HoopsHype Blazers Preview

[bluefrog]

LINK

STRENGTHS: Andre Miller is an outstanding addition at point guard ... Miller gives this young team needed leadership ... Miller isn’t a three-point threat, but is great at positing up ... Brandon Roy (22.6 ppg) is one of the game’s top two-guards ... Roy continues to get better at creating his own shot ... Forward LaMarcus Aldridge (18.1 ppg) is a potential future all-star ... The Blazers have depth at virtually every position ... Greg Oden is a solid defensive presence ... Steve Blake does a great job taking care of the ball (3.22 assist-to-turnover ratio) ... With Blake and Miller, Portland now have much better depth at the point .... Oden and Joel Przybilla
provide strong interior defense from the center position ... Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez are two strong offensive options whether as starters or reserves ... Led by Aldridge and Oden, Portland remains a strong offensive rebounding unit ... The Blazers are a strong three-point shooting team, although Miller won’t help in this area ... Blake is a solid three-point shooting threat.

WEAKNESSES: Oden’s offense is still a work in progress ... Portland is just an average free throw shooting team ... After a first-round playoff exit, can the Blazers live up to higher expectations this year? ... Coach Nate McMillan will have a difficult task in apportioning minutes ... Besides Aldridge, the Blazers need to develop other inside scoring threats ... While a strong offensive rebounding team, defensive rebounding needs work ... Joel Przybilla offers little offensive help ... Nicolas Batum must show he deserves minutes after an unproductive postseason.

 

[THE HCP]

Read that last night. Pretty much right on. No real mention of Martell and what he will bring this year. He is a forgotten man.

 

[maxiep]

Read that last night. Pretty much right on. No real mention of Martell and what he will bring this year. He is a forgotten man.

I'm cool with that. Let everyone else focus on Roy, LMA and GO. Webs will rain pain on the opposition from the wing.

I think we forget just how young and how talented Webs is.

 

[bluefrog]

It's not a an in-depth article at no all. No insights but this supised me:

PROJECTION: 1st in the Northwest Division / 2nd in the Western Conference

I know we can achieve that but most analysts have us projected 2 or 3 spots lower

 

[ppilot]

I'm cool with that. Let everyone else focus on Roy, LMA and GO. Webs will rain pain on the opposition from the wing.

I think we forget just how young and how talented Webs is.

Having watched the Sacramento preseason game last year I completely agree. The Martell I watched was a completely different player than we had seen the previous couple years.

 

[graybeard]

Having watched the Sacramento preseason game last year I completely agree. The Martell I watched was a completely different player than we had seen the previous couple years.

I agree, he looked much quicker, aggressive and more athletic in that game. He's going to be good.

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

Wow. I'll take 2nd in the west...

 

[maxiep]

Having watched the Sacramento preseason game last year I completely agree. The Martell I watched was a completely different player than we had seen the previous couple years.

That game made me a believer. It was like he figured it out and put it together. I would have loved to have seen him last season. That weight he lost made a huge difference in his quickness and hops.

 

[STOMP]

That game made me a believer. It was like he figured it out and put it together. I would have loved to have seen him last season. That weight he lost made a huge difference in his quickness and hops.

he'd noticeably slimmed down the year prior (2007-8) but was as inconsistent/underwhelming as ever.

we forget indeed

STOMP

 

[mgb]

he'd noticeably slimmed down the year prior (2007-8) but was as inconsistent/underwhelming as ever.

we forget indeed

STOMP

He had a more rounded game though. Did better on D. I agree with those that feel he would have had a break out season last year and am hoping he does this year. Of course after a year off it's going to take a bit for him to get going most likely.

 

[The Professional Fan]

Having watched the Sacramento preseason game last year I completely agree. The Martell I watched was a completely different player than we had seen the previous couple years.

This

 

[Natebishop3]

I'm going to reserve the right to withold judgment on Martell until after a few games in the regular season. I want to see how he gels with our guys. How his foot looks. Etc.

 

[STOMP]

He had a more rounded game though. Did better on D. I agree with those that feel he would have had a break out season last year and am hoping he does this year.

I'd think that most every Blazer fan hopes that every member of the team dramatically improves, why not? But looking at the advanced stats on MW suggests whatever improvement he's made from his rookie year has been minute and that includes the advanced defensive stats. The most encompassing offensive stat kept is probably PER. He improved from 11.6 in his rookie year to a 12.0 in his 3rd. A 15.0 PER is considered an average NBA starter... if Martell continues improving at this rate he'll achieve average status in the year 2030 when he's in his mid 40's.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/webstma02.html

STOMP