The Blazers: hot both in court and on it, lately
Opponent File
Portland Trail
Blazers
The Blazers play in the Rose Garden in
Portland, Oregon. Their 2001 - 2002 record was 49 - 33 (third in the Pacific).
Here is the Portland
Trail Blazers Roster. Here is ESPN.com's Blazers
vs. Nets stat comparison (the Nets best the Blazers in 21 out of 34
stat categories).
Local Paper
The
Oregonian | Blazers
Team Pages:
CNNSI.com
| Trailblazers
ESPN.com
| Trailblazers
NBA.com | Trailblazers
The
Sporting News | Trailblazers
Sportsline.com
| Trailblazers
Head Coach: Maurice Cheeks
2002 Draft: Qyntel Woods, SF (NE Mississippi
CC), selected at #21. Jason Jennings, C (Arkansas State), selected at
#43. Federico Kammerichs, PF
New Players: Antonio Daniels, G (trade from
San Antonio). Jeff McGinnis, G (Los Angeles Clippers, Free Agency). Charles
Smith, G (trade from San Antonio). Arvydas Sabonis, C (returns after a
year off).
Season Goal: Stop self-destructing, play
up to their massive potential and go far in the playoffs. Avoiding arrest
should not be considered a team goal.
Record vs. Nets: 0 - 1
Previous Game: Nets
93, Portland 86.
Other Opponent Files
Projected Midwest Division Standing:
Chris Carrino: 3
Champagne: 4
Frank DiGraci: 3
Ian Eagle: 3
Joe Netsfan: 3
Get Out Of Town
If there was ever a team that couldn't wait to hit the road, it's the Blazers, a team driven to distraction (and infractions) at home. The Blazers are 4 - 4 on the road, they played (and beat) Washington last night, and they beat Toronto too, in their first game of their 5 game trip. Check in at the front desk under an assumed name, turn off the telephone, and only go outside on the way to the game might be the best way for the Blazers to deal with travelling. Can the Blazers duck the law, and the Nets, and steal a win in New Jersey? Or will the Nets make the road as uncomfortable a place as Portland has been for the Blazers and collar the victory?
See You in Hell, Dolans: You're in luck. The numberof games lost to the Cablevision/YES mess stays stagnant at 18 due to the the Nets' appearance on ESPN (let's get down on our knees and pray Brent Musburger hasn't been assigned to our game). Want to do something about the Cablevision/YES Mess? Click here.
- Joe
Portland Trail Blazers Cheat Sheet
The Story from Portland: Funny, all that controversy in Portland seems to be fueling a resurgence. The Blazers have won 3 straight, including a 13 point thumping in Toronto that showed off the Bonzi Wells - Rasheed Wallace combo (they combined for 49 points), but they continue their up and down pattern of erratic play to match their erratic off-court behavior (see Controversy, below).
Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a piece for ESPN.com on Blazer owner Paul Allen that is a great synopsis of the tangled web the franchise has become since Allen purchased the team. Some other funny stuff to be read on the Blazers at the ESPN team page.
Pain Game: Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, F (sore right knee), Chris Dudley, C (sacroiliac pain) and Charles Smith, G (sore left hip) are on the injured reserve list.
Controversy: You want excitement? Hire on as a PR person for the Blazers. From The Oregonian and other sources comes this synopsis of the controversies Portland has stirred up so far:
• Forward Ruben Patterson was charged with assaulting his wife (felony charges were not pursued due to lack of evidence after Shannon Patterson said she didn't want to push the case) less than a week after guard Damon Stoudamire and forward Rasheed Wallace were cited for marijuana possession. Stoudamire and Wallace both admitted smoking marijuana to the arresting officer, according to a police report.
• During a game in San Antonio on Nov. 9, Bonzi Wells spit on Spurs forward Danny Ferry.
• During a Nov. 12 game in Houston, Cheeks benched Stoudamire after a heated exchange, and Stoudamire has played in just one game since.
• Earlier this year, Stoudamire was charged with a felony after police found a large bag of marijuana in his home while responding to a burglar alarm. A judge declared the search illegal, but prosecutors are appealing.
• In December, guard Bonzi Wells and former teammate Erick Barkley were cited by Portland police after refusing to leave the scene of a fight in downtown Portland and yelling profanities at an officer.
• And in May, second-year player Zach Randolph, then 20, was arrested on charges of underage drinking in Marion, MI.
What's at the top of the Trailblazers' official homepage? A story about rookie Qyntel Woods visiting a children's hospital!
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© 2002 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski
