From Dave @Blazers Edge... Obviously for whatever reason--health, maturity, commitment, insert argument here--they're not yet ready to do that. Even so, that doesn't spell 30-win season. The Blazers will be around 50 wins again at worst and have a shot in the playoffs. The real damage from these early losses comes not from what they'll do to the Blazers but to what they contribute to the confidence of Western foes like Oklahoma City and New Orleans whom the Blazers would very much like to beat down and rob of their surety. Round 1 has gone against Portland in that fight. But the fight's not over. The best thing to do right now is to take a break on the angst until Tuesday's game. END I think im taking that advice. I am really upset on how things have gone. Truth is I really needed the blazers to have a good year after the joke that is the buffalo bills. Its so painful to watch this team/roy crumble. Anyhow I think Dave was as fucked up as HCP cause this team as is aint winning 50 games if their lives depended on it. I think 42 tops and thats with lots of luck. So are you buying or selling Daves thoughts?????
I hate to get all wishy-washy, but 50 wins will be a push. We're losing the close games we won last year. Right now, with the news about Roy from yesterday, a range I'd set would be 46-50 and see if that's good enough for the playoffs.
I don't think we can win 50 games unless Joel and Oden can come back and play at least solidly and for the rest of the year. With Joel-Oden-Camby we would go from our current very thin C position to one of the better ones in the league, our D and rebounding would see a drastic improvement. Without them we are one injury (Camby or LMA) away from an awful year. And we are risking LMA big time given the huge minutes he is playing - most in the NBA. Say what you want about LMA he's there every night and playing way too many minutes - will Nate break him too?
lakers hornets jazz mavs thunder locks for top 5 6. 7. 8. will between nuggets, grizz, blazers, warriors, and maybe houston im saying nuggets are a lock if carmelo stays, and then its likely grizz and warriors.
I think this team is a lock of 7 or 8. Grizz and Warriors aren't going to make a huge jump this season.
Don't forget the Clippers. Although Baron Davis is hurt, I expect them to make a jump with Griffin by end of year. I don't know if it will be enough. I think Houston will fold. They are really disconnected as a team because the team has no identity. When Yao comes in they are one team. When he sits out they are a team of low percentage chuckers.
No San Antonio? I'd say your 5 plus the Spurs are virtual locks for 6 of the 8 spots in the west, if any of them had to deal with injuries like the Blazers are it would be a different story, but I think it's down to 2 spots. I would also take out Houston and Memphis from your list of playoff hopefuls, Houston looks bad and have the same kind of problems with injuries as us right now, and Memphis just doesn't have the talent to develop to make the jump from last year. So it's probably down to Denver, Portland, and GS for the last 2 playoff spots. If it looks like Denver isn't going to be a top 4 seed I don't see how they can hold onto Melo after seeing what happened last summer. GS is improved from last year and can win in the regular season, but that's only if they stay healthy. If we get Pryz and Oden back, and Roy can sustain for 30+ mins a night I think we're just better than both of them.
Rightfully so without a full squad. I think its pretty ridiculous to even begin to predict playoff seeds at this point. So much can change and we learned last year how resilient this team is. I'll withhold my judgements till we get a full rotation, our game is pretty damn relient on Bigs and right now we have one.
The Blazers have a history of running off a big long win streak, which would change everything. I think 50+ wins is likely, personally.
