Well...we did win the most games against Dallas in the playoffs...makes you feel a little better, right?
Not really, I still think we would have beaten Dallas if our bench players played with any sort of consistency. And I don't intend to take anything away from Dirk, but LA coasted this year. They looked like they didn't even want to give a fight.
Our bench was our biggest downfall all year. You can't say "we would have won if it weren't for our biggest downfall". Not looking to rehash the Dallas series....just saying I feel a little better that they've made it to the finals.
Doesn't' really make me feel any better when the team that beats us gets to were I wanted the team to be.
I guess so. TBH, it's making me feel worse to watch them get this far, because I picked us to beat them. I'm jealous.
We were one Brandon Roy miracle quarter (or epic Dallas collapse if you prefer) from being shown the door in 5 games. If it makes people feel better to think that we competed that's fine, but don't kid yourself into thinking that this team is even close to competing for a championship, nevermind getting to the second round.
OTOH, we were close to winning the first game and if we had done that I think we would have won the series. I do like Mavs doing well I think it does make the loss a little easier to take,,,not much, but a little.
It took a miracle to win game 4 but we were also robbed of game 1. But I do agree with you that we aren't close to competing for a championship. We were inconsistent all year long. We'll shoot 55% one day and 35% the next. It's all about consistency and being able to dominate the elite opponents. We were never that team this year. Sadly, we haven't done that in about 11 years.
We were also one free throw parade away from taking homecourt advantage in game 1, but some of us just prefer to accentuate the positive. By the same token, of course, Dallas' win in game 4 at OKC doesn't count either?
This contender talk is hilarious. I know it's been a long time since we've seen Oden on the floor, but the Blazers weren't a contender with him AND a pre-injury Roy. The new GM will need to get another consistent scorer in this lineup if there's any hope getting to the 2nd round. Let's talk 2nd round before we talk contending for anything other than a draft pick in the low 20's.
Exactly. If I repped you'd get some. The people that think we are a couple of moves away are dillusional. It's what the owner thinks though, so maybe you guys could work for the front office.
You're entitled to your opinion. The Blazers took the first or, at worst, the second best team in the league to six games. The team that swept the defending champs. The Blazers would have crushed Dallas with both Brandon and Greg healthy. It's hilarious that you would think otherwise. You can dispute whether Greg will ever get healthy, making my hope a pipe dream, but I don't know how you make a case that we couldn't have beaten Dallas with healthy Greg. How do you argue that being the second best team in the west is not a top five team in the league? Go Blazers
the part about DAL's run that encourages me is that you don't need to be defensive stalwarts individually to play good team defense. It's proven now. JJ Barea is not Gary Payton, Jr. Jason Kidd isn't Jason Kidd 2001. Dirk isn't Ben Wallace, and Peja's next defensive stop will break Jason Terry's record for longest span between them. That said, they were able to take away what we wanted to do, and figured out the triangle pretty effectively. SO...Add Jimmer and JJ Redick to Crash, LMA and Oden. Championship! (Edit: If you think Wes is a better fit than Redick, I won't howl too much)
As it is hillarious that you make a blanket statement like this, but you can't make statements like this when you have absolutely nothing to back it up.
That team did not have Wesley, Dre, Wallace, or even LaMonster. With a healthy Roy and a Nov. 09 Oden, this team absolutely is a contender. Dre/Roy/Wallace/Aldridge/Oden with Rudy/Wes/Nic/Camby coming off the bench. Are you kidding me? That is one sick rotation.
Enough with the blanket statements about the Blazers contending or not contending with their current roster (or even with a couple of changes). IMHO, winning a championship has more to do with a team catching lightning in a bottle than it does with assembling the perfect roster. If I had the inclination (and I don't), it wouldn't take more than a few minutes searching this board to find posts by many of us from earlier this spring where we were hoping the Blazers would end up matched against the Mavericks because that was the best chance of getting out of Round 1. The Mavs were the old team that was mentally fragile. Obviously, they've put that notion to rest by waltzing through the West to the NBA Finals. Their roster didn't improve; they simply got hot at the right time and gained the confidence necessary to win. Staying healthy and playing with confidence and cohesiveness are the intangibles that a GM can't really game for. The Blazers need to make some moves to put themselves into the best position to compete, but more than that they, like everybody else, are going to need some good breaks for a change in order to play for a title.
