How has it been "ridiculously easy?" We had Phoenix. They've been one of the surprises of the season so far. We had San Antonio. We had Houston. We had Denver AT Denver (which is never easy). I don't care what Detroit's record is, that's a talented team and I think their record doesn't reflect how good they will be. Also, they just got Jennings back from injury.
Exactly... I keep hearing how our schedule was ridiculously easy. I still don't know how they believe that. A math program doesn't tell the entire story anyway. We haven't won in Denver for centuries and we already played 2 b2b games.
Love this so far, theD with Lopez and Freeland has been great to see, but as long as the Blazers are worst or close to worst in the league at scoring in the paint top 3 seems out of reach. Lillard, Wes and Batum need to drive hard a little more often. LMA too I suppose, but he is doing so well in his position right now it's hard to complain.
We have literally played two games where we should have been in danger of losing. Both at home vs the Rockets and Spurs. we won won of those and lost one of them. Phoenix may be a surprise, but they aren't that good. Sacramento is garbage, and Detroit, while maybe ok, was a home game. That is a very easy schedule to start the year to this point.
Nate has been right about teams allowed to body us on the perimeter. Lillard and Aldridge are seriously getting hacked in the paint. It's hard to score when the other team can grab and hack you. I'm still soooo confused why Aldridge doesn't get love in the paint. It's becoming comical, especially seeing other teams get foul calls from being breathed on.
Phoenix is 5-2, so saying they are "not that good" is pretty comical. Sas was a b2b game, traveling all the way from Denver. Houston was lost because the refs completely ruined our timing with ticky tac fouls. Sac was a b2b game , which is always hard.
Sac IS garbage, but it's extremely difficult to beat a team twice in a row like that. I also think Phoenix is much better than you give them credit. I think they're playing over their heads right now, but I think they could potentially compete for the 8th spot. They'll be one of those teams that nips good teams because they have such a good backcourt.
I personally love the "we've beaten easy teams" line, really love it! Why? Because last year with our historically crappy bench we still beat the best. World Champs? Beat 'em. 1 Basket from World Champs? Beat them too, this year and last. Team that's undefeated this year? We beat them last year as well. We beat great teams, period. The problem is that we've lost to the most horrible teams in the league. I don't even want to look at the teams who finished at the bottom last year's schedule, we probably lost to all of them. If we can consistently beat the teams we're "supposed to" beat and beat the top teams often, HCA (which we're currently in position for) is not out of the question at all. So far, we're on schedule. Go Blazers!
One thing that I think that MM and others of a similar view are missing is that it wasn't losses against better teams that kept the Blazers from making the playoffs last year as much as it was losses to teams that they should have beaten. I have absolutely no doubt that last year's team would have lost to the Pistons in a game like last night's. Our bench was huge last night, with Mo, Joel, and Dorrel all making big contributions. That wouldn't/couldn't have happened last year. I also have little doubt that last year's team would have dropped the away game to the Kings on the back2back. This year, so far they've only lost one of those games against arguably lesser opposition, and the Suns have been playing great anyway. I don't know that I'm ready to say the Blazers "will" be a top 3 seed, but I'd go along with "can" be a top 3 seed. Things will have to break their way, because on paper you'd have to probably say that the Thunder, Spurs, Rockets, Clippers, and maybe Warriors would be expected to finish above the Blazers. I'm not sold on the Warriors' chemistry and, in that vein, I think the Blazers will continue to surprise because I really like the chemistry that's building. As always, it's probably the injury bug that will be the final determinant of making the top half of the bracket. Edit: I see Wizard Mentor made basically the same point while I was typing my post. Great minds....and all that.
The Blazers finished way out of playoff contention last season, and finished the season sucking hard. The winning % of our opponents over those last 12-13 games was 600 I believe (I looked last summer when this was brought up as well.
It has been a relatively easy schedule . . . still the Blazer team last year would probably be 3-4 or 4-3 at beat (losses to Denver and the back to back game or loss to Detroit or loss to SA) Edit: I see my point has been made a couple of times and much better articulated
Our schedule has been very easy, by some metrics it rates as the easiest in the league. But to be a 3 seed all you have to do is beat the bad teams and win half your games against the good teams. Some Blazer fans don’t realize how fine of a line it is between 3rd and 6th seed in the regular season standings. Our offense is excellent so I don’t expect us to have trouble scoring the ball at all this year. Obviously defense is a concern but that’s why I don’t think we are favored to be a top3 team; just one team in the pack that has a real chance. Winning against the Spurs was good, and Detroit has a lot of talent. I definitely expect Detroit to be a playoff team in the east not that that is terribly impressive.
That death spiral of 13 straight losses was partially attributable to the strength of the opposition, but more so to the injuries that wiped out 3 of our starting 5. The Blazers lost a boatload of games to teams they should have beaten.
Repped your post e_blazer. Good stuff. However, if we're making the injury bug comment, I might throw Minny in the mix, if they are healthy. That's a damn good team, if healthy. I think they could fight for the #4, #5 seed.
This is especially important on the road. We need to take their fans out of the game and the only way to do that is with defense.
Yeah, but I just seem to expect that Minny will flame out as always. That team seems to have a worse injury record than even the Blazers.
