Olshey on How the Blazers Will Reach a New Level

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

You think Thomas Robinson is better than Hickson?? Wow. I don't see that at all.
He's younger, more coachable and a team player. Actually Rolo replaced Hickson at the 5 which was a huge upgrade. JJ was a stat guy but we destroyed him when playing Denver last season. Yup, I think our frontcourt is much improved from the Hickson, Jeffries days
 
I like the outline, but there are still some "odd" (I don't mean weird, I mean as in odds and ends) players available for probably reasonable price who I think could help the Blazers bench. Last year Olshey picked up several, with, I'm sure, the idea that some would work and some not, but investment was pretty low. I'd like to see him do that again. Even one more decent rotation player would be a big help.
I'm still hoping he's going to use Mo in a sign and trade to pick up one more solid bench player. This team is very close to being a title contender and another good vet could bolster the team's chances.
 
Neil Olshey thinks Steve Blake and Chris Kaman are veterans and that they know what it takes to win the playoffs, thus the Blazers will be better

Kaman's never done shit in the playoffs

GS barely even gave Steve Blake minutes in the playoffs last year

Reaching a new level starts with making the Blazers a better team, and Neil Olshey failed to do that.
 
That Pistons team had one all-star that year - Ben Wallace, a guy who averaged 9.5ppg on .421FG% and .490FT%. Keep in mind that was also the year Jamaal Magloire was an all-star in the East. The Eastern Conference was VERY thin at the center position back then.

Ben Wallace was also the only Piston to make an All-NBA team (second team) or All-Defense team (first team) that year. The individual accolades for the other players did not come until after they won a title. That team didn't have a superstar. What they had was a solid starting five that played very well together. They didn't have a single player that averaged more than 18.6ppg or had a PER above 18.8 (I know it's just a general rule of thumb but PER = 20 is considered borderline all-star).

If that's the model we are emulating, Olshey is doing the right thing. He's assembled a solid starting five that have great chemistry and play well together. We already have two all-stars and Lilliard should continue to improve. Our other three starters are all very solid, easily top 10 at their positions. What we need is a better bench, and that's what Olshey is working on improving. Let that solid starting core continue gel and improve the bench through the growth of our young guys (CJ, Robinson, and Barton) and add some vets (Kaman and Blake) for stability.

We won 54 games and made the second round last season with the worst bench in the league. Solidify the bench and we should be even better this year.

BNM

Great Analysis, as always.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Boob-No-More again.
 
That Pistons team had one all-star that year - Ben Wallace, a guy who averaged 9.5ppg on .421FG% and .490FT%. Keep in mind that was also the year Jamaal Magloire was an all-star in the East. The Eastern Conference was VERY thin at the center position back then.

Ben Wallace was also the only Piston to make an All-NBA team (second team) or All-Defense team (first team) that year. The individual accolades for the other players did not come until after they won a title. That team didn't have a superstar. What they had was a solid starting five that played very well together. They didn't have a single player that averaged more than 18.6ppg or had a PER above 18.8 (I know it's just a general rule of thumb but PER = 20 is considered borderline all-star).

If that's the model we are emulating, Olshey is doing the right thing. He's assembled a solid starting five that have great chemistry and play well together. We already have two all-stars and Lilliard should continue to improve. Our other three starters are all very solid, easily top 10 at their positions. What we need is a better bench, and that's what Olshey is working on improving. Let that solid starting core continue gel and improve the bench through the growth of our young guys (CJ, Robinson, and Barton) and add some vets (Kaman and Blake) for stability.

We won 54 games and made the second round last season with the worst bench in the league. Solidify the bench and we should be even better this year.

BNM

The Pistons reference is a bad one. It was 1 team out of the last forever that won a title without a super star on it. It's like pinning your financial future on winning the lottery. Sure it happens, but it's freakishly rare
 
The Pistons reference is a bad one. It was 1 team out of the last forever that won a title without a super star on it. It's like pinning your financial future on winning the lottery. Sure it happens, but it's freakishly rare

No it's not, that Pistons team made the eastern conference finals multiple times. The championship was largely Larry Brown's ability to get them on the same page. Credit where credit is due
 
The Pistons reference is a bad one. It was 1 team out of the last forever that won a title without a super star on it. It's like pinning your financial future on winning the lottery. Sure it happens, but it's freakishly rare
To be fair, Nowitzki wasn't really playing superstar-level ball anymore when the Mavs won their title either.
 
No it's not, that Pistons team made the eastern conference finals multiple times. The championship was largely Larry Brown's ability to get them on the same page. Credit where credit is due

I knew I'd get the homer bash, but I'm right. Who was the last team before that?
 
I knew I'd get the homer bash, but I'm right. Who was the last team before that?

Portland Trail Blazers 1977.

And I know what you're going to say, Bill Walton was a superstar but honestly he was respected but he received superstar status because of that playoff run, not before it.
 
I knew I'd get the homer bash, but I'm right. Who was the last team before that?
Homer bash? Detroit is a long way from Portland. Welcome to 2014..history does not necessarily repeat itself but if you want to look back...a lot of "superstars" never won a championship. Let's put things in their proper perspective here. The Karl Malone Lakers comes to mind.
 
Huh? Dirk was all bit the reincarnation of Larry Legend during their run.
He was a 23 PER player during the season (all-star, but not superstar). Upped it to 25 during the playoffs, so I guess you could say he played at superstar level then. Aldridge has the talent to match that criteria.
 
Portland Trail Blazers 1977.

And I know what you're going to say, Bill Walton was a superstar but honestly he was respected but he received superstar status because of that playoff run, not before it.

Portland was the last team i thought of as well, and it's hard not to call Bill a superstar being on of the NBA's 50 greats and a HOFer
 
Homer bash? Detroit is a long way from Portland. Welcome to 2014..history does not necessarily repeat itself but if you want to look back...a lot of "superstars" never won a championship. Let's put things in their proper perspective here. The Karl Malone Lakers comes to mind.

Lots of superstars never won a title. My point is that Detroit is the only team in the last 30-40 years that has won one without a superstar.
 
Lots of superstars never won a title. My point is that Detroit is the only team in the last 30-40 years that has won one without a superstar.
Team ball, and some may say Larry Brown was a superstar coach. I think we have the tools in Portland to do the same thing. To me LA and Dame are as dynamic as anyone on the Mavs championship and we now have their offensive coordinator as our head coach. I'm going into this season believing we can win it all. It's how I enjoy the team
 
Team ball, and some may say Larry Brown was a superstar coach. I think we have the tools in Portland to do the same thing. To me LA and Dame are as dynamic as anyone on the Mavs championship and we now have their offensive coordinator as our head coach. I'm going into this season believing we can win it all. It's how I enjoy the team

And I enjoy them in reality. To each his own.

The important thing to remember is that both of us want the same thing equally
 
Portland was the last team i thought of as well, and it's hard not to call Bill a superstar being on of the NBA's 50 greats and a HOFer

He was a superstar but he didn't achieve that status until after the Blazers won the championship. No championship, no 50 greats.
 
I'd say the Spurs won this year without a current superstar. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili all had their moments, but are past their primes. That was a team win if ever there was one. And they kicked the shit out of the biggest superstar team with the biggest superstar of them all.
 
Last edited:
Ok, ok, ok, I stand corrected. The Blazers will win the title next year
 
I'm not predicting a title, but I do think they have a shot. The Blazers are a well-balanced team now without any glaring holes. Their starters showed they could play with anyone last season and now the bench is stronger and doesn't have the big hole at center that they did last year. Couple that with the Spurs being older and the Heat being dismantled, and the path is a little more open than last season. It would take things really falling their way, but yeah, I think that they have a shot at it this year.
 
I'm not predicting a title, but I do think they have a shot. The Blazers are a well-balanced team now without any glaring holes. Their starters showed they could play with anyone last season and now the bench is stronger and doesn't have the big hole at center that they did last year. Couple that with the Spurs being older and the Heat being dismantled, and the path is a little more open than last season. It would take things really falling their way, but yeah, I think that they have a shot at it this year.

If the Spurs drop a notch, which they continuously fail to do, and the Thunder suffer another major injury in the playoffs, I think Portland would have a shot. I still think the Clippers would be better and the Warriors would be at least as good (if fully healthy, which is not necessarily likely), but the Blazers would have a puncher's chance at that point.
 
If the Spurs drop a notch, which they continuously fail to do, and the Thunder suffer another major injury in the playoffs, I think Portland would have a shot. I still think the Clippers would be better and the Warriors would be at least as good (if fully healthy, which is not necessarily likely), but the Blazers would have a puncher's chance at that point.
The Clips have a Sterling chance of implosion. I think the West is too close to call. Healthy at playoffs wins.
 
I'm not predicting a title, but I do think they have a shot. The Blazers are a well-balanced team now without any glaring holes. Their starters showed they could play with anyone last season and now the bench is stronger and doesn't have the big hole at center that they did last year. Couple that with the Spurs being older and the Heat being dismantled, and the path is a little more open than last season. It would take things really falling their way, but yeah, I think that they have a shot at it this year.

The huge thing is being healthy. If Stackpole was really behind us being so healthy, he needs to do it again!
 
I'm not predicting a title, but I do think they have a shot. The Blazers are a well-balanced team now without any glaring holes. Their starters showed they could play with anyone last season and now the bench is stronger and doesn't have the big hole at center that they did last year. Couple that with the Spurs being older and the Heat being dismantled, and the path is a little more open than last season. It would take things really falling their way, but yeah, I think that they have a shot at it this year.

I think it's it's cute that you don't feel defense is a glaring hole

Is it Blake or Kaman that changed your mind?
 
I think it's it's cute that you don't feel defense is a glaring hole

Is it Blake or Kaman that changed your mind?

Well, we could be houston right now. They have so many holes, they chose defense as the main one. lol
 
Back
Top