The Portland Trailblazers Play Hockey?

There are two places in the universe where you will see an entire basketball starting lineup sit out at one time. There are two places where you will see more than five members of a bench play extended minutes while all your starters rest. Here are the two places...

1. An NBA video game

2. Portland, Oregon

I have never seen anything like it. But not only is it working, it may have Portland in the NBA championship picture even faster than I thought (and I said they’d have one in five years).

In managing the Blazers’ minutes closer to that of a hockey team, coach Nate McMillan has imposed different lines in his coaching schemes. But what is fascinating is that a couple of the lines do not contain a single starter.

In fact, if you look at the way this team has been playing during their most recent hot streak; they may be the most unique team in all of basketball. And it begins and ends with their incredible depth.

The Blazers have a genuine superstar on their team in Brandon Roy. And he only plays 36 minutes a game. Reason being, the Blazers go 10 deep, consistently. While the overwhelming majority of NBA teams have a seven or eight-man rotation, the Blazers have 10 players that average more than 15 minutes per game, and every single one of them has been contributing.

Spaniards Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez compliment the starting backcourt of Roy and Steve Blake incredibly well. Rodriguez is one of the team’s top assist men and Fernandez can hit a shot from pretty much anywhere, even with a man in his face.

The frontcourt subs have been just as effective. Travis Outlaw is evolving into a dynamic swingman and Joel Przybilla is a big time contributor on the boards. Don’t forget Channing Frye, who of all of the big men on this team has the best jump shot.

But the kicker is when the five bench players all play together, they do not look like a second line at all. They, not the starters, were the line responsible for beginning to pull away from the Knicks on Monday night.

But the real advantage that this playing style provides actually has nothing to do with what is happening right now.

We are nearing the first quarter mark of the NBA season. And with the exception of Greg Oden, the Blazers have not been struck by the injury bug. I can’t help but want to attribute that to the fact that the minutes have been divided in such a fascinating manner.

The less exhausted you are; the less hurt you are; and more importantly the more fresh you are to play on a daily basis. I guess what I’m saying is this...

If this team continues to play in this manner with this style, they might have more energy than any other team in the playoffs.

Not to shabby for a team that was a laughingstock less than four years ago and didn’t splurge on free agents to get the job done.