Granted we stay relatively healthy and everyone improves....is it possible??? Or am I getting caught up in the moment?
81-1 baby! (ZBO will hit an off balance 3-pointer in the season finale in 4OT to ruin our perfect season)
It is hard to say right now without knowing the overall landscape of the Western conference. Teams will make moves, and we will probably make some changes as well, so let's enjoy the moment. We have all off season to debate this type of thing, but to give my quick answer: It could happen.
Depends on a few things: *Can we get an All-Star PG? *Can a (thinner?) Greg Oden stay healthy? Another HUGE variable - can Greg stay out of foul trouble? With experience under his belt he should have learned a few things by then.
Every year we've gone up by about 10, so 60 wins is what it should be. I certainly do think we can win 60 games, because as young as our team is, one year of improvement in the players can be substantial. Especially for Batum, Oden, Bayless, Rudy...and I think LA. Not to mention that we might land a nice free agent like Miller or Bibby, which would fill a huge hole at backup PG. Also, Webster may come back and be a great asset for us. We can win 52 or 53 this year, and there are many games this year that we should have won, and would have won with a more experienced team.
60 wins is definitely possible. They're going to be over 50 wins this year, with Oden playing so few minutes, with Aldridge only coming on in the last month or two and with nothing from Bayless. Oden will play many more minutes with more experience, an off-season to work and his full explosiveness back. Plus he'll be much better. Aldridge seems to have turned a corner, so getting a full season of aggressive Aldridge will be a huge gain. And Bayless will surely get more time next season, he'll be a year older and have another off-season of work under his belt. And none of this counts any gains from moves Pritchard makes with cap space and draft picks. I think 60 isn't out of reach at all.
4 years from now, after going 61-21, 71-11 and then 81-1, do we demand that the NBA expand the schedule to 92 wins to continue our development?
A month ago I would have said you're crazy if someone tried to suggest 60+ as a plausible win total for next season, but after seeing this team really start to play committed, hard nosed defense and LaMarcus blowing up and looking like a serious threat to go 20/9 in addition to playing great defense I'm beginning to come around and see this team as ready to make a leap to real contender status next year. Of course nothing is guaranteed, but I'm guessing 7-8 more wins can be wrung out of the seat cushions somewhere to get this team to 60next year, but even if they end up finishing around 54-57 (or whatever) that's still a fantastic season and will be just as nice if it manages to get us a division title and home-court advantage for a series or two.
The way this team has improved by 10 games the last three years I say we should expect to win 60 next year. Shoot, all that would have meant for this year would have been to win about 10 more road games.
Pos(t)er of the Year lol j/k....Is this guy a closet Clipper fan that can't escape the dark reality of a team sucking?
