2nd rounders are no-names? Gary Trent Jr played at Duke, has a father who played many years in the NBA, and certainly wasn't a no-name. Your personal standards are not NBA standards.
I think Jake/Sauce have replaced Moe, even if he's back healthy. Hope the competition will light a fire up his ass and he plays harder (an engaged Moe is our best wing). But let's be real, he's more likely to sulk and not try at all.
Agreed Last October, I'd have agreed with this take too. However, he seemed to have an epiphany this past winter after his benching. I think he'll be fired up and compete. I just don't trust his knee at this point.
Turner also often guarded LeBron when he played for BOS, even though BOS had other top notch defenders (Crowder, etc.). ET seems to really get up for playing against LeBron. Of course, LeBron is still LeBron and no one player is going to stop him, but at least Turner really puts in an effort to make LeBron work for his points. BNM
I do. Crowds always crazy when we play the Lakers. Blazers havent lost to Lebron or the Lakers at home in a while. I think its set up in a way that favors Portland. Does that mean LA cant win? No. I wouldnt be totally shocked if LA did, because Lebrons good enough to keep his team in just about any game.
I would normally say the crowd and atmosphere would play a huge part or give us the edge, but if there is one player in the game today that it won’t effect/affect, it’s The King. He feeds off it. Dame does as well, so it should be a fun one.
Its the home teams role players that’ll make the difference in my opinion. Crowd gets behind them they start knocking down shots. Lebron isnt going to care about the crowd in fact theres almost always a couple morons at Blazer games who taunt the opposing teams best players and help fuel them. Since they dont have to guard them maybe they should shut up... lol
I just hope Nurk wears his rocket booster backpack! He doesn’t want this to happen again!!!!! One of the best dunks I’ve EVER seen!
In all seriousness, I would pick the refs as the deciding factor. How bad does the NBA want Lebron to win his first game in a Laker uniform?
Continuity. The Blazers, who have been together a lot longer, tend to win their home opener - 17 in a row, to be exact. As great as he is, every time LeBron has joined a new team, even ones with a lot more talent that this one, they struggle initially. When he joined the Heatles, they started the season 9-8 (before going on a 12 game winning streak). When he rejoined CLE, they started the season 5-7 (before running off 8 wins is a row). If you're going to beat a LeBron team, the time to do it is early in the season, before his new teammates get used to playing with him. BNM
Obviously LeBron is a huge factor but.... When was the last time the Blazers lost a home opener? When was the last time the Blazers lost to the Lakers?
Getting this thread back on track. Are there any updates on Moe? Or should we even believe them any more?
