John Hollinger on "what's wrong with the Blazers" from his 11/6 chat

Hollinger actually made basically the same point I did here:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/11/4/1115184/not-time-to-panic

The games we’ve lost have been against quality opponents at a time when we’re still tinkering with our rotations. Lots of guys are still getting used to playing together. Really the only teams playing excellent basketball right now are Boston and Denver. Everyone else are dealing with injuries and roster changes.

It’s early in the season. Give our team some time.

Hollinger makes a good point. They still need to play better moving forward.

The Blazers haven’t looked “horrible”. I mean come on.

Sacramento Kings are horrible.
Washington State Cougars football is horrible.

We just need some time to settle in. It just floors me that fans are freaking out after 5 games. I mean good lord. Did people really expect that we’d just jump right back in and start playing playoff basketball in early November? After all the roster changes and injury issues we’ve had? Give it a rest. Jeez. if this team is .500 in December go ahead and freak out.

They’ve made the games close due to the ridiculous amount of talent they have at every position (outside of Blake). Their team game and flow really has been horrible, but the fact they have so many talented players allows them to keep it close when one of them is bound to get hot (i.e. Rudy against Denver, Outlaw against Houston, Roy, LA, etc.) This will get us somewhere, but definitely no further than last year. We need to figure things out, get a system worked out with Miller starting, and start being a team. When the talent is melded into a team then we will be a contender.

Blazers have been out of sorts throughout the 8 game preseason and through the first 5 games of the season.

People who really follow the team see it and know it; Hollinger looks at opponents and victory margins and says it’s all par for the course, based on opponents and victory margins.

I know for a fact that several members of the national media frequent this webpage. It frustrates me that so many of our fans act like the sky is falling. We’ve played FIVE games and people are characterizing the team like it’s March or something. Some of these threads aren’t I’m reading aren’t fair in any way shape or form. I guess I’d like it if some fans were critical but supportive instead of critical and pessimistic. It reflects poorly on us when members of the media come in and see people posting panic threads for a team that went 54-28 last season without subtracting any notable players.

and the U of O program was in disarray after the Boise State game and how Chip Kelly is a genius and the U of O has a program on the rise today.

Fans are fans.

But having been at the Hawks game, I can say that the team seemed sluggish and uninspired.

Even Nate mentioned “effort” in his post-game comments.

Yes, we will get better and play better together over time, but there’s no excuse for not putting forth effort. Especially at home.

These good stretches are alternating with periods when they look confused and out of sync at both ends. Unfortunately, when you’re playing good NBA teams, uneven play won’t get it done. It’s like blood in a water to a shark.

But I think we’re failing to pay enough attention to that good stuff: the successful GO post-ups, Miller-Rudy hookups, etc. That’s exciting, and it’s a glimpse of things to come.

this makes me feel better, but i would not be as optimistic as he is. our team defense is terrible and we don’t have the same amount confidence at home. but we have gone through 1/16th of the season, so I won’t say too mcuh