Tuesday night is the season opener against an already injured Utah Jazz team who will be without leading scorer Gordon Haywood and might also be with out starting PF Derek Favors. After struggling with injuries for much of last season, the Jazz are right back to where they were...banged up. But what of your Portland Trail Blazers. How much of the good (and the bad) will translate into the regular season? Leading Scorer: Damian Lillard - 19.1 ppg ----That is very likely to remain the same. Damian scored let the team in scoring but did so in a much more efficient manner this pre-season than he ever has before. If that continues, Dame will turn the corner from being a 'star' and into the rarefied air of being a 'superstar'. -----Per/36, Dame was at 27+ ppg, 5.3 apg, and 3.4 rebs on .484 FG% shooting and .400 from the 3-pt line. That is better than just 'good. Leading Rebounder: Noah Vonleh - 7.3 rpg -----What is impressive about what Noah did is that he didn't have any practice time or workouts before the pre-season. He came off his injury and hit the floor with an attitude. What is more impressive is he led the team while playing only 17.9 mpg. Take that out to a Per/36 and you get a 14.68 rebound rate. What in the name of Dennis Rodman happened here? Suddenly Noah is playing with some attitude and a bit more confidence. I think he has the biggest upside of anyone on the Blazer roster. If he can find his confidence and his game, he is the closest thing the Blazers have to a legit Power Forward and a low-post threat....both things that are sorely missing as an option on this team. -----Very likely someone else is the top rebounder. I don't expect Vonleh to be anywhere near the top of the Blazers rebounding statistics for the season but do like what he showed in the Pre-Season. He may find that he doesn't get much more than spot minutes on most night if he gets to play at all. Either he or Meyers would seem to be the odd man out on most nights. Leading in Assists: CJ McCollum - 3.9 apg ----He could lead the team but I expect he will finish 2nd. What might change that is if Dame because a more efficient shooter he may spend a little more time off the ball thereby increasing CJ's opportunity for assists. Actually, if you go by minutes played or Per/36, Mason Plumleee was the leader in. Assists as he continues to show he is one of the best passing big men in the NBA today. Leading FG% shooter: Noah Vonleh .633% ----This comes with a bit of an asterisk as Luis Montero followed up shooting 100% in last year's Playoffs with shooting 100% in the Pre-Season. (1-1 which was a '3'). That percentage promptly got him dismissed and his spot was replaced by Tim Quarterman who shot .667 but played very few minutes in 3 games. For those players that actually played, it was Noah Vonleh who shot .633 from the field and led by a wide margin over 2nd place Ed Davis at .571. It wasn't like he wasn't shooting as he took 30 shots in 6 games which isn't bad given his minutes. Nice to see him shooting at a higher percentage. ----He won't lead the team in the regular season. I expect that to be Ed Davis as he is an example of efficiency and only takes very makeable shots close to the rim. Leading 3-pt shooters: Shabazz Napier .563 and Noah Vonleh .500 ----As with FG shooting, a couple players were higher but were cut. Montero shot 100% and Grant Jerrett shot 60% for all the good that did them. After that, it is Napier who never met a shot he didn't like and Vonleh (how does he keep making these lists) who has range and a nice shot but last season couldn't duplicate what he did his rookie year or his one year in college. ----Neither will lead the team as they just won't get many opportunities. Napier will be lucky to get minutes as a 3rd PG and Vonleh is stuck up front behind a pleathora of big men. I see Crabbe as the season leader and he needs to be as he still doesn't do much besides shoot from the outside and defend a little. I'm worried his contract could soon be the worst deal on the Blazer roster. Team Strengths (Weaknesses) ----They showed they could score with anyone and the first half of the game with Golden State proved that out even farther. When the Blazers are on from the outside, watch out! ----Is the defense any better? There were far too many massive runs by other teams that you just can't allow. Either you've got to score with them or occasionally you have to get a stop. While it has been talked about endlessly, I don't see where the Blazers are that much better on defense. They still don't protect the rim very well, don't get steals and thereby get no easy baskets on offense and the guards still get buried on the Pick-n-Roll. This team will go as far as the long jumper can take them. Outlook Last year was a surprise even for the most homerific of fan. It was a surprise and a great value given their salary costs last year. This year could be just the opposite. While they might win a few more games (I have them in the 47-51 range), they are $1 below the Luxury Tax level so the cost per win will be extravagantly higher than last year. I also worry a bit about the rotation. There is just not enough room to play everyone who is used to getting minutes. Napier is likely to get very little time. Either Leonard or Vonleh is likely to sit on many night and that doesn't even include games when Ezeli is able to play. My guess is that if there are no injuries, there is some type of consolidation trade. Game 1......here we go!
Not Homeritic or pessimistic, but a rather middle of the road, logical, sounding out. All I can say after reading it is: Yes Noah! Looks like that Batum trade may pay off. Kudos, @TBpup
The preseason had a laid back vibe to it. Stotts tried a lot of lineups, everybody played. We saw in pretty much every game, the third string play the fourth quarter. A very relaxed mode of play. The players weren't playing their best games, didn't need to. It was practice, it was fun. Now, comes the regular season, the real deal. We will see a tight rotation, guys out there playing their hearts out, playing to win. Preseason, that was just a little per game stretching. Here comes the show.
