For Blazers, solstice success
December and January tend to be good to the Portland Trail Blazers, and they certainly are this season. Last night the Portland squad drove past Orlando in overtime -- the fifth Blazer overtime win, with no losses, this season.
The home win, the Blazers' eighth straight, comes on the heels of a tough road trip in which Portland won three of four. In games decided by six points or fewer, the Blazers are 10-2.
If the playoffs started today, the Blazers would be in them. They're currently seventh in the league's Western Conference. But they're ahead of Utah and the Lakers, who will be playing better ball in the spring than they are now.
You have to take your hat off to the team's new head coach, Terry Stotts, who's getting the job done. For our money, he's outperforming former coach Nate McMillan. Stotts actually calls plays that score baskets. We can't picture Nate winning all the close games and taking a thin lineup like this year's Blazers to a 19-15 record.
But it's still pretty early. In the past we have learned that wins at this time of year can be fool's gold. We'll see what goes down under Stotts once the crocuses are up.
| Posted at 8:45 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
5 Reasons the Blazers are better than expected this year:
1) Mathews is able to get his shot and put the ball on the floor (sometimes).
2) JJ Hickson is effective playing center and his energy ignites the team to play hard. Dude can ball.
3) Batum has added a lot to his game. He can score, defend, pass, and makes key baskets when they need a boost.
4) Damian Lilliard has exceeded all expectations to the point where you now take him for granted. Teams have to plan how to stop him - that is incredible.
5) Stotts is very impressive with planning, evaluation, and dishing out minutes. I like his style of play, which is so refreshing from boring, boring McDidn't.
I thought this team would be Aldridge and everybody else, but they are playing great team ball and are hard to stop because you can't focus on one dude.
They may not make the playoffs, but I think they will prove a handful for any team if they continue to listen to coach and trust each other.
Posted by tim | January 8, 2013 9:30 AM
It's an incredibly well balanced team. Last night there were four double-doubles. And no serious head cases! I'm more enthused than I have been for years.
I do have to turn off the TV sound and listen to Wheeler on the radio, though. The 8-second delay is a drag, but I just can't bear to listen to the TV commentators. Mediocrity personified.
Posted by Jack Bog | January 8, 2013 9:45 AM
What? You don't like to see Mike Rice become grandpa in the corner with each passing game?
And listening to Wheels and then watch the play happen seconds later can be kinda cool. They used to sync up the radio with the TV, but not after moving to KEX this year.
Posted by tim | January 8, 2013 9:53 AM
It's not a team that's gonna make a deep playoff run, but it certainly is a fun one to get behind. I give a lot of credit to Stotts, who actually makes in-game changes to his coaching strategy. What a novel idea.
It'll be a bummer if they have to deal Hickson at the deadline to get value for him. He brings serious heart to this squad.
Posted by Flynn | January 8, 2013 9:58 AM
Great team but I hope they do not get mired in mediocrity....to good for a decent draft pick and to bad to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Getting the 3 and 11 pick last year really gave us a shot in the arm.
Posted by GEORGE | January 8, 2013 11:25 AM
Definitely exceeding all expectations. The starting 5 is very competitive. If they had someone like Jamaal Crawford to come off the bench...
The bench is improving. No where to go but up... Great fun to watch and so far they deliver in the close games.
Posted by Mike Austin | January 10, 2013 12:59 PM