We…

have amazing talent
are well coached
have great chemistry
are unselfish
are focused on both ends of the court

You are telling me we can’t beat the dysfunctional thuggets or the team whose defense cosists of jacking up 3s faster than you get across half court?

Brandon and LMA were already good, but with another year under their belt? We are going to be in the playoffs. Maybe not as the 4 or 5, but at least at as the 7th or 8th seed.

I think your question has been answered dude.

When you have a .500 team that is made up of young players who improve exponentially year to year, and when you add a once in a decade 7 footer you have to make the playoffs. The West will be brutal but no as such. The Nugs are flimsy and bound to implode, the spurs and suns are old and the suns are super inury prone, same goes for the rockets. GSW is an enigma. Dallas/Utah/LAL are solid for next year but you never know. A better poll question is Mac gone if we don’t make it? I say yeah, and I like the guy.

I would honestly expect the Blazers to make the playoffs.

I’m not saying our new players are at a level near these guys yet but here are some comparisons they get.

Greg Oden = Bill Russell. Russell himself said he thinks Oden will go great things. So far looking good.

Rudy Fernandez = Manu Ginobli, but younger and faster. I can live with that.

Jerryd Bayless = Chauncy Billups. Not bad at all.

Now sure, these are some best case comparisons, don’t start saying this player will never be as good as that player, but when they are getting compared to all time greats and all-stars I don’t really see how we can’t improve greatly with them. Even without them I think we could accomplish high 40’s wins this year. A play off spot on the west isn’t easy to get but I really think we have a chance.

all the while observing the progress of our key guys, Brandon, LaMarcus, Travis and Martell.

I think Travis and Martell are less key than Oden, but I understand how you include him in the first half of the sentence. Just sayin’

It’s true that bringing in rookies is hard. I think this is the team to do it, and I think they’ll make the playoffs, but I understand your point and it’s a good one. I have a LOT of faith in this coach and organization. I’ll again compare them to the NE Patriots in that regard.

Oden & J Bay’ are simply going to effectively contribute RIGHT AWAY. Rudy may very likely be effective in spurts ala J Jones and Martell. He is a seasoned player.

BRoy, LMA & Trout have ALL 3 now officially been around the block, they are veterens (granted young ones), but these are all stars on the risie for sure. They just left the launching pad and are now gaining speed and altitude BIG TIME.

Blake, Pryz & Frye, well lets see, yes more quality vets here too. They all know there roll.

We may fall short, but that “potential” is fast leaving town. The rest of the league is simply not keeping up with PTB’s pace. KP is overwhelming the league as a whole.

I htink the growth curve this year will suprise us all. Rip City baby!

Seriously.

Erase the miserable month of November from the Blazers schedule last year, and imagine that they’d won at the same percentage they did during December. That’d be 9-10 more wins on the season. Enough to qualify for the playoffs.

If we could have erased the month of November from the schedule in March, and played another month’s worth of games to make up for it, the team we were then would have ALREADY been a playoff team. Without Oden. Without Rudy. Without Bayless.

Now, add in Oden, Fernandez, Bayless, and a year’s worth of development out of Roy, Aldridge, Webster, Outlaw, Blake and Frye. Factor in the confidence of them KNOWING they can win. Factor in a serious decline by Western-Conference playoff teams such as Dallas, Denver, and Phoenix.

This Blazers team is due for circa 52 wins next season. My T-wolves fan friends in Minnesota back me up on this, so it’s not just Homerism. These guys are gonna be pretty decent next season.

Now, it may be an early first-round exit, but (barring significant injury) it’s going to be a LONG time before the Blazers are in the lottery again. Book it.

I meant to vote yes! Sorry

I think there’s about a 50% chance we see one more lottery. 3 rookies will be asked for major contributions.

I don’t know what’s going to happen but you could very well be right. Even if they are a ‘better’ squad this year they will be much more distracted. Also, they’re not gonna sneak up on anybody this year. Opponents will bring their ‘A’ game every night. It could take a year or maybe even two ‘till the Blazers are playing well as a team and have a winning strategy where everyone is comfortable with their roles. At the same time I’ll go along with MB and hope that after 41 games they put it all together, have the best record after the all-star break, and make the playoffs. It could go down either way. Even if we do go back to the lottery though, this is absolutely the best town to live in, the best team to support. I can’t wait. When does the Vegas League start? It’s coming up quick, right?

addition of Oden, Rudy and Bayless along with the subtraction of Jack, we’re looking at an improvement of at least 10 games maybe even 15 if other teams like the Suns, Spurs, and Mavs get worse cause of age. If Baron Davis moves east then that’s another one down. Sh*t can happen and we could be winning 56 games next year so don’t write this group of guys off just yet!

So, basically we are replacing Jack with a more skilled point guard, replacing Jones with a potentially phenomenal slashing guard in Fernandez, and adding the most hyped center to come along since Tim Duncan, to a hungry and more mentally/physically mature Blazer team.
So, ignoring the fact that Bayless and Fernandez will be huge additions, what will Oden himself bring next year barring another injury? Just look at the big men whom Oden has been compared to in the twenty years: Shaq, Robinson, Duncan, Amare, D Howard have all had an immediate effect on the teams they joined and lifted their teams significantly in the win category. I believe Oden is going to have the same effect here.