I'm watching it right now and Bucher and J.A. Adande think that OKC can challenge the Lakers for the Western Conference title. Broussard is the only one pumping up the Blazers. Broussard says if healthy we can take out the Lakers.
Funny thing is, some chicken little posters around here probably think that. Watching this show is kind of funny, the Blazers are so far under the radar on the national media scope. I kinda like it.
I've never understood why people think we need a dominant center to win. LA didn't last season. Boston didn't. Detroit didn't. Chicago never did. That's not to say I'm not hopeful for a healthy Oden, but we have a fair amount of talent aside from him.
With a dominant center comes low post scoring, and the Lakers had that in Gasol(and Bynum a little, to) and the Celtics did as well. Detroit and Chicago are the exceptions. Spurs had Duncan who some people call a C, but you get the idea. Before the draft in 2007, there was a piece that said when you take out the Bulls and Detroit Pistons(2004), no team had won a championship without a center that played in at least 1 all-star game in the past like 30 years. To win a championship you have to be able to own the paint on both sides of the floor, and a healthy Oden can probably do that. Przybilla/Camby/Aldridge can't.
It's also why the team can't give up on Oden because there's probably a better chance Oden stays healthy and becomes a factor than going out and getting another guy to do it. If Aldridge ends up being more of a factor inside this could change but I definitely won't count on that happening.
I'm cool with everybody sleepin' on us. I think we will be OK. Also, how many teams even have a deep strong center presence?
I guess what I don't understand is all the OKC love. One decent 50 win season without any significant injuries and they're the next big thing?
It all boils down to the Kevin Durant hype. He's been anointed as the next dominant force in the league, so the Thunder are being hyped along with him. He very well might be the best player in the league before too long, but I still don't think that team has earned the respect that they are getting.
I guess I see it slightly different. The Thunder were something like a top 10 team in defensive efficiency and were maybe top 5 in field goal percentage allowed, so when the youngest team in the league can do something like that, people take notice; they've already solved the hard part -- getting young guys to play hard on D -- so you take that plus Durant demonstrating at 21 that he is pretty clearly a top 3 talent and if they make even marginal improvements to their offensive efficiency and hold steady on D they'll earn every minute of hype being sent their way.
I guess we'll see, but last season was all sunshine and rainbows for them. I'd like to see how they deal with some major injuries or chemistry issues.
I might be biased, but I always have this nagging feeling that Bucher and Adande are two of the bigger L*ker/K*be homers there are in mainstream media. Adande at least has an excuse, being from LA and writing (iirc) for the Times for a while before ESPN. Bucher is to K*be as Sal Paolantonio is to Philly and Ed Werter is to Brett Favre.
Opposition scouting on them last season was at a low level. They were an "overlooked" team. That won't happen this year. They will be heavily scouted. Last season for them in the history of the NBA was in the 95th percentile for key player health. The chances of them being that healthy ever again during Durant's career is almost nil. Their depth will be tested.
The outlier health angle I can buy, but they pushed the champion Lakers all the way to the limit, missing a game seven on a fluky last second airball and offensive rebound by Ron Artest. There was plenty of time for LA to adjust and gameplan and it almost wasn't enough.
Two years ago Portland was the next big thing. A year before that it was the Bulls. Every year these guys decide that some team is going to challenge for the Finals so if it happens they can look smart. If it doesn't then the team in question just didn't live up to their potential. As for OKC, I think they are going to be damn good. Unfortunately, size wins in the NBA and OKC just doesn't have enough to be a serious contender.
The Lakers limped into the playoffs and the players clearly didn't give OKC a moments thought before the series. By the time the Lakers got their heads out thier ass they almost blew it. Bynum hurt, Kobe with his bum hand, yet insisting on shooting the Lakers out of games. Nah, OKC wasn't even close to the Lakers level. The Lakers played down. How did the Lakers do in later series once they decided it was go-time? That's what I thought. OKC was Over - looked. Anywho, I am not trying to argue that OKC will suck. They have a good team. I just think they will part of the jumble pack of playoff teams in the West - NOT on top of the pack.
