Six of eight games on the road. Realistically, I'm thinking (hoping?) 5-3. I'd love 6-2, but I think that's too much to ask. To me, that would hinge on the Jazz game. @ Washington (W) @ Philly (W) @ Boston (L) @ Detroit (W) (2NB2B) New Orleans (W) Utah (L) @ Houston (W) @ Dallas (L) (2NB2B)
Why do we lose to Utah at home? I would think we lose to Houston. 6-2 is possible. 5-3 makes more sense.
i think we might drop 1 of the first 2 on the road. wiz can score and philly is a nightmare for us depends if roy plays also... but considering some said 2 wins for january.... i think we are well past that
I was going on the premise that they would win 1 of 2 on each of sets (Boston/Detroit; Houston/Dallas; Orleans/Utah), while beating both the Wizards and Sixers.
You would think that. But every year, you win some you shouldn't win, and lose some you shouldn't lose. Right now Boston really isn't playing real great. Sure KG and Wallace are out, but they will be back for the Portland game. They are still beatable. Chicago took them out at Boston the other night. I also don't buy the automatic loss in Dallas. We beat them there last time, and broke the losing streak against them. That is big, and a confidence booster. The Houston game worries me because they hustle and have 2 excellent defenders. The home games should both be wins. New Orleans has been playing well. I actually expect to lose that one. They matchup favorably against the Blazers at severa positions.
I'd be extremely happy if we went 5-3 over that stretch. The 76ers game worries me. They killed us at the Rose Garden two weeks ago. They know they can have success by pounding the ball inside to their bigs - which they did last time, and the Blazers had no answer. Dalembert, Brand and Speights combined for 53 points on 25-33 shooting. If they follow the same formula, we could be in trouble. As hasoos mentioned, NOH are playing much better these days. So, one's not a gimme either. This team is totally overachieving, and I'm very proud of them. The upcoming schedule is going to be tough with so many road games. I hope they can continue to overachieve, but if they don't, I won't get down on them. What they are doing right now is flat out amazing. BNM
@ Washington (W) @ Philly (L) (They beat us at home remember? We struggle against them for some reason) @ Boston (L) @ Detroit (W) New Orleans (W) (Our game plan will be focused on CP and Peja) Utah (W) @ Houston (L) (We don't play very well there with their loud crowd) @ Dallas (W) (We have Rudy and Pendergraph back for this one) 5 wins, 3 losses.
They have multiple bigs that can score on our undersized front court. It's really as simple as that. With Oden and Przybilla both out, Brand simply overpowered our bigs and Dalembert and Speights both shot better and scored more than their seasonal averages. Our best hope is that AI will play selfish, jack up too many shots from the perimeter and not look to pound the ball inside. Unfortunately, those days seem to be in the past. He's only averaging 11 FGA/G since the 76ers picked him up - which is exactly what he took in Portland when they beat us by 11. BNM
none of this matters if roys out... if roy is out 4 games... the pistons will be our only win. this trip should be 3-1 with roy
I would be happy with 3-3 and anyone who wants more is probably going to be let down. People need to remember that we are still injured, and with a terrible coach like Nate we clearly cannot continue to win. I would love 3-3 and anything else is gravy.
I'd be perfectly happy with 4-4 over the next 8 games. Anything more than that is gravy. Anything worse than that and I won't be jumping off any bridges. This is the part of the schedule where if the Blazers can just tread water they will be fine. If they can just hold on until they start to get a few more bodies back, they will be in good shape heading into the all-star break. BNM
so batum and travis are gonna play center? honestly... its nice to have them but they arent gonna change the fact we have no center. with the way webster is playing... i think you package outlaw and batum for heyward
