Portychat redux

brink wrote:
> Despite the brutal schedule, missing Greg Odin for 2 weeks, and playing
> a slew of road games, the Blazers are at 8-5. If they were just around
> .500 it would be saying something... that they're 3 games over, now
> that's remarkable.
>
> I stand by my prediction that the Lakers will ultimately be helpless in
> the Trail Blazer onslaught, as they sweep all the major awards: Roy for
> MVP, Odom for DPOY/ROY, Fernandez for 6MOY, McMillan for COY... Rudy
> puts points on Pau's face in the April 10 game in LA to secure the #1
> seed for Porty... LeBron observe the goings-on and will instruct his
> agent to "make it happen."

When did we trade Odom ? :)
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

Iceberg is posting as brink!

brink wrote:
> Despite the brutal schedule, missing Greg Odin for 2 weeks, and playing
> a slew of road games, the Blazers are at 8-5. If they were just around
> .500 it would be saying something... that they're 3 games over, now
> that's remarkable.
>
> I stand by my prediction that the Lakers will ultimately be helpless in
> the Trail Blazer onslaught, as they sweep all the major awards: Roy for
> MVP, Odom for DPOY/ROY, Fernandez for 6MOY, McMillan for COY... Rudy
> puts points on Pau's face in the April 10 game in LA to secure the #1
> seed for Porty... LeBron observe the goings-on and will instruct his
> agent to "make it happen."
>
> brink


--
Gary Collard
SABR-L Moderator
gmcollard at yahoo dot com
http://sarcastipundit.blogspot.com/

"Anyone who thinks that giving money to a company losing 2-3 billion
dollars a month with overpaid workers and overpaid executives would
usually save jobs in the long run, rather than lose them, doesn’t
understand economics." -- Jim Lindgren on the proposed auto bailout
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

Gary Collard wrote:
> Iceberg is posting as brink!

Iceberg trolls blazer fans?

>
> brink wrote:
>> Despite the brutal schedule, missing Greg Odin for 2 weeks, and
>> playing a slew of road games, the Blazers are at 8-5. If they were
>> just around .500 it would be saying something... that they're 3 games
>> over, now that's remarkable.
>>
>> I stand by my prediction that the Lakers will ultimately be helpless
>> in the Trail Blazer onslaught, as they sweep all the major awards: Roy
>> for MVP, Odom for DPOY/ROY, Fernandez for 6MOY, McMillan for COY...
>> Rudy puts points on Pau's face in the April 10 game in LA to secure
>> the #1 seed for Porty... LeBron observe the goings-on and will
>> instruct his agent to "make it happen."
>>
>> brink
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

Terraholm wrote:
> Gary Collard wrote:
>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>
> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?

I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the one before
the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you disagreed with me,
remember... ;-)

In all seriousness, 8-6 after that brutal schedule and missing Oden for that
long? Are you kidding? They should be ecstatic... this is a team that
would have had trouble beating some college programs on the road last
year... this year they already have 4 road wins, including over Orlando and
Miami without Oden...

They will be fighting for not just the POs but HCA. The West is not as
tough this year, which will help.

brink
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

brink wrote:
> Terraholm wrote:
>> Gary Collard wrote:
>>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>>
>> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?
>
> I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the one
> before the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you disagreed
> with me, remember... ;-)

I still have lower expectations than you did before the season.

>
> In all seriousness, 8-6 after that brutal schedule and missing Oden for
> that long? Are you kidding? They should be ecstatic... this is a team
> that would have had trouble beating some college programs on the road
> last year... this year they already have 4 road wins, including over
> Orlando and Miami without Oden...

last year at this time they went on a 13 game win streak including road
wins at Utah and Denver...a little early to get 'ecstatic' about the
Florida sweep.

>
> They will be fighting for not just the POs but HCA. The West is not as
> tough this year, which will help.
>

My prediction still holds at about 48 wins and sneak into the playoffs
at 7th or 8th.
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

Terraholm wrote:
> brink wrote:
>> Terraholm wrote:
>>> Gary Collard wrote:
>>>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>>>
>>> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?
>>
>> I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the one
>> before the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you disagreed
>> with me, remember... ;-)
>
> I still have lower expectations than you did before the season.


oh yeah...I hope you win though...=)
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

Terraholm wrote:
> brink wrote:
>> Terraholm wrote:
>>> Gary Collard wrote:
>>>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>>>
>>> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?
>>
>> I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the one
>> before the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you disagreed
>> with me, remember... ;-)
>
> I still have lower expectations than you did before the season.
>
>>
>> In all seriousness, 8-6 after that brutal schedule and missing Oden
>> for that long? Are you kidding? They should be ecstatic... this
>> is a team that would have had trouble beating some college programs
>> on the road last year... this year they already have 4 road wins,
>> including over Orlando and Miami without Oden...
>
> last year at this time they went on a 13 game win streak including
> road wins at Utah and Denver...a little early to get 'ecstatic' about
> the Florida sweep.
>
>>
>> They will be fighting for not just the POs but HCA. The West is not
>> as tough this year, which will help.
>>
>
> My prediction still holds at about 48 wins and sneak into the playoffs
> at 7th or 8th.

A lot will depend on Oden's health, which is an iffy proposition to say the
least it seems. But if Oden holds up, they'll be right there for the 4th
seed.

FWIW, Hollinger's numbers agree with me, though his early season numbers are
definitely susceptible to much more random variance:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking

brink
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

brink wrote:
> Terraholm wrote:
>> brink wrote:
>>> Terraholm wrote:
>>>> Gary Collard wrote:
>>>>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>>>>
>>>> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?
>>>
>>> I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the one
>>> before the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you disagreed
>>> with me, remember... ;-)
>>
>> I still have lower expectations than you did before the season.
>>
>>>
>>> In all seriousness, 8-6 after that brutal schedule and missing Oden
>>> for that long? Are you kidding? They should be ecstatic... this
>>> is a team that would have had trouble beating some college programs
>>> on the road last year... this year they already have 4 road wins,
>>> including over Orlando and Miami without Oden...
>>
>> last year at this time they went on a 13 game win streak including
>> road wins at Utah and Denver...a little early to get 'ecstatic' about
>> the Florida sweep.
>>
>>>
>>> They will be fighting for not just the POs but HCA. The West is not
>>> as tough this year, which will help.
>>>
>>
>> My prediction still holds at about 48 wins and sneak into the playoffs
>> at 7th or 8th.
>
> A lot will depend on Oden's health, which is an iffy proposition to say
> the least it seems. But if Oden holds up, they'll be right there for
> the 4th seed.

I think it more to Oden's development than his health.

>
> FWIW, Hollinger's numbers agree with me, though his early season numbers
> are definitely susceptible to much more random variance:
> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking
>

Means nothing.
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

brink wrote:
>
> A lot will depend on Oden's health, which is an iffy proposition to
> say the least it seems. But if Oden holds up, they'll be right there
> for the 4th seed.
>
> FWIW, Hollinger's numbers agree with me, though his early season
> numbers are definitely susceptible to much more random variance:
> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking
>
> brink

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

I tend to think along brink-ish lines re: Blazers. Oden stays healthy
(and their future MVP candidate Roy, of course) and they win 50
games.

And next year they'll be one of the top 3 teams in the West. And if
everything goes well for them, the year after that they're freakin'
scary-good.

I just had a gander at the latest Hollinger ratings that Alson posted,
and WOW! look at the drop-off in the West between #8 Utah and #9
Spurs. Will Manu make a diff at this point? I'd think so. Then there's
another huge drop-off from the Spurs to the T-Wolves.

Looks like the $500 in Vegas in October I put on the Wizards to win it
ALL was ill-spent. Go figure.
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

Terraholm wrote:
> brink wrote:
>> Terraholm wrote:
>>> brink wrote:
>>>> Terraholm wrote:
>>>>> Gary Collard wrote:
>>>>>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>>>>>
>>>>> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?
>>>>
>>>> I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the
>>>> one before the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you
>>>> disagreed with me, remember... ;-)
>>>
>>> I still have lower expectations than you did before the season.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> In all seriousness, 8-6 after that brutal schedule and missing Oden
>>>> for that long? Are you kidding? They should be ecstatic... this
>>>> is a team that would have had trouble beating some college programs
>>>> on the road last year... this year they already have 4 road wins,
>>>> including over Orlando and Miami without Oden...
>>>
>>> last year at this time they went on a 13 game win streak including
>>> road wins at Utah and Denver...a little early to get 'ecstatic'
>>> about the Florida sweep.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> They will be fighting for not just the POs but HCA. The West is
>>>> not as tough this year, which will help.
>>>>
>>>
>>> My prediction still holds at about 48 wins and sneak into the
>>> playoffs at 7th or 8th.
>>
>> A lot will depend on Oden's health, which is an iffy proposition to
>> say the least it seems. But if Oden holds up, they'll be right
>> there for the 4th seed.
>
> I think it more to Oden's development than his health.

The two may very well be hand in hand.

>>
>> FWIW, Hollinger's numbers agree with me, though his early season
>> numbers are definitely susceptible to much more random variance:
>> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking
>>
>
> Means nothing.

They don't mean nothing and his system has a pretty good track record. It
had both conference finalists pegged by December last year... and his
rankings were way ahead of the curve on the Lakers... before even we Laker
fans were believing LA was for real his numbers said they were.

As I mentioned, the usual disclaimers apply because it's early and the
system is predictive only insomuch as the past is a reflection of what to
expect in the future... which isn't true with a team like Utah that will be
getting Deron back and the Spurs who will be getting Manu/Parker back...
but built into Porty's numbers are eight games worth of data without Oden so
I'd expect he'll help improve their terrible defense so far.

brink
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

brink wrote:
> Terraholm wrote:
>> brink wrote:
>>> Terraholm wrote:
>>>> brink wrote:
>>>>> Terraholm wrote:
>>>>>> Gary Collard wrote:
>>>>>>> Iceberg is posting as brink!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Iceberg trolls blazer fans?
>>>>>
>>>>> I wasn't really trolling, just having a little fun... I was the
>>>>> one before the season saying watch out for Porty this year, you
>>>>> disagreed with me, remember... ;-)
>>>>
>>>> I still have lower expectations than you did before the season.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> In all seriousness, 8-6 after that brutal schedule and missing Oden
>>>>> for that long? Are you kidding? They should be ecstatic... this
>>>>> is a team that would have had trouble beating some college programs
>>>>> on the road last year... this year they already have 4 road wins,
>>>>> including over Orlando and Miami without Oden...
>>>>
>>>> last year at this time they went on a 13 game win streak including
>>>> road wins at Utah and Denver...a little early to get 'ecstatic'
>>>> about the Florida sweep.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> They will be fighting for not just the POs but HCA. The West is
>>>>> not as tough this year, which will help.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My prediction still holds at about 48 wins and sneak into the
>>>> playoffs at 7th or 8th.
>>>
>>> A lot will depend on Oden's health, which is an iffy proposition to
>>> say the least it seems. But if Oden holds up, they'll be right
>>> there for the 4th seed.
>>
>> I think it more to Oden's development than his health.
>
> The two may very well be hand in hand.

Yes. But none of his injuries were related.
It also dependent on if he lives up to the hype. So far I say he is 1 to
3 years away if he does.

>
>>>
>>> FWIW, Hollinger's numbers agree with me, though his early season
>>> numbers are definitely susceptible to much more random variance:
>>> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking
>>>
>>
>> Means nothing.
>
> They don't mean nothing and his system has a pretty good track record.
> It had both conference finalists pegged by December last year... and
> his rankings were way ahead of the curve on the Lakers... before even
> we Laker fans were believing LA was for real his numbers said they were.

Still means nothing. In december during their win streak his numbers had
the blazers at an 80% chance of making the playoffs too...

>
> As I mentioned, the usual disclaimers apply because it's early and the
> system is predictive only insomuch as the past is a reflection of what
> to expect in the future... which isn't true with a team like Utah that
> will be getting Deron back and the Spurs who will be getting Manu/Parker
> back... but built into Porty's numbers are eight games worth of data
> without Oden so I'd expect he'll help improve their terrible defense so
> far.

If the starters learn how to use him. Right now both units look better
with Oden off the bench and JoeL starting.
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux 

RMJon23 wrote:
> I tend to think along brink-ish lines re: Blazers. Oden stays healthy
> (and their future MVP candidate Roy, of course) and they win 50
> games.

>
> And next year they'll be one of the top 3 teams in the West. And if
> everything goes well for them, the year after that they're freakin'
> scary-good.

OK I buy that time line better... =)

>
> I just had a gander at the latest Hollinger ratings that Alson posted,
> and WOW! look at the drop-off in the West between #8 Utah and #9
> Spurs. Will Manu make a diff at this point? I'd think so.

Yes and getting Parker back. They may be tough in the playoffs no matter
the seed if they avoid 8th.
 >> Stay informed about: Portychat redux