neither. I don't know if Portland is the best team in the NBA, and I'm waiting for them to succeed. this all or nothing belief stuff is pretty silly. blazer optimistic agnostics unite!
Westbrook was averaging his fewest minutes since his rookie year at 32.9. Didn't help him avoid 3 injuries. Did you see Durant and Ibaka in the playoffs? It was pretty bad. Now I expect them to be a bit better this go around but Westbrook is the difference between that being an average team and a great team.
Playoffs are also against much better teams and playing the same team repeatedly. Also, Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, and (possibly) Steven Adams could chip in valuable minutes. It's not like they play murderers row over the next 2 months anyway.
I only hope they play .600 ball while he's injured. That way we can have a cushion for the home stretch.
Sith Lord? So you're saying I'm either a "Luke Skywalker" or a "Darth Vader" fan? Sounds like 2 types to me.
Jackson, Lamb and Adams are decent. I just think they are over-hyped and an excuse for why the Thunder are "elite", opposite of the excuses made against Portland.
On the idea of non-guaranteed contracts. One thing to keep in mind is that it's good to penalize teams for offering bad contracts. For example, if two teams get into a bidding war, and Team B offers a ridiculous contract to lure a player from Team A, should they be able to just wipe their hands clean of it if the player doesn't pan out? In the NFL, you can cut a player and not have to pay him, but his remaining contract still counts against your cap. I also agree that the NBA has too many games. They play 82 games and don't even eliminate half the teams, then there's a long playoff series. The only advantage you get from it is 1 home court game?
Ibaka plays awesome defense, he shoots the midrange jumper more accurately than LaMarcus. In their last matchup LaMarcus made an insane amount of tough shots against Ibaka; I don't think LMA can keep that up routinely. Durant is the real deal on offense. I love his game and attitude. All your love of the Blazers chemistry you should appreciate the great team players throughout the league. Durant is one of the great personalities and a human being you want to be around.
