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 Wednesday, December 8
Deep Blazers going all out
 
By Dr. Jack Ramsay
Special to ESPN.com

 
Damon Stoudamire, Terrell Brandon
Smart trades, like the one that brought Damon Stoudamire, made the Blazers contenders.
Portland entered the NBA in 1970, along with Cleveland and Buffalo (now the Los Angeles Clippers), at a cost of $3 million each -- but the Blazers have achieved the most success among the three teams. They won the NBA championship in 1977, reached the NBA Finals on two other occasions (1990 vs. Detroit, and 1992 vs. Chicago) and have compiled a lot more playoff wins (78) than the Cavs (28) and Clippers (13) combined.

What's caused this disparity in success among the three teams? The Blazers simply were more effectively managed than the others. During the early years of its existence, Portland made consistently good choices in its player selections while under the leadership of Stu Inman, Director of Player Personnel.

Key players secured through the college draft included Bill Walton, Bob Gross, Lionel Hollins, Lloyd Neal, Johnny Davis, Dave Twardzik, Clyde Drexler, Mychal Thompson, Terry Porter, Jim Paxson and Jerome Kersey. Maurice Lucas was acquired from the ABA disposal draft. Many of those players were prominent on the championship team -- that yet remains dear to the hearts of Blazer fans -- while the others were on teams that consistently posted winning records.

During the more recent tenure of "Trader Bob" Whitsitt, now in his sixth year as president-GM, the Blazers have done less with draft choices and more by trades and free agent signings. Only two members of the present team, Arvydas Sabonis (first round pick, 24th overall, in 1986) and Jermaine O'Neal were acquired via the NBA draft. The rest of the squad is the result of deals and signings of available players, engineered by Whitsitt and aided in no small measure by the "open purse" policy of owner Paul Allen. Trader Bob has made 14 trades and acquired 14 lottery players without having a lottery pick.

After the Blazers were swept by San Antonio in the conference finals last season, Whitsitt decided to go all out to win a title this year. His principal additions -- Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith and Detlef Schrempf - make the Blazers one of the NBA's top teams.

Trades, Free Agents and Draft Picks

  • 1995-96: Drafted Shawn Respert (Michigan State, first round, 8th pick), then traded him to Milwaukee for Gary Trent (Ohio) and a conditional first round pick. Traded Clyde Drexler to Houston for Otis Thorpe and rights to Marcelo Nicola, then traded Thorpe to Detroit for Randolph Childress and Bill Curley.
    THROUGH THE YEARS
    Year Record Playoffs
    1994-95 44-38 0-3
    1995-96 44-38 2-3
    1996-97 49-33 1-3
    1997-98 46-36 1-3
    1998-99 35-15 7-6
    Totals 218-160 11-18

  • 1996-97: Drafted Jermaine O'Neal (no college, first round, 17th pick) and Marcus Brown (46th pick overall); traded Rod Strickland and Harvey Grant to Washington for Rasheed Wallace and Mitchell Butler. Signed Sabonis; traded James Robinson, Bill Curley and a first round pick to Minnesota for Isaiah Rider. Signed free agent Kenny Anderson from Charlotte.

  • 1997-98: Drafted Chris Anstey from Australian Pro League, (first round, 18th pick), then traded him with cash to Dallas for Kelvin Cato from Iowa State; drafted Alvin Williams (Villanova, second round ,48th pick overall); traded Aaron McKie, Randolph Childress and Reggie Jordan to Detroit for Stacey Augmon; signed Brian Grant as free agent from Sacramento; traded Chris Dudley to New York for first round pick.

  • 1998-99: No draft picks. Traded Kenny Anderson, Alvin Williams, Gary Trent and two conditional first round picks and a second round pick and cash to Toronto for Damon Stoudamire, Walt Williams and Carlos Rogers. Acquired Bonzi Wells from Detroit for conditional No. 1 draft pick. Signed free agents Greg Anthony (Seattle) and Jim Jackson (Golden State).

  • 1999-2000: Traded Isaiah Rider and Jim Jackson to Atlanta for Steve Smith and Ed Gray; traded Kelvin Cato, Walt Williams, Brian Shaw, Stacey Augmon, Carlos Rogers and Ed Gray to Houston for Scottie Pippen. Signed free agents Detlef Schrempf (Seattle), Antonio Harvey (Europe); re-signed Augmon after he cleared waivers at Houston.

    Strengths and weaknesses
    The millennium edition of the Blazers is strong and deep. The returning nucleus of Wallace, Brian Grant, Sabonis and Stoudamire blends well with the newcomers. Pippen is an unselfish, multitalented, complementary player who does everything well, and also increases the team's defensive versatility. Dunleavy uses him as a stopper on opposing high-scoring perimeter players and keeps him on the floor with a pressing unit that's been highly effective. Smith is a point producer at two-guard who has three-point range and strong post-up skills; and the veteran Schrempf, like Pippen, fits in just about anywhere and makes a positive contribution.

    When I watch the Blazers, I'm impressed with the execution of offense; the tough, unyielding defense; the willing acceptance of Dunleavy's game plan; and the obvious team harmony, devoid of the distractions that accompanied Rider. Coach Mike uses his roster well -- nobody plays excessive minutes, and everyone makes a positive contribution. His pressing team (Anthony, Augmon, Harvey, Wells -- now injured), and either Schrempf, Grant or Pippen jump-starts the team into an uptempo game if the starters are sluggish. Players enter the game enthusiastically and leave the floor without rancor. It's nice to watch.

    Portland usually ranks one-two with San Antonio in each week's team ratings on vital statistics relating to offense and defense. The Blazers allow opponents to shoot .397 from the field, and shoot .470 themselves -- both excellent marks. Their point differential (the difference between points they score and allow) is at the top of the league -- also with the Spurs. They also rank among a few of the best teams in total assists and defensive rebounding.

    Portland's weakness is apparent only against teams with strong, quick centers. Sabonis is a highly skilled center with a clever inside-outside game and great passing skills. But he has difficulty defending quicker matchups -- such as Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson. Unfortunately, both of them play on teams that stand between the Blazers and the Western Conference championship. In the Blazers' recent loss to the Lakers, Sabonis scored two points, had two rebounds and five personal fouls in 17 minutes of play.

    To counter this problem, Dunleavy might experiment with a three-forward front line in regular season games with the Spurs and Lakers to get a sense of its effectiveness. He might find that he can create matchup problems for both Shaq and David that would help overcome their apparent advantage. If the Blazers can't stop either player from scoring, they could make them work harder on defense by taking them away from the basket area to defend perimeter-shooting, driving big men like Wallace or Grant. Coach Mike has a shrewd basketball mind, and has plenty of time, plus enough head-to-head games with the Spurs and Lakers, to work that one out.

    Until then, the Blazers will continue to dominate the lesser teams. They are 15-4 overall (including 9-3 on the road) -- not all that bad.

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