ABM

(OK, I'm basking in all this good stuff as much/more than the rest of you, and, I realize that there a LOT of injuries...which might be a contributing factor in answering my following question, however..............)

I haven't had the opportunity to watch any of these wonderful games, but the general m.o. appears to be similar for each of them: That is, fall behind early, then rally for the win.

My question is, if we're good enough to make these marvelous comebacks, then why are we falling behind in the first place?

Zybot

It's our strategy. When we took the early lead against the Clippers we lost.

ProudBFan

For some reason is seems to take us a little while to get our wits together out there.

Wish I had a better answer for ya, ABM.

PBF

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hasoos

I believe it is because of the starting lineup, there are certain lineups on the team that do not mesh well together. One of them is when Magloire and Zbo are on the court at the same time. Magloire is not effective out of the key, and while he is out there with Zbo teams just pack it in the middle and make it very tough to score inside. I believe once the team gets a few more big bodies back that mesh better with Zbo, the starting lineup will bring its level of play up.

At the same time, I have to say that when the team does go small with Zbo at center, they seem to work together very well, as that team has a lot of speed. They rely on trapping defense instead of funnelling into a big guy, and it often leads to good results.

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Hasoos

STOMP

I can't to see a lineup of Jack, Roy, Travis, Zach and LaMarcus. I see that as a balanced blend of talents that could play very effective and entertaining ball. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for that.

STOMP

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaQprMCe20A&NR=1

Yega1979

Either LaFrentz and Aldridge will work there way into the starting center position until Joels testes heal. Having a center that can shoot makes sense when working with Zach, and both have better help defense than Magaworthless.

Off the bench, we have a lot of scorers like Dixon, Webster and Outlaw, but these guys aren't the best defenders right now, and will need Joel inside(and his new titanium cup, for the love of God).

mgb

It's conditioning, we just wear them out.

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Michael



"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."
-Margaret Lee Runbeck

"Science is built with facts as a house is with stones--but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house."
-Jules Henri Poincare (1854-1912)

"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."
-Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

HispanicCausinPanic

Relax! Who cares!.............We are one of the youngest teams in the League! Enjoy it while it lasts! WHEN WE ARE EXPECTED TO WHEN ALL THESE GAMES AND WINNING THEM IN THIS FASHION, THEN WE CAN ANALYZE THE HELL OUT OF THEM! But if remember, we are suppose to suck this year and not win any games. Sit back and enjoy this stuff! When I left the garden last night, i had to think really hard when I was as pumped up and excited from watching a Blazer game (and I watch alot of 'em!) as I was that night. It's hard for me to type this 'cause I chewed off some finger nails! Enjoy it man. We will start critiqueing these guys when we're SUPPOSE to win.

ABM

I work in middle-management for a Fortune 500 company. Some of my group's most stressful, evaluative, and/or strategic moments take place during those times when things seem to be going the best. As such, we're never wanting to lose our edge or momentum. We take the mindset that there's always room to improve..........remaining in a proactive state as opposed to reactive. Therefore, we tend to view respectful, constructive criticisms as resources and potential growth tools.

But, hey, as I mentioned at the outset, don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the moment, man!

EDIT: Again, without having seen any of the games, I'd sure like to know what Magloire's +/- is. I'm thinking he's one of our downfalls and not really a part of comeback efforts, either. I could be wrong, though.

Blazer Freak

The reason we come back is because of our small lineup. When we go Jack/Roy/Webster/Outlaw/Zach or Jack/Webster/Udoka/Outlaw/Zach we can run it much easier and that lineup meshes well. Teams just can't really react to it because if Jack is making his J and Roy and Webster are doing their thing you can't focus on Zach.

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HOWIE

I think that there are a few thing that got this team playing from behind on most nights

• Portland is a young team
• There are a bunch of new players on the team
• The season is just getting started
• We don't have a lot of big men due to injuries
• Roy is going down is only going to make other players have to step up. This could be a blessing.

I think that it just takes a bit for this team to get going. Playing from behind seems to be the M.O. so far this season, but I think that once this team really starts to gel they won't be playing from behind. I'm not saying Portland is going to make the playoffs, but I think that this team is going to leave it all out on the floor after every game. The buzz is back about the Blazers, we're not at Blazermania yet, but you can tell that we're heading in the right direction.

My hopes for the team is to get playing time for Jack, Outlaw, Webster, and Aldridge. I hope that Roy comes back soon so he can make a decent run for R.O.Y. which he is a perfect shoe in. I'd love to see Zach make the All Star team. I could stand to not make the playoffs as long as this team plays hard and shows progress, which they are. I would also love to hit the lottery one last time and win big with Oden, but this team is going to be awesome with or without Oden.

Bottom line I would like to see this team grow into something that the city of Portland could really get behind and it is happening right before our eyes. So I am going to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

GO BLAZERS

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Reep

Another thing that may be contributing to it is Zach down low. Some games, it takes a while to get him going down low, because teams come out looking for him.

The second (and related) factor, is that the team starts to perform better when Zach removes some of the best big men with foul trouble. You don't get to the line 12-15 times a game without putting some big men back on the bench. I think this opens up the game for others as well. The Lakers big men, who have been playing well, were non-factors. Look at Odem, Bynum and Turiaf's stats the games coming up to Portland, and then look what Zach did to them. Right now, this team is all about Zach. Once they can add some pieces in to compliment that (Aldridge, Raef, Roy-back) then it could get really fun.

Let's all take up a collection to get ABM an NBA League Pass so he can watch the games.

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01000111 01101111 00100000 01000010 01101100 01100001 01111010 01100101 01110010 01110011

There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

ABM

Absolutely!

Blazer Freak