The Season of Rhetoric
No matter what the vibes, the Blazers are currently in prove-it mode.
Since Damian Lillard came to Portland, I’ve been joined at the hip to seemingly every movement of Blazers training camp. They’re usually full of positive vibes, team spirit, and the belief that THIS team is capable of being better than their expectations. Sometimes they are right. But even fewer believe them now.
The Blazers are being laughed off by seemingly every serious analyst as a potential Finals contender and are the red-headed stepchild of the Western Conference Playoff Picture. This year, it’s harder than ever to argue with that assessment. Nobody is ready to kick the Blazers out of the picture but everyone is eager to doubt them or diminish them. And what reason has been given that they won’t prove everybody right after failing to meet expectations for a second consecutive season.
Neil Olshey predictably dodged questions during Media Day about the Blazers investigation prior to hiring Chauncey Billups. As the week has gone on, Billups’ generally well-regarded stage presence with media, has given direct reports of Blazers camp an aura of positivity. Olshey and the like that still occupy the discourse energy, but it sounds like things have gone generally well this week.
So Hope Falls Eternal in the NBA. But for as much as we can read into the positivity surrounding Billups as a sign that the Blazers defense will turn from one of the worst defenses in NBA history to one that can have some thread of consistency from Game 1 to Game 82, it’s hard to believe in any new reality until we can see it.
There’s a reason I’m not writing a lot right now or reacting to things like picking up Nassir Little’s option. The season is long and full of terrors, but we’ve also heard the majority of this rhetoric about change for the better before.
There are different accents to the current story. Nurkic figures to be involved more in the offense as an initiator, with Billups selling him as a diet Jokic who can help bring the ball up and set up the offense for Portland’s guards without every player on defense being able to commit two shoulders and two eyes to Dame and CJ. The other is that the Blazers will be a better defensive team, which starts with Portland playing like a five-man unit on the defensive end consistently, something that has been a rare find in the Lillard Era.
Accountability is something we’ve heard a lot about this week. But just like the rest of the potential changes, the jury remains out. We’ve heard it all before. And I’m tired of listening. Like I’m sure you are. I’m ready to see.