Notice This is the worst Blazer team I have seen in my lifetime.

When was the last time the Blazers were down at least 15 points in 5 games in a row?

 

My mantra is simple "poor blazers"

 

Injuries and refusing to trade CJ for more compatible parts. This season feels like, well, every season.

I always laugh at Timberwolves or Knicks fans for coming back year after year in spite of all evidence that nothing will ever change. And yet here I am.

There's always Damian Lillard, though. Even when the team in unwatchable, you can always watch him.

 

Im confused at this thought we have played soft teams. Going into the season weren't people saying we would be okay if we came out of the first 20 games as 10-10 because it was brutal coming out of the gate?

 

The homer/apologists were saying that. But outside of the first 4 games, the schedule was quite soft with 12 home games in their first 18 contests. In the last 10 games, they had only played 2 games against teams over .500 (crushed in both).

 

gotcha

 

Watching Dame try to carry this rotting carcass of a team every year is equal parts extremely thrilling and extremely depressing.

 

I changed my mind. This isn't the worst anymore, it's the saddest, most depressing blazer team of my lifetime. I have never seen a team so completely cursed by injuries.

 

True we have played the top 5 teams in the league already, 4 of those on the road.

 

I think there was a year back when Batum was on the team that we had phenomenal consistency in terms of health and guys not missing games. It seems like every year since we've lost at least one major piece for a long stretch.

Heck, go back to Roy and Oden. We had a home-grown big three. Oden gets hurt immediately and his career never gets going, but Roy, who doesn't profile as a body type to experience major, chronic leg issues, has his body fail him just as he's entering his prime. That's cursed.

 

4 of 5 starters played every game, and the 6th man only missed 8 games. Portland was 7-5 without Aldridge, so they mostly kept pace

but that kind of health is extremely unusual, for any team

only one other Blazer team had that kind of durability

1990-91:



Blazers won 59 games that season and made it to the finals...and the next season they won 63:



and the next year they won 57 and made it to the finals again:



so yeah, good health is important...but it's really hard to assemble a team of durable players

 

Both Oden and Roy were beyond repair before they ever entered the NBA..Roy was lucky to play as long as he did...wouldn't have mattered...what we didn't do was due diligence before drafting them...in Roy's case.he did martial arts kicking all his childhood which wore out his meniscus..we ran a car with faulty suspension into the junk yard...Oden was going to break just sitting down for lunch. Aldridge had an enlarged heart which I suffered from...Batum seemed to have wrist issues but those guys played solid minutes

 

Durability, IMO, is a scoutworthy quality, but of course there's also a lot of luck involved. Then you get into the whole thing that there aren't a lot of iron-man superstars, and superstars ultimately are what wins championships. You get to measuring whether you want AC Green on your team who's very good and never misses a game or Chris Paul who is fantastic but might miss a huge chunk of the season out of seemingly nowhere.

 

You're right, the warning signs were there, but I think the team was fully aware of Roy's pre-existing issues and long term projection. A potentially shorted career was worth the immediate improvement Roy would make on the court and in the locker-room. Blazers were in really bad shape on both fronts and were desperate. I think it worked, we've never been that bottom barrel since, and they'd probably do it all over again. The extension on the other hand...possibly the main reason Pritchard was fired was the Roy extension and Oden pick, possibly because the Blazers were fully aware of their health issues and committed anyway. I recall Allen being reluctant about the Roy extension, don't recall his feelings about Oden and which way he honked. If he was always leery, might make sense why he humiliated Pritchard the way he did.

 

January 28th 1985

 

You sir have a fantastic memory. Very impressive.

 

haha completely made it up

 

So...what you’re saying is that being healthy is important when it comes to winning.

 

I think it DOES impact the chance of winning or losing just a bit.