Maybe I have higher expectations than you. There are very few games on the calendar that I don't expect Portland to win. Now, I realize there's going to be a lot of games that I expect Portland to win that they'll lose. That's how the NBA is. I mean, how many teams have won 70 games? Even the best teams lose to far weaker teams. Though Portland is young, let's not use that excuse. Let's look at our roster, and I think most would say from #1 through #12, there are few teams with more talent. And our team is just going to keep growing together, gain experience, and when they learn how to step up for big games, watch out, because that's when the rebirth of Rip City is really going to take off. Maybe it's just the era of Blazer basketball I grew up in. The late 80's and into the early 90's, every night, the team was in good position to win. I haven't felt that away about our roster since, until now. That being said, I have a lot of confidence in these young guys. They're hard workers with a lot of pride, and I expected them to bounce back from Boston and beat on a team in transition (Toronto just got a new coach).
Blake seems to come through when we need him to. There's a lot to be said about that. I don't think I've ever been more confident in a non-star's clutch abilities. Blake isn't a master creator on offense, but he plays within the offense, and I have seen him create more this year than in the past. He's no Nash, and I don't ever expect him to compare to Nash. But Nash wasn't a great point guard until he was 27-28 or so. If Blake can continue to work and improve, he's more than adequate for our roster.
Weird hearing Greg looked up to Jermaine growing up and watching him play when I just remember Jermaine being 'The Kid' here, and still being that teenager looking for his shot.
I once saw Kobe hit Blake in the throat with his elbow (on purpose) and Blake got called for the foul.
We outrebounded them by 17 so the only way they stayed in the game was by holding our % down with defense, and shooting 49% which they did via Calderon's 13 assists. A 4-1 road trip is great, and what I expected realistically (although I predicted 5-0), and Blake went from a member of the goatherd to hero with a perfectly executed shot, but that's obvious. He's becoming quite consistent at that, and I never doubted at any point that we'd win the game. I predicted 99-98. And as I've stated before, I want them to stand pat with this roster through the season. The talent is there, the rhythm is forming, the confidence growing. This is a title team. Whether it takes exceptional coaching, or just another year or 2 of maturing together, this is a title team. But I'd rather keep focused on what the players can each do to make the team stronger, and perimeter defense and guard defense especially needs drastic improvement. Nate's supposed to be the man in that area so I wonder why there seems to be no special effort to teach these guys 1 on 1 defense? Sergio has improved but he had to go home to Spain's playgrounds to learn. A boost in these guys' defensive success would put us one more step closer to being Title-ready this spring. The other weakness, which I don't understand, is Channing Frye. He said this season he was going to make a statement, or something like that. Nobody has heard it yet. I believe he's sincere, and has the physical skills needed, so maybe there's another area the coaches could focus on. When he lost that ball and then weakly fouled at the other end letting the guy get the layup too...I cringed. I fully expected him to slam his opponent to the hardwood and then have to be separated by the refs, but instead he sheepishly fouls the guy and backs off. Some coach needs to tell Channing "if you need to deliver a message to someone, deliver it PERSONALLY.
Figure we've played 7 more road games than Boston and LA, and 6 more than Cleveland, and it all looks pretty even so far. http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html
Do you have the NBA league pass? Maybe you do and still feel the same way and I respect that. But having watched a lot of games this year, almost every team has 6-8 guys who are very talented. The difference is our 6-12 guys are very good and also very young. That bodes well for the future, but also means they will go through stretches that they look bad. Right now I think you are being unrealistic. I do hope you are right, but from past experience the fans with unrealistic expectations tend to bitch and moan more when things go bad. Not saying you will, just saying that's how it usually turns out.
It's not even because both teams easily beat the Blazers. This team has a way to go to compete with the elite teams.
The only thing I hated about today's game is that it was on Comcast. I've got DirecTV and it was too early to go to a sports bar! Dammit!
That's cool, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm not saying I expect us to win every game. I'm more or less saying that aside from a few games, at the start of each game, I expect Portland to win. That's not saying I expect Portland to go through the season with 60 wins, but at the start of each game, Portland is more talented than almost every other team in the league. The more talented team doesn't always win, however. Many teams have several "players", but I think our level of talent, the quantity of talent, and the way they blend together as a team is superior to most teams. And the fact that we have so many guys capable of carrying a team to a certain extent, when one or two guys struggle, we have guys to step in. I don't think many other teams have that luxury to Portland's level.
2 games decided on prayers that went in, 2 games decided on missed easy opponent shots at the buzzer. with a little less luck we could easily be 11-11 right now.
we've been lucky? winning close games like that isn't really a repeatable skill, maybe there are players here and there who completely choke, but after years of high school and college you'd think most of these players are weeded out.
As it's said, it's better to be lucky than good. And I don't think it was luck that LMA played great defense on Bosh on that last play. LMA +18, Bosh -14 on the night, nuff said.
Blazers have been lucky and good. They may be less lucky as the season wears on, but the schedule will also become easier. Let the good times roll.
Blazers have been lucky and good. They may be less lucky as the season wears on, but the schedule will also become easier. Let the good times roll.
