Losing Roy was obviously a big blow to our franchise, but Matthews is not a weak starter, we still have LA, and we never had near the production from the 1 and 3 spot in the Roy era as we do now. I think our bench during the Roy era was very over-rated by fans and media. Look at where those guys are now, they either out of the NBA, or very marginal backups. I think what we're really missing is the inside defensive and rebounding presense. Joel and Oden dominated the boards, and when you break down the stats, our rebounding advantage is the only thing we had on our opponents. Anyway, this team won't win as many games yet, but I think they are more entertaining to watch. If Leonard develops, we'll have a pretty good team with this group.
I love this team. But I loved the 2007-08 team (13 game win streak) too. Outlaw played good for us back then.
Yeah, in hindsight, the Roy era bench wasn't that great. Though, I'm positive the Blazers would've won in 2011 if the whole team were healthy. Honestly, if we had gotten Hibbert and maybe a vet or two, we would've been fine this season....as in playoff-bound.
There is no comparison. In Roy we had a multi-All Star, team leader, score on anyone, and MOST important, a cold blooded (and effective) closer. In LaMarcus we had a versatile and talented 7 footer, who was on track to be one of the top 10 PF's in the NBA even in a complimentary role. In Oden we had a player who was likely to be in the running for multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards. That is a model blueprint for a contending team. We also had the young Nik Batum who looked on track to be an above average glue player on the wing. And other young talent that didn't pan out or stick with the team: Bayless, Webster, Rudy, Sergio. And with Joel (before he got hurt) and Steve Blake added to the promising youngins, we had much talent and promise on our bench than now. So, to sum up, starters not as promising or dominating, bench much better and more promising.
Depends on how you define the Roy Era. If you mean his entire career in Portland: The Blazers won 32 games Roy's rookie year. I think we'll win more than that this year. The Blazers won 41 games Roy's second year. We could win that many this year and I will be bitterly disappointed if we don't win more than that next year. So, I think the current team is ahead of the first two years of the Roy Era. The 3rd year of the Roy Era, the team really took off. Even though he was limited by injuries and foul trouble (and a coach who didn't have a clue how to use him), we got 61 games out of Oden that year and Roy was a top 10 player (in PER, scoring average and MVP voting). They won 54 games and secured HCA during the 1st round of the playoffs. It will be hard for this team to top that success in the regular season of their 3rd year together, but it's impossible to say. The young guys (Lillard, Batum and Leonard) will need to continue to develop. Plus, we will have multiple draft picks, a lot of cap space and possibly multiple trades between now and then. I think we have the basic core to build around, but will need to get/develop (Leonard) a big man who can defend the paint and dominate the boards. Plus we will need to entirely gut and upgrade our bench. Due to injuries, the wheels started to fall off during Roy's 4th year. They still managed one more 50 win season, but that was it. I think the current team will have a longer window. I also think the current team has a better shot at getting past the 1st round at some point. Nate was an absolutely HORRIBLE post season coach. He was WAY too predictable and totally incapable to making mid-series, let alone mid-game adjustments during the playoffs. That made it VERY easy for opposing coaches to figure out how to beat the Blazers in a 7 game series and Nate never once countered. He just stuck to his same, boring, predictable style, no matter what. Quite simply, he was easily outcoached in every playoff series while with the Blazers. With Nate gone, a solid, young starting core and the ability, though development, future draft picks, signings and trades, to address our weaknesses, I think that when all is said and done, this team will exceed the results of those Roy Era teams. I think they will have a longer competitive window (more than two 50+ win seasons and more than three playoff appearances) and eventually advance further in the playoffs. And, that really shouldn't be that hard. If they advance to the second round, just once, they will go here no Roy Era team ever went. BNM
Yeah, the "Roy era" was certainly not glory years, he never made it out of the 1st round, but he was only healthy for one playoff series. The playoff series against Houston is the only post-season example of the whole supposed dynasty playing together, Oden, LA, and Roy were healthy. They happened to get an incredibly tough Houston team, that took it to the Lakers without Yao Ming.
