Why this Trail Blazer team, right now, is better than last season’s team
March 7th, 2010 by Dwight Jaynes | 16 Comments | Filed in NBA, Trail BlazersI wanted to get this written before Sunday night’s game against the Nuggets in Denver. I expect the Trail Blazers to at least give Denver a solid battle tonight, if not win the game.
Yeah, I know — given the records of the teams that sounds a little crazy.
But here’s the deal: Portland won 54 games last season and didn’t have as good a team as it has right now, this minute. Injuries have contributed to the Trail Blazers’ record so far this season, that and the result of those injuries – playing completely without a center for a couple of months.
But now that Marcus Camby is here, I think you can take a look at Portland’s lineup and say it’s better than the one that won 54 games last season. Seriously, Andre Miller is a big upgrade at the point, Camby is a marginally better player than Joel Przybilla, this year’s Nic Batum is much improved and well, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are better players this season than last — at least they ought to be.
Oh, you’re going to say this group needs time to get used to each other. Well, maybe — but I think veteran players like Miller and Camby and players with the basketball IQ of Batum don’t need that much time. Look at the Dallas Mavericks, who were overnight a better team with the trade-deadline addition of Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to their lineup.
The Mavs didn’t need a lot of time to settle in — they haven’t, in fact, lost since the acquisition of those players.
I think you’re going to see the Trail Blazers, now that everyone is healthy, begin to play better immediately. And that starts tonight in Denver.
Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Dallas Mavericks, Dwight Jaynes, LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Camby, Nic Batum


