Three things

[Natebishop3]

What are three things you're excited to see going into this season?

For me, the first one is probably the most obvious. Damian. Lillard. I can't wait to see if this kid is for real. I want to know if the player we saw in summer league can bring that magic to the regular season. I think he will and I'm excited to be on the ground floor for this one. I always love watching a guy with star potential get his start in the league.

The second is Joel Freeland. We've been talking about this kid for a number of years now, and he has shown some real talent overseas, so I'm excited to see if he has been worth all this talk. We desperately need a tough inside guy, and I think he could be the one. Who knows, maybe he's a starting center. We've got a few guys on the roster right now who could potentially be starting centers in the league, but I've got a good feeling about Joel.

Third is Coach Stotts. I am excited to see this team with a new system. Nate was around for so long, things got stale, predictable, and boring. I can't wait to see a new offense, a new defense, and a new coaching style. I am also excited to see a different approach to coaching rookies considering we have so many coming in. I'm hopeful that Stotts can bring an exciting and up-tempo offense to the Blazers and I'm looking forward to seeing the first pre-season game.

Those are my three. What are yours?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

*Development of Meyers Leonard. Put him in P&R situations early and often.

*Joel Freeland -- Polished offensive game - instant impact and should be the starting C until Meyers is ready.

*Stotts open/uptempo system will take Batum to the next level.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

1. Lillard
2. Leonard
3. Hickson

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Full season

New Coach

Guys that want to play, rather than lazy ass over weight turn over machines, or crawfull...

 

[MickZagger]

Much more excited about this season than last.

Three things:

No Felton.

No Crawford.

No Nate.

 

[Public Defender]

1.) Lillard: pysched to see his potential take off.

2.) Meyers Leonard & Joel Freeman: would love to see these two guys battle for playing time at PF & C, and see if they can keep that fire lit under JJ Hickson.

3.) Stotts & Batum: eager to see if the new offensive plans hatched by Terry Stotts will help elevate Batum's game to a true 2nd option.

Excited for a fun season, even if there are likely to be a lot more L's than W's along the way.

 

[Eastoff]

Much more excited about this season than last.

Three things:

No Felton.

No Crawford.

No Nate.

This! although last year i thought the same thing about a broken b roy =\

 

[BlazerWookee]

Lillard and Aldridge pick-and-rolls (LaMarcus said that playing with Damien reminds him of playing alongside Andre Miller)

Giving Joel Przybilla another standing ovation in the Rose Garden

Brandon Roy retiring yet again

 

[THE HCP]

New Up-Tempo Offense?

Nic

The Hangover Part 3......... we have nights off in NYC on New Years Eve and Mardi Gras in NOLA. Wonder how we do in the next day's game......

 

[ABM]

New Up-Tempo Offense?

Nic

The Hangover Part 3......... we have nights off in NYC on New Years Eve and Mardi Gras in NOLA. Wonder how I'LL do in the next day's game......

FIFY.

 

[THE HCP]

No replays or highlights during any of those games!#passedout

 

[PtldPlatypus]

1. Damian Lillard (of course)
2. Healthy Matthews
3. Can Batum be a cornerstone?

 

[julius]

I'm not allowing myself to get too excited about Lillard. I want to wait until he proves he can do it regularly against NBA type talent, or at least what he shows he can do, before I get too excited. Right now, I'm in a wait and see mode.

 

[dviss1]

I'm not allowing myself to get too excited about Lillard. I want to wait until he proves he can do it regularly against NBA type talent, or at least what he shows he can do, before I get too excited. Right now, I'm in a wait and see mode.

It's really hard for me not to. He has the potential to be better than Terry Porter. Yup I said it.
But you have a great point and I will try to do the same. (though I may fail)

 

[dviss1]

I'll say this though:

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...nd_trail_blazers_2012-13_season_schedule.html

1. LAL (Nash)
2. OKC (Westbrook)
3. HOU (Lin something tells me he's gonna LIGHT Lin up)
4. DAL (Collison)
5. LAC (Paul)
6. SAS (Parker)

We're going to see what he's made of VERY early. His lows may come before his highs so I guess I should prepare myself for that.

 

[BBert]

Much more excited about this season than last.

Three things:

No Felton.

No Crawford.

No Nate.

Ding. Ding. And Ding.

Plus the Rooks and a real ball movement offense.

 

[maxiep]

1. Date players who signed last year can be traded (Dec. 1st)
2. Trade deadline
3. End of the season

 

[OneLifeToLive]

1. Will Angies baby come back from the dead on Days?

2. Does Diane cop to Killing Brandon on General Hospital?

3. What was responsible for Jannas death on Young and the Restless?

Oh and I often wonder, was that really a demon that possessed Marlena years ago on Days?

Always wondered about that one. Looked real to me

 

[3RA1N1AC]

i cant believe that shawna had ryans baby, i was SURE that she was going to go get her eggs scrambled at PP

 

[3RA1N1AC]

lillard
batum
freeland

 

[KingSpeed]

I co-sign your post, nate

 

[Mediocre Man]

So many more than 3, but

1. Having a real offense and defense

2. The progression of our rookies

3. If Batum and Matthews can take the next step

 

[Wizard Mentor]

You probably mean Joel Freeland
(Joe Freeman is a Blazers reporter, Joel Freeman is a crazy science experiment!)

I feel pretty good about Lillard, I'm excited/curious about
1. Nolan Smith
2. The Center Position
3. The Bench (Rotation)

1.) Lillard: pysched to see his potential take off.

2.) Meyers Leonard & Joel Freeman: would love to see these two guys battle for playing time at PF & C, and see if they can keep that fire lit under JJ Hickson.

3.) Stotts & Batum: eager to see if the new offensive plans hatched by Terry Stotts will help elevate Batum's game to a true 2nd option.

Excited for a fun season, even if there are likely to be a lot more L's than W's along the way.

 

[Boise Blazer]

1. I dont know how Lillard couldnt be number 1, i feel like we are due for a stud and he has seems to have all the tools
2. Im curious to see if Babbit will 1) progress and/or 2) at the least maintain his 3pt shooting from last season for a whole season ... which leads into ...

... 3. I wonder how long we are going to talk about playing tough defense and just end as the team that just runs and bombs away and tries to outscore people. Although in this team's defense of that question, any defense system should be better than what we had before and I think Lillard's youth and speed alone will help at the first point of attack from the opposing quick PG's in the league.

 

[illmatic99]

1. Dame, 2. Nic, 3. ?

Edit: 3. It's sad, but I'm actually interested in seeing how well the Lakers do. I wanna especially see how willing Kome is to share the ball and limelight with his new teammates.

 

[mook]

Nate asked about "going into this season," and not just "The Blazers," so I'm going to take a more expansive view:

#1. Our team (in this order):
Lillard
Aldridge under Stotts
Leonard
Batum under Stotts
Freeland
Lots of new pieces and old pieces being used in new ways. Some of it won't work, but it's fun to think about what might.

#2. The Lakers:
Yeah, I know it's the fucking Lakers and I should hate them. But come on, just the idea of Steve Nash setting up Dwight Howard is pretty goddamned fun to think about, isn't it? And Pau Gasol is probably their fourth best player! Jesus! I'm going to hate myself (and a lot you are going to hate me for saying it) but I'm really looking forward to watching this team. I'm just going to pretend the Lakers are the Suns, which won't be as hard because I doubt I'll watch any Suns games this year. If you can't beat them (or most likely keep within 15 points of them) you might as well enjoy them.

#3. The Superteam Era
This gets back to #2, but also what the Heat and Thunder are doing (and what New York has attempted to do). With so much talent consolidated in so few teams, it makes the likelihood of the Blazers winning a championship any time soon pretty remote. But it also means there are about 8 other teams who are more beatable than they would be in a normal season, which means a borderline playoff team like Portland stands a better chance of being at least a little relevant this year. And of course every Laker/Heat/Thunder head-to-head matchup is going to be must-see TV.

 

[noknobs]

#1 Who will Batum punch in the nuts? This intrigues me to no end.

#2 & #3 ... tbd

 

[The_Lillard_King]

No replays or highlights during any of those games!#passedout

What was with all the technical difficulties during the Rider Cup. Was that you partying the night before?

 

[THE HCP]

I was on the Golf Channel show not NBC. But I heard all the engineers talking about the fiber cables used had issues.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I was on the Golf Channel show not NBC. But I heard all the engineers talking about the fiber cables used had issues.

Well then I'll blame you for the US meltdown . . . hating golf these days.