Think back to the evening of April 18th, 2009. The young, crown jewel of the West was taking on the Houston Rockets, who by the way have not won a playoff series since 1997, and were without their co # 1 option Tracy McGrady. The hype was everywhere. The Sun was out, (for a pecuilar reason I remeber that) Blazer flags were flying, and the Rip City Uprise posters were on windows all around the town. Most of the city gathered to watch the Blazers in Game One. Yao Ming and the Rockets came out firing haymakers and the Blazers may have came into it a little too antsy. Like most games where Michael Ruffin, who is a great guy, plays significant minutes in the fourth, our team lost. The optimistic buzz was not lost, and a heroic game 2 from Brandon Roy sent us off to Houston. Two close games in Houston, and one very questionable three point attempt by Steve Blake later, and we were down 3-1. A heartfelt game 5 performance extended the series to game 6 in Houston. I remember one play in that game, while I was arguing with my dad that Greg Oden* was no good, on cue a cutting Greg to the hoop emphatically rim checked and we had our socks knocked off in game 6. The feeling was sour, but the optimism still persisted. My thoughts of Greg Oden would soon change immensely.

The Following season did not have a dream start. We were losing games we should have been winning, Travis broke his foot, and the addition of Andre Miller wasn't looking smart. The lone bright spot was Greg Oden. His dominance in the paint on both ends of the floor was putting smiles to basketball aficionados in Portland, and also the national media. Then like a knife to the heart, one play changed our season and my thoughts on Greg Oden forever. We had lost Greg again, and then the dominoes started falling. Soon Joel was done for the season, then Brandon's knee was the next casualty. A final Pritch-Slap was made in the acquisition of Marcus Camby. We headed into the playoffs without Roy, but ready to take on the challenger.

The Suns series started with a bang. Our team defense was excellent and the savvy of Marcus Camby and Andre Miller allowed us to win game 1 in Phoenix. Game 2, and 3 were a whole different story. Jason Richardson must have eaten a ton of wheaties before those debacles. Brandon Roy's heart and determination inspired us to  rebound well in Game 4. Then we fought hard in an understandable game 5 loss. Unfortunately it came to Game 6 again. This game 6 was no different than the year before, yet another first round ousting. At the conclusion of the series, I was sad, but the future was still bright.

The following November was one of the hardest months of my lifelong career as a blazer fan.  Brandon Roy could not suffer the same fate as Tracy McGrady and other injury prone stars. He is too young I thought, but listening to radio interviews and reading news articles made the outlook appear pretty bleak. As always though our blazers found a way to win, and a white knight emerged as the dark of night was setting in. LaMarcus Aldridge put the blazers on his back and we ran with him. Not to long after, Agent Wallace came to town ready to assist him. the optimism was still there, the blazers were beating the Lakers, Mavs, Spurs and many other forces of the west. We also recieved the match-up we wanted. And almost exactly two years after the series with Houston, the playoff atmosphere was back. April 16th, 2011, was the day of the first Blazers-Mavs game. We executed very well, but we let it slip away ( I won't comment on the refs). Game 2 was a little more disheartening and I did not feel very good coming back home to Portland. Game 3 was a great win , but nothing can compare to the love, passion and emotion that allowed the Game 4 comeback. Brandon Roy was Brandon Roy again and the notoriously choking Mavs were at it again. Or so I hoped. Game 5 hurt because we just didnt bring it, and once again we found ourselves facing elimination in game 6. That dreaded game 6. It appeared we were to finally get over the game 6 hump with our fast start, but our defense betrayed us, and a couple missed freethrows ended us. 

Three years in a row, gone in 6

I usually check and read Blazersedge daily, but i could not even check my favorite website until tonight. Game 6 this year stung, and it stung far worse than any other year. Though now I realize, and I hope the rest of us can realize as Blazer fans : whether you like the playoff losses, the constant devastating injuries or not, they're going to happen, and our fandom of this team should never change regardless. As all humans do, I bleed red, but unlike the most I like to think Im bleeding Blazer red. Through the Jail-Blazers years to now, I have never once lost my love for the Blazers. Regardless of what happens with Brandon's knees, Greg Oden's rehabilitation and Andre Miller's contract, I will standby this team. I have my calendar marked for opening day next year, the pandemonium of Rip City will be back. Go Blazers Now, and Go Blazers Forever.

* I feel for Greg Oden. He seems depressed every time I see him on T.V.. My fingers are crossed that he can be an impact player for us late next year and health for the rest of his career because he deserves it.

After a week of rampant speculation, and millions of espn trade machine deals involving Chris Paul, where do we go from here?. I believe our roster is very good with championship caliber depth, but I dont want the blazers to be done just yet this offseason. As I go and visit other SB nation blog sites I see teams who all are set for next season, and their fanposts are about what good movies are in theaters and how their mlb team is doing. My favorite thing about this site is the fact that were like creative piranhas. When a possible trade rumor comes out we feast on it in every way imaginable. I am 15, so usually i spend my spare times playing sports, hanging out with friends, and playing video games. When the Rumors came out that Chris Paul wanted a trade from New Orleans I replaced all my video game spare time with blazersedge time. I read almst every fanpost, went on twitters I would never go on (Fletcher Mackel, John Hollinger, and Chad Ford insider) and constantly thought at the prospect of acquiring Chris Paul. Now it seems like the Chris Paul bonanza may be on hold for a few months, after his positive meeting with Monty and Dell Demps. As Bedgers, now we are at a crossroads: From here to training camp are we going to talk about how good inception is and why we should see it twice, Why we should  go to Timbers games, Or are we going to continue to talk predominantly about the greatest sports franchise of all time, the Portland Trailblazers.

I know we still will, but what do you guys think the subject of our  late July and August fanposts and fanshots will be?

Poll

what will we talk about now?

39%

A. Another Point Guard

67 votes

11%

B. Filling out the rest of our roster

19 votes

24%

C. What we expect for next season

42 votes

24%

D. How good inception is

41 votes

169 votes | Poll has closed

Amare Stoudemire is not staying in Phoenix. The team will not contend for a title this year without Amare. Steve Nash is aging pretty quickly and he probably only has 2 more good years left in him.  Our dream point guard is Chris Paul, but he would come at an unbelievably high price. I think the Suns are going to have to rebuild here in the next couple of years, and going to have to move beyond the Nash era in Phoenix. Though Nash cannot play a lick of defense he sure knows how to run a offense, also he isnt a great fit with Brandon Roy, but he is a near perfect fit with Lamarcus and Batum. I think Mr. Nash could be had for less than Chris Paul, and maybe we could get him without giving up Batum. I am not a salary guy and don't know how all that works, but if we traded Andre, Rudy, Jerryd, Dante, and maybe a eurostash would it be enough to get Nash and also good for the Blazers.

Poll

How much would you give up for Steve Nash?

2%

Batum, Jerryd, Andre

4 votes

40%

Andre, Jerryd, Rudy

70 votes

23%

Jerryd, Rudy+Eurostash or Pendy

40 votes

34%

No one. he isnt worth it

59 votes

173 votes | Poll has closed

As we focus on the draft and this off-season, it is nice to hear some potential blazers moves, Like moving up in the draft, or acquiring a mega-free agent through a sign and trade. Personally, as a Blazer fan I love to stay updated and specualte on possible options for the off-season. If we were to acquire a Chris Bosh, or a Demarcus Cousins I would be salivating over next season, but with that said how realistic do you think any of these rumors are. I don't mean to be negative, but I think it is quite possible the blazers stay quiet this off-season.  We have a solid bunch of young guys, and compared to the rest of the league above average depth.  Why do we need to go out and make a splash? we had a 50 win season, finished 6th in the western conference all the while starting guys like Juwan Howard, and Jeff Pendergraph, as well as playing Dante Cunningham significant minutes. We had the 2nd mossed missed games due to injuries than any other team. Our best player was hurt for cruicial streches of the season, yet we were resillient and battled to finish as high as we did. Though guys were inconsistent, (Point imaginary fingers at Rudy Fernandez, Martell Webster, and Jerryd Bayless) we discovered a lot from this season that can be valuable for the upcoming years. We learned Greg Oden can dominate if healthy, that Jerryd Bayless can get to the free throw line at will, and that Dante Cunningham can be relied upon as a bench player in this league.

  What I am trying to get at is that I would be perfectly content with a healthy version of the 09-10 roster being our 10-11 roster. I would fully embrace change, but I am not for trading away core pieces of this team for unproven rookies or highly overpaid aging stars (Dirk, or Tony Parker). The Roster and depth chart would go as follows:

PG: Miller    Bayless

SG: Roy       Fernandez

SF: Batum   Webster 

PF: Aldridge Cunningham

C: Oden       Camby (also backing up aldridge)

Draft Picks: Eric Bledsoe (a little early, but I really like his game)

                      John Scheyer (insurance for if Rudy leaves)

My projected off-season isn't one to have dreams about, but it is one that would continue are path upward in the western conference while not diminishing our window of oppurtunity. We may not win a championship with this projected roster this upcoming year, but with patience I beleive the ultimate goal is attainable. Besides, I turn 15 next week, so I still have lots of time to watch my Blazers.

To get my mind off the blazers season being over, I have been thinking about what were going to do this off season and in the draft. Which brought me to Greg. He is going to be in the same situation this summer that Brandon and LaMarcus were last year. Given their production it was obvious they were going to get extensions (max extension for Lamarcus was uncertain but was a no brainer for Brandon) Given Greg's injury problems and his development; which has taken time but we have seen improvements. What kind of extension should we give him or should we not even offer an extension and make him earn his money for future seasons. I want to see greg locked up for years to come, but then again we do not know if were going to get the monster on the boards Greg, or the sit on my mom's couch and watch games Greg. The Camby acquisition and signing was a great move for Greg. Now if Marcus can conitinue to teach new things to our team (tipouts on rebounds, cool backwards high 5's, and crazy blocks off the backboard) like teaching greg how to play a little more finesse. I know Greg is a big banger, but he could stand to learn how to block a shot without getting the foul, or how to shoot a 10 foot jumper like Camby can.

 

 Now onto to Rudy. I hate him one game then love him the next. His jumper can kill the other team or kill our team. When him and Martell are off it usually is gonna require big games from Brandon and or Lamarcus to get the win, and this year it was Martell's jumper (which wasn't consistent)  that was on a lot more than Rudy's was. Another edge Martell had on Rudy wa Martell plays good Defense while as we saw last night Rudy's defense is below league average Defense. Rudy seems to be very lonely and had a very emotional season. I think if he feels that way then it would be best for both parties to negotiate a buyout and find a place wheather it's New York or Barcelona for Rudy to go. 

This offseason will be fun to watch even if we don't make any moves because of the FA super class of 2010. I will forever and always love my blazers even after going down last night. Im already excited for next year.

Poll

What should we do with Greg

45%

extension but not max

156 votes

1%

max extension

6 votes

23%

no extension

82 votes

29%

i hate Jason Richardson

102 votes

346 votes | Poll has closed

I am a huge blazers fan, but i see a long winning streak coming from your team. You guys play the Timberwolves twice, the Nets, The Knicks, The Warriors and the Heat with the lone road game in Minnesota  who my blazers have already outscored by 77 in the there three macthes with the lowly wolves. This Nets game is over now, no suprise on the outcome. You guys will be the talk of the NBA on december 5th going into San Antonio. Good luck to you guys, and please next time we play at the Rose Garden on National TV don't foul greg Oden in crunchtime because that would be a crucial blow to greg's rising self esteem (:

I support Nate McMillan as a coach, but at some point he has got to loosen his dictatorship. He is controlling our guys to much, they aren't rookies anymore. The two foul rule has got to go, it was absurd to see LMA and Greg sit for that long and then even more painful to watch LaMarcus try to get back in rhythm. Nate also has to see that Steve Blake is not an NBA calibur starting point guard. He has to give Miller a chance to build chemistry with roy in his natural position. I personally believe that neither Blake, Bayless, or Miller are the answer to our point guard problems. I am not a Jerryd Bayless fan, but it seems like every time we play teams who have good guards like Houston, Denver, and Golden State one of their top guards has over 30 points. If I was Nate last night i would have had Jerryd Bayless guarding Monta Ellis for atleast 25 minutes.

Lastly I would like to know why was the Steph Curry foul on Rudy not a clear path foul? I smelled home town cooking last night there were some bogus calls by the refs as well as bogus no calls. Either way we didn't deserve to win, but I am just curious to hear your guys' thoughts on the game/officials.

Did Travis really come to media day with hair. In the 6 years that He has been here I do not think i have ever seen a single strand of hair on top of his head. Today was a good day and i just keep getting more and more pumped to see our deep squad battle the likes of the Lakers,Nuggets and Spurs. Just talking about the Blazers gives me the chills right now.

His wife must be really hot to have her husband on a leash like that. Im sure he wants to play there when after next year they'll be no Chris Bosh (can you say 15 win team?) . It is a dissapointment to not be getting Turkoglu but it also may be a good thing. His contract was way too much for a player of his calibur. This just spices up this off season even more. I'm just waiting for Kevin Pritchard to get one of Artest,Ariza, or Odom just to piss off the kobe show and better our chances of contending for a title next season. Maybe we have a trade in the works with a team like New Jersey or Detroit but whatever happens I have to say that I am in love with this roller coaster off season

Poll

My feelings about Turkoglu not signing are...

61%

good, we dont have to pay him and his lack of defense 50 million

81 votes

15%

I hate it, why cant we land a major free agent

21 votes

5%

I don't care this weather has been so nice i could care less about basketball right now

7 votes

12%

Kobayashi will beat chestnut witha world record 70 hot dogs

16 votes

5%

chestnut will beat Kobayashi with a record 70 hot dogs

7 votes

132 votes | Poll has closed

    I think  the Nets will not trade Devin Harris because him, Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee are now the  future of that team. If the Nets were stupid enough to trade him we definetly need to pounce on that oppurtunity. Its funny to see people say how bad the Nets are going to be, because they freed cap and may continue to do so in order to pull a mega free agent next offseason. They will be a solid playoff team by 2011.

    On our cap room, I believe we should stand pat this offseason and wait until the trade deadline next year, or even until next years draft. Since so many teams want a "mega agent" next off season many teams will be trading and lotterry picks will not be hard to acquire. WE could get a point guard (John Wall, Abdul Gaddy, Tajuan Porter,lol jk about Tajuan.) Or we could save our cap and sign a good veteran to make us a championship calibur team.

 

  I still believe a Ron Artest pickup this season would make us a championship calibur team. If we picked him up via free agency it would make travis outlaw expendable, we could use him and a couple others (Jerryd Bayless, a draft pick) to get Kirk Hinrich. It almost seems like a fantasy but i think its very doable. Could you imagine a starting lineup of:                          and our reserves:

Hinrich                  Blake or Bayless (which ever doesnt get traded)

Roy                        Rudy

Artest                     Nicolas Batum

Aldrige                  Pendergraph

Oden                     Pryzbilla (Oden or him are interchangeable at starter)

 

If we signed Artest to a three year deal we would allow time for Nic to learn from one of the best defenders in the NBA and also for him to grow through time. He only got about 20 minutes as a starter last year, we could give him 20 -25 next year coming off the bench. Rudy would become our new sixth man. I know Artest is a risk but the man is starting to get old, he wants a championship and I think would sacrifice his ego for the team as a whole. You either love or hate Ron Artest, but he is an option that we should seriously consider.

Poll

Would Ron Artest behave in Portland?

48%

yes

99 votes

8%

no

18 votes

25%

im not sure

51 votes

17%

hes crazy he couldn't behave anywhere on a long term contract

36 votes

204 votes | Poll has closed

        The draft is rapidly approaching. It is now 7 days and 45 minutes away and most blazers expect some trade like usual on draft day. Many guys have rumored to be involved in potential draft day trades and since we have a surplus of tradeable guards, expect one to 3 to be gone by next thursday. A veteran presence would be nice in our locker room, and I belive that man for our team would be Anthony Parker. I believe he is a better player thna Martell Webster and could be our 4th guard option with the expectation of Sergio not coming  back and us not getting a guard and picking a Derrick Brown and trading picks. 

Martell is a career 37% 3pt shooter whil Anthony parker is a 41% shooter and can dribble better.  we should sign AP and sit Martell and give him limited minutes this yea.This could be nothing but an idea, but just suggesting cause Im not one of Martell "streaky" Webster fan's.

I have been surfing the web a little and have found this possible draft night trade to be very interesting. Right now the deal looks like sergio is headed to New York maybe with a couple of the blazers 4 second round draft picks. As of right now I see the trade as a semi good deal because sergio wants out and new york would be a good fit for him, but who would Portland get with this trade? Sergio and a few second rounders isnt enough to get David Lee or the knicks 8th pick. The only way i think the blazers could get the 8th pick is if they traded rudy fernandez or travis outlaw and took jered jeffries contract off the books for Ny who wants to spend big next summer. While portland wold probably only have small interest in only the latter deal of the 2. So this trade only may mean that Nate Robinson could be coming back to the northwest, his home and get to play with his childhood buddy (Brandon Roy). Though Nate Robinson is a solid bench player he does take very questionable shots and would not fit in extremely well for a team with a bench already very deep. 

 

   Portland who also was playing hard for Philadelphia's Andre Miller at the trade deadline seems to be interested in signing either him or kirk hinrich via free agency this off season. Andre Miller would be hard to sign because the Sixers really have no real point guard behind him to run that team. It is known around the NBA community that Portland wants a polished veteran at point, but it's a matter of who does portland want to give up in return for that point guard. Jerryd Bayless in my opinion does not seem to be ready to be a floor general in the NBA and i dont think he ever will be. I loved Steve Blake until he made Aaron Brooks look like a God in the Playoffs this last year and when he tried to be game hero taking a 30 foot three with 16 seconds left in game 4 of the houston series. Sergio is always mad and though he seems like an unselfish player he is actually quite the opposite. He dribbles the ball to much and takes bad shots, when he does pass he makes fancy passes that are unneccesary and often times he dribbles to the ned of the shot clock and then throws up a desperate shot that he will make 1 in 15 tries. Send him to New york because quite frankly I dont want him. 

 

  Once again possibilities are flowing here the blazers could trade up in the draft for Eric Maynor or Johnny Flynn and also Ramon Sessions, Kirk Hinrich and Andre Miller are free agents this off season. Starting with Sessions he averaged 12.4 PPG, 5.7 Assists per game, 1.1 steals a game and a shade under 2 turnovers a game. While he is definetly a better defender than steve blake his 3 point shooting of 6-34 and 17% does not fit well with the blazers 3 point shooting style. Kirk Hinrich as a backup playing almost the same amount of minutes a game as Sessions averaged 10 ppg,3.9 assists per game and 1.3 steals a game to go along with a 40% clip from long range. His defense is very good and he would also be an upgrade over steve blake and more than Sessions he fits the blazers syle of play. Andre Miller in 10 more minutes a game averaged 16.6 points a game, 6.5 assists per game and 1.3 steals a game but similar to Sessions he shot a horrendous 28% from 3. A point guard for these blazers must be able to shoot the long ball, maybe that is why portland is so intrigued with Stephen Curry.

 

      Lastly in my mind at this point Ron Artest is an option that the blazers should take a second look at. With LaFrentz gone as well as his 11 million dollar salary off the books Portland could throw 7-9 million dollars at him while right now he makes 7.4 milloin i could see the blazers potentially pushing hard for him. I like Nicolas Batum but he is not strong enough to hold the likes of kobe or LeBron. Artest is strong and physical and gets in the opposing players head, he plays tenatious D at times and is a good 3 point shooter. He realized his role in Houstona and played it to perfection and he would probably do the same in Portland. considering his man crush on Brandon roy i think portland would be a fit. The only problem is how hard will houston push for him, because without him they will not be the contender they were this year.

 

   Its going to be some off season here the one that maybe is just important as next off season, while some teams may pick up key role players this off season to go along with the levy of super stars next off season.