If we make the playoffs it means we would be a super hot team post all star break. In that case, anything can happen. Would we beat Warriors/Spurs? Probably not. Could a we steal a couple games? Definitely.
One game at a time...it's not bullshit..it's called competing..if you think the playoff loss against Memphis wasn't a building block for CJ, Crabbe and Leonard, I'm going to completely disagree. I value playoff experience.
If we aren't a playoff team, we'll get a better lottery pick for sure but tell the guys on the roster that it doesn't matter and see how they respond. Personally I think they want the playoffs and want a shot at the post season. Dame has already said as much. He mentioned trying to get a higher position than the 8th seed after the last win.
Of course the players want to win.....and rightly so. I'm glad they are competitive and want to do as well as is possible. That is the only type of player I want on my team. But sometimes you retreat to get an advantage. Look historically at the Battle of the Bulge. One side took a pretty significant step back to make bigger strides long term. Does that mean the soldiers didn't want to win? Of course not....their lives were on the line so it meant even more. Who knows what the Draft brings and if things were a big big different, it would change the conversation. If this were a 'normal' West year and Portland was competing for the #8 spot at around a .600 winning percentage, I would say f#<k the Draft and go for it. However, we are just now climbing over the .400 winning percentage mark. .600 is a 50% increase....that is a HUGE difference. Also, if Portland were able to keep the pick no matter where they finished, that would also mitigate the circumstances. Playoff experience is a good thing if it is competitive but getting blown out isn't of much use. Yes, CJ personally came out against Memphis even though they got smoked but he always had that ability, just had been slowed by injuries. Now Leonard actually stepped up but we've yet to see a repeat of that type of performance sense so not siure what he got out of that either. This roster is very far away and has still yet to beat a team over .500 on the road yet this season. That indicates to me they need all the help and assets they can get and a 4-0 or 4-1 but kicking won't do much to help them in that direction when it costs them the asset.
See, that's my point..I'm not assuming a higher draft pick necessarily translates to an asset compared to playoff experience for the sophmores on the team and on the job training for the Monteros and Alexanders who are our current projects. You guys could all very well be right, but I just want the real deal every season. I'd rather add an impact player this season and go for it than bank on a rookie. This is the first season since Luke Ridnour was a Duck that I've paid some attention to college ball and I don't see Simmons or Sabonis as NBA ready players. I've been pretty disappointed in most of the games I've watched but the guy who stood out as NBA ready to me was Tony Parker from UCLA and he's probably not going to be a high draft pick..
I have to admit to being curious as to how Montexander and Alexteros sitting behind the bench in a suit during a Playoff drubbing will help with 'on the job training'.
They are just like high draft picks ..those guys learn the difference between regular season play and playoff intensity. They watch film, they practice, they get first hand experience at what's required but that was a developmental example, the rotation guys will benefit even more. Playing cowbell at Madison Square Garden with the Rolling Stones is going to build your confidence even if you don't get to play a guitar solo
Why so many long explanations? Getting to the playoffs this year is like meeting a group of beautiful women but fooling around with the easiest and least attractive one right away. Then the ones you like find out and want nothing to do with you. Don't be stupid people.
It would be nice if someone would change the title of this thread to refer to playoffs vs. the no. 14 pick instead of no. 4. That's a lot more realistic as to what we're looking at. I'll just stick with CJ and Dame's responses on this topic: "I felt the same way with my Browns," McCollum said. "So I understand what some (Blazers fans) are going through, wanting to get a pick. But as competitors, we're not going to give away games. We're going to try to win every night. We're trying to make a playoff push. We don't play this game for draft picks. We play this game because we love it and we want to win. I'm sure if you asked (owner) Mr. (Paul) Allen, Neil (Olshey) all the same stuff, they'll give you the same answers." "We like the team that we have," Lillard said. "We have a lot of talented guys who were high drafts picks in here. So we're not going to go out and not try to win games because of one draft pick that we don't even know if they're going to turn out to be a good NBA player. We've got a young team, so we can start building toward the future. It's not like we brought a bunch of bums in here. We've got good players. This is building toward the future." http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ers_remain_motivated_by_playoff_push_not.html
Being stupid depends on your value system. If thinking the team is capable of overachieving is stupid, then I'll own it. I think drooling over a crapshoot draft pick is like throwing away a fun season for promises of having a fun season three years from now
I was always a fan of going ugly early. Especially if you needed a slump buster. You can always go back to the party for more.
You've mentioned that a couple times, but I just don't see it. At all. The question is pick or no pick. Good/bad pick and good/bad playoff experience are just wild ass guesses at this point. The pick is added value no matter what.
But added to what? I don't base my thought process on the simple "will we or won't we" aspect of the draft pick, so much as, "how good will the team have to be in order to make the playoffs?" IMO, in order for us to make it through our murderous 2/27-3/24 stretch and still be in playoff position, we'll have to be seeing consistent solid contributions from Crabbe, Vonleh, and Leonard, as well as significant defensive improvement from CJ, Dame, and Plumlee. If those things happen, and we win enough games to make the 8 seed (or better?), then we'll be better off overall than if we add another 11 pick to a squad that doesn't improve significantly from what we've seen so far.
