Oden/Fernandez highlights

[LarBrd33]

They play again tonight.  I don't expect Oden and the rest to dominate immediately.  I'm sure Oden will take time to get into proper shape and get his leaping ability back.  So I expect some road bumps, but... as long as that guy stays healthy Portland is going to be a dangerous team for a long time.

[incoherent]

Rudy just put together quite the highlight reel for anyone in their nba debut even if pre-season.

That guys is a baller in every aspect... did you see him lock down his defender after making a spectacular offensive play. He goes down to other end of the court and forces his oppponent into taking a time out.

[Lucky17]

They are going to be a very good team for a long time.  It's almost unfair how much good young talent they have.  They already had Oden, Roy and Aldridge.  Now getting Rudy too?  Not to mention Bayless, Rodriguez, Outlaw and Pryzbilla as a solid bench, all young guys too.  We could be seeing a dynasty in the making.  Which is fine as long as it's after the C's current dynasty is done and the Lakers don't get any in between.

I don't know.  People were saying the same about Chicago not so long ago, but the reality is that young talent does not necessarily equate to winning.  Sure Portland will be fun to watch, yes they will probably go on a winning streak like they did last year, and yes I hope for the best for the team (as someone who lived in Portland for 8 years, I can attest to just how much this team means to the city).  But I will take a bit of a wait and see on them. 

I agree. People need to temper their expectations a bit. One huge question mark for the team is the long-term durability of Brandon Roy, who is the team's unquestioned leader and heart and soul. When he's out, the team clearly struggles.

I live in Portland now, and if it ever left, Blazermania is definitely back. This city loves that team.

[Mr October]

portland looks as good as sacramento looks bad. The Kings are terrible. Portland has a nice future. They should be able to win 44-50 games this year and make some noise in the playoffs. Oden and Fernandez look good.

[ManUp]

Great Debut for him.

Still wouldn't mind if he ended up being a bust.

If he's as impressive as he seemed in that Clip Portland has a ridiculously bright future. Their team is a lot more athletic than i thought they were.

[Hoops]

They are going to be a very good team for a long time.  It's almost unfair how much good young talent they have.  They already had Oden, Roy and Aldridge.  Now getting Rudy too?  Not to mention Bayless, Rodriguez, Outlaw and Pryzbilla as a solid bench, all young guys too.  We could be seeing a dynasty in the making.  Which is fine as long as it's after the C's current dynasty is done and the Lakers don't get any in between.

I don't know.  People were saying the same about Chicago not so long ago, but the reality is that young talent does not necessarily equate to winning.  Sure Portland will be fun to watch, yes they will probably go on a winning streak like they did last year, and yes I hope for the best for the team (as someone who lived in Portland for 8 years, I can attest to just how much this team means to the city).  But I will take a bit of a wait and see on them. 

I agree. People need to temper their expectations a bit. One huge question mark for the team is the long-term durability of Brandon Roy, who is the team's unquestioned leader and heart and soul. When he's out, the team clearly struggles.

I live in Portland now, and if it ever left, Blazermania is definitely back. This city loves that team.

Hey, Lucky17, I live in Portland too. Agreed - Blazermania is definitely back. Everybody I talked to yesterday was super excited about going to the game last night. I've never seen so much excitement over a pre-season game.

I think it's fair and correct to call Brandon Roy the team's unquestioned leader...for the moment. (Side note: last year, there was a lot of talk about Pryzbilla being the emotional leader of the team, despite being a role player). I'm not necessarily sure who might take over that role (obviously Oden is a possibility), but I suspect that 3-5 years from now, people won't be referring to the Blazers as "Brandon Roy's team." Just my opinion.

[Lucky17]

They are going to be a very good team for a long time.  It's almost unfair how much good young talent they have.  They already had Oden, Roy and Aldridge.  Now getting Rudy too?  Not to mention Bayless, Rodriguez, Outlaw and Pryzbilla as a solid bench, all young guys too.  We could be seeing a dynasty in the making.  Which is fine as long as it's after the C's current dynasty is done and the Lakers don't get any in between.

I don't know.  People were saying the same about Chicago not so long ago, but the reality is that young talent does not necessarily equate to winning.  Sure Portland will be fun to watch, yes they will probably go on a winning streak like they did last year, and yes I hope for the best for the team (as someone who lived in Portland for 8 years, I can attest to just how much this team means to the city).  But I will take a bit of a wait and see on them. 

I agree. People need to temper their expectations a bit. One huge question mark for the team is the long-term durability of Brandon Roy, who is the team's unquestioned leader and heart and soul. When he's out, the team clearly struggles.

I live in Portland now, and if it ever left, Blazermania is definitely back. This city loves that team.

Hey, Lucky17, I live in Portland too. Agreed - Blazermania is definitely back. Everybody I talked to yesterday was super excited about going to the game last night. I've never seen so much excitement over a pre-season game.

I think it's fair and correct to call Brandon Roy the team's unquestioned leader...for the moment. (Side note: last year, there was a lot of talk about Pryzbilla being the emotional leader of the team, despite being a role player). I'm not necessarily sure who might take over that role (obviously Oden is a possibility), but I suspect that 3-5 years from now, people won't be referring to the Blazers as "Brandon Roy's team." Just my opinion.

I don't know if Oden has that "alpha-dog" kind of personality to be a team leader. He may well end up being the team's best player, though. In a few years, the Blazers may well be billed as Oden's team.

The only drawback to living in Portland: Blazer games are not available via League Pass. I'd have to subscribe to some extra channels to see all their games this season. Fortunately, they'll air some games on the local NBA affiliate. It's just as well: my household is already devoted to both the Celtics and the Pistons.

[zerophase]

i know preseason doesn't mean anything, portland looks scary good. roy is back from injury, la marcus looks good, oden seems like a future shaq/dwight (imagine him with clifford ray as a coach), and rudy looks pretty solid. definitely a playoff ready team for the weakening/aging western conference.

[shookones99]

i know preseason doesn't mean anything, portland looks scary good. roy is back from injury, la marcus looks good, oden seems like a future shaq/dwight (imagine him with clifford ray as a coach), and rudy looks pretty solid. definitely a playoff ready team for the weakening/aging western conference.

I think they could challenge for the # 1 spot in the west.  They will be right up there with the Lakers and Hornets and above the Spurs, Suns, Mavs, and Rockets. 

Wow the West really is unbelievably good.  I don't think their weakening that much.  I just think that new teams are taking over.

Teams like the Clippers, T-Wolves, and Warriors could surprise some people as well. 

[zerophase]

i mean if the hornets made a serious run last year finishing #2, there's a chance that portland could too. both teams are very young.

[johnnyrondo]

I wish we could have just bought the rights to Rajon Rondo instead of trading that pick that eventually ended up as Rudy Fernandez.

I've been saying this since that trade, since the old celticsblog. Also, Phoenix went ahead and resold the pick the following year. I don't know why the C's didn't buy it then. Rudy slipped in the draft and was there for the taking! Maybe Phoenix was mad at Danny for not warning them about Marcus Banks.

[Lucky17]

JA Adande's latest article basically sums up people's comments in this thread:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingcamp08/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Blazers-081009

Bad news: Martell Webster suffered a bone break in his foot Tuesday night. While Martell's probably the least crucial/most replaceable of the Blazers' current starting five, let's hope he doesn't miss too much time with this injury, for the sake of his continued development as an NBA player.

There were a lot of raised eyebrows when Portland selected Webster at #6 in the 2005 draft, passing up Gerald Green (this was after Portland had swapped picks with Utah, who moved up to #3 to get Deron Williams; imagine him in the same backcourt with Brandon Roy). In retrospect, it was probably the right selection, although Martell hasn't done much more than Green thus far into their NBA careers.