Blazers Better, Same or Worse from a year ago

Subtractions
Jerryd Bayless
Steve Blake
Travis Outlaw
Martell Webster
Jeff Pendergraph
Juwan Howard

Additions
Luke Babbit
Marcus Camby
Armon Johnson
Wesley Matthews
Elliot Williams
Oberto


Lots of changes but the bulk of the main players stays the same. Your thoughts on the team from the start of last season to the start of this season.

 

I was a little worried even before the JB trade.

 

The player moves in bold are why I think the team will be better this year then last.

If Oden plays 50 to 60 games then Portland will be much, much better. If not then they will merely be somewhat better.

 

I think better.

I think that every addition we got is better than every subtraction. If Oden can stay healthy, give us 24 good minutes a game and 2 fouls a game, we should be just fine.

IMHO

 

I'm just not sure. Rooks and one-year players are unpredictable. Our big guys are coming back, but how long will they take to return to their past norms - hell, we don't even know if they will. Which Rudy will we see?

I really like Mathews. He's a quality player and will help the team out, but with so many uncertainties I don't know what to expect.

 

I honestly hope we trade him. He is a whiner like Drazen was. Yeah, he is good (when he really tries). But he is more concerned with Rudy than the team, IMHO.

 

Not taking injuries into account, I say same.

 

I say a little better. Offense should not be much different, but the team's defense should be better now.

Instead of having one game changing defender Center and one good defender - the team now has 2 great defensive centers and Joel, instead of having one good perimeter defender in Nic last year, the team has a 2 in Nic and Wes - and instead of having JB or Blake defending the PG position from the backup PG spot - the team now has Armon or Wes/Nic if they play next to Roy.

So, to me, this team looks like it improved quite a bit on defense, and this team - for those that forget, was rather dominant defensively last year before Oden and Joel went down and without Batum on the perimeter (they were 2nd in defensive efficiency behind the Celtics at the time).

 

It's too early to tell. When Greg and Joel get back, only then will we really see what this team is capable of.

I think adding Matthews and Camby were solid moves. Williams, Johnson, and Babbitt are really undetermined at this point. Hell, getting Batum at this point in the season is a huge bonus.

 

Don't forget Oberto!!! He is a really good player down low.

 

Overto == J.Howard imho. No difference.

 

Juwan did pretty well for us though! I think Oberto will be a better rebounder. But he wont be hitting those shots like JH did last year for us.

 

Man, Juwan was a leader off the court for this team. All the guys respected him from where he's been in the league. He was a another coach. I think this was as valuable as anything he did on the court.

 

Depth is a concern to me.

 

I really think having a healthy Batum and a healthy Rudy already makes us better than we were this time last year. Adding Matthews, Johnson, Camby, and Babbitt is just icing on the cake.

 

At what position? Center? We have a ton of guards. We have a decent stable of forwards. Center is the only spot that is kind of shotty until we get Oden and Prz back.

 

This team needed Juwan because other than LMA the bigs were so young or inexperienced - Pendy and Dante were rooks, GO was starting his 2nd year when he actually played - first one where he actually was in NBA shape, and Joel was mostly away from the team, add the fact that the team did not have a big-man coach with Luke sick...

Much less of an issue this year, Dante has a year under his belt, Camby is almost as experienced as Juwan, LMA is a year older, Joel does not really need a player coach and we have Buck as a designated big-man coach.

I really liked what Juwan did for this team last year, but as far as "this year vs last year" - his contributions on the court are where he needs to be judged - and I consider him as good (or as bad) as Oberto. Thus, no difference there, imho.

 

Great post and spot on. Concise and dead on, repped.

 

The man-love for Juwan Howard sometimes amazes me.