ESPN is crazy?!?!

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
magnifier661

magnifier661

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
59,328
Likes
5,588
Points
113
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9560974/2013-summer-forecast-west-standings

We won 33 games last season and they predict we win only +5 with a revamped bench, better center and a year older Lillard? WTF?!?!?!

Then they have OKC only losing 2 games from last season with no changes and the loss of Kevin Martin.

I love the 9 win swing they gave Minny too. Christ ESPN can be the biggest knuckleheads at times.
 
I bet most of them didn't watch the team at all last year, they don't know that we tanked at the end or how well our starters played early on.

If our roster was in NY they'd be talking about home court advantage.
 
If your a small market team who wasn't playoff bound before and you dont make any amazing changes then you get no respect.
Theor predictions are for naught because the Blazers will win 50 games next year.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
 
BFD. We were supposed to win 20-25 games last year and be out of the playoff chase almost immediately. We were still a .500 team 80% of the way into the season, and then finished the season with a big losing streak as injuries mounted and guys wore out (both mostly due to not having a bench). We were underrated going into last season, the pundits are doing it again, and we'll "overachieve" according to their weak-ass predictions (barring injury to key players).
 
HAAK72 said:
...drive to Vegas ASAP and place some bets man!
Click to expand...

Hmmm don’t know anyone in Vegas at the moment to make the bet for me. Right after DHoward signed we were 100-1 odds. If those are still the case I'd for sure bet $20; that is a $2,000 payoff. Not that I think we are going to win the title but I think we have a better than one in a hundred chance. Especially if there is another Gerald Wallace style trade bringing in an all-star at the deadline. Anyone know what the current odds are?

How do the other NBA season bets work, can you just take the over on wins for the season?
 
magnifier661 said:
Oh my mistake.
Click to expand...

No problem, but I noticed you even posted in that thread. Oops.

Despite being slighted, it will be interesting to see which of those teams steps up and which fades.
 
Reep said:
No problem, but I noticed you even posted in that thread. Oops.

Despite being slighted, it will be interesting to see which of those teams steps up and which fades.
Click to expand...

Dude I have a bad memory. Lol
 
Mags, you're like a pitbull.... we just point you in a direction and you attack lol
 
The fact that you went to ESPN to get any news.... *facepalm*

Everyone needs to stop going to ESPN. They are not a sports channel. Everyone will realize this soon enough.
 
Also, you have to understand that vegas is a lot smarter than ESPN. Espn is stupid and doesn't know anything, Vegas has people that actually know the sport and teams. They know. They'll have sucker bets, be warned. They have them because they know people blindly follow whatever the hell ESPN feeds them. It's sad. Dont watch ESPN is the moral of all this. They know nothing.
 
Strenuus said:
The fact that you went to ESPN to get any news.... *facepalm*

Everyone needs to stop going to ESPN. They are not a sports channel. Everyone will realize this soon enough.
Click to expand...

I think the general fandom knows this already, but we post because there is something to talk about. There is this hope that espn will somehow give us respect finally. It's a reach, I know.
 
magnifier661 said:
I think the general fandom knows this already, but we post because there is something to talk about. There is this hope that espn will somehow give us respect finally. It's a reach, I know.
Click to expand...

Just stop using ESPN. They are a joke and not an actual legit channel for sports. It's a farce.

Besides, even if we won 5 championships in a row, they'd only talk about how the lakers, celtics and heat can't win it anymore.

Stop watching ESPN.
 
one of the things that makes this coming year particularly beguiling is that many teams, including us will be tanking after the all star break if they have sucky records.

btw, Sportscenter is THE worst news show on TV. I'd literally rather watch fox news.
 
Reep said:
http://sportstwo.com/threads/243691-ESPN-projecting-that-Blazers-don-t-make-playoffs-this-year

Already hit this didn't we? I think the main takeaway isn't that they placed us at 10, but that there are probably six teams that will be fighting for the last two playoff spots, and will be very close.
Click to expand...

Except that I think the 6 teams many are slotting to have secure playoff spots will actually be 5. Most years there is team that is a "lock" for the playoffs that has the wheels come off, usually due to injury.

So, there will be 5 or 6 teams fighting for 3 spots.
 
magnifier661 said:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9560974/2013-summer-forecast-west-standings

We won 33 games last season and they predict we win only +5 with a revamped bench, better center and a year older Lillard? WTF?!?!?!

Then they have OKC only losing 2 games from last season with no changes and the loss of Kevin Martin.

I love the 9 win swing they gave Minny too. Christ ESPN can be the biggest knuckleheads at times.
Click to expand...

I don't agree either, but if you want to argue the other side:

Lillard is a polished product, and though he surprised a bit with the level he played at as a rookie, he is not very likely to make a big jump. He is what he is. (note: there have been many examples of NBA players who didn't make big early jumps over their rookie years).

Though the Blazers were a bit dinged up at the end of the season, they had pretty good health last year, something you can rarely count on most years.

Lopez is a true center it's true, but last season was the first season he started. Not quite sold on him yet and though their games are very different, not sure Lopez will end up contributing much more than the big minutes, big hustle and big stats they got from the undersized JJ.

T-Rob was an interesting value pickup, but we don't expect anything out of him until he actually does something to prove us wrong. He was that bad last season.

CJ is a rookie who has the look of an undersized SG, and besides, is unlikely to add much value to the team his rookie season other than injury backup, thanks to the late addition of Mo Williams.

The bench has improved for sure, which is why we have the team winning more games, but they are not a top 5 bench or anything. The bench is not good enough or deep enough to win you games on its own. They just won't be losing games for the team like last season.
 
There are five teams in the NBA clearly above the others next season; Miami, Indiana, OKC, Chicago and Brooklyn. Those are the clear contenders. Four of the top five NBA teams are out in the East.

Already in July we have more teams than ever aiming to tank the next season. Boston, Orlando, Philly, Utah, and the Phoenix. Usually teams start off the season even if under talented hoping for the best and not deciding to tank until they’ve seen bad results. But this year we have teams proactively aiming to be uncompetitive from the get go. They will be in a competition to be at the bottom of the standings. There will be a number of additional teams joining that group in the lottery, likely including one or two that today appear to be a lock for the playoffs; but due to injuries or unexpected chemistry issues fall well short of expectations.

All of those tanking teams will make a base level of wins easy to obtain. There will then be a large group of teams well above the lottery teams but below the top5 contending teams. Position in that bunch could be fluid. All the teams have some great positives but also some major limitations. Can a frontcourt of only Griffin and DeAndre work in the playoffs defensively for the Clippers? Can San Antonio continue to rely on Duncan and Ginobilli? Can Houston take the next step with Parsons as their third best player?

Any of the teams in this group including the Blazers have the potential to get hot, have a number of breaks go their way and get a great playoff seed just as Denver did last season. That is why I'm very excited about this upcoming Blazers season. There is so much parity in the west we have a chance of getting HCA. In other years there just wouldn't be the openings at the top of the standings. In the East there isn't the openings at the top of the standings. But this year in the west we have a opportunity to be a surprise team.
 
Masbee said:
I don't agree either, but if you want to argue the other side:

Lillard is a polished product, and though he surprised a bit with the level he played at as a rookie, he is not very likely to make a big jump. He is what he is. (note: there have been many examples of NBA players who didn't make big early jumps over their rookie years).

Though the Blazers were a bit dinged up at the end of the season, they had pretty good health last year, something you can rarely count on most years.

Lopez is a true center it's true, but last season was the first season he started. Not quite sold on him yet and though their games are very different, not sure Lopez will end up contributing much more than the big minutes, big hustle and big stats they got from the undersized JJ.

T-Rob was an interesting value pickup, but we don't expect anything out of him until he actually does something to prove us wrong. He was that bad last season.

CJ is a rookie who has the look of an undersized SG, and besides, is unlikely to add much value to the team his rookie season other than injury backup, thanks to the late addition of Mo Williams.

The bench has improved for sure, which is why we have the team winning more games, but they are not a top 5 bench or anything. The bench is not good enough or deep enough to win you games on its own. They just won't be losing games for the team like last season.
Click to expand...

I agree with many of your areas of concern. But outside of the top 4 teams in the East and OKC all the teams have major possible areas of concern. The Clippers have terrible frontcourt defenders in Griffin and Jordan with no backups. Houston's 3rd best player is stuck playing scrap minutes behind Howard; who is their PF? Golden State has had trouble keeping Curry healthy. Nearly all teams backups have question marks equal to the Blazer backups; thats why they aren't starting! With Mo and Wright the Blazers have two clear rotational players ready to go. I'm not sure where we will end up but we are right there in the mix of the teams below the clear cut contenders.
 
Looks like SI agrees with ESPN:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nb...ern-conference-power-rankings/?sct=nba_t11_a0

10. Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers addressed their need for depth by adding Thomas Robinson, Lopez, Mo Williams and Dorell Wright in trades or free agency and drafting CJ McCollum. How McCollum and Damian Lillard play together -- particularly defensively, with McCollum, an undersized two-guard, sharing minutes with incumbent starter Wesley Matthews -- is unclear, and coach Terry Stotts will have work to do to improve a defense that ranked 26th in efficiency last season. But a quartet of LaMarcus Aldridge, Lillard, McCollum and Nic Batum is both versatile and potentially dynamic offensively. In the East, Portland would be good enough to make the playoffs. In the West, well, it should be better than last season's 33-win team.
Click to expand...
 
The Blazers turned a sow's ear into a rhinestone ornamented codpiece. That's a nice bit of work....but a long way from a silk purse.
 
I hope coach posts both those rankings on the locker room wall with #10 circled with a big red marker.
 
Strenuus said:
Just stop using ESPN. They are a joke and not an actual legit channel for sports. It's a farce.

Besides, even if we won 5 championships in a row, they'd only talk about how the lakers, celtics and heat can't win it anymore.

Stop watching ESPN.
Click to expand...

They almost never break news anyway. There's really no reason to read them at all, unless you're wanting to check standings or maybe see a schedule.
 
Strenuus said:
Just stop using ESPN. They are a joke and not an actual legit channel for sports. It's a farce.

Besides, even if we won 5 championships in a row, they'd only talk about how the lakers, celtics and heat can't win it anymore.

Stop watching ESPN.
Click to expand...

You got sumpn' 'gainst my favorite message board??!!??!!
 
Strenuus said:
Just stop using ESPN. They are a joke and not an actual legit channel for sports. It's a farce.

Besides, even if we won 5 championships in a row, they'd only talk about how the lakers, celtics and heat can't win it anymore.

Stop watching ESPN.
Click to expand...

like most media, ESPN tries to appeal to the masses so as to generate as much advertising $$$ as possible. Being a small market team way out West means most NBA fans don't have much of a rooting interests one way or another for our favorite team, we're basically a ratings loser. Blazer fans looking for offseason hype/respect, highlights in the first half of Sportscenter, or announcers who don't openly root against PDX will continue to be frustrated

STOMP
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

chris_in_pdx
ESPN projecting that Blazers don't make playoffs this year
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
crandc
crandc
blue9
Draft Pick Watch
Replies
2
Views
320
Wizard Mentor
Wizard Mentor
julius
Divisional race update # 89
Replies
16
Views
1K
julius
julius
KingSpeed
Is OKC going to turn it around?
Replies
10
Views
871
Mediocre Man
Mediocre Man
ABM
Hollinger: Blazers Were "Unlucky" - Should Have Won 61 Last Season
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
jlprk
jlprk

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top