Stop crying, L.A. fans. The Lakers have a better chance than any team to come back and win the title next year
Despite embarrassing themselves against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, life isn’t over for the Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant and Friends.
L.A. is a year early anyway. Was Pau Gasol the missing piece that made them title contenders? For sure, but that puzzle also had a giant piece named Andrew Bynum who happened to be missing for the entire end of the season.
Gasol is a seasoned scorer and an incredible athlete in his own right, but he doesn’t bring the strength and mean streak that Bynum does (ask Shaq). Bynum is the cornerstone of that low-post defense, and Boston would have found the paint to be a far more unfriendly place if they ran into two long, athletic 7-footers there.
When Bynum returns from surgery next year and joins Gasol on the front line (assuming this roster stays together -- I'm looking at you, Kobe) and the Lakers move Lamar Odom for a player with a pair of rocks in his sack (rocks > talent), they will be competing for the championship for years.
But they will not be alone.
Another team also started making noise a year early. Last October, the Portland Trailblazers were expected to be one of, if not the worst team in the league. They had just traded away Zach Randolph, their leading scorer and rebounder, and banked their entire future on #1 draft pick Greg Oden, the center of the future.
Then they watched Oden shut down for the entire season following micro fracture knee surgery. It didn’t leave them with much. Their players were, on average, the youngest team in the league by far at 24.06 years, 1.29 years younger than 29th youngest Seattle (0.55 years separates #29 from #22).
The players also had the least amount of experience at 2.87 years, 0.60 years less than 29th least experienced Chicago (0.46 years separates #29 from #20). This was a team that didn't have a front court player who cracked double-digits in scoring the year before. Their one lone bright spot for the season was Brandon Roy, a promising, but hardly explosive sophomore combo guard who missed 25 games his rookie season to injuries. Well, at least if they’re terrible, they’ll get another high draft pick, right?
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| BlazerNation: "Thanks for holding down the fort, guy |
A 13-game win streak, a run at the playoffs in the most competitive conference in NBA history, a 41-41 final record, and one All-Star later, the lesson to be learned is to never doubt head coach Nate McMillan.
This is the same Nate McMillan who took the 2004-05 Seattle Supersonics, another team that was supposed to be one of if not the worst in the league that year, to 50-32 and pushed the eventual NBA champs San Antonio to more games than any other team in the Western Conference playoffs. If any coach has proven he can get much more out of a team than anyone expects, it's Nate McMillan (and if any coach has proven he can get much less, it’s Larry Brown -- good luck, Charlotte!).
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| This man can coach. |
Yet it goes further than just the final record. McMillan achieved that while still giving his young players heavy minutes and developing their talents.
Brandon Roy played his way into the All-Star game. LaMarcus Aldridge proved to be a force in the paint. Travis Outlaw started realizing his enormous athletic potential and became a game-changing sixth man. Martell Webster and James Jones found their roles and spread the floor. Even Channing Frye started re-discovering the potential he had in New York before Larry Brown stomped out his confidence, averaging 16 and 10 in the last five games of the season (admittedly against the JV players most teams trot out at that time of the year).
The only real disappointment was that neither Jarrett Jack, Steve Blake, nor Sergio Rodriguez could play well enough to claim the starting point guard role. Yet looking outside the light of the rest of the team, one could argue that they're just developing at a normal pace. There's still a lot of potential there, particularly with the one they call "Spanish Chocolate" (… that's a dumb name).
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| Greg Oden with a monster dunk. |
Of course, the big addition this year is the addition they were hoping for last year: Greg Oden, the 7-foot center with hops like he's got springs in his legs. Like with Bynum, Oden's very presence will mean the post defense is locked down. Unlike Bynum, Oden has the athleticism of an Olympian high-jumper (also unlike babyface Bynum, Oden is 1000 years old). When Oden returns to join Aldridge in the front court, the Trailblazers will be adding a young Patrick Ewing to a young Pau Gasol.
Everyone already knows about the impact Oden will bring to the team, but another signing may also prove to be a critical piece of the puzzle. Earlier this month, Rudy Fernandez announced he would leave his Spanish ACB League team to join the Trailblazers, which acquired him by buying his draft rights from Phoenix for straight cash (much like how the championship Celtics bought the drafts rights to their starting PG Rajon Rondo from Phoenix -- good work, Phoenix!).
The Spanish ACB League is widely considered to be the second best basketball league in the world (right behind the And1 Streetball Tour of course) and Rudy Fernandez is arguably the best player in the ACB league, if not all of Europe itself. This league’s alumni include NBA pros such as Arvydas Sabonis, Pau Gasol, Andres Nocioni, and Luis Scola.
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| The talented and hairy Rudy Fernandez. |
Last season, Fernandez led the ACB in points with 21.2 and steals with 2.2 while also dropping in 4.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 28 min a game for second-place DKV Joventut Badalona.
Imagine a player of that caliber joining Portland. They can play a back court of Fernandez and Roy, two 6’6” combo guards who both can dribble, pass, and score.
Or picture "Spanish Chocolate" running the break with the two of them on the wings. Or Fernandez coming off the bench behind Roy, and the Trailblazers not missing a beat on offense like they did last year when a reliable but one-dimensional shooter like Martell Webster or James Jones took over. Then consider that Rudy Fernandez doesn’t even break the Trailblazer’s league-low average age at 23 years old.
So Lakers fans, don’t worry. With all due respect to the Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Hornets, and San Antonio Geriatrics, the championship is yours to lose next year. And the year after that. And probably the year after that. But, at some point, that young team in the upper Northwest is going to grow up, and you’re going to be the one getting your lunch money taken away.
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3 months ago
Wow, I think you're jumping the gun on your conclusions WAY too early. You can't ever say anything about Larry Brown. I'd like to see you or anyone else besides him and Jerry Sloan coach for more than 25 years professionally. Larry Brown has a trophy cabinet bigger than the state of Oregon and a list of accomplishments bigger than Texas. I think that if anyone needs luck for the upcoming season in North Carolina it's going to be Brown himself. He has to call Gerald Wallace his star player and I guarantee that by the end of this season, Charlotte will be a low seed playoff team that understands that they can play defense. The only difference between Sam Vincent and Larry Brown is that Brown will actually bring out the fundamental and special defensive skills that the team actually does possess. Think about it: Gerald Wallace is more than capable of averaging 2.5 steals and 2 blocks and Emeka Okafor can throw in his 2-3 blocks per; Raymond Felton can average 2-3 steals himself, and now they have DJ Augustin for the offense that they will need.
And for the Rajon Rondo comment: he would be nothing but defense if he weren't surrounded by vetrans that are or were at one point known to be superstars of the NBA. I would think that it's pretty easy to average around 7-9 assists if either Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, or Ray Allen were on the receiving end of my passes; and if they weren't there then because of what they said I would get it to the only other guy on the court to do what he can do, AGAIN only because of what he was told he could do by them. Without the combined 35+ years of experience from those 3 guys, Boston wouldn't work together, Rajon Rondo wouldn't be the "great Point Guard" that they call him. I had a lot of respect for Rondo when he was actually trying to be noticed. Now he doesn't have to and it's tearing me apart to see what could be talent go to waste on pure chance.
from about 1 month ago
watch out your team has depth what was charlotte record last year and portland plays in the western not eastern n those guys suck gerald is what n what r u talking about hatter
3 months ago
Rondo is much better than you give him credit for Cody. You have to manage egos when you have three superstars to pass to as well, it's not all easy.
3 months ago
Don't forget, folks. Greg Oden is ELIGIBLE FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR next season.
3 months ago
Oden will be the next Sam Bowie. Any player that misses his entire first season because of an injury that followed him from college is destined to be on the injured reserve list forever. Plus once LeBron arrives in Brooklyn, it's a wrap for the league.
from 3 months ago
Ummmmmm maybe you should look up Rudy Fernandez on YouTube before you sound completely stupid. The Blazers have adhnasty in the Making. Aldridge, Roy, Rudy, Oden are all potential Stars (Roy Already Proved Himself That Role Aldridge Should Be There This Year) Outlaw can be very explosive and get you buckets and Martell and Blake are spot up shooters, and we also drafted a guy by the name of Jerryd Bayless to add to the back court. Give them 2-3 years, they will be in playoff contention however this year
from 3 months ago
Um Thats an extrememly well thought out argument. Of course we have NEVER heard that before.
Also , Bowie was injured in college.. Oden was not. Brandon Roy was injured in college he 's an allstar. Amare Stat had that micro surgery and is still a force . Nice try..and im curious as how LEBRON in BK has anything to do w/ anything. He is still in the East and the BK team will be stupid just like Cleveland b/c they cant afford and wont get any decent role players...
from about 1 month ago
in your dreams whats the size differnce
3 months ago
nice article add me as a fan
3 months ago
Curly your a funny guy. Your knowledge of the game is slim at best. Sam Bowie is a different person with a completely different injury than Oden. Although Bowie did go on to play 10 years in the league, averaging 10pts and 10 reb. Bowie is famous for being picked before Jordan, people don't realize he had 10 productive years in the league.
Although Oden didn't play last season, it wasn't his injury that prevented him from playing the latter half of the season. Oden was cleared at 6 months after the surgery, that would put the team right in the middle of their 13 game win streak. Why rush the big man back when Portland was playing fine without him? Portland did finish 41-41 Without Z-bo and Oden.
Anyone who says Oden is a bust, wishes their team had the opportunity to draft such a fine player. Lebron is a great player, but Roy can get by him anytime he wants.
Curly, although I like Lebron, he has failed to prove himself as a champion numerous occasions.
If Lebron arrives in brooklyn, it will be too late. Portland will have already established their dominance in the league.
Thanks for your time, study up Curly
3 months ago
The 7-1 Sam Bowie teamed with 6-11 265 Melvin Turpin to form the so-called "Twin Towers" of college basketball at Kentucky. During the 1983-84 season they met Houston with Akeem the Dream and Sam and "Turpintime" wore out Akeem. Both teams made it to the Final 4, losing to eventual champion Patrick Ewing, Skull Graham and Georgetown. Bowie was a questionable #2.
Oden seems the ideal #1 pick and wheelhorse to build a contender. Portland is coached by former Jim Valvano shooting guard at NC State Nate McMillan. Chicago is now coached by former Jim Valvano shooting guard at NC State Vinnie Del Negro. Threre should be fireworks when these old friends collide in 2008-09.
3 months ago
Just because Oden's injury isn't the same as Bowie's doesn't mean that he won't be perpetually injured. I believe that you should study more. Oden missed the first half of his senior year in HS with an injury, the first half of his freshman year in college because of an injury and his entire rookie year in the NBA because of an injury...um...duh..he's injury prone. LeBron having not won a title yet doesn't mean he won't win one. If you had did some research you might have noticed that even Jordan didn't win a ring until he had been in the league 8 years already. KG - 12th year, Shaq - 6th, Barkley and Ewing, Malone, Stockton...never. (again study some history).
You act as if it's a forgone conclusion that Portland will leapfrog, the Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Suns, Jazz, Pistons, Celtics, Raptors, Magic to just dominate the league, yet based on your own LeBron analogy, none of those guys have won anything yet...(study your own arguments).
13 game win streak...so what. Houston had the 2nd longest wining streak in league history and was bumped in the 1st round (study the history of streaks).
All in all your article is based on your bias and obvious partiality for Oden and the Blazers.
When making a declaration of someone else's basketball knowledge you might want to find out whether or not they played the game for money and maybe have coached and possibly have won awards for their writing (all of which I have done)...(study your writers).
You will become a better writer and prognosticator when you debate key points with rationale argument and empirical evidence than by making blanket assessments of arguments which disagree with yours (study journalism).
from 3 months ago
ouch...
from about 1 month ago
curly you sound like your dreaming of the old days grow up joto
from about 1 month ago
Curly, you should take some of your own advice. You stated: "Oden will be the next Sam Bowie. Any player that misses his entire first season because of an injury that followed him from college is destined to be on the injured reserve list forever."
"Destined"? You can see into the future? With all due respect (very little, actually), I'd say you are in the wrong business. You could make a fortune in the stock or futures market in about a day and a half.
You don't KNOW if he's destined for the injured reserve list or for perennial All-Star game appearances. You take someone to task for not having a "rationale" (sic) argument and empirical evidence, but you have none of your own to offer.
3 months ago
through some poor understanding of bleacherreport's import capabilities, this article got posted twice. still, glad more people read it the second time around. to address a few comments:
1. there is no questioning larry brown's talent. the fact that he has so much is the reason for his longevity. yet his arrogant attitude has caused him to wear out his welcome at nearly all his stops. i dont know what the guy was trying to accomplish in new york, but channing frye certainly was one of those who suffered because of it. d.j. augustin is an amazing talent, highly impressive carrying texas through the tournament without kevin durant, but i worry about that guy if larry brown treats him like he has all his other rookies.
2. yes, this article is very strongly based on the premise that greg oden stays healthy and realizes his vast potential. from his history, i can imagine injuries might largely affect his career, but it's way too early to say he'll never amount to anything because of them. let's get back in five years and then talk injuries, if there is even anything to talk about then.
3. sam bowie was nowhere near the prospect greg oden is. if olajuwon didnt get those two championships during jordan's first retirement, we might be questioning houston's decision, too.
3 months ago
Curly, you must be referring to the 6 games Oden missed in college recovering from right wrist surgery. Oden then goes on to put up numbers like 15.7 ppg 9.6rpg playing with a bum right wrist? Seems like you thought he missed half of his freshman year.
Career Highlights: Named to The Associated Press All-America First Team. Was the first Buckeye named to the first team since Jim Jackson in 1991-92. Named a 2007 Wooden All-American. Named the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year and the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year. Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and was selected First-Team All Big Ten by the coaches and media. With accolades like this, were not talking about Bowie. Were talking about a player that has dominated every single court he has ever stepped foot on.
Blazers have been in rebuild mode for the past 3 years, what other team has the talent and financial flexibility as Portland? Portland is watching and waiting for their team to grow, while other teams scramble to make moves and free up cap space for a run at Lebron. Meanwhile the Blazers will have had at least 2 years to gel as a team. You can't throw a team together like Brooklyn is planning and expect them to contend from season 1.
People overlook Portland because they are the youngest team in the league also the most talented. Houston did have an incredible run, but Portland's 13 game streak took everyone for surprise.
Curly, I bet you wrote Portland off when we traded Zach Randolph and then Oden was injured? I know you did.
Did 41-41 prove you wrong?
3 months ago
I'm still skeptical of those who think Andrew Bynum is the missing link in LA. The guy missed most of last season but some thought he could return around playoff time. Obviously, that didn't happen.
Bynum has little to no experience, he's coming off a major injury, and he's given us a small sample size of what he can do in the post. And who's getting the touches down low with the Lakers now? Sounds like the post might be a little crowded at Staples.
As for the Blazers, their future scares me. Really scares me. Mainly because they are flying under the radar and building a stacked team. They make brilliant draft choices. They do exactly what every fan has wanted their team to do at some point. They make picks that make sense and fill needs. Imagine that. Not a lot of teams can make that claim. In fact, the Blazers might be the only one.
3 months ago
After draft night, I told one of my friends that the Trail Blazers will win an NBA title in the next 4 years. Good article and great prediction.
3 months ago
I got to see Greg Oden play, up close and personal, during his one year at Ohio State. As much as it pains me to say it, he's going to be a very good player. He was absolutely abusing a platoon of quality defenders. Michigan State's own Drew Naymick (who was a beast defensively his last two years) actually credited Oden with a lot of his own defensive success. Defending Oden taught him some new moves and techniques, and made him realize how hard one has to work to be a great defensive big man.
So in essence, Oden put on a clinic at every school he visited. Oden over Durant won't turn out like Bowie over Jordan.
3 months ago
Oden deserves more credit, hes a good player. Paired up with Brandon Roy (legitimate all star), LaMarcus Aldridge, and now Jerryd Bayless. Man, they will be incredibly good, but lts wait for championship predictions. Tremendous article though
3 months ago
The Blazers are stockpiling young talent, but what happens when it comes time to pay the young talent the money they deserve, i.e. not their rookie contracts? Let's see if Portland management can handle long-term signings are deftly as it is has handled the formation of the team so far.
Roy is being paid around $3 mill this year, Aldridge around $5 mill, Oden $5 mill, Outlaw $4 mill, Webster $3 mill... When it comes time for contract extensions, how many of these young talents, and which of these young talents, can the Trailblazers keep?
3 months ago
Curley,
Oden has had two injuries, two. The high school injury was his wrist and his freshman injury was corrective surgery for that same wrist. The high school injury did not prevent him from being named Parade all american. Here study up, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Oden
The knee injury is minor, a minor microfracture with prognosis from experts given his age is a complete recovery. Now you can continue to put your head in the sand along with a large group of proponents but Blazerdom know what we have. You my friend will eat crow for years and we will cheer championships while you search for libation to help you swallow your birdmeat.
3 months ago
Curly,
It is sad and somewhat disheartening to hear you say you have won awards for your writing accomplishments. Not only are there huge grammatical errors in your writing but the spelling leaves much to be desired.
You have no basis for many of your arguments which I find entertaining. For example what will "study the history of win streaks" accomplish? If we study it we will find that in all reality we should have hurried Oden back because we were destined to lose if we didn't, or perhaps we were going to win if we did? It is baseless and makes you look foolish.
And finally you say "study your writers" and "study journalism." Technically I didn't study journalism but I know you need to know how to spell to become a journalist in the real world. Before you look utterly foolish take some time to study these spelling and grammar errors from your previous post....
If you had did some research you might have noticed that even Jordan didn't win a ring until he had been in the league 8 years already.
wining streak
You will become a better writer and prognosticator when you debate key points with rationale argument and empirical evidence than by making blanket assessments of arguments which disagree with yours.
Try and make sense and your arguments might get some respect.
3 months ago
burn.
2 months ago
...and yet did not present any evidence to dispute the factual claims that I made
2 months ago
Curly, I have decided to jump on the Portland bandwagon after last season. I'm from the Midwest, nowhere near Portland. I also have no ties to the upper Northwest. I think you are a little conservative in your predictory. I'm picking Portland as my dark horse next year to be a title contender. You and many others may call me foolish, and that's okay. I think I can live with a little criticism. I watched the Blazers play LA last year and noticed something. Kobe couldn't guard Roy. I don't know about his rookie year, but he looks plenty explosive now. I watched Brandon Roy burn Kobe time and again. IF and ONLY IF Portland's main guys stay healthy for the playoffs, no matter what seed, Portland can beat anyone.
The West is going through some extreme changes right now. San Antonio's too old and has no depth, Dallas is washed up, Phoenix is washed up, injury prone and has to deal with Shaq's dead body for 30 games before they are out of the playoff picture in the West and he inevitably goes down with a season ending knee injury, Golden State's in a transition period and roster revamping (not necessarily for the better), and Denver is a bunch of individuals who don't play defense. That means there's only five other teams worth mentioning when talking about the West and championship contenders. New Orleans is good, but is too shallow and dependent on Paul for offense to be considered a championship contender IMO, Houston will be interesting but T-Mac is getting old and takes WAY TOO many stupid shots, Yao has no defensive presence whatsoever, and Artest is a head case, and Utah is good but IMO lacks the size to play with a big athletic team like Portland. The only team left is the Lakers who have their own questions to consider when contrasting them with Portland. I think you trade rebounding and inside scoring on Portland with great ball movement and jump shooting on LA. Personally, I'd take the former in a seven game series, but that's me. It would not surprise me at all if Portland is the team representing the West in the finals next year.
from about 1 month ago
Im glad to see were pullin fans from the mid west...stay up bro
about 1 month ago
Being from Portland i gotta give everyone repn my team a big thumbs up...BROY is the man, he is silky smooth, a great community leader, big time player, we got Joel Pryzbilla who is the best back up center in the game by far and he hits freethrows now at a 75% clip and The Big guy is on deck...just watch boys...
about 1 month ago
Yeah and now Roy is already hurt again! LMAO Oden is soon to follow!. The Blazers are cursed forever
about 1 month ago
You do realize that Oden is going to suck. He is all hype the only thing he's proven is that he's injury proned. Good luck with thinking the Blazers will even be close to a championship style team by then. Also, with Oden becoming a factor on offense it means less touches for their best post player in Aldridge. I see a step backwards for the Blazers. That 41-41 record was a fluke.
from 27 days ago
Break out the baby powder, this bitch steven is about to get slapped. Oden will always get his garbage points, coach will have very minimal plays ran for Oden. Oden will actually improve Aldridge's game thanks to Oden drawing double teams down low, Aldridge can step out and hit the 15 footer off the glass.
Steven, study the game of basketball. Study the results of micro-fracture surgery when done as a precautionary treatment rather than repair. Factor Oden's age and determination to prove haters like yourself wrong.
Look in the mirror, you feel that hate don't you?
about 1 month ago
Keep in mind that Jerryd Bayless is a shooting guard being taught the point guard position because of his lack of heigth. The Blazers traded away their best defensive point guard in Jarett Jack to get Bayless. Steve Blake will be the starter to begin the season and more likely will remain their. Fernandez hasn't played a game in the NBA. He may have a year like Marco Belinelli barely playing and learning the NBA. Only in your dreams are the Blazers sniffing at a championship.
from about 1 month ago
Do yourself a favor and learn the English language before posting. "injury proned"? "heigth"? "remain their"? I won't even start on the grammar.
Only in YOUR dreams will the Blazers NOT soon be contending for a championship.
from 27 days ago
This guy steven spoke a little too soon. We all knew Rudy was good, but to drop 22 in 17 minutes against the NBA's elite? come on. Smarten up kid
about 1 month ago
stats doesnt lead to a championship. the past doesnt mean anything either. the blazers are a young talented team and who knows how they will do the next few years. all i can say is that if they stay together and stay healthy, they better win in the next few years. they are strong and extremely deep.
about 1 month ago
Maybe Rudy Fernandez isn't like Marco Belinelli. Keep in mind that BROY can handle the ball too. And ODEN will definitely be there Center for the future. What Portlands got to do is to stay healthy and work hard for the RING!
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