GOD

I am glad we are winning but when i took a look at team statistics, the Blazers don't seem to be doing very well in most categories.

So far, here is what things look like

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Blazers ppg 95.0
24th best in NBA

Opponents ppg 97.1
15th best in NBA

Advantage = Opponents
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Blazers FG% 46.3%
10th best

Opponents FG 47.43%
23rd best

Advantage = Opponents
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Blazers 3pt% 30%
25th best

Opponents 3pt 33%
10th best

Advantage = Opponents
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Blazers FT% 78.71%
7th best

No opponent comparison available, but this looks to be an area of strength.
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Blazers Offensive Rebounds 10.8
17th best

Opponents off reb 12.3
20 best

Advantage = opponents
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Blazers Defensive reb 26.7
28th best

Opponents def reb 26.2
4th best

Advantage = Blazers by a hair. This is a very odd statistic. We are one of the worst teams in the NBA at getting D rebs but seem to be excellent at stopping our opponents from getting theirs. However we don't have a high total reb or offensive reb so this statistic seems weird to me. I am not sure why this is happening.
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Blazer Total Reb 38.7
23rd best

Opponents total reb 37.6
7th best

Advantage = Blazers
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Blazers assists 15.6
29th best

Opponents assists 20.9
18th best

Advantage = Opponents big time
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Blazers Steals 7.0
15th best

Opponents steals 6.6
11th best

Advantage = slightly Blazers
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Blazers Blocks 4.6
17th best

Opponents blocks 4.6
14th best

Advantage = no advantage
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Blazers Turnovers 15
11th best

Opponents turnovers 14.4
23rd best

Advantage = slightly opponents
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Blazers Assist/turnover ratio 1.04
26th best

No opponents statistics available.
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What do you learn from these statistics?

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ProudBFan

That the teams the Blazers have played so far are, on average, slighly worse than the average NBA team.

PBF

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dudleysghost

There are some important stats missing here. I bet if you look at team FTA/game, the Blazers would come out way ahead, and if you look at PPS we would come out slightly ahead as well. That said, we have won a few squeakers, so we are lucky. Zach seems to be able to score or get to the foul line at will in 4th quarters, so hopefully that will keep up.

TheBlueDoggy

That's it right there imo. Blazers have been getting to the line, and for once in a great long while, are converting those trips into points that they can count on. That right there is what makes up for all the lapses, and iirc, before that Dallas loss, I was looking at standings in the WC and noticed that the Blazers seemed to be the only team in the top 8 that was scoring less on average than their opponents.

I attribute their wins to a.) not giving up and scrapping to the last second and b.) free throws, free throws, free throws!

Now, if we could just ensure Magloire never gets to the line, and Martell learns how to shoot inside of 20 feet, we could maybe pull off wins by more than a point or two.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by barfo That's awfully straightforward of you. I could go for putting a petition in a bottle and dropping it into the headwaters of the White Nile. If Nash happens to vacation in Egypt and goes down to the riverfront in search of drugs and prostitution, is left lying on the water's edge, beaten and robbed by locals, and then finds the bottle beneath his left arm, perhaps he'll read the message and remember it after he recovers. It's a sensible, conservative approach that has worked for me in the past. barfo

GOD

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mediocre man

I'm not sure any of us that are realistic thought they were going to win this year anyway. They are better, and will be very good in a couple of years, but c'mon guys did any of you really think they would make the playoffs this season?

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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.

TheBlueDoggy

From the few games I've actually seen, looks to me like they don't communicate well on defense. A lot of guys just get by their defender, and instead of asking for help, or anyone else really paying attention enough to move in and help, they just give people an open lane for easy layups or close shots. When they're able to stay in front of their man they do a pretty decent job.

It looks to me like they're either afraid to yell for help because of ego or don't trust their team mates. The zone seems to work decent against most teams which is nice, but damn their man-to-man defense is teh suck.

Also, I know they're doing decent on steals, but they seem to gamble on those way too much instead of just playing sold D. And the fast break D is nonexistant, especially Jack and Dickau, those guys just stumbled along and completely gave up defending several fast breaks against Dallas the other night, even when they were ahead of the offensive player. I was really really dissapointed in those two on that end.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by barfo That's awfully straightforward of you. I could go for putting a petition in a bottle and dropping it into the headwaters of the White Nile. If Nash happens to vacation in Egypt and goes down to the riverfront in search of drugs and prostitution, is left lying on the water's edge, beaten and robbed by locals, and then finds the bottle beneath his left arm, perhaps he'll read the message and remember it after he recovers. It's a sensible, conservative approach that has worked for me in the past. barfo

yuyuza1

This is cliche, but....

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...840.xml&coll=7

I can't believe I just quoted an Oregonian article to make my point. It feels nice for a change.

ptownblazer1

Can't we just be happy we are winning...

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Portland Trail Blazers Season Ticket Holder
Section 221 Row A

porkchopexpress

This is why statistics can be deceiving. I don't know if this is true or not, but it could just mean that when we win, its close, but when we lose, the other team dominates us, stat wise at least. If you win by 1 then lose by 10, of course your overall stats are going to look like you should have lost both games.

crandc

As Mark Twain put it:
Lies, damn lies, and statistics

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GOD

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porkchopexpress

Couldn't have said it better myself...in fact I didn't.

wizmentor

Here's some statistics that give reasons to be optimistic:

Blazers Record 4-3
Non-Blazers Record 3.5-3.5

Advantage: Blazers


Blazer Injuries - half of team
Non-Blazer Injuries - much, much less.

Advantage (for future games once Blazers get healthy): Blazers

Yes, there are reasons to be pessimistic. But there are reasons to
be optimistic. A lot of people like to put last year's team down, and
rightfully so. However, that team was hampered severely by injuries
as well. A healthy Blazer team is a threat for the playoffs. Will we
even get healthy? We'll see.