LA,Batum,Wes, Wright,Blake,Afflalo,Rolo and company only equals EIGHT more wins!!?? Are you being serious right now FAMS?
Everyone of the guys you mentioned was injured for a long stretch and after Wes went down...no shows. Young guys we've got now are hungry. Only guys to show up against Memphis were Dame, Meyers and CJ pretty much..Blake did nothing, Rolo did nothing, LA was a wash against ZBo...I think we're better balanced than we were last season. Healthy, we were contenders..just weren't healthy
Many of the young guys will show an improvement in their game, due to the increase in the number of minutes they will play. However, they will not improve enough, or have enough time playing together to build the team chemistry necessary to win more than 21-22 games this season.
Looks like you have thrown some negatives in with the positives. How many wins can be attributed to the performance of those 3?
That's exactly my point.......even though all those guys WERE injured we STIll won 51 games! How do you think this roster would fare against that Memphis team?
I'm hoping for better than the playoff roster we went with last time. Better rebounders, better defenders, more slashers and pick and roll players. I think Dame's going to get a ton of points being the go to guy
I can respect your positive outlook on things, I can. As a lifelong Blazer fan, I'm "hoping" for those things too, but that's NOT what we have on our roster. That's why I'm confused you would think this collection of players would ever even come close to 43 wins. I think Neil has done a great job acquiring assets from basically nothing. As far as Dame getting a ton of points, I wouldn't put it past him, he is a warrior. But I've posted on here before that those other teams will be throwing EVERYTHING they have at him. They don't have to worry about leaving LA in the post or Nic and Wes on the wings. They'll let whoever is there shoot it before they let Dame fire away.
Nobody loved that core team of Dame, Wes, Nico, LA and Rolo more than me but in the end...without Wes they definitely weren't good enough. Olshey is right about that..I like that the PF isn't the go to guy game after game now
Like I said, I'm banking on youth and guys making that next step like the Hawks and Bucks did. I know we got defensively better especially on the bench. We have a team built to tire out older rosters
Yes. Afflalo may be a better player than any of them, but he didn't play better than I expect some of the new guys to play. I would take Harkless, Aminu, and DAVIS over those 3 ( Assuming Afflalo's production would remain the same as it was last season)
We will agree to disagree. We may tire out older rosters, but you have to be able to finish games and we only have ONE player capable of that. And guess who they will be triple teaming down the stretch.
You have no clue how CJ, Meyers, Plumlee, Davis, or Henderson might perform in end-of-game situations, and neither do any of us. To dogmatically state that nobody on the roster but Dame is CAPABLE of finishing games is equal parts ignorant and arrogant.
This thread keeps using the term "young guys" to describe the proven veterans we acquired. Aminu, Davis, Plumlee, and Henderson will surprise you. These guys got off to fast career beginnings, not retarded career starts like Leonard, Crabbe, Babbitt, and almost every Blazer draftee in recent years. Vonleh, Pressey, and Harkless have gotten good minutes too. But the first group, Aminu, Davis, Plumlee, and Henderson, have been core players on NBA teams. At least 33 wins. 33 to 40.
You said we wouldn't even make it to 20 wins, and now you're saying we'll be closer to 20 wins than the POs. Which could mean 34 wins, if it takes 50 wins to make the POs. And 34 wins is a far cry from less than 20.
