Can the Blazers win the title without Wes? (1 Viewer)

[tlongII]

Gonna be tough for sure, but I still think we can do it. I think we need to avoid the Warriors though.

 

[riverman]

Wes thinks we can, that's good enough for me

 

[SlyPokerDog]

With a little help from Kersey above, yes!

 

[RipCityBlazer]

I'm just looking forward to seeing how this team performs without Wes. My hope is that guys like CJ, Gee, Blake, and even Batum can give us enough production to make a deep run. Also, if Aldridge or Lillard can get hot at the right time anything is possible.

 

[ripcityboy]

If McCulloum could catch fire, maybe, but how do you replace the defense?

 

[BigGameDamian]

Gonna be tough for sure, but I still think we can do it. I think we need to avoid the Warriors though.

Anything possible! Blazers vs. Worriers would be a great WCF matchup!!

 

[julius]

I don't know if they could've WITH him.

I did find it odd that prior to the trade, Barkley talked good about Portland. Now that the team is basically back to pre-trade status, I wonder how many people will think they're worse than they were pre-trade.

I love Wesley, and it sucks ass he's out, but I'm not sure it's such a huge drop off from Matthews to Afflalo.

 

[magnifier661]

Anything possible! Blazers vs. Worriers would be a great WCF matchup!!

Do you misspell shit on purpose? I mean it's like obvious shit too. You are either too high or trolling or illiterate. Which is it?!

But I liked the post fyi

 

[magnifier661]

I don't know if they could've WITH him.

I did find it odd that prior to the trade, Barkley talked good about Portland. Now that the team is basically back to pre-trade status, I wonder how many people will think they're worse than they were pre-trade.

I love Wesley, and it sucks ass he's out, but I'm not sure it's such a huge drop off from Matthews to Afflalo.

The drop off is Who takes afflalo' place. Afflalo can make up a lot of Matthews production, but I wanted a deep bench. I had a chubby thinking about how Matthews and Afflalo would wear down any SG we face.

 

[julius]

The drop off is Who takes afflalo' place. Afflalo can make up a lot of Matthews production, but I wanted a deep bench. I had a chubby thinking about how Matthews and Afflalo would wear down any SG we face.

Yeah, but he (Barkley) liked the Blazers BEFORE they traded for Afflalo. And it's not like they traded away a major player in the rotation.

 

[magnifier661]

Yeah, but he (Barkley) liked the Blazers BEFORE they traded for Afflalo. And it's not like they traded away a major player in the rotation.

Barkley liking us is the kiss of death. Hopefully he thinks we suck now

 

[KingSpeed]

Yes. I believe. Without Afflalo or an injury to Aldridge or Lillard, I'd be resigned to losing this year but we still have two superstars and a near All Star (Afflalo) so everything is possible. CJ was playing great before the trade. Stotts has been here before where Butler went down but Dallas still won the title. I feel horrible for Wes but I haven't given up at all. Some idiot on ClutchFans said the Blazers are the team everyone wants to play now. I hope so. Let everyone overlook us and pay for it. Go Blazers!!

 

[PDXFonz]

Yes

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Let them show you.

This team has just as much talent or more than some previous NBA champions. They looked pretty good last night

 

[Sinobas]

The 1984 Celtics won a championship without Wesley Matthews, so why can't us?

 

[bulls_with_booz]

Anything is possible if Lillard gets pissed off enough.

 

[MARIS61]

Small ball isn't going to cut it.

All of our bigs need to be involved, especially in the playoffs.

 

[bulls_with_booz]

Small ball isn't going to cut it.

All of our bigs need to be involved, especially in the playoffs.

Small ball won't work against teams like Memphis. Warriors have Bogut who could cause the Blazers trouble.

 

[KingSpeed]

Lopez > Bogut

 

[KingSpeed]

Keep in mind that we nearly beat Memphis without Aldridge.

 

[bulls_with_booz]

Keep in mind that we nearly beat Memphis without Aldridge.

Nearly only counts in horseshoes.

 

[Strenuus]

Nearly only counts in horseshoes.

Right? We gave that game away.

 

[stampedehero]

Barkley liking us is the kiss of death. Hopefully he thinks we suck now

+> Barkley is worth ignoring and should be done everytime his face appears and his fat tongue waggles. He sucks.

 

[stampedehero]

Our road trip stretch in a couple weeks will proove how well Stotts deploys the talent and the teams' path to a title. .

 

[rasheedfan2005]

If lamarcus didnt think so he would be getting surgery. Matthews is his friend. Im betting lamonster is going off for the rest of the season. He is going to step up where matthews use to. #win4Wes

 

[Blazinaway]

If McCulloum could catch fire, maybe, but how do you replace the defense?

The D for the most part I think can be replaced by Afflalo and Gee, we drop off on D if its CJ or someone else. The interesting twist in the equation is Gee I think and how he performs and if he possibly takes a good portion of CJ's minutes. and I see no reason the "small ball" lineup cannot be very effective with Gee replacing Wes, he may be better on D and he's more athletic and a little bigger. Offense is where the likely dropoff is with Wes making so many 3's. Can Gee hit the 3 at an effective rate while taking more shots?

 

[kjironman1]

Realistic chance of winning a championship this year were pretty low before we lost Wes. They got a little better after the trade but really not much if you take odds in Vegas as gauge.
The Blazers still have some options. Olshey did reach out to Ray Allen but he of course said "No Thanks". There is not a lot on the market as far as SG's but there are a couple mobile Small Forwards available that might help a bit. I am not exactly totally clear on the "eligibility" issues for the Playoffs. As i understand it the Blazers have to put their roster together from players used in the regular season and they have to present it by the first day of the playoffs. Of course there are no trades allowed but they can bring in Free Agents.
Personally i would not count the Blazers out and i am anxious to see if Neil Olshey makes some kind of move here?

 

[EGame]

Nearly only counts in horseshoes.

but sports has "morale victories" so that would be as close to a morale victory as possible!

 

[blue9]

No Wes, no way!
But then I didn't think this team would get past the 2nd round with Wes, so the end result is essentially the same.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Losing to the TPups was not an auspicious way to start the post-Wes era.