Or do we just follow this team too closely and know about every one of their bumps and bruises? I've always said the only thing that can stop this group from winning multiple championships is injury. I really hope the legacy of this team isn't the Frail Blazers.
We're pretty bruise right now. I think we might be paying more close attention to it since so many of them are injured all at once right now, and since our key players have been out for long periods of time in the recent past. I've done some comparisons, and our 2007-08 team had nine players that played 70 games or more. The Boston Celtics had eight. The 2006-07 San Antonio Spurs also had nine. The 1999-2000 Blazer team had seven. The early 90's Blazers had nine, eight, and nine. On the other hand, the 2003-04 and 2006-07 Blazer teams had only four. The 2004-05 and 2005-06 teams had three. Those are our non-playoff seasons other than last year. I guess we've been injury prone, but if we can get enough guys to miss fewer than twelve regular season games we might not be so bad off.
I think there are injury-prone concerns with Roy only because of his knees and his will-it-ever-come-back-to-bite-us-in-the-ass heel issue. There are concerns for Oden. Mostly I think it is just many of us being paranoid and waiting for a hammer to fall on our hopes because we believe bad things always happen to us regarding the Blazers. I do not think any of us can offer a truly objective view on this matter as I think our fears drive our thinking on the issue.
It sure seems like it ... but maybe it's so magnified because a lot of our injuries seem to happen so early in the season and all bunched up together, as opposed to being spread through the year.
For we old-timers, I am haunted by the could-have-been teams of the late 70s. When I see Roy with his leg issues, LMA with his hip and heart issues, Webs with his foot and Oden with his knee, the memories of a 50-10 team stopped in its tracks by a crumbled foot just come rushing back.
I think you are right on there. Also, to get good or great players you often have to take risks. For years we took risks on character, is seems that we are taking our risks on injuries these days.
Portland Frail Blazers in full swing. It's almost like we can start taking bets on who's going to go down next.
I think that a lot of the injuries that are happening right now will not keep folks out of the lineup during the regular season. Every team is beat up by the end of the year, and sometimes, even worse in the playoffs. The fact usually comes down to that the players have to nut up, gut it out, and play through it if they can. It's not like Portland is the only team that has got banged up over the years. I can think of many times an untimely injury took other teams out. Steve Nash nose being busted open in the playoffs. James Worthy getting hurt before the finals. Clyde Drexler hurting his knee before the finals against the Bulls. It happens. You gotta enjoy the good, hate the bad, and hope for the best.
Damnit too many things rhyme with Trail. If we are ever boring we will be the stale blazers. Fail blazers if the team doesn't live up to the hype. snail blazers if we run slow offense But on topic I'd like to think we are not injury prone. But it's hard too think that right now.
It's way too early to call the team frail. Much like politics and the stock market, there's just so many more sources of news these days. Combine that with the fine-toothed comb we use to go through stories, and there's simply too much attention paid to minor incidents (Oden's ankle, Blake's injury). 15 years ago, today's Oden story may have never made press. Now there are full threads about his ankle, even though he was back on the court by the end of the day. Pretty much every team has things like this happen. Heck, this season alone, lots of teams are seeing similar problems. If we have a few seasons where we can't get all the crew on the court, KP will move folks and make some adjustments. Yeah it's nervewracking, and yeah I'm eagerly awaiting Oden's presence in a regular season game, and yeah I'm worried Brandon will never play a full 82 game regular season plus playoffs... but those are just worries. We gotta give this team some time and not fret yet.
Sometimes I think little stuff (ie today's Oden ankle) is so blown out of proportion but on the other hand, it eventually turns into surgery for someone, which I don't think is common with every team. It's kind of scary that all these guys have had surgeries already at a young age, but hopefully Martell's in the last of it for awhile and come December, we're ready to go....
Sun Yue- mono Walton- feeling better from ankle sugery Fisher- bruised knee Farmar-Bruised heel Sasha sprained ankle ...it happens to everyone
I LOVE THE AVATAR! I love the shirt, and yes, my sister is freaky in the sack! You actually look like one of those old Asian ladies with that mask on.
You know after watching Milwaukee/Golden State on NBA tv last night, and during the game, they had the IR report go by, and from the looks of it, Portland is not really that more banged up than a lot of teams out there. There are a lot of injuries this pre season.
Interesting post. Thanks for researching that. Makes you realize that you always notice the chip in your own car's paint, but never in the other guy's. There's a trend in bad teams to have lots of players "miss" games due to injury. Some of that is tanking by the team. Some of that is just a player figuring that it's not worth it to play (because they'll probably lose anyway, and why should they risk injury?). Other than Martell, I think a lot of our really recent "injuries" are just the usual small stuff that wouldn't keep guys from playing in the regular season.
I think People question Odens injuries the most because honestly, the guy really doesn't look that great out there on the court. He's slow, he seems to be not ready for any of the passes, and he's always breathing heavy. All we've heard are excuses about why he's not playing that well, injuring himself, maybe the guy really isn't that great. I would be suprised if he turns out to be this All Star type of a player eveyone has made him out to be.
