Interesting comparison by some L.A. Sports radio pundits: Early 2000's Detroit Pistons. Iirc this comparison has been made a few times -- was it Dave at B-Edge? Lillard -- Billups Mathews/CJ -- Rip Batum -- Prince Aldridge -- Wallace Lopez -- B.Wallace I also think Robinson can turn into what McDyess did for Detroit - a pick-and-pop mid-range jumpshooter who is a capable defender and rebounder off the bench. Obviously we're not close defensively.
I see us as a mix of those Pistons and the championship Mavs. Personnel wise we are damn near the same as the Pistons like you've shown but the way we play is so similar to the Mavs.
This team has a whole lot better offense than the Pistons and nowhere near the defense. The only real resemblance is in the lack of superstar power.
I just want to see the Blazers win a playoff series. We currently have the longest running streak in the West for not winning a series. The players don't really compare to the pistons....maybe in terms of talent level, but not style.
I've thought for the last few weeks, it would be how fast and how much Lillard improves. I thought this was, maybe, one of those watershed games for Lillard. It wasn't just pull up jumpers and threes tonight, he was attacking the rim and finding ways to get off his shot and draw fouls against the stingiest defense in the league. He's been trying to do that all season, but I think this might be the first great showing of it. If he can do that on a regular basis, we'll be dangerous in all phases of the halfcourt offense, and, well, the sky's the limit.
I can't over how much better TRob's mid range jumper has improved in such a short time. It went from pathetic to not bad at all, in just one month. He seems to gain confidence with every game. They are doing a good job of refining his game. Mo is obviously a lightning rod of a subject. I think Stotts sees him in the Jason Terry role in Dallas. Jason was not always the best play maker either, but he would hit some clutch shots. Like Mo did tonight. Not saying he is as good as JT. but he is important to the success of this team. We need him to succeed badly.
I think it's been a confidence thing for Robinson the whole time. What I love is seeing him monster his way into the paint to grab a board over three guys. I think he'll be a very good player if we can help him develop a few decent post moves.
Definitely more gifted offensively and nowhere near those Pistons teams defensively, so predicting their "ceiling" is kind of tough, because we all know that the playoffs get a lot tighter and are usually won by the better defensive team. But the "five good players and no superstar(s)" template is there. Makes me wish Indiana didn't match that Hibbert offer sheet two years ago.
Getting Hibbert would have been huge. Not sure what our team would look like right now if Indy didn't essentially match our offer.
