Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the... (1 Viewer)

[KingSpeed]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Be patient. Batum has All Star potentional. So does Lillard. Our Big Three have potential to be the top 5 at their position. I think we have the stars needed. Superstars are made in the playoffs. Not before the playoffs. What we need is a center and a bench and we can win a title. We're closer than you guys think.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

If you don't think Aldridge, Batum and Lillard is our big three as of right now they sure are getting paid like a big three. Not so much Lillard now but you know he will be.

The classic big three is James, Wade and Bosh who each make about 17.5 million this year

Aldridge 13.5 Batum 10.8

Kobe 27.8, Dwight 19 Gasol 19.

Durant 16.6 Westbrook 13.6 Martin 12.4

I think Blazers can add someone bigger than Aldridge and Batum with the cap space they have.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

The classic big three is James, Wade and Bosh who each make about 17.5 million this year

Aldridge 13.5 Batum 10.8

Kobe 27.8, Dwight 19 Gasol 19.

Durant 16.6 Westbrook 13.6 Martin 12.4

I think Blazers can add someone bigger than Aldridge and Batum with the cap space they have.

So then what do the Blazers do when Lillards contract is up?

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

So then what do the Blazers do when Lillards contract is up?

Match

 

[Boise Blazer]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

It seems less and less likely that true championship calibur teams will be able to stay under the cap. Otherwise you are banking on luck and time. I will be curious to see how Paul Allen approaches this when the time comes again to make that choice

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

The study I posted yesterday says ABSOLUTELY NOT

 

[e_blazer]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Looking at the Spurs roster, I think the Blazers' big three of Aldridge, Lillard and Batum matches up nicely against Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. Obviously, the bench and the Popovich factor are things the Blazers can only dream of at this point.

And MM, "study" might be overstating what you posted yesterday by a notch or two.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Looking at the Spurs roster, I think the Blazers' big three of Aldridge, Lillard and Batum matches up nicely against Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. Obviously, the bench and the Popovich factor are things the Blazers can only dream of at this point.

And MM, "study" might be overstating what you posted yesterday by a notch or two.

Not at all. It was a study.

 

[e_blazer]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Not at all. It was a study.

The thing that stood out as questionable to me was the chicken or egg factor of needing a player who'd been named to all-NBA defensive team. Those awards tend to follow team success in the playoffs.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

The thing that stood out as questionable to me was the chicken or egg factor of needing a player who'd been named to all-NBA defensive team. Those awards tend to follow team success in the playoffs.

It wasn't my study, but a study none the less, and probably one we should take fairly seriously.

 

[Blaze01]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Not even close...

You think MIA with it's 3 stars and no bench (as is often the excuse here) would finish 12 games out of the playoffs?

hardly...

 

[e_blazer]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Not even close...

You think MIA with it's 3 stars and no bench (as is often the excuse here) would finish 12 games out of the playoffs?

hardly...

Sure, if two of those three stars were injured and unable to play. Even with one of the worst benches in NBA history, the Blazers were in the hunt for the 8th spot until the injuries to Batum, Matthews and Aldridge occurred.

One of the things I keep seeing in the NBA is that it's more about having the best team still standing at the end of the season than it is about having the best team at any other given point in the season.

 

[Blaze01]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Your dreaming...12 games out....with POR big "3"....They are not good enough...a bench may likely get them into the playoffs, but they are not going anywhere once they get in....too many teams that are just better....

 

[Eastoff]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

It wasn't my study, but a study none the less, and probably one we should take fairly seriously.

So does that mean we should shed Batum, Aldridge, or both?

 

[blue9]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Even with one of the worst benches in NBA history, the Blazers were in the hunt for the 8th spot until the injuries to Batum, Matthews and Aldridge occurred.

That just doesn't really ring true, IMO. More than anything our schedule just caught up to us. Even when we were "in the hunt" it was pretty easy to see, just by looking at the schedule, that we were going to fall out of the hunt, and fall out hard. And that's exactly what happened, and I don't think it had anything to do with injuries - that losing streak was going to happen regardless. We weren't remotely close to making the Playoffs this year.

 

[e_blazer]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

That just doesn't really ring true, IMO. More than anything our schedule just caught up to us. Even when we were "in the hunt" it was pretty easy to see, just by looking at the schedule, that we were going to fall out of the hunt, and fall out hard. And that's exactly what happened, and I don't think it had anything to do with injuries - that losing streak was going to happen regardless. We weren't remotely close to making the Playoffs this year.

There's some truth to the first part of your post, but that bolded section....really? You don't think having 3 of our best (and really only good) players unable to play had nothing to do with the 13 game losing streak?

Let's look at this the other way around. Take LMA, Batum, and Lillard and put them on the Spurs team in replacement of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobilli. You don't think that Popovich would be able to mold that team into a serious contender?

 

[Blaze01]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Let's look at this the other way around. Take LMA, Batum, and Lillard and put them on the Spurs team in replacement of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobilli. You don't think that Popovich would be able to mold that team into a serious contender?

No b\c not one of those players is better than thier SA counterpart.....

Duncan>LMA
Parker>Lillard
Ginobli>Matthews
and
Leonard=Batum


Ask yourself, same age...would you rather have Duncan or LA? Parker or Lillard? Ginobli or Batum\Matthews? Even at advanced ages Duncan\Parker are better than LA\Lillard....

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

No b\c not one of those players is better than thier SA counterpart.....

Duncan>LMA
Parker>Lillard
Ginobli>Matthews
and
Leonard=Batum


Ask yourself, same age...would you rather have Duncan or LA? Parker or Lillard? Ginobli or Batum\Matthews? Even at advanced ages Duncan\Parker are better than LA\Lillard....

I think the more valid question, especially if the Spurs win the title this year is whether Lillard can ever be as good as 2013 Parker, if LMA can ever be as good as 2013 Duncan, and if Batum can ever be as good as 2013 Ginobili. Personally, I think you have to be intentionally cynical to answer no to all of those. If our big three has the potential to be comparable to the Spurs' big three, then it stands to reason that our big three has the potential to win a championship.

 

[RR7]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

I think the more valid question, especially if the Spurs win the title this year is whether Lillard can ever be as good as 2013 Parker, if LMA can ever be as good as 2013 Duncan, and if Batum can ever be as good as 2013 Ginobili. Personally, I think you have to be intentionally cynical to answer no to all of those. If our big three has the potential to be comparable to the Spurs' big three, then it stands to reason that our big three has the potential to win a championship.

I agree. It's very easy to say LMA will never be as good as prime Duncan. But 37 year old Duncan is in the Finals right now. Not 28 year old Duncan. Manu is still good, but he's not prime Manu. Of course, we don't have Pop.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Leonard=Batum

Generous for Batum.

 

[Blaze01]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Not cynical...realistic, tends to be more accurate\reliable than optimisitic.....

Duncan is a big game player, particularly in the playoffs...LA has not shown that...Lillard maybe could develop like a Parker...Batum is still the same inconsistent player that he has been since he entered the league...and remains to be seen if he continues to totally dissapear in the playoffs like he has before....

 

[Blaze01]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Leonard=Batum

Generous for Batum.

I agree...

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Leonard=Batum

Generous for Batum.

How many 5x5 games has Leonard had?

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

LMA = Duncan Lite
Lillard = Parker (I think Lillard will be better)
FA = Ginobli

we need to sign/trade for someone who is equivalent to Ginobli if we want to be a contender... and I don't just mean talent-wise, I mean culture-wise too.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Leonard=Batum

Generous for Batum.

Oh please.

 

[blue9]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

I think the more valid question, especially if the Spurs win the title this year is whether Lillard can ever be as good as 2013 Parker, if LMA can ever be as good as 2013 Duncan, and if Batum can ever be as good as 2013 Ginobili.

I think the major differences are the two most important ones - LMA/Duncan and Pops. I don't believe that LMA will ever be as good as Duncan is currently. There's a reason Duncan is called The Big Fundamental. And I don't think we'll ever get a coach who is half as good as Pops.
I can see an argument for Lillard becoming as good as Parker is currently. And I actually think that Nic is currently equal to or better than Ginobli is (but don't think he'll become as good as Ginobli WAS).
To me San Antonio illustrates just how far off LMA is from having an impact similar to Duncan's, along with great coaching versus average coaching. Otherwise I think our roster is only moderately worse than theirs. Basically I think that realistic changes that could be made this summer could put next season's roster on about the same level as the Spurs team we're currently watching (aside from the tremendous gap between LMA and Duncan, and the not-as-tremendous gap between Parker and Lillard). Get a moderately skilled C (=Splitter), sign a good role player (=Neal), and make the right draft selection (=Green) and we're the poor-man's Spurs. And that team will never compete for a championship.

 

[illmatic99]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Terry Stotts is a far cry from Pop.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

How many 5x5 games has Leonard had?

Wow.

So if a guy has a career high more than a better player it automatically makes the lesser player better? From one game?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

Oh please.

Show me where that is incorrect

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Re: Are the Blazers big three good enough to wheel this team to a championship in the

The way I see it, the conventional wisdom is that you have to have superstars (25+PER players) to win a title. The recent exceptions to this are the '04 Pistons, the '11 Mavericks, and (possibly) this year's Spurs.

• The Pistons had five starters with PERs between 16 and 19, and five bench players between 13 and 15, as well as steller defense.
• The Mavs had a not-quite superstar (Dirk) three others between 16-19 (one as a sixth man), and six others between 12.8 and 15.
• This year's Spurs have two guys above 23, three more between 16-19 (one as a sixth man), and four others between 13 and 15.

IMO, for this Blazer team to be able to approximate the above:

• Aldridge will need to improve his overall FG% (spending more time in the post would help) as well as his rebounding.
• Lillard will need to progress to a 20+ PER level PG (top 7 in the league).
• Batum will need to provide what he showed in December/January over the course of a full season
• Matthews needs to increase his non-scoring contributions, or he needs to improve his shooting percentages in every area
• We need a ~17-PER-level center
• We need 4-5 more players that can contribute at a 13-15 PER level (Leonard at 12.1 and Maynor at 10.6 were our only bench guys in double figures

When reviewing "what if" scenarios, usually one or two variables make a scenario relatively reasonable. At the moment, we have 6. I'd say that for us to think that this roster to give us hope of a future championship, we would need to see at least three of the above to come to fruition this coming season.