Legitimate Contenders in the NBA: Part II

Western Conference

1. San Antonio Spurs, 19-7, 1st Southwest … Until the reigning champs go down to defeat in this year’s playoffs, they’re still the best team in the NBA, by far. Versatile and disciplined, the best blend of Offense, Defense & Rebounding in the league today. 

2. Los Angeles Lakers … 17-10, 2nd Pacific … With new puzzle pieces this year (i.e. Derek Fish, in place of Smush Parker; Chris Mihm, returning from injury last season; and Trevor Ariza, in exchange for Maurice Evans & Brian Cook) and the expected growth in Andrew Bynum’s game, this team will soon be a Force again in the NBA, under the Zenmaster. A “Sleeper Pick” for this season.

3. Portland Trailblazers, 15-12, 2nd Northwest … The required building blocks are in place for this franchise to have an extended run of success at the very top of the NBA … once they add-in Greg Oden next year. No team in the league has a better core group of young players, plus an elite level head coach, than the Blazers.

Crystal Balling:
When the Spurs and Kobe finally begin to wane, 5 or so years from now, it will be Portland that emerges as the #1 team, overall, in the Western Conference. 

Seasons Greetings!

Blazing a New (Old) Trail in Portland

The 2007-2008 Portland Trailblazers are for real.

Last night’s come-from-victory over the Nuggets (POR 99, DEN 96) was their 10th win in a row.

In the history of the NBA, mediocre teams do not win 10 games in a row, within any given year … especially with the No. 1 Pick Overall from the preceeding NBA Draft (i.e. All-World-To-Be, Greg Oden/C, 7-ft, 250 lbs), not having played a single game thus far.

The Blazers roster, right now, looks like this:

No.	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	DOB	Exp	College
12	Aldridge, LaMarcus	FC	6-11	240	7/19/85	1	Texas
2	Blake, Steve	PG	6-3	172	2/26/80	4	Maryland
44	Frye, Channing	FC	6-11	245	5/17/83	2	Arizona
0	Green, Taurean	G	6-0	177	11/28/85	R	Florida
1	Jack, Jarrett	PG	6-3	197	10/28/83	2	Georgia Tech
33	Jones, James	SF	6-8	220	10/4/80	4	Miami (FL)
9	LaFrentz, Raef	FC	6-11	245	5/29/76	9	Kansas
4	McRoberts, Josh	FC	6-10	240	2/28/87	R	Duke
23	Miles, Darius  *	SF	6-9	222	10/9/81	7	None
52	Oden, Greg  *	C	7-0	250	1/22/88	R	Ohio State
25	Outlaw, Travis	F	6-9	215	9/18/84	4	None
10	Przybilla, Joel	C	7-1	255	10/10/79	7	Minnesota
11	Rodriguez, Sergio	G	6-3	168	6/12/86	1	None
7	Roy, Brandon	G	6-6	229	7/23/84	1	Washington
8	Webster, Martell	GF	6-7	229	12/4/86	2	None

* - Player injured

and is the youngest in the NBA.

Think about that for a moment, or two …

What’s the magic in Portland’s water at the moment?

As a young “Group of 5″, Brandon Roy (PG), Martell Webster (OG), Travis Outlaw (SF), Channing Frye (PF) and LaMarcus Aldridge (PF/C) are as talented (i.e. skilled, quick & strong, with good size, intensity & Basketball IQ) as any quintet in the NBA today.

Once Oden makes his debut, next season, and effectively addresses their deficiency in Rebounding (Differential = -3.1/#28); with a top flight coach (i.e. Nate McMillan) and a plethora of functional role players (e.g. Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack, Sergio Rodriguez, James Jones, Joel Pryzbilla, Raef LaFrentz) … this team is going to become entrenched in the upper echelon of the NBA for the next decade.