The Blazers "Legitimately" In The NBA Finals

[ABM]

What say you?

 

[ABM]

I'm saying 2 years. They "seem" to be putting some good pieces together....from the top, down.

 

[ABM]

You stay positive, Julius!

 

[julius]

You stay positive, Julius!

realistic, not positive. They don't play defense, they don't have a center, they don't have a bench and they don't have a consistent 3rd best player yet.

Better teams, with better players, didn't make to past the 2nd round this year.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

we need a lot of luck to be more than a .500 club. The only way we can get good fast is t buy Our wy there through FA, Trades etc. I dont see PA opening up the wallet again, as he once did.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

We're one Babbitt for Lebron trade away from winning it all next year!

 

[Hobbesarable]

What say you?

Pipe dream (since you didn't give an option for more than 3 years).

Damian is a great beginning.

Our defense is atrocious. We aren't winning shit until they play effective team defense.

 

[ABM]

Pipe dream (since you didn't give an option for more than 3 years).

What might you have selected....4 years? 5 years? Longer?

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I selected 3 years but honestly if we don't make it to WCF's in the next two then I see a good chance that LMA is gone. So I should have went with Pipe dream. I don't believe it is that dire however. If you had option for 5 years I probably would have picked that and hoped that we traded LMA for something that got us there (with Dame and others being a big factor).

 

[Hobbesarable]

What might you have selected....4 years? 5 years? Longer?

With our current defensive strategy and output - 5 years if lucky. Possibly more.

 

[Rhal]

We need to make the playoffs first and see how Stotts/the team plays. Once there we can see if we are outmatched to all hell and need to make several key player moves to compete or if our coach was outcoached, like McMillian was vs the Rockets/Suns/Mavericks, then we can go about making the correct moves to try and propel ourselves our of the first round and into contention. At the moment we haven't even made the playoffs and we have a lot of ??'s going into the off season so even as a huge optimist I have to say its a pipe dream not knowing what our team is going to look like next year.

 

[maxiep]

We're one Babbitt for Lebron trade away from winning it all next year!

Well...two Babbitt for Lebron trades.

 

[BoomChakaLaka]

We were one Hibbert free-agent signing away from becoming a contender!

Pritchslapped!

 

[maxiep]

To contend in the playoffs we need a player better than Batum. To get to the NBA finals we need a player better than anyone on our roster.

In short, no fucking way.

 

[Blazer4ever]

A player better than Batum would be better than anyone on our roster. Just saying...

 

[julius]

A player better than Batum would be better than anyone on our roster. Just saying...

Which is an odd thing, since he's not the best player on the team.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I voted pipe dream because there wasn't an option for more than 3 years.

On a side note, the way some people love Batum is beyond me. He is a nice glue guy, and a very good role player, but that's all he is

 

[BBert]

What I love about Batum is that he is a nice glue guy and a very good role player.

 

[ABM]

What I love about Batum is that he is a nice glue guy and a very good role player.

Neat story! Hey, the NBA should institute an Elmer's Player of the Year Award..and present the obligatory Glue Shoe to the winner.

 

[blue9]

[Nic] is a nice glue guy, and a very good role player, but that's all he is

Yup - and he's STILL our best player. Once Damian learns to play defense he might become our best player. But currently, Nic is the best, most well-rounded player on the team.

 

[Rhal]

Yup - and he's STILL our best player. Once Damian learns to play defense he might become our best player. But currently, Nic is the best, most well-rounded player on the team.

LMA is the best player on the Blazers. I know you hate him but he is the best Blazer at the moment.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Yup - and he's STILL our best player. Once Damian learns to play defense he might become our best player. But currently, Nic is the best, most well-rounded player on the team.

Wat.

Dude can't create shots for himself or others off the dribble, cause he can't dribble. All he does is shoot threes for offense, how is that well rounded? Don't even get me started on how overrated his defense is. Batum is the third best player on this team, no doubt.

 

[blue9]

Wat.

Dude can't create shots for himself or others off the dribble, cause he can't dribble. All he does is shoot threes for offense, how is that well rounded? Don't even get me started on how overrated his defense is. Batum is the third best player on this team, no doubt.

Setting aside my "hate" for LMA - he IS a worse dribbler, defender, passer, and scorer than Batum. Lillard is a worse defender and doesn't quite have Nic's court vision for creating easy scoring opportunities (yet). Nic isn't terrific at any one thing, but he does everything (aside from ball handling) well. The only weak part of Nic's game is his dribbling. Creating your own shot off the dribble should not be the primary criteria for defining who is the best player.
Yes, Nic is a role player - but he is also the best player on the team. I fully expect Lillard to become better, but he's not there yet. He's better at scoring, but not better at basketball. I think Nic SHOULD be the team's 3rd best player if we ever hope to contend for a title...but that means we need to draft or trade for a #1 or #2 guy.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Setting aside my "hate" for LMA - he IS a worse dribbler, defender, passer, and scorer than Batum. Lillard is a worse defender and doesn't quite have Nic's court vision for creating easy scoring opportunities (yet). Nic isn't terrific at any one thing, but he does everything (aside from ball handling) well. The only weak part of Nic's game is his dribbling. Creating your own shot off the dribble should not be the primary criteria for defining who is the best player.
Yes, Nic is a role player - but he is also the best player on the team. I fully expect Lillard to become better, but he's not there yet. He's better at scoring, but not better at basketball. I think Nic SHOULD be the team's 3rd best player if we ever hope to contend for a title...but that means we need to draft or trade for a #1 or #2 guy.

I wouldn't say Batum is better at scoring than Aldridge, but other than that, I see your point.

There's no way he is better than Lillard though. The only thing he's better at is defense. Lillard is a better scorer and, while you're right about Batum having better court vision for easy baskets, a better overall passer as well due to his ability to create off the dribble.

 

[blue9]

I wouldn't say Batum is better at scoring than Aldridge, but other than that, I see your point.

There's no way he is better than Lillard though. The only thing he's better at is defense. Lillard is a better scorer and, while you're right about Batum having better court vision for easy baskets, a better overall passer as well due to his ability to create off the dribble.

I can see how someone would argue that Lillard is the better passer, but for my money I connect good passing to court vision more so than drive/dish - I never liked Roy's passing abilities. But Nic does pass off the dribble quite well. He might not do it often, but he's good at it (and I do think he was hampered for half the season with that wrist injury). He doesn't make quick moves to the hoop with the ball and then dish off like Lillard does, but he has that probing methodical dribble that he passes well out of to players moving towards the hoop. I guess if you take leadership and the mythical "clutchness" into account, I can get on board with Lillard already being better. But based solely on basketball skills I still think Nic edges out Lillard at the moment.
With regards to scoring and LMA - IF he actually played in the paint I'd say he's a better scorer. But he's only really had about 2-3 months of really strong offensive play, and that was two seasons ago. He's very offensively limited if he gets the ball anywhere other than the left block or the top of the key...and even at the top of the key he's not a very good shooter. Nic's offense is limited because of his dribbling, but you can give him the ball anywhere on the floor and he at least has the ability to create a scoring opportunity. And he doesn't take 6-8 low percentage shots per game like LMA does.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Wat.

Dude can't create shots for himself or others off the dribble, cause he can't dribble. All he does is shoot threes for offense, how is that well rounded? Don't even get me started on how overrated his defense is. Batum is the third best player on this team, no doubt.

I can't stand this new Batum. He's well below average in creating offense for others but he tries every freaking time. He'll pass up a wide open shot or lane to pass. Total stat padder in that regard.

 

[RoyToy]

I can't stand this new Batum. He's well below average in creating offense for others but he tries every freaking time. He'll pass up a wide open shot or lane to pass. Total stat padder in that regard.

This.

 

[MARIS61]

One new owner away.

 

[e_blazer]

This describes how Batum played after his wrist injury.

FTFY

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I can't believe I'm the only one who thinks the Blazers are going to win the championship next year.