The optimism (this season) about the Blazers is ludicrous

If you want to talk about elite 2-way power forwards who were always relatively healthy but stuck on crappy teams, a better example is Garnett in Minnesota. His teams after his rookie year never dipped below .500 until the final two years. And if you look at those last two seasons those teams were seriously terrible.

Obviously, at that time Garnett ranged from being maybe top 3 in the league to top 7. Much better than LMA. So it's a pretty imperfect comparison.

But it seems to me that if you have an elite PF who plays both offense and defense, and you have a bevvy of good three point shooters playing starters minutes (Batum, Matthews, Lillard), and a PG who by all accounts can run a good pick and roll, it's not a stretch to project it to go .500.

The perimeter shooting in particular should be a major upgrade for us this season. That, plus having a center who can score a little (which all 3 of our C's project to do). We're losing a lot in defense and savvy over last year's starting lineup, and we've definitely taken a hit on the bench, but there have been significant upgrades too.

 

I guess what I expect and what is realistic are one thing and what i think is possible is another. I actually like our starting 5/6 players. I think there is a chance that things come together and we catch some people off guard. But to compete or make the playoff a few things would have to happen:

First and foremost we would have to be completely healthy. Like zero injuries.
Second, the rookies would have to play not like rookies sooner rather than later. And one of the bench guys would have to "break out"
Third, we would have to catch some breaks and get a few calls here and there. Get lucky
And finally we would have to find a way to use are youth to our advantage. Which is really hard to do.

So although these things arent impossible or even hard to do in some cases, any true Blazer fan knows that these things dont generally happen when it comes to the Blazers. Its also really hard in our division where 4 teams could have a shot at the playoffs


So my high hopes are that for these young guys and the team in general is that it could be really beneficial to be battling for a playoff spot at least until the last few weeks or so. To get the good and bad taste in their mouth to build and motivate for next year.

 

That's a debate worth having, especially considering those were also Shaq and Duncan's glory years.

But yeah, when you want to talk about the real travesties in terms of squandered talent over the past 15 years, how badly the T-wolves built around Garnett is right up there.

It's why I had absolutely no problem with LeBron leaving Cleveland.

 

When you think back to the Shaq/Duncan/Garnett/Dirk era, it makes you wonder if the Heat could've won a title back then. The size and skill of the current crop of elite PF/C's just doesn't compare.

Man, I'm becoming one of those old guys I always hated, saying "back in my day..."

 

I'm optimistic about the year and I think the team will struggle to win 32 games. A decent pick in the lottery and some cap space for the summer will take care of the issue at SG, hopefully, but that doesn't mean I am not excited to watch the team grow this year, and LMA develop into a true franchise player.

Why is that ridiculous?

 

Good post.

 

i think the main point of "optimism" is lillard, as he goes, so do the blazers chances to win this year, and in the future

 

thus, championship.

 

You advocated us drafting Marquis freaking Teague over Lillard. You dug yourself so far in a hole emotionally that you're now crossing your fingers that Lillard won't pan out when its obvious he will.

 

Optimism - its what fans do! And we have it to piss off the "glass is half empty" cry babies.

 

I didn't dig myself into anything....but your constant attacks on me are pretty pathetic.....

 

well said and I agree on the SG position, that position and quality depth are our big needs. While Wes may improve some this yr I just don't think he's the longer term SG answer, he'd be a good 6th man to have. I have to look at who is available as an SG FA next summer, or perhaps at SF if we instead decide to use Nic at SG.