The start of a new sports season should be a celebration – like the dawn of spring after a dreary Northwest winter, it should be a time of hope, with everyone still tied in first place and undefeated.
How can a sports fan reconcile, then, with the knowledge that your team is already on the clock for the draft before the preseason is over?
Welcome to life as a Blazers fan.
I’m a Portlander born and raised, so much of my life involved the Blazers’ unprecedented 21-season playoff run. I grew up in the halcyon “Rip City” era, when stars like Clyde Drexler and Jerome Kersey dominated the Oregon sports scene and the city of Portland by taking the Blazers to two NBA Finals appearances in three years .
I had just finished middle school when the Blazers last had a title shot in 2000, and the fourth-quarter game-seven implosion against the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers still haunts me.
Seeing the Blazers struggle both on the court and off the last few years has been painful, but the acquisition of young talent and coach Nate McMillan should pay dividends in a few seasons.
It’s the waiting, though, that’s the hard part.
Joking with one of my roommates, a fellow Blazers fan, about having already won the sweepstakes for prized Ohio State freshman Greg Oden- who has been compared to David Robinson and Tim Duncan- reveals a very sad truth. Counting NBA lottery Ping-Pong balls before the season starts isn’t an ideal state of affairs, but what’s the alternative?
Well, actually, this could be an entertaining season.
With a year under his belt, McMillan hopefully will be able to better contain Portland’s two wild children, Zach Randolph and Darius Miles, and mold the team’s youthful exuberance into experience and wins. Combining McMillan’s strengths in defense with a young team willing to play up-tempo offense could provide fireworks; at the very least, the Blazers should go down swinging this year as opposed to succumbing to in-fighting and folding over against the stronger teams in the Western conference, which they have done in years past.
If McMillan can tame Randolph and Miles – two big-money earners who have a reputation as team cancer – then at least Portland should be a fun team to watch lose. If Joel Pryzbilla and Jarrett Jack continue to become team leaders, and young guns Martell Webster, Sergio Rodriguez, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy develop into stars, then the teething years now will be worth deep playoff runs and maybe even championships down the line.
And also think of the fan credibility at stake here. Roy is many people’s preseason candidate for rookie of the year, so seeing him play may be exciting. While nobody will ever be another Michael Jordan, who would’ve turned down the opportunity to see His Airness play in his first year? Nothing would be greater than, in twenty years’ time, being able to say, “I saw them when,” regarding players like Roy, Webster, and Aldridge.
The Blazers have turned a corner this year. Even if they finish in the Western conference basement again, they will be worth watching. Besides, the ultimate mark of loyalty is staying by your team through thick and thin – it makes the victories much sweeter. Just ask Tigers, White Sox and Red Sox fans.
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