Trail Blazers' Early Season Blowouts Becoming a Concern
The Trail Blazers’ record might be fine, but the blowout losses are creating some panic
At seven wins and five losses, the Portland Trail Blazers are not far off from preseason expectations. They are fighting with the Jazz, Thunder, Grizzlies and Rockets for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. For the most part, they lost to some elite teams and beat the rest. Why the widespread panic among fans?
Expectations and blowouts.
blazers
Rip City Project 1 dBlazers vs. Bulls: Three Observations
More headlines around FanSided:
1 d - Chicago Bulls at Portland Trail Blazers: Four Takeaways, Butler Shines2d - Trail Blazers Outlook: Week Four2d - Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Game Info, Start Time, How to Watch2d - NBA Positional Power Rankings: Westbrook, Leonard Are Red-Hot3d - Lillard, Trail Blazers defeat NuggetsMore News at Rip City Project
The Trail Blazers entered last season with free pass from fans to rebuild. Terry Stotts’ crew dismissed the notion of a rebuilding year and charged into the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Fans just wanted to see other pieces develop around Damian Lillard. C.J. McCollum, Allen Crabbe, Al-Farouq Aminu and the center duo all had essentially career years and improved as the season went along. The second round playoff battle with the Golden State Warriors was all just a cherry on the top.
This time around – the Trail Blazers boast the second highest payroll in the league. Everyone got paid based off last season’s success. Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli were brought in to shore up perceived weaknesses in the squad and give the bench some needed depth. It will be a failure if the Trail Blazers don’t make the second round of the playoffs yet again. Even with a decent 7-5 record thus far, the feeling around the team is that Portland is not really an improved team from last year – and actually they might have taken a step back.
Blowouts are shocking – but too early to draw conclusions
Portland got off to a dreadful 11-19 start last season before turning things around. Despite the slow start, there were not many blowouts last year. After the Bulls trounced the Trail Blazers in the Moda Center, Portland has been blown out four times. Though the opponents delivering the huge victories are all solid – it is very concerning.
General Manager Neil Olshey brought in Turner to run the offense as a third option. Crabbe and Meyers Leonard were expected to up their offensive game after being paid this off season. However, it seems the Trail Blazers are more reliant on Lillard and McCollum than ever. If one or both have a slow start, Portland gets hammered early and often.
The expectations are surely raised this year. Twelve games into this season is too early to panic. It’s still shocking to see a team with such impressive chemistry last year bring everyone back, yet take a step back. It might be a good time to quote Aaron Rodgers and tell fans to “Relaaaax.” If Terry Stotts’ has proven anything with last year, he’ll figure this team out.
More from Rip City Project
This article originally appeared on 
