First Off-Season Discussion Thread: How Do You Feel?

Finals week is next week. Then I graduate and I don’t have to worry about catching games for the next 184 days.

I wonder how the blazers are feeling right now, though. One interesting thing I saw, was from twitter user pdxtrailblazers quoting Brandon Roy “We had a great year but we felt like there was more that we could do this season. It just felt like we were going to play on.”

It’s like they didn’t realize it was win-or-go-home. They haven’t experienced the end of a season in this way for a long time. I hope it hurts, and I hope they come into the playoffs next year looking to crush the other team.

With KP in the house it never gets boring around here!

A few years ago, I said here that trading Zach Randolph was the first step to legitmacy. (Among other things.) It turns out that Blazer brass agreed.

A few years ago, I said that the key to a championship run would be the health of both Oden and Roy. Has any of that changed?

In Nate Mac’s first season, the Blazer won 21 games. In his 2nd season (with Randolph mostly being out and Roy missing a substantial chunk), they won 26 games. In the 3rd season, they won 41 games. This past season, they won 54 games.

I’m not a Blazer fan, but I am scared of this team for several reasons. It DID over achieve this season regardless of the first round results. It did this with an extremely young core of players who, in Roy Oden and Aldridge’s case all pose merit for being 5+ time All-Stars (with Roy being 2 up on that category already). This doesn’t include a valuable role player in Batum, or a potential 4th star in Fernandez. This doesn’t include Steve Blake, Jerryd Bayless, or any off-season addition. This doesn’t even include Martell Webster either. The Blazers have a ton of young potential depth.

Personally, however Blazer fans feel, I feel scared of this team. Unless Roy or Oden goes down. Then, well, my feelings won’t even be a fraction of what Blazer fans feel.

Our young guys get better, we’ll get a healed Oden and Webster, and I have faith in KP’s offseason work.

I gave up on the Blazers for about 3 years during the Rider/Sheed era—after being very faithful since 1985.

But this team has me as excited as the best of the Drexler years!

After years of futility, frustration, and disapointment, I can finally say again how proud I am to have this group, from the owner to the ball boys represent my hometown. I used to wear my Blazer hat along with a chip on my shoulder, daring anyone to talk smack. Now I wear my gear with a swagger.
I have followed the Blazers from 1977 till now, and I can honestly say that this is the most special group of guys that have ever put on the scarlet and black. They overachieved in most peoples eyes, and have proven that we have a LOT to look forward to.
RIP CITY and MAHALO!

I have never felt more connected and at the same time disassociated with Blazers fans as I have this year.

I think the game being frustrating from about the end of the 1st onward was helpful in getting over the suckiness of being eliminated. I got over the disappointment of it while watching them play, it was kinda odd, but after the game I was just happy that so many things went well during the season. So yeah, not really all that disappointed with the finish, probably because we all know it’s going to be even better next year whereas some other teams are much more worried (Hornets, Spurs).

I predicted 46 wins and a 7th or 8th seed (depending on the strength of the conference). They ended up with 8 more wins and the FOURTH seed. I remember when just making the playoffs would have been enough. I remember when we were so worried about the first part of the season that we didn’t think the Blazers would hit .500 until the new year. And this is with 4 rookies in the rotation, Oden still adjusting, and Martell out for the year. There is no way I could be anything but proud of how the team performed.

We have a bright future to put it modestly.

hell of a run, boys, hell of a run.

but only in the moment.. in this night.. in the come down…

The Blazers are the most promising team in the NBA!! I know this.. I’ll just think more about it a couple of nights from now.. i got high fast and fell hard

Then I made the mistake of going to O-Live comments and now it’s 2:30am and i’m pissed.

I really thought we were gonna pull it off and shock the world. That being said, I knew it was unrealistic too. I am still ecstatic about our team and know this is just the tip of the iceberg. Also, while I hope we make a move or two this offseason, I really hope we don’t do a complete overhaul (which I find unlikely anyway). Here’s hoping to a more solid guard rotation, more touches and less fouls for Oden, and Steve Blake: the best backup point guard in the league in 09-10.

nweditor: you are correct.

Which is expected, at the moment. About the season in particular? Ecstatic. And even more so for the future. We obliterated pretty much every goal we had going into the season (really the only thing missing was Oden living up to the hype). But for the present? Numb.

We over-achieved. I predicted 48 wins, we got 54; maybe get into playoffs, instead we get homecourt.
Disappointed about getting blown out in the bookend games of the series and about how little we saw of Martell.
Relieved that I can now recoup a few nights a week until the preseason starts.
Curious about what summer moves KP makes.
VERY optimistic about next year.

the thing that sucks about the post season is unless your team wins it all. the last game of the year is a loss. so that part sucked. but on the whole what an amazing year our home town team just had. and we lived and shared it all right here in cyber space. I feel thank full to have Dave, Ben and the rest of the Blazers Edge family.

That’s when it will really sink in that I can’t watch the Blazers again till Fall.

sad face

Well firstly gutted is a word that can come to mind. Really thought we had a good chance to win today, but not to be.

Followed the game at work (was on at 1230 pm here in Oz) and had time after the result to put the season into perspective and what we had achieved.
I suppose a few people will judge players and results on one or two games but having a chance to reflect on the season past I was proud of how far we had come.

I’m sure there will be some changes in the off season, what they are is anybody’s guess at the moment, I like everyone has an opinion on what should be done. I’ll be waiting to see over the next few months how the blazers play their cards in relation to the draft and free agency.

Another emotion is excited, yeah suxs that we are out of the playoffs but I know how exciting the next few seasons are going to be as we march towards a championship.

Looks like I will have to get back to having the blazers win the NBA championship on 2K9.

Another question now is who do we want to see win the title this year?

I think I get in to the games too much, like any proper hardcore fan, and that can certainly take its toll. I was almost more excited the Blazers grabbed the 4 seed than getting a new job. No joke. I wish they didn’t get blown out like did, but Houston is/was a tough matchup and exposed the Blazers’ flaws. Dave said not to discuss the season so I won’t, but I think now the Blazers have a better idea of what to work on.

The other relief is now I can enjoy the playoffs. I sometimes have a hard time doing that for Blazers’ games as I mentioned above. The Bulls-Celtics series has been entertaining and I hope Chicago can stick it to Boston. Paul Pierce would look great in a Blazers’ uniform for sure.

Can’t wait for next season.

but so, so excited for next year!

watch out western conference, portland will be back better next year.

 But I am so glad the Blazers got so far and managed to spread some fear around. They did us fans proud.

I just found out. Say it aint so!

We need at least one of the following to happen for us next year…

Oden makes a big improvement in his game.

Webster proves he is our best SF next year.

Bayless makes a big improvement in his game.

but I can’t understand the lack of adaptation ability by Nate. He had 6 games to make it work, and here I am complaining about the same things that I wrote about after the first preseason games.

I missed Martell
I missed offensive flow, a fast pace.
Using a deep rotation during the season was a good thing, but we’re younger and deeper than every other team, making it a 160 posession game instead of a 200 posession is ignoring our advantages.
Nate didn’t make the most out of the roster, he trusted a few players and went all the way with them not caring about the moment.

I want to see team play, not a couple of static passes and LaMarcus or Roy taking it from there or stopping the flow to start creating again with a few seconds left.

The team looked like KP had something in mind but Nate had something completely different, and I’ll take KP over Nate any day.

How do you FEEL?

The best part of my week was watching the games and posting on BE

… but overall feeling very satisfied with what the Blazers accomplished this season and proud of all of the guys on the team.

Oh, and already getting excited about next season and what this team is going to do.

Sadness is the feeling you get when you lose something. This season is over. We just lost a series. Sure, we’ll be back next season better than ever — by then, the sadness will have dissipated.

Still, I’m proud of our team’s accomplishments this season and I know that we’re going to make some upgrades this summer. I hope that next year’s team is infused with some more consistent veteran presence and I look forward to welcoming that to the team.

But right now, I am sad. It’s been a good season, and it’s sad to see it end.

I am real bummed that it ended this way. But, this series gave us a chance to expose those players that really can’t cut the mustard when the pressure is on. There are some guys that have been here a few years that I am ready to part with now, I think they are entering a window of opportunity with a core group and if we don’t put something around them then we are just going to be another good team and not a great one.

I just want to watch these guys play, more please! I am excited for the players to get a chance to improve their games though. This will be an exciting offseason, and I am already anxious for the next year to begin. I am glad their is a break because you can see that some of the guys really need a break.
    It was sad to see them get crushed in Houston, but I think it was unrealistic to expect them to go further, and Houston was desperate, really desperate. After the game I was instantly just happy about the year, It has been so much fun.

in a few days, ill be fine.

Also I’m hopeful that the team will be realistic in the off-season and address some glaring needs.

but i think that has more to do with the fact that there are no more games to watch till October. It’s hard to go from a game every 2-3 days to now nothing.
I’m very proud of this team and what they accomplished. This was an amazing season, so many memories to look back on and so many things to look forward to.

Go Blazers!

I’m very happy with the progress the team has made this season. 54 wins surpassed my wildest expectations. Our young guys got alot of good experience and the rest of the league knows about the Trail Blazers. We are for real. For real. The future is bright. Since everything happens for a reason, this experience against the Rockets is only going to make the guys tougher, stronger, and more appreciative of how different the intensity of playoff basketball is.

We have a admirable group of guys who respect each other and want to win. Winning isn’t everything, and we have everything else. Yes, quite content indeed.

Game 4 was a killer, up 6 going into the 4th.. we had the game and the momentum.

i was one of the ones that missed the first half because of the TNT coverage.. they really need to do something about that in the near future.

i think its to late in the series to make that type of change.. keep batum on the floor to handle Artest (obviously ROY couldn’t) and then bring in Rudy 5-6 minutes into the game… It worked for game 5!!!

Why not keep it that way. ughhhh.

Proud.
What? Dave said to keep it simple. That’s how I feel. We can analyze later. GO BLAZERS!

replete with hugs*, free T-shirts, a video highlights package, and optimism.

*you know who I mean

And hopeful.

But very pumped about the series and the season as a whole. They did better than I though they would, and I’m looking forward to next year, and I’m really, really curious about how Martell coming back will change the team.

I had the Blazers pegged for a 50 win season. This current team exceeded my numeric expectations, but also my expectations of their character.

I’m optimistic for the future and next season, and sad this season is over.

I walked out of the RG for the last time this season with the Blazers having won in rousing, convincing fashion. They defended their homecourt and took it back to Houston. I can’t be too upset, considering that.

I’ll be honest: when James Posey and Rasual Butler failed to ice the Hornets game against San Antonio on the last night of the season and we ended up drawing Houston, I had a bad feeling. I didn’t tell anybody, and I certainly hoped I’d be wrong, but I knew we were, well screwed. The Rockets are exactly the type of team that exposes what the Blazers don’t yet have, and sure enough, they did expose the Blazers’ inexperience and lack of grit. But happily, these are both correctable weaknesses, and I believe this series will go a long way toward speeding up the Blazers’ maturation process.

Per Dave’s request I will refrain from speculating about what KP, Tom Penn et al will do this offseason. But I expect they will be busy. I think that with the right moves, the Blazers’ championship window opens next season. I am excited to see what happens. For now, I will root for my childhood team, the Hawks, to somehow beat Cleveland (assuming they get by D-Wade) and for the L*kers to lose, lose, lose.

Great season, guys. It’s been fun.

I want to feel good about the season, and I will soon; but I am still a bit frustrated about the losses in Game 1 and Game 4. I felt those two games were games the Blazers should have won. Game 1, they just didn’t match the playoff intensity and focus of the Rockets; and Game 4, they had in their grasp and let it slip away by doing things not characteristic of this team.

They achieved the goals they set out for this season, but they could very easily be prepping for a second round series with the Lakers.

Very, very encouraged.

Proud of our team and this town.

Our Blazer’s are back to stay.

but I read the lottery thread… which brightened my night a little bit. Then I realized that this team is built for the future, improving in every facet of the game. I can’t wait for Bayless, Oden, and Batum to be new players next year. It’s going to be a fun ride.

Not disappointed, because that was what I had hoped/expected before the season. A very young team that proves itself, reaches the playoffs and puts up a good fight against a more experienced team. Even before the playoffs started once we knew it would go against Houston, I was well aware that this was likely one of the most difficult matchups and this ride could easily end. Now I am sad that they couldn’t win one of the games in Houston that slipped just away by a few points; to face what will likely still be their biggest adversary in the coming years and get a feeling for them, too: The Lakers. Putting a little scare into Kobe, Phil & Company even if in the end they likely wouldn’t have prevailed would have earned our guys a lot of additional respect even from people who don’t follow the team closely.

But I am proud of what the team has achieved this year, proud of having spent all this time following them with other devoted fans. And excited for the things to come. Don’t let it pull you down if critics feel like the end of this season has convinced them of everything that’s wrong with this team or individual players. They are wrong. You just know that this will be the best motivation for the team to work hard and improve, now that they have seen what they can achieve.

Thanks for this thread Dave. Talking/writing about your feelings is a good step to get aware of them and over “negative” events as anybody even remotely interested in psychology knows.

of the BEdge community. I really expected more negativism because we didn’t make it to the 2nd round, but it looks like most of the previous posters realize that what we accomplished this season was keeping us right on track. Onward & upward!

and only feel bad because of one loss, i’d say it was a good run. sure, it would have been nice to win a couple more games, but realistically, we took that team to the wire twice in houston. we got all next season, 54 wins? miraculous season. what a great final month too, all those wins, flashes of brilliance. amazing. it will be a forgettable postseason and a memorable regular season. the team has experience now, they’ve found themselves, and hopefully not too many tweaks are necessary. thank you blazers

The Blazers had 54 wins and home court advantage in the playoffs this year which exceeded all expectations. And they did it without Greg Oden for most of the year and without Martell Webster the whole year. That’s amazing. Next year maybe 60 wins??? Who knows? They’ll be up there with the Lakers, Cavs, and Celtics for sure if they keep going the way they are going. I had given the Blazers a 50/50 chance against Houston because it was one of the toughest match ups for them. And they got it to game 6 which is fantabulous! Nothing to get down on. They are still very young.

Sad that the season is over. I liked the ads at the end, but 30 weeks seems forever. I’m proud of these team however, 54 regular season wins is about 7-10 more wins than expected. A tie for the division crown, yes I know Denver is the champs but we were close.

relieved this wasn’t our third attempt to get out of the first round with these guys, hopeful we are going to improve yet again next year, as we have the past couple years, and dissappointed at some fans who are all too hurried to angrily “affix blame” to any particular player for the “failure” in the playoffs, and not terribly motivated to argue with them. I expect some changes will be made. Really, one or two key additions are all that I think are really necessary. I am confident in KP to make well considered moves helpful to the team without excessively disrupting what we already have. Now I am resigned to getting on without our Blazer games for a while. Have a great off season team. Heal up, recharge, plan ahead, get ready for more fun. We are proud of you. Well done.

Thursday felt like the perfect storm of events. Portland had already won a big win-or-go-home game, which was great to see. After that, I think I’d already knew the inevitable was coming Thursday, and was into the ‘acceptance’ stage already.

Plus I’ve been both sick and taking care of someone who’s sick, so I was less focused on the playoff series.

Then, I didn’t get to see the first half of the game, and Houston’s deciding run to start the 2nd quarter. By the time the game started for me, it was almost out of hand already.

After all that, I feel comfortable. As I’d noted in a couple of the pregame threads, I was feeling pretty reflective. Let’s face it, the season gave us all we could really ask for. We’ll have new things to ask for next season.

All season, I praised our offensive efficiency and while I admitted that it was largely due to Roy’s 1v1 brilliance and our offensive rebounding, my feeling was that it didn’t matter how you scored as long as you did.

Then the playoffs came and we scored 96 points per 100 possessions. 96. To put it in perspective, as Kelly Dwyer did, we scored about 114 per 100 in the regular season, tops in the league. The Clippers were 30th… at 102 points per 100 possessions. So, the league’s best offense performed like the league’s worst offense.

So now we have to figure out why. How much of this is due to offensive rebounding and 1v1 play not being bankable in the playoffs? How much is due to drawing Houston— the best defensive team in the West, and featuring its best defenders at the positions of our offensive stars? How much is due to the likes of Outlaw just not hitting any shots? I don’t know the answer, but out offensive woes in this series are a deep concern.

I’ll expand this into a fanpost, probably this weekend.

It was a great season, and we have a bright future, but its an empty feeling today.

It was a fantastic season and a good playoff run. I’m looking forward to next year.

Even though my head said it was a longshot, my heart hoped they could pull it off…. ah well, not this year!

I’m happy with all they’ve accomplished and how much they’ve grown together. I found something to love about each and every one of them and I will miss the ones that will inevitably move on. I’m confident that this is just the first step and that there will be lessons learned at all levels: players, coaches, front office, (dare I say fans?).

I myself have learned a ton this season and have become a fan NBA basketball that I’ve never been before. I was a relatively passive Blazer fan until this year – I went hard core Blazermaniac in a big way this season (season tickets will do that for you). I can’t believe that I won’t have my Blazers to look forward to for months! I can feel the withdrawals already!

Bring on next year!

I mean……54 freaking wins?? Are you serious??

It’s hard to be down on a team that, with only minor improvement next year, can be a 60 win team.

Now that we’re past the playoffs, I think it has become clear that we needed a series like this first. Too much too fast might have been detrimental to the team. They won’t agree with that right now, and I imagine there are a lot of Blazer fans that won’t either. But I think you’ll see it pay big dividends down the road.

It’s like what some of the Rockets fans said on their site today. They deserved to win this series this year, but they don’t want any part of Portland next season. I don’t imagine there will be many teams that do.

It’s hard to stay down when you’re cheering for a team like that.

I would have loved to see the Blazers play the Lakers, but Houston played better in this series and was the better team. The Blazers could have won, but it might have given them false confidence. The Blazers had a great season. They have a nice young roster. But its a team with some holes that needs to learn and grow and making a deep run in the playoffs would have required some “good” luck—a more favorable first round match-up, a hot streak at the right moment.

While that would have been great fun, in the long run it might have been bad for the psyche of the team and the organization in general. Exciting playoff runs for young teams are often fools gold. In each of the previous three seasons young teams that had success in early the playoffs, played poorly the next season. The Clippers in 2006, the Warriors and Jazz in 2007, and the Hornets in 2008 all regressed the following season. Did they simply regress to the mean? Perhaps. Did they gain false confidence? Too much confidence? Perhaps. Certainly the Hornets played the entire season as if they thought they were better than they were. In the off-season the Hornets management made moves that reflected the beliefs that they were 1 piece away from being a contender. Signing Posey turned out to be a mistake and the Hornets crashed and burned.

There’s no way to know, for sure, how a deep run would have affected the players and management on this team, but I like that they go into the off season knowing that they still have a ways to go. The Blazers still need a lot of growth out of the rookies (all three, Greg, Rudy, Batum, and Bayless) and probably need to add a piece or two, (PG and PF). This is an organization that could challenge for a title down the road IF it continues to grow. The worst thing for the team, next to a major injury, would be it thinking it had arrived when it hadn’t.

So, I feel calm, relaxed, and satisfied because the team got about as far as its current talent and experience should be expected to get them.

Roy legitimized(sp?) himself as a NBA superstar with a monster playoff series (27,5,2) against the two best perimeter defenders in the NBA.

LaMarcus showed that he is no Cliff Robinson, as he averaged 20 and 8.

While the role players really struggled to step up, I am extremely happy with the performance of our two best players.

Finally, it appears that we are headed for a fantastic NBA Finals, even though it involves one of my least favorite teams…

I love this team’s roster. Suprised with what these young fellas acomplished this season. Winning 54 games, the improvements of Roy and Joel, the emergence or Batum, and Rudy being able to adjust to the NBA so quickly.

Mildy to moderately dissapointed with Sergio and Greg. Greg seriously played like a guy we plucked out of some non basketball country last Summer and said ’You’re quite the physical speciman, we’re going to teach you how to play the game of basketball, son.’ In his short NBA career, Sergio may have already hit his ceiling.’

1) The Blazers played great this year and 54 wins was well over the 49-50 wins I thought they would get. The best part is they left a good 4 or 5 wins out there that they definetly could have had (Cleveland, Philidelphia…) and just winning a couple more of those could make us into the second best team in the west.

Not only that but Portland led the league in double digit comebacks, if that stat doesn’t say “young team with a lot of talent” then what does? That will help us in the future in two ways; we’ve learned to never give up, and hopefully that if you want to win the difficult games it’s best to never get down by that high of a margine.

I’m also excited for the offseason, all the action involving the draft, free agency, and trades will be really exciting and I hope KP finds a way to improve our team yet again, without major turnover of our players.

Lastly I’m happy for the team and staff. They met their goal of making the playoffs, they probably met their own goal for regular season wins, they have found out just what it will take to be successful in the playoffs, and now they get to go home and be with their families and enjoy the summer (except for KP of course).

OK….last night I was a bit disappointed….but still felt good about the team. And this morning, I feel even better.

Look, last night had to happen for the growth of the team. We saw HUGE regular season growth, and now the Blazers have seen what the plkayoffs are all about. They learned a great deal in the spanking they caught in game one. That much was evident in the next 4 games. And last night they learned about imposing your will in the playoffs. And just as importantly, they learned about the importance of home court advantage, and how easily it can slip away.

For all intents and purposes, the Blazers lost the series in game one, and that’s OK. I want this team to have success over the long haul, because I’m a fan that’s in for the long haul (as in the rest of my life).

As a parent, sometimes I saw my kids learn a lesson in a difficult manner. But you know what? Those are the lessons that really, really stuck with them. And I think that holds true for the Blazers. It takes some tough times to make you tough.

As an example, look at the Hornets. They blew into the playoffs for the first time in a million years or so (well, it seemed like it) and they made a quick run into the WCF. They learned that the playoffs are rather easy….but we KNOW the playoffs are hard. And look at what happened to them this season…..they looked like they just didn’t belong in the playoffs.

Let’s be real. How do you think KP feels this morning? I’m guessing he feels really proud of the team, and is thinking it’s an important step to becoming a regular contender for the title.

I’m thinking he’s right.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

Time to regroup, reassess, and think about why we got smoked. Feel like this is a good wake up call for a team that has potential but not-yet-enough grit.

I honestly 100% believe in this team. I wonder what other team in the league (besides maybe Dallas) could have beaten the blazers.

I was disappointed in our bench which was a no show for pretty much the entire series. I was disappointed at how the blazers fell away from Blazer basketball and went 1 on 1.

I also feel let down because someone at my work SCOFFED at me when I said the blazers had a chance to win and go on. The fact they were right leaves me a bit red assed. She’s a Jazz fan that is EXTREMELY disparaging towards the blazers.

Now I’m just a little sad, but proud of the team. I’m feeling honest that a few changes need to happen because we didn’t have a third player we could count on to score.

The blazers have shown promised. Every year they’ve been getting better, every year they look more like a professional team. The blazers have also been over achieving. They play hard and scrap and work, which is more than most NBA teams, this is why they do well. The problem is that a number of players are playing at their max potential. They just don’t HAVE that extra notch to go to.

I love all the players, but this series also drove home the point that change is needed. Yes, a number of them will grow this year, but some won’t or won’t enough. We need more than mediocre from a few positions and currently we don’t get that.

I like the center position, but Greg HAS to step up next year. He’s ugly on the floor and sloppy.

I like the PF position but I think we need a trade and travis may be a key. That means I want a good back-up.

The SF position needs something. Can webster give that? We need defense, but we HAVE to have offense.

SG position is great, but I admit that I thought Rudy would give us more in terms of scoring.

PG position. I love blake, but he’s playing at his maximum potential, and we need more in the play-offs.

So, I’m a little drained, a little sad, a little, disappointed, and a little proud.

It’s disappointing that the season is over, but I feel very optimistic about the future of the organization.

This summer is going to be very, very important in terms of personnel decisions. The time for evaluations on many of the current Blazers is over and the time for decisions has now been reached. So, I am also excited about what June, July and August bring….

This year’s incarnation of the Blazers team accomplished a little more than I thought they would. I didn’t think they would win the championship this year anyway. They got some good experience and next year they will come back that much better. I would not be surprised to see the Blazers as the second seed in the West and making it to the Western conference finals. I can’t wait.

I have nothing but good feelings about the finished season. I’ve been following this team for 11 years, since I was nine years old. I saw them go from getting to the conference finals two years in a row (and damn near winning it in 2000), to being a team that makes the playoffs but gets eliminated in the first round every year, to not even making the playoffs period. I lived through the disappointment of the Jail Blazer years. Until about two years ago, I would go to games and the Rose Garden would be nearly 2/3 empty. But then Kevin Pritchard came in and turned the team around completely, trading away all the “Jail Blazer” guys, making smart trades (we drafted Tyrus Thomas and somehow turned that into Brandon Roy AND LaMarcus Aldridge on draft day, and the next year we used the trade exception we got in the Zach Randolph trade to snag Phoenix’s #24 pick, Rudy Fernandez), and having faith that all these young guys would one day turn into championship contenders without a high-priced superstar. His faith paid off. The amount of growth this team has gone through in the last few years is staggering. Going from sucking hard enough to get the #1 lottery pick, to finishing at .500, to winning 54 games and getting the #4 seed, with two rookies in the starting lineup? That’s impressive. I could go over everything we did this season, but my highlight was when we beat the Celtics without B-Roy. That’s when I knew these guys were the real deal. And they’re only going to get better for years to come. With Martell Webster back in the lineup next year and Batum coming off the bench this gives us so much more depth. And our young guys will only get better as they get older.

Can the next season start already?

Since I knew they weren’t going to win the championship this year, I think they had a totally successful season. After this series, now they know. The players know what it will take and management know what they have and what they need. We have ample reason to believe in both.

It was perfectly natural to let down some after achieving what was the chief goal all year: making the playoffs. Next year, that won’t be the goal it will be a milepost along the way.

Finally, I really appreciate what Houston did for the Blazers in this series. They played hard, they scratched and clawed, they played like it really mattered. Mostly the Blazers stayed with them but in two games they didn’t. Take the lesson. I don’t think Houston will get past the Lakers but good luck to them anyway.

but it was also very disappointing that we started and finished our playoff run being blown out.
I have definitely enjoyed the ride so far and I am certain that it will only get better.

You see, I have been building a little Blazer fan at home. My nine year old daughter has become a big Blazer fan over the course of the year. I have taken her to many games this year (and last). Her favorite players are Brandon and Joel “The Thrilla” Przybilla (this is the way she always says his name). This offers even more of a bonding moment for us. The unforseen consequence however is that last night when she realized that The Blazers were out of the playoffs…she cried…..and I totally didn’t anticipate that. I suspected that she would say: “Oh Don’t worry Daddy ….there is always next year” or something like that . Probably because I didn’t think she had truely intergrated her fanhood so soon (I thought she was doing it mostly for me …ie: she loved her Dad and he loved the Blazers so she loved the Blazers). But when she started crying, I realized that this wasn’t the case. I also started feeling guilty for exposing her to the possibilty of this pain. Finally I decided I was a little envious….I wished that I could cry too. Why? Because I found that afterward she felt a lot better. While I couldn’t cry about it, I did find, that I was able to get a better perspective emotionally. If I gave my girl the gift of fanhood and comraderie….she gave me anotheer tool to get over the disappointments that come with it. Go ahead and cry (literally or figuratively) and then move on with it. I hope and pray that these guys give us a ring or two….but if they don’t …..we will be fine. Thank you sweety, I love you too.

I would’ve enjoyed them, but tickets for a deep playoff run was going to be a large unexpected expense

Part of me is disappointed because I don’t like losing, regardless of the circumstances. I don’t like the season to be over. I dwell on the idea of replaying Game 1 so that the ultimate outcome of the series would probably change. Things like that.

But I’m also satisfied. This season exceeded my expectations. I was expecting a 47 win season and a 7 or 8 seed. I was pleasantly surprised how this team surpassed those benchmarks. I’m estatic about how Brandon improved his game (both statistically and leadership wise) this season. I’m positively optimistic about the future (and thats hard to do, just check my screen name). That definitely is softening the blow of last night.

The Blazers had a successful season. They overachieved and created some unbelievable moments. I’m proud of team.

We won 54 games. Beat The L*kers more than they beat us, and re-entered the playoffs. Brandon Roy established himself as a one of the leagues elite. Yes, all Blazer faithful are upset we did not move on to the second round. But while you are building a team you need adversity to illuminate areas you need to improve. I don’t feel like doing a lot of evaluation today, we have all summer to debate and discuss, but as painful as it was, The Houston Rockets and our 1st round exit was probably something inevitable and needed by this team, like medicine.

There have been relatively recent times when seasons ended and I thought The Blazers had problems that were almost impossible to solve. Personel, management, Ownership questions. We’ve gotten to a good place, where the questions we ask about this team are questions we can strive to answer relatively easily either through continued development of assets we already have, or the attempt to obtain new assets. All in all that’s where you want to be as a franchise on the rise, and I feel fine.

The future looks. KP was right not to mix it up midseason (not the Portland way), but you know he’ll make the right decisions — and get some beef — in the summer.

Very much looking forward to next season.

Blazers become champions if we improve:

Low-post offensive option.
Additional strong, slashing option

By either of the two scenarios:

Option #1
1)If Oden becomes a regular low-post scorer, as he showed in about 10 games this year.
2)If we trade for a stong veteran SF like G. Wallace or C. Butler. (Webster may be a good shooter, but he’s not going to take the ball to the rim often).
3)Keep Blake as the main PG

OR

Option #2
1) As above
2)We obtain a strong PG who can both dish and drive (Could Bayless improve his shooting, reduce his turnovers, and stop fouling every 30 seconds to do this???)

Roy, Aldridge, and one other legitimate option (either PG, SF or Center)will overwhelm any defense.

We’ve improved vastly on defense this year over previous years, which was AMAZING to watch. Especially Aldridge, Batum, Oden and Blake (yes, Blake was much better towards the end of the year in staying in front of the opposing PG’s). This is pure coaching and athleticism of the current roster.

Excited for the developments in the off-season

I feel sad the season is over only because I won’t be able to watch the Blazers for awhile!! Also want them to know that because of them the winter went by in a flash and I had soooo much fun watching them play! I think they did their best. All of them. And I think they have much to be proud of and thankful for! I think next season will be even better! GO BLAZERS!

for next season. Only five six-week periods to go. – Elgin

I blame kgw for our first round exit.

Sad the season’s over with, but deeply satisfied. I feel like I’ve just finished eating an incredible gourmet dinner. I knew the meal had to come to an end and I wasn’t too happy with the dessert, but I also know I’ll wake up tomorrow and crave another course. It’ll take a little time to wean myself off this addiction to Blazer games.

It’s also been nice to read through the comments above and feel so connected with the community here. This has been a magical year in so many ways — it’s great to be able to share it with so-called strangers all over the world.

Good season — I feel like it could have been better with one or two more proactive moves from Kevin Pritchard though, that’s the only thing that would stop me from saying it was an excellent year.