Blazers vs Jazz preseason game thread 10/18/2015

I think we'll miss (healthy) Wes and Nic a lot more than we'll miss LMA. I suspect even "bad" Nic will be better than Aminu, but certainly good Nic is way better.

 

Real post!^

 

I gotcha, and nothing like a friendly disagreement.
Kinda like I was getting sick of all the blind pessimism.
No. I don't think any three of our players are better than those three at the moment. I also don't think that last years team was ever gonna get a ring. I think our current roster has more room to develop and get better for the long haul.
My definition of better is meaning better for the team, not necessarily stats or skill level.
Maybe King is speaking of something different than I.

When I say I think this team is better, I mean better for the long haul. I would trade last years roster for this one because of the potential longevity of this one vs this one year where we might have still competed with having last years roster. But then resigning Wes and Rolo, would they have played as well this year as they did the last two years, now that they are getting paid?
Many, many ways to look at this instead of just stat sheets. Hopefully that makes a bit more sense?
Also, if you always take me serious, well that's a serious mistake.

The key is the 30 games you mention wouldn't get us a ring with last years roster. this years roster, with development, and the addition of missing pcs to be determined, yes I think its better and will provide more years of contention.

Lastly, we just had (2) 50+ win seasons. We are Blazer FANS. We want, hope and pray for them to do well. Why would you think that want wouldn't transfer into optimism, even if its stretched to a low percentage of possibility?

 

No blind pessimism coming from me. I know basketball. I never get too high or low...... been a part of both sides on a very close level. I'm real and will call it like I see it.Been a Blazer fan my whole life and have a BLAZER TATTOO! I don't let my fandom get in the way of common sense and level headed thinking.

 

Just because I call it like I see it, doesn't mean I'm not a FAN. I want and hope us to do well more than most, but I don't go posting unbelievably unrealistic predictions. I HOPE we win 50 games and make the playoffs, but will we?

 

Jesus Christ.. Don't break an arm jerking yourself off!

 

Nah! The term had not even been coined yet.

 

If I get upset because my team plays poorly, THAT will be the best part of the season? You sound like a dick. Just calling it like I see it

I believe smart GMs will soon realize they'd rather have this roster than last year's. HCP- have you watched us play? CJ is better than Wes. Aminu/Harkless is better than Batum. Leonard/Plumlee/Davis/Vonleh is the best frontcourt combination we've had since 2000. Lillard this year is better than Lillard last year. Crabbe is very much improved. And who knows what Gerald Henderson or Cliff Alexander have to offer. We are fucking deep as hell. I prefer this roster to last year's and it's not close. If you haven't watched the new guys play much, then I can understand where you're coming from. You're just ignorant.

You don't know basketball if you think our current roster will only win 20 games. You don't know basketball at all. You overreact to the addition and substraction of name players. When LeBron and Bosh went to Miami, you said they'd go 75-7. Well they only went 58-24 and lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.

This year, while other teams with new players were claiming "we'll need time to gel," Dame is getting the whole team together to work out in San Diego. If you've been watching (which I gather you haven't), you would see that the work they put in San Diego is showing on the court. We are already playing with great chemistry on the court.

 

So wait, what is HCP really doing in the truck? :MARIS61:

 

He's not watching the game. He's editing highlights. He's told me he has no idea what is happening in the game while he's working.

 

King, I know you get carried away sometimes on here. That said, you KNOW I know the game. We agree to disagree. Thats that.
I say we are no way as good as last season......we lost too much talent.
You say we are better than last years team.
We will see what happens won't we?

 

We lost a primadonna PF who shoots 20 foot fadeaways, a SF who was fucking HORRIBLE last season and cost us games, a SG who is admittedly a good player but is injured, and a mediocre center who is nowhere near worth $13 million let alone per season. In return, we opened up minutes for CJ whose ability to score is fringe All Star level, we opened up minutes for a much improved Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard. Then we added Aminu and Harkless both of whom should play better than Batum (who, again, was awful last season). Plumlee/Davis/Vonleh is way better than Lopez/Freeland. And when you look at it all, we're so deep. Finally. A bunch of talented athletes that Stotts can trust instead of just 5 he runs into the ground and collapse after the All Star break (we were already going down hill before Wes got hurt). After all this, I didn't even MENTION Gerald Henderson or Cliff Alexander who are unknowns (to me) but appear to have the potential to contribute. Then there is Pat Connaughton (can shoot and rebound) and Frazier (fast). Great fucking team.

 

You are AMAZING! You are no doubt about it the most positive Blazer fan in the history of the team and I raise my glass to you.

 

Even as bad as Nic was last season, he was still better than Harrison Barnes - a player many think we should throw a max contract at next summer. Aminu and Harkless may provide more than Nic when you add their contributions together, but I'll be shocked if either one can even replace "bad" Nic on their own.

 

I have not had the opportunity to catch much of Aminu this pre-season, so I can't comment on him.

Watching Harkless against the Lakers I could not help but think how he was the total opposite of "good" Nic. Good Nic had a sweet outside stroke and decent handles. Harkless with an extra 15-20 lbs is much more comfortable under the basket. He also looks to be more physical on defense. (Not necessarily a better defender, just a different style)

I expect Good Nic to reappear once he gets his confidence back, but bad Nic was worthless. At one point he had lost so much confidence in his shot he refused to shoot, and at that point we would have been better off with this year's duo

Personally I liked Nic's game, but I did not like when we ran the offense through him. He was good for his position, but still not good enough of a playmaker to justify allowing him to do it as much as he did. But since Wes was a poor playmaker, Terry had no one to help Dame. The upside of starting CJ will be having that extra ball handler. CJ is not a true PG but he is better than Nic at that particular skill set. That will allow Aminu and Harkless to do other things....like maybe receiving a few alley oops? I saw that in the Laker game and loved it.

 

Sure, Harkless (and maybe Aminu) will be better at dribbling the ball and attacking the basket - Nic was never good at dribbling (neither was Wes). But I don't think either of them will play as good of a team-oriented game as Nic did. Nic was our best passer last season. Now our best passer is Meyers. Maybe Plumlee? I've been hearing good things about his passing. But when it comes to the guys who'll be handling the ball (Dame/CJ), we're quite pedestrian. We'll miss Nic's passing, even if his lack of dribbling ability kept him from being a truly great play-maker. As I said in another thread, Dame REALLY needs to step up his passing game for us to succeed.

 

Actually I don't even think they will be better at dribbling than Nic. Nic was OK for a SF just not good enough for the role they gave him. I think Meyers can be just as effective as Nic passing the ball from the high post, because of his height and the fact that opposing PF's and centers might not pressure him the same way a SF would guard Nic.

But again I think when CJ plays with Dame, he will make up for the loss of Nic on the offensive end. And defensively we will be fine on the perimeter. Hopefully the new front line will be active enough to help the guards out. They look like they could be.