Charles Barkley bets $100,000 on the Blazers to win the West

[chris_in_pdx]

https://bleacherreport.com/post/portland-trail-blazers/35babf4b-2ee7-48e5-951a-c86069c30c27

Edit: someone please fix the spelling in my title.

 

[Scalma]

I love nurchick and counter too.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Sir Charles would fit in perfectly here. Make it so!

 

[riverman]

https://bleacherreport.com/post/portland-trail-blazers/35babf4b-2ee7-48e5-951a-c86069c30c27

Edit: someone please fix the spelling in my title.

Love it!

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Why does he love us so much? This goes back to the Drexler days.

 

[riverman]

Why does he love us so much? This goes back to the Drexler days.

I think for the same reason we do Eric....character...comraderie.sportsmanship..loyalty....the eternal underdog..

 

[blazerkor]

I think for the same reason we do Eric....character...comraderie.sportsmanship..loyalty....the eternal underdog..

Nah, he's said outright that he has always liked Dame but Dame never had the inside presence he needed to complement his game. So he started liking us in the 18-19 season, he was high on us to start the season last season and then really started to rave about us going into the bubble before he knew Ariza opted out he said that we were the best team to beat the Lakers and that if we did we could win the whole thing. When Ariza did opt out Chuck still said we had a good chance against the Lakers and picked us in the series.

Now he loves the additions we've made, our players that can play inside to go with great defensive forwards and our amazing offensive guards... he also loves our bench. I can't disagree with him about any of it. So he picks us win it all. I know he said that tonight on Inside the NBA but he already talked about how good he thinks we when being interviewed on ESPN radio.

I think we would have trouble beating the Lakers but I wouldn't rule it out and if we do we can hang with anyone else. That's why I think we should finish second or third in the West. With the compact schedule (so many back to backs and hardly any two day rests) along with the likelihood of players missing games due to positive COVID tests our depth is going to be a huge strength that should boost our regular season record a little.

That being said I think in the league there's the Lakers and then 6 or 7 teams behind them just scrambling for that #2 spot, with 4 or 5 of those in West and we're definitely in that mix. Also I think our offensive personnel creates some real problems for the Lakers that no one else does and we have two guys that have the length, strength and explosiveness to slow down LeBron and AD in DJJ and RoCo.

 

[Labinot41]

I love chuck

 

[THE HCP]

Please Merge With Melo Thread!

 

[THE HCP]

This is as moronic as the people who say we won't make the playoffs!

 

[julius]

The Charles Barkley kiss of death.

 

[Mediocre Man]

He’s as delusional as some of the posters we have here

 

[Mediocre Man]

This is as moronic as the people who say we won't make the playoffs!

Have you seen our defense?

That’s a trick question. You can’t see what’s not there

 

[kjironman1]

Guess it all depends on if they win tonight. This most certainly is a "Must Win" game.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

His wife is going to be so mad at him.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Why does he love us so much? This goes back to the Drexler days.

Really? I distinctly remember him saying that the Blazers "run like deer and think like deer".

 

[RR7]

Whats that saying about a fool and his money...

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Whats that saying about a fool and his money...

I'll give you $10,000 to tell me!!!!!!!!

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Why does he love us so much? This goes back to the Drexler days.

It's definitely an unhealthy, irrational love.

 

[blazerkor]

Have you seen our defense?

That’s a trick question. You can’t see what’s not there

I want you to remember this post when at the end of the season this is a better defense than we had in 18-19 because the answer to your question is no we haven't seen our defense yet. Stotts just implemented it and we saw elements of it in preseason games, the last of which came less than two weeks after it's implementation. DJJ and RoCo will show to be a lot better than Chief and Moe were, Nurk is better now than he was then and we have a few nice defenders that could be coming off the bench.

 

[TBpup]

It's what I was mentioning in the rankings where Portland was #9 but was at +3500 to win the title, while teams at #10,11 and maybe 12 were much better odds. So there is some value bets there. Maybe not to win the title but to get to the Finals.

 

[Hoopguru]

Kenny Smith said he thought Dames was going to win the MVP this year.
If this team doesn't become a contender thats going to be tough. He could average 40 and if we are barely playoff eligible that would hurt his chances. If he averages 25-30 and gets his team in the WCF he has a much better chance, in my opinion.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I want you to remember this post when at the end of the season this is a better defense than we had in 18-19 because the answer to your question is no we haven't seen our defense yet. Stotts just implemented it and we saw elements of it in preseason games, the last of which came less than two weeks after it's implementation. DJJ and RoCo will show to be a lot better than Chief and Moe were, Nurk is better now than he was then and we have a few nice defenders that could be coming off the bench.

So naive.
What we have are good TEAM defenders. We also have shitty TEAM defense AND a sg who WONT play defense

 

[blazerkor]

So naive.
What we have are good TEAM defenders. We also have shitty TEAM defense AND a sg who WONT play defense

We do have a SG that's a very willing and intense defender too though. We'll see. Our back court's defensive shortcomings and some of our higher profile players seeming inability to make the right pass has never been encouraging. That being said I think this team is going to surprise you and the good thing is that if they surprise you and not me, we'll both be happy.