Is Portland the best team in the West?

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by RonBrewer, Oct 23, 2022.

  1. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Beating the Suns didn’t impress you?
     
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  2. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    It all comes down to whether we can win a playoff series against the Warriors. The Warriors haven’t lost a Western Conference playoff series since 2014.
     
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  3. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    In that season, we were 24-5, best record in the league. However, in 2018-19, we started a West best 12-5. We went to WCF that season
     
  4. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    They’ve only beat trash teams like Nuggets, Wolves, and Pels though.
     
  5. julius

    julius Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Greeeeeeeen font to the rescue!
     
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  6. STOMP

    STOMP mere fan

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    They are at least as good as Utah.

    STOMP
     
  7. Haakzilla

    Haakzilla Well-Known Member

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  8. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    A big part of being a great or the best team is chemistry. The current Blazer roster does not have the best raw or highly touted talent. The roster hasn't played enough to have great chemistry... yet. But I think that chemistry is going to be our secret sauce. We have a nice mix of solid veteran leadership and young hungry players. This team has the potential to be greater than the sum of its parts.
     
  9. Strenuus

    Strenuus Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    I mean, you called them a crappy team so was I supposed to? Lol.
     
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  10. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    2 teams come to mind as great examples of chemistry beating talent:

    1. 1977 Blazers. Yes, Walton was a generational talent but "on paper" the Sixers were a more talented team.
    2. 2011 Mavs. Same thing, one great player on the roster with roll players vs the Miami Heat squad that was stacked!
     
  11. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    The start is much better than expected and there are some real areas of concern, but there are areas with a lot of promise as well.

    1. The offense is clunky, yet - and you can't have Dame score over 40 2 out of every 3 games to win. There is not enough movement off the ball in the half court - and even Terry's teams which were much maligned for iso plays had more flare screens to get people free off the ball. We need to see more of that, especially to get Ant and Sharpe free.
    2. Lots and lots of turnovers. Maybe it is just a start of the year thing and the team needing to gel, but this needs to be cleaned up.
    3. It feels to me that Ant is somewhat misused. He does not move enough without the ball when playing next to Dame, and at least in the last couple games, when Dame sits, Winslow was handling the ball a lot in the 2nd unit. Now, I am a big Winslow fan and I am not surprised he is initiating the offense a lot, but if he does it on the 2nd unit with Ant, once again, I want to see a lot more off-the-ball movement to get him free for catch and shoot.

    The good parts are the defense and the pace, Hart is a great part of that, he is an excellent defender and rebounder and he pushes the ball in transition so much better than any Blazer has done in years.

    I am really enjoying this year so far, but this team is not as good as it's record is now - there is a lot of work to be done, but a lot of promise as well.
     
  12. bigbailes

    bigbailes Well-Known Member

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    What's interesting is that for all the talk of the pace being up, they still sit in the 18th spot in the league when it comes to that stat and play just a tick above where they have the past few seasons (excluding last year when they were tanking). Haven't had a chance to sit and watch them yet this season but should be able to tonight and excited to see how they look.
     
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  13. HailBlazers

    HailBlazers RipCity

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    They're playing a grind em out playoff style of basketball (which I love) but the difference is after stops or steals (surely those are up?) they are really pushing the ball and attacking the rim on fast breaks.
     
  14. bobf

    bobf Well-Known Member

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    I think “pushing the ball” has to be done judiciously. Pushing when your advantage is minimal leads to more turnovers not offset by the gains.
     
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  15. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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    Pushing the ball in transition does put the defense on their heels.
     
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  16. PDXFonz

    PDXFonz I’m listening

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    First one I’ve looked at.

    https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2022-23-week-2

    I’m not even tripping about us being 25th in Off. Efficiency. Being 5th in Def. Efficiency is something I’d much rather see.

    The fact that is the case and we aren’t further up is wrong. But it’s not uncommon for people to sleep on Portland. Lot of people probably don’t even know Sharpe can dunk yet.

    We do well in these next few and we’ll see how they change again.
     
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  17. Cugel

    Cugel The epitome of mediocrity

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    Zero national media on whether Portland is good. Just an also-ran. It gets a bit tiring.
     
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  18. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    total point differential of 11 points over 3 games. I'm sure that nobody believes in us.
     
  19. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    An average margin of victory of 3.666 points is a 50+ win team historically in the NBA. It's a very small sample size and early in the season. If this continues after 10 or so games - I promise you there will be a lot more noise.
     
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  20. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    I hear the Lord of Light Hearted Chemistry...
     
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