randolph? Paul Pierce? Carmelo Anthony? Blake Griffin? Aldridge was the best of the bunch. The Blazers had every right to pack it in after Oden and Roy went down; Aldridge wouldn't let them.
