I will try to get you up to speed on the Blazers.SlimShady83 wrote:UcanUwill wrote:SlimShady83 wrote:Yep sorry bro place your entire predictions, don't be nervous it's all good
Ok, I will try, but I am doing this quick, without much analysis, this what I think now, August 8
1. OKC
2. Denver
3. Houston
4. Minny
5. Lakers
6. Clippers
7. Dallas
8. Spurs
9. Warriors
10. Portland
11. Memphis
12. Pelicans
13. Sacramento
14. Suns
14 Utah (lock this one down, they are last)
Well, I do think Portland at least make the play in, but my bold prediction that they might sneak in in the play offs. I am counting on some teams like Dallas, Spurs or Warriors to crap the bed, I think they have more potential to crap the bed than Portland, Portland is not reliant on one guy, so at worst they will be in the mix even with injuries. But if like Steph, Victor or AD misses some time, their team can fall hard.
I think Clippers are better than the Lakers, but they are old and I doubt they try that hard in regular season.
Houston was number two seed this year, you must really hate KD if you think they are in play in now.
Yeh sorry man. I don't see it with Blazers, they might not be deadlast but I can see them being way lower then where you expect, why you think Mem and Kings will drop that low?
Blazers, lost Ayton in buyout, have no real center unless I'm missing something Clingan?? Dame is out for who knows how long and how will he be once he returns, Grant IMO is washed up not the same player, RW is injury prone and I think out for a few months? You really counting on Jrue/Sharpe/Scoot/Thybulle to take them to the 10th seed in the tough West?
Portland played really solid basketball after February. They embraced a defensive identity and high-paced style. During this period a few things happed.
1. DeAndre Ayton was benched and Donovan Clingan became the starting center. Clingan provided elite rebounding and rim-protection. Unlike Ayton he sets solid screens and plays good help defense. On the flip side he has conditioning issues and fouls too frequently. At this point he is trending towards a Rudy Gobert type of game and role
2. Deni Avidja (whom you don't mention) emerged. In the 40 games from January, Avdija averaged 19.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists on high efficiency and was a monster in drawing fouls. He is an excellent defender
Looking forward to this upcoming season-
- added Jrue Holiday for Anfernee Simons. Holiday, a two-time NBA champion, perenial all-defensive team member will presumably start at PG. He has slipped a tad but will be far better than Simons who was an atrocious defender.
- Toumani Camara (whom you also didn't mention) has emerged as one of the best defenders in the NBA. He made the 2nd all-defensive team. He is a decent 3pt shooter as well. Here is an analysis of his d
- Jerami Grant was unmotivated and had an off year. If he can return to his normal 40% 3 pt shooting, 20 ppg and excellent defense then all five starters fit the new style of play
Looking at the bench:
- Scoot Henderson improved a lot during the past season and has been working really hard this off-season to continue improving. Now that he has both Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard to learn from there is a lot of optimism surrounding him.
- Shadon Sharpe. One of the best athletes in the world. Really skilled as well. Makes it look so easy. Last season he was removed from the starting line-up do to a lack of effort on defense. Needs to work on his ball-handling and shooting. In a contract year hoping to get a big extension. This youtuber makes a compelling case as to why he might be poised to emerge
- Matisse Thybulle. A known commodity. Excellent defender who can hit a set shot off the dribble, just don't expect him to create
- Robert Williams III. Also a known commodity. Frequently injured but I see no news about a current injury. When healthy a very impactful player
- Yang Hansen. Great find by the Blazers. Check out his highlights from summer league, the draft combine and U19 vs France where he dominated Alex Sarr. Hopefully he plays well enough to earn playing time. If not, there is Duop Reath.
I am expecting the Blazers to be very competitive every game and in a conference full of old players focussing on the playoffs its not hard to see them winning a fair share of those games. If you compare the Blazers this season to the Rockets last year, there are a lot of similarities and it isn't inconceivable for them to make a similar jump if enough things break positively.
as for my predictions:
OKC
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Denver
Minnesota
Houston
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LAC
LAL
GS
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Dallas
San Antonio
Memphis
Portland
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Sacramento
Phoenix
New Orleans
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Utah
