Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs: Reaction to Game 1

Whenever the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs meet, J.R. Wilco ofPounding The Rockand I engage in a little back-and-forth over the two teams and their prospects. Since we're now embroiled in a 7-game series, we've decided to go into super-mode, giving you an inside, unscripted look at our thoughts about the series. Tune in after each game for the new installment!

May 7th, 2014 11:35 a.m. The Morning After Game 1

JRW:

I don't know how to react. This wasn't like a real game at all, at least not a game that I was expecting in any way. I saw it and so I know that it happened. But it's not like I can trust it to happen again. So it's almost like I don't believe it.

Ok, I believe that it happened -- that much I can say. But I don't believe in the game as any kind of indicator about how the series will progress. There's just such a huge gap between the quality of basketball Portland played and what they're capable of playing that I continued to watch in a guarded state that gave the entire proceedings a surreal air.

And I wasn't the only one. Most of the texts and messages I received during the game were from friends asking me whether their eyes were deceiving them or telling me how unexpected it all was.

After struggling against the Mavs, to show such dominance makes me uneasy. It has to be due to something outside theSpurs' control, something that can be suddenly taken away without reason or explanation.

What do you think?

Dave:

Well, hmmm. These frats are supposed to reflect our points of view and team performance. So as the designated representative of theTrail Blazersside let me sit here and pass gas all through this conversation.

PPPPPPHHHHHTTTTTTTTFFFFFFTTTTFFFFTTTTTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTT(maybe the second half will be better)PPPPHHHHFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT PPHHFFT PHHFFFTT PHHHFFFT PPPPPPPPHHHHHHHFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!

JRW:

Hmm, ok. Back to the surreality issue.

I guess it's in the nature of a fan to believe the best for your team while simultaneously preparing for and guarding against the fear of the worst. And in that mode, it's only natural (when faced with far more good than you could have reasonably expected) to doubt the validity of what your senses are telling you .

Could the Blazers really have turned it over 20 times? Were they truly unable to ever get their FG% over 40? Did they only accumulate an assist total in the single digits? These are individual data points that I'm confronted with, but my ability to judge their veracity is suspect because I desire so strongly for them to be real.

And a person whose self-interest is so fully integrated into the subject matter is a very poor judge indeed, wouldn't you agree?

Dave:

PPPPPPHHHHHTTTTTTTTFFFFFFTTTTFFFFTTTTTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTT(Whoops! Missed a layup.)PPPPHHHHFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT PPHHFFT(Maybe more iso sets would work.)PHHFFFTT PHHHFFFT(Parker scored again?!?)PPPPPPPPHHHHHHHFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!

JRW:

所以它的人愿意成为一个问题accept as fact. Can the world we perceive when we are confronted with ultimate good be said to exist in the same way it can when we are only experiencing that which we despise and detest?

And if it does, wouldn't that raise entirely separate issues about the irrefutability of self in the context of what some would call essence, but which I always refer to as being?

Wouldn't it?

Dave:

PPPPPPHHHHHTTTTTTTTFFFFFFTTTTFFFFTTTTTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTT(Can't get to Duncan's jumper.)PPPPHHHHFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT PPHHFFT(Belinelli? Seriously???)PHHFFFTT PHHHFFFT(You guys just got a bunch of offensive rebounds? OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS????? Alright, THAT'S IT! What in the name of Cotton Fitzsimmons is GOING ON HERE????

Now you listen to me, J.R. Wilco. You can come in here with all your "irrefutability of self" and "essence of Manu Ginobili's armpit hair" but you cannot... CAN...NOT get offensive rebounds on the Portland Trail Blazers. That's all we do...the only lane points we have. You never, ever, ever, ever get offensive rebounds. You didn't even LIKE offensive rebounds until you saw we had some!

Let me tell you a little story. Once there was this king named David. And he had this big ol' powerful kingdom and lots of riches and tons of wives--kind of like having Euro players out the wazoo and 3 titles under your belt, get me? But one day King David saw this cute little hottie named Bathsheba. And he was like, "Whoa! I would SO like to get some of THAT!" Except Bathsheba was married to this dude in David's army...a dude who had only ONE wife, HER, and that's ALL he had. But David just couldn't keep his greedy little mitts off of her. So he ordered Bathsheba's hubby to the front of the army lines where the dude got killed and then David married Bathsheba. He thought he was all clever and secret about it. But you know what, J.R. Wilco? God did not like that. NO, GOD DID NOT LIKE THAT. Kind of like taking the ONLY THING A TEAM DOES WELL AND USING IT AGAINST THEM. You Spurs going to go all biblical on us with your 30-point blowout? Then we're gonna go biblical on YOU, you rebound-stealing, wife-nabbing, championship-riches-hoarding flock of sheepherders, you! There will come a reckoning for this! There will! NO deity in the UNIVERSE could possibly countenance what happened in that game and it will not happen again!!!

Will not. Happen. Again.

(pant, pant, pant)

Now, is there something else about this game you'd like to discuss?Damian Lillardlooked pretty good on that one drive, huh?

JRW:

Wait a second ... did you just saythreetitles under our belt? You know it's actually four, right?

Dave:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

.

Read Part 1: Pre-Series ThoughtsHERE

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)@DaveDeckard