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RIP CITY UNITES BEHIND YOUNG TEAM
STORY AND PHOTO BY JAMES HARLEY
“ Blazers w in! Blazers w in !”
These are fa m iliar words Portland Trail B lazer
fa n s have been h earin g th e last several years.
A ft e r m u ltip le p la y o ff se a so n s an d w in n in g
records, everyone th ou gh t it w as safe to say the
B lazers w ere go in g to co n tin u e th e tren d, but
th o se th o u g h ts d im in ish ed afte r la st se aso n ,
w hen Portland lost four out o f their five starters
and looked to rebuild.
The ESPN preseason power rankings had the
B lazers ran ked 29 out o f 30. In th e ra n k in g s,
writer M arc Stein said a “ steep fa ll in the W est
is unavoidable no m atter w hat sort o f dam age
D am ian Lillard can w reak” .
W e all know now th at those predictions th at
were “ for sure” going to happen, were com pletely
wrong. After being predicted to fin ish at the bot
tom o f the W est, the Blazers not only m ade the
play o ffs, but are now in the second round w ith
a chance to take down the top -seed ed W arriors.
By lookin g at the Blazer roster, anyone could
have seen the lack o f talen t com pared to other
rosters in the NBA and everybody, including m e,
thought they would w in no m ore th an 33 gam es.
But if th ey did not sim ply have the talen t, th en
how did th ey do so w ell th is season?
Everyone fo rgets th at w in n in g is m ore th an
ju st talen t; it takes team w ork, good co ach in g,
and m ost o f all, good team ch em istry. If players
don’t get along, it’ s hard for th em to play w ell
together.
Aside fro m possibly D am ian Lillard’s a ll-s ta r
snub anger he took out on the Warriors, no player
played for th em selve s. They all played for the
team , fo r th e fa n s , and played as w ell as they
possibly could.
Along with great teamwork, the players worked
extrem ely w ell to ge th er because th ey w orked
hard to bond and get to know each o ther.
G erald H e n d erso n , an N B A guard w ho o n ly
recen tly w as traded to th e B lazers, told “ The
O r e g o n ia n ” th a t h e th in k s th is is “ th e b e s t
organization in the leagu e.” H e also said in that*
article th at the way th e players are treated by
co ach es an d th e rest o f th e team is am a zin g ,
and th at the group o f players he plays w ith are
a “ great group o f g u y s.”
W ith a m ixture o f great teamwork, great coach
in g and hard work eth ic, the Blazers have proved
all the doubters w rong. They have also proved
th at stats d o n ’ t m ean everything in sports, be
cause an y team can w in on any given day.
So get ready Rip C ity for m ore w ins to com e.
The Blazers roster is still very young and has a
lot to learn , w h ich is e x citin g to th in k abo u t,
because if th ey contin ue the trend they are on,
th ey can o nly get better.
Blazer fans arrive pregarne to the w h iteo ut o f T-shirts before game
4 on A p ril 25.
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