Entirely Premature Playoff Race

[Mediocre Man]

So here are the teams I think should be ahead of Portland on paper

LAL
DAL
SA
LAC
OKC
MEM, UTA, POR, GS

Does that seem about right?

 

[Eastoff]

I want to wait until december 24th to decide this. There are still a lot of trades in he works.

 

[Eastoff]

double post, merge it!

 

[MARIS61]

So here are the teams I think should be ahead of Portland on paper

LAL
DAL
SA
LAC
OKC
MEM, UTA, POR, GS

Does that seem about right?

How, having not replaced Roy and/or Oden, probably losing Aldridge to medical retirement or fatal heart attack, do you see us even making the playoffs? What teams are we more talented than?

 

[Draco]

I clearly think Dallas and OKC will be better than us, but other teams are a crapshoot. Lakers are old and lost Odom for nothing. Spurs are old too, rapid games will be very difficult for those teams. Just like '99 Jazz that went to finals then lost to us in the second round. Clippers are very young and unproven. I'd probably give Memphis slight nod to us. We are better then Den, Utah, Phx, Hou, GS.

So that means I see us finishing from 3rd to 7th seed, or likely 5th if I had to put money on a single spot.

 

[e_blazer]

How, having not replaced Roy and/or Oden, probably losing Aldridge to medical retirement or fatal heart attack, do you see us even making the playoffs? What teams are we more talented than?

Wow, obsessively pessimistic much?

 

[Masbee]

So here are the teams I think should be ahead of Portland on paper

LAL
DAL
SA
LAC
OKC
MEM, UTA, POR, GS

Does that seem about right?

No.

Lakers just gave away their 3rd best player for nothing. How would you feel about the Blazers if we gave away Gerald Wallace?. They have no PG worth a damn and that matters now that they are dumping the Triangle, and Kobe can't carry that team on his back. When healthy their starting 5 is pretty decent (minus the PG), but their bench? On paper, yeah, better than Blazers, but not by much.

Dal, did just lose their defending/rebounding center and won't be able to replace that, but man are they deep. They should be very strong.

SA, I am not sure why you think they are a lock to be good. They are counting on Duncan and Ginobili having healthy and strong seasons or they are toast.

Clippers? They don't play defense. Wake me up when they do.

OKC - fuck them. Yes they are better than us.

Mem better on paper only if they keep Gasol.

Utah? Where do you get that? Their pieces don't fit very well with each other.

Warriors? Two tiny gunners and who are their bigs? I don't think so.

I think it is Dallas and OKC on top.

Lakers below that.

SA, Mem & Por below that.

Of course all this is depending on trades and free agent signings and health during the season.

 

[Mediocre Man]

No.

Lakers just gave away their 3rd best player for nothing. How would you feel about the Blazers if we gave away Gerald Wallace?. They have no PG worth a damn and that matters now that they are dumping the Triangle, and Kobe can't carry that team on his back. When healthy their starting 5 is pretty decent (minus the PG), but their bench? On paper, yeah, better than Blazers, but not by much.

Dal, did just lose their defending/rebounding center and won't be able to replace that, but man are they deep. They should be very strong.

SA, I am not sure why you think they are a lock to be good. They are counting on Duncan and Ginobili having healthy and strong seasons or they are toast.

Clippers? They don't play defense. Wake me up when they do.

OKC - fuck them. Yes they are better than us.

Mem better on paper only if they keep Gasol.

Utah? Where do you get that? Their pieces don't fit very well with each other.

Warriors? Two tiny gunners and who are their bigs? I don't think so.

I think it is Dallas and OKC on top.

Lakers below that.

SA, Mem & Por below that.

Of course all this is depending on trades and free agent signings and health during the season.

Mine wasn't in order. Just teams I thought would be better than Portland, and those that would fight with us for the 6-8 seed

 

[Brock]

it will be a dog fight for blazers.... but with no injuries blazers should get in

 

[illmatic99]

Unless we see tremendous improvement from Nic and Wes, we're gonna be stuck @ 6.

Aldridge doesn't have another step up, does he?

 

[Mediocre Man]

6th seed is the worst possible scenario, IMO. Out in the first round....AGAIN, and a shitty draft pick

 

[RoyToy]

Start adding "its teh truth" to the end of your posts and we have the new Mixum

 

[magnifier661]

Unless we see tremendous improvement from Nic and Wes, we're gonna be stuck @ 6.

Aldridge doesn't have another step up, does he?

I actually think he does. Especially now that it's certain Roy will not be alpha dog. Why can't he get 25 points and 10 boards a game? He definitely has that in him. Also, each year he has been working even harder to post up more. Shit even Hakeem the Dream kept improving his arsenal each and every year. All you need is desire. He definitely has the skills to get there.

 

[Masbee]

Mine wasn't in order. Just teams I thought would be better than Portland, and those that would fight with us for the 6-8 seed

Look at my post.

We are not "fighting for the 6th seed".

Who are the FIVE teams that are head and shoulders better than the Blazers?

No, we are among several teams that have a decent opportunity to battle for as high as 4th - maybe even 3rd if the Lakers implode.

 

[ABM]

Mine wasn't in order. Just teams I thought would be better than Portland, and those that would fight with us for the 6-8 seed

I'll give you 3:1 odds - max bet $20 (OK, I'm not a big gambler ) - that the Blazers will end up with a better record than the Spurs.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Look at my post.

We are not "fighting for the 6th seed".

Who are the FIVE teams that are head and shoulders better than the Blazers?

No, we are among several teams that have a decent opportunity to battle for as high as 4th - maybe even 3rd if the Lakers implode.

If you believe we are a HCA team then there is no reason for us to continue.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I'll give you 3:1 odds - max bet $20 (OK, I'm not a big gambler ) - that the Blazers will end up with a better record than the Spurs.

I don't do gambling, and the last week or so the forum has been a bad place to visit to stay away from that

 

[Draco]

Look at my post.

We are not "fighting for the 6th seed".

Who are the FIVE teams that are head and shoulders better than the Blazers?

No, we are among several teams that have a decent opportunity to battle for as high as 4th - maybe even 3rd if the Lakers implode.

Agreed, Dallas and OKC clearly are the projected top two teams. Portland is in the mix for the 3rd seed. It’s going to be a crapshoot with a lot of teams in the west that could all drop from the 3rd to 7th seed in the last weeks of the season.

But Utah and Golden State being included in this discussion is a joke, those teams are hoping to get lucky and just get the 8th seed. They have no thoughts at all of vying for HCA. Not that we necessarily expect to get HCA, but it’s a reasonable goal for us to attain for, that 4th seed.

 

[ABM]

I don't do gambling, and the last week or so the forum has been a bad place to visit to stay away from that

That's fine. But, we'll be better than SA.

 

[KingSpeed]

San Antonio had the best record in the West last year. Why are they falling below us?

 

[Mediocre Man]

San Antonio had the best record in the West last year. Why are they falling below us?

Myopia

 

[Masbee]

San Antonio had the best record in the West last year. Why are they falling below us?

Father time.

But if they are fully healthy - then yeah - they are clearly better than us. As I said so.

 

[Draco]

Father time.

But if they are fully healthy - then yeah - they are clearly better than us. As I said so.

Tim Duncan cannot play on back to back days. This schedule will kill them. They'll be this years version of the 1999 Jazz.

 

[ABM]

Tim Duncan cannot play on back to back days. This schedule will kill them. They'll be this years version of the 1999 Jazz.

That well factored into my reasoning, too.

 

[ABM]

San Antonio had the best record in the West last year.

It sure didn't amount to much, though. They were rather handily beaten in the 1st Round by the Griz.

 

[RoyToy]

OKC is the only team that really worries me at this point. They're the one team I feel Portland can't beat(in a 7 game series)

Everyone else is beatable