The Portland Trail Blazers won their game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, and now improbably hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference as of today. Will they hold on against the Kings and Utah Jazz, who are a mere three-tenths of a percentage point behind the Blazers?
That question won’t be answered until Tax Day, the way these teams are going. These next two games for Portland are winnable, and will go a long way towards determining whether this depleted, stripped-down version of the Trail Blazers will still be a playoff squad, despite the best efforts of Neil Olshey to tear the roster down.
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Friday, Jan. 29: vs. the Charlotte Hornets, 7:00 PM, CSNNW
The Skinny: This game marks the official Portland return of Nicolas Batum. Besides the obvious nostalgia factor of a returning player, this occasion does make one think about just how valuable a player like Batum is.
I know there are many Blazer fans, both following this site and on certain online forums, that have always expected more of Batum. They saw his 6-foot-8 frame, playmaking acumen, outside shooting, bothersome (if slightly overrated) defense, and ability to do anything he wanted to on the court as the framework of a star. They saw him as the wing complement to Brandon Roy, then the perimeter complement to LaMarcus Aldridge before Damian Lillard came to town.
Nic was never comfortable as THE MAN on an NBA team, and unlike some folks, I was totally OK with that. Being an introverted person myself, I could identify with someone who didn’t really want the spotlight, and burdens, with being an NBA star. Leave that to the Lillards of the world; Batum was more comfortable doing Batum things, like putting up 11-9-8 stat lines, or exploding for the very occasional 30-point game just to remind people that yes, Nic could ball as well.
Batum has found his role on the Charlotte Hornets, without the burdens of spending his entire career in front of a very discerning, knowledgeable and demanding NBA fan base. He can be Nic Batum, a jack-of-all-trades wing player who’s going to make a huge amount of money this summer.
As ESPN’s Zach Lowe and others have noted, NBA players that can do everything well are in extremely high demand; thank the Golden State Warriors for that. Nobody will ever recreate the Warriors, since that team’s a true once-in-a-generation phenomenon, but the copycat mentality that permeates professional sport is definitely present in the NBA.
Batum is a player that can do many things on a basketball court, and it’s more valuable to be a jack-of-all-trades these days than to be a master of one. Just ask Steve Novak or Tony Allen.
And if anyone said “Who?” in response to that last sentence, you just proved my point.
#HawtTeak Alert: an NBA team will offer Nicolas Batum a max contract this summer. I am willing to bet money on it.
Player To Watch: Al-Farouq Aminu. After spending four paragraphs hyping Batum, of course I have to highlight his replacement. Aminu has had a great year for Portland, improving his outside shooting in particular.
Aminu is nowhere near the playmaker Batum is, but his defense is definitely better. Nic was always somewhat overrated on that end, despite his penchant for checking the point guards instead of Wesley Matthews or Lillard.
Prediction: The Hornets are depleted by injuries, and are on the opposite coast. Coupled with the Blazers’ positive momentum after beating the Kings, this has all the makings of a Blazer victory.
Portland welcomes back Batum with a rude loss.
Sunday, Jan. 31: vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves, 6:00 PM, CSNNW
The Skinny: The Wolves are chugging along in their rebuilding process. They have a couple legit young stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, and a mismatched collection of veterans and D-League level young talent.
I have to say that the team has adjusted well to Flip Saunders’ passing before the season. Flip was the leader of the franchise, and a void like that isn’t easily filled.
I’m not sure that void has been filled adequately, to be real honest. Sam Mitchell is teaching an outdated system of basketball as the coach; there was a reason he was an analyst for NBATV before Saunders hired him to be an assistant. He has Wiggins shooting contested midrange jumpers after dribbling for 10-15 seconds. That’s right out of 1995, which is also the last time Mitchell was an effective strategist.
Regardless of Mitchell’s failings as a coach, the roster itself is still a year or two away from playoff consideration, even with the West’s recent weakness. Another lottery pick that turns out to be a useful rotation player at least would help the Wolves tremendously, especially if said player allows them to move on from Ricky Rubio.
It might not be palatable for Minnesota to give up on Rubio, but when you’re a bad team, all avenues of improvement have to be considered–even if those paths take years to travel, and alienate some fans along the way.
Player To Watch: Damian Lillard. After getting snubbed for the All-Star team, expect Dame to make his displeasure known on the court. A terrible team like the Timberwolves would be prime pickings for a P.O.’ed star like Lillard.
Prediction: The Blazers are 2-0 so far against the Wolves this season. After taking care of business against an equally-terrible Los Angeles Lakers team last week, I expect the Blazers to continue letting the very bad teams know that Portland is still a cut above…even if the Blazers themselves occupy the middle ground that analysts like myself say is a living death in NBA terms.
Last week, I only got the Lakers game right.
Trail Blazers’ Record: 21-26
Jared’s Picks Record: 22-25
Bro Counter: 14 before I owe him $40
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