Not tons better....but with the SOS and how many games they had at home, I thought they would be 12-6 or 13-5 at this point. Losses to the hapless Brooklyn Nets at home, the decimated Raptors at home and to the Kings were something nobody really expected. The record would have looked perhaps better than they really were because of how soft the early schedule was. But it still should be a couple of games better. Spread 2-3 wins per 20 games over the season and that is an 8-12 win improvement. Not contending status but at least playing to their potential.....which they are not doing as of now.
I’ll admit that I thought we would look better than we have, but lose out to more talented teams. Bit frustrated for sure. I said 40 wins, we’ll see.
ahhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Seems some people are missing the emergence of Napier and Vonleh. We aren't winning it all this year so why make a desperation move this year. The team IS improving. Most of the young players ARE improving. If they aren't going to be part of the long term picture, they are improving their game for better trade value down the road. Anyone expecting 60 wins and second seed this year.....you overreached. They age of this team alone says it hasn't yet crossed the veteran status that knows what it takes to go to the next level. I think the best thing for this team would be a 5-7 seed and see if we cant oust the better team this year. Once that happens, confidence boosts and who cares how else the playoffs play out. Then take a player or two that has improved and we have depth at (Napier, Swannigan, Leonard) and figure out how to use these guys to get an impact/all star player to put next to Dame, CJ Nurk and VOnleh. The bench can be rotation players from year to year. The only reason I see to make any moves this trade deadline is for financial reasons. Let these guys play the year out, develop and gel. I believe in Vonleh as our future PF next to Nurk. Could we roust Denver one more time? Id give those three players up for Wilson Chandler. Toss him or one of the below mentioned players in as our small forward and our starting lineup should be able to compete with almost any team. Then fill in the bench with rotational players. that come and go from year to year. Could we pry Otis Porter away from Washington with a trade in the off season for the three Blazers I mentioned? He is spendy. What would it take to get Middleton from Milwaukee? Anyhow, most treadmill teams are simply one to two players away from taking that next step, but those players have to fit perfectly and there aren't many out there that fit our need that could takes us to the next level. If we could land one of the players mentioned above for only the players I mentioned to offer, I think that is a progress move that puts us on the right path to compete for a title for 1-4 years after this year.
Reminds me of my first long-term girlfriend. She wasn't good at it anyway, I suppose. Sorry if I triggered anyone who can't handle that people are sexual.
On the bright side, Vonleh is 'sporting an elite DRtg of 99 after tonight. He's turning into an elite post and p&r defender. Especially his post defense.
The loss to the nets wasn't something expected no. But the loss to the Geko's and the Kings are very expected. Considering Geko's vs Portland is always a tough game for both sides regardless who suits up... It wasn't difficult to see that loss coming. Portland came out flat because the geko's were missing players. Playing any team road/home is always tough. Especially when you're one of the 18 or so middle of the pack teams that are currently in the NBA. I don't really see how people can call these two shocking losses if you're looking objectively.
This team doesn't suck, but I think they'll finish the season below .500. They have talent, but it doesn't seem to mesh well. And they are just too inconsistent. Too many times, they've come out and look like they did last night. Blazers have 3 good players, and a collection of decent role players. A lot of teams don't even have 3 players that are at the level of Dame/CJ/Nurk talent wise. I thought this roster was going to win 50+ games easily....but they're not playing like it.
I think he's a very good post defender, but in this era, that skill isn't nearly as useful as it was in the 80s and 90s.
That doesn't really make any sense. He's posting a 99 Drtg against modern NBA 4s, not guys who played in the 80s and 90s. That is to say, who do you think are the teams with traditional post players Vonleh is beating up on?
I expect this team to finish the season above .500, yet I am still so bored out of my skull watching, that I am searching Siberia for a new favorite team, now that Moscow's Thomas Robinson broke his hand. Okay, we are now officially scraping the bottom to find positives. Vonleh is the most boring player on a boring team.
I liked your post. I agree with your post. But I'd just say that Tim Duncan was also called boring throughout his career. Vonleh is no Duncan - don't misinterpret me. But he's got some fundamentally sound defense, and Duncan was The Big Fundamental.
Under Stotts, the Blazers win only when a guard goes out-of-his-mind Superman that night. Has Stotts ever won otherwise? Even when Aldridge was here? Every game, we get the worst kind of excitement...the come-from-behind variety, also known as fools' gold excitement. To be fair, I should always mention the other side of the story. I credit Stotts for forcing me to learn about Siberia.
Huh? I don't even understand what you're asking. Your response doesn't make any sense in relation to what I said. There aren't as many bigs in the league today that like to post up down low. That's why the skill of being a good post defender isn't as valuable as it was back then.
This team is what our teams always sadly are - a cuspy team that is never great and never terrible and seemingly doomed forever with a first-round-and-out season. Yawn.
