Blazers to Tankers: FU, We're Winning

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Joe Freeman, because you read the boards, I want to welcome you and give you some advice:

I think most everyone who says "we suck at tanking" at the end of a win is being gently ironic.

Now, just because I see this season as an 82-game preseason doesn't mean I'm pro-loss or pro-tanking. I mean this whole season is a tryout period like preseason usually is. If we make the playoffs I'll be happy. If we get a good lotto pick I'll be happy.

If we keep CJ and Dame, I'll be happy. If we turn CJ into a super-stud wing via trade, I'll be happy. There's no expectations from me this season.
 
"Don't give a bleep?"

That's what constitutes as sports journalism these days? Freeman has no better way to articulate that sentiment? Especially when no Blazer actually swore in any of the quotes? smh, we have such crappy writers covering the team.

That all said, WTF do you expect the players to say? And why would any player try to lose to games so that we can pick up a another player that will take his spot? I'd get rid of any player who explicitly tanked. This whole protankers narrative is a bunch of bullshit that Freeman thinks is black and white, while in reality it isn't as clear cut. We all want a draft pick because we need talent. But how many of us actively roots for losses? You mean to tell me there were actually people who call themselves Blazer fans who did not cheer for Dame on Sunday?
 
I thought it was a pretty good article. I like these two quotes in particular:

"I felt the same way with my Browns," McCollum said. "So I understand what some (Blazers fans) are going through, wanting to get a pick. But as competitors, we're not going to give away games. We're going to try to win every night. We're trying to make a playoff push. We don't play this game for draft picks. We play this game because we love it and we want to win. I'm sure if you asked (owner) Mr. (Paul) Allen, Neil (Olshey) all the same stuff, they'll give you the same answers."

In short, the Blazers don't give a bleep about the lottery.

"We like the team that we have," Lillard said. "We have a lot of talented guys who were high drafts picks in here. So we're not going to go out and not try to win games because of one draft pick that we don't even know if they're going to turn out to be a good NBA player. We've got a young team, so we can start building toward the future. It's not like we brought a bunch of bums in here. We've got good players. This is building toward the future."
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I thought it was a pretty good article. I like these two quotes in particular:

"I felt the same way with my Browns," McCollum said. "So I understand what some (Blazers fans) are going through, wanting to get a pick. But as competitors, we're not going to give away games. We're going to try to win every night. We're trying to make a playoff push. We don't play this game for draft picks. We play this game because we love it and we want to win. I'm sure if you asked (owner) Mr. (Paul) Allen, Neil (Olshey) all the same stuff, they'll give you the same answers."

In short, the Blazers don't give a bleep about the lottery.

"We like the team that we have," Lillard said. "We have a lot of talented guys who were high drafts picks in here. So we're not going to go out and not try to win games because of one draft pick that we don't even know if they're going to turn out to be a good NBA player. We've got a young team, so we can start building toward the future. It's not like we brought a bunch of bums in here. We've got good players. This is building toward the future."
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I agree. I thought those two quotes pretty much summed up the way I feel about the whole issue. Yeah, I get why people are more interested in getting a lottery pick than in getting swept by the Warriors in the first round. That said, I think there are many ways to build a team and that the lottery is far from a certain proposition when it comes to getting an impact player. I'd rather the team work hard this season at developing the talent that we do have here by trying to win than coasting to a bunch of losses in hopes that the lottery will be the panacea when it comes to building a contender.
 
BlazerCaravan said:
Joe Freeman, because you read the boards, I want to welcome you and give you some advice:

I think most everyone who says "we suck at tanking" at the end of a win is being gently ironic.

Now, just because I see this season as an 82-game preseason doesn't mean I'm pro-loss or pro-tanking. I mean this whole season is a tryout period like preseason usually is. If we make the playoffs I'll be happy. If we get a good lotto pick I'll be happy.

If we keep CJ and Dame, I'll be happy. If we turn CJ into a super-stud wing via trade, I'll be happy. There's no expectations from me this season.
Click to expand...
For strategic reasons, making the playoffs this year would be an unmitigated disaster for a team that desperately needs to hit on a talent in the first round. In subsequent years go for it.
 
40 games into Dame's rookie year, we were 20-20. That team finished 13-29 in the final 42.

Guys started getting hurt and we ended up with a shitty record.
 
Nikolokolus said:
For strategic reasons, making the playoffs this year would be an unmitigated disaster for a team that desperately needs to hit on a talent in the first round. In subsequent years go for it.
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Bullshit. Making the playoffs would not be a disaster. The only thing we need desperately is to play to win, period.
 
Nikolokolus said:
For strategic reasons, making the playoffs this year would be an unmitigated disaster for a team that desperately needs to hit on a talent in the first round. In subsequent years go for it.
Click to expand...

There are quite a few players out there I would love to get. No doubt. But I would say there are probably only about 3 right now that I would consider potential difference makers. Players who will be at a talent level after a few years that we just could not obtain any other way than by drafting them. I am sure there will be more, but right now I see Simmons, Ingram, and maybe........ Bender. (Who I have not actually seen) I like Murray a lot, but we have guards. I kind of like the Cal tandem Brown and Rabb, but they are not anything special at this point.

Is there anyone else out there that can take us to the next level? If there isn't than I don't think missing the playoffs would be a disaster. I know it is still really early and players always emerge in March that we don't know about in January.

I would prefer a lottery pick, but I am not going to be disappointed if we play well enough to make the playoffs. We need a top 2 pick to really make a difference IMO.
 
Nikolokolus said:
For strategic reasons, making the playoffs this year would be an unmitigated disaster for a team that desperately needs to hit on a talent in the first round. In subsequent years go for it.
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Neil mentioned to Woj that the strategy would change and if we made the playoffs, the complete focus will shift over to FA and trades, instead of trying to knock it out of the park with the draft.

We have a month til the trade deadline. Think we'll have a far more clear picture of where this team is going then and we can either make a further push to win a game or two in the playoffs this year and establish a foundation to get FAs in the summer, or roll with what we have until the draft.
 
yuyuza1 said:
"Don't give a bleep?"

That's what constitutes as sports journalism these days? Freeman has no better way to articulate that sentiment? Especially when no Blazer actually swore in any of the quotes? smh, we have such crappy writers covering the team.

That all said, WTF do you expect the players to say? And why would any player try to lose to games so that we can pick up a another player that will take his spot? I'd get rid of any player who explicitly tanked. This whole protankers narrative is a bunch of bullshit that Freeman thinks is black and white, while in reality it isn't as clear cut. We all want a draft pick because we need talent. But how many of us actively roots for losses? You mean to tell me there were actually people who call themselves Blazer fans who did not cheer for Dame on Sunday?
Click to expand...
HEAR! HEAR!

Freeman, please get a clue.
 
I don't want to see the Blazers thinking of tanking. I already knew this team was wanting to play to win because they have so many people doubting them of their success. We also have players that are trying to prove themselves.
 
Making the Playoffs is a good thing but not much of an accomplishment this year. If this were last season, Portland would be out of the Playoff race by miles and it wouldn't even be a thought. Because much of the rest of the West has declined so much, I'm not sure that Portland is really overachieving as much as many other teams are under performing and by circumstance, Portland is closer to a Playoff spot.

Just a couple days ago, Utah was on pace to be the #8 seed with 35 wins. Most seasons in the West that would be 10-15 games out of the last Playoff spot. It's like the Washington Redskins making the playoffs after being 5-7 at one point in the season. Because their division was so crappy, they won it but it didn't make them a good team or really worth a playoff spot. In Portland's case, it will cost them a Draft pick as well.

If they were in the Playoff race without such a sub-par record, I'd be all for it. This to me is like all those lousy teams in the East that made the Playoffs for years....inconsequential.
 
yuyuza1 said:
There is a distinction between being OK with losses, and rooting for losses.

Think that is lost on some people here. And apparently Joe Freeman.
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Yup. I've said it all season. I'm okay with losses. It's really a win-win. If we win, great! If we lose, I'm not going to stress about it. It's the -only- year I think I'll ever be okay with losses.
 
That's fine but it just reminds me of Matt Hasselbeck saying

"We want the ball and we're gonna score"
 
yuyuza1 said:
There is a distinction between being OK with losses, and rooting for losses.

Think that is lost on some people here. And apparently Joe Freeman.
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Exactly. Realistic expectations and reasonable hope for the future are keys to happy fandom.
 
I still don't understand why people can't fathom that there is more than one way to win in the NBA. Winning a lottery pick in a place where building through the draft is completely necessary, is a win! We are a small market team that needs to use the draft to build a winner. Neil has done a great job at drafting. Not so much at FA signings and trades.
 
yuyuza1 said:
There is a distinction between being OK with losses, and rooting for losses.

Think that is lost on some people here. And apparently Joe Freeman.
Click to expand...
The distinction is that many people here would see us making the playoffs as 100% negative. It seems to me that those people actively want us to lose as many regular season games as possible. Whereas me and some others want us to win as many games as possible and would love to make the playoffs.
 
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