Yeah, the current team when not healthy blows (actually even that is argueable). When fully healthy, I believe we are quite a force.
I certainly don't think so....The guy is still pretty young, is arguably thier best player IMO, has NBA playoff and finals experience (wasn't he an NBA finals MVP?...edit...yes he was, in 2007)....He can score at will, I think he would play extremely well off of Roy and would be that consistent #2 scoring option that Aldridge has been unable to provide.... All this specualtion of Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Chris Bosh are pipedreams....they are not going to happen...Here you have a player who is seemingly available and is a very good player...I don't see a lot of other players of his caliber on the market....Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Monta Ellis, Joe Johnson...some good\really good players there, but I don't think any of those players is better than Tony Parker, nor have any of them achieved anything close to what he has in his career so far.....
I like Boozer actually, I would flip Aldridge for him in a heartbeat...that being said I don't see Boozer coming to POR...
When healthy, why not? The fact we missed Roy (a fully healthy Roy) against the Suns in the playoffs this year was huge (especially because his replacement blew), and of course, missing Oden and even Pryzbilla hurt as well. I don't see why not when healthy.
I think your dreaming...the team was healthy 2 years ago and couldn't get past HOU, who couldn't get by the Lakers.... Even healthy this team wasn't advancing past PHX, let alone having ANY chance to beating the Lakers or Celtics.... Beating LA in the playoffs is a COMPLETELY different animal than beating them in the regular season.... I see\hear a lot of comments from overly optimisitc fans that somehow surmise that if POR were healthy then we would be title contenders, when the team has done nothing to show that it could be....
That is because we have a huge problem standing in our way (other than health), and that is our current head coach. Dude has nothing as far as offensive sets and our defense is pretty not good. Nate cannot seem to make necessary adjustments necessary to counter the opposing team. Even if we are missing our best player, he still needs to try and counter and create matchup nightmares. He did the opposite, he created a matchup dream for the Suns mainly by playing Rudy one minute to many in the playoffs. I agree we may not get far with our current coach, but with one who can maximize our talent and actualy run offensive sets and such, we could be pretty dang good. I would love to trade for an all-star like everyone else, but I really think nothing is going down and we will be running with the same team next year which is fine. If we don't trade for an all-star and have the same team next year you may as well not even cheer for the Blazers, since we have no chance.
You can't be serious. Andre Iguodala, while a nice player, is not the kind of all-star who is going to make anybody swoon, including Paul Allen.
This is silly. First, you use the team losing to HOU 2 years ago as "proof", as if nobody on our team has improved, our team didn't change, or as if matchups don't matter. Then, you're complaining about posters being optimistic about us beating the Suns if the Blazers were healthy, yet you feel fine making a completely unfounded assumption that POR would have LOST even if healthy. Unfortunately for you and your assumption, we at least have some data to show that the Blazers were looking like an elite team, even when not completely healthy. Before Oden and Joel went down, and still without Batum, we were an elite defensive team. Is it your opinion that we would have gotten worse after adding Batum? I think most posters here still thought we had a lot of improvements to make, even though the stats show we were rounding into an elite team. Nobody can be sure that we would be contenders if completely healthy, but some stats show that even without our starting SF, not starting our best PG, and still looking rusty, we were playing like an elite team.
That's a good point. Against the Rockets, Roy and LMA played well, but the inexperience of the supporting cast really hurt. This time around, Roy was busted up, and LMA did not play particularly well. The circumstances were completely different. Of course, I would pick that 09 Rockets' team to beat this year's Suns' team....but I'm sure many people will disagree.
The proof is in the results...2 years...2 1st round exits....the 1st year we were a FAVORED seed...this year many claimed we had a FAVORED matchup...yet, both times we lost...Did injuries this year hamper this team? Absolutely they did, but even with a healthy Roy I don't this team had enough to defeat the Suns...our offense is far too predictable and stagnant and far too reliant on 1 player (Roy) being the difference maker.....and what does Nate say this year? "We need more shooters" As if having more people standing on the perimeter would have made all the difference.....pathetic.... FAR FAR too many agonizing offensive possesions that resulted in a desperate shot attempt to beat the shot clock....You cannot win in the playoffs with that type of offense and no other player that can consistently step up as a #2 (let alone having a consistent #3 option) option....You can't win on the back of one player....not even if your name is Lebron James...
