Thats become pretty clear. The problem is (besides the worst bench in the nba) is that the blazer have too many players that are inconsistent. For example last night... Wes was terrible. Sunday he was very good. Same with Batum and Rudy... some nights they cant miss the other nights they dont contribute. This team lives and dies by the three. If its falling... they are fine, if not they are dead with no bench scoring. I also feel that Miller is finally showing his age. You look at his last few games and he has been very quiet. Last year he put the team on his back. This year its like hes kinda drifting through the season. Maybe he knows hes gonna be traded or maybe age has caught up with him. I cant tell. But when you really look at this team... its painfully obvious that they are a 500 team that will fight for a playoff spot all season. I realistically cant see them ever getting 4 games above 500. Just very unlikely. Unless a major trade is made that is. Too many inconsistent players on this team in Rudy, Wesley, Batum, and Mills. Its 50/50 every night. Not to mention they all suck on the road. Last nights game vs dallas was a monster monster loss.
That often happens when your best player gets hurt. Other guys not normally asked to step up will show up inconsistently, and it thins out an already thin bench. There's not many teams that can withstand losing their best player and play consistently every night, and play well above .500. The question is whether we get any help from the front office, or if they are content with trotting Aldridge out there for 40 minutes a night or more every night. Eventually, he'll go the way of Oden and Roy if he is asked to carry so much.
I agree. Inspiring game, disappointing game, maybe we're better now, no we're not etc... That looks like the road we're headed down. The "we're better without Roy" folks need to get a grip. He'd be winning some of these games for us if he was playing. Even hobbled as he is. I almost flew to Houston this morning because we've had good luck when I've watched but I decided to save the money. This season is gonna be all heartbreak.
A trade that adds more punch to our offense, starter or bench player. Man, it's crazy that little Patty Mills is starting to become one of our more reliable scorers. Look for his role to expand if we don't make any trades. The guy can get his own shot and make it, which is more than what we can say for Rudy, Nic, and Dante.
yeah speed it looks like one of those years where we will be up and down and then finally fall the last week of the season. very disturbing.
The reason this team crawled out of the gutter was because Roy could control the pace of a game and then deliver the goods down the stretch consistently. People who think the "new way" of playing is better should become Golden State fans. They're fun to watch. Yeah, right.
I do prefer "the new way" when it involves Aldridge averaging 25/10. Camby and Aldridge are quickly forming one of the most formidable front court tandems in the game. Aldridge has done a fantastic job of taking over the role of "alpha dog," but who has replaced his role as "second banana"? Matthews is supposed to be that guy, but he's not consistent enough. (People slam on the "old" Aldridge, but he did bring his 15-20 point jump shooting game every night.) And without a consistent second banana, our really inconsistent role players and sad sack bench lead to more losses.
Here is the way I see it. I agree with many of the post above. But what I see as the problem across the board, is the bench, not the starters. The starters are fine and can compete with most teams starters. But the bench has been killing us. They play much better at home, and that is why our home record is much better than our road record, because at home, the crowd gets them going somewhat, which helps a unit which is low on confidence, a ton. Last night, many of the players in the game to get that 3 point attempt off were guys who were brought in to shoot. They are also mostly players who have not been in that situation with this team before, and you could tell. When it came down to crunch time, nobody had any idea of what to do, so they ended up lobbing it to Aldridge at the 3 point line and then getting nothing. That is what a lack of experience does for you, and it will only go away in time as players get experience, or if they are replaced with guy who know what they are doing.
This team has a very difficult time on the road, as evidenced by their 6-14 road record. They play much better at home, where they have a 12-3 record. The good thing is that they have 26 remaining home games compared with only 21 road games. If past trends continue, that would project to 27 additional wins and 20 losses and they'd end up at 45-37. In reality, I think that they'll start to win more road games as they get more confident and experienced in playing together. I'd also expect them to lose a few more at home since I think the 2nd half competition is stronger. That said, I'd expect the overall record to end up at about the 45 win mark.
What happened to your prediction that we would be no where near .500 after this tough string of games, and that the SEASON IS OVER? Is playing .500 ball 'season over' for you? Go Blazers
well we still have 4 games left in that stretch. very good chance we go 0-4. add the rumors we are blowing it up.... and you have my season over prediction as fact *Deleted*
Then why are you predicting now that the team will stay around .500 for the season, *Deleted* 3 games under .500 is not season over, except for bandwagoners. Go Blazers
