Yo team!
I predicted 13 - 7 record for the first 20 games.
You gotta go 5 - 1.
Don't make me look bad. You gotta win this game. Don't take it lightly.
The next 6 are all "winnable" games, but you got to show up. And we won't win all of them. Got to leave one on the table for tired legs.
This is an easy part of the schedule as far as opponents go (not the B2Bs) and the Blazers need to make some hay right now:
@ Toronto
@ Detroit (B2B)
Sacramento
Memphis (B2B)
@ Golden State (B2B2B) - 5th game in 6 nights: McMillian should seriously consider just conceding the game. Tell the guys to run down and launch pull up threes. If they go in early, play the game to win. If they don't, bring in the deep bench.
Phoenix
@ Utah
Charlotte
@ Sacramento (B2B)
There is still plenty of time for this team to put together a strong season. Way too early to pass judgement on what kind of team they are. They haven't defined that yet. Aldridge has been solid. Wallace has been very up and down. Batum has shown some good stuff in limited time. Felton and Crawford have been terrible and neither has been this bad in forever. There is a good chance they revert to their mean, which would give a big boost if they do.
The team lost some momentum recently, but, did they lose any games to a team they should have?
After those signature wins against the Lakers and the Thunder the Blazers lost to:
@ Phoenix, who is 3 - 4 at home. After beating the Lakers, the Blazers fly down to Phoenix and lose the road back to back to a bad team.
Orlando, who is 5 - 2 on the road. After beating the Clippers in the revenge game, the Blazers lose the B2B game against a good team.
@ Spurs, who is 9 - 0 at home. Nuff said.
@ Houston, who is 6 - 1 at home. Blazers play the 2nd of the road B2B at the suprisingly good at home Rockets and lose in overtime.
@ Atlanta, who is 7 - 1 at home.
The only game the Blazers should have been favored to win was against Phoenix. One "bad" loss. I think the team is allowed that. It is too bad we couldn't "beat the odds" against Houston or Atlanta or whomever, like we did against LA and OKC. But, I don't really see this team that far off track right now. They just need to maintain focus and get better shooting out of Felton and Crawford and the team will be rolling again.