Hello!
So, I'm thinking about getting into basketball. I've never had any interest in it since I've lived in America (six-odd years, give or take) but I'm going to give it a shot next season. A lot of the Blazer fans showed interest in the World Cup this summer so it's only fair if I give basketball the same chance.
Since you guys all moved to S2, I've been reading the odd Blazer thread so that's the team I know most about. The Blazers are definitely "my team".
Good choice... maybe. I'll give you a brief history of the team after this:
All I am asking for is a little bit of help/advise.
When does the season start?
Pre-season is set to begin at the beginning of October and last most of the month. The regular season begins sometime between the 27th and the 31st of October. The schedule hasn't been released yet.
Who are the 'breakthrough players' I should be looking out for next season (I know all the 'big' players, ie: Roy, Oden)?
On the Blazers, we think Nicolas Batum will be better than ever. We have three rookies, Luke Babbitt, Elliot Williams, and Armon Johnson. Hopefully they will show some promise. In the NBA, the top rookies to look out for are Blake Griffin on the LA Clippers and John Wall on the Washington Wizards, though there's usually a surprise or two.
What are the biggest games?
Aside from the playoffs and the all-star game, I'm thinking any matches featuring the LA Lakers, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and Orlando Magic. Portland versus Utah and Phoenix will probably get more attention than the average game around here.
What are some must-know facts about the Blazers? You get the idea.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been around for 40 years. They first made the playoffs in 1977 and went all they way to the NBA Finals and won it all. Since then, it's been a string of disappointments trying to win it again. The best rosters in this team's history featured:
1977 and 1978 teams with hall of famer Bill Walton at center, all-stars Maurice Lucas at forward and Lionel Hollins at guard, and the following players whose jersey numbers are retired: forward Bobby Gross, forward and guard Larry Steele, guard Dave Twardzik, and forward Lloyd Neal. They won the title in 1977, were the top team in the regular season in 1978 before losing Walton to injury, killing their season. After that there were contract disputes and what could have been a dynasty turned into a colossal failure and the team never recovered.
The 1990 through 1992 teams were lead by hall of famer Clyde Drexler at guard, all-stars Terry Porter at guard, Buck Williams at forward, Kevin Duckworth at center, and Jerome Kersey (never an all-star) at forward. That was the consistant starting line up. Forward Clifford Robinson and guard Danny Ainge also played a lot of minutes for those teams. This group made it to the Finals in 1990 and 1992, losing both times. Their 1991 team had the best regular season record, but lost to the Lakers in the Conference Finals (league semi-final). These players stuck around the team longer than most other players in its history, and are probably the most well known.
The 1999 and 2000 teams had a lot of good players, mostly older veterans, featuring all-stars Rasheed Wallace at forward, Scottie Pippen at forward, and regulars Arvydas Sabonis at center, Steve Smith at guard, Damon Stoudamire at guard, Bonzi Wells at guard, and Brian Grant at forward. Half of those players only played on one of those two teams due to trades. These teams couldn't get passed the Conference Finals in consecutive years, but they played the eventual NBA Champion both times and many consider those match ups to have been the best of the playoffs.
The current team has been improving almost every season. In 2006 they won 21 games, in 2007 32 games, in 2008 41 games, in 2009 54 games, and last season only 50 games due to an unreasonable amount of injuries to almost every player on the roster. Despite the excuse of injury, the management has gotten a significant makeover. The roster may yet see some significant changes. If everyone is healthy and no one else is traded, the starting line up should feature Greg Oden at center, LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum at forwards, and Brandon Roy and Andre Miller at guards. Marcus Camby could start in place of Oden at center if he's not up to snuff. Jerryd Bayless at guard and Wesley Matthews at guard or forward might be the only other players to get any significant minutes unless a rookie shows he's more ready than expected.
Also, what the fuck do all these stat abbreviations mean? How do I know what's good?
Statistics:
PTS - points
PPG - average points scored per game (any xPG is pretty much [insert stat] per game)
AST - assists
REB - rebounds
BLK - blocks
STL - steals
TO - turn overs
PF - personal foul
MIN - minutes played
G - games played
FG% - percentage of field goals made
FGM - field goal make (any xxM is pretty much [insert shot type] make)
FGA - field goal attempt (any xxA is pretty much [insert shot type] attempt)
FT% - free throw percentage
3P% - 3-point percentage
Positions:
C - center (usually stays under the basket unless he's a Euro, then he can probably shoot longer shots)
F - forward:
- PF - power forward (usually plays both near the basket and out at range)
- SF - small forward (typically makes drives to the basket or shoots long shots)
G - guard:
- SG - shooting guard (should be one of the best long distance shooters on the floor, but may also be able to drive to the basket)
- PG - point guard (the player in charge of running the offense and moving the ball. Sometimes a star player not playing point guard can perform these duties)
Positions can also be numbered:
1 - point guard
2 - shooting guard
3 - small forward
4 - power forward
5 - center
Does anyone have a good link to an article for b-ball beginners?
Here is a basic run down
I want to know everything. Share some YouTube videos, articles, blah blah with me!
I'll get back to you on youtube vids shortly.
This team made it to the finals anyway, but Sabonis was so good it's hard no to think about what might have been.
