On brink vs. the Warriors, Blazers' rebuild still nothing short of amazing

Wiggins has been pretty poor, defensively. I don't know if he's worse than McCollum, but that's not a high bar.

However, McCollum is 4 years older and most experts believe Wiggins has the potential to become a top wing defender. I've never seen anyone suggest the same about McCollum. Even holding your own at ages 19 and 20 in the NBA tends to auger well for the future.

I'd say that the Blazers are clearly the better team now and are likely to be the better team next year, but the Timberwolves are more advanced in terms of the assets you need to win a title. But having those tools has been applied to plenty of teams that eventually went nowhere--the Blazers at one time looked like the next rising dynasty, before Roy and Oden got exiled to the Land of Broken Toys. While Wiggins has elite potential, he may end up more Darius Miles or Lamar Odom than Scottie Pippen or Kobe Bryant. If Wiggins doesn't become a top player and their top pick this year also doesn't become notable, you have one great player in KAT with a good coach and not much more. Most of their remaining "interesting" players are young and athletic but don't look like elite players by any means--they're the kinds of players you hope can fit in around a dynamic Towns-Wiggins duo, like Harrison Barnes types.

The Timberwolves have the flashier and more exciting future, but it's also more boom-or-bust. The Blazers have a much more stable foundation with a star, a very good player in McCollum and a group of solid players. There's not a lot of bust potential and a few smart moves could elevate the team to darkhorse contender--like they were last year before Matthews got hurt.

 

Who is their coach next year? Thibs will make them a threat for the next 3 years or so. The real question is how much long term damage he does in the process.

 

Stotts has a career winning % of 49%; Thibs is at 65%. Benefit of the doubt?

I wouldn't want Thibs because of the damage he does to his team/players over the long haul. In the short run, however, he is a very effective coach.

 

Stotts coached two bottom feeders and 2 rebuilds in Portland...two .most of his career in the Western conf except the short Atlanta gig...not really a fair comparison...Thibs has coached one team in the eastern conference loaded with talent when he got there and got fired

 

First of all, great to see you back.

Nobody would be surprised if Minny's record was much, much better next year.
Nobody would be surprised if Minny's record was much the same as next year.

 

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Portland due to they have better supporting cast then Minnesota right now. Plus portland already in winning environment and Minnesota still have to learn to win.

 

I really enjoyed watching this young team grow and surprise a lot of people (even me) this season. Even considering how fortunate we were in the first round, it's still pretty amazing that this team is where it is. An underdog, our underdog going toe-to-toe with the champs. It's pretty exciting!

 

Thanks, dawg.

 

Welcome CommodoreG...! That was a good first post....any relation to PapaG?

 

I did and I'll tell you why. First, our two best players from the playoffs series vs the Grizzlies- CJ McCollum and Meyers Leonard- were still on the team. And of course, we still had Dame. Second, the additions were underrated. We got a Team USA center for our draft pick so right off the bat while everyone focused on whom we had lost, we had improved at SG and C. Third, Batum was coming off a horrible year while Aminu was coming off a year in which he, like CJ, had exploded during the playoffs. Adding Ed Davis and Henderson, Olshey significantly improved our bench. Then we had three unknown talents with potential in Harkless, Vonleh, and Crabbe. Two of them became very good NBA players this season though we didn't know that at the time. Crabbe showed signs during summer league though. The only problem with our starting lineup was PF but we had Leonard, Vonleh, and Harkless to compete for time at that position. We were obviously not going to have an All Star at this position though. Then there were intangibles. It was revealed that everyone in the organization including Dame had to tip toe around Aldridge's fragile ego and there was a reported "sigh of relief" when he left. Dame was excited to take over the leadership role and he demonstrated that right away by getting the whole team together in San Diego in September.

Knowing all of this, I decided to do what I rarely do: watch preseason basketball games. I was curious about all these new players and roles. So I watched our game against the Warriors. The Warriors played all of their starters and they were competing hard but we completely destroyed them nonetheless, scoring more than 70 points in the first half. Many people in this forum thought we'd struggle to score this season but the early evidence was proving them wrong. Then I watched us play the Clippers. Again, the Clippers were playing their stars and clearly competiting but we blitzed THEM too. We ended up blowing our 30 point lead and losing that game, but our potential based on the fact that we got that big lead was very encouraging.

I told everyone it was clear that we were a better, faster, more athletic, deeper team than last year and I was mocked and just told "it's just preseason" when it was clear there were very positive signs we'd be a good team. Nonetheless, HCP picked 23 wins, MM 24 wins, Nate 32 wins, and Vegas 26 wins. But then opening night happened. Now, no one could use the "it's just preseason" excuse." We destroyed a New Orleans team led by everyone's presumptive MVP Anthony Davis. We scored 40+ in the first quarter and CJ looked like the guy we saw in the playoffs vs Memphis. The offensive powerhouse I saw against GS and LAC in the preseason was on display in an official regular season game. And that's when I had my "NOW do you understand" moment and was still mocked. Nothing and I mean nothing has surprised me about this season.

 

Thanks! And no, there's no relation, well, not that I know of.

I've always been taller than most throughout my life, while my parents were short, so my Dad always joked about my height coming from the milkman, so who knows? Was PapaG ever a milkman?

 

Dead giveaway. PapaG is back, folks!

 

He was a gluten-free vegan pizza delivery bicyclist.

 

While I'd love to humor you and keep this tangent going, I don't wanna disappoint anybody here thinking I might be that guy. I'm definitely new here. Or at least, this is the first time I've created an account. I've been lurking on this board for over a year, just never got the urge to create an account until now.

 

By "no one", I meant none of the national commentators. But, yes, you have been consistent in predicting success from the start of preseason.

 

Yes. Most of the "national commentators" don't pay attention to the league in depth. They're like HCP. LeBron to Miami? They'll win 75! Aldridge leaves Portland? They'll win 23! They just look at the surface and overreact.

I made money for sports writing many years ago. I may go back into that field at some point.

 

Great post. You know, this is the first season I watched any ( and I watched all of them) preseason games. I saw many of the same things and could tell this team was been very much underrated by the vast majority. The preseason games just showed so much hustle and fight.

 

Thanks.