RealGM

I think this is also an early game.

The Blazers play the worst team in the West & second worst in the NBA.

Two very young teams that are in kind of different directions.

While the Blazers are looking to be a playoffs team and a contender in the following years, Minnesota has a lot to think about and might be depending on the next draft to see what will be of them.

Al Jefferson leads the Wolves, along McCants, Gomes, Foye, Brewer and Telfair (which might not play).

And about the Blazers, Roy has to be the main man and Aldridge and Martell have to be the main cast of the supporting role on offense. Also bench players like Jack, Jones and Outlaw have to produce to help the starters get through the game.

Positives for the Blazers: Roy, Adlrdige, Blake, Joel.
Negatives: The lack of contribution from the bench in the last games.

I say Blazers by +/-10pts.

Goooo Blazers!

I hope Nate opts for Wafer over Jack--but I don't see it happening since Portland will need a ball handler out there. Right now I'm just hoping to see Travis break out of his slump, Aldridge to continue his dominance and no one get hurt.

I would rather Nate pick his top 8 players and tighten up to an 8 man rotation. IMO Nate plays to many players. I'm sure he has a good reason for playing a lot of guys but I know teams that put winning as their highest priority rely mostly on 7 or 8 players.

Billy wrote:I hope Nate opts for Wafer over Jack--but I don't see it happening since Portland will need a ball handler out there. Right now I'm just hoping to see Travis break out of his slump, Aldridge to continue his dominance and no one get hurt.

The best part about that is I bet you Wafer
is just as good as ball handler then Jack.. .



Blazers by 8.

d-train wrote:I would rather Nate pick his top 8 players and tighten up to an 8 man rotation. IMO Nate plays to many players. I'm sure he has a good reason for playing a lot of guys but I know teams that put winning as their highest priority rely mostly on 7 or 8 players.

Yep - Good teams play about 8 and maybe the 9th
but just for a min or two to rest the main player(s).

I pointed that out along with the Blazers will have
trouble scoring at the very start of the season.
I think I said they would avg about 89-92ppg.
I was off 3 points, doh!! Also good teams
have 5 starters & maybe the 6th man is
good enough to start too & the rest are
role players. Right now the Blazers have
three starters (Im not counting Oden).
The rest are role players at best.. .
Roy, LMA, Outlaw

Hopefully the Blazers will bounce back from last night's loss. So what are the odds on this thread turning into a Al vs LMA debate? I'm going with about 98%.

LMA goes off for 30..

must win for the team. We need to win this to have confidence going into sac town.

The Kings are going to be tough with Artest playing so good. The Kings are a tough matchup for us.

I'd like to see us start Sergio at PG, Outlaw at PF and Aldridge at C and run like hell.

Let Jack get the DNP-coach's decision he deserves for a change.

d-train wrote:The Kings are going to be tough with Artest playing so good. The Kings are a tough matchup for us.

Especially when Nate puts Roy on Artest man to man.

I don't want sergio or jack to play. I want either Blake or Roy to handle the ball the entire game. If one of those guys has a turnover, I know there were 5 other choices they made that were good right before the mistake.

With Jack, he probably already turned it over last possession.

Sergio; he's in the doghouse so PT will only happen is jack or blake get hurt.

I say Blazers get a 7 point lead at half, Minnesota catches back up in the fourth qtr, then Blazers finish the game 95-90.

Mr Odd wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Especially when Nate puts Roy on Artest man to man.

Unfortunately, Roy is the only guy Blazers have with any combination of size and toughness that can guard Artest. If we had Udoka, Roy wouldn't get that responsibility. Nate has to win with the players he has, that means Roy is going to be burdened with some tough defensive assignments.

Al Jefferson is better than Aldridge..according to the Twolves game thread.

taufblazers33 wrote:Al Jefferson is better than Aldridge..according to the Twolves game thread.

They would be correct, lol.

But LMA has a great chance of becoming better.

taufblazers33 wrote:Al Jefferson is better than Aldridge..according to the Twolves game thread.

He is.

taufblazers33 wrote:Al Jefferson is better than Aldridge..according to the Twolves game thread.

Yeah, he's better at immitating Zach randolph (just taking a common generalization. Jefferson's post offense is much better than Zach's and Jefferson's defense is better than Zach's). But I agree with Odd that he's better now while LA projects to be better in the future. If I were a T-Wolve fan (which I'm not), I'd be very happy with Big Al but as a Blazer fan, I can honestly say we're better of with LA.

This game is clearly a must-win tonight. There is no excuse to losing to the T-wolves and if the Blazers can hit their shots tonight, they should be able to win. I'm hoping that the Blazers will dominate tonight but I get the feeling that this'll be closer than most of us want it to be.

taufblazers33 wrote:Al Jefferson is better than Aldridge..according to the Twolves game thread.

Jefferson has an extra year on Aldridge tho. So picture LA NEXT year when trying to compare

d-train wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


Unfortunately, Roy is the only guy Blazers have with any combination of size and toughness that can guard Artest. If we had Udoka, Roy wouldn't get that responsibility. Nate has to win with the players he has, that means Roy is going to be burdened with some tough defensive assignments.

True - Artest is a hard cover for almost any player.
I might try Webster on him & leave Joel in to protect
the middle if the game is close down the stretch.. .
Outlaws wingspan would work good since Artest has
little hops but Artest would out-power Outlaw.. .