I expected us to stumble through the preseason and regular season. 41-41. Rookie coach , less talented roster. We are actually doing WORSE than I thought to be honest.
I wanted Terry gone after the Pelicans sweep years ago. I hate how we got swept by the warriors every time we played them and couldn't even win one game. I felt he always got outreached there. So I am just happy to see someone new. I know the cj lillard backcourt will never win though but I thought a new coach would make some diffrence.
I thought trying to get these guys to play ball with player and ball movement on offense then switching, aggressive, accountable defense was already going to look like shit to start out with. When you couple that with the fact that the guys getting the majority of the PT are going to be undersized and not insanely athletic or lacking in experience... it just doesn't look like a team that will be able to consistently beat the best teams in the league. If we're at .500 at the end of the season, I think that will put us in the ninth or tenth spot and I don't think we'll win two games in a row against other teams with a similar record, so that will likely have us not making the playoffs. I actually think we'll win closer to 46 games, be in the 7th spot, make the playoffs and get beat badly in the first round again. That's all unless we make a good trade. I personally think that the right trade could make this roster competitive to the point of getting home court and having a good showing in the second round but probably still not making it to the WCF.
I actually think he does have a good roster. At the very least a roster that is capable of doing everything he's said so far.
He's got a roster that's starting three guys under 6'4" and a PF that's only 6'7". Oh and none of them are ultra athletic, so it's not going to be like flying around the court, type of small ball.
I've said we have a good roster. In my post I said " If people think he has a great roster". Do you think our roster is great? contending? If you think it's a great roster and Billups is going to be better than Stotts, I would imagine you have high expectations this year.
Do you play basketball with the top of your head? Standing reach and wingspan are way more important than height. Besides you don't have to be super athletic to be a good defender or to be part of a good team defense.
I love your optimism and I want you to be right! No spinning things if they fall short though! Again, I want you to be right, I'd love another top 4 seed!
Pretty much everyone agrees it was time to move on from Stotts. I like Billups and i think he deserves an honest chance. I just don't see him working through the roster problems and i also see them failing to score when they need to. Offense will obviously struggle mightily at times. Huge dead zones will plague this team on the offensive end. They have no one to rely on to "Make a Bucket" when Lillard is locked down. Defense to this point looks to be in disarray and players have not even begun to give effort they need to impress. Seems like everyone is still feeling their way around the court. Nurk will continue to be Nurk. This next game looks like another humbling experience. The Warriors will walk to an easy victory tonight. Blazers cannot defend them and they cannot score well enough to keep them honest.
"Not claiming knowledge" is something HCP says after he accidently mowed the flower bed. I like this game.
This is a horrible take. If we traded Dame a few months ago I would've wished for the rest of my life I could've seen a few games of him under a different coach. Now, if Billups fails this season and the Blazers cant do a trade to contend with Dame they could always go look at trading Dame. His value won't be much different during the season or next summer than it was a few months ago. Trying to win with Dame and Billups doesn't have much if any downside. Trading Dame without giving him a full chance to win would've been a crime to Dame, the Blazers franchise, and all Blazers fans for eternity.
