Wow! I guess I'm a fool. Here, let me break it down. You keep bringing up our top 3 this, our top 3 that. I'm looking at more like our top 8 or 9. I believe we do miss Travis' scoring punch off the bench.......... yes I believe we will miss Greg and Joel's presence in the middle on the offensive and defensive end............... I don't think Rudy will be back for at least a month, so yes I believe we will miss what he brings to the court. Nic, LA, Blake we will miss all of their talents. I don't know why this is so hard to understand and why this makes me a fool. Top 3? More like top 9.
When we start going on losing streaks I will entertain the idea that we aren't going to make the playoffs. I just don't see OKC or Memphis finishing with a better record than us. Great players carry their teams. Roy is a great player. Roy, LMA and Miller are going to carry this team. We'll be fine.
And after that 13 game win streak, the team was less than mediocre the rest of the season. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing...but over the course of an 82 game season, it isn't enough to sustain a team. The Blazers have done themselves proud the last few games, but it can't last the rest of the season.
You see it a lot from a team after a big trade or when they fire a head coach. Everybody rallies and steps their game up. I hope I'm wrong, and will be the first to admit it, but talent is what wins in this league and we are missing a ton of it.
Don't under-estimate our blossoming scrappiness, and the valuable experience gained from running the gauntlet. Seriously, we are going to be so strong this spring it's not even fair.
This team will make it. Not by much, but they will. Roy is just too good, especially with LMA, Miller in the near, and Batum and Rudy coming soon. This month may suck, but in the end, I have confidence.
I've thought the same thing. In fact, we were 22-13 that season too right at the end of our 17-1 stretch. We went 19-28 the rest of the way. But I keep telling myself that was that year and this is this year. As long as Juwan stays healthy...
Look at the 7 game stretch last month: Kings, Suns, @Magic, @Heat, @Mavs, @Spurs (no Roy), Nuggets. How many did you see us winning?
The truth is that this team is playing better now than before Oden went down. Oden's injury brought the focus back to Roy and he loves it that way. He even intimated so in post game quotes.
Ummm Joel went down during the Dallas game and Roy missed the game in SA. Oden, Rudy, Outlaw missed all 7 games.
I think we'll hang on and grab a playoff spot. The only worry is we need one more big body who can play (sorry Shav, it's not you). Rudy and Nicolas will be a huge help when they return, and I think we have enough talent to pull through. I don't bet against B-Roy. The only thing I don't see is fulfilling our preseason expectations of winning a first-round playoff series.
Roy and LMA playing a lot of mins is eventually going to catch up with them. It all depends on how the rest of the team does and how long it takes for players to come back from injuries. I do expect a period when shots don't drop and we'll struggle, but we have shown that we can slow down the pace and make almost any game a close game if we have to. Even if we do struggle at some point that doesn't mean we won't make the playoffs though I can already see the reaction from some posters when we do struggle.
We'll play well for a while, but through this we haven't solved the riddle of fast break points and the creation of high percentage shots on offense. It was the same story 2 years ago after the streak--we were absolutely bananas from deep that season.
HCP... im not saying your wrong but i just read this morning that Rudy and Travis will be back by the end of the month.... Batum and Rudy Fernandez are expected to return sometime later this month from injuries and that could cut into the playing time, if not end it completely, for Cunningham and Pendergraph. But in the meantime, the Blazers will continue to rely on the surprising rookie duo. I think we all know it will be a tough month but as long as we can get maybe 5-6 wins... in a long January... i think we will be ok.
When this team is against the wall... they seem to play better. When they schedule is tough... they play tougher. I will not count them out. Sure logic would say it will be tough... I understand that... but you have to play the games. Anyone thinking they can relax because the Blazers and underhanded, has had a rude awakening. Against the Warriors we played a style I haven't seen yet this year against a team that should have been better at it and yet... somehow... we won. I am a bit worried about riding out big horses too much though. How will Roy hold up? Do we really want to risk major injury to him just for a first round exit? So far I have been shocked at how well and hard the team has played. This team has dug deep... and when everyone the planet would have understood a letdown... they came back even stronger. They remind me of the knight in Monty Python that gets its limbs cut off and yet they keep battling. AND WINNING. This team has heart. This team has guts. Will reality catch up to them? Maybe. Maybe. But instead of cashing it in... it is obvious they are going to play hard and make teams beat them. As a fan... that is all I can ask.
And here I thought you were consistent. You say this kind of shit, then jump down other posters' throats for saying the same thing. Whatever. Go Blazers
It's the NBA - consistent effort, especially on defense, will be enough to get us into the playoffs even with a depleted effort. We have one of the best players in the league to help us overcome the mediocre clubs and even give us a shot against the contenders.
