DHawes22
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The Trail Blazers are taking the NBA by surprise, but can they sustain this level of play over the course of an 82-game season? Was Robin Lopez the most under-appreciated offseason signing? And can teams like the Suns and 76ers keep up at their pace? Five local reporters who eat, sleep, and breathe Trail Blazers basketball give their take in the inaugural edition of Running The Break.
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1. As of this writing (November 14, 2013), the Trail Blazers own the third best record in the NBA at 6-2. Are they legit contenders for Home Court Advantage or is their record a product of beating up on teams they should beat?
Casey Holdahl (@Chold), TrailBlazers.com: While the Trail Blazers should be commended for their impressive start, it's going to be a knock down, drag out fight just to get into the playoffs, let alone secure home court advantage. I'm guessing the list of teams that have gone from missing the playoffs completely to finishing in the Top Four of the conference the next season is rather small. And of the teams that have accomplished that feat (assuming there are any), I would imagine those teams added franchise-changing players in the offseason or had franchise players return from injury. While Robin Lopez, Mo Williams and Dorell Wright were all great pickups, they don't qualify for that distinction.
Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes), CSNNW.com: I’m not ready to go that far and say they are a legit Top 4 team. I do believe they’re a playoff team. Reason being, all their wins have come against teams that I predict will finish the season .500 or lower, with the exception of San Antonio. They beat the Nuggets, Kings twice, Pistons, Suns, Celtics and Raptors. The schedule has been good to Portland thus far. But hey, you play who’s on the schedule.
Erik Gundersen (@BlazerBanter), The Columbian: Right now, they are just taking care of the business they need to take care of. Their hot start may be a product of a favorable schedule but last year they played teams they should beat early on in the season and lost a lot of them. Either way, it's a step in the right direction.
Mike Acker (@mikeacker), Willamette Week: I think it’s really a combination. Portland has beaten at least one very good team (San Antonio) and has beaten up a couple not so good teams. There’s a very good chance that once the Blazers’ schedule gets a little more difficult they will slip in the standings. The Blazers had a super easy first half last season and were at around .500 after 41 games. This season’s Blazer team is in a different league than last season’s Blazer team, though. Portland might not be a top three, top five, or top ten team at the end of the season, but they’re certainly contenders for the Playoffs in the west.
Dave Deckard (@blazersedge), BlazersEdge: I’d say neither. The Blazers are shooting a torrid percentage from the three-point arc, a shot that fits their skill set and which Coach Stotts values. The long ball is not as consistent as a paint attack but when you’re firing that well it’s more efficient than almost any two-point look you can get. Despite ranking dead last in points in the paint per game at the time of this writing, they’re third in the league in offensive efficiency. They trail only the Heat and Clippers. That’s impressive.
When the Blazers are draining threes they can play with anybody in the league. If the opponent doesn’t have a great night themselves the Blazers can beat anybody in the league. That’s what we’re seeing early on. Facing Sacramento a couple times hasn’t hurt the record, but it’s hardly the sole cause.
When you’re talking home court advantage in the playoffs, though, you’re talking an entire season of work. Will the threes keep falling? Will Portland’s current problems scoring in and defending the paint—plus their problems scoring and defending transition buckets—erode the advantage at the arc? Will the Blazers’ perimeter-oriented attack continue to deprive them of foul shots? Those are three sources of easy points that Portland cedes on a nightly basis. It hasn’t hurt them over 8 games, but over 82?
READ MORE >>>
Just wanted to share the first edition of Running The Break. As you can see, we got Casey, Haynes, The Columbian's Erik Gundersen, Mike Acker, and Dave from BlazersEdge to drop some knowledge. There's four other questions for them inside the link. This will be a weekly article, so if you have a great question you want me to ask them, just let me know. I'm also working on getting Freeman/Tokito to join next week's.
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