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| Tuesday, October 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last year: 35-15, first place in Pacific (lost to Spurs in conference final) Coach: Mike Dunleavy Arena: Rose Garden (19,980) Last NBA title: 1977 Record the last 5 years/NBA rank: 218-160 (14th)
Outlook By Jim Beseda Basketball News After reaching last season's Western Conference finals, the Trail Blazers could have been content to fine-tune rather than retool, letting their young talent mature into a potential championship team. But Blazers president Bob Whitsitt instead made bold offseason moves, acquiring Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith and Detlef Schrempf-all without disrupting the talented core of Portland's roster. The results: an improved team and lofty expectations. Anything short of a return to the West finals would be a crushing failure, and anything short of an NBA title would be disappointing. Who says so? The Blazers themselves. "We're not going to try and be Cinderella and tell you 15 reasons why you shouldn't throw us in the mix as being one of the good teams," Whitsitt says. "If you don't throw us in the mix as being one of the good teams, I think you've analyzed our team wrong." Pippen's acquisition was viewed as the final piece of the puzzle. What the Trail Blazers like most of all about him is his collection of six NBA championship rings and the leadership, talent and spark they signify. He's a proven commodity who seems to fit nicely with Portland's win-now philosophy. And that means accepting his mercurial temperament and his recent tendency to say exactly what's on his mind, even if it doesn't play well in the front office or the dressing room. The 34-year-old's statistics slipped last season in Houston, but the Blazers-who sent six players to the Rockets to acquire him-believe he's still one of the league's premier small forwards. "This is a great fit for me," Pippen says. "It's a great opportunity for me to be with a team that I feel is definitely a top contender in this league and an opportunity to get back to playing championship-caliber basketball." Meanwhile, the frequently troublesome Isaiah Rider has gone to Atlanta, and that would have made an improvement in the Blazers' chemistry even if they hadn't received anything in return beyond a case of Gatorade. But they got a stellar citizen and former NBA All-Star in Smith from the Hawks in the deal, and later signed Schrempf, another respected veteran, as a free agent. "We've always said when we get our team built, we want it to be a good team with good character," Whitsitt says. "I don't break it down into this piece or that piece. We feel we've upgraded the team, period, including talent, character, work ethic, leadership -- all the different pieces you want to put in there."
Point guard Because of his quickness, Stoudamire should be able to take advantage of the league's new rules that keep defenders from making too much contact. But Stoudamire still has his own defensive limitations against bigger guards, which is why the Blazers often will turn to backup Greg Anthony, a punishing defender.
Shooting guard Behind Smith, the Blazers have young Bonzi Wells, who solidified his position with a strong showing with Portland's summer-league team. Stacey Augmon, one of the six players who went to Houston in the Pippen deal, re-signed with Portland after getting cut by the Rockets.
Small forward Schrempf passed up more lucrative offers to sign a two-year, $4.2 million deal with the Blazers. He was penciled in as the starter, then got relegated to the bench after the Pippen trade. If he has a problem with the Pippen scenario, he's doing a great job of hiding it. "I knew it was going to happen sooner or later," says Schrempf, who won the NBA's Sixth Man Award twice in the early 1990s with Indiana. "I can't expect to play 35 or 40 minutes every game until I fall down."
Power forward Rasheed Wallace will move back to his natural position after he played considerable minutes at small forward last season. Wallace often was much bigger than opposing small forwards, but he understandably was at a quickness disadvantage. But as he was last season, Wallace is willing to accept virtually any role with the Blazers. There still might be big match-up circumstances under which the Blazers would use Wallace at small forward, but with both Pippen and Schrempf there, it probably won't happen often.
Center O'Neal, bouncing back from offseason ankle surgery, seems poised for a breakthrough campaign after re-signing with the team for four years and about $24 million. The 21-year-old is still inexperienced for a player who's spent three seasons in the league, but his minutes are expected to increase significantly, especially with the Blazers looking to rest Sabonis more. Wallace can step in against some smaller centers, and the addition of journeyman Joe Kleine gives the Blazers another big, strong center to play against some of the league's marquee post men.
Coaching Dunleavy -- the NBA's (and Basketball News') reigning Coach of the Year -- doesn't have Rider to worry about anymore, which should mean fewer headaches. He also has Pippen, Smith, Schrempf and Kleine to help fill the veteran leadership void. His biggest problem may come in deciding how to divide playing time so that everybody stays happy, but he got a lot of experience in that regard in '99. Material from Basketball News.Visit their web site at http://www.basketballnews.com |