The Portland Trailblazers

[Atradees]

I guess I am the blind homer. Its good to have a one, two guard punch(?) CJ can stay! Small forward......this is the position that should be d heavy and yet be able to score the rock at the rim. (draw fouls as well) Jerome Kersey like heroics on an occassional basis.......Also I like the traditional sixth man to be a cliff robinson type....regular rotation and regular minutes.

Large forward should not be shooting fall away jumpers and three point shots..........someone more like a Karl Malone; agressive agressive agessive....

A tough team that can weather poor shooting nights with rebounding, defense and points in the paint when necessary.

Sigh......This team can beat the also rans........maybe there is more to come.

 

[Alexander]

I guess I am the blind homer. Its good to have a one, two guard punch(?) CJ can stay! Small forward......this is the position that should be d heavy and yet be able to score the rock at the rim. (draw fouls as well) Jerome Kersey like heroics on an occassional basis.......Also I like the traditional sixth man to be a cliff robinson type....regular rotation and regular minutes.

Large forward should not be shooting fall away jumpers and three point shots..........someone more like a Karl Malone; agressive agressive agessive....

A tough team that can weather poor shooting nights with rebounding, defense and points in the paint when necessary.

Sigh......This team can beat the also rans........maybe there is more to come.

I didn't mean to offend

For what it's worth, I like CJ a lot, too, and I'd really hate to trade him away. I don't think his success is just a case of a decent player putting up points on a bad team with no other options. For one thing, the Blazers DO have other scoring options (e.g., Lillard, Crabbe, etc.). Second, CJ's scoring isn't coming in garbage time against scrubs, he's doing it when it matters, and it's helping the team win games (e.g., last night against Minnesota). Also, just watching him, it's clear that he's great at creating his own shot. He's superficially a lot like Lillard, but stylistically they're very different players.

For those reasons, I wouldn't want to trade him unless it's for a great player. Even then, for the Blazers to be competitive in the West, they probably need 3 star players (top 5 or top 10 at their position), and trading one star player for another (even if he's better and more proven) won't do much to help. (Yes, I realize most people wouldn't consider CJ a star player yet, but I really think he's on his way there.) Plus, with Lillard and CJ, the Blazers are already a very good offensive team. But they're atrocious on defense, so what they need more than anything else is an elite defender. Of course, all this just goes to show how difficult it will be to construct a championship roster. It's just not easy to see what moves the team could make to become a title contender.

 

[Atradees]

Yes; yes....I am not offended. I think building a team thru the draft is awesome. I never really liked the LeBron and Shaq model of purchasing a championship. I remember the coach of the lakers, Phil Jackson, "Portland has the best team money can buy.." yet they had Shaq! Sabonis putting up a valiant effort tryin to compete with that.(side note: my GF is a Gonzaga fan and baby Sabonis is there of course The Blazers are an interesting team. Rebounding, shooting, and still needing work on at least a coachable TEAM like defense. I guess I am excited bye maybe some recent success. It is possible some of these young guns can develope. Love Plumlees ability to pass.......What about Vonleh? Crabbe finally getting minutes....showing a little-his strength I had heard was supposed to be defensively. Maybe the question is easier if I look at it like.....WHO has to go? Who isnt going to improve? Who is the Zach Randolph like "black hole?" NO Pat Riley like defensive slam dances please.....that stuff got old awhile ago. Lets keep our guard fireworks. Dont like tanking for the draft either. Winning right now is honest. Its something to work with. Its a stable model.

 

[m0ng0]

The weird thing is they are UNDER the league minimum salary, a complete blow up of the roster and they are playing well, I think they will make a move but it will not be a significant high profile player. The average age is 24 and that takes into account a 33 year old Chris Kaman and a 28 year old Gerald Henderson. I think they are pleasantly surprised at how well the team is playing and may try and plug a few pieces in FA and hopefully they draft well.

 

[Alexander]

The weird thing is they are UNDER the league minimum salary, a complete blow up of the roster and they are playing well, I think they will make a move but it will not be a significant high profile player. The average age is 24 and that takes into account a 33 year old Chris Kaman and a 28 year old Gerald Henderson. I think they are pleasantly surprised at how well the team is playing and may try and plug a few pieces in FA and hopefully they draft well.

They did a nice job last offseason of turning lemons into lemonade. They've already exceeded most analysts expectations, and what's surprising (to me at least) is how much fun they are to watch. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy league pass this year, after the offseason they had, but I'm really glad I did. The Blazers may not be a good team, but they're competitive in almost every game. Of course, part of the fun is probably due to the team exceeding very low expectations. But still, it's been fun watching them this year, especially since they do seem to be improving a little bit as the season progresses.

I know it's probably in their best interest to not make the playoffs, so they can keep their draft pick, but it would still feel really good to see them in the playoffs, even if it means getting pasted by the Warriors or Spurs in the first round.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

If they can make the playoffs, they should go for it. Trying to bank on a late lottery pick isn't worth it. Big game for Portland tomorrow against the Raptors. They've been hot on this win streak, but they really haven't beaten anyone. The schedule gets pretty tough from here until late March. While they are so close to .500, I don't think they will reach it. I think if they can go 2-3 in their next 5 games (TOR, @HOU, @MEM, HOU, GS) then that will be a success.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

Blazers finally play a good team and lose. This team is pretty easy to figure out. They can beat bad teams. But they can't hang with the good teams.

 

[CPHawk]

Portland bounces back with an easy win over the Rockets.

 

[Atradees]

Blazers played some good defense today. We will see how the season series shapes with the Rockets.

Why are the Rockets a 500 team? They have Howard and Bearded One......

It was a fun game right down to the end when the Rockets were running and gunnin to get back in the game. Seemed like the Blazers when up bye 30 were the poised veteran team.

What happened to Crabbe?

 

[CPHawk]

Blazers finally play a good team and lose. This team is pretty easy to figure out. They can beat bad teams. But they can't hang with the good teams.

Except the cavs, right.

 

[Alexander]

Blazers played some good defense today. We will see how the season series shapes with the Rockets.

Why are the Rockets a 500 team? They have Howard and Bearded One......

It was a fun game right down to the end when the Rockets were running and gunnin to get back in the game. Seemed like the Blazers when up bye 30 were the poised veteran team.

What happened to Crabbe?

I thought they said Crabbe was sick today.

 

[Atradees]

Oh. I hope he Crabbe isn't being traded

 

[m0ng0]

looks like they just took Memphis down.....

 

[CPHawk]

I really thought Portland would be lucky to win 30 games this year, yet here they are fighting. Lillard has to be the most underrated guy in the NBA, is he the Russell Wilson of the NBA? Just constantly overlooked by everyone outside of the PacNW.

 

[Alexander]

looks like they just took Memphis down.....

Huge and very encouraging win, even if Gasol missed the last three quarters. They have a very real shot at .500 going into the All-Star break. Who would've thought that at the beginning of the season?

 

[Atradees]

Meyers Leonard and Gasol gettin chippy? Must have been from the last playoffs.

 

[m0ng0]

beat the rockets again !

 

[Hawk-Lock]

beat the rockets again !

The Rockets are easily my least favorite team in the NBA and they represent everything that is wrong with the league. Half of their big men can't shoot over 50% from the FT line. Seems like most of their players don't even care about winning, they're just cashing paychecks. Josh Smith and Dwight Howard, arguably two of the biggest losers in the NBA. Ty Lawson isn't far behind.

 

[m0ng0]

Beverly is a dbag also, and Harden is just a chucker.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

Beverly is a dbag also, and Harden is just a chucker.

I don't really mind Beverely, he is similar in style to a Richard Sherman, but obviously Sherman is a lot better at his job. Rumors are floating around that the Rockets are actively shopping Dwight Howard. Apparently the Celtics have some interest. While I don't like Howard, on the right team he could help. But he is also a huge risk because of his poor attitude.