The Blazers are on pace to better last years record and get to 50 wins....but the question that keeps bothering me is, "Will it make a difference?" They have DESTROYED the East to the tune of a 19-5 record, but in their own conference, they are a current Western Conference Playoff seed worst 20-21. Even the #8 Clippers are better at 24-20. So while they will make the Playoffs and still have a shot at #3, will it matter come Playoff time when whomever they play, may very well have a better record than them versus the very Playoff teams they are now matched up against. Below is a record against each Playoff team in the West. Since it has been pointed out that the Blazers play a number of teams who are missing a player, I wanted to see if that made a difference. A note is made if a starter was missing for either team. In only one case (against the Nuggets) were the Blazers missing a starter. Record Vs - Warriors (2-2) L on road, (w/o Curry and Cousins) W on road (Cousins out) L at home (Cousins out) W at home (Cousins out) Blazers have yet to play a full Warriors roster. Cousins hasn't been great but he has size and Nurkic has ABUSED Looney. Vs - Nuggets (0-2...so far) L at home, L on road (Harkless out) Vs - Thunder (0-4) L at Home L on road L on road (George out) L at home Vs - Rockets (2-1) W on road, (Harden out) L on road W at home (Paul out) Vs - Jazz (2-2) L at home L on road W on road W at home Vs - Spurs (2-1) W at home L on road W at home Vs - Clippers (1-1) L on road W on road Remaining WC Playoff games: @ Clippers @ Spurs @Denver Denver Home: 5-5 Road: 4-8 So far that is a 9-13 against the very teams they have to play come post season time. Of those 9 wins, the opponent was missing a starter in 4 of them. In the losses, the Blazers were missing a starter in 1 game. So healthy roster to healthy roster, the Blazers are 5-12 against Western Conference Playoff teams this year. Why might that number seem a bit familiar? It is very similar to something posted a week or so ago regarding the Blazers playoff record under Stotts since Dame/CJ became the starting backcourt....5-14. This isn't a recent reaction, it is a season(s) long issue that cast the light of reality on what we might expect in the Playoff. If the Blazers can get HCA, that should help, but we saw that last year it didn't help at all and so far this season, the Blazers are only 5-5 against WC Playoff teams at home. That does not bode well for breaking out of their ongoing Playoff funk. I tried to find multiple different ways of looking at this to provide more confidence but without putting on Rose-colored glasses, nothing really stood out. Since adding Hood/Kanter, they have only played on WCP team and that was last night against the Thunder. That was a close, hard-fought, winnable game and I can't put anything on the refs as the Blazer shot nearly 50 FT's. As much as I can 'hope', I don't see a lot this year that has changed other than the Blazers really torched the East.....but that isn't going to do them much good in the tough Western Conference Playoffs. Are we stuck with Playoff misery again?
Im sure players, coaches, management know they must get out of the first round or big changes are possible. We will have to see if they can get their synergy back and get some momentum going into a great first round series, with whoever.
To get out 1st round we need our wings to show up. Plus the bench needs to get in sync with 2 new players. We need somone be play maker right now we don't have one and it showing too. This was supposed be Turner job he been out lately. You can really tell Hood and Kanter are confused out there on the offensive side of the floor. But they got 17 more games to get it straight if not I don't see them get past the 1st round.
That is the thing, they haven't really had 'synergy' all season against teams they would play in the Playoffs. They made mincemeat of the East and that is good. But we know what the East is for the most part. A conference where LeBron can get to the Finals 8 years in a row but when he comes to the West, he is currently sitting at #11.
I agree, their Conference and division records reflect that for sure. If we lay an egg going forward I'd guess that major changes are going to happen.
It's sad that IMO, this should have happened last year after the Pelicans debacle. If they lose in the first round again, this season would have been almost a complete waste of a year.
That's a harsh way to look at enjoying a basketball season in my view....Jake Layman alone is worth this season's progress....sure we want playoff success..what I couldn't do is project failure this early or see development as a waste....long view. People are going to be impatient with Hood and Kanter until they are integrated into the system. It will take some time to get them sharp for the post season and I'm stoked about our playoff prospects ...with absolutely no reason not to be..I'm sick of the Pelicans sweep narrative myself...moved on long ago...Sure we can win in the playoffs and I'm thinking we will win this post season...what I'd hate to see us ever doing would be more like tanking for the draft
I don't think that records against other teams in the West from earlier in the season mean much. The team is significantly better with the addition of Kanter and Hood.
yeah...problem with this chart is it's like the chart that had Jake Layman the best player in the world after 17 minutes in his rookie opener...
he joined the team on the road without a practice...Jake had summer league and training camp before that game.....I think judging Enes from this stage as a Blazer is sort of silly...Hood as well..
It floors me that people aren't enjoying this season (and with all the whining from certain posters) it appears there are several who only look for negatives and reasons for not having success rather than enjoy a team that has been very competitive, fun to watch and have performed better than most expected. Pretty sad.
and yet our record is one of the better records in the NBA. Must be because of all the great fan support the team gets in this forum.
We've Seen Hood have a couple of good games, and Kanter I guess helps on the boards. How is that much different than what we saw from Nik and Zach? Kanter and Zach are just opposites, one can't play offense (yet) and one can't play defense. I think Hood is an upgrade because he's stronger, and longer and plays better defense. You could make an argument that Kanter's defense was better last night, but it was still not "good". I'm not saying the season is over, but this was a really bad week for them, road trip went well overall not denying that, but losing to Memphis and OKC (at home), probably means they aren't getting HCA. Which really points to the broader picture, they don't have tiebreakers with basically anybody, because they've been very mediocre against the conference and frankly just bad vs their division. Kenny and Charles were out of their minds last night about the finals, I think we all know that...
