This sums up our off-season

Yes, and you have just proved how worthless cap space is. Thank you for proving my point.

Consolidation trades and trading expiring contracts IS THE WAY TO GO.

 

oh, I forgot...because no trades have been completed, we might as well give up!

yay for mediocrity!

 

Sorry, I didn't know 54 wins was mediocrity. But I do enjoy the comfort from getting those 54 wins with an injured C and SF, and a young rotation. Yes I do. I would like to see something happen this offseason. I would like to see a big addition to our team. I'm just not flippin gout withevery hour that passes that it hasn't happened yet. The season hsan't started yet. Or has it? Did I miss when the offseason ended? Again, who is it you want that was pushing us over the top that we missed out on?

 

It's amazing, I will generally flip between here, RealGm, and O-Live, and thru this past week, O-Live is actually the more rational and sane of the 3. Portland really needs a baseball team, so people have something else to do during the summer, and a different team to worry and focus on.

 

Are we an elite team next season?

Did we make it out of the first round of the playoffs?

These are the only things that matter. I realize that Roy + Aldridge + Oden are sufficient to get us to the top.

Its not so much someone pushing us over the top versus the blind myth of what people on this board have been hyping...the cap space. To me I never really expected anything of it. I believe the real reason we didn't trade RLEC was so we didn't take back a contract that would have killed our capspace this summer. It was a chess game and we're a pawn in check right now.

By your standards, we should never trade anyone on the team since we won 54 games last year. Its a stupid argument and is one that keeps us down the ladder a bit. The teams we are aiming at, the elite teams in the west got stronger...we have done NOTHING to address that other than we got more experience. You adjust to the situations, you can't assume the league is going to be easier next year.

Question: If we win LESS than 54 games, is it an epic fuckup then?

 

Awesome!

 

Well, if we're a pawn in check, then I think we'll make out pretty well. Good thing the other side is focusing on putting our pawns in check, instead of our king.

My standards are not at all never trade anyone. So yes, it's a stupid argument I didn't make. Good job. I mentioned our win total, because you said we were stuck in mediocrity. 54 wins is not mediocrity. If that's your definition of mediocrity, then your expectations for success are a little inflated. In my post you quoted, I specifically said I would like to see something happen. My issue is with everyone whining abou tnothing happening every second, hour, day. OMG, another 5 minutes passed, and we didn't trade for anyone, EPIC FAIL! Gimme a fucking break.

As for adjusting to situations I agree. You adjust to them. And part of our adjustment right now is adjusting to the realization that the free agent market isn't all it's cracked up to be, and as of righ tnow, people are possibly asking for too much in return on trade. So you adjust, and focus internally. You don't rush out and make the first move you can just to make a move. Again, what trade do you want made? And is it worth the cost? Does Richard Jefferson make us a title contender? Does Vince Carter? At the cost of Batum or Rudy? Who else?

 

My standards of success are winning in the playoffs and winning the NBA championship. Right now, we are capable of the former but probably not of the latter.

And yes, getting Crash Wallace at the expense of Batum is a gamble I would have taken, if that was available.

My problem is not the lack of action, as I believe that there is really nothing out there to begin with, its more of an overall picture from the last two years of not building more assets that can be used to upgrade talent.

Everyone likes to throw "54 wins" out there as a measure of our team's worth....so, I ask again, if we do win less than 54 games next year, does that mean we're a team on the decline?

 

yup I AM THE GARDENER! RCTID! AND F the Blazers for backstabbing Merrit! Karma is a bitch!

 

If we win fewer than 54 games, but have the same seeding as before (4th), I'd call it a wash. If our seeding is higher (3rd, 2nd) because the rest of the West is also winning fewer games, then our season is an improvement over last season.

And I'll be an adult and say it out loud: if we win fewer games and have a lower seed (5th or worse), then the season will have been a let-down.

 

but if we make it out of the first round then its a success.

 

No reason for complaining, right?



We should be celebrating!!

Our Successes....

Big moves last Trade Deadline!

Moving high up into the draft - and selecting a player who will never suit up in a Blazer uniform!

"Welcome to Portland, TurkeyLoo"

Any Free Agents left?

Jefferson to Spurs

Vince to Orlando

Shaq to the Cavs

Bass to Orlando


Bake it!

 

Please take that back. You didn't mean it.

 

Complacency is the enemy of success.

 

It's not complacency if the individual players are not complacent, though. They can continue to improve, which in turn improves the team.

 

this somes up my feelings on this summer of 09

What the hell's goin' on out there!?

 

For the record, I don't blame KP for the Hedo situation. Sometimes, stuff happens.

I do believe the whole "cap space in 09" plan was silly, and I said so from the get-go. You cannot predict the FA market 2 years in advance. It just can't be done! Playing the FA market is like being one of 10 people on a leaky boat with only one life-jacket. *Somebody* is going to survive when the boat goes down, but the odds are it won't be you!