Everyone believes that as the NBA defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers are the team to beat. Having acquired Richard Jefferson, the Spurs come behind the Lakers, and it's a free for all after that.
What role will Greg Oden take on in Portland? Oden's role with the team and his health/effectiveness are probably the biggest concerns on anyone's mind. Oden seems to get hurt at the drop of a pin, and his fragility may be a key issue to the team's success.
How about Greg Oden's effectiveness? He missed the entire first season with a knee injury, and had some injury issues to deal with last season, but was pretty effective when healthy and his skills progressed rapidly.
Most critics will say that one should expect Oden to miss significant chunks of every season of his career, but time will tell about Oden's state. Regardless, Oden's defensive presence is very valuable to the team, and would go a long way in building a successful season in Portland.
Will the Blazers young talent and inexperience inevitably be their downfall? The Blazers made it to the playoffs last year for the first time since the 2002-03' season. When taking a look at their roster, the only player to have played more than 6 games in the playoffs during their entire career is Joel Pryzbilla (played 5 playoff games with the Bucks) and Steve Blake (played a combine 10 playoff games for Washington and Denver).
Compare that to the Lakers, and Kobe Bryant has played in more playoff games than the Blazers entire roster (175 career playoff games). Obviously Portland is very inexperienced, but if their young talent can override their lack of playoff experience, they definitely have a chance at contending for the title.
As far as Miller's impact is concerned, there's no doubt that most believe he'll improve the team. The bigger question at hand is the extent to which his presence will impact things.
The Portland team matches up with Los Angeles really well. Miller is a stronger point guard than Derek Fisher, Bryant obviously wins over Roy, Artest is stronger than Outlaw, and Gasol is stronger than Lamarcus Aldrdige. Odom and Bynum is up in the air, but the point is that all match-ups are close. Things could get interesting.
What role will Greg Oden take on in Portland? Oden's role with the team and his health/effectiveness are probably the biggest concerns on anyone's mind. Oden seems to get hurt at the drop of a pin, and his fragility may be a key issue to the team's success.
How about Greg Oden's effectiveness? He missed the entire first season with a knee injury, and had some injury issues to deal with last season, but was pretty effective when healthy and his skills progressed rapidly.
Most critics will say that one should expect Oden to miss significant chunks of every season of his career, but time will tell about Oden's state. Regardless, Oden's defensive presence is very valuable to the team, and would go a long way in building a successful season in Portland.
Will the Blazers young talent and inexperience inevitably be their downfall? The Blazers made it to the playoffs last year for the first time since the 2002-03' season. When taking a look at their roster, the only player to have played more than 6 games in the playoffs during their entire career is Joel Pryzbilla (played 5 playoff games with the Bucks) and Steve Blake (played a combine 10 playoff games for Washington and Denver).
Compare that to the Lakers, and Kobe Bryant has played in more playoff games than the Blazers entire roster (175 career playoff games). Obviously Portland is very inexperienced, but if their young talent can override their lack of playoff experience, they definitely have a chance at contending for the title.
As far as Miller's impact is concerned, there's no doubt that most believe he'll improve the team. The bigger question at hand is the extent to which his presence will impact things.
The Portland team matches up with Los Angeles really well. Miller is a stronger point guard than Derek Fisher, Bryant obviously wins over Roy, Artest is stronger than Outlaw, and Gasol is stronger than Lamarcus Aldrdige. Odom and Bynum is up in the air, but the point is that all match-ups are close. Things could get interesting.
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