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Overall
Win/Loss Record (At Season’s End): 33-49,
fourth place Northwest Division
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27
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At
Season’s End:
20
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Team
Statistics and League Rank (At Season’s End)
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Individual
Statistical Leaders (At Season’s End)
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Taking a Look Back at the Season that Once Was . . .
| SDH Player of the Year: Damian Lillard 
Talk about coming out of nowhere--here is this guy who did not come from a major college basketball program yet still managed to carry his team close to the post season while earning Rookie of the Year. Damian Lillard can be certainly be seen as the primary reason why the Blazers did not completely crash and burn despite allowing their opponents to score 101 points and shoot close to .480 from the field against them. He also gave a Blazers fans a glimmer of hope for the future as most expected this season as the start of a long and hard march to respectability. Now instead of a team spending years in turmoil floundering at the bottom, this Portland Trailblazer looks quite respectable to say the least--enough to remain in contention for a playoff spot for quite some time. In his first year in the league, Damian Lillard not only became the face, heart and soul of the Blazers, but also became a beacon of hope for Blazer fans who were expecting the worst.
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Analysis:
After a rather disappointing 2012 where the Blazers failed to make to playoffs for the first time in three seasons, it looked as if it were time for Portland to go back to the old drawing board once again. The team's former all star Brandon Roy was forced into early retirement due to nagging knee injury and the entire roster from last season had all but been purged leaving nothing much else on the roster. At the same time, rumors swirled around LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers leading scorer, on whether or not he will play this season as many believed that he would not want to stay on a team that was headed for a long and ugly rebuild. To put it bluntly, This year's Portland team looked like a complete train wreck as they were entering the season with a new coach and a roster if players who save for two players, were either virtual unknowns or had fallen out of grace with their previous team. With the future looking ominous for their home team, many Blazers fans remain mute as they anticipated a very long season--the first of many as they saw their team heading back to the road to rebuilding once again; however, despite all the projected gloom and doom, the hollowed out team known as the Portland Trailblazers would go on to have one of the surprise teams in the league as they greatly exceeded the expectations of many who had them wallowing on the bottom with the worst record in the league. Instead of living up to the rather low expectations of the media and fans, Portland would come out of the gates guns blazing with an unexpectedly terrific start. For a team that many had anticipated would be among the leagues worse, Portland started the season surprisingly well finishing with a 15-14 record by the end of December. Despite dropping 17 of 28 games in the first months of 2013, the Blazers still remained in striking distance for the last playoff spot as they were 26-31--about three or four games behind eighth place with a month and a half left in the regular season. Unfortunately, Portland's "trailblazing" would start to fizzle by March as the team would finish the regular season winning just seven of their last 25 games. Yet, in spite of their missing the playoffs for the second straight season, the 2013 regular season can be still viewed as a success in the views of the Trailblazers and their fans. Everyone who watched NBA basketball had expected this team to hit rock bottom sporting the one of the worst records in the league while vying for a chance to win the number one overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft; instead, the complete opposite happened as Portland refused to accept defeat and played as if they were the same up and coming team young team from two or three years ago. Now the future does not look as grim as many had foreseen for instead of looking like a downtrodden team simply waiting for the season to end so they can head to the lottery, it looked like a team that was probably a player or two away from reaching the post season. All the rumors and speculation of Aldridge being on his way out would be quashed as he would go out and have yet another stellar season leading the team in scoring for the third straight season while being selected for his second straight All Star game appearance. The Blazers also got an unexpected boost from two players that had been highly criticized for their poor play the season prior and looked to be future trade fodder; however, they both turn the table on all their naysayers and bounced back to have their best seasons to date. After bombing most of previous season with the Sacramento Kings, the announcement of JJ Hickson's arrival to Portland was met with little optimism as he had struggled thus far trying to find a niche early in his career; however, Hickson would come into this season with a new lease on life as he crashed the boards and became a powerhouse in the paint averaging career highs in points and rebounds per game. Wesley Matthews was also frowned upon after he followed up a stellar 2011 season with a less than stellar 2012 as his scoring dropped from nearly 16 per game to 11 and shot a woeful .396 from the field too; however, he managed to turn things around as he bounced back from his poor performance last season and looked like that shining diamond in the rough that seemed as one of the biggest steal in free agency. Matthews finished third on the team in scoring averaging a shade under 15 per game while leading his team in field goal percentage from beyond the arc shooting a shade under .400 from three and at the same time, he led his team in steals as well. As for Nicolas Batum, whom Portland matched the 50$ million contract that the Minnesota Timberwolves offered him last season, proved he was well worth the money that the Blazers invested in him as he would also proved to have an exceptional overall season averaging a solid stat like of 14 points, six rebounds and five assists per game. While he provided exceptional production for his team, Batum's biggest contribution had to be from the defensive end as he averaged both a shade over a steal and block per game showing that how much a formidable opponent he can be while on the court; however, despite their inspired play, neither the performances of Aldridge, Hickson, Batum and Johnson can match the play of the team's rookie point guard, Damian Lillard. Talk about coming out of nowhere--here is a guy who no one really heard whom did not even come from a major NCAA Division I School or Conference. Lillard essentially created his own hype through his impressive performances in the off season during the summer leagues and the preseason as well and once the regular arrived, he not only took the team over, but also outperformed the entire 2012 rookie class earning himself Rookie of the year. Lillard's rookie season can be considered not only such a momentous moments in the 2013 NBA season, but also one of the best feel good sports stories of the year--a young kid from a little school who outshined players who came from much more prestigious backgrounds and had greater media exposure than he has ever had in his lifetime. Alongside the already stellar LaMarcus Aldridge and the impressive performances of JJ Hickson, Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthew, the Portland Trailblazers had one of the most potent starting fives in the league. Unfortunately, it was such a shame that other than their impressive starting five, Portland had little or nothing else as they had the deflating distinction of having the worst performing bench in the league which most certainly held the team back from having an even more memorable season. As a result of the pathetic production and performance of the second unit, Portland's starters had to shoulder most of the burden on offense end and the lack of rest hurt the team on the defensive end leading the Blazers to have some of the worst defensive stats in the league. Regardless, despite of the overall shoddy defense and limited bench support, the Portland Trailblazers still had a storybook season and once they start adding an extra player or two to round out the roster, next season will prove to be even better from a team that no one gave a chance to succeed in the first place. |
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Monday, June 17, 2013
SDH Presents the 2013 End of Season NBA's Worst to First: 20. Portland Trailblazers
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