2012 CB Draft NW Division Press Conferences

[indeedproceed]

Portland, Utah, how do you guys see yourselves in relation to the rest of the top of the conference? Can either of you win more games than Dallas? Golden State? The Lakers? How do you match up individually with them?

[jgod213]

Portland, Utah, how do you guys see yourselves in relation to the rest of the top of the conference? Can either of you win more games than Dallas? Golden State? The Lakers? How do you match up individually with them?

Well I'm not going to get into any of these teams too much, I mean a lot of it is pretty clear - Dallas has the best player in the world, LA is extremely athletic, Pheonix has great big-man play, ect. ect. but, 1-5, I think Portland has the best mix of fit and top-end talent out of that grouping.

When it comes to seeding votes, I think the Blazers will suffer just a bit due our position of easing our stars back into the regular season - and that's fair.  But come playoff time, with minutes ramped up, I like our chances against anyone...

[celticpride07]

How does Okc match up with Portland tried to get some good dwight stoppers

[StartOrien]

Here's how I see it:

Portland Trailblazers
------
Utah Jazz
-----
OKC Thunder
Denver Nuggets

I think Portland's an absolute beast of a team in here. Jazz are very solid. I think the bottom two teams are going to really struggle to score the rock

Can you give reasons why you believe that DEN will have trouble scoring?

Just for POR alone, Rubio he shot 35% from the field..he did shoot 34% from deep, but I still believe that on some occasions his defender can (and will) sag off of him based off of this.

This leaves Joe Johnson as perhaps the most difficult to defend, here. Dwight Howard is a potent force, but his free throw shooting is one reason why I consider Andrew Bynum to be a better overall player than him. Paul Millsap has very good stats for the regular season, but he didn't play well at all, seemingly, during the post-season last yr:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/millspa01.html

Sorry for the delay in response, again, super swamped at work right now -

As a rookie, Ricky Rubio was about as impressive of a passer as I've seen in a while. His court intelligence was equally impressive. If he can get back to where he was health wise Portland is a dark horse title candidate: The idea of a Rubio -  Howard pick and roll, with Milsap on the baseline capable of hitting a mid range j or capitalizing on a weakside D is outright frightening. Not to mention Iso Jo spotting up and acting as an option b (if pick and roll doesn't work he plays the Pierce bail out role) and I love me some Wilson Chandler.

Portland lies on Rubio's shoulders, if he can get back to being healthy they'll have absolutely no issue putting up points

[Kane3387]

I'd like to nip some of this Dwight Howard missing the beginning of the season talk in the bud right now.



Are people just pontificating here or are there actual links, news stories, or insiders weighing in to use as a reference?

I know a herniated disc is no small injury, but the only reports i've heard is that he'll be good to go for camp.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/39318743

Dwight Howard (back) "wouldn't speculate" on whether or not he'll be ready for the start of next season.

On top of everything that has transpired with Howard over the last few days, this is really just the icing on the cake. Howard had a herniated disc repaired and "sizable fragments of bone removed" in April, and it's concerning that he's not sure of his status for the beginning of next season. He'll be a fantasy force regardless of what uniform he's wearing, but owners will have to monitor the health of his back as we sort through the multitude of trade rumors.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The video has stuff on it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYy93D89__8

[indeedproceed]

How does Okc match up with Portland tried to get some good dwight stoppers

Well, in terms of a head-to-head, probably best left for the playoffs.

But in terms of as a team looking to get into the playoffs, I think OKC has 3 main questions:

1) Why is Andrew Bynum good enough to be a every-play first option

2) Why will Andrea Bargnani be effective as a front-court partner after having a terrible last year?

3) What kind of impact will Tyreke Evans have?

[Who]

Bargnani's scoring efficiency dropped off when Bosh left.

Bargnani isn't a strong enough shot-creator to be a first option or even a second option for that matter ... but he is a darn fine third option when other people are creating scoring opportunities for him.

With a creator like Tyreke Evans and post presence like Andrew Bynum, I think Bargnani has a career year offensively (say 18ppg 58% TS% low turnovers).

[GreenFaith1819]

Here's how I see it:

Portland Trailblazers
------
Utah Jazz
-----
OKC Thunder
Denver Nuggets

I think Portland's an absolute beast of a team in here. Jazz are very solid. I think the bottom two teams are going to really struggle to score the rock

Well, you answered (in a recent post) only PART of my question (what reasons can you give me as to why DEN would struggle to score).

But you only gave me reasons as to why you think POR would be able to score.



You're not ducking me, are you lol?

So....what reasons can you give me as to why DEN would struggle to score the rock?

[Donoghus]

This division I have pegged as:

1) Portland (love the starting five)
2) Utah (balanced but don't like Asik starting at all)
3) Denver (nice frontcourt, hate the backcourt)
4) OKC (something screams implosion/selfishness here)

Good division, though.

[GreenFaith1819]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9LzhvRANps&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbYT1Q6b4k8

KG and Boozer says - "Dwight, Bynum, Asik - We are coming FOR YOU!"

[Edgar]

[/quote]

Well, in terms of a head-to-head, probably best left for the playoffs.

But in terms of as a team looking to get into the playoffs, I think OKC has 3 main questions:

1) Why is Andrew Bynum good enough to be a every-play first option

2) Why will Andrea Bargnani be effective as a front-court partner after having a terrible last year?

3) What kind of impact will Tyreke Evans have?
[/quote]

1) hes dominant but hes never been the go to guy
i like him as a second option and hes one of the best being that
i like his skills and his born abilities to do that

2)Maybe hes the go to guy if he have a center like bynum next to him who knows

3) tyreke is a player i like , i dont have much bad things to say about him other than hes raw
dis i mention hes raw
yes
hes raw
like
raw
but he can play
who knows