It's good to hear things like Greg Oden is looking good in practice, that he has his spring back. Martell Webster tearing it up in and that his shot looks as good as ever. Nicholas Batum raising his game up another level in Europe. But forgive me for being a lil skeptical. I think out of all the reports we have heard, the one I believe the most is Martell Webster. Mainly because I kind of felt he was due to blow up. Here is a guy that has been a way from the game for a year. The year before that, he was showing signs of taking off. If he stays healthy. I could see him average 15 points a game for this team, this season. A year away from work in idle mode will do funny things to you. I'm sure he has a big itch to get out there and prove himself. I'm a lil a less optimistic on Oden. I don't believe he can do a complete 180 in 4-5 months. If it's true he has his spring back like Rice said last night. That alone is great news. But seeing is believing. I know Rice and the entire blazer team try to be as positive as they can. I think they try to accentuate the positive more than what is reality at times. Nicholas Batum, his biggest fan might be Kevin Pritchard. I guess we will find for sure if Kevin Pritchard is more of a used car sales person with his pitch or if there is some substance to backup what Kevin is saying. I hope the reports are true. But again, I have my doubts that is he ready to come in retain his starting position. Like Greg, I don't believe he can polish his game that much in four to five months to make that big of improvement. Will see. Training Camp with he and Martell will be intriguing. I would love to believe all the hype. But I believe for most of these guys, that is all this is, is hype. I would love for all of it to be true though. I'm def looking forward to camp to see what this hype is about. One thing that does stand out to me and is more of a telling sign of what reality is, Rice expects LaMarcus Aldridge to be the most improved player of the team this year. I want to see him improve but he is not the player I want to see the biggest improvement from. It really makes me wonder just how much better guys like Greg, Martell and Nic have really gotten.
While the media is certainly putting a positive spin on things, I don't find it hard to believe most of what I've read/heard about Oden, Martell and Batum. They are all very young players who should be improving as they gain experience and work on improving their games. Also, two of them are coming off their rookie seasons, and two of saw their play play imited last year by injuries. Even if Oden has ZERO improvement in all other areas (which I think is ridiculous to assume at his age) if all he does is cut down on fouls he will be a force at both ends of the court. I expect even more. He will be healthier, in better shape, quicker and smarter after a challenging rookie season. I think he's still couple years away from becoming an all-star caliber center, but I think he will start moving in that direction this season. Look for him to average in the low teens in scoring and double digits in rebounding this season. BNM
Actually, Rice said that LaMarcus will be the best player on the team PERIOD this year. Including Roy. I agree that that's a tad hard to swallow, even for someone with Rose Garden-colored glasses.
Well it was in the same segment in which they were speaking about the most improved player. Maybe Rice twisted the question around and interpreted it differently again.
Not a member of the Optimist club, are you? As long as you don't follow their every word and base your life off it I think you will be Ok. I agree with the other response in that almost every player on the team is going to improve, it's just a matter of how much. With Oden and Webster I expect pretty significant improvements in their all around games (with Martell just being able to show what he can do). As for Batum, it's not just KP. Pretty much everyone who has watched the Eurocup games echos his sentiment. It's sunny today.....enjoy it.
I mostly agree. This is the time of the year that everyone talks a good game. Down in Memphis, they are probably telling people that AI will make them a play-off team! I do disagree with the idea that the Webster hype is the most likely to be true. With Batum, we have actually evidence that he is playing well alongside and against NBA level talent. Webster is all sizzle and no steak. He wasn't very good to begin with, and his year away from the game is a negative, not a positive.
Given the history, do you blame people for not trusting the Portland sports media? How often do you get serious, objective analysis? It seems like they have only 2 gears: over-the-top optimism, or Spanish Inquisition.
I'm sorry but I tend to get a lil peeved when someone blows a bunch of hot air out of their you know what. It's no different than someone trying to sell you something fully knowing it's a lemon. Stick to reality. I'm going to follow this team no matter what.
I hear ya. I don't think there is anybody in the local sports' media who writes/speaks for the hard-core fans. It seems geared 100% for the "oh, is it basketball season already?" crowd.
I am not so sure. Roy definitly has turned out better than I thought he would, but back then I was pushing to take Lamarcus at #1. Since then surely Roy has shown he is the man. But big men take a little bit longer to hit their stride, and you have to remember. Aldridge came out way early. So he has some room in his game to grow.
I don't blame anyone for not buying the hype, but I find it strange that there is a negative reaction to it. To me there is a difference between no reaction and a negative reaction. If you don't believe in this, no reaction seems to be the most suitable response. Granted, I'm guilty the other way. I gave a negative response to Canzano would he got half of Blazer nation thinking that things could fall apart between Roy and the Blazers, when it seemed painfully obvious a deal would be reached. However, I felt the difference was I was looking to point out the positive, not the negative.
There is no Hype Machine on Batum. He is the real deal and will for sure be a better player next year. I want to believe it about Webster and honestly, deep down I really do think he is going to play well this year as a spot up shooter and I think he will try to play D. Oden, hell I can't lie. I think deep down he is going to kick ass this year too. I hope Joel will want to be traded sometime this year. Because that means Oden is ready to go.
Batum has come a long way from being someone that none of us thought would contribute for years, to someone we all think should be the starter for the 2009-2010 season.
Batum was so far off the radar at this point last year. It's amazing what the guy did in his rookie year in terms of not hurting, and at times really helping, the team. I am really impressed by him in terms of stepping in for an injured Webster.
Yeah, at this point about a year ago I believe people were wondering if he would even be staying the U.S...
you're wrong... I know I wasn't alone in predicting that Nic wasn't going to take years. That KP had long spoken about needing to add a shut down wing defender and then traded up for NB gave me a lot of reason to believe that NB was going to be a part of the rotation sooner then later. I posted exactly that last offseason. you're also wrong that everyone here thinks Nic will be the starter at SF this year... there are some that have posted that it's Martell's spot and Nic was a "starter by default" collectively we're rarely all on the same page STOMP
