Assessing the Blazers

Management

The Turkoglu Affair seems to highlight the inexperience of the Blazer management when it comes to augmenting and maintaining a playoff caliber team.

First there is the poor reaction to the Darius Miles reality.  It feels like management didn't plan for an unfavorable result.

Second, the Blazer's seemed playoff bound for some time during the season, but when July 1 rolled around management doesn't seem very organized--i.e. they seemed to sight their lasers on a particular guy rather than court several at a time (what was the hurry?).

Third, management seems determined to get a veteran, any serviceable veteran.  Why?  Is there something amiss in the coaching staff?  Why can't Nate bring along the young guys? 

I don't sense a plan that is as good as the rebuilding plan ( or has luck just made rebuilding look good).

Players

I don't see anything yet that alarms me.  The team appears to have chemistry which is a difficult thing to achieve when a team is as young as the Blazer's.  But this coming season will be a bellweather for many players (I'm thinking of marked improvement by Batum, Oden, Bayless, and Fernandez.  If other players improve as well--it won't hurt my feelings).

Team

The Blazers are a .600 team (~50 wins).  That means they should fall between 45-37 and 55-27.  I've put a +- of 5 games because a team might have a run of bad luck or good luck that will either not reflect the ability of the team or inflate the ability it actually has.

To get to 60 wins, I think that would make the blazers an elite team, means we need to add some scoring and some defense against quick, penetrating guards.  60 wins means we should expect the blazer's to make it out of the first round.  55 or fewer wins means that Portland might not yet have the horses to get out of the first round.

Finally

I don't want anyone to think I'm not hoping for a world championship.  I watched every minute of the 76-77 blazer championship run ( or at least looking back at it it seems like I did).  I'd love to watch the team succeed again.  But I want the team to be good, to have excellent players.  To get that, especially in today's NBA, patience should be exercised.  When this core group of players gets good enough to make a run, we'll have to turn down calls from players who want to be part of the Blazers.

Two for LaRue!!