Spring Break
How far they've come
Ben Bradea
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Sports
A 52-28 record with two games remaining? Wow.
There is nothing more you can say than that it's been an amazing comeback for the Blazers and the city of Portland.
Looking back over the "lost years" of 2004 through 2006, I remember being excited about Sergei Monia and Viktor Khryapa and what kind of chemistry they would produce along with Sebastian Telfair at the point and Ha Sueng-Jin at center. Looking back now, those were sad and desperate times.
Real Blazers fans like my friends and I continued to go to the games and root for the Blazers, always emphasizing and searching for the positives in the team.
Were there really positives for a team with a record of 21-61? The only players on that team who are still on the current roster are Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster, a third-year player and a first-year player out of high school, respectively.
Now the Blazers will finish the year with their second-best record in 17 years! The only other time they had a better record was the 1999-00 team that took the Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals.
This same team, without Michael Ruffin and Raef LaFrentz, who do not see floor action for the Blazers, is the youngest team in the NBA. This is the same team that has had four rookies get significant playing time throughout the season and still has a chance to get the second seed in the West with only two games to go.
Some would even argue that heading into the playoffs, the Blazers are the hottest team currently in the West.
Friday night was a special game, and was the year in a nutshell for the Blazers. Coming off their most impressive win on the road of the year against the Spurs on Wednesday, they had to face the hated Lakers, who themselves were in a fight with the Cavaliers to get the overall number-one seed in the playoffs.
The energy leading up to the game was huge in Portland, and it was newsworthy even here in Corvallis. I had a lot of people come up to me saying they were so pumped up for the game, and I must have seen about 15 Roy jerseys just Friday alone.
There is nothing more you can say than that it's been an amazing comeback for the Blazers and the city of Portland.
Looking back over the "lost years" of 2004 through 2006, I remember being excited about Sergei Monia and Viktor Khryapa and what kind of chemistry they would produce along with Sebastian Telfair at the point and Ha Sueng-Jin at center. Looking back now, those were sad and desperate times.
Real Blazers fans like my friends and I continued to go to the games and root for the Blazers, always emphasizing and searching for the positives in the team.
Were there really positives for a team with a record of 21-61? The only players on that team who are still on the current roster are Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster, a third-year player and a first-year player out of high school, respectively.
Now the Blazers will finish the year with their second-best record in 17 years! The only other time they had a better record was the 1999-00 team that took the Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals.
This same team, without Michael Ruffin and Raef LaFrentz, who do not see floor action for the Blazers, is the youngest team in the NBA. This is the same team that has had four rookies get significant playing time throughout the season and still has a chance to get the second seed in the West with only two games to go.
Some would even argue that heading into the playoffs, the Blazers are the hottest team currently in the West.
Friday night was a special game, and was the year in a nutshell for the Blazers. Coming off their most impressive win on the road of the year against the Spurs on Wednesday, they had to face the hated Lakers, who themselves were in a fight with the Cavaliers to get the overall number-one seed in the playoffs.
The energy leading up to the game was huge in Portland, and it was newsworthy even here in Corvallis. I had a lot of people come up to me saying they were so pumped up for the game, and I must have seen about 15 Roy jerseys just Friday alone.
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