HOW THE EFF ARE THEY "RISING"????
2005-2006 Season - 21 wins
2006-2007 Season - 32 wins
2007-2008 Season - 41 wins
See the numbers rising?
What are we on pace for right now? 49 wins.
My expectations entering this season were kept in check. I wasn't sure what to expect. To say I'm ecstatic is an understatement. There may be a few snags that we've come across heading down this road, but for the most part, they're snags that I think will quickly be long forgotten about (Aldridge, Oden, and Frye). Otherwise, for me, there's a bunch of exciting things that I see developing.
Individually, Steve Blake, Joel Przybilla, and Brandon Roy are playing the best basketball of their careers. In fact, Roy is better than I could have ever hoped he would be. I never thought that Sergio would get back on track or Outlaw would learn how to do more than just launch awkward looking jumpers. Rudy Fernadez has adapted to the NBA game faster than I thought as well. And this is all with Webster breaking his foot, Bayless sitting, and Batum barely getting any burn (who by the way is light years ahead of where I thought he would be).
Team-wise, I wasn't sure how everything was going to mesh together. And with the players being so young and having to take on the worst part of their schedule at the beginning, I was expecting them to inconsistent and near the bottom of the league standings.
We ended last year on a high note (even if we sputtered at the end). We started out this year well above my expectations. So yeah, I still think they're continuing to better themselves and progress. To me, the team is rising.
And for the record, I wasn't referring to you with my Chicken Littles comment. It's not my fault you felt guilty as a Blazer fan to think that I was calling you out. I actually enjoy reading your thoughts. I don't agree with you some of the time, but I do appreciate your takes on things. It's a few select posters that drive me crazy.
We're 9-6. We're also a 31-foot heave with 0.8 seconds left, a Mike Finley missed 10-footer, and a John Salmons missed 8-footer away from being 6-9. That's INCREDIBLY lucky. The other teams have had the last possession with a good chance to win multiple times, and we've escaped. If we were 6-9, would you say "everything's rosy and the cake is baking fine?" If so, more power to you. I sure wouldn't.
Every team is going to have those types of games throughout the season. It all evens out. First do you think Portland's the only team to win games on low-percentage shots or have the opposition missing high-percentage shots? If you take those 3 games away from us, you better consider taking them away from every other team as well. Also, you're weighing heavily the significance of those last-second plays. While you're at it you might as well contend that any low-percentage shot that Portland or any team makes in the first quarter should be counted against us/them. Or that any high-percentage shot that is missed by us or the opposition in the 2nd quarter should be counted against us/them.
The point is that Portland put themselves in a position to be up against the Spurs in the final possession of the game. San Antonio didn't. Portland put themselves in a position to have the last possession in the Houston game and hit a tough shot. Portland put themselves in a position to be leading with the last possession of the game and Sacramento could not hit their shot.
These close games happen all year long. The bottom line is Portland has put themselves in a possession to win games and other teams haven't. Coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn't matter this season and hasn't mattered in the past seasons. Unless, do you want to go back and start rewriting history?
LMA 08<LMA 07. He's not taking it into the post any more than he did last year, and yet he's shooting horribly from the field. I'm not talking about %, I'm talking about clanging off the side of the backboard or the outside of the rim or off the backboard without touching rim. It's been gross to watch. He's had a couple of ah-ha! moments, but how can you say he's progressing, or cake baking, or whatever?
Because I'm looking at more than just his shot. His shooting is the least of my concerns. Good shooters, over large samples, will shoot a high percentage. I expect him to. If after this road trip, he's still shooting poorly then I'd be worried.
What I'm excited about is watching the rest of his game develop. His commitment to defense, rebounding, turn overs, passing out of doubles, and team play. Young players are always going to be inconsistent. They always have been. I expect him to be as well, but I also want to see more consistency this year than last. And I am. He's by far improved defensively to me. His rebounding rate is in line with last year, while playing further away from the basket. He's turning the ball over less and he's passing the ball better.
Again I've said this before, but all players struggle with their shots at time, especially long ball and mid-range chuckers. What I like to see is players that still find ways to contribute even when their shot isn't falling.
Frye 08<Frye 07. Channing had started to progress last year at the end, when he had a bunch of double-doubles. He's fallen in love with the Travis-esque 22 foot 2 pointer, and likes that he can hit the corner 3 now. He's averaging about a rebound every five minutes, whereas last year he was getting more than 1 every 4 minutes. If his J is going down he's a good player, but he needs to get some fire and go inside a bit. Grab some rebounds....foul someone so they don't get easy layins and dunks.
You act as if he's choosing to shoot the 22 footers. I'm pretty sure it's drawn up that way. Oh and strange how when he's not playing in the post he doesn't get more rebounds. Weird how that works. Why do people continue not to put some perspective around these numbers. You think he just became a bad rebounder over the summer. Different roles produce different results.
Frye is playing a brand new role for this team. It seems that he has the green light to shoot whenever open; however, he's only getting so many minutes due to how deep this team is, so he's having to produce in very few minutes. Pretty big adjustment and may be a role that he's never going to be suited for. I feel bad for him. Sometimes I'd like to see him back in the primary reserve PF role.
Some will bring up offensive EFF numbers, and they'll be right. When we're shooting 50% from 3, we're pretty darn good. When we're not shooting 50% from 3, we're pretty darn bad. The difference is: few in here are willing to criticize that team for just continuing to run Isos, or jacking up 3's, when they're contested or not going in.
Well we're pretty darn good the majority of the time. I'll take that.
And it's fine if you want to be critical, I could care less, but don't get all bent out shape because I don't want to join in. This team is young and it's very early in the season. They've dealt with some adverse conditions. They've added a Oden, Batum, Fernandez, and given a larger role to Rodriguez. It takes awhile to sort things out. But you know what? They've been sorting it out on the fly and winning more games than losing. I'm actually enjoying watching the team work through all this.
Maybe your expectations were/are too high?
