The Five Stages of Grief

[crandc]

I've experienced them all the past few days.

Spent yesterday off line. Cooked a lot, played with Lucia, read a good book (Dickens, if anyone wonders), knitted, and pondered the Blazers while washing three loads of dishes, downside of cooking a lot.

And concluded: This team did the absolute most they could under the circumstances, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Sad, yes, we want more, but shamed, no. So instead of looking for someone to hate, can't we cheer for them?

A year ago reportedly Paul Allen wanted to break up the team after being swept by lower seed in the first round but Dame convinced him to give them another year. Can anyone seriously say the confidence was misplaced?

We all know the drill, Nurk, Kanter, Dame all hurt. And still beat OKC and upset Denver, to date the only upset of this NBA post-season. Played two of three very competitive games. All this convinces me this year was not one of those "miracle seasons" some sports teams have but rather the Blazers will continue to be a force in the West.

As to what is needed.

#1, get healthy. When healthy Nurk is the reliable third scoring option and Dame a superstar. And Kanter very good.

#2, IMHO they need a solid sixth man. Their bench is good, but most are role players. Teams need role players. But the Blazers also need someone like Danny Ainge, Clifford Robinson, like Sheed when he came off the bench. Someone who can shoot from anywhere reliably and defend. The only current bench player who might meet that need is Rodney Hood, if he gets more confident and becomes more consistent. Not sure offhand who available would fit that need.

#3, improve starting forward. Aminu and Harkless are both inconsistent. Sometimes good, sometimes awful. The starters don't all have to be 20-30 PPG scorers, just need to know game to game what they will get.

My $.02.

Go Blazers.

 

[e_blazer]

I've experienced them all the past few days.

Spent yesterday off line. Cooked a lot, played with Lucia, read a good book (Dickens, if anyone wonders), knitted, and pondered the Blazers while washing three loads of dishes, downside of cooking a lot.

And concluded: This team did the absolute most they could under the circumstances, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Sad, yes, we want more, but shamed, no. So instead of looking for someone to hate, can't we cheer for them?

A year ago reportedly Paul Allen wanted to break up the team after being swept by lower seed in the first round but Dame convinced him to give them another year. Can anyone seriously say the confidence was misplaced?

We all know the drill, Nurk, Kanter, Dame all hurt. And still beat OKC and upset Denver, to date the only upset of this NBA post-season. Played two of three very competitive games. All this convinces me this year was not one of those "miracle seasons" some sports teams have but rather the Blazers will continue to be a force in the West.

As to what is needed.

#1, get healthy. When healthy Nurk is the reliable third scoring option and Dame a superstar. And Kanter very good.

#2, IMHO they need a solid sixth man. Their bench is good, but most are role players. Teams need role players. But the Blazers also need someone like Danny Ainge, Clifford Robinson, like Sheed when he came off the bench. Someone who can shoot from anywhere reliably and defend. The only current bench player who might meet that need is Rodney Hood, if he gets more confident and becomes more consistent. Not sure offhand who available would fit that need.

#3, improve starting forward. Aminu and Harkless are both inconsistent. Sometimes good, sometimes awful. The starters don't all have to be 20-30 PPG scorers, just need to know game to game what they will get.

My $.02.

Go Blazers.

Nice take, crandc. I think that if Dame weren't hurt, the Blazers wouldn't give up those two big leads they had in Games 2 and 3 and would likely be up 2-1 in this series. There are moves to be made with respect to the roster, and I agree upgrades at the forward positions are among them, but I'm still into this series and not ready to turn the page to summer moves just yet. Here's hoping that that is still true tomorrow.