Another year together and some good offseason pick ups should put us in the mix to achieve that goal. Lillard is only going to get better. His first playoffs was phenomenal. Best I've ever seen a guy play in his first playoffs. Great season.
Well tough to say. Sure WCF would be great but to be a favorite for that we need a top 2 seed, that'll be freaking tough. We had very few injuries this year, don't think any other team had 4 starters play 82 games. Sure that could happen again but we could easily have two guys miss a month and struggle to get 50wins. The west might be even deeper nexy year. If the NBA went to seed teams 1-16 I'd like our chances much more. Miami is aging 3 years a season. The next 10 best teams may all be in the west. I could see us playing nearly as good as we did this year next season but have a few more bounces go against us and not even make the playoffs.
Good goal to shoot for. I still think we are two years away but getting that experience would be great. Hope we don't play SA again, losing to them could get the team down.
A useful goal, but prepare to not meet it unless Olshey makes big improvements this summer. We were very lucky to get past Houston, so I wouldn't assume making the 2nd round will repeat.
My opinion: Meyers needs to go. He's useless and reminds me of a 7foot Bieber ..... Claver needs to go. He's also not going to elevate us to that next level. Earl needs to go. What does he even do?? Mo needs to be traded/go to help us gain defense guys. Jury is still out on Joel. TRob, CJ, Will should stay. Specially the Thrill. So with that said, we need a defensive presence on our team. We do not have one, nor a defensive specialist. Sorry but Wes and Batum are average defenders. But maybe that is the product of our shitty system, unsure at this point. Goal: WCF, or bust. Add a real backup Center w/rebounding and defense as strong point. Add a scrappy defensive SF (like Battier type). Add another PG to replace Mo/Earl, or really invest minutes into CJ.
Logical yes, but realistic? I don't think many people realize how lucky we were this year. 4 starters playing 82 games, and no significant injuries even with guys playing 35-40 mins nightly. This is NOT sustainable. Look at what happened to GS last year-- they had similar luck health wise and got stomped by SA in the second round. Everyone thought they'd be a contender this season, but they had injury problems and barely made the playoffs in the competitive west. I've said this before but this is never a linear progression in the west. We aren't even guaranteed to make the playoffs next year-- much less advance a few rounds. It's why I wish we played better and made the most of the opportunity we had this year. I don't think getting 5 games into a very noncompetitive second round was the ceiling for this roster.
Spurs OKC Clippers Houston To make the WCF we will have to beat out 3 of the 4 above teams. That would be a tough deal.
I think Meyer needs to stay. He's a big and he is athletic. He just needs to learn to play. Claver is a meh to me. We will always have 5 players at the end of the bench to be victory cigars and he's as good at that as anyone else. Earl brings a lot of intabgibles to practice. Young players learn from him. I'd like to see him retire and become part of the coaching staff. Mo needs to stay. He's instand offense off the bench and brings a solid veteran presence. He gets the game. I also like the idea of grooming Barton to be our next 6th man in place of Mo. Joel needs to stay. Very servicable backup big. I love TRob and would like to see a real open competition between Crabbe and CJ to see who we may want as an occassional 3 pt shooter off the bench. I actually think Crabbe has a better all around game than CJ.
OK, but if we have Mo, Joel, Crabbe, CJ all stay, then who will we move to improve? If we stand pat, I fear we just wont improve enough. Not at least w/Stotts system in-place (Roation/Defense wise).
The problem with moving Mo now is that I don't think anyone is able yet to replace him. Maybe after next season, but not now.
I think Portland is probably another year away from being serious contenders. Assuming they keep everyone together and there are no freak injuries, then 2016 could be a very fun year
Goals for 2014-2015: Fewer close games. We played 29 games decided by 5 points or less, and were 15-14 in those games. San Antonio was 10-1 in games decided by 5 points or less. We need to be more like them in this regard. That means retaining leads, closing out, having the killer instinct. We were 5-8 in games decided by 2 points or less! That needs to change. Play the games like it's the playoffs. Now the players know how teams play in the playoffs. They need to take that style to heart. Take the games seriously. Yes, it's a marathon. But every game counts, especially in the West Closing out opponents better will make the rest come. More wins, more toughness, and a better preparation for the playoffs. I can't set a minimum expectation in the playoffs yet. We're too new. But achieving those goals should make the third round possible.
