Man is this team going to be a threat next year........One of the youngest team with more talent then almost everybody 1.Brandon Roy 2.Greg Oden 3.Lamarcus Aldridge 4.Channing Fry 5.Blake... And who ever they get this year......... Roy,aldridge and Oden will be the Big three next year........ None of them are floppers so the new rule want slow them down All the old teams will not be able to hang.... I think they will be the 2-3 seed next year........ Is anybody afraid of this team being in our west...... In my eyes they will be a BEAST Any body think they will be a bust?
I think Greg Oden is the most overrated NBA player...ever. Seriously. With that said, even without Oden, the Blazers should be a high 40 win team in the West, which is a pretty amazing feat given the strength of the conference and the age of that team.
You are probably right about Oden being the most overrated. It's premature for the ESPN clones to warn, 'you think the Lakers are good now well you just wait until ANDREW BYNUM gets in there because 11+1 has to equal 12.' Bynum hasn't done ****, and Oden has done even less. I remain confident that Oden will in fact develop into a beast, and its safe to say that he at least will be on an Andrew Bogut level, and even if he were to only access 10% of his potential, he should catapult the Blazers into true western relevancy. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let's wait until they get a real point guard.
Because clearly the Lakers and Celtics (most likely championship contenders) have a PG situation that is wayyyy better than the Blazers. i.e. I don't think we need to wait for that. Blake, Jack, Sergio are all serviceable at minimum.. each with different strengths. With Roy's passing ability and ball handling, I think they're fine.
Unless Greg Oden loses some of the weight he put on, he's going to struggle to stay on the court next year.
scottie pippen's blazers were a good team that ran into shaq and kobe. they choked a game 7. that team was talented. rasheed wallace, bonzi wells, steve smith, stoudemire, sabonis, they just couldn't get past the diesel.
That 4th quarter collapse was historic. Nobody on the Blazers had the guts to take control. It burns me to this day because I think the Pacers would have beaten the Blazers in the Finals. Next year's Blazers won't be a championship contender, but they should be a dangerous team. With Brandon Roy at PG/SG, all he needs is a worthy backcourt mate. Hopefully Rudy Fernandez can live up to his billing and play off of Roy. Steve Blake is an adequate backup that will allow either of those two to slide over to SG. I have questions about Oden but assuming the guy is decent and can play very good defense, he, Aldridge and Pryzbilla are a deep big man rotation. At the wing, either Martell Webster or Travis Outlaw has to step up to the next level and take control of the SF position. Guys like Channing Frye, Jarrett Jack, Sergio Rodriguez will have a hard time cracking the rotation and may as well be traded. They should keep James Jones because he fits very well on that team. Sarge is one of my favorite basketball people, ever, even with his background in Seattle. He's learned to ease off some, especially with Roy taking control of the lockerroom. I look for big things from the Blazers in the next couple of years. A lot depends on how Oden develops, if Roy can stay healthy and who grabs the SF positions and runs with it. I'm not as high on Outlaw as a lot of people here.
You mention Steve Blake and Channing Fry and not Travis Outlaw? Anyway, I don't think they will be a major threat next year. 7th seed at best. Then, depending on how Oden looks his rookie year, we will be able to tell if the Blazers will be a powerhouse a few years from now.
i was rooting for the blazers that year. they choked yes, but without the stupid refs, they could've easily won. but pacer over the blazers? i still think portland would pull it off in 6 easy.
next year, assuming they don't change roster very much, it will depend on how good oden will be. to be able to be a contender in the west, you have to have a very good interior offense. otherwise, what the hornets achieved this year will be the ceiling. alderidge is, say, pretty much on par with david west? if oden is on par with chandler, they have a shot at wcf. if not, i think the best they can do is to replace denver or dallas.
Problem with that team is they are going to lose half of their depth soon. Teams in the NBA don't grow together like they do in the NFL.
i would argue that its differently, the nfl has a hard cap. those players move around alot more than you realize.
Ever since teams developed an accurate scouting report of Roy he hasn't been so dangerous. The Blazers don't scare me at all.
That is, he doesn't have the tools to develop to a Kobe - Tmac of 2 years ago guy down the stretch. I think the success of this team will hinge on Aldridge.
they are the future of the west. however, i dont see them making the playoffs next season unless they make a big trade to speed up the development process. just a thought from a rocket fan -- the blazers offered outlaw and choice of jack or webster for shane last summer. how about working a 3-way: blazers send: outlaw, jack, #33 blazers receive: shane bucks send: redd bucks receive: outlaw, jack, #25, #33, bjax (expiring) rockets send: shane, jackson, #25. rockets receive redd.
