why the blazers cant be overlooked
I think the Blazers will finish 3rd at best, 4th at worst but not because they got much better. Just because I think the west is going to be that much weaker this year. A lot of the teams in the front of them had a lot of big losses as far as players go. I just don't see them beating a healthy L.A. or Spurs team unless someone besides Roy can step up big for them. That should be Aldridge, but I just don't think he's that good and Oden is still awhile away because of injury setbacks.
Honestly, when it comes to the playoffs, I'm not even sure they could beat the Mavs or Nuggets.
If Ginolbli and Duncan are all healthy in time for the playoffs, they will play in the conference finals. If not, I have a feeling this Blazer team could make it. With the addition of Miller and Webster back from injury, they will definately be better.
I do think Oden is the factor when it comes to their contention with the Lakers. He needs to stay healthy and make that rookie-sopmore jump for them to even think about competing with the Lakers. If he does, they have the depth of size up front to give the Laker's front court fits. I don't think they have a perimeter defender who can dream of slowing down Kobe. Their banking on Batum, he's probably too young.
Man...Some of these people on here (Q) forget how young this team is...All the young teams in the NBA were losing games...The Blazers had a very good seed in the deep Western Conference.
With their young guys getting experience, how can they not get better? Adding Andre Miller is going to help Oden a lot (because Miller can penetrate, unlike Blake).
The Blazers are one of the deepest teams in the league. Nate McMillian has turned out to be a better coach than I thought he would (even though I still have my doubts).
The only problem I see with the Blazers is who is their third reliable scorer? When Roy goes cold, and Lamarcus isn't hitting jumpers, the Blazers have a tough time on offense. Is Andre the answer? Is Oden or maybe Webster the answer? I sure hope so.
Also, I think Oden will get better...As long as he stays healthy and doesn't get into foul trouble (two big if's) he will easily average 12, 11 and 2.
I predict the Blazers to get first the first round this year.
Team is young....lack of experience.
Last time I check- How many titles has Miller got too? Oops None.
The point is, The Blazers are a young successful team. I dont see them beating a team with experience anytime soon.
Denver, Dallas, San Antonio, La Lakers are the 4 team I think in 7 games, can beat the Blazers.
Check your twitter Blazerfan
True...But they can only get more experience, correct? Being as young as they are, this team has so much team chemistry it's crazy.
Who cares if Miller doesn't have titles...Either does Stockton, Wilkins, Malone, Ewing...I can go on and on man...
San Antonio-Yes (BUT, can their team stay healthy?)
LA-Yes (though we beat them every time at home)
Denver-Maybe...I think Miller matches up well with Billups. If Oden can stay out of foul trouble, we can take them in 7.
Dallas-Man...A tough one. We can never guard Dirk. I still think we could take them in 6 because of the fact that we'd probably have home court advantage.
Here's my way of looking at it.
San Antonio- Tougher inside, better forwards, Nice bench. I think they can win in 6
LA Lakers- To be Honest...Sweep.
Denver- 7 games. Can go either way
Dallas- 6. Experience, Dirk can go for 40, Marion and Howard can lock down the guards.
The Blazers are not the 5th best team seeding wise in the playoffs IMO, but there are 4 teams that can beat them IMO
I think the Blazers can take Denver and Dallas. I think Aldridge would take advantage of Dirk's bad defense and abuse him (yes Dirk would do the same thing to LA). I think if Oden can stay out of foul trouble he can physically dominate anybody in the NBA outside of Shaq and Howard. Miller would match Kidd so no advantage there. Portland also has a better bench and I never trust Howard because he does great in the first quarter, but dissapears.
Good point about that third scorer Blazer fan. They have a ton of guys who have the talent to be that 3rd scorer - Webster, Rudy Fernandez, Outlaw, Bayless, Oden? - But they are either too inexperianced, inconsistent, or don't play enough minutes
But I hope you see my point...He is one of the most physically dominating players to come around in quite some time...I remember watching him play Bynum in the middle of the season. Bynum is a big guy, but whenever Oden got good position, Bynum could just not guard him at all.
It's only a matter of time before the NBA truly comes to Oden. And when it does, he will be a top-3 center. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened next year. I've heard he has done really well this summer...But that's what they always say lol.
True, I think this is his year. But I gotta see it.
I think Portland is a good team but I wanna see the swagger and the chip on their shoulders. I wanna see them upset and pound on teams because they were embarrassed last year in the playoffs.
now i know in the west its all about the lakers or spurs wait now. and with the nuggets wait behind them. dont get me wrong the nuggets have a good team. but its something about the blazers that caught my eye. this team is young, fill with talent and they are already close to being competive with the lakers . yes i said it . now for the last two seasons this team has been poised to make a run but couldnt really do it because of the inconsistency of the point guard situation. but now that they have andre miller in the fold. expect him to lead this team the right way. he does so many things that people dont notice. hes a good setup guy, who can pass the ball very wall and find open people. i think this team is gonna suprise yall. im not saying they will win the west. but dont be suprise if you see in the wcf this year. roy has been telling everyone hes in the best shape of his career. and i belive him. i think roy is gonna have a
have a mvp type season. they have depth at the pg spot. i do think they will trade blake though, but bayless could be like lou williams . he comes into the game and score.
also webster will back healthy thats a plus for them who will bring that shooting touch they need when roy gets double team or when miller needs to kick it out. they have rudy whos capable of taking to the lane. plus outlaw is very underrated. batum is a good defensive player as well.and we know lamarcus is gonna bring his a game in the post. but if oden can stay healthy and produce on the defensive side by blocking shots and grabing rebounds. then this will be able to past the first round and try to knock off the spurs or lakers. the only thing i must say they need to do is trade blake or bayless and get some value, add more bigs too.