At what point will you believe this team is for real?

[ponderguy]

Fuck that. Part of being a basketball fan is thinking about the game, how players fit, how match ups will work, how schedules will affect teams, and so on. This isn't history class, we don't need several years of evidence to draw a conclusion. A proper analyst will make his/her determination based on the team that is currently together and their strengths and weaknesses and not based on what last years sports illustrated year in review dictates,

history absolutely matters. if one team has won 50+ games for a decade and one team has been in the top 10 of the lottery for two years in a row the team with 50+ wins history gets the respect. The Blazers have to take that respect and earn it. They are well on their way to doing that but it is a process. They are fairly ranked in most peoples power rankings that I've seen and don't see much disrespect from the national media.

 

[Further]

they're in the top 5 of most peoples power rankings, it's not like they're being ignored

That's right, and that's deserved because of what was done this year. Not last year or the years before. My issue with what you had said wasn't that we weren't getting props, it was that you said those props were contingent on a history of getting to and winning in the playoffs.

But if a team like the blazers who didn't make the playoffs last season and ended the year on a huge skid, but can come in and demonstrate competence then that should be sufficient to gain recognition. And it's working that way.

 

[Further]

history absolutely matters. if one team has won 50+ games for a decade and one team has been in the top 10 of the lottery for two years in a row the team with 50+ wins history gets the respect. The Blazers have to take that respect and earn it. They are well on their way to doing that but it is a process. They are fairly ranked in most peoples power rankings that I've seen and don't see much disrespect from the national media.

Now you say they have to take respect and earn it.

History is taken into account because it's an indicator of future success, but it should not be relied upon as much of a determinant once the season gets going and we have actual evidence to go on. Too many pundits don't actually watch the games and make predictions instead on history of the team, or star power of the players instead of the quality of the basketball being played.