Could the Blazers miss the playoffs?

DUBnation · 01-22-15, 11:30 PM

Definitely a possibility..with as tight as the playoff race in the West is, if they drop too many while Aldridge is out they could quickly fall from 2nd to 7-9. Spurs are playing well again, OKC will be fighting their asses off for the rest of the season, and PHX is still bitter about missing last year's playoffs by a game (or two? Don't remember).

Kaman has been solid and can pick up some slack at the 5 while Lopez is out, but they're going to need a serious increase in production from their backup bigs to stay in the playoff race. I've always been a fan of Thomas Robinson and I think he can give them some good games, but he's super inconsistent and has zero of Aldridge's floor stretching ability, which is a large part of what's made them so successful these past 2 seasons. Dorrell Wright is decent and probably their best option to mimic Aldridge's shooting, especially with Meyers Leonard continuing to struggle.

Should be a pretty exciting race to finish the season, can't wait for playoffs!

Seto · 01-23-15, 12:24 AM

Batum has been having a really bad season too. He finally broke out of his slump yesterday but apparently had a wrist injury of some sort today.

This team is gonna have issues. Losing a close game at home to an awful team is not a good start to this no-Aldridge period.

OKC back to within 7 losses

Seto · 01-23-15, 12:25 AM

Originally posted by DUBnation

Definitely a possibility..with as tight as the playoff race in the West is, if they drop too many while Aldridge is out they could quickly fall from 2nd to 7-9. Spurs are playing well again, OKC will be fighting their asses off for the rest of the season, and PHX is still bitter about missing last year's playoffs by a game (or two? Don't remember).

Kaman has been solid and can pick up some slack at the 5 while Lopez is out, but they're going to need a serious increase in production from their backup bigs to stay in the playoff race. I've always been a fan of Thomas Robinson and I think he can give them some good games, but he's super inconsistent and has zero of Aldridge's floor stretching ability, which is a large part of what's made them so successful these past 2 seasons. Dorrell Wright is decent and probably their best option to mimic Aldridge's shooting, especially with Meyers Leonard continuing to struggle.

Should be a pretty exciting race to finish the season, can't wait for playoffs!

Yeah Robinson is a good energy guy but he's not someone you want playing more than 15 minutes a night on a good team. Their frontcourt is a mess.

chromebook1 · 01-23-15, 12:27 AM

No they won't. What a dumb question. Go to sleep Seto.

t-wizzle · 01-23-15, 12:32 AM

I highly doubt it. Depends what Phoenix does. Will a team with 50 losses miss out this year?

NYSportsGuy210 · 01-23-15, 12:51 AM

Originally posted by t-wizzle

I highly doubt it. Depends what Phoenix does. Will a team with 50 losses miss out this year?

I guarantee they will....especially in the West

t-wizzle · 01-23-15, 12:53 AM

I think the Suns missed out with something like 48 wins last year. Probably gets bumped up to 50 this year. This is going to be fun to watch.

Seto · 01-23-15, 09:30 AM

Another factor is that they have had a home-heavy schedule and an east-heavy schedule. They have very tough games coming up.

I think they will probably be right around 49 or 50 in the end if Aldridge doesn't come back early. If Phoenix can get there is another question. I've given up trying to figure out how the Suns get it done with that roster in the West - they do. Credit to them.

Seto · 01-23-15, 10:13 AM

Looks like Batum might be out for a while too. Wow.

This team had finally gotten some luck with health this past year and a half after being desperately unlucky for a few years, but it looks like they're getting the same bug OKC got early in the season

WildCelticsFan · 01-23-15, 10:22 AM

They'll be fine, there's no way suns will do better then them, Blazers fall to 7th maybe 8th

YouHave2outs · 01-23-15, 11:38 AM

not a serious question

they may slip to 5 or 6. be realistic.

KRIT · 01-23-15, 03:36 PM

Blazers are definitely going to struggle with Aldridge out. But they have a big enough lead over OKC to where they should still be in the playoffs when he returns. Blazers should seriously think about trading for a PF. They were already a thin team before the injuries, now they really need depth. Thomas Robinson is a questionable backup PF, not so sure about him playing 30 minutes and starting. On a good note, they get Lopez back soon i think.

frugalgambler · 01-23-15, 03:56 PM

I was asking the same question. Without LA, Blazers are very one-dimensional and even before his injury they have been winning a lot of games via late comebacks. The big question is if OKC can sustain their push throughout the 2nd half of the season. If you assume, OKC wins both remaining games vs Portland, they would be only 5 games behind in the loss column with about 40% of the season left. Hmm. I'd certainly say OKC has a better than 20% chance the books are giving them to overtake the Blazers.

frugalgambler · 01-23-15, 03:58 PM

Also, Blazers' 2nd unit is pretty pathetic and it might just bite them later on with Lillard and Matthews playing heavy minutes pretty much every game. KD is still on minutes restriction and is relatively fresh. RW is just a beast but again more injuries might happen one way or another.

Seto · 01-23-15, 10:57 PM

Originally posted by WildCelticsFan

They'll be fine, there's no way suns will do better then them, Blazers fall to 7th maybe 8th

I would tend to say that too but I don't know with the Suns anymore. Keep expecting this team to fade away and they never do.

Seto · 01-23-15, 11:00 PM

Can Lillard and Matthews carry this team in every single game considering the status of their other 3 starters? Just think about it. Lopez is actually potentially not coming back til after the All Star break. Batum has had an awful season and just as he had a good game he goes down again. Now he may only miss 2-3 games but this is going to disrupt his rhythm again.

Next thing is - look at their schedule over the next 5-6 weeks. It's ridiculously difficult.

Seto · 01-23-15, 11:01 PM

Originally posted by YouHave2outs

not a serious question

they may slip to 5 or 6. be realistic.

They will slip to 5 or 6 within 10 days at most.

Then they'll have another 4-5 weeks to slip even further.

KRIT · 01-24-15, 02:05 PM

Originally posted by Seto

Can Lillard and Matthews carry this team in every single game considering the status of their other 3 starters? Just think about it. Lopez is actually potentially not coming back til after the All Star break. Batum has had an awful season and just as he had a good game he goes down again. Now he may only miss 2-3 games but this is going to disrupt his rhythm again.

Next thing is - look at their schedule over the next 5-6 weeks. It's ridiculously difficult.

Lillard is more than capable of carrying the team, but i don't think he is in the position to do it right now. He sprained his wrist against the Lakers a couple weeks ago and hasn't looked the same. Since that game, he has shot 43/123, for 34%. If Blazers want to play .500 or better ball with Aldridge gone, Lillard has to play lights out.

Tonight will be a big test for them at home vs Wizards. No idea how they contend with Nene and Gortat down low.

rm18 · 01-24-15, 02:22 PM

They have no shot Kaman injured too now

KRIT · 01-24-15, 04:02 PM

And just like that Aldridge will play. Think this is the wrong move unless he can actually play through this injury with no limitations.

Seto · 01-24-15, 08:58 PM

This is absolute fukking nonsense.

I hope this will be like when David Lee "played through" his injury in the 2013 playoffs.

I don't really understand the move either - I mean if I were him I take the time off, hope my team can nick a 7 or 8 seed anyway then try to win in the playoffs, even without homecourt. By doing this he's basically going to go all the way this season playing with this injury. Can they really achieve anything in this scenario?

chromebook1 · 01-24-15, 09:39 PM

Hahaha Seto is mad cuz he bet on the Wizards tn 😂😂