I agree, the records just don't look right. The Blazers will win 56 games this year, and will contend with Clippers and Spurs for the 2-4 spots. A lot of you might think I'm out of my mind for saying that or just being a homer. But, with Tim Duncan retired, LaMarcus Aldridge Is going to screw San Antonio over, he's proven that his play will never be more than the lackadasical bloated menagery that it is...plus I'm not convinced the Clippers have gotten any better with Bass and Speights. I think the Blazers will be at least 3rd if not 2nd
My hope is that every player on GS watches "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" on rotation. I hope someone puts a Santeria Curse on The Spurs. I'll buy a Mojo Hand from a Voodoo High Priestess. Whatever it takes! Come on S2 members..... dare to dream!
I think we are all forgetting that the bottom of the west are all pretty tough teams. And the middle has improved too. 50 wins will be tough.
The wins are low but the 4th seed sounds about right. People outside of Portland though seem to be forgetting that we played a well below replacement level player a significant amount last season and didn't find our best 5 until the last 35 games or so. That alone is worth 3-4 more wins.
I think the West may have improved almost top to bottom. Minny is going to win a lot of games, for example. Someone has to lose those games
They added Felton, Speights and Bass. They lost Aldrich and Jeff Green. I don't see any real improvement there.
I like their rookies, I like that Wesley Johnson's role is gonna expand. I hate their team but they have positioned themselves nicely.
The Clippers will be better just by staying healthy. But if I were them I would have preferred to have kept Aldrich and Green over Felton, Speights and Bass. Green never really played with the Clips while Griffin was healthy. He and Wesley Johnson would have been a good combo at sf. Plus he plays PF as well. I am glad he left.
Clippers gonna get injuries from all the off balance play that happens naturally near feltons gravitational pull.
I still don't know what to make about this team. They really over performed last season. At least to any rational fan. They probably were overlooked by a lot of teams last year, and that won't happen this year. We still don't have that big to take pressure off our back court, which is a legitimately great back court. Our defense on paper improved tremendously with Ezeli and Turner. Assuming no trades or major injuries take place, 44 wins and the 5th seed.
People say they got better because they added Gasol but they lost Duncan, Diaw, Boban, and West. They downgraded. I think the 2 seed is definitely attainable.
LO-mothatruckin-L. 1.) Overperforming is the dumbest term in sports. You perform well if you're capable. Your performance defines you. There's no such thing as overperforming. 2.) If we were so overlooked, why did we start 11-21, when teams were most likely to overlook us? And then how come we j were able to put together good stretches ending 33-17 when we were battling other teams for playoff spots? 3.) I think the upgrade in ball handling and playmaking at SF (Turner over Aminu) will take as much pressure off them as any big would. 4.) How can you say our defense improved tremendously but then say our CEILING is only as good as we were last year? Makes no sense. Some people act like pessimists are realistic while "homers" or "soccer mom's" have no logic. But thats not always the case...
The Spurs are gonna drop heavily imo. I think Parker/Ginobili are on their last year of basketball, Pop post-Duncan is going to be interesting to watch. The Spurs are going to have to bank on Kyle Anderson turning into a stud. Their rotation is out of whack at this point too... Parker / Mills Green / Manu Kawhi / Anderson LA Gasol / Dedmon