Seriously, who got better?

I agree with your assessment across the board. My only concern is the Hornets, Lakers, Spurs and the refs. I think we have a great shot to take the rest of the west behind the woodshed.

I’ve been thinking for a while that we should have a good year not just because we’re adding Oden and two potential impact rookies to another year of experience for our core players but also because the rest of the West, except for the Lakers, looks to have stood still or fallen back a bit.

I commented today on the Clip Nation blog and got shot down. Tom’s right, the fans of other teams don’t know squat about our team.

great post man, i really enjoyed it. You did your research.

the only part I thought twice about was your take on ron ron. he was a blazer KILLER for the sac’s last year and although I agree it will be difficult to fit him into a position in houston, his defense and ability to score as a 2, 3, or 4 will make him a valuable addition to that team. the biggest issue for the rockets is the inevitable injury that Yao Ming will have in the first week of the season. Of course, I’m sure rockets fans are saying the same thing about Oden right now…

we’re one of the few teams that made major additions. However, the other teams, while they didn’t improve, didn’t regress either… LA, Utah, New Orleans, Houston and San Antonio are still better than we are. Phoenix, Dallas and Denver are the wild cards.

The James Posey addition will be much bigger than anyone wants to admit. They really missed that do it all type guy and lockdown defender last year in the playoffs. Peja has shown he can have a nice season relying on his silky jumper, but he has never been a very dependable “big game” player. He tends to get exposed over the course of a 7 game series as his only significant strength is outside shooting. Posey should help offset Peja’s weakness’s and provide New Orleans with a veteran with a knack for making the big play in the biggest of games. I think they have a great chance of coming out of the west if they can stay healthy….

Im thinking the Clippers are going to do pretty well. The Nuggets and Mavs wont make the playoffs, IMO

joey dorsey is a good guy to have on your team if you were about to get into a fist fight or something, basketball not so much. and donte green got traded to the kings.

My disagreements are thus:

Lakers: I think losing Turiaf hurts that team more than you think. He wasn’t a big scorer or anything, but he brought a lot of energy to that team. One of their major success factors was the quality of their bench, and they lost some of that when they lost Turiaf. Who’s going to bring the energy now? I also think they’re facing some chemistry issues with the return of Bynum. And let’s face it—there’s a good chance Bynum’s not the same, at least to start the season. I think the Lakers might even be a little worse this year than they were last.

Hornets: The addition of Posey is nothing to sneeze at. Losing Pargo and adding Posey is absolutely not a wash. Posey has been on multiple title contenders and won two titles—he brings experience that Pargo never had. The man knows how to play some ball and typically makes his whole team better. And the fact is he’s money down the stretch. There were multiple times in last years finals when he’d spot up for a three and I knew it was going in. He simply doesn’t miss shots in the 4th quarter of big games. Add in to all that the fact that he is a defensive stopper when needed. The Hornets made a very simple addition with this guy, and I think it makes them a much better team.

Rockets: I think you are letting your personal opinion of Ron Artest affect your judgement of what he can do on a basketball court. The Rockets were already one of the best defensive teams in the league. Now with the addition of Artest they’re going to be 12 different shades of nasty. They can bring size, strength, and skill from every position except maybe PG. Even if they lose Yao or TMac this year, they’ll still be a handful with Artest, and if all can remain healthy I’d give them the edge to win the conference. Heck, they rattled off 20+ wins last season, half of which were without Yao. With and withough Yao, they were 40-10 after January 4th last year. That’s ridiculous. Nobody is going to want to play these guys.

Almost every Jazz fan would tell you that they aren’t excited about the lack of offseason moves in Utah, but laughing Jon makes a good point. Of all the teams, maybe Utah does the best by just getting older. All their starters are under 28 years old. If they learn to play defense, which usually is played by veterans, they will win championships. Maybe you didn’t see them improve, but they are still the toast of the Northwest division.

Secondly, I don’t think people are sleeping on Greg Oden, they are just keeping things in perspective. I love Greg Oden, I think he will be a big asset, but as a rookie, his effects will mostly be felt on the defensive end. I know people call him the next Tim Duncan, but it will take him a few years to learn to be an offensive force and not just dunk. And as a Jazz fan, I know how good of a defense you already had, so he will help, but he isn’t going to change the NBA or anything. He will probably average about 12 to 15 points, grab 10 to 12 rebounds, and block 3 shots a game. Those are great numbers, but not Shaq-like earth shattering.

Thirdly, I think Ron Artest will hurt the Rockets before he helps. He is talented. No doubts there. But where will he play. Take the Jazz for instance. If they meet again, who would he guard? He would get punished by Boozer and AK would force him outside and Battier is a better perimeter shooter than Artest. He can’t play the 4, so he is going to duplicate what Battier brought to them. And Artest’s shot selection is questionable, just like McGrady. So pick your poison. Do you want McGrady or Artest to shoot bad jumpers or do you want Artest or Scola to get abused down low defensively.

With all this said. Jazz fans know how good the Blazers will be for many years to come. If you guys had a bonafide point guard…wow. And Bayless doesn’t count yet.

One cautionary note about the Blazers: on PAPER they got much better with the additions of GO, Rudy, & Bayless—even with the subtraction of Jones. But short-term, those new guys will have to be integrated, and that might disrupt the team’s chemistry. How often do we see a team that’s playing well with one or more starters out, then when the starters return they lose their mojo? On paper, the team is better, yet they lose their winning chemistry. The addition of the new guys will necessitate a lot of adjustments, and teams tend to win more when they’re comfortable & familiar with each other and when everyone’s roles are set.

Having said, LONG-TERM the Blazers clearly made a big leap forward this off-season. We fans just need to roll with the punches if the season starts out rocky. It’s a long season, and there’s going to be time to regroup and make that playoff run.

Of course, maybe things will fall into place right off the bat. That’d be cool, wouldn’t it?

i’ve gotta say, you guys picked a good time to get significantly better. the next four teams in front of you in the standings got worse (my dubs included. why monta!? why!?) and then you add greg oden, rudy fernandez and jarryd bayless. it’s like paul allen was behind the mavs, suns, warriors and nuggets deciding to get considerably worse next year.

i see the blazers as the 6 seed, and depending on the manu injury, possibly the 5. if they draw the rockets in the first round, which seems very possible with the 5 seed, and not likely with the 6, that’s a series the blazers can win. i think artest makes them marginally better. the problem with saying that they are suddenly a top 2 or 3 team is that it seems to imply that artest is WAY better than battier, which is false. he’s better offensively, and pretty similar defensively. not exactly world altering stuff for that team. add that to the fact that they need a healthy t-mac and yao to win, and that’s a first or second round out to me.

to say that the mavs will be just as good seems flawed too. first of all, they were worse after the kidd trade, so they won’t post as good of a record based on that alone. second, (another kidd situation) jason kidd gets worse and worse every year. it’s like the pg position gets downgraded every year for his team. i like j-kidd a lot, but he’s done. not to mention the fact that he’s routinely described as a coach killer, i naturally can’t say anything about that for certain, but that’s what i consistantly hear.

i’m more pessimistic about the suns too. i just see an old team full of injury prone guys, in need of a new system (which will probably come), who can’t really defend anyone. is it so crazy to see them as possibly being much much worse? that said, they also have a lot of talent, so if they stay healthy and things fall together properly, they could be a middling playoff team. not the best thing to hear about a team that contended for a title each of the past few years.

the remarks about the nuggets are dead on, they will be dreadful.

and my warriors, well, they should have been a playoff team, they should have, but then monta had to go and participate in some unnamed outdoor activity. it’s not out of the realm of possibility in a weakening west, but it’s not likely either.

best of luck to you, blazers fans.
cheers.