Roy is their best player, but like I have been saying having a 2nd penetrating player on the floor opens things up a lot. Even Denver is not as good this year without Blake. DD
Nah, Denver is better this season. The Nuggets are just getting healthy except K-Mart is out. Atkins and Carter have just came back, and so is Nene. The Nuggets is a top 4 team this season.
DD...You don't think it has anything to do with Lamarcus Aldridge doubling his scoring average? The emergence of Brandon Roy? James Jones? Travis Outlaw? Trading away the league's biggest case of Shareef Abdur-Rahim syndrome, Zach Randolph? Steve Blake is a decent player, at best. He isn't even in the top 5 or 6 reasons for the Blazers' success.
No doubt they are all better, but honestly a good PG can make a LOT of players better. Blake is a smart/heady ball player who stays within himself and sets the table for other players to eat. A good PG takes the pressure off of others to try to create......it makes a MASSIVE difference. DD
DD, your statement about what PGs can do is correct. But, really, Blake wasn't that big a difference-maker in their win streak. How many people does it take to get that across? I've watched their last 10 games in a row and Blake wasn't a big deal. Roy became their PG and played at a 1st team all-NBA superstar level. Outlaw, like Roy, played out of his mind in some of their 4th quarters. James Jones, Webster, Channing Frye, Jarrett Jack, played good and even Przybilla's nastiness was essential. Blake really wasn't that big a factor. The best way I can describe it is to say Blake has been Rafer to Roy's Tracy. The difference is the Blazers don't go to pieces when Blake is on the bench. Sometimes they make some nice runs. The funny thing is you aren't the only one here that overrates Blake. He is the definition of mediocrity. At his best, every few games or so, he will hit a couple of 3 pointers in a row but that's about it. To imply Blake makes a "massive" difference on that team is incorrect.
I don't know why James Jones didn't work out in Phoenix last year. He's hit so many clutch corner 3s and late FTs for the Blazers. In addition to Roy, he and Outlaw have been deadly late in games which is why Portland (seems to) always outscore their opponent in the 4th quarter.
The Blazers were really impressive last night against the Jazz, playing without Brandon Roy. Roy is a getting a lot of credit for what the Blazer's have accomplished this year, but that team has several really good players.
You guys are arguing with a brick wall in trying to convince Steve Blake isn't all that to the VMac Lover. It doesn't help that Aaron Brooks is playing well and now the VMac Lover thinks he is John Wooden reincarnated.
Or that V3.0 is just a hater. As for Blake, good lord I am not saying it is all him as to why they are successful, Brandon Roy is by far their best player, but I am saying that putting in the steady handed Blake helped speed the process up. And clearly James Jones has had a massive hand in it too, every night they have someone step up...the mark of a good team. Portland is good......and V 3.0.....look when this thread was posted.....Old DaWoodenakota was right on the money, and the first to the party...again. DD
You make an obvious thread (Wow! The Blazers are good! Anybody could have made that observation but I'll just post this thread to add to my take credit when I deserve none resume) Then when you build enough steam, you'll make an off the wall observation hoping someone else agrees with you, if no one agrees with you, your OCD kicks in and you start posting the same argument ad nauseum, going with the theory if I say it enough times it will become right. I see a pattern.
I do admit that I get locked onto certain things, but it is not OCD, more it is that I like to argue.... But, when I am wrong, I freely admit it, and move on....Mario Williams, Dan Langhi..... There are some arguments which can never be won, so you have to abandon them....V-Span etc....... It is just that people seem to enjoy tossing back my bricks.....so I pick em up and lob em back sometimes.....just for kicks. Tooting my own horn so to speak... DD
http://www.miamiherald.com/593/story/368584.html By MICHAEL WALLACE mwallace@MiamiHerald.com Maybe it's the youthful energy. Perhaps it is a combination of talent and fortunate timing. Or maybe they are just restless and running at a high level when other teams are down, disjointed and disappointed. There has to be a reasonable explanation for what is going on in Portland, where the Trail Blazers have become the biggest surprise, if not the biggest story, in the league. It is just difficult to find one. We sort of expected Boston to do what it's doing. We are not shocked that Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit are doing what they always do this time of year. Not even Orlando caught many off guard with its strong start to the season. But to see Portland poking its nose into the business of the NBA's elite like this once seemed about as far-fetched as the team was far from the playoffs when it posted the league's worst record just two seasons ago. The Blazers finished 2007 on a 13-game winning streak, the longest of any team this season and second-longest in franchise history. They extended that momentum into the New Year with an impressive double-overtime victory last week at Chicago. They entered the weekend having won 15 of their past 16. And if you can name their starting five without a performance-enhancing search engine, it almost would be as impressive a feat as the one the Blazers are pulling off on the court. Greg Oden? Nope. Portland was first in its division to win 20 games despite playing without the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft. Oden had season-ending knee surgery before his rookie season started. Jarret Jack? Nope. Its 2005 lottery pick has been benched in favor of Miami native Steve Blake, who signed as a free agent last summer. Zach Randolph? Nope. Last season's leading scorer and rebounder now anchors the dysfunctional outfit in New York that poses as the Knicks. Not even Blazers coach Nate McMillan has exactly figured out what has led to his team's rapid turnaround and rise in recent weeks. ''We're having the time of our life right now,'' guard Brandon Roy told reporters last week. ``I was talking to Coach Nate, and he said he has never been a part of something like this.'' If the Blazers are playing way above their heads, it is because Roy has elevated to All-Star status, averaging 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his second season, while drawing comparisons to Dwyane Wade. It is because natural power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is not only filling in at center for Oden, but also filling up the boxscore every night. It is because karma and chemistry breed confidence. ''They're playing together, the effort is there, everybody is ready to play,'' McMillan said. ``And different guys are contributing every night.'' Portland's streak has included victories over playoff contenders Utah, New Orleans, Golden State, Denver and Toronto. But is this level of midseason success a fluke or a foundation for a legitimate playoff pursuit? It is still too early to know. But how the Blazers perform this month, when they play 10 of 12 on the road, will be a telling sign. Pt guard is the most important player. Sets the team up and runs the break. To think we amost had Brandon Roy
ya haha it just looked bad haha good for him to come back and play and also the blazers won we are only 1 game behind 8 spot and 3 games behind the 7th things are looking up
Without James Jones the Blazers were 5-11. For the sake of the Rockets the guy needs to start slumping soon.
17 of 18 now... i can only imagine how much better they will continue to get with oden and a few more good drafts. within a year or two they could be contenders.
Did anyone catch that 4 point play by Outlaw to tie the Raptors? I sure hope the Blazers pull this one out. Why do the Raptors have so many early games on Sunday?
