Is this it? All the hubub for this? Love these guys but this is no championship squad. "Wait!" you say, "Greg is down!" But how much better would he be than Camby? With Camby we get a glimpse of what this team should look like. I conclude our only championship players are B Roy Batum Bayless Camby - as a backup GO?? We need another superstar, and we need a banging PF, a Karl Malone type. LMA is not a championship player. I am afraid this team is a second round and out version, sad to say.
Did you just say Camby and Oden are similar? This has to be a joke. The only thing similar is rebounding. Oden is a beast on the low block and a much better defender (especially man to man) than Camby. Camby is a good weak side shot blocker, and a great rebounder. That is all.
Portland is lacking toughness underneath the boards. Greg adds toughness. Camby and Howard have been fine, but Joel and Greg are a different type of center. We need Greg healthy to be better. This team will not make the second round if they do not move up to 5th.
The Blazers aren't playing very well right now. All teams go through this at various points in the season. The Blazers, with all of their injuries and the limited amount of time that they've had playing together with any one lineup have more reason than about any other team in the league to make a case that they're more likely to get better in the stretch run than what they're showing right now. They've won 7 out of their last 10. Get a grip.
If we have a banging shot blocking rebounding center we don't need one (PF) for the starting five. LMA can be a championship scoring PF. He really hasn't found his groove this season but he has tons of skill, we've just yet to see it consistently. It's in there, just needs to be brought out WE are not beating anyone. Don't talk like your a blazer fan.
The Blazers are 3 1/2 years removed from a 61 loss season, and the luster of making the playoffs has already worn off... Seriously folks, maybe you can sit back and enjoy the ride a little? 5 seasons from now when the core is in their 30's I can see this post, but now? I drove my daughter to school this morning. There was a song on the radio where the young girl sang "Blah blah blah....blah blah blah blah blah....blah (seriously no joking this is music now), that's what this forum seems to have turned into. I open thread after thread to read yet another poster "griping" as Eb said about the team. If watching the Blazers brings you all such pain and anxiety, maybe it's time to take a break until next year. Maybe this team wins a championship in the future, maybe it doesn't. I just think it's become ridiculous that a majority of you have already decided its fate this early in their maturation process.
having your guesses consistently proved wrong sure hasn't slowed you down... you know what? suddenly I feel better about Portland's chances of advancing Only the league's golden goose Lakers would represent dismal odds. The Nugs loss of Kenyon is huge for them, Kirilenko has been having back issues and they gave away Ronnie Brewer to lower their cap figure, and I really like how Portland matches up vs the Mavs. Good times ahead! to the OP question... players typically peak at age 28-9, so... STOMP
I feel where Stevenson is coming from. For me it comes down to Aldrdige. He has been advertised and paid as one of the faces of the franchise. I've been a Aldrdige fan from the get go, but I'm getting concerned if he is one of the big three. To me that means a player taht will produce game in and game out. Lately I don't know if he is capable of that (the smiles while he is struggling and the game is close doesn't help, IMO). At the begining of the year, the future looked so bright with Roy, Aldridge and th potential of Oden at the big three. Those three don't seem to have the luster they had at the begining of the year. But maybe next year coming in not as the team of the future but as a team on the bubble of playoffs will give this team a different focus.
I think this team has the talent to win a championship. I agree that we need a second star, but Oden might be that guy. Obviously it would have been nice to get Caron Butler, but Washington clearly wanted more talent than we were willing to offer. I want to believe that a new coach could get more out of this team though. I don't think McMillan maximizes our talent. I'd like to see how a coach like Larry Brown could shake things up. I remember the Pistons weren't doing anything under Rick Carlisle, and then Brown comes in and they win. I think this team could very easily be the Detroit Pistons with Billups, Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton, and Tay Prince.
I think most of us are a bit concerned about LA's progress, or lack thereof. I keep telling myself that he's probably the player who has been most impacted by the loss of Oden and Przybilla. He's been asked to shift between 4 and 5 and as the only big man who's a credible scoring threat, he's been doubled constantly. I believe the argument on most nights but I do begin to wonder if he has that extra drive you need to be one of the centerpiece players on a championship contender. I'm hoping that he can develop a groove with Camby before the end of the season. If he doesn't, the playoffs will be very short.
They were not doing anything under Carlisle? They lost in the conference finals in his last year. I really think it is not Carlisle's fault that he did not have Rasheed Wallace in his prime next to Ben Wallace, while Brown did...
How many times does it have to be repeated??? This team's success hinges on the health and development of Greg Oden. Why is it so difficult for some to understand this? And why do some posters feel the need to continuously build this ridiculous Strawman argument that other posters think we can win a championship without Oden being a consistent force? So yes, this is about "as good as THIS team gets". Without Oden, we will be consistently making the playoffs, possibly advancing, but no serious championship contention unless Oden becomes a consistent force.
+1. Everything else doesn't really matter. Roy + Healthy Oden is all we need. Everything else is just conversation.
Probably because some people have already given up on Oden ever becoming what you are surmising him to become.
