Portland Trail Blazers Totally Explained

Everything about The Portland Trail Blazers totally explained

The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise, based in Portland throughout its existence, entered the league in 1970, and is currently the only major league franchise in Oregon. Entrepreneur and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has owned the team since 1988. The current president is Larry Miller, the general manager is Kevin Pritchard and the head coach is Nate McMillan. The Trail Blazers' NBDL affiliate is the Idaho Stampede. From 1977 through 1995, the team sold out 814 consecutive home games, the longest such streak in American professional sports. They originally played their home games in the Memorial Coliseum, before moving to the Rose Garden Arena in 1995.
The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA Championship once, in 1977. The team also advanced to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. The team has qualified for the playoffs during 25 seasons of their 36-season existence, including a streak of 21 straight appearances from 1983 through 2003. Four Hall of Fame players have played for the Trail Blazers (Lenny Wilkens, Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler, and Drazen Petrovic), as well as one player (Scottie Pippen) who was recognized as one of the league's 50 greatest but who isn't yet eligible for the Hall. Bill Walton is the franchise's most decorated player; he was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 1977, and the regular season MVP the following year. Three Blazer rookies (Geoff Petrie, Sidney Wicks, and Brandon Roy) have won the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Two Hall of Fame coaches, Lenny Wilkens and Jack Ramsay, have patrolled the sidelines for the Blazers, and two others (Mike Schuler and Mike Dunleavy) have won the NBA Coach of the Year award with the team.]] [[Image:Blazers2.gif|right|thumb|TrailBlazers logo from 1991-2002. The team's "pinwheel" logo, originally designed by the cousin of former Blazer executive Harry Glickman, is a graphic interpretation of two five-on-five basketball teams lined up against each other. One side of the pinwheel is rendered in red; the other side is rendered in a monochrome color (black, silver, or white). The logo has gone from a vertical alignment to a slanted one over time. which has been the team's official mascot since 2002. Prior to Blaze's debut, the Trail Blazers never had any official mascot. A popular unofficial mascot was Bill "The Beerman" Scott, a Seattle beer vendor/cheerleader who worked for numerous pro teams, including the Trail Blazers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Seattle Mariners. Scott worked for the Trail Blazers from 1981 through 1985.

History

The Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team, playing in the Memorial Coliseum. The team was led in its early years by Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks, and failed to qualify for the NBA postseason in their first six years of existence. During that span, the team had three head coaches (including future hall-of-famer Lenny Wilkens); team executive Stu Inman also served as coach. The team won the first pick in the NBA Draft twice during that span. In 1972 the team drafted LaRue Martin with the number one pick, and in 1974 the team selected Bill Walton from UCLA.

Championship

In 1976, the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the NBA. Four ABA teams joined the NBA; the remaining teams were dissolved and their players distributed among the remaining NBA squads in a dispersal draft. The Trail Blazers selected Maurice Lucas in the dispersal draft; that summer they also hired Jack Ramsay as head coach. The two moves, coupled with the emergence of Walton as a premier NBA big man, led the team to its first winning record (49–33), its first playoff appearance, and its only NBA Championship in 1977. That summer, Bill Walton demanded a trade; when none was forthcoming he held out the entire 1978–79 season and left the team as a free agent thereafter. Maurice Lucas would leave the team in 1980, and the Blazers "dynasty" was finished.

The 1980s

During the 1980s, the team was a consistent presence in the NBA post-season, failing to qualify for the playoffs only in 1982. However, they never advanced past the conference semifinals during the decade. The Pacific Division of the NBA was dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers throughout the decade, and only the Lakers and the Houston Rockets represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. Key players for the Blazers during the early 80s included Mychal Thompson, Fat Lever, Darnell Valentine, Wayne Cooper, T. R. Dunn, Jim Paxson, and Calvin Natt.
In 1983, the team selected University of Houston guard/forward Clyde Drexler with the 13th pick in the draft; The following year, the Trail Blazers landed the #2 pick in the NBA Draft. After the Houston Rockets selected Drexler's college teammate Hakeem Olajuwon, known at that time as Akeem Olajuwon, at #1, the Trail Blazers selected Kentucky center Sam Bowie. Drafting third, the Chicago Bulls selected Michael Jordan. Many sportswriters and analysts have criticized the selection of the injury-plagued Bowie over Jordan as the worst draft pick in the history of American professional sports. That summer, the Blazers also made a controversial trade, sending Lever, Cooper, and Natt to the Denver Nuggets for high-scoring forward Kiki Vandeweghe.
However, the Blazers continued to struggle in the post-season, and in 1986, Ramsay was fired and replaced with Mike Schuler. and sent Thompson to the San Antonio Spurs for former Oregon State University star Steve Johnson. Johnson was a high-scoring forward-center who the team intended to pair with Bowie on the frontline. It wasn't to be, as Bowie broke his leg five games into the 1986–87 season, missing the next two and a half seasons. During Schuler's brief tenure, the Blazers failed to advance out of the first round of the NBA playoffs. His first season as owner was one marked by turmoil, as conflicts erupted over who should start at several positions. Both Vandeweghe and Johnson suffered injuries; they were replaced in the starting lineup by Jerome Kersey and Kevin Duckworth, and several players, most notably Drexler, were accused of undermining Schuler. The team struggled to a losing record and appeared in danger of missing the playoffs. Schuler was fired and replaced on an interim basis with assistant coach Rick Adelman, and Vandeweghe was traded to the New York Knicks. Under Adelman, the team achieved a 39–43 record, and barely qualified for the playoffs. That offseason, the team traded Sam Bowie (who had returned to the team to end the season) to the New Jersey Nets for forward Buck Williams, and Adelman was given the coaching job on a non-interim basis. Led by the charismatic Drexler, the team reached the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, losing to the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, respectively. Possibly inspired by the 1984 Chicago Bears, during the runnup to their 1990 finals appearance the Blazers recorded two songs: "Bust a Bucket" and "Rip City Rhapsody" (in reference to the city's nickname). The year in between their two finals appearances, the team posted a league-best 63–19 record before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals. However, the team failed to win an NBA title, and failed to advance past the first round in 1993 and 1994. and replaced with P. J. Carlesimo, which led to the resignation of executive vice president Geoff Petrie, a close friend of Adelman's.

The Whitsitt years

In July of 1994, the Trail Blazers announced the hire of a new team president, former Seattle Supersonics General Manager Bob Whitsitt. but which was getting long in the tooth. In 1993, Kevin Duckworth was traded to the Washington Bullets for forward Harvey Grant. Several key players were permitted to walk away in free agency, including Buck Williams (1996), Terry Porter (1996), and Cliff Robinson (1997), with Jerome Kersey left unprotected in the 1996 expansion draft, and Drexler going to the Rockets after requesting to be traded. and got arrested for marijuana possession two days before his debut with the Blazers) and Rasheed Wallace (acknowledged as a hot-tempered player since college)were acquired in trades, and point guard Kenny Anderson was signed as a free agent, and subsequently traded for Damon Stoudamire. Initially, this approach worked, as the team returned to the Western Conference finals in 1999 under head coach Mike Dunleavy.

The "Jail Blazers" era

After that failure, the team made a series of personnel moves in the 2000 and 2001 off-seasons which failed to produce the desired results, and continued to alienate the community. Up-and-coming forward Jermaine O'Neal was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Dale Davis, and the team traded popular forward Brian Grant for troubled ex-Seattle forward Shawn Kemp. The team started off well, posting the Western Conference's best record through March of 2001, but then signed guard Rod Strickland to augment their point guard corps. The move backfired, and the team lost 17 of its remaining 25 games, and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. and Whitsitt, previously proclaimed a genius for his work in both Seattle and Portland, started coming under criticism. A particular criticism was that Whitsitt was attempting to win a title by assembling a roster of superstars, without paying attention to team chemistry;
That offseason, the churning continued. Dunleavy was fired, and replaced with Maurice Cheeks, a "players coach" who it was thought would relate better to the players than did Dunleavy. More transactions followed, as the Blazers traded Steve Smith to the Spurs for Derek Anderson. Popular center Arvydas Sabonis, who during the playoffs had a towel flung in his face by Wallace, decided to leave the team.
The next two seasons were just as disastrous for the team's reputation. Numerous players, including Wallace, Stoudamire, and Qyntel Woods, were arrested for marijuana possession. Woods pled guilty to first-degree animal abuse for staging dog fights in his house, some involving his pit bull named Hollywood. Both Hollywood and Woods' other pit bull, Sugar, were confiscated, and Woods was given 80 hours of community service and also agreed to donate $10,000 to the Oregon Humane Society. Wallace was suspended for seven games for threatening a referee. Zach Randolph and Patterson got in a fight during practice, with Randolph sucker punching his teammate in the jaw. Police answering a burglar alarm at Stoudamire's house noticed a marijuana smell, searched the premises, and found a pound of cannabis located in a crawlspace; the search was later declared illegal and charges in the matter were dropped. Guard Bonzi Wells famously told Sports Illustrated in a 2002 interview:

they [fans] really don't matter to us. They can boo us every day, but they're still going to ask for our autographs if they see us on the street.

Fan discontent soared; despite the team continuing to post a winning record, attendance at the Rose Garden started to decline. In the summer of 2003, with attendance declining, the team going nowhere on the court, and an exorbitant payroll, Whitsitt announced that he'd leave the team to focus on Paul Allen's other franchise (the Seattle Seahawks).

Downfall; Rose Garden bankruptcy

To replace Whitsitt, the team split his role into two and hired two men. John Nash, a veteran NBA executive, was hired as general manager, and Steve Patterson as team president. The new management promised a focus on character while remaining playoff contenders; the team soon published a "Twenty-Five Point Pledge" to fans. Troublesome players including Wells, Wallace, and Jeff McInnis were traded away. The latter incident was compounded by what many viewed as inadequate discipline for Miles, followed by a secret agreement between the team and Miles to refund the amount of his fine. That summer the team replaced Cheeks with Nate McMillan, who had coached the Sonics the prior season, and had Pritchard returning to the front office.
The following season wasn't better, as the Blazers posted a league-worst 21–61 record. Attendance was low, and the year wasn't free of player incidents, as players such as Miles, Ruben Patterson, Randolph, and Sebastian Telfair were involved in either on-court bickering or off-court legal incidents. In addition, the team had a poor relationship with the management of the Rose Garden, frequently complaining of a "broken economic model". It was widely speculated by the end of the year that Allen would sell the team; and the team was offered for sale that summer, with several groups expressing interest. However, Allen was willing to spend money and urged Pritchard to make draft-day trades. He subsequently took the team off the market.

Rebirth in 2007

In the spring of 2007, Steve Patterson resigned as team president, On the court, the team finished with a 32–50 record, an 11 game improvement, and rookie Brandon Roy was named the 2006–07 Rookie of the Year. That summer Pritchard was promoted to general manager, and former Nike Inc. executive Larry Miller was hired as team president. The Blazers won the 2007 NBA Draft Lottery, and selected Ohio State center Greg Oden with the #1 pick in the draft. Many had speculated that they might choose Kevin Durant instead; Durant was picked at #2 by local rivals the Seattle Supersonics. Oden would suffer a pre-season knee injury requiring microfracture surgery, and missed the entire 2007–08 season.
Despite this, the Trail Blazers had a 13-game winning streak that began in early December, resulting in a 13–2 record, an NBA best for the month of December. McMillan won NBA Coach of the Month honors, and Roy garnered NBA Western Conference Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks (the first Trailblazer to accomplish the feat since Clyde Drexler in the 1990–91 season.) Roy was also named as a reserve for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, the first All-Star for the Blazers since Rasheed Wallace in 2001. The Blazers would go on to finish the season 41-41, their best record since the 2003-04 season, and all without the help of their injured #1 overall draft pick Greg Oden.

Transactions

NBA Draft

The Trail Blazers have had the #1 pick in the NBA Draft four times in their history; each time selecting a center. In 1972 the choice was LaRue Martin, Bill Walton was picked in 1974, Mychal Thompson in 1978, and Greg Oden was taken in 2007. Several Blazer picks have been criticized by NBA commentators as particularly unwise:

The selection of Martin over Bob McAdoo.
The selection of Thompson over Larry Bird (drafted #6 by the Boston Celtics) in 1978.
The selection of center Sam Bowie with the #2 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft over Michael Jordan (who was then drafted by the Chicago Bulls); other notable players taken later in that draft include future Hall-of-Famers Charles Barkley and John Stockton. Other notable draft picks include player-coach Geoff Petrie, Sidney Wicks, Larry Steele, Lionel Hollins and Jim Paxson in the 1970s and Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey, Terry Porter and Arvidas Sabonis in the '80s.. In The 1990s the Blazers selected Jermaine O'Neal and in the modern millennium drafted Zach Randolph and, in 2006, acquired Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in a blockbuster draft day that included 6 trades involving the Trail Blazers.

Notable trades

February 14, 1995: Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray were traded to the Houston Rockets for Otis Thorpe.

February 9, 2004: Rasheed Wallace and Wesley Person were traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau.

June 28, 2007: Fred Jones, Zach Randolph, and Dan Dickau were traded to the New York Knicks for Channing Frye and Steve Francis.

Notable player signings and departures

Damon Stoudamire - Free Agency (2005). Stoudamire had been a star player for Portland's Wilson High School.

Team and player statistics

Season-by-season results

League record performances

Several league record performances have been recorded by members of the Trail Blazers or the team as a whole; or against the Trail Blazers by an opponent. A partial list is as follows:

Most blocks in a game / half � Elmore Smith recorded 17 blocks against the Trail Blazers, October 28 1973. That game, he set the record for the most blocks in a half (11); the latter record has since twice been tied.

;Fewest points (combined) in the first half of an NBA game � The Trail Blazers and the New Jersey Nets combined for 55 points in the first half of a game on November 28 2004 (Portland led 30–25).

Largest margin of victory in overtime � The Blazers outscored the Houston Rockets 17–0 during the first (and only) overtime period on January 22 1983.

;Most three-point attempts, game (combined) � The Blazers and the Golden State Warriors combined for 69 three-point field goal attempts on April 15 2005. In that game, Damon Stoudamire of the Blazers attempted 21 three-point shots, also a record.

Player honors

All-Stars and All-Star weekend participants

Members of the Trail Blazers who have been nominated for the NBA All-Star Game at least once while a Blazer include:

Clyde Drexler: Ten nominations total, eight as a Trail Blazer (1986, 1988–1994). Also appeared in six Slam Dunk Contests, finishing second in 1989, and the 1991 Three-Point Shootout.

Sidney Wicks: Four nominations total, all as a Trail Blazer (1972-1975).

Rasheed Wallace: Three nominations total, two as a Trail Blazer (2000, 2001)

Kevin Duckworth: Two nominations, both as a Blazer (1989, 1991)

Jim Paxson: Two nominations, both as a Blazer (1983, 1984)

Geoff Petrie: Two nominations, both as a Blazer (1971, 1974)

Terry Porter: Two moninations, both as a Blazer (1991, 1993) appeared in two Three-Point Shootouts, finishing second in both.

Lionel Hollins: One nomination, 1978.

Cliff Robinson. One nomination, 1994. Also appeared in the 1996 Three-Point Shootout.

Kermit Washington: One nomination, 1980.

Brandon Roy: One nomination, 2008. Also participated in the Rookie Challenge as a rookie in 2007

Jerome Kersey participated in four Slam Dunk Contests, finishing at second in 1987.

Kiki Vandeweghe appeared in the 1987 Three-Point Shootout.

Geoff Petrie, 1970–71 (tie)

Sidney Wicks, 1971–72

Brandon Roy, 2006-07

Most Improved Player

Kevin Duckworth, 1987-88

Zach Randolph, 2003-04

Sixth Man of the Year

Cliff Robinson, Sixth Man of the Year, 1992–93

J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award

Terry Porter, 1992–93

Chris Dudley, 1995–96

Bill Walton, 1977-78,

Clyde Drexler, 1991-92

First Team, All-Defensive

Bill Walton, 1976–77, 1977–78

Maurice Lucas, 1977–78

Lionel Hollins, 1977–78

Buck Williams, 1989–90, 1990–91
First Team, All-Rookie

Clyde Drexler. Hall of Fame, Top 50.

Drazen Petrovic. Hall of Fame.

Bill Walton. Hall of Fame, Top 50.

Lenny Wilkens. Hall of Fame (as player), Top 50. Spent two years as head coach of the Blazers in the 1970s, including one year as player-coach. Also name one of the Top 10 coaches--the only person to make both lists.

Scottie Pippen. Top 50. Not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame, but considered a likely candidate, though some consider him unworthy. Center Arvydas Sabonis is also considered a likely Hall candidate, chiefly for his international career.

Danny Ainge (#9, G, 1990–92, also Oregon native)

Steve Johnson (#33, C, 1986–89, from Oregon State)

Steve Jones (#23, G, 1975–76, from Portland and the University of Oregon)

Jim Paxson (#4, G, 1980–87)
Front office
The team is ultimately owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen; ownership of the Trail Blazers is via a series of holding companies which Allen owns. Vulcan Inc. is a private corporation which has Allen as chairman and sole shareholder. A subsidiary of Vulcan, Vulcan Sports and Entertainment (VSE), manages Allen's sports-related properties, including the Trail Blazers, the Seattle Seahawks NFL team, and the Rose Garden. The president of VSE is Tod Leiweke, who also briefly served as the president of the Trail Blazers.
   The Trail Blazers as a corporate entity are owned by VSE. Allen serves as the team's chairman, and his longtime associate Bert Kolde is vice-chairman. The current president of the Trail Blazers is Larry Miller. The chief operating officer of the team is Mike Golub, and the team's general manager is Kevin Pritchard. Prior to 1988, when Allen purchased the team, the Trail Blazers were owned by a group of investors headed by Larry Weinberg.

Coaching staff
The current head coach of the Trail Blazers is Nate McMillan. Assistant Coaches include Dean Demopoulos (Lead Assistant Coach), Maurice Lucas, and Monty Williams. The training and conditioning staff includes Geoff Clark (Assistant Athletic Trainer/Equipment Manager), Jay Jensen (Head Athletic Trainer), Bob Medina, (Strength & Conditioning Coach), and Bradley Weinrich (Director of Basketball Operations)
   Two former Blazer coaches are in the Hall of Fame for their coaching career: Like the Trail Blazers, the Rose Garden is owned by Paul Allen through subsidiary Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, and the arena is managed by Global Spectrum. During a two-year period between 2005 and 2007, the arena was owned by a consortium of creditors who financed its construction after the Oregon Arena Corporation, a now-defunct holding company owned by Allen, filed for bankruptcy in 2004.
   Prior to 1995, the Trail Blazers home venue was the Memorial Coliseum, which today stands adjacent to the Rose Garden. This facility, built in 1960, can seat 12,888 spectators for basketball. A junior dance team composed of 8–11 year old girls also performs at selected home games, as does a hip-hop dance troupe. Other regular in-game entertainment acts include a co-educational acrobatic stunt team which performs technically-difficult cheers, a break dancing squad, and a pair of percussion acts.
Fan support and "Blazermania"
The relationship between the team and its fans, commonly known as "Blazermania", has been well-chronicled. The Trail Blazers have long been one of the NBA's top draws, with the exception of two periods in the team's history. The team drew poorly during its first four seasons of existence, failing to average more than 10,000 spectators per game. Attendance increased in 1974, when the team drafted Bill Walton.
   The phenomenon known as Blazermania started during the 1976-1977 season, when the team would post its first winning record, make its first playoff appearance—and capture its only NBA title, defeating the heavily-favored Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals; the team has been wildly popular in Portland since that time. The team's television production facility is known as Post-Up Productions. Television broadcast of Blazer games, when not carried on a national network, are broadcast in one of two forms:

On the Blazers Television Network, a network of four over-the-air television stations located in Oregon. The flagship station of the network is KGW-TV in Portland.

Via Comcast SportsNet, a cable channel. The team is also known for its long association with Steve "Snapper" Jones, who played for the team prior to his career as a television analyst; Jones departed the franchise in 2005. The original radio announcer for the team was Bill Schonely, who served as the team's radio play-by-play announcer from 1970 until his retirement in 1998, and who remains with the team in a community ambassador role.
Criticism
Trail Blazers broadcasts have been criticized on several fronts. The broadcast personalities, all of whom are Trail Blazers employees, have been criticized in the media for being ""; further it has been alleged that the 2005 departure of Steve Jones was due in part to team displeasure with Jones' sometimes frank analysis of the team's on-court performance and off-court decisions. A television deal signed with Comcast SportsNet in 2007 has also been criticized for not ensuring access to Blazer games via satellite television providers such as DirecTv and Dish Network, both of which compete with Comcast's cable television operations.
Press relations
Several local news outlets provide in-depth coverage of the Trail Blazers. Chief among them is The Oregonian, the largest paper in the state of Oregon. Other newspapers providing detailed coverage of the team (including the assignment of beat writers to cover the team) include the Portland Tribune, a bi-weekly Portland paper, and the Vancouver, Washington Columbian. Notable local journalists to cover the team include John Canzano and Jason Quick of the Oregonian and Dwight Jaynes of the Portland Tribune. Online coverage of the Oregonian is provided through oregonlive.com, a website collaboration between the paper and Advance Internet. In addition to making Oregonian content available, oregonlive.com hosts several blogs covering the team written by Oregonian journalists, as well as an additional blog, "Blazers Blog", written by Casey Holdahl.
Trail Blazers vs. The Oregonian
Relations between the team and The Oregonian have often been tense; the paper is editorially independent of the team and is often critical. During the Steve Patterson era, relations between the two institutions became increasingly hostile; several NBA executives told ESPN's Chris Sheridan that the situation was the "most dysfunctional media-team relationship" that they could recall. For instance during a portion of a pre-2006 NBA Draft workout, which was closed to the media, an Oregonian reporter looked through a curtain separating the press from the workout and wrote about this on his blog. Outraged, the team closed subsequent practices to the press altogether, leading John Canzano of the paper to respond with outrage on his blog. In November 2006, the Oregonian commissioned an outside editor to investigate the deteriorating relationship, a move the rival Willamette Week called "unusual" In the report, both sides were criticized somewhat, but didn't make any revelations which were unexpected.Further Information
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