If the team comes out and tries to spin this as a playoff team, i will lose my mind. Just tell us the truth.
Barrett will downplay expectations as always but in the same conversation say how good or how much potential they all have and they are better than you think.
Which would be ok. I dont want to see Olshey say we will be a playoff team. Build for the damn future
I think the only person that believes this is a playoff team is Damian Lillard. And that is why I love him.
I don't want someone that dumb on my team, tbh. Luckily, I think Dame is smarter than that, but he'll go "balls out" trying to make it a reality.
I hope they accept that it's not a playoff team, and whenever they have their next press conference, they subtle and passively throw LaMarcus under the bus.
"We may not be a playoff team, but we're all happy and there is no more high school aged female drama behind the scenes anymore."
I'm not ruling out that we're a playoff team, but yeah I'm not interesting in overoptimism or spin by Neil. edit: actually, I think Neil will just tell the truth: "He said he was going to re-sign with us for the whole year. At the end he said he wanted to explore his options, he did."
I think they should try something along the lines of "The Blazers, We're Crappy--And We Know It!" I'd buy that for a dollar!
I keep saying that this is a lot like the 2007-08 team...lots of young guys, Roy as the unquestioned alpha, playing hard all the time and winning 41 games before petering out toward the end of the year. Frankly, we probably have more top-to-bottom talent right now than we did then, but it's just a matter of how it gels. Seahawks-style competition for every non-starting-PG minute may do wonders.
Even though we didn't make the playoffs that year, the 07-08 Blazers team was a blast to watch. They overachieved big time from what was expected of them. The 13-game win streak that spanned almost the entire month of December that year has gotta be one of my fondest Blazer memories. It was absolutely incredible. The chemistry was so perfect. The sum of the players were more than their individual talent. Everyone was playing hard and playing for each other. I hope this coming year's squad is just as enjoyable to watch.
It's 3 am July 5, only 102 hours since teams were allowed to talk to players. I'm willing to wait well into July before evaluating what Olshey gets. We got Andre Miller in an August, I think. Just spin it as a winning team, then be sure you finish with 42 wins. At the Midseason Trade Deadline, adjustments can be made to get to 42, if we're not on that track.
