Seems to me like each season you have to define what optimism means in relation to the players you have to work with. Last season, for me, looked like this: Baseline- Make the playoffs. Optimism- Get out of the second round. Full Mags- Win the title. For next season it looks more like: Baseline- Have one of the worst records in the league, see player development and get a good draft pick. Optimism- Be a fringe playoff team, don't make the playoffs, see player growth, but still get a decent lottery pick. Full Mags- Scrape into the playoffs and lose in the first round. Since at this point my hopes for the year are in reverse order to my optimism scale, I'm hoping to remain pessimistic all season.
I agree. CJ is not a bad defender at all. Yes he is short, but that is the worst of it. In some ways he is a better defender than Wes. Wes played with heart and that made up for his shortcomings, but CJ is better suited for switching on to quicker PG's than Wes. On the other hand Wes is better at switching on to bigger SF's. That will be a problem. But out on the parameter, CJ is pretty good. He gets his hands on a lot of loose balls. And he has good defensive fundamentals. But the bottom line is it will be situational. There are plenty of teams that we are better off starting CJ than we were with Wes. And for the other games.......Gerald, Allen and Pat will have to step up. I loved Wes' heart, 3 point shooting, and physical play, but his handles, passing, and being involved in the fast break were often frustrating to watch.
I am with you! But... Here's the deal: Can you get yourself into a place where there are moral victories? I think several on this board will take a while to get there. Last year there were really 3 types of games that mattered: losses, wins, blowout wins. This year I also think there are 3 types of games that matter: wins, losses, blowout losses. The tenor of these boards will change dramatically depending on how many blowout losses we have, and whether the team plays hard. I don't think the latter is a problem, like the rest of us I'll be keeping my eye on the former. Go Blazers! postlude: right now we're looking at individual players, but during the season we'll spend more time looking at wins and losses. Another thing we'll keep our eye on is Defense. That's Stotts biggest priority - getting a young team to play good team defense.
Agree with OP. This team is probably almost good on paper (with higher upside) than the 2007-8 41-win team. It'll take one of the bigs making a poor-man's-LMA-leap to exceed that, but I (blasphemy alert) think that Dame right now is better than 2nd-year Roy. (3rd year he exploded, 4th year his knees did) We had 3 players (Roy @ 19.4, LMA @ 18.5, and Outlaw @ 15.7) with PERs above 15. The team played below-average defense, forced the second-to-least TO's, and were 26th in FTA.
I get what you're saying, except that I think that the team's future success hinges more on the development of the players we already have than on a single player that we might draft next year. We have a completely new team, with basically 5 guys returning from last year. They have developed no chemistry. If they can develop and grow over the course of this year to the point where they're actually good enough to make the playoffs--in the West!!--I would be frickin' ecstatic. To be this young, with this much potential, in the playoffs, AND 30M+ in cap space next summer...for me that would be worth immeasurably more than one lottery pick.
I mentioned this in another thread. Injuries are always crucial to a team's success, but with this team and our lack of depth, it is amplified. Of course we only have 11 players so we have to wait and see who the other 3 players are. Especially at SF and back up PG. But if Dame goes down, it will get ugly.....quickly. But if he doesn't, they could be fun to watch since our expectations have been lowered for this season.
Connaughton should be a perfect partner for Lillard. Have to respect his range, get up on him and he can take it to the hoop. He don't shoot flat footed, has high release. People will doubt his handle but he is more than capable of dribble / driving and finishing or finding an open teammate. He hussle's on defense might get beat on occasion but he don't give up on any play. Very smart kid, his BBIQ is off the charts and he's a leader. I honestly believe he will have a very good impact in his first year.
I count 12 (Nards, Kaman, Plums, Davis, Noah, Aminu, Crabbe, Pat, Hendo, CJ, Dame, Frazier). And yes, I agree we need another PG and another wing (that Montero kid...?) Of course our best player and team leader going down would drastically affect this team. But I'm not searching for ways this could go badly; I'm focused on the ways it could go well.
I'm actually really excited about this team. 1) I'm excited to see what Dame can do as the clear #1 option 2) I'm excited to see what CJ and MyLe can do with steady minutes 3) I'm excited about Noah Vonleh I really think this team will be fun to watch.
I was excited about Vonleh until I read more about him. Low motor, unskilled big guys usually bust. But again he is just 19. Plenty of room for improvement. I guess he's the guy I'm most looking forward to seeing in summer league.
Sorry! I mean... um.. Vonleh is gonna be the next Aldridge! I do like the idea of getting him and Davis better than Hibbert and Brandon Bass.
Mark Jackson I believe picked 18th in 87 draft. ( 60th overall 1957 Draft Woody Sauldsberry of the Philadelphia Warriors )
