After two brutal losses, where are your expectations?

My expectations are exactly the same as they've always been: One. And. DONE.
Next year? Maybe we'll make it to the 2nd round. Maybe.

 

Lessened by TWO games???? What happened to the rest of the season you told me about?

 

After the Miami game, our 4th quarter execution just went to hell. Unless we find that swagger, we'll probably lose in five games.

 

The 2 brutal losses didn't rattle me. It was the 5 before that. 7 gut check losses in 14 games. Indy, OKC, Clips, Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, Hou. Had lead late in EVERY one of those games. 2-5 in those games would be brutal. 0-7 is almost incomprehensible. We've lost because we've missed shots, missed FTs, turned it over, bad luck, bad calls . . . can't get a stop, a rebound, a decent bounce. We've lost on lobs at the rim, last sec 3s to force OT twice. You can deal with the occasional Ellis or Bosh buzzer beater when they are sandwiched between some quality wins. But this? 1 win since Jan 18 vs winning team (Tor), and that was almost another blown 4th Qrt lead disaster. And the way the losses have come - ALL down to the wire.

Tonight was the worst though. They didn't come out flat and get down early. They didn't sleep walk on defense. They finally played mad, with urgency. And they were close to brilliant for over 40 minutes. It didn't feel like we were going to lose. Even when it got close it felt like we were due. This was our game. We deserve some breaks, some calls, some loose balls . . . and they fought with everything
they had. Just wasn't enough, and it hasn't been in a long while. Expectations? 7, 8, or 9th in West. There just aren't enough home games vs tanking cream puffs left on the schedule to realistically expect more. It's just been too long since we've beaten a decent team and the confidence of every team has a breaking point.

 

This team has been playing very poorly against teams they should beat, and they've been playing well against tough teams on the road, and just choking it away at the end. So I think they are under-achieving right now. LA and Lillard have certainly played much better basketball.

Anyway....for this team, it doesn't seem to matter if they play at home or on the road. I don't see that the seeding matters worth a damn. Just get into the playoffs. Though I expect them to get bounced in the 1st round, in true blazer fashion.

 

13-6 finish.

55 wins.

22 win improvement on last year.

 

We keep making changes to coach and roster because we want to hang someone. How about let them get some playoff experience together and start next season fresh and with good chemistry. I could see a small bench adjustment but why fire a coach and then learn a whole new offense and defense

 

Better than to start the year. I really thought they were still a year away from the playoffs, so making them will exceed my expectations.

 

When LeBron went to Miami they seemed like a disappointment the first year together too. It takes time to put together the coaches plan and players mesh. If the season had a few less games and more time to practice perhaps teams would progress faster. As it sits I think 2nd round would be big for us and next year could be legit contenders. Of course I want a championship every year and think that should always be the goal, but it's not realistic that you actually achieve it every year.

 

The team will finish with something like 48-50 wins. Well above my most optimistic prognostications. Yeah, still probably a one-and-done team in the playoffs (depending on their draw) but I guess it beats a ninth seed and no draft pick.

What they are able to do between the end of this season and the start of the next is my biggest question. Not much free agency money and probably not a lot of reinforcements coming from the draft. Does this current group have another leap forward in them and/or is Stott's the guy to lead them where they want to go?

 

Thanks Mike Barrett.

 

I tried to play schedule-maker as pessimistically as possible. I removed my red & black glasses and still came away with 13 wins - giving us 55 on the year. Still think we get 2/3 on this road trip and go 3-2 on the next five-gamer. Aside from these trips, our schedule is very home-heavy where I think we'll drop a couple but for the most part, handle business.

 

If we don't win another game against an above .500 team, we'll get 10 more wins, for a 52-win season. I'll go with that.