NBA.com: Blazers a True Contender

[THE HCP]

Harden not a pg
Magic was not the best player
Curry yes without KD
Zeke.......yes


So a few seasons with both surrounded by hall of famers

MM, I have to disagree. Harden IS a PG. Handles the ball 90% of the time. All plays run though him and he is top 5 in the league in assists. Learn the position, then post!

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I saw that... it said we were 9th but actually much more likely than not to make the top8 playoffs.... the difference between #2-#9 was only a couple games.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

MM, I have to disagree. Harden IS a PG. Handles the ball 90% of the time. All plays run though him and he is top 5 in the league in assists. Learn the position, then post!

Great point.

A PG isn't just the shortest guy on the team....

 

[Mediocre Man]

Great point.

A PG isn't just the shortest guy on the team....

Tell me more

 

[Scalma]

Tell me more

no you tell me more. What’s a point guard?

 

[GoBlazersGo]

Haha. I read through the team names like five times before I realized we weren't on the list... Send this to Dame, please.

He's seen it, I'm certain.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I thought the Lakers were actually worse... until they got Gasol. Now, Gasol looked pretty washed up for the Raptors, but he was still supposed to be a big cog. All he has to do now is play D and move the ball in about 10-15 mpg, and he's very good at that.
Harrell: I think he's a bozo. He's a very Kyle Kuzma-style-over-substance type player. Doc Rivers drove his analytics guys nuts playing him over the much better Zubac (who, ironically, used to be a Laker)
Schröder: he looked great last year, but he was playing with Chris Paul, who improved everyone. He's bounced around the league precisely because he's bad in the locker room. Supposedly he has already demanded to start. He'll be fine for the regular season, but they really benefited from Playoff Rondo and he ain't that.
Wesley: He's solid, but Danny Green was a +/- STUD for the Lakers and is a LOT younger, and hasn't had a devastating injury.

In general, the Lakers' offseason was full of "name" additions. It looks like a casual fan's idea of a great offseason.

 

[bobf]

That statistical model they're using... whatever the algorithm is seems fucked up. They have NOLA making a ten win jump after losing Jrue... you don't lose Jrue, replace him with Bledsoe and win ten more games by expecting that much growth out of Zion and Ingram... I just don't know how the RPM numbers would come up with that. They do point out that everything is really close. They do have the second seed Clippers only 3.5 games ahead of us... which is another anomaly I can't respect. Teams will fall short of RPM expectations because of non statistical factors. Coaching, cohesiveness of rotations and other non-numerical factors are very important. The talent and numbers might be this close in the West this season but the records just won't be. Teams will separate themselves. There is no chance that the Lakers will only be a 44 win team, when they won 52 last season in one less game... that's also a very unrealistic swing.

I will say this, if we miss the playoffs or just make it and take another first round exit Neil, Terry, CJ and most likely a bunch of other guys from this very deep team will not start next season as Blazers. Here's the article for anyone that wants to see the reasoning behind that tweet.

https://www.espn.com/basketball/sto...iew-wins-standings-projected-all-30-nba-teams

Something seems really wrong with their projections. For example, the Bucks won 60 games last year which equates to 53 wins this year. They added Jrue. Yet they are projected to win 8 less games? I used BPM to project the Blazers record and got around 46 wins (probably more like 44 wins with the minutes distribution Stotts will employ). They project 38 wins. Maybe they are taking into account the potential for injuries.

 

[kjironman1]

For example, the Bucks won 60 games last year which equates to 53 wins this year. They added Jrue. Yet they are projected to win 8 less games?

The east got stronger. Brooklyn for example.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

The east got stronger. Brooklyn for example.

The team flying under the radar is Indiana. They could win the East. Especially now that McMillan is gone. The jury is out on Atlanta and Cleveland but they do have exciting backcourts.