Alex Harkaway – For the Review. It’s that time again. The time when all of our thoughts and attention turn to the one true professional team in Portland. The question on everyone’s mind becomes: “How are the Blazers gonna do this year?”
Last year, we saw the team take a major step forward, winning 54 games and making the playoffs, only to lose to Houston in the first round. Brandon Roy finally received national acclaim for his fantastic all-around play, and Lamarcus Aldridge posted another solid season.
But we Blazer fans already know all about Roy and Aldridge and their capabilities on the court.
The team’s success this season will boil down to how its opponents fare, as well as the performances of the following three players:
Andre Miller: Miller is the newest Blazer and the team’s most enigmatic player. Is he the prized offseason acquisition or the Blazer’s third choice after deals for Hedo Turkoglu and Paul Millsap fell through?
Is he a savvy veteran who will provide leadership for the younger players or a self-proclaimed loner who only wants to, “Come get the work done, go hoop and go home”? Is he the player who helped turn Philadelphia’s stagnant, half-court offense into an explosive, fast-break attack or the one who failed a conditioning test at the beginning of Portland’s camp?
Miller was brought in to be the final piece of the puzzle, but so far the results have not been positive. After Miller came off the bench in the team’s first two preseason games, he said, “If I was told right out when I had my meetings that I would be a backup, then I wouldn’t have come here.” The Blazers must hope that Miller’s first season ends better than it started.
Martell Webster: Remember him? Webster played only one game last season because of a foot problem, but, before the injury, he owned the sweetest stroke on the team.
Alhough it seems as if it has been forever since he was a highly-touted draft pick, Webster is only 22 years old and still has room to grow. Even if he does not blossom into the star the Blazers envisioned when they made him the No. 6 pick of the 2005 draft, imagine a lineup featuring both Webster and last year’s top three-point shooter, Rudy Fernandez.
Putting two shooters like that on the floor would make defenses think twice before collapsing on Roy’s drives or double-teaming Aldridge in the post, two tactics that kept the Blazers from getting past Houston last year.
However, it may be hard for Webster to rediscover his stroke if he loses playing time to Fernandez, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw and others. How McMillan juggles his rotation will be closely scrutinized.
Greg Oden: Last year, the Blazers saw Oden provide decent rebounding and post defense off the bench. Meanwhile, the rest of the league witnessed Kevin Durant, the player that Portland passed on for Oden two years ago, blossom into a star.
In fairness to Oden, he was recovering from microfracture surgery, a serious procedure. Furthermore, big men typically take more time to develop than wing players.
This year, however, he has no excuses.
Positive reports are circulating everywhere about Oden’s offseason; everything from his conditioning to his attitude seems to have improved. He looked good in the preseason, earning the starting nod from McMillan ahead of last year’s starter, Joel Pryzbilla.
Even so, Oden’s progress will not be based on meaningless October games, but from his performance in April against the likes of Andrew Bynum and Tim Duncan.
If the Blazers can get solid seasons from Miller, Webster and Oden, they have a chance to make some serious noise this postseason.