Torn Achilles tendon for Wes Matthews

[60WinTim]

I've always like his toughness. Wished he was a Wolf a number of times.

Tough break for Portland. Good thing they picked up Afflalo!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I certainly won't miss him. He's made 25 3-pointers against us in the past 2-1/2 seasons. That's crazy.

I feel sorry for him, but I'm glad we won't have to see him raining 3's on us.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

One of the biggest Wolves killers in the NBA...I won't miss him either.

I was already looking for a bounce back game Saturday against the Blazers after the Denver debacle, but now it looks like it will be easier for the Wolves to win this one. Portland is red hot with 5 nice victories in a row, but now they have lost their third highest scorer and best 3-point guy. I think we steal one tomorrow.

[Coolbreeze44]

Whatever is bad for the Blazers is good for me. Hate that franchise with a passion.

[bleedspeed]

Why the hate for Blazers? I like Lillard and Aldridge as players. I don't hate them when they are not playing us. Their fans have been through about as much as us when it comes to bad luck. Roy/Oden was supposed to special.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

One of the "experts" on ESPN was arguing that you don't really need a strong bench to win a championship as he pointed out the Heat as an example. Well, that's great if all your starters stay healthy but that's rare. I don't think the Portland model is sustainable as they employ kind of the same strategy.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

One of the "experts" on ESPN was arguing that you don't really need a strong bench to win a championship as he pointed out the Heat as an example. Well, that's great if all your starters stay healthy but that's rare. I don't think the Portland model is sustainable as they employ kind of the same strategy.

Yeah, I agree...I value the importance of a strong bench. I view the Miami championship as an anomaly, facilitated by three of the top 15 players in the game choosing to move to the same team. But they still couldn't defeat the Spurs' system and depth last year, and I think that is more telling.

[AbeVigodaLive]

One of the "experts" on ESPN was arguing that you don't really need a strong bench to win a championship as he pointed out the Heat as an example. Well, that's great if all your starters stay healthy but that's rare. I don't think the Portland model is sustainable as they employ kind of the same strategy.

Yeah, I agree...I value the importance of a strong bench. I view the Miami championship as an anomaly, facilitated by three of the top 15 players in the game choosing to move to the same team. But they still couldn't defeat the Spurs' system and depth last year, and I think that is more telling.

I think the Spurs is the anomaly, as I noted yesterday in another thread. Too many factors have to go just right... with the right mix of players... and egos... to pull that off for any length of time.

Dallas might have been closer to the Spurs model, going 9 deep with decent minutes from the bench. But, Miami (even in 2006), Los Angeles and Boston went primarily only 8 deep in the playoffs in their runs.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Abe, how can the Spurs be an anomaly? They've won 5 championships.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe, how can the Spurs be an anomaly? They've won 5 championships.

Not that 2014 was an anomaly. That the SPURS as an organization seems to be the anomaly. The seemingly ego-less stars on that team sticking together for 10+ years goes a long way to being able to pull it off... along with countless other factors.