My mom was all set to go to gonzaga from what I heard she decided to get pregnant with me instead. We all make bad choices lol.
Worried about me going Danny Marang on yall?! I kid, I kid. NBCNW won't hire me because Ill never work for BlazersEdge.
Actually i'm kinda split on this interview. On another thread you tell me that the only injuries that would really make a difference would be Dame or Nurkic but even Nurk could be replaced mid season. But on here you straight up say they gotta remain healthy? Then you go all in about Aminu and Harkless being versatile and solid defensively but make no mention at all about there absolute black hole offense? Especially Aminu. Chief is quite possibly the biggest problem this team has on the court? Not sure why they still have this dude in a Blazer uniform? Actually i do know why. It's because nobody in the league would touch him for the last 3 years running. If the Blazers regress so far as to not make the playoffs do you actually think this team doesn't go through a complete tear down and rebuild? The Blazers after getting 3rd seed last year absolutely should be a lock to make the playoffs. But for some reason they are not. Even you seem to give that vibe? I would have liked to hear your thoughts on why there is questions concerning this team at all? However it was really nice to see you get some more exposure and i hope you continue to be successful. I will try to find the time and watch some more of your work. Yes you are one of the "Truest Blazer Fans" out there. I also agree Dame will compete for MVP but he will be down the list quite a bit. Maybe get a mention here and there but in the end will not be in the running.
The "if they remain healthy" is a caveot to us being a sure playoff team with no specifics. On here I said I think we can handle injuries to anyone but Dame and Nurkic, not necessarily that our playoff chances take no hit at all if other guys get hurt. You're misreading things and trying to compare two different statements. He asked me question about our defense and I mentioned Aminu and Harkless. Why would I talk about their offense when he asked me about our defense? C'mon man. Yada irrational Aminu hate... okay. The Blazers are a lock for the postseason if they remain healthy, because one out of the teams rated 3rd through 9th will have injury issues ttll make them fall beneath us. Back to the caveot (and the explanation that came with it that I'm now re-explaining). You would've liked to hear my thoughts on why there's questions regarding this team? What? Smh.
There seems to be a lot of people questioning whether this team can even make the playoffs. I personally think that would be a total failure of a season if they actually miss them. Injuries or not. I went low on my prediction at 42 games. Probably should have gone about 44 but i'm gonna stick with 42 and hope for better. Regression is not really acceptable with a team as young as the Blazers. They should improve? This is the question i am asking. What are your thoughts on why this is the case? Is it just economics? Salary cap and inability to move on anything because Neil Olshey blew it? Or is it something deeper? Stotts/Lillard and CJ/ Aminu and Harkless. Combination of all of the above? What do they do this year to change? Are we gonna see a more diverse offense? Probably not because Aminu still can't hit a shot or dribble the ball. Harkless will disappear for 3-4 games at a time. Nurk will still try to finger roll every shot around the rim. Or are they simply gonna try to stop teams consistently on defense and grind out wins against lesser teams then get smacked around again in the playoffs? That is what i am asking.
Aminu deserves getting no respect on offense and he gets none. It isn't me.... It's every NBA team the Blazers play. Aminu/Harkless deserve the disrespect they get. But lets not get all "Hatred" going. Nobody anywhere has said anything about "Hating" Aminu or Harkless. The good thing about Aminu is he will be gone this year. They will get rid of his expiring contract and fill that role with someone else. Hopefully someone that can do more on offense than stand at the arc and hope his shot falls while teams beg him to shoot it and drop off creating a 5 on 4 with no chance for any ball movement. The other thing was he seemed to actually reel himself in a bit last year on the fast break train wrecks. Maybe there is hope?
my Problem with Aminu / Harkless is very similar. Teams can sag off of them and close hard because they lack the ability to pump fake and go around the defense. They’re pretty good defenders that can switch and do some good things on that end of the court. I think teams disrespect them a lot and rarely pay for it. However to be fair I also believe its because of how much respect Dame and CJ get. I think Aminu looked quite a bit better last year, he played under control more, didnt turn the ball over as much. Overall I thought he played well. Harkless played a good 10-20 games last year and when he did they were a different looking team. I believe in order for the Blazers to become a contender they have to upgrade at one of the forward spots. Honestly both of those guys are good rotation, and role players but the contenders these days just have so much talent. Id love to see if Zach could challenge Aminu to be a starting 4, or if One of the new guys could challenge Harkless as the starting 3. Before last year I was more of a “hater” of aminu than I am now. I thought over all he played quite a bit better.
You total NOOB, Wiggins is great - you can tell by his huge salary. Why would he make so much if he wasn't great?
We've had this back and forth for years now KJ. You flat out hate Aminu and you won't convince me otherwise.
I was thinking about this a bit this morning. Portland fans we always feel like our team and its players dont get the respect they deserve. Then the question I have is well how much respect ‘do’ they deserve? Its not like theyve proven much the last few years other than Dame is capable of carrying them in the regular season. Its an interesting line of I think we as fans tend to over value our guys and the national peope just dont give them any thought whatsoever.
I personally think Aminu is one of the more tradeable pieces they have. I say that as not a huge fan of his game, but he’s on a good contract and performs about as well as you’d expect one on that level contract.
