Just the typical national media bullshit. It's the same with the Ducks. Only after they took #1 in the BCS did the media start showing love. Portland will have to win a championship again before the media starts lovin on us again.
Fuck that. The last time we won a championship they cut to the Kemper Open. We're never going to get respect from them, so we should stop seeking it.
It was a different NBA back then... if we are exciting and fun to watch, the NBA will push us. Period.
Get ready for Chuck to gloat about OKC and getting it done tonight. He will say LA is too soft, and ROY and Miller couldn't save them. OKC wins this with 40 seconds left <--- my guess.
Until this team wins and fulfills their potential, they need to be open to all criticism. Including Sir Charles Barkely's.
I think Barkley is right about the other top-3 teams in the west being LA, OKC and Utah, but I think the Blazers are the 4th and should aspire to at least making it past the 1st round. We have big guys who like to play outside on offense, but we also have Roy and Miller who are at their best when attacking the rim and having Aldridge/Camby playing 15 feet from the basket, allows that. It may not be the orthodox attacking-the-basket-with-your-bigs offense but that's how we play. I think the 2nd unit, with Rudy mainly being an outside threat and Oden being such an offensive beast in the paint will give us that more traditional offense. We now also have a capable Point-Guard for running that squad which is a big plus for us this year I'm not sure Barkley is paying attention to.
I don't think they have the talent we do either. But I also sort of agree with Chuck, that we aren't as talented as some people think we are
Barkely is right... at least for the time being.. we have no big men.... hopefully soon we are a soft team, but that can change but we need more than big men to go deep in hte playoffs
I know everyone likes to dog pile on Chuck because he's dismissive of our team, but beyond the "jump shooting team" tag he's given us, there is something missing with this squad and it's been missing probably since Pippen, Sheed and Sabas were here (and hell even they didn't fully have it). This team lacks killer instinct a lot of the time. Sure they have some talent, and yes they seem to have some reslience, but ultimate success in competitive sports is about enforcing your will and breaking the will of your opponent. Some teams do this with stifling defense (Boston), others with raw physical power (Lebron and Co.) , or some grind you up with their ability to execute (The Lakers and the championship Spurs), but the one common thing each of those teams possess is not just a resilience, but the ability to punish a team into submission. Some think Oden is the key missing ingredient that will help provide this ability to impose their will, but between the fragility and unreliabilty of his body and the questions about his passion for the game I'm not so sure that this is much of a plan (and maybe it is our only chance?) but until they add somebody who can completely dominate the court for more than 82 games in 4 years and break the will of other teams this is going to remain a "really nice" good, but not great team.
I'll add that the Blazers are more talented than some people think they are. They're also exactly as talented as some people think they are.
I discredit Barkley cos he sounds like a homeless man on a street corner shouting things he reads in half a bible.
