Is it time to take the Trailblazers seriously?

They're a good team but those stats are with them having the easiest schedule out of all Western Conference teams so far. Their schedule gets a lot tougher. They've also had tremendous luck on their side as they've been the only Western Conf. seed without any injuries. Wonder if they can keep that up.

 

LOL, agree on Lillard. What a joke of a defender. Can part of this be Stotts' fault for not getting through to him? Matthews can be a very hard-nosed defender when he wants to. Batum and Alridge are above-average. Lopez is Lopez.

All in all, they should be a better defensive team. One could argue that with only 6 legit players (hopefully McCollum becomes #7), they can't be expected to put out on both ends of the floor.

 

bump.

 

Nope.

 

Bump.

 

NOPE

 

Come on! Their coach is Terry Stotts!

 

we got harden's clutch gene

 

Because they have long been one of my favorite teams (except during the JailBlazers era), I'm sorry it was Portland tonight. But too bad, so sad.

Their last 7-8 losses have all been heartbreakers. They a lot of fight in them and I admire that.

 

Yeah I give them props. Seems like they're in always in the game no matter who they face.

 

The blazers are a good team, they only lack a closer.

 

They're still a dangerous team I think.

 

Good team, "for real", rarely blown out.

If the playoffs started today, they'd face the Clippers. I'd lean Clippers but like the rest of the West, a good six game (or so) battle.

Can't get down big like last night in Dallas and well, they gotta close out games like tonight.

 

Huh? They have two very good closers in Lillard and LMA. Tonight, Lillard had Beverly hounding him like a dog and while LMA left it all out on the floor, his shot just wasn't falling.

 

You have to take every team that makes the playoffs in the west serious or you will be going home early

 

Our superstar had to shoot 4-5 clutch shots so, yeah, they're formidable.

 

Got off to that insane 24-5 start, since then they are 18-16.

They are certainly a good team, but they are clearly not elite, or on the level of the top 4 teams out west.

 

Earlier in the season they won every single close game. At some point it always equals out. Portland may be a little better at close games because of their FT%, but they still can't run as good as they did earlier in the season for an entire season.

 

Matthews is so underrated and once Mccollum finds his niche, they could be more dangerous. However, they lack a true inside threat. I think Hickson was more valuable to them than they thought

 

Imagine if they had someone like Nikola Pekovic instead of Lopez. Portland would be really scary.