Who is MGB and why would he give up the seats? lol. Also is the last game at home? I am fairly certain I wouldn't be able to travel. With that said, Brilliant offer my man, brilliant offer! If its genuine and we are in town, I will gladly accept!
He will be our starter at SF more than likely. I think people will love his other qualities but would gladly take Nic's inconsistent shooting.
I agree. I think Olshey plans for him to be the starter and see if he improves over the season so he can assess the position long term next year. I think this year is all about trial and error and mix matching puzzle pieces. I also think this will get us some wins, because other teams wont be able to properly scout. We will be the dark horse know one knows about and slide in under the radar most nights.
Damn. Guess I called myself out a bit. lol. Ive been reading a couple years though and don't recall the name. And dammit one day I wont be a noob!!!!
MGB was a moderator here and a great contributor. He had handicapped seats in the Lexus level that many on the board took advantage of. He passed away and I have been working with his wife to keep the rights to the seats for her. It works out great for me since I have access to them for every game. Works out great for her since she still has the rights to them when she is able to take the account back as well as not worrying about market fluctuations. She already got a nice bonus for next year even though demand is sure to be lower than the past couple of seasons. I was meaning the season finale in Portland. Whether we finish .500 should be pretty clear by then. If we finish on the road and the bet is not resolved, we can figure something out.
Don't get me wrong, I love Damian and he is truly the leader this team and city deserves...but he's not dumb enough to say "we're not tanking this season!" and try to win a bunch of games...remember he was starting when we purposefully tanked the last 14 games to keep the pick and draft CJ. He just signed a brand new deal and I guarantee you that Olshey has the same convo he had with LA when he came aboard--asking him to be patient and give him a season or two to gather talent and then compete with a strong roster. I'm sorry to wreck everyone's dreams but unless we absolutely luck into a deal for a superstar we are AT LEAST missing the playoffs the next two years. Neil is going to want to keep those 1st rounders and the West is just too strong to try and win with a team that's not ready. If we can be the Utah Jazz of last season in two seasons I'd consider it a successful rebuild and start to something special.
Ahhh, thanks for the insight. and your right. Final home game will probably be answered. Lets do it if your able to secure and thank MGB's wife for me please!
Already secured, just not for sure if it will be a premium game or not. Doubting the last game will be against Cleveland but you never know. We can wait for the schedule to be released and figure it out. If the bet is resolved earlier than the finale, we can also just agree on a game that works with both our schedules.
I think our team and players should go into the season like we are still in the hunt for the playoffs. The first 20 games should be pretty telling on how our team competes in the league. If everyone gels, players like Meyers and CJ take huge leaps, then you continue the playoff run. If it looks like most the "realists" suspect, then tinker tinker tinker with different line-ups, work on development as well.
Houston, Dallas, SA, GS, LAC, OKC, Memphis are clearly better. New Orleans could also be included with these teams. Utah played well late and Minnesota is improving. Despite the disfunction in Sacramento, they still have Boogie. Phoenix continues to exceed expectations. Not expecting much from Denver or the Lakers. Guessing though we split the season series with these two teams though. The West is just tough and would be happy with 30 wins.
No chance this team wins that many games. SA, OKC, and DAL all got better this offseason. GS/NOP will likely be better due to their youth getting another year under their belt. HOU, MEM, and LAC will still be tough, and are still out of our league. Bad teams from last year like MIN, UTA and LAL also improved. Take off the homer sunglasses, and you can easily pick the Blazers to finish last in the West. Talent wise, they probably are last. Realistically, I think this team is looking at a top 5 pick next year. Which in the long run would be better than your assessment of 42+ games which would likely net us a 12-14 lottery pick.
If your right, then we have a lottery pick in a very underwhelming draft and we are several years away. Basically starting to get good after Lillard has peaked in the latter half of Lillard's contract. I don't think that cuts it for Lillard or PA. I think your over emphasizing the stats of our new acquisitions when comparing the roles they played on previous teams vs the roles they will have here. I see the biggest factor for this team? Chemistry. If this team feels good together and builds good chemistry, that means a couple guys will also blossom and we might find another emerging all star before us in maybe a CJ or a Leanard. I think Chemistry will be the biggest factor in 30 vs 40 wins. With that said, I am confident in Olsheys ability to find stand up professionals who want to work together to obtain the bigger prize, rather than worry about stats and being the number one. This team has been about character for a few years now and it has worked. No need to start bringing in bully thug allstars with demands.
If the bigs can offensive rebound, let the chuckers chuck and you can win. Play strong defense and slow the pace to a crawl, execute on offense, and you have a shot to win at the end. That's how Milwaukee did it, and they have nobody in the same league as Lillard.
I agree. If the chemistry gels, we have a chance to surprise like PHX did a couple years ago. But I still think 42+ wins is pushing it. I think if everything goes well, we have a shot at 35 wins, which would be pretty amazing with the way the West looks. For us to win 42+ games, we will almost have to dominate the East, win 70% of our games against MIN/LAL/UTA/DEN/SAC. I just don't see us winning more than 25-30% of our games againt the Western elite teams. And the problem with chemistry is that for the first quarter of the season we won't be gelled. This is basically a new team that we have constructed. The first 20-25 games will be a learning curve. If anything, chemistry will likely work against us.
