Agreed, the timing of this post makes no sense. However, being that your attention is currently ensared by March Madness and the Western Conference playoff race, I don't think you'll notice. Not one bit.
No Blazer has ever won the dunk contest. A couple guys who have spent some time in Portland won it while with other teams, like local hero Fred Jones and, um, lets move on. More interestingly, there were three years when Clyde (who was pretty hard) and Jerome Kersey both tried to bring home the trophy while adorned in pinwheels. They almost pulled it off, both coming as close as second. Kersey once scored a perfect 50 off a mind-bending sideways reverse alley-oop off the glass thing, joining the elite company of the great Cedric Ceballos. Being an unwavering fan of the event, taking a look at when Blazers represented is especially thrilling. Watch and enjoy.
Showing posts with label Clyde Drexler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clyde Drexler. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Clyde Drexler Was Pretty Hard
As bright as Portland's future may be, I thought it would be nice to take a quick look back at some of past greatness. Rip City.
The greatest Blazer ever was in some dunk contests, but wasn't really made for that. When it came to dunks, Clyde was more of an in-game guy. He remains severely underrated for his ability to dunk all over people. When I say this, I mean it in the most strict sense possible. Most players credited with dunking on people are technically more dunking around people. Not Clyde. He went full on, body-to-body. If the defender jumped, he'd bang their torso in midair and throw it down. If they didn't jump they caught a chest-full of knee.
The greatest Blazer ever was in some dunk contests, but wasn't really made for that. When it came to dunks, Clyde was more of an in-game guy. He remains severely underrated for his ability to dunk all over people. When I say this, I mean it in the most strict sense possible. Most players credited with dunking on people are technically more dunking around people. Not Clyde. He went full on, body-to-body. If the defender jumped, he'd bang their torso in midair and throw it down. If they didn't jump they caught a chest-full of knee.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Portland vs Toronto: No jinxes here
That was cute when I thought this obscure blog mentioning that the Blazers were the hottest team in the league would jinx the game. By my tally the Blazers TV crew referenced this joyous little distiction about 3,897 times, and I took a break to get some cereal. I would think they have considerably more jinx juice than I. In any event, none of this matters tonight:
Portland 101, Toronto 96 (boxscore)
Nine in a row.
A flu-symptoms fighting Brandon Roy had it going all night, contributing his usual all around excellence to the degree of 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. This city knows how much this guy means to the team, as evident from the "MVP" chants as he was shooting free-throws in the fourth quarter. How long has it been since Portland fans did such a chant? Clyde Drexler?
With the schedule Portland has played, the record they have, and the way Roy has played, he deserves to be an All-Star. It has nearly zero chance of happening this season, but thats fine. We know, and the rest of the league is still learning.
LaMarcus was back after a five game break, and didn't look all that rusty. He didn't have the impact we've grown accustomed to this season, but contributed a quiet 15 and 7.
Much of the game the Raptors had the Blazers infamous zone defense downgraded from The Octopus to The Seamonkey. Only after a fourth quarter surge did Portland finally take the lead. That international collection of shooters Toronto has must have been excited to hear they'd have a zone defense to shoot over and spread out all night. That Calderon, he's a cold man.
The game was made more difficult largely because Portland's usual gangbusting second unit wasn't shooting quite as hot. Toronto has their own nice zone defense, but Portland's two big bench guns-Outlaw and Jones- didn't resemble their offensive selves we've seen during much of the streak. Despite Outlaw's cold night (4-12 from the field), he got some critical buckets in the closing minutes, which speaks volumes to his growth as a player. James stepped up and iced the game from the line. Both played good defense and made big intangible plays throughout the game, especially Outlaw down the stretch.
This is getting scary. What a team.
Portland 101, Toronto 96 (boxscore)
Nine in a row.
A flu-symptoms fighting Brandon Roy had it going all night, contributing his usual all around excellence to the degree of 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. This city knows how much this guy means to the team, as evident from the "MVP" chants as he was shooting free-throws in the fourth quarter. How long has it been since Portland fans did such a chant? Clyde Drexler?
With the schedule Portland has played, the record they have, and the way Roy has played, he deserves to be an All-Star. It has nearly zero chance of happening this season, but thats fine. We know, and the rest of the league is still learning.
LaMarcus was back after a five game break, and didn't look all that rusty. He didn't have the impact we've grown accustomed to this season, but contributed a quiet 15 and 7.
Much of the game the Raptors had the Blazers infamous zone defense downgraded from The Octopus to The Seamonkey. Only after a fourth quarter surge did Portland finally take the lead. That international collection of shooters Toronto has must have been excited to hear they'd have a zone defense to shoot over and spread out all night. That Calderon, he's a cold man.
The game was made more difficult largely because Portland's usual gangbusting second unit wasn't shooting quite as hot. Toronto has their own nice zone defense, but Portland's two big bench guns-Outlaw and Jones- didn't resemble their offensive selves we've seen during much of the streak. Despite Outlaw's cold night (4-12 from the field), he got some critical buckets in the closing minutes, which speaks volumes to his growth as a player. James stepped up and iced the game from the line. Both played good defense and made big intangible plays throughout the game, especially Outlaw down the stretch.
This is getting scary. What a team.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Blazer fan to public: Kevin Duckworth saved my life
You may have already seen this, but my Dad just sent it to me and I was blown away. In the epic, our brave balladeer details an incredible night in which he and Jason were sitting courtside at the coliseum. What happened next would change Dan Reed's life forever. After being done decked and disconnect by a ball flying into the stands, Dan was flung into a Blazer fantasy that was clearly the result of very severe post-concussion syndrome, and brought back to reality only after a subsequent fantasy Kevin Duckworth pass gone awry.
After learning of his brave tale, I had the urge to track down this virtuoso known-mysteriously-only as "Dan Reed."His band has a wikipedia and a myspace, but the man himself remains shrouded in mystery. You know artists. On the upside, he has a new album coming out in 2008, which I am hoping contains the long awaited "Bust a Bucket Remix." Assuming our paths do cross someday, I have the following questions prepared. If you know him, pass these along. They will be in my wallet everyday until this happens.
"What exactly does 'bust a bucket' mean, and when did you know it had entered the elite lexicon of phrases to have swept the nation UNIVERSE?"
"Are you suffering any long-term health effects from when the ball done decked and disconnect you?"
"Were you given any compensation from the Blazers for the trauma you endured that night at the coliseum?"
"Clyde Drexler is noticeably absent from your Blazer Rhymes. Was this attributable to his distaste for the hip hop lifestyle and your alleged objectification of the Blazer Dancers and 80's/early 90's awesomeness?"
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