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Dec 19 '17
Before we get to Damian Lillards expectations for his Portland Trail Blazers this season, we need his reflection on his hopes for last years team, the one everyone thought was headed to lotteryville after losing LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez. Authentic Soccer Morocco Jerseys.Make the playoffs, Lillard said. Last year I said we were going to make the playoffs, and we did that.Ok, so maybe it wasnt as bold a proclamation as Lillard makes it out to be. On media day last year his first reaction when the playoffs topic was raised was, I dont see why not. Then he added qualifiers, as if wary of producing a headline for a story he wasnt sure he could write.Im not sitting here saying that, Were going to make the playoffs, Lillard said that day. I would like to, and I think thats what our goal is, but its not as far-fetched as some people would make it seem.At least he isnt going around bragging that he knew the Trail Blazers would be in the second round of the playoffs, which is where they found themselves against the Golden State Warriors after bouncing back from a 2-0 deficit in the opening series while the Clippers dealt with injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.He has earned the right for us to store his 2016-17 expectations in the reality room. Hes neither selling his team short through artificial modesty, nor ordering law enforcement overtime pay to block off the championship parade route.This year I want to get to the Western Conference finals and give ourselves a chance to get to the [NBA] Finals, Lillard said. I think its possible.It is, especially if the Trail Blazers wind up away from the Golden State Warriors side of the Western Conference playoff bracket. The Oklahoma City Thunder are weakened from the loss of Kevin Durant. The Clippers have yet to prove that they can get past the second round. The San Antonio Spurs are, if not necessarily worse, different without Tim Duncan. Besides, there havent been many points in time over the past 20 years when the Trail Blazers could say theyve won as many playoff series as the Spurs over the past two seasons.Unlike last year, the Blazers brought their core back, even if it was a very expensive way to stay the same. While other teams, even the heavily stocked Warriors, need a discovery period, the Trail Blazers already found out what they needed to know in last seasons playoffs.We learned we had some fight in us, Lillard said. We wanted it.He doesnt consider the Clippers series a fluke. He notes the Clippers were at full strength when the Trail Blazers beat them in Game 3, and Portland had the lead when Paul and Griffin went down in Game 4. And speaking of having the lead, did you know that after the Warriors controlled Game 1 of the second round, the Blazers held the lead for 137 minutes to the Warriors 61 minutes the rest of the series? They just couldnt close out games the way the Warriors did.We couldve easily laid down, even against Golden State, Lillard said. We couldve said: All right, we got out of the first round ... this [Warriors] team lost nine games. We could have laid down, but we didnt.The Trail Blazers could get credit for that last year. Not just credit, but hefty contracts for returners C.J. McCollum, Allen Crabbe,?Meyers Leonard?and?Moe Harkless, and an extension for coach Terry Stotts. All that cash means no more credit. Teams dont commit a third of a billion dollars in new contracts to be content winning five playoff games again.Two things bode well for the Blazers. First, their best player is getting better. Lillard is only 26, on the cusp of his prime, and in his fifth season he says the game is slowing down for him, making more sense, even getting easier. Second, the NBA is coming around to the Trail Blazers style of play. They used to be criticized for being perimeter-oriented, then were forced to grow even more so when Aldridge left for San Antonio. But the league as a whole shoots more 3-pointers now, and the Trail Blazers are better at it than most teams; their .370 three-point shooting percentage tied for fourth best in the NBA last season.Stotts is trying to present this season as a continuation of last season, rather than a separate entity. Retaining so much of the roster allows him to do so. His point guard sees it the same way.Lillard also sees this team playing deep into May. We never talk about vision as one of Lillards best attributes. Maybe thats about to change. Cheap Morocco Soccer Jerseys .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Replica Morocco Jerseys . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses.http://www.cheapmoroccojerseys.com/ . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers doesnt deny that he called Brett Favre Grandpa at some point during their three years together in Green Bay.But contrary to an excerpt published from the?recently released book Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre, Rodgers said that was not what he called Favre upon their first meeting in 2005.?The story that was out there that I saw is completely 100 percent false, Rodgers said Wednesday.?In the book excerpt published by Bleacher Report, the first interaction between Rodgers and Favre, the QB that Rodgers was drafted to eventually replace, was described like this:?Rodgers and Favre finally met on June 2, [2005], when the Packers came to town for a seven-practice organized team activity camp. Now merely a head coach (and a disgruntled one at that), [Mike] Sherman allowed Favre to skip the workouts, but that didnt mean he would not attend. In fact, that morning Favre was alone, sitting in the team cafeteria and reading a newspaper, when Rodgers saw him in person for the first time. The new quarterback approached the old quarterback and uttered what will forever go down as the worst introductory line in the history of professional sports. Good morning, grandpa! Silence. In the book, backup quarterback Craig Nall coorroborated the story, saying: Brett couldnt believe that. Youth Morocco Jerseys. It was like, Grandpa? Who the hell are you?Neither Rodgers nor Favre spoke to the books author, Jeff Pearlman, during his reporting.However, Rodgers on Wednesday called the excerpt highly sensationalized.Ill just say this: The first time I met Brett was on the practice field, and I could barely get a sentence out of, Hello, my name is Aaron, Rodgers said. Did I call him Grandpa at any time during the three years together? Probably. But its in the same joking way that my man Brett Hundley called me Grandpa three weeks ago on the field when we were doing a competitive drill.The story that was out there that I saw is completely 100 percent false, and I would dare anybody to test my memory on that. You guys know how my memory works. The end.The relationship between Rodgers and Favre has been oft-discussed but whatever may have happened in the past, they appear to be in a good place now. They posed for a picture together with legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr last year on Thanksgiving, and Rodgers attended Favres induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past summer. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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