At what point will you believe this team is for real?

Yep; that's the difference between good and hot. We are playing bigger than we are, but hopefully we grow into it.

 

We beat Spurs by 30 in SA last season. I think we destroyed Indiana too. Can't remember for sure.

 

Those kind of games are just coin-flips in my mind and over the course of a season, where you get a large enough sample size, you'd expect a team to be about .500 in those contests ... long story short, the pythagorean wins-losses forumla that uses points differential as its foundation is probably the most important thing to track over the course of a season.

 

Where did this whole "pythagorean" thing come about?

He came up with a^2 + b^2 = c^2 , not a bball point differential formula

Did find this though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_expectation but it pertains to baseball.

 

Scroll down yuyuza, it talks about Daryl Morey adapting Bill James' baseball forumla for use in basketball.

 

Ya saw that. Also, the term refers to the formula's resemblance to the original Pythaogrean theorem. lol Here I was thinking he invented a probability formula for sports.

 

Rumor has it Pythagoras was a huge baller in the old Adriatic "And-One" league.

 

That's a good way to think about it, the odds will even us out anyway.

 

For some of you, what the Blazers have accomplished seems a bit diminished by the lack of strength of their schedule. You hear that same doubt about the Blazers expressed by media types on the Web and in print. I guess since the Blazers are exceeding what even the most homer of us expected, that's understandable, but I don't think it's particularly fair. I'm a big believer in the old "any given night" adage and that winning consistently against NBA competition is tough to do. Also, I find it interesting that you don't here those same comments about what the Spurs and Pacers are doing. I thought a little record comparison was in order:

BLAZERS' RECORD
Wed, Oct 30 @ Phoenix L 104-91
Fri, Nov 1 @ Denver W 113-98
Sat, Nov 2 vs San Antonio W 115-105
Tue, Nov 5 vs Houston L116-101
Fri, Nov 8 vs Sacramento W 104-91
Sat, Nov 9 @ Sacramento W 96-85
Mon, Nov 11 vs Detroit W 109-103
Wed, Nov 13 vs Phoenix W 90-89
Fri, Nov 15 @ Boston W 109-96
Sun, Nov 17 @ Toronto W 118-110 OT
Mon, Nov 18 @ Brooklyn W 108-98
Wed, Nov 20 @ Milwaukee W 91-82
Fri, Nov 22 vs Chicago W 98-95
Sat, Nov 23 @ Golden State W 113-101
Mon, Nov 25 vs NY Knicks W102-91

15 Games, 8 home & 7 away, 6 against teams currently .500 or better, 2 back-to-back

SPURS' RECORD
Wed, Oct 30 vs Memphis W 101-94
Fri, Nov 1 @ Lakers W 91-85
Sat, Nov 2 @ Portland L 115-105
Tue, Nov 5 @ Denver W 102-94
Wed, Nov 6 vs Phoenix W 99-96
Fri, Nov 8 vs Golden State W 76-74
Sun, Nov 10 @ NY Knicks W 120-89
Mon, Nov 11 @ Philadelphia W 109-85
Wed, Nov 13 vs Washington W 92-79
Fri, Nov 15 @ Utah W 91-82
Wed, Nov 20 vs Boston W 104-93
Fri, Nov 22 @ Memphis W 102-86
Sat, Nov 23 vs Cleveland W 126-96
Mon, Nov 25 vs New Orleans W 112-93

14 Games, 7 home & 7 away, 6 against teams currently .500 or better, 3 back-to-back

PACERS' RECORD
Tue, Oct 29 vs Orlando W 97-87
Wed, Oct 30 @ New Orleans W 95-90
Sat, Nov 2 vs Cleveland W 89-74
Tue, Nov 5 @ Detroit W 99-91
Wed, Nov 6 vs Chicago W 97-80
Fri, Nov 8 vs Toronto W 91-84
Sat, Nov 9 @ Brooklyn W 96-91
Mon, Nov 11 vs Memphis W 95-79
Fri, Nov 15 vs Milwaukee W 104-77
Sat, Nov 16 @ Chicago L 110-94
Wed, Nov 20 @ NY Knicks W 103-96 OT
Fri, Nov 22 @ Boston W 97-82
Sat, Nov 23 vs Philadelphia W 106-98
Mon, Nov 25 vs Minnesota W 98-84

14 Games, 8 home & 6 away, 2 against teams currently .500 or better, 4 back-to-back

I'd argue that the Spurs' schedule is just about identical with the Blazers' in terms of toughness and that the Pacers have had a total cake walk. You don't hear anybody knocking them for their "easy" schedules. In the long run, it doesn't matter of course. The schedules will play out and the results will be whatever they may, but I think that it's time for me to at least say that I've become a believer. This team is for real.

 

Not really for Eastern Conference teams. They play within their conference more than they do with the opposing conference. This season, teams in the West will have a harder schedule than those in the East.

 

They called it the And One league back then because they disregarded the concept of zero.

 

I want to see it against the spurs while at full strength and cooking. I know we can do it, I just want to see. I really want to go against Indy and the heat not as much to see if we win, but it really want to see how we play their defense. If we are just a jump shooting team, as some claim, great defenses should be able to lock us down. But if our shooting is really a result of a well oiled offense that happens to shoot well then we should be able to adjust to great defensive schemes.

If I watch those games, win or lose, I'll come out with a much better understanding of how good the Blazers are. And since defense is always turned up in the playoffs, understanding our versatility will be huge for determining how far we can go in the playoffs.

 

Wow, and they called our schedule soft? Look at Indiana's. lol.

 

What if we win, even though they take us out of our offense? Kinda like we did against Golden State.

 

The problem with the national outcry of "Our schedule was soft" has more to do with the professionals discounting this club. Everyone already knew Miami, Spurs, OKC and Indiana were the contenders. So being at the top goes into their normal predictions. No one picked Portland to be chasing even the 6th seed this season. Many talked about how we would be terrible on the defensive end, etc. So now that Portland is doing so well, they want to say things like "Well yeah, but look at their schedule?"

 

I believe they are for real now but they won't truly be for real until winning the first round of the playoffs.

 

Winning is a bonus, but I really want to see adjustments when corner threes are covered and Hibbert is cleaning the glass.

I'm not saying the Blazers won't win or can't make the right adjustments, I just want to see this before I start to be confident that the Blazers can be a true contender. But I'm loving my Blazers for now.

 

I must be missing the public outcry.

I see the Blazers getting more and more attention nationally and moving up in ranking systems throughout the different websites. Some have Ptd as a top 3 and most have them in the top 5 right now.

 

Now they are. Last part of the 5 game win streak they weren't. You should look back and review.

 

I wasn't saying that the schedules will even out. Clearly they won't. Just saying that in the end it isn't going to matter what people think now about the Blazers', or other teams', early strength of schedule. The records at the end of the season will speak for themselves.