I know it's one game. I know they haven't developed together yet, but I like the vibe of this team. It's very workman like. Tough defense, tough offense..... tough. This is probably one of the best defensive rosters we've had in years. Gerald Wallace, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Marcus Camby, Jamal Crawford. Lots of steals, lots of hustle. I also really like how we're pushing the ball. Making the extra pass. Good ball movement, good player movement. There was a lot to like tonight. I think this is a team that could surprise a few people. I'm kinda hoping we don't make any more moves so we can see what these guys can accomplish together. GO BLAZERS!
They'll be good ... probably not great, but definitely good. If nothing else I can watch this brand of basketball and be entertained.
Nolan > Patty Elliott > Rudy Crawford > Roy Thomas > Oberto/Marks The list could go on with Craig Smith and Chris Johnson This team has the chance to be much better this season
Felton was making great decisions on the P&R. I hated bringing him in here after watching him chuck for years in Charlotte, but he seems to have embraced the true PG role.
It's like that Sacramento preseason game a few years back all over again. It's got me pumped, especially since we didn't play Aldridge. I like the feeling around the team too. They all seem to get along, and it's a good mix of vets and young guys. We're not gonna win the title, but it should be an exciting season and we could surprise a lot of teams. There's a lot to like..
Don't forget Webster, but it was injuries that ruined that team, and so much youth. We've got vets now. Crawford, Camby, Thomas, Wallace, Felton... these guys aren't young. They've been around. We've got a nice group of guys that want to hustle and play hard. I think we could have something special if they mesh and continue to buy into the up-tempo, high-energy offense/defense.
Love it. The addition of Felton is adding another level of aggression to the starting unit. We may have a team of real nasty competitive players here. Could get very interesting.
PER's of our 8 top players last year: Batum: 14.8 Matthews: 15.5 Aldridge: 21.5 Wallace: 18.9 Felton: 16.6 Crawford: 14.2 Camby: 14.8 Last year 6 of our 8 top players had a PER over 14. This year all 8 project to. It's just a deeper team than we had, and when you look at the rest of the lineup it's easy to see how even the end of the bench looks better. Especially with an intense, shortened schedule, the Blazers seem pretty well positioned to get home court in the first round.
