He's the linchpin to their offense and arguably even their defense. Obviously, DeAndre Jordan is a huge defensive presence, but their defense has fallen off more than their offense since Paul went down. I suspect, on top of being an excellent defensive player himself, he's a big part of their communication on defense.
Most definitely, Paul is very good at funneling his matchup into Jordan too if you watch them closely. He is probably the smartest PG I've ever watched with my own eyes. He's a flopper but man, he is so damn good.
You'll see. If Clippers lose 7 of their next 10 or worse, all bets are off. Blazers will make up ground quickly.
Personally, I'm more of a one step at a time kind of guy. First goal, make it to .500. Second goal, make it to positive +/-. When they achieve those, I'll be excited to think about playoff seeding and even success.
That's certainly within the realm of the possible given that Paul is out and their schedule is pretty brutal: Sun, Feb 5 @ Boston Mon, Feb 6 @ Toronto Wed, Feb 8 @ NY Knicks Sat, Feb 11 @ Charlotte Mon, Feb 13 @ Utah Wed, Feb 15 vs Atlanta Thu, Feb 23 @ Golden State Fri, Feb 24 vs. San Antonio Sun, Feb 26 vs Charlotte Wed, Mar 1 vs Houston But, I agree with Wizard Mentor. The Blazers need to get to .500 and a positive +/- and then we can start to get excited.
Holy crap, in their current form and with CP3 out they will probably lose all those games. Maybe they can beat Charlotte at home.
They will get to .500 and beyond that. We are a couple shots away from being on a 6 game win streak right now.
Warriors are using the spot to sign Briante Weber, D-League phenom! He was the player of the month for January and came up a steal short of a quadruple-double recently, apparently.
You haven't seen Rasta hype him like crazy in the D League thread? http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/d-leaguers.294033/
FUCK Having said that, I don't see him really working out for them. He's not got a great BBall IQ and he's not much of a shooter.
