I don't agree either, but if you want to argue the other side: Lillard is a polished product, and though he surprised a bit with the level he played at as a rookie, he is not very likely to make a big jump. He is what he is. (note: there have been many examples of NBA players who didn't make big early jumps over their rookie years). Though the Blazers were a bit dinged up at the end of the season, they had pretty good health last year, something you can rarely count on most years. Lopez is a true center it's true, but last season was the first season he started. Not quite sold on him yet and though their games are very different, not sure Lopez will end up contributing much more than the big minutes, big hustle and big stats they got from the undersized JJ. T-Rob was an interesting value pickup, but we don't expect anything out of him until he actually does something to prove us wrong. He was that bad last season. CJ is a rookie who has the look of an undersized SG, and besides, is unlikely to add much value to the team his rookie season other than injury backup, thanks to the late addition of Mo Williams. The bench has improved for sure, which is why we have the team winning more games, but they are not a top 5 bench or anything. The bench is not good enough or deep enough to win you games on its own. They just won't be losing games for the team like last season.
There are five teams in the NBA clearly above the others next season; Miami, Indiana, OKC, Chicago and Brooklyn. Those are the clear contenders. Four of the top five NBA teams are out in the East. Already in July we have more teams than ever aiming to tank the next season. Boston, Orlando, Philly, Utah, and the Phoenix. Usually teams start off the season even if under talented hoping for the best and not deciding to tank until they’ve seen bad results. But this year we have teams proactively aiming to be uncompetitive from the get go. They will be in a competition to be at the bottom of the standings. There will be a number of additional teams joining that group in the lottery, likely including one or two that today appear to be a lock for the playoffs; but due to injuries or unexpected chemistry issues fall well short of expectations. All of those tanking teams will make a base level of wins easy to obtain. There will then be a large group of teams well above the lottery teams but below the top5 contending teams. Position in that bunch could be fluid. All the teams have some great positives but also some major limitations. Can a frontcourt of only Griffin and DeAndre work in the playoffs defensively for the Clippers? Can San Antonio continue to rely on Duncan and Ginobilli? Can Houston take the next step with Parsons as their third best player? Any of the teams in this group including the Blazers have the potential to get hot, have a number of breaks go their way and get a great playoff seed just as Denver did last season. That is why I'm very excited about this upcoming Blazers season. There is so much parity in the west we have a chance of getting HCA. In other years there just wouldn't be the openings at the top of the standings. In the East there isn't the openings at the top of the standings. But this year in the west we have a opportunity to be a surprise team.
I agree with many of your areas of concern. But outside of the top 4 teams in the East and OKC all the teams have major possible areas of concern. The Clippers have terrible frontcourt defenders in Griffin and Jordan with no backups. Houston's 3rd best player is stuck playing scrap minutes behind Howard; who is their PF? Golden State has had trouble keeping Curry healthy. Nearly all teams backups have question marks equal to the Blazer backups; thats why they aren't starting! With Mo and Wright the Blazers have two clear rotational players ready to go. I'm not sure where we will end up but we are right there in the mix of the teams below the clear cut contenders.
Looks like SI agrees with ESPN: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20130816/nba-western-conference-power-rankings/?sct=nba_t11_a0
The Blazers turned a sow's ear into a rhinestone ornamented codpiece. That's a nice bit of work....but a long way from a silk purse.
I hope coach posts both those rankings on the locker room wall with #10 circled with a big red marker.
They almost never break news anyway. There's really no reason to read them at all, unless you're wanting to check standings or maybe see a schedule.
like most media, ESPN tries to appeal to the masses so as to generate as much advertising $$$ as possible. Being a small market team way out West means most NBA fans don't have much of a rooting interests one way or another for our favorite team, we're basically a ratings loser. Blazer fans looking for offseason hype/respect, highlights in the first half of Sportscenter, or announcers who don't openly root against PDX will continue to be frustrated STOMP
For me, I just don't watch on principle alone. It makes sports a hell of a lot better. Also, you notice that Football may be the dumbest sport ever. It's amazing how that works.
