I 100% agree. I think we will make the playoffs and he's gonna surprise the shit out of people. Best stay quiet and do your job. When the dust settles, we maybe saying "Aldridge who?"
And when push comes to shove, Neil did at least a few things right. We don't have any cap crippling dead money contracts, we have a lot of youth, we still have a few guys with as yet unknown potential (that can cut both ways admittedly) and the only real long-term commitment is to a guy coming off of a few All-Star appearances. We're going to be shit, but at least we're not in a position of zero flexibility like we were back in the early to mid aughts, so at least there's the hope of a (semi) quick turn-around.
The West is too loaded, but that's OK. Being shitty for a year or two might be the best thing for us in the long run.
I wouldn't be too sure. There are the sure fire tops: GS, Spurs, Memphis, Houston, Dallas. Clips, us, Nola, Phoenix and maybe Utah will fight this season for the final 3 spots
I doubt it was even serious - the deal was sealed when they turned the crown over to Lillard, but it was forgone conclusion before the season's end. Hell, LA had put his house on the market.
New Orleans, Phoenix and Utah all have better starting fives than us and better benches. I'm not trying to piss in your cheerios, but this is going to be a rough, rough year. A) It takes time to build cohesion, B) young teams are notoriously poor on defense (see A) and C) beyond Lillard and possibly McCollum we have a real dearth of scoring - points are going to be hard to come by and we won't be good enough defensively to win at that end of the court (I'll revise that stance if Neil fires Stotts and hires Thibbodeau).
Yes with the team we have now. If Portland don't make any more moves, then your statement is absolutely true. I have a feeling that Olshey isn't done.
To your latter question: - to present sports starved Portland with a lone major league team (No, fuutbal, doesn't count) - to sell ridiculously overpriced beer to those same sport-starved fans - It's actually a social engineering experiment to determine the breaking point of the Winter NW sports fan
Here's a question. What would be better? 1. Win just enough games to barely make the playoffs and get stomped in the first round and then lose our only draft pick, or 2. suck ass, get a chance at a difference maker in the draft and then make some moves via trade and free agency to make this team a title contender 3 years down the line? Aiming for .500 right away has consequences that could dramatically cripple this team's long-term chances for success. I have a feeling Neil understands this and hopefully he can sell Allen on the vision.
It's not only Selling Allen or even Stotts. Dame is a warrior that will not quit. As I told MM, I'm totally fine with tank fest 2015, but it will not work. Dame will not tank
Which is odd... esp. from Matthews. I don't think it's so much of a sign of disrespect toward the fans, but a sign of how they feel the organization disrespected them. The common denominator IS the Blazers organization, not some collective purposeful snubbing of the fans.
I'm sure Damian will do everything in his power to keep us competitive, but one person can't win games by himself. If you take all of a master carpenter's tools away, he'll probably be able to improvise something, but it'll be a shadow of what he could make if he had the proper equipment. No different here.
Another parting "shot": Jason Quick@jwquick 11 mins ago One Blazers pillar left to San Antonio Saturday. The other was in Portland, more than willing to carry a torch. twitter.com/soorstate/stat… Reply Retweet Favorite
