That's great! So, the Blazers beat the Pistons on the road on the second night of a back-to-back, while the Pacers lost to them at home when the Pistons were on the second night of a back-to-back and the Pacers hadn't played since Friday. Yeah, I'd say the No. 1 spot has been earned, especially since the Blazer have beaten the Pacers this once already year. Now, can they win out on this road trip and retain the spot? Four games in five nights on the road is a killer.
Yes, indeed it is. About two weeks ago I gave up being cautious or cautiously optimistic (as any sane Blazer fan is wont to be) and decided F*** It! Let's enjoy the ride!
Re: Blazers in sole possession of THE best record in the NBA Win Loss column is the only Power Rankings that matter. I'm enjoying the lame stream sports media try and explain their predictions and low expectations away.
I would also point out that Paul Allen's teams own the best records in both the NBA and the NFL. Must be a great feeling for him.
Re: Blazers in sole possession of THE best record in the NBA The next time I visit my family in Dallas, I'm gonna do this to Marc Stein when he waddles past me:
Re: Blazers in sole possession of THE best record in the NBA Nate you better merge this with mine dammit!
And, ATL just beat the Lakers and MIN lost to Boston. A pretty good night considering we didn't even play! BNM
It's never the predictions I take issue with, it's what people base their predictions on: ignoring (if not disregarding) training camp, what players are saying about each other, what new players bring to the table and how they fit, anything good from pre-season, and even the wins that keep piling up. All these people that couldn't smell their own poop on their knees, are wearing the heck outta the "no one could have expected this" mantra, and the "we were surprised." There is no "we", and NO ONE is saying they expected Portland to be #1 after 25 games. But I, and others, expected them to make the play-offs. If "you" said Portland was going to miss the play-offs, then "you" ignored and disregarded significant factors that have contributed to Portland's success that were KNOWN if you were paying attention and understand the game. People always get defensive and take this personal rather than being accountable. It's silly. If "you" said the Blazers were not a better rebounding team than last season, after pre-season, "you" ignored and disregarded The Lopez Effect that I and others were well aware of after letting Hickson walk and bringing in RoLo. This isn't about saying people were wrong, it's about understanding and accepting why - and then shutting the heck up before blurting out another stupid "the Blazers will miss the play-offs" article.
I knew they were going to make the playoffs. I figured maybe 4th or 5th in the west. I never in my wildest dreams thought we'd be #1 in the league at any point this season, and I would be highly skeptical of anyone who said they did think it would happen.
I wouldn't even make this post if the jackass "experts" weren't so emphatic about how much they know. They get all butthurt and defensive when you question them, then play the victim/ad hominem card when you call them out for being emphatically wrong in WHY their prediction isn't accurate. If "you" think the Blazers are a poor rebounding team, then "you" have no business projecting your "expert" opinion, or getting defensive when someone says that "your prediction is based on crap."
All they had to do was look at the acquisitions, and how good our starting unit was last year, to know that the team was going to be much better. Plus there's the natural progression of guys like Dame and Nic. The thing that really caught me off guard was how good LA has been. I really thought that LA had peaked, and he wasn't going to get much better. That's still a really good player, but I didn't think he'd take that step to superstar. He has definitely surprised me. I will say this though, you can't really take what the players are saying at face value. I've talked to enough pro athletes to know that half of what they say is crap, and the other half you can't print.
