Dear Blazers fans,
Should we be excited? The Blazers started off the season winning nine of their first 11 games, they have won road games and they are the only team to beat perennial Western Conference power San Antonio Spurs. But let’s return to Earth a little bit, Blazers fans.
Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of this team. 9–2. Wow, that is a great record. And it is something that should create excitement in this team, but let’s not get too crazy. The Blazers have had good starts before, only to fall down the stretch. We are all hoping that won’t happen this year, but there is reason to believe that this start isn’t how the rest of the season will go.
The number one thing is the Blazers offense. They shoot a lot of threes—and I mean a lot. Granted, they have been hot to start the season. Wesley Matthews has been out of this world when shooting the ball and the Blazers are playing to their strengths, which happen to be outside shooting right now.
Unfortunately for Portland, this won’t last forever. The NBA season is long, and streaks come and go. So what will happen to the Blazers when their shooting averages out? What will happen if they need to score in the paint to win games when other teams take away their outside shooting? Yeah I am nitpicking here, especially after this incredible start, but all of these concerns are legitimate down the road. This season is very young, and unfortunately winning percentage after the first 11 games in the NBA does not mean as much as the NFL or college football.
That in itself is a critique not of the Blazers, but of how some see a record after 10 or so percent of a season is completed. The NBA season is long, and it changes constantly. Teams go hot, teams go cold. That is the number-one reason why we, as Blazers fans, should not freak about this start.
Creating huge expectations about this team is not going to make this season any more exciting. Instead, we should enjoy this start and critique the season as it is played, not on potential based purely on the record in November.
With all that said, man, is it hard not to jump for joy after this start. I am excited. Not out of this world, but the Blazers are winning the games they are supposed to, and isn’t that something you want to see early on? This is not a boring team either. They are exciting to watch. The starters produce an exciting brand of basketball, and the bench comes in and continues it. There are stars on this team, but the Blazers have much more of a team feel than most NBA teams seem to recently, where they are a bunch of stars put together on a roster.
Don’t hype this season. Especially now. Let’s enjoy this as Blazers fans. Out of any fan base in professional sports, we deserve it. But redemption doesn’t come in the regular season, or in November. Redemption comes later, when the NBA really gets going. Portland hasn’t won a playoff series in a long time, and no one will remember this hot start if we don’t live up to the expectations of this fan base—not of this season specifically, but of this franchise in general. Get a win in a playoff series.
Sincerely,
Alex Moore
Vanguard Sports Desk
