Is Portland the best team in the West?

[julius]

Man, even though in my gut I feel this will be short lived, it's kinda cool to be able to say the Blazers are #1 in the western conference.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Man, even though in my gut I feel this will be short lived, it's kinda cool to be able to say the Blazers are #1 in the western conference.

Top 3 seed is what we need. The team with the best record in the NBA the last two seasons has lost in the second round. Warriors were 3 seed with 53 wins last season. That's all I want. If it's #1 fine, that's what I predicted, but top 3 is my requirement for championship dreams.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Crazy that Top 3 teams in the West are all from the Northwest Division.

 

[BassPlaya]

Even after the loss tonight, where the Mavs were healthy, and we were missing a few KEY contributors, i feel the Blazers are playing like a top 5 team right now. Health is huge for every team, obviously. But this team has the makeup to do something very special. Go Blazers!

It took 4 or 5 huge 3's in the final minutes to beat this tough Blazer team....even without a full team. They didn't cave, give up, or stop playing hard and giving a shit.

Perhaps I am still proud even in the face of a loss. Portland is quickly becoming the team no one wants to play. They wear you. Just watch Dame taking on Luka defensively. Says it all.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Latest Power rankings from NBA.com

https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2022-23-week-5

 

[Cugel]

Latest Power rankings from NBA.com

https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2022-23-week-5

That cannot be correct because senior members here say they are average at best.

 

[Shaboid]

Latest Power rankings from NBA.com

https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2022-23-week-5

For the season, the Blazers have been the league’s fifth worst first-half team (minus-5.8 points per 100 possessions) and its second best second-half team (plus-9.4 per 100).

That doesn't seem sustainable if we want to keep getting W's.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

That cannot be correct because senior members here say they are average at best.

Nice to see them getting some recognition. The team.... Not the senior members.

 

[wizenheimer]

I know that SOS rankings don't mean much at this point, but considering how Portland has performed, it's interesting to see where they rank so far in terms of strength of schedule:

 

[BassPlaya]

That cannot be correct because senior members here say they are average at best.

Interesting comment. What the heck does age have to with it? I see brilliance, and stupidity...across the age spectrum.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Interesting comment. What the hell does age have to with it? I see brilliance, and stupidity...across the age spectrum.

I think they mean "senior" in terms of duration of presence on these boards, rather than actual age.

 

[Shaboid]

I think they mean "senior" in terms of duration of presence on these boards, rather than actual age.

That's how I took it too. I wouldn't be surprised to see some correlation between time spent here and stupidity.

 

[BassPlaya]

Thanks for clarifying. My bad. Guess my "get off my lawn quirk" got the best of me.

 

[wizenheimer]

I think they mean "senior" in terms of duration of presence on these boards, rather than actual age.

I still want to know how it is that all of the 'senior posters' have 113 trophy points...all of them....except for one poster who just happens to have 115 trophy points. Obvious corruption and it isn't even that sly....if you catch my drift

 

[BassPlaya]

Is a trophy point, like a trophy mate?

 

[Strenuus]

That's how I took it too. I wouldn't be surprised to see some correlation between time spent here and stupidity.

I MEAN LOOK AT ME



WUSUSHSUWUSHSHSWJABSBSUEHDBSUAYQVAHSK

 

[e_blazer]

I still want to know how it is that all of the 'senior posters' have 113 trophy points...all of them....except for one poster who just happens to have 115 trophy points. Obvious corruption and it isn't even that sly....if you catch my drift

Oh, I’m catching a drift. I think it’s from two piles Sly left behind.

 

[Cugel]

I meant time on the forum naturally. IT was typed in jest. I am getting to old-fart state myself after all.

 

[Wade Garrett]

Age is just a number.
It's how you feel that counts!
(oops...wrong forum...delete....delete...delete..)

 

[KSF-ERIC]

1. PDX 10-4
2. Denver 9-4
3. Utah 10-6
4. Phoenix 8-5
5. Luka Doncic 8-5
6. Memphis 9-6

 

[blazerkor]

WE DEFINITELY ARE RIGHT NOW!!!

That being said we should not get complacent. We should keep seeing how these guys do together but right now it seems like Ant is CJ 1.0 meaning he's no different. I also think that Nurk is a misfit in Chauncey's defense. So we get to watch and see how everything works out between now and mid January but even if we're in first place, if Ant and Nurk aren't maximizing theirs and our potential then they should both be moved.

Other than that... GO BLAZERS!!!

 

[42N8Bounce]

I posted this in the game thread, but it probably belongs more here -

With the win over San Antonio, the Blazers improve to a Western Conference leading 10-4. 6 games over 500.

Here's how the 2022-23 season stacks up against a few good Blazers teams of the past -



The 2018-19 Blazers team was also 6 games over 500 at the 14 game point, finishing the season at 53-29 (Lost in the Western Conf Finals).

The 2013-14 Blazers team was 10 games over 500 at the 14 game point, finishing the season at 54-28 (Lost in the 2nd round).

At their current win rate of 0.714, that would put them at 58.5 wins for the season. Can the Blazers maintain this impressive pace? The last time the Blazers won more than 54 games was in 1999-00 with 59 wins (Lost in the Western Conf Finals).



I certainly am enjoying the ride!

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be 4.5 games ahead of the Warriors after less than a month of play. I know the Warriors are trash and we’re awesome but still…

 

[blazerfan11]

Is it time to stick a fork in the Warriors as contenders?
They're 0-8 on the road, worst road record in the NBA.
But, 6-1 at home.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Pulling away…

1. Portland 10-4
2. Phoenix 9-5
3. Denver 9-5
4. Utah 10-6
5. New Orleans 9-6
6. Memphis 9-6

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Is it time to stick a fork in the Warriors as contenders?
They're 0-8 on the road, worst road record in the NBA.
But, 6-1 at home.

They may bounce back still and win 50ish games but they won’t win the championship barring a trade.

 

[SIeepwalker]

Is it time to stick a fork in the Warriors as contenders?
They're 0-8 on the road, worst road record in the NBA.
But, 6-1 at home.

I wonder if there's a team last year that started good at home but terrible on the road ? And if there is one how did the season end for them ?

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I wonder if there's a team last year that started good at home but terrible on the road ? And if there is one how did the season end for them ?

I remember some arguments before that home court is nearly zero advantage the last decade. It used to have a larger advantage but there is suspicion this was from the refs giving the home team favorable whistles that has been more or less eliminated.

The home advantage is all because of rest; as teams almost never are on back to backs at home, and opponents are sometimes tired from back to back, as well as travel, giving the home team an advantage.

Not sure how much of this I agree or disagree with; but with 30 teams its likely we see a few outliers in home vs road record and that isn't necessarily predictive of what will hold for the remainder of the season.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

1. Portland 10-5
2. Utah 11-6
3. Memphis 10-6
4. Phoenix 9-6
5. Dallas 9-6
6. Denver 9-6

Saturday:
Utah @Portland

Sunday:
Knicks @Suns
Pistons @Kings (8-6)
Grizzlies@Nets
Nuggets@Mavericks

 

[HailBlazers]

That would be Utah shockingly.