We're In First Place.

[Rodolfo]

Couldn't find any shaving cream, but I did squirt some sticky white stuff into their shoes.

barfo

I hope you mean toothpaste!

 

[DaRizzle]

meh...yeah you're winning the division but you guys have the worst record of a division leader. HOU and NO would be leading your division if they were in there...

Good team? Absolutely. Upper tier team? Sure. Elite? No way

 

[Wheels]

meh...yeah you're winning the division but you guys have the worst record of a division leader. HOU and NO would be leading your division if they were in there...

Good team? Absolutely. Upper tier team? Sure. Elite? No way

Gotta agree with the Rizz on this one... he usually is right.. except for Monday's debacle.

 

[Wheels]

Re: Don't know if anyone noticed...

I think you can argue that any team leading its division this late in the season is among the NBA's elite.

I wouldnt go that far yet, not saying that the NW teams are as mediocre.. but take for example the AFC West in nfl. Denver lead for weeks and San Diego didnt lead until the last game of the season. I wouldnt say that either one of them was elite, just because they lead their division.

 

[Minstrel]

There are three definitely elite teams in Boston, LA and Cleveland. Beyond them, San Antonio and Orlando are arguably elite.

Portland is in the next tier of teams, IMO, with Utah, Denver, Houston and New Orleans.

 

[oldmangrouch]

The goal of this season (and MIXUM's supposed statement of Blazer Worth) is making the playoffs. In following seasons, yes, HCA and winning divisions, conferences, and championships are all expectations. But this year, just getting to the dance is enough. The people who think not getting HCA is a failure are missing the big picture and have convinced themselves of unreasonable expectations.

This is where I part company with many of you.

Before the season started, chasing the 8th seed seemed like a reasonable goal. Things change.

On the negative side, Oden hasn't been healthy and hasn't made the contribution we all hoped for.

On the plus side, Batum has exceeded expectations, Joel and Blake have been having career years, and every other WC contender has been hit with serious problems.

To argue that going after the division title or HCA is "unreasonable", implies that Denver and Utah are clearly superior to the Blazers. Sorry, but I don't see it.

 

[mgb]

Ok, lets say HCA in the playoffs makes you a elite team. That means we are a elite team, but might not be a elite team after tomorrow!

 

[Minstrel]

To argue that going after the division title or HCA is "unreasonable", implies that Denver and Utah are clearly superior to the Blazers. Sorry, but I don't see it.

Going after the division title is what Portland is doing. They may not win it, but I think defining success as winning the division title would be unreasonable. That would be penalizing them for playing better than expected.

I think Batum is showing that Pritchard was wise to keep him out of deals for Vince Carter or Gerald Wallace. I think it would be nice to get Batum more minutes.

 

[DaRizzle]

Ok, lets say HCA in the playoffs makes you a elite team. That means we are a elite team, but might not be a elite team after tomorrow!

Having HCA does not make you an elite team...it makes you have HCA. Maybe "elite" means something different to you and me.

Elite: Bos, Cle, LA
Right below elite: SA, Utah, Orl
Then there is everybody else...

 

[number 10]

Personally, elite means having a legit shot at winning a title, which the Blazers, in all honesty, don't have. I hate to agree with the Laker fan, but he's got it spot on.

At this point in the season, winning the division should be the goal even though IMO it would represent over achievement. Making the playoffs was always the target, and doing so would just be meeting the expectations, not exceeding them. Not making the playoffs is only something Mixum thinks about, who cares...

 

[Iwatas]

Wow, this keeps being tight. 24, 25 losses....

 

[Draco]

I'm not meaning to hijack this thread, but as I'm watching the waning seconds of this game, I just have to shake my head and say to myself, how in the wide world of sports could the Seattle community let the Sonics get away?!! The folks here are just, well, rabid.

It was pretty shallow of them, they should have forked over millions of public dollars to a sports franchise.

 

[KingSpeed]

meh...yeah you're winning the division but you guys have the worst record of a division leader. HOU and NO would be leading your division if they were in there...

Not anymore. New Orleans just got blown out in Chicago. And Houston has one more loss than us now so we can pass them with a win tomorrow.

 

[KingSpeed]

Having HCA does not make you an elite team...it makes you have HCA. Maybe "elite" means something different to you and me.

Elite: Bos, Cle, LA
Right below elite: SA, Utah, Orl
Then there is everybody else...

Blazers have a better record than Utah. And Utah is 0-8 on road vs WC top 9 teams.

Learn the game, then post.

 

[DaRizzle]

Blazers have a better record than Utah. And Utah is 0-8 on road vs WC top 9 teams.

Learn the game, then post.

I was waiting for somebody to say that, makes sense it would be you...

Utah has been injured all year. They are finally healthy and now they are kicking ass...amazing how that works. Utah is killer at home. I really dont care that they are 0-8 on the road since most, maybe even all of those games were with key players not playing. They can beat ANYBODY at their place and pull off a game or two on the road in a series. KS I dont know if you are this clueless when it comes to these kinds of things or just choose to ignore them to pump up the Blazers in your eyes. Who do you think you are kidding?

oh and for what its worth Kidd had a triple double today

I know the game...in fact, I know it a shitload better than you do

stick that in your pipe and smoke it

 

[ABM]

I know the game...in fact, I know it a shitload better than you do

stick that in your pipe and smoke it

Do they have a place like Mt. Tabor down there for you guys to settle these matters?

 

[KingSpeed]

I was waiting for somebody to say that, makes sense it would be you...

Utah has been injured all year. They are finally healthy and now they are kicking ass...amazing how that works. Utah is killer at home. I really dont care that they are 0-8 on the road since most, maybe even all of those games were with key players not playing. They can beat ANYBODY at their place and pull off a game or two on the road in a series. KS I dont know if you are this clueless when it comes to these kinds of things or just choose to ignore them to pump up the Blazers in your eyes. Who do you think you are kidding?

oh and for what its worth Kidd had a triple double today

I know the game...in fact, I know it a shitload better than you do

stick that in your pipe and smoke it

Blazers have been injured all year too. Webster out all year. Oden missed 19 games. Blake missed a ton of games. Rudy has missed games. Roy has missed games.

Dallas didn't even play today.

And the healthy "kicking ass" Utah Jazz are on a two game losing streak.

Please learn the game before posting. Seriously.

 

[J_Ray]

Blazers have been injured all year too. Webster out all year. Oden missed 19 games. Blake missed a ton of games. Rudy has missed games. Roy has missed games.

Dallas didn't even play today.

And the healthy Utah Jazz are on a two game losing streak.

Please learn the game before posting. Seriously.

Umm...Those are some nice role players you are naming off but Utah didn't have Boozer's 20/10 for 40+ games, Deron missed first part of the season...he's 2nd best PG in the league according to many analysis if you believe them...AK missed quite a bit of time, and some others have taken turns being out also. You also haven't seen Utah lately either b/c they're not healthy, Boozer is still around 80%.

Got your back DaRizzle

 

[KingSpeed]

Umm...Those are some nice role players you are naming off but Utah didn't have Boozer's 20/10 for 40+ games, Deron missed first part of the season...he's 2nd best PG in the league according to many analysis if you believe them...AK missed quite a bit of time, and some others have taken turns being out also. You also haven't seen Utah lately either b/c they're not healthy, Boozer is still around 80%.

Got your back DaRizzle

Roy, Webster, Oden, and Blake are all starters. Rudy is one of the best sixth men in the league. DWill has never made an All Star team. AK is role player.

Learn the game please.

 

[DaRizzle]

Blazers have been injured all year too.

Sorry but injuries to Deron and Boozer are waaaay worse than Webster and Oden...hate to break it to you

Dallas didn't even play today.

Oops, yesterday...still doesnt take away that you call a player done and then the next game hes 3 points off a triple double and the game after that he gets a triple double with 21 points...

And the healthy Utah Jazz are on a two game losing streak.

Gee, its a good thing they won the 12 before that including the Celts, Lakers, Hou, Den, and NO. 12-2 is just fine.

Are you noticing how this works EVERYTIME? How you point out a very small sample size and then look foolish when you take a greater body of work as the sample size...

I mean seriously if players were stocks I would buy anybody that you were hating on

 

[KingSpeed]

By the way... did you see the Utah/Miami game? The "kicking ass" Jazz choked big time. They had the game won in regulation. All they had to do was play smart basketball and they would've won easy. But they blew it. Then they blew an 8 point lead in the first overtime. They kept blowing it until Miami finally just took the game. This is a Miami team that Portland swept, including a 38 point thrashing in Portland.

 

[DaRizzle]

By the way... did you see the Utah/Miami game? The "kicking ass" Jazz choked big time. They had the game won in regulation. All they had to do was play smart basketball and they would've won easy. But they blew it. Then they blew an 8 point lead in the first overtime. They kept blowing it until Miami finally just took the game. This is a Miami team that Portland swept, including a 38 point thrashing in Portland.

once again...one game. Do I have to pull a MIXUM and bash POR to get my point across....one word

CLIPPERS

 

[KingSpeed]

Gee, its a good thing they won the 12 before that including the Celts, Lakers, Hou, Den, and NO. 12-2 is just fine.

Portland has also beaten the Celts (without Roy), Lakers (biggest thrashing of the year and we didn't have our starting center), Houston, Denver, and NO at home. And oh, the Celtics were healthy, unlike when they played Utah.

Portland also swept Miami. Oops. Utah didn't. And they were healthy today, right??

You make this too easy.

Learn the game please.

 

[KingSpeed]

once again...one game. Do I have to pull a MIXUM and bash POR to get my point across....one word

CLIPPERS

Aren't you the guy who said the Clippers would finish ahead of the Suns? I guaranteed you that would not be true. I was right.

Learn the game please.

 

[andalusian]

The fact that Deron never made the AS game means nothing. He is a top-notch NBA player - about the same tier as Roy is (you can argue where each one of them is in the top 6-12 on any given day - but Deron is a stud. You know it. I know it. So let's cut the "no AS game" crap. Deron is an allstar caliber player - if Mo Williams has an AS appearance as a PG and Deron does - it really tells you how little this achievement is as far as evaluating individual players.

The place where Utah has a leg on Portland is in experience - they have 2 All-Star level players (Deron, Boozer) and a marginal AS player on the roster (Okur). Portland has one All-star level player on the roster (Roy) and one marginal level on the roster (Aldridge).

A healthy Utah is a fantastic basketball team - and to ignore it is silly.

I still think however that the difference between Utah and Portland is very small - and a healthy Greg Oden (even in this supposedly "sub-par" year of his) makes it insignificant.

 

[DaRizzle]

Umm...Those are some nice role players you are naming off but Utah didn't have Boozer's 20/10 for 40+ games, Deron missed first part of the season...he's 2nd best PG in the league according to many analysis if you believe them...AK missed quite a bit of time, and some others have taken turns being out also. You also haven't seen Utah lately either b/c they're not healthy, Boozer is still around 80%.

Got your back DaRizzle

Hi realistic basketball fan! I too am a realistic basketball fan!

 

[KingSpeed]

once again...one game. Do I have to pull a MIXUM and bash POR to get my point across....one word

CLIPPERS

Portland beat Celtics, Lakers, Houston, Denver, and NO at home. There. That's 5 games. How is Utah better than us?

Learn the game.

 

[DaRizzle]

Aren't you the guy who said the Clippers would finish ahead of the Suns? I guaranteed you that would not be true. I was right.

Learn the game please.

Yes, I apologize for not knowing their entire team would be on the IR all year...what was I thinking /sarcasm

btw do you care to mention the part where I said PHX wouldnt make the playoffs and you were bashing that opinion???

 

[B-Roy]

once again...one game. Do I have to pull a MIXUM and bash POR to get my point across....one word

CLIPPERS

You act like the Jazz never lost, and their injuries make up for ALL their problems. It DOSEN'T.

They've lost to both the Nets and the Bulls at HOME, last time I checked, Portland hasn't.

 

[KingSpeed]

Yes, I apologize for not knowing their entire team would be on the IR all year...what was I thinking /sarcasm

If you knew the game, you'd know that Baron Davis gets hurt a lot. And they have sucked even when healthy.

Learn the game.

What did you think about the Blazers beating all those teams the Jazz beat? I bet you didn't know that. Now you do. I taught you the game.