Maybe because the Blazers had the youngest playing rotation in the entire NBA last year? With all that extra "fight" the Nuggs had over last years Blazers, they had the same exact record.
And didn't exactly do anything to improve their team. Other than JR Smith spending time in jail, that is.
I think it's very likely the Blazers will be better than the Nuggets this year, but I can see that the statement might be more accurate... the Blazers didn't have a good playoff series and they simply don't have a track record of success (even to the meager level of the current Nuggets). With that being said... so what? Portland can't be the same team it was last year and succeed. I think that most people who follow the team expect some emotional maturation and I think the "show more fight" statement would be less confusing and more wrong by this time next year. Ed O.
They had the same regular season record, but did much better in the cauldron of the play-offs. If he had said "toughness", instead of "fight", it would be hard to dispute.
