ABM

Thus far, Z-Bo's having an All-Star type of season, Travis is showing some real signs of breaking-out, and Jack is already having a solid start, yet...................

MUCH OF WHAT WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS THE ROOKIES!!!

Gotta love it.

ThatBlazerGuy

This franchise is truly turning a corner, at a much faster MPH than any of us expected IMO.

kaydow

You're right - there seems to be more threads about Brandon Roy than Zach recently. On a national level though, Zach is getting major play.

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Big Kaydow

wastro

We've been down this road before with Zach and Travis, but the rookies ... they're new, so we're still getting used to them.

But seriously, I think the Blazers will ultimately be seen as the winners in what's been called a "weak" draft. No draft with Brandon Roy is a weak draft.

Samuel

I hate the fact that the best case scenario for Portland getting completely healthy is still about two weeks away.

Joel Przybilla: November 20 vs. San Antonio (4 games until return).
Brandon Roy: November 26 vs. Phoenix (7 games until return).
Raef LaFrentz: November 22 vs. New Jersey (5 games until return).

So we're looking at the Phoenix game (very best case scenario) as perhaps the first time this Blazers squad is completely healthy (minus the Miles injury).

Let's hope they're getting all the injuries out of the way now.

Public Defender

I don't know, seems to me like we haven't seen anything close to this out of Travis Outlaw before. I think we are probably being a little underwhelming in our appreciation of his "breaking out" as ABM put it. At this point, Jarred Jack is still a little spotty, but his game against Chris Paul and his excellent performance against Dallas are certainly big reasons to give him props. Zach? We have seen this before, but I don't think we have on this level.

Still, I have to admit, I am the most excited about Aldridge and Roy. Woo-hoo! Embarassment of riches, to be sure.

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Next year...

Talkhard

Roy and Aldridge are the best rookies Portland has had in a long time. In fact, I would argue that apart from the year we drafted Walton, this year's draft is potentially the most important in the history of the franchise.

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"Damn the Blazers. Damn them to hell. They are working the rest of the league like a speed bag." --Jay, lifelong Pacers fan

mediocre man

As nice as they might be, Joel Przybilla and Raef LaFrentz don't help THIS team win. This team plays best up tempo, and Joel and Raef don't fit in with that. I realize all the Joel backers will call me out, but it's a fact.

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"SHOW ME THE BUFFET!!!"


Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


I'm Mediocre Man, and I approve this message.

wastro

Considering your sig and a lot of what you post in the OT forum, I don't think we see eye to eye on much. But your post hit the nail on the head. If the Blazers get *TWO* cornerstones in one draft, wow. I'm not sure how many franchises have ever done that. It would a huge coup and a quicker step in the re-building process, for sure.

Blazers_4_Life

I think we’ve surprised many people this year. Zach has been playing at an all-star level and the young guys have been contributing to the team. Who would have expected us to be 4-3 right now? The potential for this team is limitless and I can’t wait to see how we develop the young nucleus. We’ve seen what Brandon Roy can bring to our team, but we’ve only have had a glimpse at LaMarcus Aldridge. We will have a chance to watch him match up against one of the greatest players in the NBA on Tuesday. Kevin Garnett is a monster, but I think LaMarcus’s quickness and length will give him problems…I can’t wait to watch!

Go Blazers!

Samuel

Jamaal Magloire is playing center. How is that helping THIS team win (besides forcing an undersized Outlaw to play 4). I don't know about you, but I prefer the pasty towers over Jamaal.


And Nate McMillan and his coaching staff understand that turnovers lose games. Deal with it, but realize there's a difference between Portland getting healthy and Portland slowing down the pace.

We've heard you reiterate your delusional notions of Portland playing a Phoenix-style offense, but you're completely wrong if you think LaFrentz and Przybilla won't help this team. Hell, you should be happy. When they get back, Portland is more likely to go uptempo, not less. With Raef and Joel back, we don't have to watch Magloire stumble up and down the floor with concrete bricks for hands.

We'll be able to play them all minutes which decrease the likelihood of any of them getting injured. Versitility-wise, Joel can block shots, Raef can hit 3's (Portland is 25th in 3pt% right now), and Magloire can foul players 6 times. Based on the matchups, Nate can go with either of those guys. That flexibility is a luxury many teams don't have.

Who knows. If Aldridge impresses during this upcoming stretch, you might get your fast-paced wish after all.

alext42083

It'll be really interesting to see how this team looks when it's fully healthy.
Someone's role right now is going to be reduced a lot, and could be sitting an entire game. With so many bigs out injured, it's probably going to be Magloire and that guy just never looks happy no matter what.

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mediocre man

First of all it's you that keeps saying Phoenix offense. I never say Phoenix. I say up tempo...THERE'S A DIFFERENCE.

Secondly, you call me dillusional with my thinking. I would like to point out that in EVERY game this season the team has came back with a smaller / quicker line up on the court. In the first and third quarters of each game the team has started slow. Coincidentaly the team is big and methodicle then as well.

Lastly, I'm all for Magloire finding his seat on the end of the bench. However, Joel who is a one dimentional, injury prone center, and Raef who is also a one dimentional injury prone center won't help us win a lot of games. There are certain teams like Houston and Miami that Joel and Raef will help with, but both Travis and LaMarcus give the Blazers both offense and defense.

__________________
"SHOW ME THE BUFFET!!!"


Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


I'm Mediocre Man, and I approve this message.

ProudBFan

Chewbacca will always be my favorite, but I did like some of the other leaders in Ep. III. They all just have this great guerrilla-warrior quality to th... er... oh... you said ROOKIES!

Nevermind.

PBF

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Samuel