Are the Blazers a Contender?

you post a variant of this like 3 times a day, just rep them and quit talking about it for gods sake, nobody gives a shit

 

yes

 

WAY better than last season would be a contender. We took Dallas to 6. Played them better than anyone else in the playoffs.

SlyPokerDog is just a troll, its all good. Admit to it.

Trolls like reaction, he aims for reaction.

 

I do not think this team is a contender until they can do better in half-court against good defensive teams. So far - they have been just OK in these settings. I want to see more pick and rolls with Felton/Aldridge and Felton/Gerald for this to really look great. If teams clog the middle against them - they struggle and can only win if they force turn-overs - it's OK against the Cavs. Want to see it against the better teams in the league. Would be interesting to see how they look against teams like Chicago/Boston.

 

Here's the way I view this board:



Mediocre Man is simply representing the grumpy, pessimistic fan that's hidden away deep in the hearts of even the most homerish of Kool-aid drinkers. It's a tough job, and a couple things should just be accepted as givens: MM will often get flak for his negative griping, and MM will also gripe about receiving said flak. It's all part of the great Circle of Mediocrity.

 

We have a helluva lot of impressive wins so far. Sixers are about to go 6-2, I believe. Nuggets, Thunder, and Lakers all have good records. We really have the best resume in the league right now.

 

Also, we've only played one sub .500 team (the Kings) and they've won 3 games.

 

The problem is that it's way too early to put much weight on ANYONE'S record. This isn't college football -- we still have over 80% of the season left to play!

 

Portland is a contender in the same way those early 2000 Sixers and Nets teams were contenders. Good enough in a muddled conference to maybe make it to the finals, especially if some other teams have some hard breaks, but massive underdogs if they should get there.

Now if Oden comes back....

 

You see, this is entirely unjust. Why are you targeting me personally?

Way better than last season in your eyes means a contender. All I saw was a team ousted in the first round of the playoffs. So in my eyes, being better doesn't mean contender. It's a simple difference of opinion, and no reason to get personal by calling someone a troll.