ESPN West predictions

[Mediocre Man]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8273800/2012-nba-summer-forecast-west-standings


Seems pretty fair for the Blazers

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Ya, seems fair for our Blazers.

I dont think the Spurs will finish 3rd. I predict 6th.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Ya, seems fair for our Blazers.

I dont think the Spurs will finish 3rd. I predict 6th.

I also don't the the Warriors are that much better than us. I'm not sure people are giving LA and Nic enough love

 

[crandc]

I also don't see Minny as being better than Portland. And forget the Warriors, they have more promise than a presidential candidate and it never materializes.

Also see Spurs going lower.

 

[THE HCP]

I'll be honest....... I think #11 is a little high. I was thinking we will be around 14th.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I also don't the the Warriors are that much better than us. I'm not sure people are giving LA and Nic enough love

I look at the team now and, despite the youth, consider it better than last year's offering. Did the West get better overall? Yes, but it won't keep us at the same winning percentage as last year.

I'd have us trading places with Golden State. 10th is our "realistic" position, imho.

 

[Eastoff]

I'll be honest....... I think #11 is a little high. I was thinking we will be around 14th.

In the west?! Isn't that like 2nd to last place?

 

[tlongII]

I think we could be close to .500. We'll see.

 

[THE HCP]

I say we have 35 wins.....

 

[illmatic99]

I don't think SAC will be as bad as everyone is predicting.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I say we have 35 wins.....

Seems about right.. Assuming mostly decent health for Aldridge and Lillard. If either of those guys miss a few weeks, then fuhgedaboutit.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I still don't think we lost any player of note from last year compared to what we gained.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I still don't think we lost any player of note from last year compared to what we gained.

Mostly true, but even so, youth isn't typically served in the league and this roster is loaded with first time guys. Even if the starting unit can hold it's own, the bench is going to get run on.

 

[Pinwheel1]

The top 6 seem to be a lock.
Not sure about Dallas but 7 seems about right.
That 8th spot is the one that is up for grabs, maybe the 7th depending on Dirk's health.

But overall I think between 8-11 is a pretty good guess for Portland.

 

[Masbee]

I'll be honest....... I think #11 is a little high. I was thinking we will be around 14th.

Loser fan.

Get out of here with that crap Rookie!

Learn the game, then post.

 

[Masbee]

Mostly true, but even so, youth isn't typically served in the league and this roster is loaded with first time guys. Even if the starting unit can hold it's own, the bench is going to get run on.

What "youth" is this roster relying on?

Lillard.

And, that's about it.

Anything positive this team gets from Leonard, Freeland, Claver will be a bonus.

The only vet player worth a damn from last season that we no longer have is Gerald Wallace.

The players (other than that whole rookie point guard thing) sopping up the majority of the minutes are veteran:

LaMarcus
Wes
Batum
JJ Hickson


Think of it like a (very) poor man's version of the Spurs last season: 3 vets surrounded by some (Leonard, Green, Blair) youth. Didn't cause that team to implode.

Not saying its going to work, but I don't think it is destined to fail as long as LaMarcus can play 75 games.

 

[e_blazer]

I'll be honest....... I think #11 is a little high. I was thinking we will be around 14th.

Hugely
Crappy
Prediction

 

[Ed O]

I still don't think we lost any player of note from last year compared to what we gained.

You think the team added more than it lost? Or broke even?

Ed O.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'm a bit surprised. I'd figure that with two relatively impressive rookies in the high rotation and other hungry players filling out around Nic and LMA, that we'd have a higher win% than last year's tank-a-palooza/trade-everything/white-flag season. I think we're in the mix for #8.

 

[BrianFromWA]

You think the team added more than it lost? Or broke even?

Ed O.

I do. Maybe not in pure talent, but in results I think you'll see we did.

 

[Ed O]

The team started out 7-2 last year... which was an aberration, as it turns out, that (in the short season) really made the team look better than it was (more than a 9 game hot streak over an 82 game season).

Without that run, the team was 21-36, which over an 82 game season is a 30 win team. ESPN is predicting 35 wins, which is what the aberration-including record amounts to over 82 games.

I think that the team is probably a little worse than last year, so I think 35 wins is a bit high.

Ed O.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

You think the team added more than it lost? Or broke even?

Ed O.

I'd say we just about broke even. Everyone we lost was not playing well for us, even Wallace.

 

[THE HCP]

Seems about right.. Assuming mostly decent health for Aldridge and Lillard. If either of those guys miss a few weeks, then fuhgedaboutit.

You ain't bullshittin'. If Nic gets banged up and misses a couple weeks..... OUCH!

 

[THE HCP]

The team started out 7-2 last year... which was an aberration, as it turns out, that (in the short season) really made the team look better than it was (more than a 9 game hot streak over an 82 game season).


Ed O.

Anybody with a shred of common sense or basketball knowledge knew that fast start last year wouldn't continue. This place was blowing up like we were on our way to the finals and that we wouldn't miss Brandon or Greg!

 

[e_blazer]

While I guess preseason polls are fun, they're generally pretty worthless. I think the Blazers are one of the bigger mysteries in the NBA this year. A new coach, a bunch of new players, mixed with some solid veterans is usually a recipe for a lottery visit, but I'm not sure that's going to be the case for the Blazers. Lillard looks to be a stud and LA is a proven producer. Freeland looked pretty good in the Olympics. I'd bet on lottery, but I wouldn't be surprised at contending for the 8th spot.

 

[THE HCP]

I'm seeing some writers on Twitter predicting Lillard wins ROY.

 

[Shooter]

I still don't think we lost any player of note from last year compared to what we gained.

Strange, isn't it? Everybody couldn't wait to get rid of Crawford and Felton, but now that they're gone and we have an excellent young point guard, they think we're going to be much worse than last year. Go figure.

 

[Shooter]

I'm seeing some writers on Twitter predicting Lillard wins ROY.

How sweet that would be!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think Minny is clearly better than us (unless Rubio is out for most of the season).
I think GState is clearly better than us (unless Curry and Bogut are out for most of the season).
Phoenix has a good chance to be better than us (Dragic, Gortat, Dudley, Scola are all good and the players they got from Minny (Beasley and Johnson) will be better in Phoenix I think).
New Orleans will benefit from having Monty, and Eric Gordon made that team a ton better when he played, and now they have Ryan Anderson and Anthony Davis. But who's their PG? Vasquez?
Houston have special dispensation to play 20 players, so they'll just overwhelm teams in waves. I guess we'll see if Jeremy Lin is all that. (Chandler Parsons is a player to watch, say I. And I think Omer Asik will surprise some people).
Sacramento could be good. Boogie Cousins almost single-handedly beat Team USA, and now they've realized that he's their franchise player and Keith Smart has downplayed Tyreke Evans, I think they could do damage.

It all rests on Aldridge. Is his hip okay? Because if not, we could easily be last in the West.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

We won't miss Crawford, but believe it or not, after McMillan got fired, Felton had one of the best +/-s on the team. Having a rookie PG is normally a recipe for disaster. Unless you're the San Antonio Spurs with Tony Parker.