Histogram time... A: People complaining about the blazers B: People complaining about people complaining about the blazers C: People complaining about people complaining about people complaining about the blazers D: People complaining about people complaining about people complaining about people complaining about the blazers A xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx B xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx C xxxxxxxxxx D xx barfo
At times it seems like we play to the level of our competition and play better against good teams than poor team, which means that if we make the playoffs we're NBA champions.
Generally speaking (and there are many other exo/endogenous variables here), margin of victory is pretty much Hollinger's and every other statisticians most important tool in predicting future successes.
Nope. It's better. The point of this thread is silly... some people complain (and not just one or two) about every game irrespective of outcome. BUT THIS DIDN'T JUST START HAPPENING. It didn't start with S2. It didn't start at BBF, or BBB.net, or FanHome, or ESPN.com, or Oregonlive. It didn't start with BLT or Scotty the Engineer's Blazers mailing list (which I think I started getting in 1994, although it might have been 1992). In any given population, some people--whether through predisposition or because they're having a bad day--will complain. It's only natural, then, that some people complain about the complainers, but this board is intended to be about the BLAZERS, and feedback and input--both positive and negative--is entirely reasonable. And while positive or constructive opinions about other posters is a good thing, general whining and criticism of the fan base here is old and lame and tiresome. Ed O.
When Portland beat Atlanta I wasn't really very impressed by the win. Why? Because until half way through the 4th, Portland was being played even by a really bad team. So I didn't really think it was an awesome win. I also didn't believe it said much about the future. Portland treated the Clippers like they should have treated most of the teams they played in the last 7 games. It isn't being negative to find that concerning. I am happy as hell that they finally laid an ass whipping on a bad team. I am hoping that this game gives them some momentum for the next 3 games which stand to be much more difficult. But I am still cautious about saying they are now out of their slump. I am waiting for another quality road win. I don't think that is being negative, just rational.
No $h!T. What is this crap? Talk about the game, if you have something negative to say fine, if you have something positive to say, go for it. But all the little drama queens who complain about what other people post...please SHUT UP. You have no grounds to complain about it unless it's off topic or a personal attack on another board member.
They weren't that night. The team I saw could have cared less about winning. You could tell from the shoot around they weren't ready to play. I have no clue how good Atlanta is in general, since I have only seen them play once. I don't really consider having a winning record in the East definitive proof of a team's quality.
You think that watching a shootaround is a better indication of how good a team is than its record? Really? Ed O.
Speaking only for myself, there's a few different ways I respond to each game: 1) "Wow. I had no idea we were going to blow out Playoff Contender X in their own gym. Team really gave me a glimpse of the future tonight." 2) "Wow. I didn't give us great odds for winning against Playoff Contender X today, but we scrapped through it and won. Here are some examples of plays generally contrary to what's being discussed in here that I saw and stats/observation to back it up." 3) "Good win. We should've crushed this <.300 team and we did. Well done to Scrub Player X for getting on the court for some garbage time." (Potential addition: "Disconcerting that we started coasting after the 1st/2nd quarter, though. That can come back to haunt you--see Philly, 2007-08") Here are some examples of plays generally contrary to what's being discussed in here that I saw and stats/observation to back it up. 4) "Man, I know it's a win, but the team and/or Player X played horribly. Here are some examples of plays generally contrary to what's being discussed in here that I saw and stats/observation to back it up. We really need to fix some things before we play a good team and they wax us." 5) "Tough loss. We hung with Playoff Contender X for a while, but it was their night tonight and not ours. Maybe next time. Can't expect to play much better--they were the better team and it showed. Here are some examples of plays generally contrary to what's being discussed in here that I saw and stats/observation to back it up" 6) "That loss makes me angry. We should've had that game, and we threw it away. Here are some examples of plays generally contrary to what's being discussed in here that I saw and stats/observation to back it up." 7) "This is hurtful to watch"
I'm on a Cubs email list (that I joined at the same time as BLT, by the way) and NO ONE posts when the Cubs win. When the Cubs lose (which is frequent), the posts flow like crazy. I swear that list is more of a coping mechanism for the members than a forum for discussion about the team. The same is kind of true about this board, although, not nearly as extreme as that list.
It is for that night. If Portland beat the Lakers, but they played like shit and didn't look like they cared much, then they weren't a good team that night regardless of record. Atlanta looked like a pile of shit from the moment they stepped on the floor, regardless of their record. Frankly, I thought Atlanta had a losing record based on what I saw. I was REALLY suprised to see they have over 30 wins. However, since most of the teams in the east are total ass, that isn't really very impressive. The East has 3 awesome teams and a bunch of crap. The West has 2 awesome teams, 7 good teams and the rest are pretty bad.
The East isn't very good as a whole. The three top teams are awesome, no doubt. The drop off after that is pretty huge. Atlanta gets to play more games against sub par opponents then any west coast team does. The eighth spot in the playoffs will go to the Bucks, who are currently 4 games under .500. That is freaking sad. Compare that to the eighth spot in the west Phoenix. They are 7 games over 500. That would put them one game behind Atlanta for 4th. Conference parity is still way off.
No offense, but it seems more likely to me that warmups are irrelevant to how good a team is or that you're just not that good at judging what a "good" team is by eyeballing it. Ed O.
