PDX Striking Fear?

by TwoDeep on Feb 14, 2008 9:17 AM PST Comment 8 comments

I've seen it opinionated in a few different places now how Phoneix, LA and Dallas are making their recent trade moves to place themselves in a position to compete at high levels in 2 or 3 years .... inferring they're being done so those teams can hold their own against Oden and company.

But I don't see it that way. I'm sure the Phoneix move was to try to get to the finals THIS year. 2 or 3 years from now Shaq may not even be standing and Nash is iffy too. Same with
Dallas regarding their attempts to aquire Kidd. Do you really think they want Kidd so they can compete with the Blazers in 2 or 3 years? He'll probably be retired in 3 years. Kidd they hope, will help them get to the top this year.

With Koby being younger and still at the top of his game, the Laker's move is a little different in that it should benefit them not only in the immediate future but down the road a few years as well.

I guess what I'm saying is that to me it's pretty arrogant of us to be thinking these trades are directly attributed to the fear that this up-and-coming steam roller of a team from Portland is striking into the hearts of the NBA nation.

I think most teams are aware that we could be pretty good, but there is a LOT to prove yet ... not the least of which revolves around Oden getting and staying healthy.

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It's not about us

PHX championship window was already small because of Nash, they just decided to stop playing small ball for 48 min every game.
LA made one of the best trades I've ever seen.
Dallas overreacted in my opinion, there is a chance that they were thinking about us, but it was probably because they think their team is mentally weak and tried to get someone tough.

Just a small stupid question:
Is Jason Kidd considered white in the US? he looks pretty white to me.
what about Mike Bibby?

by Bruno on Feb 14, 2008 10:09 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Of course it is to win now

If you are Phoenix or Dallas, you had the option of gambling to win now or holding out with the hope that Timmy is going to decline a little and you can get a championship next year or the year after.

LA picked up Gasol, which makes them a legitimate threat next year and for at least 2-3 years more, perhaps as tough as San Antonio is now. Portland is going to be very, very tough next year, and perhaps tougher than anyone the year after. N.O. is tough, and likely to get tougher (though they may have some upheaval with a move, etc.).

In other words, next year and the following two years might be even tougher to win a championship than this year. For teams with an older nucleus, this might be their best chance, because of the rise of Portland and New Orleans. It's time to gamble and try to win one while you can, you can't try to wait out San Antone....

L.A. made their move to try to contend for the next five years. To do that, they needed to be able to counteract the double threat of LMA and Greg. That acquisition probably makes them as good as us, or better, on the front line next year, and at least keeps them somewhat competitive after that, with decent matchups. They needed to stay competitive at the 4-5 so the Kobe advantage didn't go to waste.

by jscot on Feb 14, 2008 10:10 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

We ain't the ones saying it

Well, some of us fans say that they're doing these moves to either compete with us or win won before we win them all, but nationally it isn't Portland media saying these teams are making these moves because of us-- it's the ESPNs and even the PHX Sun's very own official website.

Their website, when listing why they made the Shaq deal, pointed out the Blazers and Oden being the premier team in the very near future and they needed to be equipped to deal with us. Other outlets notice that these teams are trying to win now, largely because the west is wide open but also because young teams like US, the Hornets, the Jazz, are all getting better and it will be even harder to win it once we develop.

Other executives ARE scared of this team. It would be arrogant to think we scare them now, but they are reportedly worried about how this team looks like it will develop. I mean really, it's unprecedented to have an Oden-type, a LMA-type, and a Roy-type all playing together before and during their prime, which is what we should be looking at. Other GMs know this, and while the moves aren't directly because of our future it is also part of their equation (especially PHX).

Dallas getting Kidd doesn't do much to stop us (in fact I think it helps us as it takes away their only defensive center), but it's a last ditch effort to win now that is a bit more desperate than I thought they'd be. I felt like PHX was desperate at first, but the more I think about it the more I get what they were thinking (even if I wouldn't have done it). But Kidd to Dallas is kinda silly, as they'll have to change how the team plays and while Dirk is talented I'm not sure if he's an up n' down man.

I think most executives figure Oden will be healthy, LMA and Roy will continue to improve, and the time to win is NOW. For sure, our PRIME will be after these team's had their runs (Shaq and Nash will be gone within a few years, sadly), but we'll still be something to deal with.

They know Oden will be the best center in the league. You ALWAYS plan for dealing with the best!

Mortimer

by Mortimer on Feb 14, 2008 10:40 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Of course we are, now we have to use that

to our advantage. I am not giving no opponents no mercy. I have seen so many championships taken from Portland. We are all still recovering from those losses. And don't tell me that we lost a championships because of dirty refs because its possible with the scandal of that one ref. I want to win 15 championships in a row just because I want them to feel same way we did and even worse.

PS to the rest of the league: Quit trying injure our franchise player Brandon Roy. Hes here to stay.

Anybody see Dampier tried to keep Roy from getting that loose ball by falling on his leg which could of caused a career ending injury? Luckily Roy was strong enough and made it straight as possible to avoid serious injury. But nobody cares about the game, its always and will be about money. Its getting more and more Hollywood than what real fans came to see and thats good, clean, fair basketball.

Thats why soccer is the best and most played sport in the world. If the US one day wins the World Cup, the whole US can enjoy victory and maybe unite this divided country. Instead we ignore soccer and put NFL, MLB, and NBA first which just makes us fight with your own neighbors. We got to stop being closed minded and stop letting the media tell us how we think. Look at all the scandals now with those major sports of America. Steroids, spygate, and betting refs.

The NBA and David Stern has made me disgusted by making it a superstar league. In the Bible it tells us idols are bad and yet we idolize them. They are the same as any of us but with money and fame. We're not a big city name for the NBA so for us to become a Dynasty and win 15 championships in a row, the NBA won't make a lot money from it. The NBA likes big name cities to win and superstars to pimp to make people watch the NBA because its about money.

You think the NBA is going to do the right thing just because its the right thing to do? When there is a lot of money involved, people don't care. Why do you have to be a superstar or a big name city to get the right penalties called? Whats the principle in that? If you are a minority you are not going to get a fair shot? If you are poor, you can't get the same help as if you were rich like in Katrina? Playing dirty is okay? I thought this is America where all men are created equal. Its in the constitution but I don't see it and I guess thats the message the NBA and fans sends to these kids. Because we the fans dictate how the NBA should operate because they are there because of our money. Just like in a democracy, the people run the government, not the president.

Sports play and influences a big part of my life and many others especially kids in the US and I believe they have a big responsibility to make the game fair and right.

Its a marathon, not a sprint.

by theanomaly777 on Feb 14, 2008 8:42 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hilarious

If you lived in Europe, you'd know that people fight with their own countrymen over football (soccer) far more than anything you'd ever see in the States.

It's a whole different world. If Knickfan wants to watch the Knicks in Portland, he just gets a ticket from some source or other, and goes and sits in among Blazer fans and tries to get them to join his chant.

In Europe, at football matches, that could never happen. Over here, they have to have separate sections to seat opposing fans. They have to use separate entrances for the away fans, at a safe distance from where the home fans are entering/leaving. They have to make sure that the separate sections are sealed off from each other so that one group of fans won't attack another during the game. They have a significant police presence after the game to make sure a mob from one side or another doesn't attack the opposing fans.

This is why Europe never goes to war anymore, and why their involvement in places like Iraq is minimal. They play football instead, and so have used up all their energy fighting their neighbours.

Football unite a divided country? Boy, it's working really well in Europe....

by jscot on Feb 15, 2008 12:48 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Really many animal in soccer in Europe

Soccer is considered too as a kind of therapy for the masses of frustrated people, because they pull out their frustration there, usually against refs. They are a minority, but a very noisy one.

On the other hand, people who play basketball in Europe are usually well-educated and peaceful. Probably with some exceptions, I´m thinking of some greeks and balcans.

I like Brandon Roy, whatever planet he comes from. (Bill Walton?)

by amlmart1 on Feb 15, 2008 1:18 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Out of all that I wrote, you guys could only

comment on how basketball is better that soccer. Students going around killing innocent people all the time. Racism is still very much alive. 13 year old kids having sex in classrooms. Fighting a war most americans backed then when they finally realized they made a mistake they put all the blame on Bush because we are perfect right. You don't think the media and sports influence on how we think and act? I am just trying to open up peoples mind and look at the big picture. Everything is connected in one way or another.

Its a marathon, not a sprint.

by theanomaly777 on Feb 16, 2008 5:37 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

OTOTOTO I like conversation

but I fear this one goes too far of topic. I agree with the idea of your post, but I could say a little different: The life is a system programmed to survive and spread itself, what requires order -to explode exit- and chaos -to explore new forms and places-. Perfection doesn´t change, so can´t progress. Genetics are about life program, regulating from most simple celular form of life to most complex multicelular one. The social forms of life (from family to states) are also biologically programed or are reproducing some kind of biological programs, because since humans are an evolved form of intelligence, we are also acting into the program, we are introducing rules into the social system faster than biology used to make changes in programs, but still -so near of the monkey we are- under the two first laws, order and chaos. We are the form of life wich is acting more extremely in chaos, because we are a form of life that maybe will spread life out of the planet, we are in the head of the proyect and we will risk all, from our lives to the whole planet, as a single man risks his life to discover a continent, to climb to the Everest or to go to the space. We are under very high tensions to practice extremely fast order and chaos, what explains the human love for domination and war, even if destroying his world. Probably we are not more than an attempt of the life wich doesn´t mind if we fail, because life will try again no matter when or where in the countless space and time. If you want to follow this or another conversation OT with me, you may adress to me at amlmart1@wanadoo.es. I won´t post about this matter again.

I like Brandon Roy, whatever planet he comes from. (Bill Walton?)

by amlmart1 on Feb 16, 2008 10:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs