One of the Denver announcers stated last night that this Blazer team may be the best McMillan has ever had in Portland. I was taken aback, but now I'm not so sure he's wrong. We don't have marquee players, but we certainly have great depth. What think ye? Is this the best Blazer team we've seen in the last 6 or 7 years?
a work in progress but based upon only 3 games I think it has a good chance to be. I really like the "team" approach and that so many guys can score and hurt the other team, there is not just one focus, take something or someone away and we can hurt you somewhere else. Plus I think we are and will develop a very good chemistry which is often the X factor. So far so good.
Winning is the only thing that matters. I don't care if we run the other team to death, or pound the ball inside--as long as we win.
Cool. I never said anything about that. If you are strictly going by winning % then good for you. Don't take into account that the league is different from year to year. You need to go by talent of the actual team.
No, you don't. Talent doesn't mean anything. It's the record that counts. Give me a team that wins, versus a team that looks like it should win on paper.
Well in that case, since the most any team in the McMillan era here has done is win two playoff games, I guess we know what'll have to happen to answer the question, right? Personally, I think that our current team (if we add anything from Oden) would destroy any team we've had since Nate's been here, including the 2nd-Team All-NBA-Roy-led 2009 team. We're deeper and more veteran at PG and the bigs. We're balanced enough that you can't just double-team Roy and dare 2009 LaMarshmallow, Blanky and Troutlaw to beat you. We have enough defenders that Blake or Roy don't have to guard someone like Jason Richardson as he's going off. Better offense, better defense, more balanced, more veteran...yeah, this team has a shot to get to the 2nd round (and much farther, based on what I've seen so far from the rest of the West).
I think this team has better chemistry, defense, and overall IQ than the Roy lead teams. That team was full of weak perimeter defenders, and soft outside jump shooters. We also have a more diverse offense that can run, and multiple people that can score inside and out.
This team has a long ways to go. They are fun to watch, but turnovers issue must be improved. Which was predictable with all the new parts thrown together in a short time span. I think the pace is great in all, but they need to learn to back it out a lot more when there is nothing there. I would like to see some more secondary fast breaks. But all in all it is just too early to tell. They have not played one game on the road yet. How will they finish games on the road when they are tired from the new pace? How will they respond to injuries? I like this team though and was encouraged in the 4th quarter last night with Crawford.
Without a Doubt. I've been saying it since the fan-fest, this is the deepest and most well rounded team we've had yet. We've have talent at every position and role. It also helps that McMillian has loosened the reigns, it will spell great things for this team.
The 2008-2009 team had better overall offense (marginally), better clutch play (duh), better long-distance shooting, better half-court execution (because of - ) a superstar that you absolutely had to adjust to and much better rebounding. This team has more varied offense, better distribution of offense, much more experience, worlds better defense. I still say it is the best McMillan Portland team, at least the most rounded - and defense wins when it counts - so, yes, best team for this coach, I believe.
At least it has the best depth of players that can play the same style. They can be good if recognition and decision-making gets better.
The reason we're better is so simple. We have experience. Pritchard's cake baking is dead. We got rid of the Pritchard philosophy that veterans are an evil influence on youngsters, and youngsters are all that matter. Did it ever occur to him that youth can be a bad influence on veterans? The definition of "depth" has changed. It was, how much potential do these punks have, who have never accomplished anything? Wow, we have the most depth in the league with all these promising 2nd round steals! Now, the definition is, what skills do our players possess right now, in the here and now?
