MAS RipCity

I am somewhat baffled why some think we won't make the playoffs last year. Yes, I realize we failed to keep our playoff streak alive last season, but you can't hold that judgement towards our current roster. I mean we went through some major remodeling and we still almost made it. Also please remember we were the last team to win a road game in 03-04 and still were in it to the end,and probably could have beat the Wolves in the first round, or at least scared them.

We need to just give our core guys a full season to play with each other. Theo was avering what seemed like 5 blocks a night with Portland, that is just outrageous. He totally changed the whole complexion of our squad. Zach is in better shape and his overall game continued to progress during the season. I saw him more vocal, in a good way, while he was on the bench cheering his teammates on. He improved his passing out of double teams, it still needs work, but it did get better. The defensive performance also stepped up. Now that he is in better condition, he can expand more energy on the defensive end of the court. Darius, hopefully, will be back, and with that comes an energetic high-flyer. He gave our team another new dimension, like Theo did. We never had shot blocking before Theo came, and we didn't have that big forward who can handle the rock in the open court, nor did we have someone who can finsih the fast break like he can. We all saw his free throws and mid-range jumpers improve drastically. He is only getting better, he just needs more time. Hopefully DA can come back healthy for a whole year so he can be more effective. Damon had his best year as a Blazer last year, and this year he won't have to log 40 minutes a game because Van Exel is on board. I really am intriuged at how they can play together. We do need more outside shooting, so I am praying that we can sign Wesley Person. He was excellent off of the bench in his short stint here last year. He was automatic and really helped spread the floor. The wildcard in the situation is Shareef. I think he will not be dealt, Nash is just not getting the appropriate offers for him. If Reef will learn how to come off the bench, quit complaining, and give it his all, and Cheeks will learn how to give him more then 17 minutes a night, then a rotation of Reef,Zach, and Theo will be extremely lethal. I would also like to see Rahim play some small forward and let Darius start at the 2.

I think a successful season will depend on how well our backcourt performs, and how much our guards can get away with from Cheeks. We know both DA and Damon had no leash on them at all, both shot at will. I feel that Cheeks needs to becn heither if they are taking shots out of the offense or are just having off nights and aren't contributing in other aspects of the game. We know what Darius, Zach, Theo, Ruben, etc will bring to the table, but can Damon keep up his clutch shooting, will DA stay healthy?, Will NVE continue his big-game performances here?Will a legit backup shooting guard emerge? I think that if we can become more of an open court team and get out on the break then we can do some great things this year. Theo can start the breaks with his blocks, Darius, DA, Damon, and Exel all are capable of leading the break, and we know who can finish them.

My prediction is that we will make the playoffs, and could challenge for Home Court Advantage if all things go well. We will really see if Cheeks is a good coach or not this year. I think we have a top 4 team in the West, and if he is smart with his substitution patterns, he hasn't been so far, then we could be up there. We would have easily made the playoffs had Cheeks prepared us for the crappy teams.

Yes, this is an optimistic view, but we played well with this core team last year, so why shouldn't we play well this year?

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PDX Fan Since '90