Put it on the board: the Portland Trailblazers are goin to the finals, THE NBA FINALS

I’m going on record. I’ve already maxed out on Bovada. When Nurk and Collins are back we are a contender, and Lebitch will choke in the playoffs as usual, putting us over the top. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

2021

 

If Nurk and Collins come back by February and IF they are on the same level before their injurys and IF we trade Whiteside and Bazemore for 3nD guys who can defend Lebron, Kawhi, Davis, Harden, Doncic, Giannis etc AND hit shots then we are Contender

 

http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/the-nurk-injury-update-thread.342961/page-5#post-4689002

I mean so far my prediction is ON POINT

 

the butts are all in LA

 

So..
Now we overreact to the good.
They beat up on a bad team
It's a start.
Baby steps.

 

Love to face LA Fakers in the first round as an 8th seed IF the league wasn't corrupt and IF the officiating was legit.

 

In 2 or 3 years yeah.

This year? Nope.

 

When has LeBron ever choked in playoffs? ‘As usual’.

 

I’ve been saying this since I saw our new roster play their first game together. This roster is stacked.

Dame (superstar)
CJ (should be all star)
Hood (one of most efficient shooters in league)
Zach (one of best young talents in league)
Nurk (should be all star)

6th man: Whiteside (20 and 10 type player OFF THE BENCH)
7th man: Carmelo Anthony (hall of famer OFF THE BENCH)
8th man: Ant (future all star OFF THE BENCH)
9th man: Bazemore (great defender)
10th man: Herzonja/Skal/Tolliver (use as matchups dictate - all 3 are unique players that can be effective against certain teams, e.g. Mario in fast-pace games)

This is the most stacked roster in Blazers history and when Stotts has everyone on the same page we have warrior-like chemistry.

 

Unfortunately, we will be 20 games out of the playoffs by the time that roster plays together. And that is IF they can keep them all healthy.

 

disagree. We had a bad start not just because of injuries. We had a brand new roster and traveled probably 5x as many miles as the next closest team (we have played more road games than any other team, and the blazers usually average 3x as many miles traveled as the next closest opponent due to location).

Now our players have developed at least a small amount of chemistry. And now we have 13 of our next 16 games at home. We can easily get back to 500 by the new year.

 

Holy shit man

 

I said this in the Carmelo thread. I agree with the OP. I think if we can keep from getting buried by the New Year and Nurk and Zach come back, the Blazers have the potential to have the most complete roster in the West by the end of the regular season. If we can make the playoffs, even without home-court, this is not a team anyone would want to face because it can beat you in a number of ways, can get points from every position, has rebounders, rim-protectors, shot-creators AND there is some flexibility to improve the roster as the season progresses (open roster spot, dealable commodities).

Yeah, a few things have to fall into place, but none of those things are pipe dreams in and of themselves. It's just that there are about four or five things that all have to go right.

 

Our home record is 1-4. Not exactly pointing to how well the team does at home.

I guess we will find out shortly. I still haven't seen us play defense against an average or better than average team. Until the team shows that they can defend for several games in a row, I don't see it. And adding Carmelo to the starting lineup does not help my confidence (although I like what he adds offensively).

We are 6-12, with 37 games left to the All Star Break. No way Nurkic is back before that, and Collins well after that.

If you extrapolate, we will be at 18-37, likely 10 games out of the 8th spot.
Unless the team majorly turns it around, my count looking game by game is about the same.

Nurkic's best case return is ASB. If he even makes that, it will be another month before he is likely playing remotely close to where he was.

Collins will only be back just before the playoffs and will certainly be rusty.

With all that, for the remaining 27 games after the ASB, Blazers would have to 20-7 just to make the 8th seed--maybe.

 

actually, it highlights my point. We are so tired from traveling that it carries over into our home games. We haven’t had a single home stand yet. Flying home in the middle of the night, playing a game and taking off the next morning is not “playing at home” in a deep sense. Not all home games are equal. When our players get time to relax and recharge at home they will play better.

again, makes no sense to extrapolate our record from a period with a brand new roster that traveled 5x as much as any other team during that time period. The assumption that we’re going to be 18-37 is absurd. Mark my words.

 

We have to appreciate this mastery at creating new excuses to every point people make

 

I do understand your point, and I don't really believe we will be at or below 18-37 at the ASB. But, I also think this team has some real defensive deficiencies and the shot allocation is way off balance with CJ taking too many most nights and Hood and Ant not taking enough. Home games are not going to solve the defensive issues nor the shot imbalance. Only coaching and time can help those--and I'm really not sure what Stotts is trying to do right now.

Biggest needs:

Defense at the perimeter
Predictability: just stop making it so easy for the other team
Forced/telegraphed/or just plain terrible passing--usually into the paint

 

I agree Hood needs more shots. But that’s not at all a difficult fix.

all the “biggest needs” problems you’re talking about are due to low energy. They are a completely different team when they have energy.