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Portland Trailblazers
2007-08 Record: 41-41 Cool 2007 Stat: Their top 4 scorers (Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw, Webster) are all 23 and under. It would have been 5 if Greg Oden had played.
Anticipated Starting Five
PG- Jerryd Bayless
SG- Brandon Roy
SF- Martell Webster
PF- LaMarcus Aldridge
C- Greg Oden
Bench: Steve Blake, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Channing Frye, Joel Przybilla
Biggest Strength – Abundance of Young Talent At Every Position
The Trailblazers are solid to very good at every position. Steve Blake is a decent pass-first point guard who is surrounded by scorers. Jerryd Bayless in my opinion can play point guard, and when he matures I see him as a more athletic and dynamic version of Chauncey Billups. Not a high assist PG but good enough to lead a team and be a playmaker in clutch situations. Brandon Roy is the leader and has proven hiimself already in this league. Behind Roy is Rudy Fernandez at shooting guard who looked like he has the makings of a real star during the Bejiing Olympics. I liked Lamarcus Aldridge at Texas and was shocked and appalled when Chicago traded his rights when they were clearly in desperate need of an inside scorer. He averaged 17.8ppg and 7.6 boards for Portland last season and now will be one part of the best young front court in the league. Greg Oden will come right in and solidify the defense. I am unsure of his offensive progression, but that isn’t necessarily what the team needs him to do. They were a poor rebounding squad, and he solves this problem right away as well as improving their already good field goal defense. Webster (who Pete will talk about) and Travis Outlaw are both solid small forwards and good defenders with length as well. Just solid all around.
Biggest Weakness - Lack of Experience/Uncertainty
Looking at the ridiculous amount of talent on this team all over the place, it’s hard to point out glaring weaknesses or bad players. The obvious one is the flip side of having good “young” players – lack of experience. This team has a combined 49 playoff games under their belt. What’s worse: those games are spread out among Steve Blake (9), Joel Pzybilla (5) and Raef LaFrentz (35). Only Blake has a chance to be in the starting line up. So that’s the inexperience part. The uncertainty side is how good Greg Oden will really be, will Rudy Fernandez’s game translate well to the NBA and can Jerryd Bayless contribute in a big way at the point? Many question marks, but this team is well positioned to win a lot of games and compete in the coming years starting in 2009.
Key Player in ’08- Greg Oden
This one is easy. As Dannie said, this team is loaded with young talent at every position. But the one thing they were missing last year was a dominant center, and it just so happens they have the best center prospect since Shaquille O’Neal waiting for his first NBA game. My main concern here is health. If Oden plays, he will be an elite defender right off the bat, guaranteed. There is enough offense around him that he won’t have to score, but just his presense on the court will have a huge impact on this team… provided he stays on the court.
Their Thaddeus (exciting player 22 or under) – Martell Webster, 21
The Blazers picked Webster in the 2005 draft because of his great shooting and because of their effort to rid themselves of the “jail-blazers” mantra. Webster hasn’t quite lived up to his billing as the 6th overall pick, but he certainly showed signs last year. Playing 28 minutes a game, he became a regular contributor and averaged 10.7 ppg. However, his shooting percentage needs to improve. He shot 42.2% from the field and 38.8% from three. As a 6’7” shooting guard, those numbers have to improve.
Pete’s 2008 Outlook: 2nd place, Northwest division / 6th place, Western conference /11th place, NBA
There is a strong part of me that says Greg Oden is going to come in and be better than anyone expected, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are going to improve, Rudy Fernandez is going to come in and be almost as good as Manu Ginobili and this team is going to be the 2nd best team in the West. However, that’s a big leap from a 41-41 team, and it’s probably what I will be writing for them next year. As for this year, they should make the playoffs and be a team NO ONE wants to face in the first round.
Dannie’s 2008 Outlook: 2nd place, Northwest division / 5th place, Western conference /10th place, NBA
Portland and their GM Kevin Pritchard are the perfect model for great drafting, international scouting and manuevering to acquire good young players. 2009 will be the first year when all that losing (leading to high picks) and back-end negotiating really proves fruitful in terms of wins and success on the court. I have them making a HUGE leap this season which may be a stretch. But their talent is unquestioned which will be enough to win many nights. To become elite it’s just a matter of developing chemistry and growing in experience as a unit. I also think they have a very good coach for this collection of players in Nate McMillan. They are a playoff team for sure and in my opinion they leap frog aging and depreciating teams like Dallas, Phoenix and even San Antonio (go ahead rip me).
Philly Connection: Dean Demopoulos
Who? The Blazers were one of the hardest teams to find a connection for. But after researching Demopoulos, he had so many Philly connections, I was surprised I never heard of him. He graduated from West Chester in 1977 and immediately began coaching at Kennett High School. In 1983, he became an assistant coach for John Cheney at Temple, and stayed in that post for 17 seasons, until 1999. They made the NCAA tourny in 16 of his 17 seasons. After a one season head coaching gig at UMKC (University of Missouri – Kansas City), he joined Nate McMillian in Seattle, and then followed him to Portland. When Cheney left Temple, he was a candidate for the job.
No way I can rip either one of you.
I think this is one of the better frontcourts in the league if Oden lives up to the hype. I think he will. I would not be suprised if the Spurs took a step back and the Blazers passed them up. The Spurs still have their big 3 but who else, aged role players and Salim? I definately put them ahead of Dallas, PHX and the Nuggets. It might be a stretch but I think the Jazz are gonna have their hands full trying to lock up the NW division and the Blazers may take it.
I heard a rumor last year that Billy King rejected a trade for Aldridge/Korver straight up and that was part of the reason he was sent packing. Did anyone else ever hear that? When I did, I was pissed..I have to say now it worked out pretty well.
Let’s not forget their other recently acquired Philly connection…Shavlik Randolph, signed two days ago!
shav daddy is on the squad!? oh man, i didnt catch that. that would have been a much easier philly connection. oh well.
i would have to assume that aldridge for korver deal was before the season started, cause aldridge was pretty good all year. either way, add it to list of why we are all so happy to be rid of b-king.
Dannie & Pete– nice assessment on the Portland Trailblazers. There is something really special about that team and that franchise. A franchise with names like Clyde Drexler, Kevin Ducksworth, Bill Walton, Lenny Wilkins, Drazen Petrovic, Arvydas Sabonis,etc. The last time they made the playoffs was in 2003 and Mo Cheeks was the head coach. That playoff appearance was part of a string of 21 STRAIGHT PLAYOFF appearances. They were a historical franchise!! 21 is an amazing record because players, coaches, owners, etc change in a decade or a little less!!
Here is a minute summary of the Blazers in the late 90s- early 2000s
Here is a history on this historical franchise (even though they only won one championship)
Portland was an impressive team in the late 90s and early 2000s. Mike Dunleavy Sr was the coach then. They had a load of talent and headcases, but talented at that. Imagine if they did not been swept by the Spurs in the WCF 1999 and lost Game 7 against the Lakers in 2000, they would have been champions!! I started watching a little bit of the Blazers when Mo Cheeks was head coach thinking he was ” ‘a players coach’ who some thought would relate better to the players than Dunleavy did”. They were fun to watch: Rasheed, Scottie, Stoudamire, Sabonis, Bonzi, etc. Watching Mo helping that girl out with the anthem. Also, they used to have a young Jermaine O Neal then, but traded him for Dale Davis.
Then with the whole reputation of the “Jailblazers”, the organization created a 25 point pledge and then had to revamp and rework the team top to bottom. And thus far, have done a tremendous job!!!
In summary, a great franchise with only one championship!!
Great past, and now we will move on to this bright upcoming season for the Portland Trailblazers!!
The Portland Trailblazers last season were one of the suprise teams in the NBA, but fell short of making the playoffs due to injuries and understanding the toll of an 82 game season. But through many great drafts, great health, and great consistency, they can become something.
Greatest strength(s):
-Maturity for a young team
-Nate McMillian (Give Mr.Sonic some credit)
-Rose Garden(the energy, fans, Paul Allen, ”Rip City” is back)
-Athletic & deep
-Greg Oden (when healthy– a fundamental center)
Weakness(es):
-Need professional/productive veterans
-Road woes
-HEALTH is the key!!
-Cannot let youth get too exposed
-Too much competition in the West
Now a key series to keep an eye on would be their series against the Utah Jazz:
last season v.s Jazz (3-1)
That is something to keep in mind for the Division Title!!
I think the Blazers will be 2nd in the Northwest Division, 8th in the West!!
The Blazers are like a stock with a potential, which means great return and less risk. I cannot really point out the weaknesses properly, but they have so much potential.
With that said, the Blazers can quietly creep up on people and perhaps go higher in the standings, but they have to bottle up whatever they did in December and January last season. Also, good luck to Shav if he makes the roster come next month!!
(On a side note, the Sixers will split the season (1-1) against the Blazers with each winning on their respective home floors. Although if injuries really do become a major problem for the Blazers, a (2-0) sweep of them is possible. Although, I will still stick with the (1-1) split!! Last season, both teams had incredible comebacks against each others, amazing runs in both second halves!!!)
One thing not mentioned , their coach. With Mcmillan and Roy as leaders I think this team has a chance to be the “New Spurs “, winning multiple titles. If Oden only becomes a one dimensional center[C. Ray] they have enough scoring around him to make it work and if he can dominate they could be scary. Like our team [A.Miller/Elton] love the personality of their future leaders [Roy/ Oden].
I have always wondered with coach Cheeks is– what is his style of play? It was kind of different in both Portland and Philadelphia. Is it just a player-coach style where it varies depending on the level of talent? Or is it a fastbreak style?
Now Cheeks has played against Scottie Pippen, as well as coached him. And with Andre Iguodala, I keep hearing about him being compared to Scottie Pippen. I wonder if anyone can reach Mo and ask what coaching Pippen was like and if there is any Scottie Pippen in Iggy? Pippen has 6 rings, could of had more if the Blazers didn’t lose Game 7 2000. I don’t know how many rings Iggy would get, but Pippen is definitely someone Iggy should call and have as a real mentor!!! Maybe it is just me!!
In response to Philly Connection, decidedly tangential information – some noteworthy Upper Darby High School alums:
Dr. Jack Ramsey, HOF-er who coached gifted San Diego-bred hippie-jock Bill Walton & Pittsburgh mean streets Maurice Lucas in Portland – how’s that for a rebounding tandem?!
… they had 20 yr. old Darryl Dawkins tearing out Spectrum
locker room plumbing in ’77 Championship series frustration,
following a Game 2 brawl and ejection
the late Jim Croce, highly-successful 70s singer-songwriter
(“Operator”,”Time in a Bottle”, “I Got A Name”, “Big Bad Leroy Brown” and “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”)
Todd Rundgren, lead singer of Nazz (“Hello, It’s Me”) and Runt (“We Gotta Get You A Woman”); progressive/experimental reknown recording artist
Tina Fey, current TV sit-com (don’t know name of it) impresario and star, Saturday Night Live writer & performer, recent Sarah Palin parodist
Alvin Sargent, Academy award-winning screenwriter of “Spiderman”, “Unfaithful”, “Ordinary People”, “What About Bob?”, “The Sterile Cuckoo” and many others
Bobby Lloyd, Rutgers/ABA New Jersey Americans shooting guard in mid-to-late 60s – Americans were precursor to Nets, home games at Teaneck NJ Armory; teamed with Tony Jackson & Levern “Jelly” Tart (one of my all-time favorite sports names) in backcourt
Lee Tress, gangly, undersized (6’5″), hustlin’ Temple forward/center in late 60s-early 70s; was ’67 HS All-Delco team selection, along with Geoff Petrie (Springfield/Princeton/ Trailblazers/Kings exec) & Mike Hauer (Bonner/St. Joe’s)
Todd Rucci, former Penn State/New England Patriots lineman; starting guard, Super Bowl XXXI vs. Packers
Floyd Wedderburn, former Penn State/Seattle Seahawks lineman
And, finally, above-referenced Dean Demopoulos
10 cheers for the purple-and-gold Royals!
Rob,
I’d add to the “list of concerns” their PG problem. I’m not saying it’s a “problem” persay…but as many pundits have talked about, they now have two up and comers (Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless) that are very used to having the ball in their hands A LOT to be successful.
Personally, I’m not the biggest Bayless fan in the world…I think he’s much more of a SG in a PG’s body then a true combo guard, although I do see that Billups potential. On ANY other team, I don’t think he’d work…but I think on Portland, sliding him to SG would be an interesting fit; that, or have B-Roy as the SG that shares a lot of ball handling duties.
Brandon Roy has proven to be a true combo guard when he has the ball in his hands, directing traffic…excellent passer, court vision, nice shooter, can slash, great decision making…putting him with a dynamite, fearless scoring eruption like Bayless should be fascinating to watch. Roy’s senior year at UW he literally had the ball in his hands 90% of the time to do his thing…and Nate has often allowed him that same freedom in Portland. Bayless was treated the same way in high school and his one year at ‘Zona.
If this combo works, they are going to have two absurdly talented guards that can score and dish the rock…a high rising and still improving athlete/slasher and a Euro versatile scorer at SF (Outlaw, Rudy F)…a fundamentally sound center that can concentrate on defense, blocks and rebounding (Oden), and a PF that has a nice balance of back to the basket post game and able to score facing the hoop (Aldridge).
I’m the biggest Nate fan on the planet…like Pops, one of the few coaches in the league that wins players respect so they allow him to be a no nonsense taskmaster (i.e.: opposite og George Karl)…if there’s anyone that can get all this great talent on the same page, he can.
Apparently they are also strong in the hunt for Shawn Livingston, along with Phoenix and G-State.