Thats usually what you hear from fans when their team SUCKS in the pre season. Doesn't matter what sport it is, but thats the phrase you will hear when a team with expectations, performs like the blazers have. I took a week off from posting to just sit back from a far while i read some posts, and listened to a few blazer games. However this situation is not gonna be fixed by opening night. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. The consistent theme this pre season is our lack of size and terrible play from our best player. Im not buying that roy just wakes up next tuesday and kills phoenix. He seems bored and really doesnt have a fire to him anymore. He seems either lost or arrogant which is a shame cause being humble was always roys strength. Then theres our center issue. When you get dominated by GS on the boards and cant score 100 vs them... thats not scary but frightening. It also seems like the team has stopped talking championship and now use the words "working on things" often. Huh? Thats kinda disturbing. We have 1 pre season game left and nobody seems to be on the same page. The best player in pre season wants to get the hell out of here in Rudy. I said this a few weeks ago, but don't be shocked if this team gets off to a horrible start like the blazers did back in 2001-2002 (13-18 at new years) because clearly there is a major issue here. Chemistry, injuries, and coach who is under pressure. Thats not a good combo. Also found this from a link on O-live which really makes it even more scary.... cause I kinda agree. If Oden either stays hurt, gets hurt again, or doesn't progress, Aldridge stands pat, and Roy wants the ball more and more out of frustration, Rip City could suddenly have a new, if more mild, era of dysfunction on its hands. Portland has a good chance of treading water, but at the same time, bad chemistry and bad luck would have us looking at them like a team that may need to rethink its master plan. (BS) So the people who are using the "its only preseason" will likely also start using the "its early in the season... we will be fine" because this team will get off to a slow start with the schedule they have. Not to mention their star player seems like he could give 2 shits. Well at least Choo is working on Oberto which excites some people here. Im sure he will make us forget that we got smashed this pre season by every team that had a few decent big men. But hey its just pre season right?
Well I guess I don't fright quite as easily as Mixum, but I can't argue with most of the points. It's not panic time, but I've been thinking for a little while that the first month of the season could be pretty rough ... which in turn could snowball if chemistry really is as fragile as I suspect it might be.
whats really sad is the freaking front office must see how bad the blazers are getting abused up front yet HAVE DONE NOTHING knowing since July Greg and Joel wouldnt be ready. thats concerning not to mention roy looks AWFUL and still hasnt learned how to play with miller.
I could see the start of the season being rough too. Sure, we could use another big to get us to where Greg and Joel are back, but who? I don't see much out there that would help the team. If we all panic because of the pre-season, will that make the team better? Will whining help? Don't think so. Go Blazers
There are legitimate concerns. I don't think they are Blazers plumetting to the bottom of the conference concerns. But they are concerns never the less. I just try not to make judgment on a team that played it's 15th guy 25 minutes last night. Then look at Golden States box score and look at how many minutes they played their starters.
2008-09 Preseason Standings that stood out to me West Portland* 4-4 OKC* 2-5 LA Clippers 6-2 Golden State 4-4 PHX* 4-4 East Cleveland* 4-4 Miami* 2-5 New York 5-2 Philly 5-3 Wizards 4-4 2008-09 Preseason Records Golden State 4-2 San Antonio* 3-4 New Orleans* 7-0 Portland* 4-3 East Cleveland* 3-5 Detroit 6-2 It's not the end of the world.
I was at the game last night, and it was ugly. However, I'm not concerned or freaking out. 1) It is preseason 2) Roy wasn't trying AT ALL. See #1 above. However, Ellis' quick hands seem to bother Roy. 3) We have 4 of our best 7 players out hurt (Oden, Joel, Matthews, Camby). 4) We have 3 very good 7-footers sitting out. Of course we are going to struggle on the boards and down low. On a positive note, Armon looks pretty good for a rookie. He is very athletic and runs the PG pretty well. Elliot Williams will be able to play man-to-man defense in this league Dante will be a good backup for us when our bigs come back. However, he can NOT play center. On the downside, Babbit looked terrible. He got abused anytime they went at him down low. His shooting was terrible. Our offense looked to be attempting more motion, but wow, we do NOT set good screens. Our guys are more concerned about not getting bumped instead of setting a hard pick to get somebody open.
That's also usually what you hear from fans when their team is awesome in the pre-season. You know why? Because it's only pre-season.
If only the Blazers were as ready for the Pre-season as MIXUM is. Good job, MIXIE, you clearly worked hard on your bitching this off-season!
