Remember when the Portland Trailblazers won the top selection in the NBA draft? Suddenly fans flooded Blazer websites, bought up season tickets, and showed up en masse everytime top pick, Greg Oden, did a public appearance. Then Oden had an MRI that revealed a microfracture of the knee--a season ending injury. Within days the local press was awash in stories about the Sam Bowie selection that left the NBA's (second) greatest player ever (Wilt Chamberlain is still the man), Michael Jordan, to get picked up by the Chicago Bulls--a decision that would haunt Portland years later in the NBA Finals. Next thing you know, it's all doom and gloom again. The Oregonian ran a story about hundreds of calls from people wanting a refund on their season tickets, since Oden was out for a year.
The reaction to Oden's injury was like most of the (over) reaction to the "Jailblazers" era when Rasheed Wallace threatened the downfall of Western Civilization by throwing a towel in Arvydas Sabonis's face or Zach Randolf was sighted at a titty bar. That's not to say the Jai... uh... Trailblazers didn't make their bed by smoking dope in speeding automobiles or betting on dog fights. Damon Staudamire might have been one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, but he was stoned throughout much of his prime. When he quit, his stats and consistency came back, but it was too late. Guys like Qyntell Woods basically through it all away before they got started. Yet in the case of young Greg Oden, the Rose Garden's gilded class reacted much the same way in demanding refunds, as though Oden himself was guilty of defrauding them with false hopes to bragging rights in the club and suite levels.
So it is with partial pleasure and partial sadness that the Paul Allen wanna-be's have returned to Rip City, USA, now that the Blazers are on an 8 game winning streak. That's just sad, because anybody who knows basketball could see that Greg Oden was not going to be a rookie superstar anyway. Just look at his developmental numbers in Vegas before he wend down with a tonsilectomy. Even if healthy, Oden would have been fouling out after only 15-20 minutes of play. Whatever success Portland would have in the NBA this season would depend on having guys like Roy and Aldridge come into their own, but even more it would depend on whether or not below-the-radar guys like Jarret Jack and Joel Prysbilla could live up to their rookie hype.
The reality is that Portland would have been ready to play for the 7th or 8th seed in the '07-08 playoffs even if they had fallen to the bottom of last year's draft lottery. Even with Kevin Garnett still a T-wolve, they were destined to be better than Minnesota and Seattle. While Utah and Denver are better teams "one through five" at the present, Portland has the deepest bench in the Northwest Division. Jarrett Jack has averages that put him in the top half of starting point guards, Travis Outlaw finally started to show NBA potential last season, and the Blazers have a lot of size to throw at opponents with guys like Frye and LaFrentz and McRoberts that few teams can match. Coach McMillan finally has these guys believing in his style of basketball and the Blazers are a team to contend with.
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