Another option for disgruntled Dubs fans: Portland’s got next.

10.27.2009 | 2:16 pm | The Blazers, Zee Blog Juice

Ah, the start of the season is upon us. And we’re making sure to hedge our bets here at FTB. So comes this, from The City That Works, Portland, Oregon, via our friend and sideline mole, one Mr. Clement Uduk. Dude watches every game from like 15 feet behind the visitor’s bench. And as a college student, he likes to write. Basically, he just cracked us off a 2,700-word season preview of the ‘Zers’ chances from his vaunted vantagepoint. How he finds himself in such a fortunate position may be revealed at a later time, but for now revel in the exhaustive thought that the mole hath wrought on all things Blazers.

Turman

PS. NBA League Pass free trial, allegedly on now. Don’t slip!

Season Preview: Portland Trail Blazers

The NBA season is just days away and there are many things to discuss. First off, there is the excitement of the new season that will tip off next Tuesday with a quadruple header of tantalizing proportions. But most of all, I am excited for the start of the Portland Trail Blazers’ season because of what can be achieved with the deepest team the city of Portland has seen since the days of Pippen/Smith/Grant/Rasheed/Sabonis. What I desire to write about is the off-season the team had, the pre-season they struggled through and an outlook on what shapes up to be a bright and beautiful season. Get ready to delve into some deep discussion on all things Blazers.

Free Agency:

After being bounced by the defensively tenacious Houston Rockets, it was clear that the Blazers needed roster improvement and just plain old experience. The entire team, save for Joel Przybilla and Steve Blake, was completely new to the postseason and it was apparent from the deflating Game 1 stomping in the Rose Garden. The series pointed out that Roy had finally arrived for the big time, but that the rest of his teammates were leaps behind him. The Blazers had versatility in spades, but that versatility fed off of what Brandon could do with the basketball. The team needed another playmaker that could handle the ball, set others up and also get his at the right times. Three other issues were made blatantly obvious throughout the series: the point guard position remained the weak point of team, the 2nd unit did not play with the ruggedness to match the bench unit of the Rockets (which consisted of Lowry/Hayes/Landry/Wafer) and the team defense was nowhere near playoff caliber. These three issues were what many fans were hoping to be remedied during the offseason through free agency, the draft or in trade. Portland had a very active offseason, tendering offers to three players and drafting with the future in mind.

Their first foray into free agency was a close encounter with Hedo Turkoglu. Hedo was fresh off a disappointing NBA Finals loss to the Lakers and made it clear that he was not going to return to the Magic for the 2009-2010 season. Portland was the first team to make an offer to him, an offer of 5 years / 50 million-plus, and he declined at the last minute. Adding Hedo was something that I tried to get myself excited for. Yes, he is a versatile player with the skill set that would make the team a bit more dangerous on offense… but his signing would be detrimental to the already spotty defense, the development of Nicolas Batum (and the return of Martell Webster from a broken foot) and the fact that, statistically, he is on the downward slope of his career. Portland dodged a major bullet in Hedo pulling out of negotiations and I echo the sentiment that if he really did not want to be here, the city of Portland would not have wanted him or embraced him as fully as possible.

Trying the free agency for the second time, Portland tried to pry burly Paul Millsap from the Utah Jazz with an offer that was labeled “toxic.” The offer sheet was completely frontloaded, meaning that if the Jazz matched (which they eventually did) they would have to fork over close to 10 million dollars (or some exorbitant amount of shillings) within the first week of signing it. Within minutes of finding out about this potential deal, I was stoked. The money did not mean much to me, because hell I ain’t CTC-ing, but the fact that we could weaken a division rival was very appealing. Paul Millsap is the epitome of what the Blazers were and still are missing off the bench: a physical rebounder that is good at getting garbage points and harassing the other team’s post player. A wrinkle to this excitement was that Paul would be playing off the bench behind LaMarcus Aldridge, who was still seeking a contract extension at the time, and would he be especially pleased with that? The guy has the talent to start games, I mean he can easily squeeze out Carlos Boozer in Utah (it is just that Carlos needs to be catered to now, in my opinion), but I am not the coach. As the Jazz matched the offer, Portland was left to look elsewhere.

Finally, the Blazers looked to Andre Miller and offered him 3 years (2 years guaranteed) and 21 million (14 million guaranteed) to be the next point guard to play for the Blazers. Andre was not a choice I wanted in the early going… in fact I was so adamant on my stance I wrote a note stating why I did not want him on the team on my Facebook. As I read more about the deal, and thought more about the positives that Miller brings, I began to think of what Andre can get this team to do. Andre Miller loves to run and the Blazers have the players and athletes to get out and run. The easier the scores, the easier the wins for the Blazers; and this is something that every Blazer fan has wanted for quite some time. It is even evident in some of the preseason games that Andre can get this team running and scoring on defenses that are on their heels. I really could go on and on, but to sum it up, Miller adds veteran’s know how, a court vision / presence Sergio Rodriguez will probably never possess and the ability to make the players around him infinitely better.

Draft:

The Blazers had a quiet draft night by their recent standards. They netted Spanish forward Victor Claver (a player I am absolutely enamored with and have been hoping the Blazers would scoop up), Dante Cunningham, Jeff Pendergraph and Patty Mills. All four players are quite talented and serve a purpose to tantalize fan’s imagination about the future. At the forefront is Victor Claver. His pick, to most fans and enthusiasts, was meet this speculation and, of course, outrage. Picking Claver, who is far from ready to contribute to the team, was meant as a financial move to make way to save cap space because the team could (and did) renounce the right to sign him to a contract, not the rights to him as a player. Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph are four year collegiate starters that are known for their fire and passion on the court, as well as their workman like mentalities they bring to the game. Watching them both in Summer League was particularly inspiring because Jeff held his own really well and Dante was astounding with his jump shot. Patty Mills was the surprising pick because he was available at the 55th pick and he himself is an interesting player. Mills is a quick scoring point guard with a burgeoning potential that is going through a bit of an injury bout (bad wrist and now a broken foot). These four picks were not meant for the now, but for the future. These picks are signs of the Blazers maturing from lottery team to perennial playoff participant, and possible elite NBA team.

Preseason:

The preseason saw the Blazers go 4-4 and play some extremely uncharacteristic basketball. The team could not seem to find a rhythm and they looked like they had not played with each other at all. At the heart of the rhythm issue were three players and one concept the team was trying to adopt. The three players are Andre Miller, Martell Webster and Greg Oden. Andre, Martell and Greg are their own wrinkle because the team had to integrate them into the team’s offense, while still doing everything they had done last year. Andre being the new point guard, a player whose game is predicated on having the ball in his hands, would seem to have the toughest time assimilating to playing in Portland. He proved otherwise by continually ballin’ it up on the court and looking like the best guy on the court. Miller’s only problem (which really is not a problem) is that he has zero chemistry with Brandon Roy right now (but that will come with time and game situation repetition).Martell missed all but five minutes last season, and it will take him time to get back into the groove. He seemed to have his athleticism back, but all in all, having him return is another weapon in the back pocket. Finally, Greg Oden is the biggest (no pun intended) wrinkle because he showed throughout the preseason (especially in a gritty 2 point victory over Denver) that he is ready to take on some offensive responsibilities. Getting Greg involved offensively will give the Blazers a post presence they have not had in a very long time (Bill Walton is the last certifiable post presence) and this can help get the Blazers a few more wins and continually place pressure on the opposing team’s frontcourt.

The main concept the team was trying to adopt was that starting the basketball game was meaningless and meant little in the end result. It was apparent in the first 3 to 4 games that the roles of each player were not defined and the player were essentially putting too much emphasis on trying to impress to get minutes. All of this stress and misplaced emphasis caused the sloppy and uncharacteristic play. In my experience playing golf, or any sport in that regard, it is not entirely about a person’s physical presence. It is all about the mental preparedness, mental stability and mental clarity. Sports are 90% mental and 10% physical, which means that to be at your strongest you must be mental strong to trust in your abilities and know you are a good player. Half the team looked to be trying to prove how good they were instead of just playing and letting it flow naturally. The grand thing about preseason is that they had 8 cracks at getting their act together and ended well with the best all around game they played (a rout of a pretty challenging Suns team). This last game has me excited for the…

Regular Season Outlook:

I have the Blazers pegged to win 58 games this upcoming season, a 4 win increase from last year’s total. There are plenty of reasons for why I believe this team could be pushing 58 (or more wins) and many of them are reasons avid Blazer fans already know. Over the past three seasons, the Blazers have gone from a 21 win lottery team to a 54 win first round playoff participant. The main theme within all three of those seasons was the team improved from within. Every season, at least 2 or 3 players came back and showed how they have progressed with their game and it translated into more wins for the team. Those three years saw the team rarely make a move that drastically altered the young collection of talent being grown here in Portland. Over the course of last season, the growth from within the team was shown in the form of Brandon Roy’s continued ascension into the upper echelon of the league’s best, Travis Outlaw’s continued clutch performance, LaMarcus Aldridge’s second half play in the post and becoming a better rebounding and so on. In fact, most teams in the league do not come close to having as much talent in the NBA and by continually showing improvement from within, the Blazers are poised to be better anyway. With Martell Webster coming back from injury, the team will be better. With Greg Oden getting healthier from micro-fracture and by establishing himself in the preseason, the team will be better. I have only mentioned two players out the 7 or so that are under the age of 25 on the team… my warning is look out NBA, something big is brewing here.

Another very good reason for a 4 win increase is the all important experience factor. Obviously, losing in the first round leaves a bitter taste in any player’s mouth, but everyone on this team is a year of experience wiser, and hungrier than before to get back to the playoffs and show what they learned. What also feeds into this reason is the signing of Andre Miller and Juwan Howard, both veteran presences, who have had full careers and have seen just about everything you could ever see in an NBA career. Their words, guidance and existence on the roster will help steer the Blazer’s ship in the most positive of directions.

Versatility is something this team has in spades. Most of these players on the players on the roster could start on other NBA teams. The playing rotation could be 10-12 (12 being an exaggeration, but a number to show the scale of depth) deep. No team can boast that, seeing as most teams are 8 players deep. Having this incredible amount of depth helps by enabling a coach to wear down the opposing team by continually throwing fresh legs out there, it helps in the case of a back-to-back games where a coach is able to rest certain players and allow others to play and give maximum effort. The coach has a plethora of options and is not pigeonholed. What I enjoyed wholeheartedly about this roster is the fact that the team could throw out a bench unit of Miller/Fernandez/Webster/Outlaw/Oden and that unit would thoroughly dominate (on paper, at least) any other bench unit you could come up with. I dare you to name a second five as daunting as that one. This unit makes the Lakers second unit seem like a Chihuahua (which brings me to something that peeves me- for the past 2 or 3 season, people tout the Lakers’ second unit to be this great group, and more often than not they are outplayed and struggle to keep any lead Kobe and Co. build). Anyway, main point is that, the starting 5 might not be the best 5 McMillan throws out on the court. Even though I feel that Oden and Miller should be linked together at the hip in terms of being starters or bench guys, Oden proved he can play ball in the preseason and was rewarded with the starting nod in the pivot.

And finally, the last reason I believe the team will increase their win total is because most of the bottom dwellers are still there, and the growth from within and experience gained, games against bottom dwellers will not be taken lightly (Charlotte in Charlotte and the OKC drubbing are two games that pop out vividly to me). Other teams around the Blazers got better (Lakers in the form of Ron Artest, the Spurs getting Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili healthy, the Mavericks hauling in Shawn Marion [this team is an enigma in my mind, I am not completely sold that it can/will work]); however some other playoff teams stood by what they had or lost key pieces. The Rockets were the most decimated of teams by losing Artest to free agency, Yao Ming to a broken foot for the year and Tracy McGrady to microfracture (he who has still not gotten out of the first round physically). Houston is now a fringe playoff team that needs a ton of things to fall their way to get in the postseason. Another team that I feel had a net negative offseason is the Denver Nuggets. The team lost Linas Kleiza, a certified Blazer killer, and Dahntay Jones and brought in the almighty Arron Afflalo. The Nuggets are still the same talented, overly volatile team that everyone has come know and loathe (or love, depending on your viewpoint). AND they are starting the first seven games (the first two that are against Utah and Portland, division rivals) without the immensely talented long-range sniper JR “Earl” Smith . Losing Earl is major, because if you remember from the playoffs or the last few games of the 08-09 season, that guy is crazy good and helped them win big with his three point barrages. Starting with two division battles without an integral teammate is a severe disadvantage. That, and as everyone has been saying, almost EVERYTHING went right for the Nuggets last season (I mean Nene and Kenyon played injury free); that rarely happens twice.

And so you have it. A little something something from me. I hope it was informative and gets you as amped for the start of Blazers season as you could possibly be.

Clement Uduk

Portland, Oregon