Rip City is Back!!

The Blazers lost their final game of the season last night, falling 100-91 to the Suns in Phoenix. Despite finishing with a loss, the season was, without a doubt, hugely successful. This is how they finished up their last home game on Tuesday night in a sold out Rose Garden:



When Greg Oden went down before the season, this team was written off, but instead they banded together behind Brandon Roy and still managed a .500 season despite untimely injuries to LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and James Jones. They nearly doubled their win total from two years ago(21 wins in 2005-06). Their 41 wins also showed a 9 game improvement from last year. Roy's leadership on this team earned him a spot on the 2008 All-Star team just a year after running away with the Rookie of the Year award. With Oden returning next year to join Aldridge and Roy, this team is set up to seriously contend for the title in the next couple years. Even in the dominate Western Conference, they will likely be one of the teams to beat next year. And unlike the Suns, Mavericks, and Spurs, the Blazers won't have to worry about aging stars for some time, as they were the 3rd youngest team in NBA History this year.

And if the players we already have weren't enough to get you excited, how bout the ones we don't have. Spanish phenom Rudy Fernandez should be joining the team after finishing off his contract with the Spanish national team. The Blazers also got a favorable ruling from the NBA concerning Darius Miles bum knee and were able to release him freeing up a ton of cap space and if they're able to unload Raef LaFrentz that will free up even more. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Raef, but there's no way he's worth what he's being paid, especially when next year he's unlikely to be much more than a 3rd string center. That should give them the cap space to go after a premier point guard to run the offense for them. The contracts they've given out over the last couple years have led several people to speculate that the Blazers plan to go after Chris Paul when he becomes a free agent next year, and rumor has it they had several offers rebuked by the Toronto Raptors earlier this year in an attempt to bring in Jose Calderon. While we currently have 4 point guards on the roster, none of them have shown that they will be the multi-faceted point guard the Blazers are looking for. Steve Blake is solid on defense, but he's not great at pushing the ball up the court. Jarrett Jack is the best scorer, and Sergio Rodriguez is the best at running the pick-and-roll, but tends to turn the ball over alot. With those three getting most of the playing time, we didn't get to see much of what Von Wafer could do after we brought him in before the trade deadline in exchange for Taureen Green, but if one of these guys doesn't show that they can develop into a premier point guard in the offseason, expect the Blazers to go after a big name.

In the front court, things are looking even brighter. LaMarcus Aldridge turned it up a notch this year, especially in the second half of the season, and is turning into a dominant forward, and Oden and Joel Przybilla are going to be a fearsome 1-2 punch at center. Channing Frye is understandably excited after spending his first two seasons in the black hole of the Knicks organization, and has shown flashes of what he will become. Then there's Travis Outlaw who improved drastically this year and turned into one of the premier 6th men in the league this year, averaging 13 and 5 off the bench. James Jones is an absolutely deadly shooter(he was 6-7 from 3 pt range Tuesday, and finished the season 2nd in the NBA behind the arc), and is one of the most underrated players in the league, and the Blazers poor record while he was injured shows it. Martell Webster showed he can knock it down from long range as well.

Right now, the biggest problem for the Blazers that I see is their roster space. That should get straightened out in the next year as they figure out what direction they're going at point guard. Obviously Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, and LaMarcus Aldridge are unlikely to go anywhere. Outlaw and Jones are next on my list of people to keep, followed by Przybilla. I'd love to see Przybilla stick around, but depending on what happens next year with him and Oden, he may decide to go to another contender where he can start, and he'd definitely deserve it. Channing Frye and Martell Webster would be nice, but not critical to keep. At point guard, Blake is our best option right now, with Rodriguez probably having the brightest future. Von Wafer may stick around since he can also play shooting guard behind Roy. Anyway you look at it, the future is bright.

In tribute to our I-5 brethren up in Seattle, here's a tribute video someone put together, appropriately set to Johnny Cash's 'Hurt':