Do you remember all the predictions? Do you remember what everyone was saying about the Portland Trail Blazers prior to the 2015-’16 NBA regular season? As Sarah Palin might have elegantly put it, “How’d all that studyin’ and thinkin’ work out for ya?”
The Portland Trail Blazers are officially in the playoffs. They will have a winning record when all is said and done at the end of this year’s campaign; all of this after a tumultuous offseason in which just about every expert and non-expert alike predicted doom and gloom for the Blazers. Just about anybody who isn’t a stone cold liar predicted a losing record for this team, and certainly nobody predicted an appearance in the playoffs, much less a contender for the fifth seed in the Western Conference. But, the Blazers may achieve all of these things and more. Portland’s success this year has been one of the great overachievements of this NBA season and of any season for the Trail Blazers, save for that one magical year in 1977.
In celebration of this monumental achievement, let us look back in loving remembrance to all those predictions that took place before the Trail Blazers season began.
VEGAS/BOVADA
Over/Under win total prediction: 26.5 (second-worst in the NBA)
To quote Han Solo, “Never tell me the odds.” The Blazers notched their 27th win of the season on February 10 against the Houston Rockets, just before the All-Star break. They miraculously won their 28th game on February 19 in a blowout win against the defending champs Golden State Warriors at the Moda Center. The Oddsmakers were among those that had this team all wrong. Here’s hoping no one got whacked because it.
- Portland Trail Blazers
Proj. record: 31-51
Poor ESPN, not only has some of their best personalities and most of their better writers have left (#freezachlowe) and been replaced with screaming heads, their prediction for the Blazers, and a few others, were way off. However, ESPN’s projected win total fail for the Blazers pales in comparison to the prediction by David Thorpe on what team will be the next NBA Champions: the Houston Rockets.
Ooops.
CNNSI had Portland ranked 28 out of the 30 NBA teams, ranking ahead of only the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers, saying this about the Blazers:
The Blazers took the biggest plunge from last year’s final set of rankings, falling all the way from No. 8, with LaMarcus Aldridge headlining four departed starters. Expect big numbers, if not efficient percentages, from Damian Lillard. C.J. McCollum could also pick up some of the load, but this is no longer a playoff team in the crowded West. Hat tip to GM Neil Olshey for getting creative and finding several new pieces. Still, there’s no easy fix for what was lost.
Even I didn’t think the Blazers would be as bad as the Los Angeles Lakers. Minnesota should have been hopping mad at this prediction too, as their core of young talent was and is better than anything the Lakers have threatened to put on the court. At least they got the part about CJ McCollum picking up some of the load correct. And GM Neil Olshey should get much more than a hat tip this season.
Portland isn’t going to defend well enough to win more than 25 games.
An even worse outlook than the Vegas odds, the Blazers were well above this win mark by the All-Star break. Best, or worst yet, is Bleacher Report’s best-case scenario for the Blazers, concluding that the playoffs were out of the question, no matter what happens. BR’s prediction of just 22 wins to go along with their humbling prediction for a best-case year makes for some special shaming fodder for Blazers fans to dish out.
Matt Moore predicted 23 wins.
Zach Harper predicted 24 wins.
James Herbert predicted 34 wins.
Ananth Pandian predicted 18 wins.
All of these writers should be fired, especially Pandian. 18 wins only? Really? I was pretty hard on the Blazers myself at the beginning of the season, but only 18 wins would have been disastrous and would only have been possible if Damian Lillard suffered an early season-ending injury. Only Herbert came close to having a pulse, having the Blazers cross the 30-win boundary, something very few pundits had the Blazers doing.
How good can they be? The Blazers won’t be the worst team in the West, but a playoff spot is pretty much out of the question. They have one of the best young point guards in the league in Damian Lillard, but he can’t be expected to do it all. It’s time to rebuild in Portland
Again, the common running theme here is that the playoffs are a pipe dream. At least they didn’t think the Blazers would be the worst team in the West. But still, did everyone think the Lakers would be that much better?
OREGONSPORTSNEWS.COM
Some guy at OregonSportsNews.com wrote this:
Make no mistake and have no illusions, this team will be bad…
What an idiot.
Truth be told, even the most optimistic Blazers fan didn’t see this season coming. Coach Terry Stotts has done masterful job at guiding these Blazers, and the players themselves have stepped up and produced. It’s not over yet, however. If the Blazers make yet another first-round exit, than this season won’t be remembered for anything more than an inspired regular season followed by an all too common playoff result. However, if the Blazers are able to make some noise, the next round of predictions will just as likely be remembered as another reason for why you play the games. With every previously failed attempt at forecasting this Blazers season proves, nobody can really say what is about to happen next.
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