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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Blazers: They're tall, and they'd better win
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 59-23, second in Pacific, second in conference
Coach/President: Mike Dunleavy/Bob Whitsitt
Arena, first game: Rose Garden (19,980); Nov. 3, 1995
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,318-1,110/1
Notable: Ten different players led in scoring in a game
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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D. Stoudamire
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5.2 apg
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Would he get 20 and 9 elsewhere?
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SG
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Steve Smith
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.850 FT
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Smart veteran just wants to win
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SF
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Scottie Pippen
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5.0 apg
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Poor guy, still stuck on only 6 titles
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PF
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Rasheed Wallace
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.519 FG
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'Sheed's techs new unbreakable record
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C
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Arvydas Sabonis
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.843 FT
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Knees a problem, but they won't rush him
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6th
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Shawn Kemp
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.417 FG
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Weight, wait problems: He wants to start
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7th
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Dale Davis
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9.9 rpg
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In three years, they'll want O'Neal back
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8th
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Bonzi Wells
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8.8 ppg
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Would he average 20 ppg in 40 minutes?
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The Blazers need to be able to integrate all that talent and make sure everybody is happy with limited minutes and limited shots. Most of all, Rasheed Wallace has to become their go-to-guy, who they know, when they absolutely, positively have to get a basket, that he's going to deliver. He has to attack, rather than draw the double team and put the onus on someone else. He's good enough to beat guys one-on-one, before the double team comes, but he has to take that approach. And he has to knock the shot down when the opportunity is there, or keep shooting if the first one doesn't go down. They also can't let the fourth quarter collapse haunt them if they find themselves in that situation again. They can't lose their nerve if they have a big lead and start to see it crumble. Getting past either the Spurs or the Lakers in a tough series is important for the Blazers. Nobody pushed them to the limit in a series they won. When they were pushed, they lost. The Finals would be a big accomplishment for this team.
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By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
On a team that came one half of a fourth quarter from making it
to the NBA Finals -- which they surely would have won -- the Blazers have, as absurd as it seems, only gotten better,
deeper, more dangerous. It doesn't hurt, of course, that billionaire owner
Paul Allen does not care two trillion cents about going over the salary cap,
to say it mildly. With the cap at $35.5 million, the Blazers' payroll is
about $90 million. If the luxury tax were in effect this season, his tax
would be higher than many teams' entire payroll. Which is why the Blazers
have accrued more talent than one could imagine, including seven players who
are at least 6-10. Just think, Shawn Kemp, the best player in the 1996
Finals, is coming off the bench. So, too, is Dale Davis, who was in the
Finals last summer with the Indiana Pacers. Combine them with Bonzi Wells,
Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, and the Blazers' second unit may be the fifth
best team in the Western Conference. The question, of course, is who will be in
the starting lineup. Portland has had 5-9 Damon Stoudamire at the point the
last few years, but they looked like a more effective, and certainly a better
defensive, team with 6-7 Scottie Pippen running the point, which would allow
the Blazers to have a massive front line. That was the team with the most
success against the Lakers in the conference finals. Which comes back to the
point about that half quarter. Had they won the Finals, this team may have
stayed put and tried to repeat. All admit that was a bitter defeat that still
lingers, which is the reason they have labeled this season: "One team, one
dream." As Steve Smith said, "We lost. You can't erase it and you have to take
it like a man. You can't block it out. The only thing you can do is make a
change for next year. We talked about it the whole summer. The great thing
about is that we kept in
touch and it shows you that the guys really want to win."
The Bad
First of all, starting center Arvydas Sabonis is going to miss
the early portion of the season with a knee injury. Not that they don't have
anybody to replace him. But that should make it interesting when he comes
back and whoever replaces him has to go back to the bench. The danger of
collecting this much talent in one spot is that there is not enough playing
time, a demon that reared its ugly head two seasons ago, when Stoudamire took
his complaints to the newspapers. If Pippen starts over Stoudamire, that
could again be an issue. And Davis has shown with recent statements that
he is not exactly a team player -- particularly since he is more interested
in a new contract than anything else. "At some point in the year, everybody
is going to be unhappy with their minutes," coach Mike Dunleavy said.
"There's no question about it. On the other hand, there is also a lot of
opportunity for guys to fulfill dreams that they've had
for a long time. You hope that the positive outweighs the negative." One other drawback of amassing so many players is expectations. The
Blazers need to win the Finals, or many heads may roll, not the least of whom
could be Dunleavy and/or president Bob Whitsitt.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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Who plays? Who doesn't? That's the big question here. With Sabonis out for a few weeks, that eases things, but Kemp doesn't see himself as a sixth man, that's for sure. Egos could ruin what this team wants to accomplish. Also, if the team doesn't win it all, the question is does the team get broken up from top to bottom?
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Whose team is this?
Most people say Wallace, given that he has the most
talent. But there is some question whether a guy who leads the league in
technical fouls, has no respect from the referees and is given to extreme
bouts of immaturity can hold this position. More likely, it is more like a
Board of Trustees, with Pippen and Smith as the Chairmen. After all,
Pippen has six championship rings he won with the Bulls, as well as an
Olympic gold medal, and Smith just returned from winning a gold medal in
Sydney. If you can't respect that, you're, well, Allen Iverson.
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| Pippen |
How they'll play
This team has so much talent at every level, it can
beat teams in any manner. They are huge, particularly if Pippen is the point
guard. They have seven players who are at least 6-10. They have Davis and Kemp
coming off the bench. They can run with Stoudamire, Wells, Augmon and
Anthony. And they can play great defense, particularly with the long-armed
Pippen in the backcourt and the shot-blocking of Wallace in the post.
Projection
With the money spent on this team, and the talent that goes
along with that, this team should win more than 60 games, win the Pacific
Division, win the Western Conference and win the championship. If it doesn't,
jobs will be lost.
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