Screw pessimism

[PtldPlatypus]

I've had a few days to digest the departure of all our FA's, and you know what--I'm still excited for the upcoming season. There are so many unknowns, so much opportunity, I can barely contain myself.

• Dame is going to be the unquestioned leader for the first time.
• Urkel and Legend are going to get consistent minutes for the first time.
• Crabbe looks like he has a new attitude and confidence that will do volumes for his game.
• Plumlee is poised to be Lopez+.
• Aminu and Davis are going to provide defensive ability and intensity that we haven't seen in years.
• People are calling Connaughton "Project Pat", but I think he's going to be ready to contribute from day 1.
• Vonleh is a legit top 10 talent, and I have no idea what to expect from him, but I hear he can put the ball on the floor better than any PF we've had...maybe ever.
• Even that summer league kid Montero is touted in his draft profile as "an elite level player"

Call me a homer. Call me delusional. Call me whatever you want; I don't care. The moratorium isn't even over and summer league hasn't even begun, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm excited about what our team can be, and I firmly believe that it's still a great day to be a Blazer.

 

[TBpup]

Is this Mike Barrett?

 

[Nikolokolus]

We gonna suck.

 

[andalusian]

• Urkel and Legend are going to get consistent minutes for the first time.

I assume that Urkel is CJ? This to me is the most interesting part of the season.

As currently constructed, this is going to be a 35 win team - and that's OK.

 

[blue32]

bah.

 

[B-Roy]

I'm excited about seeing the young guys play. Excited to see the $tat$ that Meyers, CJ and Dame put up. I think Meyers and CJ are going to be in contention for MIP.

But with that said we're also gonna suck. Hard.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

What bugs me the most is that CJ is now my favorite Blazer, but I am unclear on how he can work long-term with Lillard, our "franchise player". I just don't think they can start together - you can cover for one weak defender (as the Suns always had to do for Nash) but two will kill you. Now, CJ could solve this problem by suddenly becoming Joe Dumars, but that would indeed be a miracle. And I guess he can stay here long term if he embraces the Ginobili perpetual sixth-man-of-the-year status... But it just nags at me that we have so few good players left and two of them don't work together. (Of course it doesn't help that we could have drafted Giannis or Rudy Gobert, but I try to put that behind me...)

I just see a Thunder-with-James-Harden scenario coming up sooner rather than later.

Oh yeah - optimism.... "It probably won't come up THIS year though!"

 

[dviss1]

I've had a few days to digest the departure of all our FA's, and you know what--I'm still excited for the upcoming season. There are so many unknowns, so much opportunity, I can barely contain myself.

• Dame is going to be the unquestioned leader for the first time.
• Urkel and Legend are going to get consistent minutes for the first time.
• Crabbe looks like he has a new attitude and confidence that will do volumes for his game.
• Plumlee is poised to be Lopez+.
• Aminu and Davis are going to provide defensive ability and intensity that we haven't seen in years.
• People are calling Connaughton "Project Pat", but I think he's going to be ready to contribute from day 1.
• Vonleh is a legit top 10 talent, and I have no idea what to expect from him, but I hear he can put the ball on the floor better than any PF we've had...maybe ever.
• Even that summer league kid Montero is touted in his draft profile as "an elite level player"

Call me a homer. Call me delusional. Call me whatever you want; I don't care. The moratorium isn't even over and summer league hasn't even begun, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm excited about what our team can be, and I firmly believe that it's still a great day to be a Blazer.

PLUS MUTHAFUCKIN' ONE!

 

[B-Roy]

If CJ becomes James Harden and doesn't work with Lillard I'll personally toss Lillard into a burning fire. (kidding)

But seriously, CJ is already a better defender than I would have expected at his height. His wingspan helps him get steals and bother shots a lot of other 6'3 guys can't.

 

[tlongII]

I'm excited to get a lot of free tickets this year!

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Hey--I'm not saying that I think we are a title contender, or even that we're a playoff team (though we could be). What I am saying is that there is a lot to look forward to about this season, and that enjoyment thereof does not necessarily need to hang solely on wins/losses.

I also plan to like every post that joins me in the positivity party. There's too much negativity around here.

 

[magnifier661]

I've had a few days to digest the departure of all our FA's, and you know what--I'm still excited for the upcoming season. There are so many unknowns, so much opportunity, I can barely contain myself.

• Dame is going to be the unquestioned leader for the first time.
• Urkel and Legend are going to get consistent minutes for the first time.
• Crabbe looks like he has a new attitude and confidence that will do volumes for his game.
• Plumlee is poised to be Lopez+.
• Aminu and Davis are going to provide defensive ability and intensity that we haven't seen in years.
• People are calling Connaughton "Project Pat", but I think he's going to be ready to contribute from day 1.
• Vonleh is a legit top 10 talent, and I have no idea what to expect from him, but I hear he can put the ball on the floor better than any PF we've had...maybe ever.
• Even that summer league kid Montero is touted in his draft profile as "an elite level player"

Call me a homer. Call me delusional. Call me whatever you want; I don't care. The moratorium isn't even over and summer league hasn't even begun, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm excited about what our team can be, and I firmly believe that it's still a great day to be a Blazer.

I'm right there with you buddy! Let's surprise the world!

 

[magnifier661]

Hey--I'm not saying that I think we are a title contender, or even that we're a playoff team (though we could be). What I am saying is that there is a lot to look forward to about this season, and that enjoyment thereof does not necessarily need to hang solely on wins/losses.

I also plan to like every post that joins me in the positivity party. There's too much negativity around here.

Exactly this!!! I don't think we are gonna suck as bad as people assume.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

There's too much negativity around here.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I don't think we are gonna suck as bad as people assume.

Another candidate for next year's slogan!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

• Crabbe looks like he has a new attitude and confidence that will do volumes for his game.

Or at least his hair stylist.

 

[Schilly]

I agree 100%. Writers be all "off course LMA wanted to leave, team only hot out of 1st round once in 9 seasons"... maybe because Lamarcus was our go to guy. Maybe Lamarcus is our infamous "good stats on a not great team" our Shareef Abduhr Rahim... honestly I don't know.

What I do know is I am 40 years old and Lamarcus has been a Blazer for just shy of 25% of my life. He isn't magically going to be better than he has been and honestly once in a while sports franchises just have to move on.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Another candidate for next year's slogan!

Or at least his hair stylist.

 

[BBert]

Hey--I'm not saying that I think we are a title contender, or even that we're a playoff team (though we could be). What I am saying is that there is a lot to look forward to about this season, and that enjoyment thereof does not necessarily need to hang solely on wins/losses.

I also plan to like every post that joins me in the positivity party. There's too much negativity around here.

I am fully able to enjoy the development of a young team going in the right direction, even in the face of a losing season on the way to better days.

So yes. I'm looking forward to this new chapter.

BTW: Is there a more promising 'group' of young bigs in the league than Meyers/Plumlee/Davis/Vonleh? Might be worth keeping old man Kaman around to mentor them.

Meyers is going to break out BTW, and make us forget that LaMarsha...LaSofty...LaDiva...LaLoner....whatever that guy's name was.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[PtldPlatypus]

 

[e_blazer]

Seems to me like each season you have to define what optimism means in relation to the players you have to work with. Last season, for me, looked like this:

Baseline- Make the playoffs.
Optimism- Get out of the second round.
Full Mags- Win the title.

For next season it looks more like:

Baseline- Have one of the worst records in the league, see player development and get a good draft pick.
Optimism- Be a fringe playoff team, don't make the playoffs, see player growth, but still get a decent lottery pick.
Full Mags- Scrape into the playoffs and lose in the first round.

Since at this point my hopes for the year are in reverse order to my optimism scale, I'm hoping to remain pessimistic all season.

 

[Pinwheel1]

But seriously, CJ is already a better defender than I would have expected at his height. His wingspan helps him get steals and bother shots a lot of other 6'3 guys can't.

I agree. CJ is not a bad defender at all. Yes he is short, but that is the worst of it. In some ways he is a better defender than Wes. Wes played with heart and that made up for his shortcomings, but CJ is better suited for switching on to quicker PG's than Wes. On the other hand Wes is better at switching on to bigger SF's. That will be a problem. But out on the parameter, CJ is pretty good. He gets his hands on a lot of loose balls. And he has good defensive fundamentals.

But the bottom line is it will be situational. There are plenty of teams that we are better off starting CJ than we were with Wes. And for the other games.......Gerald, Allen and Pat will have to step up.

I loved Wes' heart, 3 point shooting, and physical play, but his handles, passing, and being involved in the fast break were often frustrating to watch.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I am with you! But...

Here's the deal: Can you get yourself into a place where there are moral victories? I think several on this board will take a while to get there.

Last year there were really 3 types of games that mattered: losses, wins, blowout wins.

This year I also think there are 3 types of games that matter: wins, losses, blowout losses.

The tenor of these boards will change dramatically depending on how many blowout losses we have, and whether the team plays hard. I don't think the latter is a problem, like the rest of us I'll be keeping my eye on the former.

Go Blazers!

postlude: right now we're looking at individual players, but during the season we'll spend more time looking at wins and losses. Another thing we'll keep our eye on is Defense. That's Stotts biggest priority - getting a young team to play good team defense.

I've had a few days to digest the departure of all our FA's, and you know what--I'm still excited for the upcoming season. There are so many unknowns, so much opportunity, I can barely contain myself.

• Dame is going to be the unquestioned leader for the first time.
• Urkel and Legend are going to get consistent minutes for the first time.
• Crabbe looks like he has a new attitude and confidence that will do volumes for his game.
• Plumlee is poised to be Lopez+.
• Aminu and Davis are going to provide defensive ability and intensity that we haven't seen in years.
• People are calling Connaughton "Project Pat", but I think he's going to be ready to contribute from day 1.
• Vonleh is a legit top 10 talent, and I have no idea what to expect from him, but I hear he can put the ball on the floor better than any PF we've had...maybe ever.
• Even that summer league kid Montero is touted in his draft profile as "an elite level player"

Call me a homer. Call me delusional. Call me whatever you want; I don't care. The moratorium isn't even over and summer league hasn't even begun, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm excited about what our team can be, and I firmly believe that it's still a great day to be a Blazer.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Agree with OP. This team is probably almost good on paper (with higher upside) than the 2007-8 41-win team. It'll take one of the bigs making a poor-man's-LMA-leap to exceed that, but I (blasphemy alert) think that Dame right now is better than 2nd-year Roy. (3rd year he exploded, 4th year his knees did) We had 3 players (Roy @ 19.4, LMA @ 18.5, and Outlaw @ 15.7) with PERs above 15. The team played below-average defense, forced the second-to-least TO's, and were 26th in FTA.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Seems to me like each season you have to define what optimism means in relation to the players you have to work with. Last season, for me, looked like this:

Baseline- Make the playoffs.
Optimism- Get out of the second round.
Full Mags- Win the title.

For next season it looks more like:

Baseline- Have one of the worst records in the league, see player development and get a good draft pick.
Optimism- Be a fringe playoff team, don't make the playoffs, see player growth, but still get a decent lottery pick.
Full Mags- Scrape into the playoffs and lose in the first round.

Since at this point my hopes for the year are in reverse order to my optimism scale, I'm hoping to remain pessimistic all season.

I get what you're saying, except that I think that the team's future success hinges more on the development of the players we already have than on a single player that we might draft next year. We have a completely new team, with basically 5 guys returning from last year. They have developed no chemistry. If they can develop and grow over the course of this year to the point where they're actually good enough to make the playoffs--in the West!!--I would be frickin' ecstatic. To be this young, with this much potential, in the playoffs, AND 30M+ in cap space next summer...for me that would be worth immeasurably more than one lottery pick.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[PtldPlatypus]

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[PtldPlatypus]

By the way--I hope you're enjoying this exchange as much as I am.