Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
way to shut out the blazers.
tied for second/third in the west last year and added talent and experience. you dont know basketball, do yo
Umm no one is even putting them in talks for the Finals and no reason to. Yes they got better but still aren't Finals material. You don't know basketball do you?
It is easy to put them into the mix. Don't forget the Lakers and Spurs BOTH have trouble with Portland. LA NEVER wins in Portland. That's just a cold hard fact. LA and Portland split the series last year 2-2, and Portland beat SA 3-1. And Portland led at halftime 64-37 while both Oden and Przybilla were injured in one of those games. SA was fully loaded too.
I'm a grew up in Utah as a Jazz fan and I still am at heart. I am in Portland now, and I was never sold on them until this year. I felt as if last year they overachieved. Now you look at the roster and they improved on every single weakness they had. They are 11 players deep and 8 of them can go off on scoring runs at any time.
Greg Oden looks like a completely different player since the off season. His play for Team USA in the post was easily the best C they had. He's lost weight, gained a ton of confidence and is much more agile (the player he is at 100%).
Andre Miller adds to Portland as a complete playmaker on the first or second unit. His passing as well as driving complements the second unit in ways that left me banging my head last year without him.
Martell Webster is back, which is huge. This guy can go off for huge scoring runs at any time (ex 23 points in a qtr two seasons ago) as well as solid defense. His ball handling skills at SG are sometimes suspect, which is just fine at the 3 spot.
Brandon Roy is a silent superstar, enough said on him.
Lamarcus Aldridge since half way through last year has become a physical PF compared to his typical finesse style. I remember him posterizing many players off of the dribble. He really is Sheed 2.0.
Steve Blake gets better every year. He became much better at timing his passing as well as creating his own shot on the perimiter while shooting a great %. His defense is suspect, but with GO, Przy of LA in the middle, that's okay.
Add to the mix Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Jerryd Bayless, Juwan Howard and Niclas Batum (inj), Portland is the deepest team in the league.
The Media doesn't like Portland that much as they are the slowest paced team in the league, but they are the most efficient offensive team. As Oden is the most efficient rebounder and scoring C in the league per minute last year, it can only get better.
The Celtics added depth with Rasheed, but they can only go as far as Garnett can take them. Example: last year. The Magic lost a scoring SF, so who knows how Carter changes the dynamic offense that Orlando has. Cleveland needs better players surrounding Lebron. As much as I hate to say it, Lebron is the best player in the league and he needs a supporting cast. Cleveland just isn't doing it.
Mavs are not going anywhere this year. Same team, same problems. The rockets just.. yuck. Without Yao or T-mac, it'll be fun to watch.
Utah cant survive with their fucked up chemistry. Boozer, AK and Okur jsut don't jive. They have great players and arguably one of the best PG's in Williams, but this combination of players do not work. Even a hall of famer coach in sloan cant fix this.
NO, like the Mavs, same team, same problems. They actually lost depth with parting Chandler.
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