ESPN: Trail Blazers are "fifth best team in the NBA."

Early season success is actually a solid indicator for end of season results, if you know what to look for. The big caveats though are strength of schedule, SoS, (road games, back2backs, and level of competition remaining) - the other being injuries.

Of the 13 teams with winning records last season by mid-November, 10 of made the play-offs and 9 ended up with winning records.

Of the nine teams that started at least 5-2, 7 finished with winning records. Minnesota and Milwaukee didn’t make the cut. Obviously, Minnesota was a mobile infirmary, and Milwaukee was the exception – they were just bad.

Since we don’t care about other teams (right?) it’s fair to say we are watching how Portland is playing every game, how they are winning and losing and by how much, what their injury situation is, and who they are playing. We have to acknowledge Portland’s SoS wasn’t great to start the season. We found out Phx is pretty dang good, and Den is pretty turble. The Kings look the same, but the wins were more convincing and Portland was in control the entire time both home and away. The Spurs were their best performance and Houston not so much. Long story short, we’re still missing some info here.

So, I think these 4 road games, despite the SoS, will say a lot about where we can expect Portland to end up because they are all on the road. And Portland doesn't have any back-breaking 7 and 6 game road trips this season. Can I get a "Thank you sweet Jesus"? I have some fan anxiety, but I’m hopeful that based on their play thus far, they can win all 4. The Blazers can shoot, the defense and rebounding is improving, they play really hard, and most importantly – they can win ugly. Can they win on the road or is Denver THAT bad? That’s my biggest question.

 

They all said Portland wasn't a playoff team to start the season. It's a way of saving face by remaining ambiguous.

 

Welcome back. lol ; )

 

Thanks for dropping the stat knowledge. Confidence builds on itself and if the Blazers can find some early success no matter what the schedule, they can build on that and carry that confidence into games against stronger teams.

For whatever stats Lopez contributes, he adds a toughness/attitude that can be infectious to the many other more finesse players on the roster. That alone is worth as much or more to this seasons success than the decent numbers he puts up.

 

IF we lose two in a row.

I thought that was weird too.

 

Have the Blazers ever not been under the radar this early in the season? The vets are used to it.