(...on Wheels @ Work ) 1) Blazers don't advance without HCA -- bar none 2) With HCA, the only team he sees us advancing against is Houston 3) Oden is not a better player than Brooke Lopez. In fact, he took Wheels up on a bet and thinks that Lopez will still be the better player in three years. FWIW, He also said that Nate is one of THE best head coaches in the NBA. He alluded to when Nate coached the Sonics and took the Spurs to six games in the 2nd Round. He said there was NO way the Sonics should have even been in the series with the Spurs...let alone, take them to six games.
Rick Kamla FAIL Outside of Dallas, I don't fear any other WC playoff team if we have HCA. Ironically, Houston is the only team we struggled to beat at home out of that mix. Needed a B-Roy miracle shot to beat them. -Pop
1) Totally agree 2) I've got to be real, I don't think we're going to end up with HCA. Moot point. 3) Wow. I'm going to chose to still believe in GO for now.
I also could see us advancing against the Hornets with our without HCA. I don't fear going into NO and getting a victory. -Pop
I know he is a Blazer employee and all . . . but I don't think HCP has anything to do with the Blazers advancing out of the first round.
He said that Deron Williams and Chris Paul would "own" our Guards....and that would be the key to them beating the Blazers in a series.
Rich Kamla is right. The sooned most of you realize that, the better you will be. No way the Blazers advance without HCA I really don't think we will be able to beat Houston in the playoffs. We really needed some vets at the deadline Right now Lopez is far better than Oden. In 3 years that might npt be the case, but right now there is no evidence pointing the other way.
Who has more double doubles? I'm not saying that makes Oden better, but there is some evidence that Oden has will be better when healthy and on the court. Also, Oden is bigger and stronger than Lopez . . . again there is some evidence to suggest that Oden will be better. And as soon as you realize that, the better you will be.
Lopez is looking good. He is active and energetic and takes advantage of playing with two All-Star guards that draw all the attention. But he is healthy and was healthy going straight into the NBA. Also, he seems to be that type of player that comes into the NBA and is decent right away, but never really takes big jumps. I could be wrong, of course, but if Lopez improves by a lot from where he is now, he will be one of the top bigs in the NBA. Do we all really think that will happen? I don't. Does Lopez draw double teams often in the post? Oden does. Is Lopez a dominating rebounder? Oden is. Is Lopez a more efficient scorer than Oden? (hint: no) Oden - when he plays - is already a more impactful player than Lopez, who has the same PER as Lopez, but better Offensive and Defensive Ratings and a better WinShares per game rating, and whose team won a higher percentage of games he played in than Lopez's team did when he played. Will Lopez make a huge jump in his game because he is coming off microfracture? If Lopez doesn't make a huge jump in his game, how will he leapfrog Oden when he is already behind Oden in impact and Oden is likely to explode next season as his knee gets to 100% and he figures out how to play with Roy?
Sorry, but that's wrong. Lopez is having a fine rookie season, but Oden has been very good, too, when he's been on the floor. They have nearly identical PERs (Oden's is a bit higher). In addition, Oden has been the better defensive force, which PER doesn't measure, and Oden draws more double-teams than Lopez does. I'd grant that Lopez has been more valuable this year because he's played many more minutes, but I don't think it is at all true that Lopez has been better. And Lopez definitely seems closer to his ceiling than Oden seems to his ceiling. Right now, the two players are close...in three years, unless Oden suffers a major injury, I'd be very amazed if Lopez is within hailing distance of Oden.
They also have to stop B-Roy, and Houston IMO has a much better defensive arsenal to throw at him than New Orleans does. I would have liked to see a vet at the trading deadline too, but I think we'll be more competitive than people think we will be in a playoff series. Games tend to be tighter in the playoffs, and I like our record in close games, and I'll put up our 4th quarter point differential against anybody in the Western Conference. -Pop
The Lopez twins are good examples of why you don't reach (or overpay) for project big men. There will always be the Twin Collins / Felton Spencer / Brendan Hayward types that look good here and there, but basically establish their ceiling right off, and bounce around the league as valuable backups but little more. Of course, it's too early to say that Twin Lopez won't improve beyond that mold, but I'm guessing they'll fit to a tee.
at this point, this is definitely true. blazers will be favored against any team if the blazers have homecourt. oden is a better player than brook lopez right now. when on the court, oden has better production. the only problem is getting oden on the court more. depends on how far he's willing to extend "one of the best". nate definitely isn't as good a coach as guys like jackson, popovich, sloan, and adelman.
