The only encouraging thin about the Pels win is that they were barely able to do it against a Laker team with an ailing LeBron and a very rusty Davis.
No. Fuck cronin for not negotiating better contingency plans in case that pick doesnt convey. Chicago might end up getting more from us in that Nance/Markkenen deal than we will have for CJ. That should bug you.
someone else please point to where it was I talked about any New Orleans "success". They are 9 games under .500 right now. They were 10 games under when CJ joined them. They are 11-10 with CJ, and their last 3 wins came against LAL-PDX-LAL. That's hardly a notable accomplishment. There isn't a lot of success there yet. In fact, you have to squint to see it and the only gauge of success is that they might be slightly better than other crappy teams like the Lakers and Wizards I must have missed the forum rule requiring a minimum level of praise for CJ in every post about the Pelicans, even posts comparing their roster balance and the Blazer roster imbalance. I was talking about Ingram and Valuciunas, and how Dame hasn't played with talent like them, at their positions, in his career. It was an observation, which I assumed is still allowed. If you feel there was insufficient CJ nut-hugging, you can pick up the slack and hug away.
I also read all your comments as back handed "complement" of CJ. Although your certainly not the only poster here. Jonas isn't playing better than Nurk has much of the time, or how Kanter did against the Thunder/Nuggets playoffs. Dame also had the whole roster, offense, and coaching staff structured to make him individually excel. Dame is great so I'm not trying to take anything away. But CJ has looked extremely good since being traded, and has always been unfairly criticized by many Blazers fans IMO. Maybe it was best to break up the Dame CJ duo. Or maybe it was a big mistake. Or maybe we traded the wrong one of the two. The Blazers certainly don't look like they have a roster a move or two away from contending. They don't have anything like the talent of NO with the players you mentioned, plus Zion, plus a boatload of LAL/MIL picks. And its not like NO is a crazy talented contender. Its so stupid the Blazers entrusted Cronin as a temporary GM to do the most critical first steps of a long term rebuild. Even if the Blazers get the #1 GM talent in the league tomorrow they won't have the roster or assets to build a proper contender.
You can be very disingenuous sometimes... "CJ has two things in New Orleans that Dame has never had in Portland: an all-star wing; and an offensively gifted C" That was posted after they beat the Lakers, which is obviously commenting on a successful outcome. They've playing better than .500 ball with CJ on the team, after being well below .500 without him. A stats head like you should know better than to look at overall record in determining trends. Because I know you know that, it's abundantly clear that you seek to misinform. The rest, well, it's exactly the predictable response I alluded to.
Minnesota could still catch Denver and/or Utah. A Wolves-Warriors first-round matchup would be very interesting to me.
IMO, its possible they have another guy waiting for season to end? Wild ass guess, I could be wrong. It just doesn't make since to me for them to keep the interim tag on Joe unless they are still in search/interview/already hired mode. They certainly wouldnt come out and say yeah, we have an agreement for new GM once season is over, thus keep the interim tag on him.
Looks like the Lakers are waving the white flag. So we’ll be rooting for the Spurs against the Pelicans in the first play-in game.
best case is that the Spurs tie the Pels in record. Spurs own the tiebreaker. Will be tough to do with both teams only having 5 games left and the Spurs trailing by 2 games. They have a difficult schedule too
I hear what you are saying, but I really am enjoying it. Maybe it's because I live in LA surrounded by Laker fans, and listening to how cocky they were after getting Westbrook. But now they might not end up in the top 10 in the west? And they don't even get their lottery pick? Pure Gold At this point, I would be ok with the Pelicans making the play-in and then losing.
I still don't trust Minnesota to beat N.O. So am hopeful they somehow pass Denver, and Nuggets face LAC in play in.
1. The Lakers need a ton of luck from San Antonio and inspired play with a tougher schedule. James resting the ankle -- stick a fork in. They're close to done. The Clippers should be well motivated, today, vs. the Pelicans. It makes the rest easier. San Antonio puts necessary distance on the Lakers with a win ... Laker Nation gets real quiet. 2. New Orleans looks like the #12 pick. 11 would be good, too. IMHO they come through for us.
