Looking for a little help and focus here: With less than a week left until the season starts (and less than a month now before I'm home and watching games!) I wanted to write up a bit of a Primer for the season. There are plenty of other places to get in-depth analysis, crystal ball-gazing, expert opinions and random comedy, so here’s my primer for the year, generally focused on topics the community at large has thought newsworthy enough to talk about and utilizing information from sources both professional and, uh, anti-professional. Think of these pieces as conversation-starters, to be enjoyed over an adult beverage (or substance) or two. Here are the major headings I've started to flesh out. Please let me know what you're most interested in, (or maybe, what you haven't seen enough of?) and I'll be happy to apply a standard BrianFromWA effort to it: way too many words, way too many stats, not quite enough sarcasm and a dash of self-importance. I. Who’s new, who’s staying and who’s going? a. New i. McCollum ii. Crabbe iii. Robinson iv. Lopez v. Williams vi. Wright vii. Earl b. Gone i. Babbitt ii. Nolan Smith iii. Sasha/Jeffries/Price c. Going? i. The Training Camp Invites ii. Crabbe? Leonard? II. What to Watch For? a. The Mantle of Leadership b. Growth of Lillard c. “Defensive Principles” d. “Bombs Away” III. Future considerations (a.k.a., Olshey’s Asset Collection) a. No more Euros b. No more 2nds c. Cap projections IV. Projections (not mine: the world’s) V. Around the Northwest Division a. Rubio/Love and the TimberTrolls b. Thunder lost their lightning in a bottle? c. Utah’s extension happiness d. Denver sans the CoY, EoY and their Olympian VI. Around the Western Conference a. Decline and Fall of the Western Empire? (Spurs) b. HOU: DwightMare for Morey, or for the rest of the league? c. Pelicans: Davis and Holiday moving them up? d. Clips over L*kers as Kings of L.A.? VII. Around the League a. HeatPeat (and Oden?) b. Nets (a.k.a. Jurassic Park c. How bad are the 76ers, really? d. Brad Stevens in Boston e. Return of Rose
I voted no. 2 What to watch for. Not interested in reliving the past (last 6 seasons of heartache) & only looking forward + not too interested in other teams outside of the Blazers. So, personally, I'd enjoy a read on what you consider is within the realms of possibility for this young Blazer squad
I would say for me the biggest developing stories are going to be: 1) With all our of new talent what happens to our rotation and player development? And more importantly what does this mean for potential trades and our plans at the trade deadline and next summer. (I have said before I really feel like a trade is coming that doesnt involve LMA) and 2) Once we are past the trade deadline our hopeful push for the playoffs and factors such as remaining schedule, strength of schedule, etc.
I would be most interested in hearing analysis on the offensive and defensive strategies used by the Blazers this year in comparison to what is used by the other teams in the league. What works and what doesn't work and besides having CP3 and Lebron on your team, what it takes to make it work. (Or something along those lines)
I voted "What to watch for". The other items were okay except the trade conjecture. I absolutely hate trade conjecture since nobody has a clue.
I'm not putting that in. It was about what we have to trade (cap space, picks, rights--what other teams have picks, etc.). This isn't for Trade Machine Artistry. (That comes later in the year. )
