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Outside Media Believes Blazers Are Contenders
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  1. DHawes22
    DHawes22
    Posts: 6481

    Posted 01/18/2012 12:47 PM



    From ESPN.Com's 5-on-5 NBA Roundtable, "Contenders or Pretenders"

    Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog:
     Contenders. Make no mistake, this team can win the West. By ditching his traditional coaching style (slow-paced, half-court basketball), Nate McMillan has finally put the Blazers in position to play to their full potential. They're deep, long and athletic. Oh yeah, LaMarcus Aldridge is pretty good, too.
    Rob Mahoney, The Two Man Game:
     Contenders. The Blazers are hovering around the impressive distinction of having both a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense, a special level of balance that typically results in playoff success. Portland is certainly an imperfect team, but it has an opportunity to capitalize on a Western Conference in flux by way of its speed, efficiency and versatility.
    Henry Abbott, TrueHoop:
     Contenders, barely. The bad news is that Nate McMillan is playing people long minutes in a dense season. The other bad news is that he has a history of being predictable, which is especially costly in the playoffs. However, this season the style is all different, with higher energy and less predictability. This is also now a veteran team. If healthy, the Blazers could make a run.
    Continue Reading>>>

    Only one of the five media members believed Portland was not a contender. I bring this article up, because I thought it was interesting that even though we have struggled mightily on the road lately, that folks outside of the Northwest still believe this team is legit. I know many around here, including myself, were worried after the three-game losing streak. So it's nice to get a little more perspective. I don't think we are "elite" per say, but we could definitely still contend for the West.

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  1. DHawes22
    DHawes22
    Posts: 6481

    Posted 01/18/2012 1:13 PM

    Did I also mention that three of the five panelists believes that out of a groups consisting of the Trail Blazers, Hawks, Mavericks, and Clippers that Portland will go the furthest in the playoffs?

    Abbott:
     The Blazers -- I say this knowing I'll look like a homer. Here's why: The East teams can't survive very long without beating one of the two best teams in the league. In the West, both Dallas and Portland have flaws, but a lot of the West playoff teams (Thunder, Lakers, Nuggets) struggle more than you'd expect against Portland, and the Blazers have a new approach which just might give them a shot.
    Lagree:
     Blazers. The margin between the second-best and 10th-best record in the West won't stay at 2½ games for the entire season, but there won't be a ton of separation at season's end.
    Mahoney:
     The Blazers. Behind an impressive rotation of LaMarcus Aldridge, Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Jamal Crawford, Portland has a legitimate shot at the Western Conference finals. The Clippers might, too, but I'm inclined to side with the Blazers as the more proven commodity.
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  1. CarlJ1
    CarlJ1
    Posts: 398

    Posted 01/18/2012 9:27 PM

    Well this was before the hawks game but, after that Hawks game some might change their mind.
    I am a fan of Respect, Loyalty, Honor & Pride the same thing the Blazer & their true fans are made of RIP CITY STAND UP!
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