Battered Blazers Search For Winning Formula

I was hoping the blazers would win 50+ games this year - they won't. Several players have underperformed based on how they played last year. Comparatively, we suck!

The article provided ZERO NEW INFORMATION, and ZERO INSIGHT as to why we suck this year. The latter would have been very interesting. Do people actually think we don't know that we suck? The article was OK, but nothing special.

Yes, absolutely, I am a homer. I like articles that provide zero new information and zero insight better if they are positive.

 

I thought that this section was the meat of Eggers' article:

He basically called BS on Olshey's assertion that this team is close to being the rising team that we'd hoped for and which was worth the money he spent last summer. It is a results-oriented business and Olshey's ass is on the line unless he's able to pull a rabbit out of the hat (or wherever else he can find one) and give PA a reason to believe that there's hope for next season.

 

Portland sports fans in general have to be the most relentlessly positive in all of sports. Go to some boards for Philly or NY Sports fans. Their complexes have complexes. Timbers fans will brigade you online for even criticizing front office management. Blazer fans aren't anywhere near bad, but I love the "HOW DARE YOU!" threads some Blazer fans post on Reddit sometimes. But as a homer as well, I love our fan base quirks and what makes us, "us." Eventually I am sure some former corporate psychologist will find a way to deprogram human beings from being to negative in any way shape or form. It will be viewed as a cognitive dysfunction that should be irradicated from humanity.

 

This is laughable.

 

The Blazers are 7-11 in those close games that Eggers identified. That's a .389 winning percentage. Their actual winning percentage is .411. They might have been very slightly unlucky in close games, but hardly in some gigantic fashion. They've lost a bunch of blowouts too. Their Pythagorean winning percentage (expected wins and losses based on points scored and allowed, to factor out the luck involved in close games) is .395, according to ESPN, good for 22nd in the league (with a big gap between 20th and 21st).

So, yeah, I think Eggers is right to call BS on Olshey's claim that they're right on the cusp of being a good team and they just got unlucky with close games.

 

What if that really good pick is a PF who slipped in the draft like happens almost every year. Past drafts have great players all the way to the 2nd round. (Hassan Whiteside, 2nd round number 33. super rare.) What we need isn't a guard or SF which could dominate the top of this year's draft. I respect what your saying but teams need different things. Late bloomers happen in college too. The end of this year or even in the tournament we will see someone skyrocket up the board. I'm not saying we get in the top 5 just a consolidation pick higher up than what we have to fill a need.

 

Yeah, if the Blazers want to move up from 10 to, like, 8 because they see a good fit dropping, they might have the ammunition to do that.

 

Neil's a really good spin doctor. He finds ways to maximize press from positive small trades and dismisses large amounts of negative press from other actions. I am sure being in Hollywood for so long helped him realize the importance of press. He realizes that recurring negative voices around the Blazer organization have the effect of a big stone in a small pond like Portland. So he cultivates outside sources and gets rid of people (CSN Fiasco) who won't push his agenda. It kinds of reminds me of Brian Cashman from the Yankees. That little horney weasel has been the Yankees GM for over 20 years. He found out quickly that if he released info to NY reporters on players that didn't do well. The fans would follow and remember.

"YOU CAN'T BLAME CASHMAN FOR THAT! THE NY POST ARTICLE SAID HE WAS AGAINST IT!"

"IN OLSHEY WE TRUST. WE CAN'T ATTRACT FREE AGENTS. LOOK AT THAT TRADE HE PULLED OFF."

In a league where perception is everything, having people react the way you want them to is the best job security. Because nobody but a few industry insiders are probably going to know the difficulty or magnitude of the decisions you make which truly show your ability. Unless of course your an absolute failure. But Neil isn't. He's obviously very capable and very crafty.

 

Of course not just that cool thing called intuition.

The roster from player 1-12 has very little to give game in and game out. They're not directed or focused on the common goal of winning if that is indeed what it is. Something else has them occupied.

 

lol. Okay. intuition makes rumors, I guess.