Exclusive 2022 Portland Trail Blazers Training Camp

Norm and Roco were bad defensively last year too, which made things worse. Neither guarded well on or off the ball. The hope is that the two guards will defend better, Dame will defend better when healthy and not having to carry the offense and Simons will continue to improve. The team has more defensive upside, more playmaking, more depth, and more shot creation from the forward spots. They have the athleticism to potentially play how Chauncey wants on both sides. This team fits Chauncey and will play harder than last years team.

Lot of ifs but 45 to 46 wins is too low of a ceiling.

 

1) It will be awhile until we know how effective the Dame/Ant backcourt can be.
2) We will be one of the smallest teams in the league.
3) We have a "PF" who averaged less than 5 rebounds a game last season.
4) We have a center who can't stay healthy.

A 35 win season is very much in reach.

 

It might have been 10 GAMES if the Blazers hadn’t invented more fake injuries. The winning streak frightened the club to death. They saw their high pick starting to slip away. It was one of the most disgraceful things this organization has ever done, and it will not pay off. The changes made in the off-season were minor, and the Blazers are still a long way from being title contenders.

 

Nurk and Eubanks aint gonna cut it. Not sure why, presumably $$$, they didnt sign a vet FA big. Nurk will miss 20 games easily. Eubanks is undersized. They go 500 and I think you call it a good season.

 

If we can become the most connected team in the league we will contend, when?

 

We’re devoid of depth. Our bench is very weak.

 

Your take on tanking is naive and that's putting it nicely. As Cronin said we weren't going to compete for a title last season so we did the best things our management could think of to put us in position to win going forward. That's not disgraceful, that's being competitive. Also if you think with a guy getting his first significant playing time leading a bunch of sixth-eighth men and Nurk would have continued to win after teams had tape on them... that's a little further than naive. That team would have won just enough games to get us a late lotto pick instead of an early one.

 

So losing games intentionally is “being competitive”? No, it’s gambling that you’re going to get somebody in the lottery who will make you a winner. And who did we get? A kid who never played a minute of college ball and is a huge question mark. The lottery is always a gamble, even when a guy has played four years of college ball, and the Blazers should know that better than anyone. Their tank job was not just disgraceful, but foolish.

 

OK, every team in the NBA and NFL does this... every fucking professional but I guess you know better. Seriously you need to understand that professional sports aren't always played on a game to game basis, there is team building involved and long term future to keep in mind that every other level of sports doesn't have to worry about in the same way. You've been arguing this foolishness for far too long so you're obviously not going to relent to common sense. I'll leave it alone now.

 

I hope so; I guess i am always a worrier.

 

We need one more quality big. Someone who can play both center and PF. Other than that, which position lacks depth? I think we are fine depth-wise at PG, SG, and SF.
"Very weak" might be an embellishment. It seems like it is deeper than it has been.

 

We could certainly use a 4/5 pogo stick free safety out there.

 

Who’s going to be the main scorer off the bench?

 

It depends on who starts and who comes out first. I can see Ant and Hart playing with the bench.
With Ant starting)
Hart last year with the Blazers had games where he scored 44, 31, 27, 26 and 25

 

Perfectly reasonable analysis, though somewhat pessimistic.
However, if this is pov, then his analysis of the Lakers should be something like...

Way past his prime star, consistently injured 2nd best big, way-past-his-prime and horrible-decision-making PG, not to mention a backup PG who creates the worst locker room.
One of the oldest starting lineups in the league. 32 wins, 42 max. Lots of question marks.

 

Just relax and wait to see how good Sharpe is. If he becomes a superstar, I doubt you’ll still think it was foolish. You’ll probably buy his jersey.

 

You do realize that your last sentence contradicts everything else you have said on this topic?

You complain about "tanking"...and you also complain about the team's history of slapping bandages on sucking chest wounds. For a small market team with no cap space the only way to make major changes is to go through the pain of what you consider "disgraceful" tanking. With all due respect - pick a lane and stick to it.