How did the Blazers Arrive At Mediocrity and Where Do They Go From Here?

Don’t most teams achieve mediocrity at some point? The question for a good GM is can you make the moves needed to get elite from that point, or is the cupboard so bare of assets that tearing it apart and going down into the lottery is the only option.

 

Yes but 17 years is a long time to stay there.

 

That’s a pretty cynical view of Blazers history. A core built around Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Batum, Matthews, etc. would certainly have been a contending team absent injuries. Only Monday morning quarterbacks can fault the effort there to excel.

 

me·di·o·cre - of only moderate quality; not very good, of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate.

A team that wins 54 games and advances to the second round does not meet the definition of mediocre. They may not be a title contender, but neither are they "not very good", nor "barely adequate".

BNM

 

The most memorable part of those teams you mention, other than injuries, is the Roy led comeback in Game 4 of a First round series that we ended up losing. MEDIOCRE

 

That team never had a chance to show its worth due to injuries. If you use the results of a damaged team as your measuring stick, you’re just looking to be bitter.

 

You could take it a step further.
A core of Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, Rolo were contenders before Matthews went down with his torn acl.
Sure they had a lul before Matthews went down, but every contending team has luls.
There is no reason to believe this lineup wouldn't have figured it out.

 

Which season of that team would you like me to use?

 

and now everyone wants an old Dale Davis again

 

Are we really at the point where instead of talking about the great teams we had we have to talk about what MIGHT have happened? What if no one else in the entire league got hurt that year? Would we still have our “what if championship”?

Ok I’m done, I’m over 100, I’ll quit fucking with the koolaid.

 

Not at all. Pritchard gambled on players with injury history. Roy's knees were trash when we drafted him, and I have personally seen Oden's pre draft meds. His knees drew red flags from literally 1/2 the teams in the league. While I honked once, I certainly wouldn't have had I seen the pics like Pritchard did.

 

Every year is a “might” in professional sports. No matter how great of a roster you build, you’re only an injury or two from mediocre.

 

I think his wrists were injured in college but don't recall knee problems...he's just breakable..bone density or something...broke my heart when him and Roy both went down

 

One leg being 3 inches longer(or whatever it was) than the other should of raised a flag, especially coupled with the best predraft workout blazer officials had ever seen(Durant).

 

Here’s a really good summary of the injuries for the “frail” Blazers of that era. There were some risks taken, but MM’s recollections don’t seem to match the record real closely:

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/01/trail_blazers_injury_woes_how.html

 

You DO realize the Sonics tried to swap picks so they could get Greg right? You also realize 27 of the 29 other teams would have taken Greg first as well right? Horrible luck, but not anything you can blame the organization for really.

 

Yes, he was a beast. His knees, before mf surgery, were messed up. He had damaged cartilage well before we drafted him. His hips were also out of alignment, and one leg is shorter than the other. What really pisses me off about that pick is if you suspect there might be issues, there happened to be 1a player in this draft.