With all the Brett Favre mess and all the baseball trades that just happened, it seems like the NBA season and the Blazers are far from my mind. But once the summer starts to wind down, there is no doubt the buzz will start up about the Blazers and the upcoming NBA season.About one year ago, it seemed as though the old notion of 'Rip City' had finally returned to Portland. It had definitely been building for two or three years (since drafting Brandon Roy) and it was supposed to officially begin last season. Drafting Greg Oden kinda helped the whole process along. But wait--Oden had the operation on his knee, and alas, the official start to 'Rip City' was put on hold.
Even with Oden missing the entire season, the Blazers still had what was generally considered to be a rather successful campaign last year. By any standards, it was a good year. Didn't really come close to making the playoffs, but then again, they play in the Western Conference. Their record of 41-41 would have been good enough for a tie with the Toronto Raptors, who finished in sole possession of the East's 6th seed in the playoffs.
The team saw a pleasantly surprising 13 game winning streak early on in the season, which got the notice of the whole league and seemed to raise the question as to if the Blazers were "for real" or not? You know, 'contenders or pretenders' type stuff. We also saw, finally, the semi-emergence of Travis Outlaw, who the Blazers had been waiting on since they drafted him out of high school back in 2003. And Brandon Roy made the Western conference All Star team, being voted in by the coaches, rather than being "voted in" by the fans (which is usually a joke).
This year the team has gotten even better and deeper. Already in place is a very solid nucleus of Roy, Aldridge and Outlaw. Add to that Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez and Jarryd Bayless (steal of the entire draft??), and it's hard not to drool over this team, at least on paper. The best news of it all is that Oden won't have to come in right away and be "the man", like what happens with so many other rookies with too many expectations heaped on them. He can just sit back and block shots all day long if he really wants to. We'd be fine and happy with just that.
So putting last year behind us, let's look at this year. Playoffs? Maybe. ESPN's Chris Broussard thinks so. And so does local beat writer Sean Meagher over at OregonLive. We have to agree with both of them. We're thinking a modest 7th or 8th seed though, compared to the 6th seed that Meagher says the Blazers are going to contend for. Either way, things are looking up for the team as we prepare for the upcoming season.
Thoughts? Discuss.
