Post by Portland on Oct 7, 2016 14:55:29 GMT
Two seasons ago the Trailblazers went all-in assembling a veteran team that we believed could make the playoffs and do well once there. Not a championship club but a respectable one. With an average age of 28 we were one of the oldest teams in the ABCA but we thought that unit could go two seasons before its advanced age would kneecap us. Sure enough we captured 53 wins that season and made it to the second round of the playoffs. It was our fifth winning year of the five I’d been gm.
Last year things didn’t work out as planned for my even-older squad, with our bigs’ age (Korac, Meneghin) catching up with them and Antonello Riva missing 28 games in the heart of the season. Still we got to six games over .500 after he returned and it looked like another winning year was coming our way. Instead we collapsed from that point and dropped our final three games of the year to finish with our first losing season at 40-42. I was proud at least that we got to 40 wins – only Portland, Minnesota, and Tel Aviv had gone those six seasons without once dropping below that mark – but things didn’t bode well for us improving in 2007.
This year our personnel looked very suspect, and the word around Slack was that we were doubly doomed as a bad team without its draft pick. Brooklyn in his pre-season analysis predicted we’d finish 12 games under .500 and ‘ultimately fall short’ of the playoffs, and I didn’t disagree at all with that assessment. Our talent was ‘poor’ (it still is) but I decided to make the best of what I had, win as many games as possible, and rebuild in 2009. Even those low expectations looked pretty lame when we started 3-11. The buzzards began circling. Still I felt like I could do better and kept tinkering with the depth chart and game plan, which has paid some dividends as we’ve reached 16-16 on the year and sit at #10 in the power rankings. This isn’t the first time we’ve started bad and clawed back to respectability, but there’s a lot of season left. Another swoon and that draft pick we don’t have could become a damn fine player. We don’t want that.
Here’s a look at the team I’m hoping can keep our heads above water another 50 games:
PF Anatoly Mishkyn – Mish is in his fourth season with us and signed an extension over the summer. He started slow shooting the ball but his percentages and efficiencies are coming back up to normal; he’s still a key piece of what we try to do. His 21 ppg so far is a career high and leads the team. We like our bigs to be decent ball-handlers and this guy is.
SF Gerald Wallace – the jury is out on whether Wallace was a smart pickup for us; initially I thought we’d try to flip him but won’t do that while we’re winning. He’s another guy whose shooting is improving as the year advances and we think they’ll get back to his norm. Gerald’s a big reason why we lead the American in steals, getting more than two per game for us.
SG Jerry Sloan – Jerry just extended at a decent salary and we’re very happy with the 17ppg he gives us and his shut-down defense on the wing. It looks like he had a nice jump in tc which we needed from somebody. He has the best +/- on the team by far.
PG Si Green – Si is having a career year in several statistical categories although he’s still no shooter. His odd skill set is fun, and his opening the season with consecutive triple-doubles made him a quick favorite in Portland. He’s offering to resign but with plans to retool next year it’s unlikely we’ll bring him back. If it becomes clear we can’t make the playoffs, Si may have to move on.
C P.J. Brown – P.J. is the weak link on our team but we have no better option in the post right now. He’s well-suited to be a 3rd big like he was in Tel Aviv for many years, but as a starter for us he gets mixed reviews. We like his defense even though he can’t block shots, and he has his ppg up… so for now he’s adequate. He’s testing in the off-season and at 27 we may try to bring him back cheap as bench guy.
6th Man Bob Love – We got a great asset in the contraction draft, and the fact that he was still there at #11 baffles us as he’s outplayed many of the guys picked above him. We’ve already resigned him for three years. His shooting really boosts our second unit and his defense is better than average.
SG Earl Monroe – Earl has given us good minutes off the bench although he’s not capable of volume scoring these days and his defense has become a little shaky. Against other teams’ second units he can still hold his own. One of the things I look at is the gap between a player’s offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency. Earl’s is the highest on our team at 8.4 so he’s a net gain for us while he’s on the floor.
SF Travis Outlaw – Travis got a tc bump and while he’s still under the radar around the ABCA he’s still just 24 and has the potential to become a starter someday. Right now he’s not getting the minutes to show much but we’re still high on the player.
F Rudy Gay – Rudy is getting crumbs as a rookie and hasn’t shown us anything to give him more pt. He had a meh training camp but at 21 he has the capacity to become a player. For now he’s no factor for us.
So there you have it. The 2007 Blazers have an outside chance at a .500+ record and a playoff berth, neither of which is going to happen any time again soon. We’ve shown we’re capable of beating good teams on a given night (Toronto, Minnesota, Tel Aviv, Moscow) and our point differential is 10th in the league, indicating we can be competitive this season. That’s going to have to be enough to hold our interest in an otherwise unexceptional season.
Last year things didn’t work out as planned for my even-older squad, with our bigs’ age (Korac, Meneghin) catching up with them and Antonello Riva missing 28 games in the heart of the season. Still we got to six games over .500 after he returned and it looked like another winning year was coming our way. Instead we collapsed from that point and dropped our final three games of the year to finish with our first losing season at 40-42. I was proud at least that we got to 40 wins – only Portland, Minnesota, and Tel Aviv had gone those six seasons without once dropping below that mark – but things didn’t bode well for us improving in 2007.
This year our personnel looked very suspect, and the word around Slack was that we were doubly doomed as a bad team without its draft pick. Brooklyn in his pre-season analysis predicted we’d finish 12 games under .500 and ‘ultimately fall short’ of the playoffs, and I didn’t disagree at all with that assessment. Our talent was ‘poor’ (it still is) but I decided to make the best of what I had, win as many games as possible, and rebuild in 2009. Even those low expectations looked pretty lame when we started 3-11. The buzzards began circling. Still I felt like I could do better and kept tinkering with the depth chart and game plan, which has paid some dividends as we’ve reached 16-16 on the year and sit at #10 in the power rankings. This isn’t the first time we’ve started bad and clawed back to respectability, but there’s a lot of season left. Another swoon and that draft pick we don’t have could become a damn fine player. We don’t want that.
Here’s a look at the team I’m hoping can keep our heads above water another 50 games:
PF Anatoly Mishkyn – Mish is in his fourth season with us and signed an extension over the summer. He started slow shooting the ball but his percentages and efficiencies are coming back up to normal; he’s still a key piece of what we try to do. His 21 ppg so far is a career high and leads the team. We like our bigs to be decent ball-handlers and this guy is.
SF Gerald Wallace – the jury is out on whether Wallace was a smart pickup for us; initially I thought we’d try to flip him but won’t do that while we’re winning. He’s another guy whose shooting is improving as the year advances and we think they’ll get back to his norm. Gerald’s a big reason why we lead the American in steals, getting more than two per game for us.
SG Jerry Sloan – Jerry just extended at a decent salary and we’re very happy with the 17ppg he gives us and his shut-down defense on the wing. It looks like he had a nice jump in tc which we needed from somebody. He has the best +/- on the team by far.
PG Si Green – Si is having a career year in several statistical categories although he’s still no shooter. His odd skill set is fun, and his opening the season with consecutive triple-doubles made him a quick favorite in Portland. He’s offering to resign but with plans to retool next year it’s unlikely we’ll bring him back. If it becomes clear we can’t make the playoffs, Si may have to move on.
C P.J. Brown – P.J. is the weak link on our team but we have no better option in the post right now. He’s well-suited to be a 3rd big like he was in Tel Aviv for many years, but as a starter for us he gets mixed reviews. We like his defense even though he can’t block shots, and he has his ppg up… so for now he’s adequate. He’s testing in the off-season and at 27 we may try to bring him back cheap as bench guy.
6th Man Bob Love – We got a great asset in the contraction draft, and the fact that he was still there at #11 baffles us as he’s outplayed many of the guys picked above him. We’ve already resigned him for three years. His shooting really boosts our second unit and his defense is better than average.
SG Earl Monroe – Earl has given us good minutes off the bench although he’s not capable of volume scoring these days and his defense has become a little shaky. Against other teams’ second units he can still hold his own. One of the things I look at is the gap between a player’s offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency. Earl’s is the highest on our team at 8.4 so he’s a net gain for us while he’s on the floor.
SF Travis Outlaw – Travis got a tc bump and while he’s still under the radar around the ABCA he’s still just 24 and has the potential to become a starter someday. Right now he’s not getting the minutes to show much but we’re still high on the player.
F Rudy Gay – Rudy is getting crumbs as a rookie and hasn’t shown us anything to give him more pt. He had a meh training camp but at 21 he has the capacity to become a player. For now he’s no factor for us.
So there you have it. The 2007 Blazers have an outside chance at a .500+ record and a playoff berth, neither of which is going to happen any time again soon. We’ve shown we’re capable of beating good teams on a given night (Toronto, Minnesota, Tel Aviv, Moscow) and our point differential is 10th in the league, indicating we can be competitive this season. That’s going to have to be enough to hold our interest in an otherwise unexceptional season.
