Meltdown in full force right about now. Multiple posters trowing in the towel and simply not gonna watch anymore. Even more saying it's time to tank! Some are actually hoping Melo can save the season! This is indeed "Meltdown" material!
Yep it all happened by 14 games into the season! Fire the Coach! Fire Neil Olshey! We have one "Trade Damian Lillard"! We got dudes saying the team isn't even worth recording let alone watching. All this and more should be placed here.... IN THE MELTDOWN THREAD!
There is a lot of reasons to be depressed by this team, one just has to watch the games. From injuries to a lot of new pieces that appear pretty damn crappy and don't seem to fit together this appears a lost season. I suggest giving Ant and Nas all the time they need to develop and look toward next year and not to over play Dame and CJ with too many minutes. Nurk is likely coming back too late to make a significant difference and Collins likely not at all. With our large expiring's and likely a good pick we have a solid chance to rebuild this trade deadline/next summer and look forward to next season. I'll be happy to be proven wrong on this outlook but I doubt there is any big turn around. Looks like we picked up a couple of grms the last two drafts, ;ets develop them as much as possible and get them ready to significantly contribute next season.
Solid take. Can’t say you are wrong. I’m going to wait it out through the first two months and then take a look at what they have at the midway point.
If this losing and lousy play continues I just want to get the most we can from this season, I do have concerns how Dame may react to this season. He is such a warrior can he accept a mediocre, no playoff year and tool up for next yr?
My take is that this season has shown the only way for this team to win is to have healthy team defenders at the 3-5. With Collins and Nurkic out, the weaknesses of the guards is exposed. So, for those who like CJ in the backcourt with Dame, you better pray that once Collins and Nurkic come back, that neither of them gets injured in the future, as we have no way to overcome that while CJ shares the defensive guard duties with Dame.
My worry is they win just enough games to be cannon fodder for some #1 or #2 seed, or barely miss the Playoffs and end up with a crappy Lottery pick. The are already 4.5 games out of HCA....in just 15 games. With very rare exceptions, you need to start with HCA to have any shot at being a legit contender. That is not anywhere near where this team is now and I don't see them getting there soon enough to close the gap. The nearest 'help' is quite a few games away and Nurk likely won't be himself this season even if he does come back before the end of the year. Collins likely won't be back at all. It is what it is. Bigger picture is to do what you can to be the best you can be next season. Unfortunately, that means losing more games than you would like to this year. It doesn't guarantee anything, but at least gives you a better shot to legitimately contend for a title.
In defense of some posters, those things were often said prior to this season as well. Except the not watching/supporting thing is ridiculous. It shows who only cares when the going is good.
I kind of remember the discussions, before the season began, about the first 20 games. What the record might be and what it might mean. What I recall was that almost nobody was imagining the kind of shit-show we've seen. People were talking about 10-10, with 9-11 maybe being about the worst case considering the roster turnover. They weren't thinking 5-10 after 15 games with a very real possibility of being 7-14 after 21 games. If Portland is 7-14, then even if they matched their winning percentage of last season (about the time hell freezes), they'd win 46 games. Yeah, that's the kind of hole they are digging the first 15 games have shown the miscalculations; by fans, and frankly, by the front office: * Whiteside shores up some C weaknesses for Portland, but he creates new ones. I guess we're seeing the reasons why he was demoted to bench duty last season. Portland would probably be better off with Harkless and Meyers than Whiteside. But it's sure a relief to not see Meyers as the starting C this year * Bazemore is not a significant upgrade over Turner, at least not yet. His flaws are probably as big as Turner's. But his strength is that we don't have to watch Turner * the 3 veteran minimum signings have been a total bust. I remember arguing with people here about both Tolliver and Hezonja. That nothing they had done in their careers had warranted the confidence Olshey had in them or the optimism fans had. And Gasol is beginning to look like Ezeli ver2 * there was nothing behind Zach and almost nothing behind Whiteside. The ice couldn't have been thinner and it broke 3 games into the season. IMO, Olshey's habit of essentially forcing Stotts to play the guys he wants to see play by giving Stotts no options behind them has bit the team hard this year and, the first 15 games have revealed those things. Yeah, the Blazers are dealing with huge roster turnover and an injury (Nurkic was always going to miss a bunch of games). But several other teams are dealing with big roster changes and injuries. What is depressing is that the flaws Portland had have become worse, not better; a great rebounding team has become a bad rebounding team; a decent defensive team has become a poor defensive team; a team perennially toward the bottom in passing offense has dropped to a historically low level...and there don't appear to be any easy answers within the roster the schedule is going to get easier, and after the game at LAC on the 3rd, Portland will have a 34-27 home/road advantage over the last 61 games. But unless Portland can completely change the way they are playing, that won't matter much
I don’t really mind having this below par season. We are struggling with injuries, we probably won’t have a meaningful run in the playoffs anyway. My fear is that we will be desperate to make it into postseason and will make a dumb trade around January, like offer one or more of our bright young prospects (Simons, Little, Collins) along with this years pick to acquire someone like Love or Griffin, who will ultimately limit our possibilities of improvement going forward.
I have the same fear. I think this losing spell should lead to one of two actions: 1) recognize that having two shortish, non-defensive starting guards presents real challenges and should be rethought; or 2) Dame and CJ can work, but only when. we have strong defensive players at the 3-5--therefore, we need to shore up the 3-5 backup positions with strong defenders so that when injuries arise, we aren't left swinging in the wind like we are now.
Enjoying each day as it comes. I am watching it all: sports games, wins, meltdowns. Doesn't matter to me. It's all entertainment, baby!
Went to my heart doctor yesterday and I've had a setback....back on meds today right as I'm recovered from my surgery....if this doesn't fix it in 6 months I'm going to need heart surgery in a year. Now I can't drink coffee anymore either! Man.....it just keeps coming. Going back under the paddles Dec 20.....Merry fuckin' Xmas riverman! Damnit I should live longer than Keith Richards!
As long as we have players the caliber of Nurk, Collins, CJ, and Dame coming back, this season will be a great opportunity to improve the team long term.
