Portland Blazers Game 25: The Wrath Of Randolph...

What a LOSS!!  I watched this game at work, and even though the TV of Portland's oldest restaurant is in the corner...all three hundred people inside were cramped tuning in! 

My goodness! 

A double overtime loss to the 4-17 Clippers (now 5-17) was a sight to behold! 

All I can say is (and I say this with a grain of salt) watching B-Roy battle B-Davis into double overtime was similar (although nowhere near CLOSE ENOUGH to call the SAME) as watching Bird battle Wilkins in that 1987 playoff thriller!!  Both guys could not miss!! 

What an EXTRAORDINARY battle they had tonight, and not SportsCenter, or NBA TV, could do their late game battle justice.  It was like watching The Thing (from the Fantastic Four) fight The Incredible Hulk, just blowing punches until the first one fell...

Tonight Brandon Roy fell...but NOT because of B-Davis.  Sure, B-Davis made some REALLY big shots...this loss was about the VENGEANCE of Zach Randolph.

And sorry Blazer fans...Zach has GOOD REASON to hold a GRUDGE against us.

Remember 2003? 

Was there a player in the LEAGUE with more determination to WIN than Zach Randolph???  Remember him cheering on our team to beat Dallas in the playoffs?  (Remember how few minutes he had back then...all HEART.) 

Remember Zach Randolph hitting the game winning free throws in game FIVE (at Dallas) to seal our veteran three-point extravaganza?   Do we forget that Zach and Sheed played well together in the beginning of the 2004 season?  Do we forget the HERCULEAN effort Zach made with Damon Stoudemire, Darius Miles, and Abdur Raheem, to push for the playoffs??

It seems that we did.

Look, the HUNT against the Portland JAIL Blazers was a WITCH HUNT.  We put up with their off court antics until they STOPPED WINNING.  And face it, they stopped winning once they turned the keys of the city over to Randolph...and left him with NO TEAM. 

Earlier I wrote that Portland had some Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn vengence headed their way??  This game is an EXCLAMATION point of such wrath. 

Kirk beamed Kahn down to what was supposed to be a planet with fruition and life...but instead sent him to a planet full of dessert and despair.  Kahn lost his wife, and all he wanted for the rest of his supernatural life was the DEATH of Captain James T. Kirk. 

(Great movie, by the way...watched is last night on late night Showtime...)

So the Blazers sent Randolph to the NY Knicks!  The KNICKS!!  (For that matter, we sent Sheed to Atlanta.)  These moves were INTENDED to send the athlete to a planet of despair and misery, where they could do NOTHING but LOSE.

Of COUSRE they will HATE us for the REST of their LIVES!

Now Sheed got traded to Detroit (because Pistons GM Joe Dumars was genius) but Randolph has spent FIVE YEARS at the bottom of the league. 

Let's remember...we had a chance to get Kevin Durant...and do you REALLY THINK that Kevin Durant added to Roy, Aldridge (a potential Rudy) and the 20-10 threat of Randolph would not have made us a playoff contender???  Of course it would have.  But sources are SOMEBODY on the team (presumably Roy) said to TRADE RANDOLPH.

Okay, I admit, besides looking like Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Randolph had some out of control issues with his homeys being PUNKS in the Portland night life.

But let's step back and remember...before all that...there was a kid with the potential to be a Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnet, Shaq, all star...who was given the keys to the city with a contract where he got over 200,000 per game.  Then the franchise turned his team INTENTIONALLY into a losing squad, to develop Outlaw, Jack, and Webster.

Zach must have said WHAT???  And the league must have said..."It's a business...just give us your 20-10."

And Zach did just that. 

Not only that, this kid lost a member of his family (I cannot remember if it was his little brother, or cousin...) to a night club fight.  So he had the PAIN of losing his winning franchise, and a loved one, and was given MAD $$$ to LOSE.

What would happen to ANYONE in that situation????

Money and PAIN.  Nothing but trouble can come of that.

Do you really think if Randolph had not had some therapy he could not have transformed the error of his ways?  Would Randolph not have grown older, wiser, as many NBA thugs have??? 

I mean...we gave this guy the keys to the city, then turned our backs on him, and tried to DESTROY HIM.

And sorry Blazer fans...but he prosecution of the alleged JAIL BLAZERS is one of the the biggest CROCKS OF NONSENSE of ALL TIME.  It was a WITCH HUNT and a BAD DIVORCE all wrapped up in ONE.   Not 1 person in the CITY, if you put a mircoscope to their LIFE, can say they have done NOTHING the PAPER could EXPLOIT.

So Randolph bides his time...and tonight he got us.  Because it was not B-Davis' big play...it was Randolph's 38 points and late game OWNING of Aldridge that sealed the deal.

When I saw the Clippers signed Randolph, I knew they were going to be playoff contenders, and a PERSONAL threat every time they played Portland.  They not only have the player we screwed...they have the coach we screwed too. (Mike Dunleavy.)

But nonetheless...Portland just needs a few days REST in their OWN BEDS...and we need to remember we are 9-2 @ home for upcoming games...

Portland is a FAR BETTER TEAM.

Soon we will prove that Brandon Roy was right in asking to trade Randolph...and that Randolph is like Kahn...a villain who needs to be put in his place.  I am just saying...he has GOOD REASON to hate us.  Which is what makes the BEST villains!

Go Blazers.