OKC Who? Naw its the Blazers baby!

Western Conference

1. Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers have been on the brink of challenging for the Western Conference for a couple of seasons now, but injuries have derailed this team . Last year Greg Oden, Joel Przyzbilla, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw, Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez all missed significant time due to injuries and the Blazers still managed to win at least 50 games for the second consecutive season. Considering all the depth this team has had over the past few seasons, it is hard to believe that this is deepest edition of the Portland Trail Blazers that we have seen since Clyde Drexler and Co. went to three consecutive Western Conference Finals in 1990-92. The addition of Wesley Matthews, a gritty perimeter defender and capable crunch-time shooter, along with the return of Oden and (eventually) Przyzbilla to a front line that includes Marcus Camby and LaMarcus Aldridge makes this Blazers team extremely tough. Shooting guard Brandon Roy is a perennial All-Star and a 20-5-5 guy with outstanding leadership skills and is as good in the clutch as any other player in the league. With a veteran point guard in Andre Miller and one of the best coaches in the business in Nate McMillan, health is the only thing that will keep the Blazers from competing for a Western Conference crown.

Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17290#ixzz0zBLa0Unq

I completely agree. The constant love and attention the the Thunder are getting from the media is as gross as girls were in Kindergarten.

The offseason has been particularly annoying for it, but it went on most of last season too. I hated how many votes Scott Brooks got for coach of the year. His strategy consists of leaving Kevin Durant in for the entire game, surrounding him with any four marginally talented role players, praying he doesn’t get hurt, and letting things sort themselves out. For us the Blazers to win 50 games (the same number as OKC had and with a higher playoff seed) with the injuries we had took actual coaching ability on Nate’s part.

Our season series with OKC last year should really illustrate in the media’s minds how much further along the Blazers really are, particularly the last two meetings (what amounted to be two of the biggest wins of the season for us). We have shown that we can win close games in the closing minutes in a way that OKC has yet to really demonstrate, and that’s what the playoffs are all about.

In any case, it’s refreshing to see the Blazers getting some respect from someone who writes about the NBA for a living.

it will have to be within the next few years, because the way Roy plays he won’t be in his prime for too long. He goes through a lot of wear and tear, which is no fault of his own but simply the result of his role on the team.

And Oden’s health might even play a bigger role in winning a championship than Roy. There are plenty of guards on championship caliber teams that can give Roy a run for his money, but Portland will have a distinct advantage over those same teams at center if Oden stays healthy and continues to show improvement on the court.

Lol, you’re just like me: we hate OKC. HOWEVER…. however… my reason is like yours, but IDK if you have another reason, but I do. It’s Durant. Some of you may know that I am grouped with the few people who still believes in Oden. I don’t like OKC because: 1) people view them as better than us. 2) They seem like a rising team that might threaten us. 3) Injuries have prevented the chance to show who is better: Oden v. Durant. Fans are so demanding, they don’t know how to wait. “Patience is a virtue”

Here’s an old OregonLive article on Oden BEFORE the injury.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/11/oden_sounds_off_and_his_newfou.html

Like the bleacherreport venjance found, this, to me, was heart-warming. Also, a small part of that article showed why I enjoyed having Outlaw on this team.