Doldrums

[GrandpaBlaze]

If the season ended today, I wouldn't mind, kinda be happy.

That probably best exemplifies my level of excitement/interest in the group right now.

 

[blazerkor]

I think the rest of this season will be more fun. Maybe this is wishful thinking but Jerami has shown many many times in his career that he's willing to sit for the entire later season and just collect a check, I have a feeling that Malcolm will too. Maybe they'll even get Tisse to do it.

For me that means a guard rotation of Scoot, Ant and Banton until Sharpe gets in a few games late in the season, it means a forward rotation of Tou, Bari and Kris and I think Deandre will get a lot of nights off and a lot of nights where he plays under 30 minutes so we can see a lot of Duop and Ibou. Also I think in all of the blowouts and I expect there to be plenty, that we'll see all of the non rotation guys getting a ton of PT in the fourth quarter: Rupert, Minaya, Hagans, Badji on nights that Ayton plays and I think we'll pick up another two way guy now that Duop has a regular contract.

It's the time of the season for watching young guys trying to figure shit out, watching Chauncey figure out that the Scoot/Ant back court is a shit idea and hopefully see a lot of aggressive defense and hustle on both ends from our athletic young guys. I put our over/under at three more wins this season and even then I'd probably take the under.

 

[Tince]

quick memo to my fellow Blazer fans...

Blazers have been through worse.

Years back, I watched Portland oozing admiration towards Zach Randolph, while ignoring his horribly disturbing dog fighting racket with Qyntel Woods. ZeBo got caught with guns, got felony charges dropped after assaulting a stripper, sucker punched his own teammate, plus ZeBo's other bad things i'm not aware of. All the while "Blazers media" told us how impressive Team Captain Zach Randolph's double doubles were, even though the Blazers got their doors blown off almost every game.

The tail end of Jail Blazers era was absolutely brutal on fans. I would go to games on occasion, because Blazer fans couldn't stand the players on the team. They'd hand me good tickets for free.

The giant and relatively new Rose Garden arena had maaaybe... 3000 fans in attendence. Food & beverages was dirt cheap. Portland was spending a bunch of money on posters and bobbleheads etc. They were trying anything to keep Blazer fans engaged.

This current Blazers team is in reset mode. They get stomped by stronger opponents, they go through rough shooting patches, and the defense gets pummeled because there's too many players that are only somewhat good at offense.

Portland is an unorginized mess. The talent has been improperly distributed. A bunch of guys out with injury obviously doesn't help the excitement factor.

Losing for better rookies sucks. Though it did work to dislodge the before mentioned Jail Blazers era. Drafting Brandon Roy & LaMarcus Aldridge brought a much needed fresh perspective. A big dose of hopium.

Right now we're looking for the little steps that will make this squad more exciting. The Blazers media overdoses us with positivity before/during/after losing efforts, which can be extremely annoying. But i can indeed root for this team, because they're good kids. Not wannabe thugs with million dollar Blazer contracts.

In case anyone believed the suggestion of 3000 person attendence, here is the Blazers attendence over the first 19 years of the Rose Garden. No season got close to that bad.

Year Gms Total Avg

 

[Whyachi]

In case anyone believed the suggestion of 3000 person attendence, here is the Blazers attendence over the first 19 years of the Rose Garden. No season got close to that bad.

Year Gms Total Avg

View attachment 63128

bad teams doctor up fan attendance every season. I guarantee you, during the ZeBo era, fans were not lining up at GI Joe's to buy Blazer tickets.

 

[Tince]

bad teams doctor up fan attendance every season. I guarantee you, during the ZeBo era, fans were not lining up at GI Joe's to buy Blazer tickets.

Sure, but they don't report 15,000 when they're getting 3,000.

This team is bad and the reported attendence is in the same range as the Z-Bo years.

 

[Whyachi]

Sure, but they don't report 15,000 when they're getting 3,000.

This team is bad and the reported attendence is in the same range as the Z-Bo years.

the Sonics and Blazers were fighting with each other during this period. "Who can have an emptier stadium" Obviously the Blazers won, because those crooked OKC oil slangers pushed all the wrong fan buttons, and stole a basketball franchise.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

This declining attendance does actually concern me. I worry the Blazers might start to worry about lost $ and declining revenue which pushes them to have Cronin make win now moves. Those could be very shortsighted and entrench this team in a decade+ of mediocrity.

As much as I don't like watching this wasted season, I don't want to see a half way done rebuild.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I think the rest of this season will be more fun. Maybe this is wishful thinking but Jerami has shown many many times in his career that he's willing to sit for the entire later season and just collect a check, I have a feeling that Malcolm will too. Maybe they'll even get Tisse to do it.

For me that means a guard rotation of Scoot, Ant and Banton until Sharpe gets in a few games late in the season, it means a forward rotation of Tou, Bari and Kris and I think Deandre will get a lot of nights off and a lot of nights where he plays under 30 minutes so we can see a lot of Duop and Ibou. Also I think in all of the blowouts and I expect there to be plenty, that we'll see all of the non rotation guys getting a ton of PT in the fourth quarter: Rupert, Minaya, Hagans, Badji on nights that Ayton plays and I think we'll pick up another two way guy now that Duop has a regular contract.

It's the time of the season for watching young guys trying to figure shit out, watching Chauncey figure out that the Scoot/Ant back court is a shit idea and hopefully see a lot of aggressive defense and hustle on both ends from our athletic young guys. I put our over/under at three more wins this season and even then I'd probably take the under.

We have a very different definition of a fun season. That you could elevate this Bantom scrub in a rotation over the 6th man of the year and consider it an improvement.

 

[kjironman1]

Sure, but they don't report 15,000 when they're getting 3,000.

This team is bad and the reported attendence is in the same range as the Z-Bo years.

Probably true but I have seen games where they reported 15,000 and there were nowhere near that many in attendance. 10,000 at most and that sure seems pretty empty when you are there.

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

In case anyone believed the suggestion of 3000 person attendence, here is the Blazers attendence over the first 19 years of the Rose Garden. No season got close to that bad.

Year Gms Total Avg

View attachment 63128

Are those tickets sold or actual attendance? I know many teams in many sports claim tickets sold as max capacity but its clear watching the game it's not a full house.

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

Sure, but they don't report 15,000 when they're getting 3,000.

This team is bad and the reported attendence is in the same range as the Z-Bo years.

Corporations are a large percentage of sold tickets. Very possibly that the numbers of attendance verse sold tickets could be in the thousands.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Corporations are a large percentage of sold tickets. Very possibly that the numbers of attendance verse sold tickets could be in the thousands.

Also all the people that buy season tickets to resell them. Yes there were thousands of tickets sold for every game of those jail Blazers era where people didnt attend. This catches up to the team eventually though - in future season they will have less of those speculative season tickets.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Good thing the NHL season correlates with the NBA season so you have something to fall back on!

 

[KingSpeed]

Its a no stress year. Enjoy it.

I’m with Stren. It’s been a fun year. I like the players so I always tune in but when they lose, I’m slightly irritated and then I’m fine. The future is clear. We are where OKC was two seasons ago. Be patient. The talent is there and more is coming.

 

[KingSpeed]

View attachment 63070

You’re welcome!

Actually, Neil’s goal was always to put us in the playoffs every year and he did that. But people still bitched. Now we’re trying it a different way and people are upset.

 

[KingSpeed]

ZBo actually had a good year WITH Roy. Also, the true end of jailblazers was 2003 and that was hella fun. Came back from 0-3 deficit to force game 7. And ZBo being put in the starting lineup was the impetus. The Rose Garden was ROCKIN in Game 6.

 

[KingSpeed]

I loved the jailblazers team. It was the telfair team that sucked.

 

[e_blazer]

Actually, Neil’s goal was always to put us in the playoffs every year and he did that. But people still bitched. Now we’re trying it a different way and people are upset.

Exactly right. Neil made safe moves to add second tier vets so that the Blazers would make the playoffs. He never did build around Dame with guys who could push the Blazers into contention. And, thus, the best years of Dame’s career were wasted.

 

[THE HCP]

I’m with Stren. It’s been a fun year. I like the players so I always tune in but when they lose, I’m slightly irritated and then I’m fine. The future is clear. We are where OKC was two seasons ago. Be patient. The talent is there and more is coming.

I think TWO seasons ago OKC had 25+ drafts picks stashed ……I might be wrong though.

 

[Blazinaway]

I’m with Stren. It’s been a fun year. I like the players so I always tune in but when they lose, I’m slightly irritated and then I’m fine. The future is clear. We are where OKC was two seasons ago. Be patient. The talent is there and more is coming.

This year has been pretty much as I expected, one thing I am irritated/bummer about is injuries to guys I wanted to see play a LOT like SS and Scoot

 

[STOMP]

This year has been pretty much as I expected, one thing I am irritated/bummer about is injuries to guys I wanted to see play a LOT like SS and Scoot

yup, though as a silver lining I'd point to is that player improvement doesn't only happen with NBA playing time. I expect that next year we'll see some steps forward from our youngins just from the NBA exposure they've received in games, practice and just generally being immersed in NBA life. Of course they should be better physically too.

I actually enjoy seeing these struggling games as (maybe foolishly) I believe they'll be very good players. This year was baby steps mixed in with plenty of face plants

STOMP

 

[Whyachi]

Rockets are 20-9 at home, while sporting the worst road record in Western Conference (5-22).

I think this is why Cronin mentioned Houston as the team he wants the Blazers to resemble. Make a jump in home victories, bring excitement to the Rose Quarter. Losing all the road games is no big deal. Half the fans quit watch Portland on TV, and the Blazers can still draft a good rookie.

 

[blazerfan11]

This year has been pretty much as I expected, one thing I am irritated/bummer about is injuries to guys I wanted to see play a LOT like SS and Scoot

20-year-0ld Sharpe, 20-year-old Scoot Henderson, 19-year-old Rayan Rupert (Batum P2), all injured.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

This declining attendance does actually concern me. I worry the Blazers might start to worry about lost $ and declining revenue which pushes them to have Cronin make win now moves.

OR - it could panic Jody into selling the team!!!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Rockets are 20-9 at home, while sporting the worst road record in Western Conference (5-22).

I think this is why Cronin mentioned Houston as the team he wants the Blazers to resemble.

Well, we already half resemble them...