this season might make a turn for the better....just a feeling. feltons last 3/4 games hes played pretty damn well.... and this is coming from a felton basher. these guys are not known as being quitters, winning a few games ina row could change everything
Yeah same here, but it even trickles down in games. We look like shit at the beginning, then we start coming back, only to give threes and turn the ball over and get down big again. It's like just when you see some hope, our team fails and digs an even bigger hole. Once I start seeing a pattern of hustle and caring is when that gut feeling is real.
So by better you mean worse? Better meaning squeezing into the 8th seed and getting beat in the first round? Better meaning the Blazers will keep Nate another year? Better meaning they will continue to think they are doing a good job and not hire a GM?
You're such an expert... Can you remind me why we play? At the end of the day you play to win the game. If we win and made the playoffs we would still have a lot of cap room. The point of the game isn't to get draft picks.
At the end of the day, you play to win championships. Staying average is not the way to win championships. It's a way to keep a fan base that has been molded over the years to accept mediocrity happy.
I don't think our management and coaching is all that good. I also don't believe they've been looking to stay average to make the first round and lose. They've been making attempts at adding talent. They upgraded previously to Camby at C. To Wallace at SF. To Crawford over Rudy. Made an attempt at thinking it'd be an upgrade from Miller to Felton. No, staying average is not the way to win. Same way staying in the lottery isn't either.
Staying in, no, but getting lucky in, yes. It's certainly not fool proof, but for a small market team that has a hard time attracting big time FA's to it, striking gold in the draft is the way to go about it. You can trade for players, but again, you have to have assets to do that, and players that won't sulk for being traded to Portland. But frankly, we need people in place that have the ability to make smart basketball decisions both in talent and regarding injuries. Knowing what we all know, drafting Oden was stupid because we have been told they knew about the risks. Draft Roy Roy wasn't as stupid, but really, Gay should have been the pick. No more Babbitts, Clavers, Freelands. Get guys here now that can contribute and have some value around the league
The Next 4 games: At Indiana, At NY, At Chicago, At OKC. We need to go 2-2, if we go 2-2 we are in this, if we go 1-3 it's status quo, if we go 0-4 we'll start looking down (and high in the lottery), if we go 3-1 it's the highlight of the season but probably be too much of a high-point and we would only suffer, if we go 4-0 we win the championship.
I agree about better decision making. But it's always easy to say draft the good players, not the bad. Even your pizza man liked Babbitt. But it's easier said than done, which is why a lot of teams stay in the lottery. Breaking it down is primarily difficult, IMO, because you end up overpaying some young guys by forcing them into roles they aren't ideal for. And the not staying in, but getting lucky works the same for mediocrity. Staying in one place isn't a good thing, but getting lucky on one trade, free agent, etc. is good. Same way staying in the lottery is bad, but getting out of it with a good player is good.
Pizza guy still swears by and stands by Babbitt, LOL I guess for a small market team without a lot of highly desirable assets, lottery seems to be the right move IMO, over trading or FA's
I wouldn't go that far, but it would sure make me feel a shit load better. There are some tough teams in the next 4. We have a shot at winning two, but if we win 4, that means we were 5-2 on a trip many believed we would be 2-5 on. And depending on how other teams play, it could move us all the way into 6th seed. That would be some turn around. Sadly, I just don't see this current roster doing anything like that. I hope I'm wrong. I just want to see energy on the court. I want our players to play with some sort of urgency. That's all us fans can hope for. If we get beat by the better team, then so be it. We just need to play hard every night.
Like any approach,. I feel there is a bigger risk for a small market team of dropping into the lottery for any extended period, and there's the strong reliance on those lottery picks, in a boom or bust way, as we have seen with Roy and Oden. That can cripple a team. Big markets can get over it a little easier because of their ability to maybe attract a free agent to cover the mistake. Or already have a previously good player on the roster. But with that big risk, I think an approach of trading for or signing known talents, with a few small warts might be the better approach. Trading for previous lotto picks not needed or wanted by current teams for whatever reason. Finding guys in the wrong situation, wrong fit. Not him specifically, though I'd take the chance on his talent, but a guy like Beasley. Brandon Jennings maybe. Tyreke Evans? Known qualities to remove some of the risk of dipping into the lotto for extended periods.
Since the team doesn't have a 1st round pick next season, I would rather have the meltdown *this* season.
